Ask 411 Wrestling 05.09.07: Drano, Black Scorpions, Doom Unmasked, and More!
Posted by Steve Cook on 05.09.2007
Including the awesomeness that was Malenko...Dean Malenko.
It's time to Ask 411 Wrestling! I'm Steve Cook, and I hope you all are having a bang-up week. Me, I've had better weeks, but at least I'm not doing as bad as Mr. Kennedy or my Cincinnati Reds. You know, the Reds would be pretty good if they could hit the ball, field, or have anybody in the bullpen that could pitch. Unfortunately, they're not capable of any of those things.
A special note for those of you who frequent the Obsessed With Wrestling website...you can now find those fine folks at onlineworldofwrestling.com. Same obsessive details, new name. It's one of my favorite websites to find wrestling information at, and that's not not just because my stooge JT works there. I call him a stooge, but now he's all over MySpace and New Zealand wrestling websites while I'm still waiting for another invite to 411 Fact or Fiction. Heck, they won't even have me on that Buy or Sell stuff. Man, has my star fallen or what?
By the way, the feedback section for this week's column is immense, partially because I found a bunch of it in the in-box that I'd forgotten to use. There are 52 e-mails sitting in the in-box at the moment, and only 11 of them are links to porn sites. You guys are slipping!
Comments, Corrections and other "C" words
As for kicking out of finishers, I don't recall anyone ever kicking out of a Jake Roberts DDT or Road Warriors Doomsday Device. Can't say for sure but probably the same goes for the Ultimate Warrior gorilla press/splash and any Jerry Lawler piledriver in the state of Tennessee. - Paul
I'm 99.9% sure that Randy Savage kicked out of the press slam/splash combo at WM VII...the .1 is because I don't remember off the top of my head if Warrior did the press slam before the splash that Savage kicked out of. This led to Warrior being in shock and wondering for a minute or so if his destiny was to leave the WWF. Undertaker kicked out of the Snake's DDT at WM VIII, and I believe he was the first one to do that. You are probably right about the Doomsday Device.
Regarding your connundrum about always being bpinned after a finisher--
- Not many people ever kicked out of the Perfectplex. How many years did Perfect have his perfect record? Hogan used to be the only one to kick out of it on house shows i believe, and maybe Bret did in Summerslam 91.
Having said that, in the 80s it wasn't uncommon that once anyone (heel or face) would hit their finisher that would be the end. Hogan used to be the only one to ever kick out of finishers. I don't particularly remember HBK lofting away Akeem after Air Africe in WM5 - Alex
I believe that Bret Hart kicked out of the Perfectplex at Summerslam 1991, so he was probably the first guy to do it that wasn't Hogan.
I'm sure I won't be the only reader to bring this up, but here it goes anyway.
Kenta Kobashi has two finishers that have never been kicked out of: The Burning
Hammer, and the Diamondhead (only used once, and probably won't ever be used
again). I can think of a couple of tag-team finishers that, to the best of my
knowledge, haven't been kicked out of. The Kings of Wrestling's KRS-1 was
always death, and I think The Dudley's 3D has been likewise protected. - Alex
Now, I like Kobashi as much as the next guy, but can we really count a move that was only used once in this conversation?
On RVD's frog splash...
Jerry Lynn didn't kick out to my knoledge, but after getting it, when RVD went for the pin, he rolled him up in a schoolboy as if it had no effect on him. - Chris Jacobs
Umaga did a similar thing on last week's Raw, which I didn't read about until after writing the column...he grabbed RVD by the neck upon his landing, got up and spiked him for the pin. Yahoo? I guess not many of you watched Raw either, since I didn't see any e-mails about it.
The Cena booing debate continues...
I have two theories:
1. I think Cena tries too hard. Sometimes he, or the bookers, just do a bit TOO much to make him likeable. My biggest example? The WrestleMania entrance with the muscle car. Come on.
2. This is from a casual obersver, non-wrestling-fan friend of mine. She saw Cena on RAW one nite and thought he was hot blah blah blah...then asked, "Wow, is he a former Marine like that Lashley guy?" And I said, "No, thats just his thing." She said, "Oh. Thats kind of disappointing. Kinda silly too." And there you have it. - Julian L. Smith
One wonders if that could come up in a future feud with Cena & Lashley.
re: Mike Vallely
"I couldn't find any footage of his matches, but my guess as far as an answer goes would be that either WWE or TNA doesn't think he's enough of a draw to bring in, or he's not talented enough at the wrestling aspect, or wrestling full-time isn't something that interests him enough to try and get signed by a major promotion."
I'd say it's a little from Column A and a little from Column C. For all we know, WWE or TNA don't even know who he is unless some of the wrestlers are skateboard fans. But mostly, I'd believe that he's not wrestling full-time because he's skating full-time. In fact, on his DVD "Mike V's Greatest Hits" (which has a chapter devoted to his wrestling training and matches), he says that when he announced he was trying out for wrestling, fans thought that he was giving up skating altogether. But mostly, he's just a big fan and probably just wanted to see if he could hang. Vallely was trained by Jesse Hernandez and had a few matches on the SoCal indy circuit, including a match or two with Frankie Kazarian, but I don't think his wrestling career has gone beyond that. And unless he grows sour on the the skateboarding business for whatever reason (which is very doubtful considering how committed he is to it), I doubt he'd ever consider continuing wrestling on a large scale. - TheRyno665 aka Ryan Dickman
Hey there, just reading your column and thought I'd add onto the fans jumping into the ring question. Kind of a funny story!
I attended RAW in July 97 in Halifax. The main event was a flag match between Bret/Owen/Davey vs. Austin/Taker/Foley, after the show went off the air Austin was the only one in the ring and everyone else was already backstage. Three guys with silly string entered the ring and began running circles around Austin and spraying him with it, he just kinda stood there with his head down, until Foley ran back to the ring at a hundred miles an hour, tackled one of them and looked like he was stiffing the shit outta him by swinging him around in a front face lock. Meanwhile, after taking their sweet ass time, security BEAT THE LIVING SHIT out of the other two, I mean pulling their hair and smashing their heads against the outside ringpost, then drug them backstage on one of the sides of the ramp. Also noticed at WM 3 after Pipers match, some dude jumped in to shake his hand and got stiffed by security seconds later.
Foley's title win was also the biggest pop ever heard also btw. Hogans hulking up at WM 18 also comes to mind. - daddy long schlong
Regarding the following question which had you stumped:
Around 1993 I remember catching a wrestling show on Eurosport in Europe, which featured Hulk Hogan, and I also remember Ax from Demolition tagging with some giant guy forming a new Demolition. I a presuming it was a japanese wrestling organization, but was wondering which, if so. There were never any promos (that I remember) and I have no idea about the commentry (too long ago to remember, plus I only caught it a handful of times).
The show he's referring to was called Ring Warriors, which ran on Eurosport on and off until the late 90s. It was basically an attempt to repackage New Japan's mid-90s TV product for the international market, with matches from their TV shows at the likes of Sumo Hall and Korakuen Hall, and now and then action from their Egg Dome shows. Funnily enough, though, the name 'New Japan' was never used on air, and I don't remember ever seeing a title match.
Hulk Hogan did feature on a couple of editions (he did a short tour with New Japan before he dropped the title to Yokozuna at King of the Ring in '93, I think he had matches with Muta and Masa Chono, and may have been at Wrestling Dotaku at the Fukuoka Dome), and Demolition Ax did indeed have a new version of his team, with a tall Giant Gonzales lookalike who was referred to as 'Ox', and wore what appeared to be a leather miniskirt.
Most of the fare, however, featured New Japan's regulars of the era -- Jushin Liger and El Samurai seemed to be on every week, as were Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Kensuke Sasaki. Chris Benoit was a regular appearance (under the mask as Flying Pegasus) and Finlay (younger, less bulked up, and with more hair) also popped up occasionally.
The show featured commentary from former WWF announcer Craig DeGeorge (sounding totally different from the nasal-voiced youth on my late 80's WWF PPV tapes) and Oliver Humperdink (who insisted on calling Riki Choshu 'Choshu Riki'). - MacDara Conroy
Re: Fans jumping the rail.
I was reading your latest Ask 411wrestling column, and there was some mention about what happens when fans jump the rail and get into the ring. I remember reading more than once that when they decide to get in the ring they're pretty much considered fair game to the wrestlers. I did some research on this and here's some of what I found.
"The fans need to remember that the area inside the guardrails is the wrestler's area and when you cross that line, you are fair game for the wrestlers."
- http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=20124&p=1
During the Flag Match at Badd Blood '97 (Bret Hart/Bulldog vs. Vader/Patriot #1) a fan was just able to get under the ropes before he was literally kicked out of the ring by Bulldog. The fan was describe as an overzealous patriot by JR, until McMahon asked, "Was he a Canadian?"
- http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/columns/29760/Cheap-Wrestling-For-Cheap-People-9.22.05:-Tale-Of-The-Tape.htm
Jerry then explained wrestlers are responsible if fans are injured during the matches on the outside of the ring, but in the ring they're fair game. (Jerry Lynn interview)
- http://www.1wrestling.com/news/newsline.asp?news=15712
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Syxx (Sean Waltman) were guests on stage as a part of MTV's annual spring break coverage. The three were there to punish losers of a talent contest I think and to build up the annual Panama City Nitro that Monday. Anyway a drunk guy in the crowd was causing trouble and threw something at the stage. The NWO guys asked security to get a grip on the rowdy crowd, but were blown off. When the guy threw something else the NWO guys astonished their MTV hosts by leaping off the stage, grabbing the guy themselves, and turning him over to security. They then threatened to walk out if security didn't get the crowd under better control.
- http://boards.ign.com/wwe_smackdown/b6546/89318397/p9900
I remember watching some show and they were talking about this. From what I recall, Nash chased the guy down and slammed him in the sand.
And lastly... some fans talk about it on a message board.
- http://www.talkwrestlingonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30325 - B.S.
It's a lot of fun pointing out some of the biggest pops ever.
One that I remember fondly was when Stone Cold Steve Austin regained the WWF Championship from Kane on RAW the night after he lost it at King of the Ring '98. I recorded that match and still watch it every now and then just for the ending. When he hit the stunner, it was one of those heart-stopping moments that made me jump out of my bed. Super huge pop when Austin hit the move and when he got the 3-count - Michael P.
I disticntly remember back in 1999 when the WWE and MTV joined forces for 'WWE Week' to promote SummerSlam 99. They had a week's worth of their programs featuring WWE stars. Well they had a True Life: I'm a Pro Wrestler show and Triple H and Chyna were featured in it. There's one scene where Trips and Chyna are riding out of the arena garage and they meet up with their road agent, who gives them directions on where to go from there. I just can't remember who that particular road agent was. - Eric Steven
Back in the early 90s, a friend of mine worked in merchandising and as
a ring announcer for what was then the WWF. My wife and I went to a
show in Greensboro, N.C., and then to a show the next night in
Richmond, Va. (The exact same show, almost move for move.) As my wife
and I stood outside the Richmond Coliseum, a car pulled up. Tully and
Arn and the Brooklyn Brawler were inside. The driver, Tully, asked:
"Can you tell us how to find the Richmond Coliseum?" My wife had to
answer since I was too busy laughing. I don't know if this answers the
question about directions to the next arena, or whether it confirms
the rumors about Tully Blanchard. - Joe
Now that's a story to share with your grandkids right there. And since the Four Horsemen have a DVD out now, hopefully Tully Blanchard won't be forgotten like he was a few years ago.
The guy that asked about a possible replay of a Raw episode. I don't know if this is right, but it's a possibility. He noted that he attended the show live and then watched it on tv later that week. Perhaps his local cable company took the fact that many people in town may not have seen the show on tv because they were in attendance and decided to replay the show at a later date. Kind of like some cable channels will replay the Astros or Rockets games here in Houston if they interfere with some other programming. Don't know if it's the right answer, but it's a possible answer. - Roger Gent
Just wanted to issue a little clarification on the Kerry Von
Erich/Warrior question...
Warrior broke into the business as Jim "Justice" Hellwig, as part of
"Powerteam USA," alongside his future partner Steve "Flash" Borden
(Sting), on the California wrestling scene in 1985. Bill Watts,
probably wanting a Road Warrior-like team for his Mid South/UWF
promotion, brought Hellwig and Borden and renamed them Rock and Sting
(respectively) and teamed them together as the Blade Runners in 1986.
I believe that Eddie Gilbert managed them around this time. Anyway,
Hellwig left the promotion and headed to Fritz Von Erich's World Class
territory in Dallas. There, he became "the Dingo Warrior." I have no
idea who came up with this ridiculous name or why someone would become
a warrior of dingos, but he had some success there, most notably
capturing the World Class Texas title. It was from there that Vince
brought him to the World Wrestling Federation and, proving once again
that Vince is a marketing genius, most likely decided that he couldn't
see kiddies buying action figures or ice cream bars with the word
"Dingo" on the box, came up with the name Ultimate Warrior. - Ron Motta
I don't know if it takes a genius to figure out that "Dingo Warrior" isn't a very marketable name.
I don't know of any wrestlers who died in war, but I know that Brian James…former Road Dogg and now BG James served in Desert Storm. He was (upon further inspection) a platoon Sergeant in charge of 33 marines. And Randy Orton enlisted with the USMC. But he was discharged for going AWOL on 2 occasions. He's still keeping his good form, I must say. - James Turnbull
To add to the BG James story, he actually started wrestling in the Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion while he was still a part of the USMC (the war was over by the time he started wrestling), but since the Marines might not have looked too fondly on one of their guys wrestling, he wrestled under a mask as "The Dark Secret".
Okay, so the debate goes as to why people boo Cena. Well, I boo Cena because his push DID come too soon (remember he won his first belt in 2005, 3 years into his WWE run and I seem to recall him being hurt for some of those 3 years ala a Carlito stabbing or some stupid BS) AND especially the fact that he suffers from the Championship curse of having his moveset reduced to clotheslines and punches.
This is something I noticed from most champs, Austin could wrestle, but after he won the belt, he mostly "stomped mudholes" and only pulled out his actual wrestling ability when fighting Benoit or
3H's in that No Way Out from 2001. Rock could wrestle at one point (back in the maivia days) but resorted to a peoples elbow and the layeth the smacketh punch (of course he did still have the talent as the iron man match at judgment day in 2000 showed)
this in addition to the fact that Cena seems unmotivated to improve, are reasons for Cena's lack of reaction from this homeboy...i did enjoy HBK vs Cena 2 though, but like I say, it gave him a chance to actually perform instead of relying on the gimmicks that the kids luv...
So the question is, why do they (WWe) feel the need to "dumb down" a wrestlers skills in order to get them over as champ? Is it total "face in peril" syndrome, with punches and clotheslines being the only way to comeback from a beatdown? Or is it just because the E, thinks we're idiots who dont have the patience to appreciate actual wrestling anymore? - Capn G
More often than not, the WWE main event style has been centered around the babyface getting beaten up forever and then coming back with pedestrian offense that the crowds pop like crazy for. Judging by the crowd reaction...maybe "idiot" isn't the right term to use, but WWE has rarely been focused around the wrestling aspect of their show.
In regards to recycling matches. I live in the NY/NJ/PA tri state area, and I remember seeing Hulk Hogan/Bossman matches. Now the way cable providers worked then, we would get to see house shows from the (old) Spectrum in Philly and Madison Square Garden. I watched both cards and saw the EXACT same match. I assume that this is to make life easier for them on the road. - Jef Vinson
Just a note: I have seen before wrestlers using the same match at a house
show as the next night on Raw. It must just be for practice. - Adam Radomske
First off, I can verify that wrestler's cover their own insurance. I can remember some news years ago that DDP and I believe some other WCW wrestlers insured themselves out of Lloyd's of London, who are known to insure some unusual items such as celebrity legs and noses. After DDP's back issues, he was notified from Lloyd's that they would drop him if continued to wrestle. Thanks to yoga, he continued wrestling for WWE, but was subsequently dropped and had to seek another insurer. Kinda sad when you think about it... he was getting nicely by Time Warner, had a smoking hot wife at home... and gave it all up, including losing his insurance, just so he could stalk Taker's wife and become the smiley faced European champ.
Also, you gave Vince far too much credit for the Warrior gimmick. The fact was that Hellwig was using this gimmick previously in World Class (with Kerry Von Erich there as well) as The Dingo Warrior. Vince simply gave him a more marketable name for a much larger market.
Finally, as for Lethal's Macho Man impersonation, TNA and Spike could probably get away with it regardless of Macho's feelings (or even lawsuits) under the grounds of parody. For starters, Macho is retired at this point. It's not like anyone's going to mistake Lethal for Savage. The only real argument would be money and it's not as if people are paying to see Lethal... he's just part of the show. This is similar to "The Showster" or "The Funkster". The blessing from Savage is nice, however. - Jimmy K
regarding lethal using the macho man's gimmick - i've viewed it as a parody since day 1 (even though they're calling it a tribute), and thats how I assumed they get away with it.
plus, if macho doesnt care, then there isn't a problem there.
Why is it EB did a better invasion storyline without owning more than 1 company, than VM did when he owned 3?
"michaeljhauer told me that Manu rules. Even 411 readers have fans now...where the hell are my fans?"
SWEET! - Manu Bumb
I think Vince will always hold a bit of a grudge against WCW for causing him so many problems in the mid-90s, and didn't want to do anything to put that brand name over during the Invasion. He seems to be softening on that stance, as the release of the Horsemen & Dusty DVDs would indicate, but he still makes sure to send the message on those discs that WCW didn't know what they were doing most of the time. The NWO worked better in WCW because it was something that they invented and wanted to make look good.
Questions!
Now my question, I was watching my Royal Rumble Anthology and noticed that while there is still some heavy editing of some entrance music, that a few were left in that have never been in DVD releases up until this point, most notably Demolitions is there in all it's glory. Are WWE slowly buying up and owning old copyrighted music or do they have to pay each time they use it? - Daddy Long Schlong
We've discussed this issue in the column before...I think as far as the Demolition song goes, they only want to use it when they feel they'll make enough money from the video its on to be able to afford it and still make a large profit. That, and they probably got a lot of complaints when it wasn't on the WrestleMania Anthology and wanted to shut people up. If anybody knows anything official on the status of the song, let me know.
Im from Belfast, Ireland and want to know where exactly in Belfast Fit Finlay is from? another question.. have there been any other wrestlers from Ireland that have made it in the US? - Kevin Stitt
I don't have Finlay's address, but I assume that he was born and raised in the toughest neighborhood in Belfast. Probably somewhere near a pub, if I had to guess. There are wrestlers that have Irish roots (the name McMahon comes to mind), but oddly enough considering the array of British wrestlers that have jumped across the pond, there don't seem to be a whole lot of Irish wrestlers that became success stories in America. In fact, Finlay would be the one. And before any indy fans chime in...Irish Airborne are from Ohio.
What does the Diamond Cutter/RKO/Stunner/Twist of Fate move actually work? It looks like it can work the neck, but it also looks sort of fake or like a takedown. I've never had it done to me, but would it actually hurt if done "right" (assuming it's a real move) or is it just a kayfabe finisher like the People's Elbow or Sweet Chin Music? - Jaime
The Diamond Cutter/RKO is meant to injure the neck since the opponent's face does not hit the mat, but the shoulder of the person applying the move, causing a whiplash effect. The Stunner also works the neck in a similar matter, but also impacts the jaw because it is the jaw that usually is wrapped in the applier's shoulder. The Twist of Fate works the neck as well.
Memo to Steve Power if you're reading this...I would greatly appreciate any pictures you may have of one Miss Traci Brooks in action at those BSE shows. He asks the next two questions.
I've never written in to ask a question before because I thought I knew everything that pertains to the squared circle.
I have in recent weeks discovered that I don't.........Just kidding.
I would like to know who the people are wrestling in the opening clip show before WWE TV.
I think its Hackenshmidt and Gotch @ the polo grounds.in new york or perhaps MSG when it was an open air stadium. Help me please! I must know!
We have had this question before...I opened it up to the people, but have had no luck with finding the answer as of yet.
My second question is in regards to the first Royal Rumble match. On W.W.E .com it states it took place @ MSG. I was there and it took place @ copps colleseum in Hamilton Ontario. Why this descrepency?
I am aware how wwe used to like to change history in the past ie.-Flair's many chamionships
-Andre never being bodyslammed until wm3
-The many faces of Charles Wright Etc
Is it because they count the first ppv Rumble as being the innaugural match?
If so that answers my question.
I couldn't find the WWE.com article that claimed the first Royal Rumble was at MSG, but I would assume that one of the writers there just made an error. It was likely nothing sinister, as WWE has discussed the Hamilton Rumble in their magazines before. Considering the first MSG PPV Rumble was in 2000, I'm not really sure how they came across that information. It's possible that they could have tested out the match at MSG, but I don't think they did.
My question is about Mankind- specifically the pay-per-view in which he got thrown off the Hell in the Cell (for the first time). I remember absolutely flipping out and being equally amazed and horrified by his huge falls and how much he put himself through. He took one hell of a pounding, the likes of which I hope to never see again. That said- am I right in remembering him coming out *again* later in the night to interfere in the main event? If it happened- what was the storyline purpose in him coming out after the HitC? Was this a huge lack of foresight on the WWE's part to not realize that Mick Foley should have been done for the night? Has this ever been brought up in any interviews? - Chaz
Foley mentioned it in his book, saying he didn't even remember coming back out to interfere in that match. It is a bit curious that they would send him back out there considering what he'd already gone through, but Foley probably told them that he was fine and could handle it. As for the storyline reason, Mankind was teaming with Kane at the time and they were feuding with Austin and Undertaker, so Mankind was trying to help Kane win the title.
I don't watch TNA, because I don't have cable, but I know most of the players from recaps and youtube. My question is…: I was watching House on FOX, this past Tuesday, 04-17-07, and House was watching TNA. It appeared to be the Captain of Charisma, Christian vs. the monster Abyss. In the background you can hear those gawd-awful announcers proclaiming that Abyss kicked out of a frog splash from on top of a cage, do you know what match this was? It would be cool to know, just for shits and giggles when this episode of house was filmed, using the dated match. Thanks. - Madmex
The Cage vs. Abyss match used on House took place at Lockdown 2006, which was on April 23, 2006.
hey had a quick question.......and im surely hoping you can help me out on this....do you know of anywhere i can get my hands on old episodes of raw or atleast videos of certain moments.......your pick for the biggest pop of austin coming down during the rock mankind title change i couldnt agree with you more...and would love to watch this match again. also moments that come to mind are the canada episode the writer mentioned with micheals...and also the rock surprising everyone when he came out to give the "austin took his ball and went home speach" so if there is any sites or places you know where i can get these i woud be in your debt forever if you let me know lol thank you - Chuck Rimel
Whenever people ask me questions about where to find stuff online (which is usually tough for me because my computer and internet connection aren't all that great), I direct them to YouTube.com. However, the one flaw is that sometimes things suddenly disappear off of YouTube. For example, I linked somebody else to a clip of the Shawn Michaels promo in Canada where he acted like Bret was coming out a few days ago, but when I went back there to find it today, I couldn't find it. But that's the best place I know to find things like that.
Tony has 3 ROH related questions...how you like dem apples, Ari?
At Final Battle '05 Homicide poured "Drano Gel" down Colt Cabana's throat and he vomited. Did he use Drano or somethin else and did Colt really puke? If he did is that sanitary to wrestle on? Obviously if this was tv show it would be fake but since ROH runs live shows I wonder how they did this
As far as I know, it was actual Drano, and Colt did seem to actually throw up from the clip I saw of it. I don't think he threw up all over the mat, so as long as the wrestlers avoided the area and the ring crew cleaned it up as well as they could, it should have been ok. Or at least better than having your opponent actually throw up on you.
How is ROH able to sell WWE merch as well TNA especially since TNA is really pulling their wrestlers from ROH
I don't know the legalities behind it, but I reckon that if ROH buys a bunch of stuff from WWE & TNA, they are more than welcome to sell it. WWE & TNA don't mind because they're getting money out of it, and if ROH tried to be cute and buy their stuff for really cheap and sell it at a really high price, that would be the last time they do business.
I have one more question how did the Do Fixer and Blood Generation factions break up. BG looked like they teased tension at Supercard of Honor after CIMA shook Do Fixer's hands and CIMA is with Dragon Kid and Saito who were in Do Fixer what happened that the factions broke up?
I probably should have asked one of the puro guys about this, but as best as I can tell, both factions met their death due to Dragon Gate's new heel faction known as the Muscle Outlaw'z. It started as a breakaway group from Blood Generation that was led by Naruki Doi, eventually they won the rights to the Blood Generation name in a match, but renounced it. CIMA continued to use the name for himself and gaijin like Jack Evans & Matt Sydal until retiring the name in January 2007 As for Do Fixer, their group pretty much fell apart when Genki Horiguchi turned heel and joined the Outlaw'z. Dragon Kid & Saito have joined forces with CIMA, while Magnum Tokyo has retired from Dragon Gate.
Conor O'Boyle has 2 questions...
Hey man,before i ask my questions,i just like to have my 2 cent on the question last week on the biggest pop ever.I would think the ending for Austin-Dude Love Over The Edge 98 and anytime The Rock return on Raw in 03-04.
Anyways,here's 2 questions for ya.
1.Is it true that the Mr.Perfect gimmick was originally slated for Terry Taylor?I could believe that cause he did have that look to pull of the gimmick,but never as good as Curt do it obvoiusly.
Taylor & Hennig were the two top choices for the gimmick...after a match they had at a house show, it was decided that Hennig fit the role better. Taylor became a rooster, and the rest is history. Poor bastard.
2.I read that The Warrior was the originally meant to be The Black Scorpian??I hardly think that cause he was the WWF Champ at the time!!But if is not true,who was meant to be The Black Scorpian or was Ric Flair always going to be him.
The original choice for the Black Scorpion gimmick was the Angel of Death, a wrestler that had trained alongside Sting and Warrior...once somebody in WCW realized that nobody would give a damn if he was revealed as the Scorpion, it was decided to go in a different direction. Al Perez declined the role, and though WCW tried to play up the possibility that the Scorpion was the Ultimate Warrior, he was never an option.
Trevor has two questions...
1) Whatever happened to Paul Roma? The last I heard from him was that ridiculous tag team with Paul Orndorff called "Pretty Wonderful"
Roma got fired from WCW after a match he had at Superbrawl V with newcomer Alex Wright...Roma was supposed to put Wright over, but he did it in a way that made the German kid look like a fool. Roma officially retired from wrestling in 1998, but has returned to wrestling in the Northeast and currently runs a wrestling school. He also appears on the Four Horsemen DVD and claims that Ric Flair wished he could have been Paul Roma. Yeah.
2) I recently downloaded CM punk's song "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage and it's a lot harder than I expected for a WWE song. They usually sound like something you hear on an alternative station, only very watered down. I wondered if you knew of a reson they picked something so hard.
The song appears on WWE's Wreckless Intent CD that came out in May 2006. It was an album that featured re-mixes of wrestler entrance songs by rock and metal artists. The song was used by Randy Orton one week on Smackdown, but remained unused until Punk came along. Another song from the album, "I'm Comin'" by Silk tha Shocker, is now being used as MVP's theme music. To answer your question, they chose it because they had the rights to it.
Who played the camera man who Shawn Michaels beat up in the first Hell in the Cell match in Oct 1997? - Scott from Urbana
The Penguin said it was Steve Lombardi, but the guy looks a little too Hispanic for me to agree with that opinion. Readers?
What caused the Bruno Sammartino/Vince McMahon feud that I see referenced from time to time in various articles/websites? - JLAJRC
Bruno is really old-school when it comes to his outlook on professional wrestling, and he hates what Vince did to wrestling by turning it into a circus that doesn't focus around athletic competition. He was also upset over the firing of his son. Vince resents Bruno because he's outspoken unlike most of his contemporaries, and has testified against WWE in lawsuits such as the Charles Austin lawsuit resulting from Austin, a preliminary wrestler, being crippled in a match against the Rockers. This feud doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon, as Bruno remains steadfast in his stance and Vince's attempts to welcome Bruno back into the fold have been rebuffed.
I'm subscribed to the WWE 24/7 Online service (which I think is awesome, and definitely worth the $4 monthly even if the last update wasn't too great). But anyway, I watched a match just now of the Steiners defending the tag team titles against Doom, and the added stip was that if Doom lost they would have to unmask. Toward the end, Rick took Butch Reed's mask off, and he looked really distraught, and went over to apologize to "Doom 2" which of course led to the roll up win for the Steiners. Doom 2 (Ron Simmons of course) then had to unmask, and he too was pissed, and let out probably the first on-air "DAMN!" The clip ends with Jim Cornette yelling "How humiliating!"
Now, my question is, was there any reason that they didn't want to reveal their identities? The announcers even joked that it was the worst kept secret in wrestling. Any storylines about them having to leave the company previously or anything? Or was it simply the humiliation of a masked wrestler losing his mask? - Bill Medinger of Branford, CT
I'd go with the second option...it really wasn't much of a secret because there just weren't that many African-Americans running around in WCW at that time, (and certainly not many with the physiques of Reed & Simmons) but any masked wrestler wants to keep their mask because it is their identity. If they lose their mask, they lose their identity. Plus, they didn't win the tag team titles in that match, which was also upsetting. Eventually Doom got over losing their masks and continued their winning ways all the way to the WCW tag team titles, which they won from the Steiners.
"I think Malenko got cocky because he managed to powerbomb Kidman once and thought he could go ahead and do it again. Dean could be a pretty cocky guy...just ask Lita."
I dont know Lita so Im asking you! what happened? - Kevin Stitt
It was a joke playing off of a storyline in 2002 where Dean Malenko had a thing for Lita and tried to woo her away from the Hardy Boyz. Unfortunately he didn't succeed, but it did have a cool side result of him using an awesome James Bond knockoff theme with an even cooler entrance video.
My take on the Cena Backlash(pardon the pun) is that he isn't only living in the shadow of Rock and Austin. Fans are also comparing him to the likes of Jericho(the first to split the crowd), Angle, Eddie, Taker, HHH and so on. Those guys could do it in the ring and on the mic. Fans aren't satisfied with guys who can only do one but no tthe other.
I know the story of CM Punk's Pepsi tatoo. I want to know how Punk and the WWE can get away with merchandising the Pepsi tatoo without incurring the wrath of Pepsi Co.? None of his current gear has it. But the WWE did have one as an option to be voted on. - Rey
Well, that might be part of the reason why that option wasn't selected. I don't think Pepsi would really be too bothered by it as long as they don't use the image in a negative way. Of course, I may be underestimating the pettiness of global corporations. But if you wanna see a wrestling company ripping off drink designs, take a look at some of ROH's t-shirts...
To be fair, I think Colt's shirt pre-dates his ROH run, and I own the Colt & Nigel shirts. I couldn't bring myself to buy a BJ Whitmer shirt.
Question for ya. For years I have wondered who the guy with the signs and
the red hat in the crowd of WWE shows was, but in light of his recent USA
"Raw Fan Nation" commercial and his Deal or No Deal appearance I am sure
more than ever that this guy si not a superfan, but a WWE employee that is
planted in the crowd. I find it hard to believe that this guy is at almost
every Raw and PPV and seems to sit in the same spot every time. There is
another guy I see fairly regularly too. He always wears a yellow cap
backwards, and a tie dye shirt with no sleeves. He has blond hair and
looks like the love child of Greg Valentine and Brian Knobbs. I guess my
question is, are these guys plants or actual fans who follow WWE around not
unlike Grateful Dead fans? It seems odd that they are always in the same
section and are at an abnormal amount of shows. Do these guys work? - Nelson J. Cupello
You know, that's a very good question. At the WWE vs. ECW show in Dayton I met this woman who dresses up like Paul Heyman and she was in the middle of going to a pretty long stretch of WWE shows. I also saw her at the TNA house show in Louisville this year. I'm not sure if she or the other "super fans" actually have jobs, but they seem to be doing well enough to afford pretty good seats at WWE shows, which usually aren't all that cheap. The guy on the Raw commercial was profiled on WWE Confidential several years ago, I think he became "legit" with that and has garnered some fame. He still doesn't match up with the ECW Hat Guy.
This may have been answered numerous times and i just missed those articles, but my question is: with all the years of constant rants and dreaming and begging for Austin-Hogan, why did they not do it during the nWo WWE run? In fact, I don't remember Austin and Hogan even making eye contact during that feud. Was it simply a matter of Rock being more over then? Or Hogan's/Austin's resistance to jobbing to each other? Why couldn't they maybe make a handicap tag at WM18 of nWo/Rock&Austin, at least teasing the possibility of a singles face-off in the future? My knowledge of buyrates and such is negligible, so maybe there's something obvious I'm missing. - Mello Fisa
I think it had quite a bit to do with the fact that Rock was already becoming a part-time wrestler with his movie career beginning to take off, and they figured they could build up Hogan vs. Austin somewhere down the line and really make some money off of it. They didn't count on Austin leaving the company weeks after WrestleMania, though, and maybe they didn't plan on turning Hogan babyface so quickly. I do recall Hogan being involved in an Austin beatdown at No Way Out, so there was at least one time that they crossed paths.
I recently read that "after Wrestlemania" the FBI would be reforming with Vito, Little Guido/Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, and Trinity (presumably in ECW). Do you know if there is any truth to this?
Seems it's about time they find something for Palumbo to do. - Justin Walden
I have not heard anything about an FBI reunion, but I'm surprised Vince hasn't done something to rip off The Sopranos this season yet. Expect to see Vito taking a dump in the shower any week now.
Jeff Burnham has three questions...
1) Were the Eliminators supposed to be a homosexual tag-team (not that there's anything wrong with that)? I mean not only did they wear the pink tights, but there was an awful lot of hugging going on before and after their match with the Dudley's at Barely Legal '97...
I'm pretty sure they weren't. Was Bret Hart gay because he wore pink tights? Of course not, and there's nothing wrong with friends sharing a hug if that's what's acceptable in their circles. Tony Soprano's always hugging his friends, and he kisses them too. Does that make him gay? Nah. I think you're being way too judgmental here. Don't hate, appreciate.
2) Was there any specific reason why John Kronus was never brought into the big two? he was a pretty big guy (more than enough for Vince usually) and not only that he was also pretty agile - not many guys his size can do a 450 splash, for example.
Kronus was big, but not in the way that Vince likes. I think the best way of putting it is that he was a little bit chunky. His look wasn't really what Vince was looking for, and I don't remember him ever being much of a promo guy, so there's two strikes against him right there. Throw in the fact that he starred in a softcore bondage video with Nicole Bass, and you'd have to wonder if you'd want that kind of a guy on your roster.
3) What prompted Mustafa Saed to leave ECW, and what has he done much since?
The Gangstas were pretty much done since New Jack was getting over on his own, and they really didn't have much for Mustafa to do. He's bounced around wrestling since then, spending some time in Puerto Rico in the late 90s, and most recently appearing in Portland Wrestling. He did have a brief comeback in ECW a couple of years after his initial departure as Mr. Mustafa, the Dudley Boys' benefactor that paid them to keep beating up New Jack. I believe that ended after Mustafa no-showed an ECW event.
during the final years of WCW, they tried a cross promotion with rapper Master P
and his No Limit Record Label. They paired the Filthy Animals with these guys
but my question is who were the No Limit Soldiers. I know there was a buffed up
blonde guy and
another one that went by the name 4X4 but who were they? - KronicShock
No Limit Soldier members included 4X4, Swoll, BA, Chase, Konnan & Rey Mysterio. BA was Brad Armstrong, Swoll was Master P's cousin, and I have no idea who 4X4 or Chase were. I think Chase was the blonde guy you are thinking of, unless Armstrong dyed his hair at the time.
Well, that's all we have time for this week. Join me next week when I answer even more of your questions! Thanks for reading, and have a nice day.
