|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1068531
PT: #16/190
|
This message was edited by garretta on December 10th, 2023 02:12 GMT
We continue with our look at Scott McGhee. In this bout, he battles Hercules Hernandez at the Spectrum on Saturday, February 8, 1986. Your announcers for PRISM are Dick Graham and Lord Alfred Hayes:
1. The WWF had two televised cards at the same time on this night. The other was at the Boston Garden, featuring the Savage-Santana IC title change. Gino and Jesse were there for obvious reasons, so now we get to hear Dick on play-by-play. Don't ya love it? I mean, fans, don't ya love it?
2. No Blassie with Herc, as Freddie only went to TV tapings and MSG by now.
3. Herc stomps the mat four times after he's introduced, prompting Lord Alfred to quip, "I think Hercules just counted to four then." Dick answers with something about seeing other live beings doing that, which I'm guessing is a veiled reference to bowel movements. Just what I needed to hear at a wrestling match.
4. Lord Alfred says that Scotty is from Edinburgh. The only other Scottish city most Americans would have recognized is Glasgow, and that was out because Piper was already billed from there. That's probably why they just went with Scotland for Scotty's billing.
5. The camera misses an early turning point in the match, as Herc sidesteps a move by Scotty and gives him a slight shove that takes him past the corner and into the steel post. Scotty's sell job helps to convey what happened, but we still should have been able to see it.
6. Lord Alfred mentions that Jack Tunney has made a ruling that wrestlers are no longer allowed to wear casts, even with medical clearance. (In other words, the Ace Orton/Paul Orndorff rule.) He also wonders whether Herc might have something in his wristband after Herc knocks Scotty for a loop with a forearm.
7. For those who may not remember, Orndorff countered Orton's cast with one of his own during their house show feud in '85 and early '86. Paul also wore the cast on TV, and he wasn't shy about using it right in front of the referees. Vince and Gino defended him for doing this, much to the chagrin of Jesse and Heenan.
(To the best of my knowledge, Iron Mike Sharpe's forearm brace was ignored by everyone.)
8. Lord Alfred talks about all the great young wrestlers coming out of Tampa. He mentions Herc, Brian Blair, and Danny Spivey, but not Orndorff. I'm guessing that Paul had been around too long at that point to be classified as young.
9, With more time at a house show than he usually has on TV, Herc has a chance to show more of his offensive repertoire and does some very impressive work on Scotty's back. His main move is the bearhug, which he goes back to three times.
9. McGhee counters with an offensive surge that culminates in a flying fist to the chin off the top that gets a two and a half count. (Dick calls it a headbutt, even though no part of Scotty's head touches Herc.) He follows up with a tackle but is caught in his attempt at a second tackle. One over-the-knee backbreaker later, Herc gets the three-count at 8:44.
10, This card drew 19,710, which was a sellout, In the main event, Hogan defeated King Kong Bundy (with Heenan) by disqualification at 9:15.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
;
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 172
Replies: 8917
Member
Post: #1068539
PT: #17/190
|
What is the purpose of this thread? Is it fantasy wrestling or real?
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 Merc |
December 10th, 2023 23:19 GMT |
 
|
|
Topics: 21
Replies: 393
Member
Post: #1068543
PT: #19/190
|
Quoted from: garretta, November 29th, 2023 02:07 GMTMy first attempt at a post was eaten, so on we go to the Boston Garden on Saturday, August 15, 1987. Iron Mike Sharpe is taking on Brady Boons, and your announcers for NESN (New England Sports Network) are Lord Alfred Hayes and Slick:
1, First of, where the devil was Gino? Lord Alfred had never done play-by-play before, and to put him with a rptating triumvirate of Jimmy Hart, Johnny Valiant, and Slick would have been tough for a veteran like Gino, let alone a complete novice.
2. Even though Slick was in the building, he hadn't accompanied Nikolai Volkoff to the ring earlier that night for his match against Paul Orndorff. Paul won by pinfall.
3. Howard Finkel makes a rare Beantown appearance as the ring announcer.
4. I love Lord's motto when it comes to Iron Mike: "If it moves, dropkick it!"
5. There really is no honor among thieves; when Iron Mike takes a spill on the announce table, the first thing Slick does is wave him off, as if to say "Get the hell away from me!"
6. The Slickster is very low-key and respectful here, possibly because he's working with Lord Alfred. He shows a bit more of his "true" character when Lord asks him about his plans to send the One Man Gang after Hogan.
More below!
Opening match had,..from Queens, NH 275lbs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Merc |
December 10th, 2023 23:22 GMT |
|
|
Topics: 21
Replies: 393
Member
Post: #1068544
PT: #20/190
|
Quoted from: Merc, December 10th, 2023 23:19 GMTQuoted from: garretta, November 29th, 2023 02:07 GMTMy first attempt at a post was eaten, so on we go to the Boston Garden on Saturday, August 15, 1987. Iron Mike Sharpe is taking on Brady Boons, and your announcers for NESN (New England Sports Network) are Lord Alfred Hayes and Slick:
1, First of, where the devil was Gino? Lord Alfred had never done play-by-play before, and to put him with a rptating triumvirate of Jimmy Hart, Johnny Valiant, and Slick would have been tough for a veteran like Gino, let alone a complete novice.
2. Even though Slick was in the building, he hadn't accompanied Nikolai Volkoff to the ring earlier that night for his match against Paul Orndorff. Paul won by pinfall.
3. Howard Finkel makes a rare Beantown appearance as the ring announcer.
4. I love Lord's motto when it comes to Iron Mike: "If it moves, dropkick it!"
5. There really is no honor among thieves; when Iron Mike takes a spill on the announce table, the first thing Slick does is wave him off, as if to say "Get the hell away from me!"
6. The Slickster is very low-key and respectful here, possibly because he's working with Lord Alfred. He shows a bit more of his "true" character when Lord asks him about his plans to send the One Man Gang after Hogan.
More below!
Opening match had,..from Queens, NY275lbs the Dingo Warrior!
(Copy & paste HTML code not working tonight.)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1107037463244768
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1068549
PT: #21/190
|
This message was edited by garretta on December 11th, 2023 03:28 GMT
I'm a bit late for my update tonight, so I looked for a short match to review, and I think I've found one.
We're at the Boston Garden, and the date is Saturday, March 7, 1987. Our featured wrestler is Jesse Barr, known to WWF fans as Jimmy Jack Funk, and he's subbing for Barry O (another wrestler we'll examine later) against the one and only Outback Jack. Your announcers for NESN are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan:
1. Outback's purported hometown of Humpty Doo actually exists, but he doesn't come from there; he was born somewhere in the Melbourne area in the state of Victoria,
2. Gino refers to Humpty Doo as "Humpty Back", which is the kind of thing you'd expect Heenan to say. Bobby, for his part, calls it "Humpty Dumpty".
3. Gino then refers to Jimmy Jack as "Billy Jack". Announcers mix up names all the time in legit sports, but in wrestling, one always has to wonder if mistakes such as that are legitimate, or if they're an example of either personal dislike or indifference to a given wrestler. (Heel managers deliberately insulting an opponent to draw heat are a different thing altogether.)
4. Mr. Monsoon just keeps 'em coming. While Jimmy Jack is pounding away on Ourback after jumping him from behind to start the match, he (Gino) says that he expected Outback to come out with a boomerang or riding a kangaroo.
Was he just being funny, or was he offering suggestions to Vince? I could actually see him (Vince) buying a kangaroo for Outback ride to the ring, at least for major matches, had he stayed and been pushed, The boomerang would probably been added eventually as well if they could have found one.
5. Outback wins this match with just three moves: elbow to the jaw, front clothesline, and boomerang clothesline from the back, which gets the pin. Time of the fall: fifty-eight seconds.
6, I found out on Wikipedia just now thar Outback's real name is Peter Sillsbury. It's kind of a shame that he didn't ask Vince for permission to use that name in the ring; imagine the ball Heenan would have had cutting promos on someone he would have almost certainly dubbed "The Pillsbury Doughboy", especially given Outback's physique,
7. Heenan gives credit to Outback for getting such a quick win, which is the only bit of praise he ever gave Outback, grudgingly, facetiously, or otherwise.
8. This card drew an even 14,000. The main event was a six-man elimination tag: Hogan, Piper, and Billy Jack Haynes against Adrian Adonis, Orndorff, and Hercules (with Jimmy and Heenan). Hogan was the survivor, pinning Herc with the legdrop in 18:04.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 1098
Replies: 14352
Member
Post: #1068581
PT: #22/190
|
I think Kangaroos are much to wild and aggressive to even attempt to use one as a gimmick. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1068608
PT: #23/190
|
This message was edited by garretta on December 12th, 2023 03:11 GMT
In our next bout, we continue our look at Scott McGhee. It's Saturday afternoon, January 18, 1986, and we're at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland to see Scotty battle Randy "Macho Man" Savage, accompanied by Elizabeth. Your announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes:
1. Scotty's given a hometown for this bout: Aberdeen, which of this writing is Scotland's third most populated city.
2. At the beginning of the bout, Randy gets in Gino's face about calling him the "Not-So-Macho Man" due to his bullying of Liz. Gino was the only full-time announcer who stood up to the heels when he was verbally attacked, probably because of his background as a wrestler. (I know Bruno and Pat also defended themselves from time to time, but they were part-time wrestlers while they were in the booth.)
3. Gino says at one point that Randy's lack of respect for Liz comes as a result of a poor upbringing. Be careful, Gino, Angelo might hear you!
4; Speaking of Angelo, both he and Scotty's father Geoff Portz are mentioned by His Lordship during a discussion of second-generation wrestlers, although their names aren't used.
5. Gino wasn't the only announcer on the card to have a confrontation with a heel; according to Lord, Don Muraco came after him prior to his (Muraco's) earlier bout against Ricky Steamboat. (Muraco won the match by pinfall after hitting Steamer with a foreign object.)
I'm not sure if I like confrontations between wrestlers and announcers who aren't currently wrestling or not. Done sparingly, they add a sense of excitement to shows that can become repetitious. But twice in the same show with announcers who were no longer in wrestling shape and never would be again is too much.
6. Innovative Foreign Object of the Day: A sealed bag of popcorn, which Randy rubbed into Scotty's face. The bag was full; I saw popcorn spilling out of it as Randy brought it into the ring. Scotty later returned the favor when Randy was hung in the tree of woe.
7. Gino and Lord both criticize Scotty for untying Randy from the tree of woe. How else is he supposed to pin him, geniuses?
8. Randy catches Scotty coming off the ropes with a clothesline, then quickly heads up top and drops the elbow. Three seconds later, this one's in the books. Time of the fall: 6:18.
9. Randy talked trash to Gino again after the match just because he could. I liked Lord attempting to talk Gino out of taking the bait, as if even the densest mark believed that a half-blind, washed-up announcer was actually going to answer the challenge of one of the best (and craziest) wrestlers in the promotion.
10. I forgot to mention this before, but by the time the audio people at the Cap Center remembered to play "Pomp and Circumstance". Randy was already on the ring apron and about to step through the ropes. That's taking "better late than never" to a whole new level.
11. This match aired on the Monday, February 3 edition of Prime Time.
12. No attendance was given for this card. In the main event, Hogan teamed with Hillbilly Jim to defeat Studd and Bundy.
Next: To be determined,
Thoughts?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 34
Replies: 314
Member
Post: #1068628
PT: #24/190
|
IIRC, i saw Baron Mikel Scicluna win like 4 or 5 curtain-jerker matches in a row at the Spectrum. My bud and i were in all our glory. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1068650
PT: #25/190
|
This message was edited by garretta on December 13th, 2023 03:30 GMT
Our next bout comes from the Boston Garden on Saturday, February 8, 1986. Later in the night, the sellout crowd of 16,180 would see Randy Savage win the Intercontinental title from Tito Santana. But first, they would enjoy the titanic clash between Tiger Chung Lee and George "The Animal" Steele.
Your announcers for NESN are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura:
1, If there were any introductions, we don't get them. The first thing we see is George chasing Tiger, followed by Tiger hammering George with his kendo stick. George turns the tables in a hurry, then breaks the kendo stick in half.
2. Here's one of the little things nobody thinks about that exposes the business as a work: George is supposedly too dumb to take care of himself, and he's undergoing psychiatric treatment. He has Captain Lou Albano as his manager, and Capper's supposed to be overseeing his treatment and helping him with his daily tasks. In other words, it's a risky proposition to let him out in society without assistance.
With all of the above said, where was Capper? We as smart fans know that he was doing his own thing by now and only coming to TV tapings and MSG, but if you were employed by the WWF at the time and were asked by a non-smart fan how George was getting along with nobody to care about him, what would you say?
Are the other wrestlers looking out for him? The road agents? If Capper's paying for a helper while he's away, why is the helper not given a temporary manager's license so he can be in George's corner to calm him down and remind him to follow the rules?
3. Just as I asked the above, Gino wonders why Capper let George come out on his own. Jesse answers that someone's probably looking after Capper, and that George may be the smarter of the two. Considering that George was a teacher in real life, I had to chuckle at that one.
4, Even though he's a face now, George can still play Hide the Object to perfection, as he produces something out of his tights and punches Tiger right in the throat with it.
5. Just a few seconds earlier, George had torn the barricade off of its moorings and dragged it to the apron, intending to use it against Tiger. Tiger beat him to the punch by ramming his (George's) head into it.
6. George also uses one of Tiger's own sandals against him. I didn't know that Tiger wore sandals to the ring, seeing as how he wrestled barefoot.
7. Tiger jumps George from behind in the corner twice, but George no-sells each time, On the second attempt, he proves the method to his madness; he's undone the pad to the second turnbuckle, and he bounces Tiger's head off of the exposed steel. It's enough to knock Tiger down, and George gets the three-count at 5:34.
8. After the match, George points to Jesse, and Gino takes it to mean that he wants Jesse to come into the ring and raise his (George's) hand in victory. Jesse emphatically declines, just as you'd expect.
9, Line of the Night: Jesse comparing the act of breaking Tiger's kendo stick to breaking his (Jesse's) favorite shades.
10. This match aired on the Monday, March 10 edition of Prime Time.
11, In addition to Savage winning the IC title, this card also featured the Boston blowoff between Bruno and Roddy Piper, which took place in a steel cage. Bruno won by going out the door at 8:40.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1069032
PT: #26/190
|
This message was edited by garretta on December 22nd, 2023 02:40 GMT
We now begin our look at Tony Garea, Our first match comes from Madison Square Garden, where Tony takes on King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart). It's Friday, June 21, 1985, and your announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund:
1. This match aired on the Tuesday, July 9, 1985 edition of Prime Time and was also featured on Coliseum Video's The Best of the WWF Volume 3.
2. One of Gino's favorite talking points about superheavyweights like Bundy was that they didn't like side headlocks. Was that supposed to mean that smaller guys did?
Also, wouldn't a well applied side headlock hurt the big guy's neck and make it harder for them to breathe, thus robbing them of oxygen? Gino makes it sound like the most pointless hold in the world.
It might be a case of SAD, as he could almost certainly tell that the next spot would be the "brick wall", as indeed it was (Tony shoulder blocks Bundy, only to be thrown backwards).
3. Tony manages to get Bundy down and work on his legs briefly.
4. Monsoon and Okerlund discuss just how big Bundy really is. Monsoon says that he has to be over five hundred pounds because he himself only got up to four forty.
This leads to one of my favorite Monsoon lines: "What do you do when you weigh over five hundred pounds, go down to the stockyards and hang on the meat scale?"
5. Okerlund mentions Tony's five tag team championship reigns, which they seldom talked about on the syndicated shows anymore.
6. Tony gets a brief flurry at the end, but it all comes to nothing when Bundy reverses a whip and hits the Avalanche. After a splash (which is more of a swan dive), Bundy gets the pin at 6:17.
7. This match was also featured on another Coliseum Video, at least in part: Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest.
8. This card drew 19,800. The main event saw Hogan defend the WWF title against Don Muraco (with Mr. Fuji) in a steel cage. Hogan went out through the door at 9:05 while Muraco's head was caught in the ropes.
Next: To be determined,
Thoughts?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 604
Replies: 13658
Member
Post: #1069034
PT: #27/190
|
Reading your synopsis, I took gorilla monsoons comment that big guys don't like side headlocks as making a lot of sense according to your conclusion.. big guys don't like side headlocks because of the fact that it deprives them of oxygen making it harder to breathe when they are caught in one, so it seems monsoons comment was insightful in that regard
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1069036
PT: #28/190
|
I got distracted earlier and didn't finish the thought about Tony working on Bundy's legs. It was more than we saw from most guys, including those a lot higher up the totem pole. Then again, fans paid their money to see the bigger guys throw bombs, not exchange toeholds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| drjonah |
December 22nd, 2023 20:28 GMT |
|
|
Topics: 28
Replies: 1403
Member
Post: #1069073
PT: #29/190
|
Gorilla always liked to talk about psychology. And since bigger guys didn't always have the best stamina, using a headlock made sense because it wore the big guys down fast
|
|  |
| Anytime I post a ring result, I got it from Graham Cawthon's wonderful website
http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Topics: 175
Replies: 2094
Member
Post: #1069087
PT: #30/190
|
This message was edited by garretta on December 23rd, 2023 02:27 GMT
I'll get back to Garea shortly, but right now I'd like to continue our look at Scott McGhee, In our next bout, we're at the Boston Garden on Saturday, January 11, 1986, and Scotty's battling Moondog Spot. Your announcers for NESN are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura:
1. This match aired on the Monday, February 24, 1986 edition of Prime Time.
2. Gino mentions that Scotty didn't get a good reception.
He was obviously supposed to be the face, except for the few fans who might have seen Spot as so ugly that he was cute. My guess is that the crowd was in no mood to cheer anyone from Scotland, home of Roddy Piper (whose feud with Bruno was going strong at house shows throughout the Northeast.)
3. Jesse contends that Spot is the first guy from Parts Unknown to have his weight announced (276 pounds, for the record).
He's off by a little over a year; Brutus Beefcake was originally billed as from Parts Unknown when he first came into the WWF in the fall of '84, but his weight was given at 273 pounds. He "moved" to San Francisco just before he and Greg Valentine won the tag titles in late summer of '85.
3. Jesse classifies Spot as "solid in his wrestling". Yeah, about as solid as you are, pal. The real Larry Latham may have had a wrestling background, but Spotty's scientific knowledge consists of knowing where to waffle a poor sucker with his bone.
4, Jesse on European uppercuts: "If you have a (British) accent, they're taught to you in school."
5. Gino on Spot's weight: "With or without the bone?"
6. While Scotty tries to tear Spot's arm off, our announcers amuse themselves by discussing where Spot's jeans were tailored.
They go seamlessly between comedic banter and discussion of strategy without intrusive segue phrases like "In the ring right now" that make the play-by-play announcer sound like he's verbally shaming his partner for daring to take his attention away from an obvious rest hold for ten whole seconds to say something funny. It happens in non-worked sports too, and it sounds just as bad.
The above exchange ends with Gino making a crack about how cheap Jesse and Adrian Adonis' ring gear was when they were the East-West Connection. An unfazed Jesse responds, "It's tax deductible."
(I should point out that Jesse had taken Dick Murdoch's place in the official history of the WWF at the time, including Dickie's tag title reign with Adonis. The amazing thing was, it hadn't even been a year since Dickie's departure.)
7. Spot takes over after Scotty misses a turnbuckle charge and gets a close two-count with a knee to the head off the second rope. Gino calls the blow a "right hand to the sternum."
8. I was wrong earlier; Spot busts out a well-executed vertical suplex, which shows that the character can wrestle at least a little,
I'm going to start another post for the rest of this match, See you below!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Subscriptions disabled ]