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That's what I was trying to say in my post, Pete. When you're trying to beat the editing clock, things like clarity tend to go out the window,
Thanks for backing me up!
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Quoted from: garretta, January 18th, 2024 03:32 GMTIn our next match, Rusty teams with Tampa native Terry Gibbs against another pair of Tampa's finest: "Golden Boy" Danny Spivey and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff:
1. This match was taped on Tuesday, November 12, 1985 and aired on Championship on the weekend of December 7, 1985.
2. Prior to the match, Vince says that Paul's coming to the ring "broken arm and all". Fine and dandy, except that it's already been well established that Paul's arm isn't broken at all; he's only wearing his cast as an answer to Ace Orton's. At least wait until your history's more than a few weeks old before you rewrite it, Vince.
3. Seeing Spivey all in yellow reminds me of an article I read in a magazine a short time after I started to follow wrestling in real time. It claimed that Spivey was being trained to be Hogan's exact body double in case Hogan either couldn't handle being champion anymore or took an offer in Hollywood that required him to be away from wrestling for a long period of time.
All I'll say is that even if Vince would have been stupid enough to have this idea, there weren't enough steroids in Dr. Zahorian's bag to give a long, lanky guy like Danny Hogan's physique.
4. Both Spivey and Orndorff handle Rusty fairly easily, but the most impressive moves of the match have to be Spivey's dropkicks, Most guys as big as Danny is either can't or don't try to get up as high as he does. I won't say that his dropkicks are better than Jimmy Brunzell's or Koko Ware's. but they're on the level just below those.
5, For the finish, Spivey whips Rusty in. Orndorff catches him, gets behind him, and blasts him in the back of the head with the cast right in front of the referee, who does nothing. Rusty collapses in a heap, Spivey cuts Gibbs off, and Paul gets the three-count at 2:43.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
Dan Spivey made a pretty accurate Barry Windham body double
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This message was edited by garretta on January 19th, 2024 03:09 GMT
It's time for some six-man action, as Rusty teams with Jim Haley and Mr. X to battle the combination of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, King Tonga (Haku), and the Junkyard Dog:
1. This match was taped October 22, 1985 in Poughkeepsie and aired on Championship the weekend of November 2, 1985. This was the second hour taped on 10/22; Rusty's match with Hogan was in the third hour (11/9).
2. Was the Mr. X who wrestled in this match Danny Davis? I know he wrestled a bit under that name before his heel turn, and I don't remember him refereeing on TV before the rebranding of the syndicated shows in the fall of '86.
3. I'd love to know how they worked out the entrance music for multi-man matches in the days before all the members of a team got their own entrance.
In other words, why did the faces come down to "Grab Them Cakes" (JYD's song) instead of "Sirius" (Steamboat's song)? Was it because "Cakes" was an in-house production? Was JYD considered the team captain and/or the bigger attraction? (Haku didn't have theme music of his own yet; he wouldn't have it until the formation of The Islanders).
3, Before the match starts, Bruno calls King Tonga the Tonga Kid. If you wonder why I call them Haku and Tama respectively even though the Islanders were over a year away from being formed, there's your answer.
I wonder if any other announcers mistook one for the other, and whether that was part of the reason for the name change.
4. The heels take control briefly after Steamer tries and fails to slam Rusty. Ricky takes over again once Mr. X tags in, then introduces X to each of his partners by bouncing X's head off of theirs.
5, The finish comes when Haku connects with a thrust kick to Haley's jaw, then comes off the ropes and nails him with a flying headbutt. JYD and Steamer come in to make sure that X and Rusty don't get too frisky, and the three-count comes at 3:28. Rusty ends up locked in the ropes after a Steamboat chop.
6. After the match, Haku does a bit of juking with JYD, but Steamer doesn't, which is too bad. I guess dragons just don't have any rhythm!
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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This message was edited by garretta on January 23rd, 2024 03:15 GMT
In our next bout, Rusty and X take on the British Bulldogs (with Albano this time).
1. This bout was taped November 12, 1985 in Poughkeepsie and aired on Championship the weekend of November 23, 1985.
2. This match came in Hour 2 of the taping. The Orndorff/Spivey tag match involving Rusty that I reviewed earlier came in Hour 3 and aired December 7.
3. Capper's introduced as Manager of the Year. I've often wondered if they counted the first round of votes legitimately enough to come up with the final figures that they used on TV. or whether they just told a couple of secretaries to pick numbers between 250,000 and half a million and wrote them down for Mean Gene to memorize.
4, Vince plugs the debut of the "Land of a Thousand Dances" video the following week. He could have saved himself the trouble, because the only line from that song that I remember is Piper singing, "Hulk is such a yo-yo".
5. X and Rusty attack the Dogs from behind, but X is quickly tossed out of the ring. Davey Boy powerslams Rusty with ease, and Dynamite adds a flying headbutt from the top. You can stick a machete in the big man, because he's well done from head to toe. Time of the fall: twenty-six seconds.
6. After the bout, while Vince expounds on a possible record for quickest fall in a tag match, Rusty can be seen telling referee Dick Kroll that he was only down for a two-count. Kroll doesn't buy it.
7, Vince dispatches Bruno to get an interview with the Dogs, but if he did, we don't get to see it.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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Quoted from: garretta, January 19th, 2024 03:05 GMTIt's time for some six-man action, as Rusty teams with Jim Haley and Mr. X to battle the combination of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, King Tonga (Haku), and the Junkyard Dog:
3. I'd love to know how they worked out the entrance music for multi-man matches in the days before all the members of a team got their own entrance.
In other words, why did the faces come down to "Grab Them Cakes" (JYD's song) instead of "Sirius" (Steamboat's song)? Was it because "Cakes" was an in-house production? Was JYD considered the team captain and/or the bigger attraction? (Haku didn't have theme music of his own yet; he wouldn't have it until the formation of The Islanders).
I always wonder how the music was done for the eight man tag at Wrestlemania 8. All 8 guys were already in the ring during the intros by Ray Combs. I can't imagine enough time for each guy to go down the long entrance way to music.
During a six man of JYD, Hillbilly and Haynes v. Muraco, Orton and Bass the faces came out to Grab Them Cakes. They celebrated the win to Hillbilly's music which did have a bit more of a celebratory background music to it.
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That is cool they used both Grab them Cakes and Hillbilly's theme and a good win for the face team.
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This message was edited by garretta on January 28th, 2024 03:49 GMT
Now for some tag team action, as Rusty teams with Terry Gibbs to battle the Killer Bees:
1, This match was taped Tuesday, July 30, 1985 in Poughkeepsie and aired on Championship the weekend of August 24, 1985.
2. This tape is from the Boston area, as Howard's voiceover concerns a matinee card coming to Fall River, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 7. Bell time is 2PM.
3. Barry must have just started, because he didn't insist on Howard announcing him from the "Fabulous" Las Vegas, Nevada.
Incidentally, I just realized why Barry wanted that billing; it's on the sign that you see whenever Las Vegas is shown or referenced on TV,
4. Vince and Bruno make a big deal out of Blair's amateur background and continued involvement with amateur wrestling. Those are the sorts of things that we would see and hear less of as the expansion took hold and the wrestlers' athletic accomplishments began to take more of a backseat to the overall WWF brand.
5. We don't see the Brunzell dropkick, but we do see his second flashiest move, the high knee. It catches Rusty on the side of the head, but Barry makes the save after a one-count.
After the referee puts Barry out, Brunzie tries to slam Rusty, and actually does it after a bit of a struggle. He then tags Blair, who goes up top and comes off with a sitdown splash that spells the end for Rusty at 1:58. Meanwhile, Brunzell clotheslines Barry over the top.
Vince calls Blair's finisher a "stinger", which was a creative name for the move in the days before Steve Borden became famous with that nickname.
6, The card in Fall River, which took place at the Bank Street Armory, drew a thousand people. The only match listed was the main event, which was a twelve-man, $20,000 battle royal. Here are the eight wrestlers confirmed by The History of WWE as participants:
Corporal Kirschner (winner)
Greg Valentine
Brutus Beefcake
Pedro Morales
Moondog Spot
Tony Garea
Rene Goulet
George Wells
Most of these guys would be at the Boston Garden that evening.
Next: To be determined,
Thoughts?
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You had originally stated that Brooks was teaming with Terry Gibbs, but it was in fact Barry O(rton) that was his partner as you alluded to later.
I believe Barry insisted on "Las Vegas" as his hometown because his dad Bob Orton Sr. was living there at the time.
Fall River to Boston is about an hour drive.
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This message was edited by garretta on January 29th, 2024 16:23 GMT
Thanks for the catch on Rusty's partner, Ghost. I wish I could go back and edit the post to make it less confusing.
When I was talking about Barry insisting on his billing, I was referring to the bit where the ring announcer says. "From Las Vegas, Nevada......." and Barry stops him and barks at him for a moment, after which he corrects himself and says, "From the fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada......". It's nice to see Barry paying tribute to Bob Sr., even in a small way like that.
I can understand Vince not wanting to link the Orton brothers, since Ace and Piper were the top heel act in the company at the time and Barry was a jobber, but I don't think it was ever acknowledged on official WWF television that Barry was a second-generation wrestler, let alone who his father was.
(Official television, at least as I understand it, was the two main syndicated shows, where angles happened and storylines advanced. Televised house shows were their own world, since only local audiences saw them in full,)
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This message was edited by garretta on February 02nd, 2024 03:52 GMT
For a little something different, let's look at Gino Carabello as he takes on "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff:
1. This bout was taped Monday, September 9 in Poughkeepsie and aired on Championship the weekend of September 28,
2. Orndorff is announced at 267 pounds, which is the heaviest he's ever been in the WWF to that point. This was just before Paul was assigned his standard announced weight of 252 pounds.
It had to be sometime in '86 when Vince decided that the concept of gaining and losing weight was too much for the little Hulksters to grasp and assigned wrestlers certain weights at which that they would always be announced. Hogan was always 302 (except at Mania III, when he was allowed to be 294 to make himself more of an underdog against Andre). Piper was always 232, DiBiase was always 260, and so on.
2. Rita Marie Chatterton is the referee here. She was the first woman to speak out against Vince's depravity, for which she should be saluted. Thank heaven that there have been plenty more.
3. This tape came from the Los Angeles area. One of the first versions of the WWF Wrestling Hotline is advertised in a crawl at the bottom of the screen, and it mentions Southern California area codes 213 and 818,
4. Paul focuses on his aerial tactics in this match, hitting both an elbow and a knee from the top rope.
5. I was going to say that Paul seemed more aggressive than usual, even using heel tactics like choking Carabello with a knee across the throat. Then I remembered that he used tactics like that in every match, whether he was a face or a heel.
6. Bruno mentions at one point that Paul doesn't have to use the piledriver to beat Carabello, but what's an Orndorff squash without one? Paul delivers as usual, and the night's over for Carabello at 2:50.
7. Paul seems to be gesturing to someone at the end, telling them to come on down. We don't get to see who it is before the tape cuts out.
He's up on the turnbuckles, so my guess is he's looking over toward Piper's Pit. Rod's upcoming guest was Uncle Elmer, and there was no mention of a confrontation of any kind during that segment on the History of WWE website.
Next: To be determined,
Thoughts?
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Paul was likely motioning toward Piper and Orton since he was still facing them around the horn with those two trying to get the bounty from Heenan. John Studd was also a frequent opponent but Piper And Orton were regular foes as the next SNME in October had a match with Piper.
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February 02nd, 2024 22:46 GMT |
 
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This message was edited by garretta on February 06th, 2024 03:24 GMT
It's time for tag team action now, as Rusty Brooks and Terry Gibbs, who were beaten by the Killer Bees earlier in this thread, try their luck against the then-current WWF tag team champions, Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo (with Captain Louis Albano):
1. This match was taped Tuesday, March 5, 1985 in Poughkeepsie and aired on Championship the weekend of March 16.
2. Rotundo executes the first overhead armdrag I've even seen on Rusty. He doesn't get Rusty all the way up and over, but the big man still takes a nice-looking bump.
3. I get that he's a preliminary guy and not a monster heel, but does anyone else think that Rusty's getting bodyslammed too often for his own good? No offense to Rotundo, but if he can get Rusty up for a slam with no strain whatsoever the way he did here, the business is being exposed a bit too blatantly for my comfort.
If I was the agent, Hogan gets to plant Rusty in the mat like a geranium if he so chooses. Same thing with the likes of JYD, Hillbilly Jim (had he not been injured at this time), and a few more of the bigger guys. Everybody else sticks and moves, especially in tag matches where Rusty has a partner to take a lot of the bumps for him.
4, Windham gets the pinfall on Rusty with the bulldog at 2:49.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
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This message was edited by Eater of the Dead on February 06th, 2024 03:35 GMT
Quoted from: garretta, February 06th, 2024 03:17 GMTIt's time for tag team action now, as Rusty Brooks and Terry Gibbs, who were beaten by the Killer Bees earlier in this thread, try their luck against the then-current WWF tag team champions, Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo (with Captain Louis Albano):
1. This match was taped Tuesday, March 5, 1985 in Poughkeepsie and aired on Championship the weekend of March 16.
2. Rotundo executes the first overhead armdrag I've even seen on Rusty. He doesn't get Rusty all the way up and over, but the big man still takes a nice-looking bump.
3. I get that he's a preliminary guy and not a monster heel, but does anyone else think that Rusty's getting bodyslammed too often for his own good? No offense to Rotundo, but if he can get Rusty up for a slam with no strain whatsoever the way he did here, the business is being exposed a bit too blatantly for my comfort.
If I was the agent, Hogan gets to plant Rusty in the mat like a geranium if he so chooses. Same thing with the likes of JYD, Hillbilly Jim (had he not been injured at this time), and a few more of the bigger guys. Everybody else sticks and moves, especially in tag matches where Rusty has a partner to take a lot of the bumps for him.
4, Windham gets the pinfall on Rusty with the bulldog at 2:49.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?
Agree with you on the body slamming thing, just because Rusty is a preliminary guy, it doesn't make him any less big. To your point if it's that easy for rotundo to slam him, it wouldn't take that much more effort for rotundo to slam studd...or even andre
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