Its amazing how much WWF has stepped up their game in 98

King of the Ring was INSANE. 1st time I had seen the Mankind madness and I was a bit shocked lol

Rock improved so fkn much in ring and on the mic over a year period its crazy

Interesting story I found about the peoples elbow move, apparently sometimes at house shows, wrestlers made up ridiculous moves to entertain the boys and HHH says the elbow was one of those moves that Rock tried and kept doing it for the boys entertainment factor until it got over with crowds

Such a fkn hilarious ludicrous move but I love it

HHH and DX were awesome to root for and Taker Stone Cold are going off

Kane's entrance is fkn cool, lol at the brother storyline but at least it was done with conviction

The way Mcmahon is embracing the heel big boss role is genius really

Currently viewing Hulk Hogan vs the Million Dollar Man. Only it's the Thunderlips version of Hogan...as the heel. In 1979. Supposedly his Garden debut. Never knew this existed.

'98 WWE was great, but I think I've mentioned before that I prefer '97 even more as an overall year for professional wrestling. WCW was firing on all cylinders and although that year's Mania was crap aside from Austin/Hart, I really loved the Hart Foundation/Austin stuff.

Some of the booking became chaotic and hard to follow at times after Summerslam '98. Especially with Taker if I remember right. While the Ministry of Darkness was intriguing, the Higher Power reveal might have been the nut low for that era of WWE.

Who holds the absolute power now, Hollywood Hogan? Unleash that raising voice, Warriors!*[Warrior Chants]*Seems as if no formal introduction is gonna be necessary! Actually, it even seems as if there are those who anticipated my arrival!

[Hogan offers him an NWO shirt]*What is that smell? You might want to use it to clean up the mess you just made all over yourself! You need to open your eyes and ears, take control of the limited ability you have to understand the words I am about to say. For years, I have watched while this industry, with you as it's figurehead, has tried to create what is simply un-re-cre-at-able. I have heard, listened to all the innuendos and speculation that something ULTIMATE or WARRIOR may soon reappear. Welcome to the reappearance!*

Those things, Hogan, which are irreplacable, whether they be people, places, or things, are never forgotten. You are witnessing that - RIGHT NOW! History tells us, Hogan...*[“Hogan sucks”-Chants]*Let's talk about something he doesn't know! History tells us, Hogan, that a man's legacy is build from the premise that within his life the moments lived, once lived, become a piece of his history. Somehow, you have conveniently, even eloquently, misplaced pieces of your history.

In the one time, epochal battle between us, Hogan, you were the quintessential influence of what was good, great, and heroic. But different than you may remember, and albeit you may have beaten myths, legends, giants, and other great men, you never - never - beat a warrior. AND, certainly, not THE ULTIMATE ONE! As a victor of that one-time battle, I defeated what was, until then, undefeatable. I conquered what was then unconquerable. I dominated what was, until then, indomitable. On that day, you were great. I was ULTIMATE!*

Let me introduce myself, to those two fools that stand behind you. Let's see, this - dude*[deutet auf den Disciple]*- must be your barber. And who are you, little man? Who are you?*[Eric Bischoff nennt seinen Namen und erklärt, dass er diese Firma leitet]*Ha ha ha ha ha...different than you want to make people believe, I never received an invitation, I showed up on my own accord, and let me tell you, Mr. Eric Bischoff, if you stick your nose in my business, you only, very quickly, prepare for your own demise. Furthermore, when I get down with my business here, I'm going to be sending you a bill. I suggest you pay it. I have waited patiently. The WARRIORS have waited all too patiently.*

Now - NOW - the virtue of justice unties my hands so that I can continue to fulfill a destiny set in motion upon that memorable day years ago - a destiny at the next level - a destiny beckoning the next Super Hero. There really is no sadder sight than when a grown man fears the challenges in his life so much that he rationalises adolescent behaviour to the point where he carries out heinous and self-indulgent actions - YOUR evilness, the evilness you embody and portray, is intolerable.*

I am the one that has the power to destroy you. It's source, Hogan, the truth, is inexhaustable. I come here, not to beat you up tonight, Hogan*- beating you means nothing anymore. Everybody already has. No no no no no no no, that's too easy. Because you felt guilty for being who you were. Your mind became weak and Hulkamania became boring. I come here, Hogan, to tell you next week I intend to launch a revolution not even YOU can control. I ask you to find the courage - check it out - next week, same Warrior time, same Warrior place, same Warrior channel."

Yeah, that revolution was something. "But OMG TONY! The "OWN" is an anagram of the "NWO"!!!"*

*this is a fake quote

Lol at Nash calling Goldberg a giant snapping turtle on commentary

Curt Hennig delivered the best congratulatory babyface handshake of all time FWIW.



None of this "I'm happy for you" nonsense when the wrestlers wouldn't actually be happy for the other guy. Just "I'm congratulating you because that's the decent thing to do, but damn am I pissed off about losing." That's a proper babyface handshake.

Especially since his back pain was so acute that he could barely walk. Such a special performer.

Well, that was SummerSlam '91 when he was crippled. He wasn't a face then. This was the KOTR '93 rematch.

Obviously he also deserves props for how insanely well he handled that SummerSlam match.

Ah, thanks. Just assumed that was the match you were referring to.

I do always go "WTF" at the spot after the SummerSlam match where Bret forcibly rips Hennig's singlet off and sends him sprawling out of the ring. Hennig gave up even faster in the Sharpshooter than Bret did at Survivor Series '97, so he was obviously in an absolutely desperate state of pain, and the post-match bit seemed like an additional bump that added nothing.

Will have to go rewatch this. I wonder if there is any decent shoot commentary on that moment.

Here's the absolute insta-quit as soon as Bret completes the transition into the Sharpshooter. Knowing what we know of Hennig's back - that doctors told him he was done forever, and he was just adamant about finishing the job of putting Bret over - I have to assume that he was just dying.



This is the post-match sequence I'm referencing. On a healthy wrestler this would be nothing at all in terms of bumping, but in Hennig's condition I'm guessing all of that wrenching just made things that much worse.

I grimaced watching that.

I have to wonder what the kayfabe purpose was of that last sequence. In a vacuum it looks like a total heel move.

Well, my best guess at it:

Perfect arrived in the WWF just wearing basic tights like what he was stripped down to. He upgraded to the flashier singlet at WrestleMania V. I think that all parties believed this to be his final match, believing he may never be able to physically go again. I think that this was some weird symbolism marking this as his final defeat, reducing him from perfection to something more ordinary.

In any case, I regard it as worthless, and while it was obviously planned in advance, it seems like they could have just audibled out of it. Of course, just as HHH straight-up directed Jericho to put him in the Walls after tearing his quad, I gather that Hennig is of similar toughness and would probably have insisted on fully following through with the planned booking no matter how much it hurt.

I've always felt awful watching this sharpshooter. He bends him damn near in half before letting go despite Curt giving up immediately and the state of Curt's back.

Curt
That match was perfect.

Good analysis. I hope you’re right and Hennig was being a way-too-stubborn professional and insisted on completing the spot. I’d hate to see someone bump like that against their wishes.

As an aside, Perfect and Macho are the two deceased wrestlers I probably think of most often. Still miss those guys.

Well, the mere fact of Hennig being commanded to retire by his doctors, and Hennig wanting to make the sacrifices needed to do this match at all, certainly points in the direction that he wouldn't have wanted to audible out of a spot like that.

Right before he stopped wrestling entirely for over a month in order to get rested up to do (purportedly) one last job at SummerSlam, they taped a jobber squash where he just beat the guy in 17 seconds without the Perfectplex. It aired after SummerSlam, and was clearly always meant to since he went out there without the belt (apparently they did an unaired segment beforehand where Bret stole the belt, in order to explain its absence, and Curt's over-the-top anger, to the crowd). Coach was gone and Heenan put it over as a split between Perfect and Coach. I always remember this when it aired, just because it was so odd between the really short match time and the fact that Perfect was just trying to go over ASAP without really using his regular moves.

Wow, what a super bizarre match.

LKJ your WWF Superstars memories are

Bored at work so rewatched the WWE 24 of Wrestlemania 30,31 and 32. Since Zach Ryder was a substitute for Neville in the ladder match in which he won the IC title I wonder who was going to win it before Neville got injured. Anyone ever hear?

I can't get over the fact that Vince won't pay for the rights to Superstars of Wrestling. How much could they possibly be asking for?

Is that why old Superstars episodes aren't on there? Who is it that has the rights to them?

I don't know who owns them, but somebody apparently trademarked "Superstars of Wrestling". Which is why it's not on the Network.

In Canada they called the very same show "Maple Leaf Wrestling" for some reason. That was the name of what I watched, picking it up on antenna from the US side of the border. It does look like you're right about the trademark getting picked up by someone else after Vince let it lapse.

Obviously they still own their own footage, but this probably just creates the pain in the ass of having to blur stuff out all over the place.

https://youtu.be/EPPdIpgdeZk

I used to love this intro

I can't be the only one excited by this. Have just recently started watching earliest Mid-South stuff on the network (1981) featuring an awkward Paul Ellering face turn against the Iron Shiek. Disappointed to read that it didn't even lead anywhere with Shiek leaving and Ellering being injured again. Ellering was such a cornball back then. Never would believe it was the same guy.