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For safety/insurance reasons, will WWE ever sign a guy built like Yokozuna again?
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Feb 5, 2021 23:36
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Lid posted:Is Roderick Strong the closest to a modern Dean Malenko? I'm asking because now after a fashion Roderick is a legend to me and will have outstanding technical matches with anyone but for years even when he was pushed at his peak as a champion he always felt less like The Guy then the best hand available. Hell it wasn't until well after his peak he developed a more rounded identity and character. Red posted:For safety/insurance reasons, will WWE ever sign a guy built like Yokozuna again?
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Feb 5, 2021 23:58
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Let's ask a hypothetical: If Owen's piledriver wound up retiring Austin on the spot how does the wrestling landscape in the 90s change?
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Feb 6, 2021 00:07
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Lamuella posted:
What about the part where it knocks him off his feet, but at the last second he leaps and does that slightly clumsy but rad enzuigiri? Or when he takes a big move, but jumps back to his feet and roars?
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Feb 6, 2021 00:16
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It's such a huge hypothetical that everyone can probably come up with a different idea of where it goes. I would say there probably isn't another boom period, or at least a severely reduced one. The Attitude Era wasn't just Austin but he was a huge part of it. It's entirely possible that business either drops again or just doesn't rise as much and then Vince starts cutting people to save money. Does Shawn go even harder on politicking to put himself in the number 1 spot, with or without a debilitating back injury?
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Feb 6, 2021 00:19
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Does Vince McMahon have any hobbies aside from working out?
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Feb 6, 2021 00:33
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fatherofmustard posted:Does Vince McMahon have any hobbies aside from working out? No he literally works, works out and sleeps I think.
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Feb 6, 2021 00:41
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If he had any hobbies he would have handed the company over to Steph and Triple H years ago
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Feb 6, 2021 00:43
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fatherofmustard posted:Does Vince McMahon have any hobbies aside from working out? He enjoys letting Shane know that he's not his favourite son despite being his only son.
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Feb 6, 2021 00:46
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LionYeti posted:No he literally works, works out and sleeps I think. Also he limits sleeping as much as possible
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Feb 6, 2021 01:01
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Much like sneezing, sleep is something Vince can't ultimately control, and thus must hate it.
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Feb 6, 2021 01:19
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Yesterday I was watching the 2000 Royal Rumble, which has an extended period where Rikishi cleans house. At some point it occurred to me that despite me only ever remembering his gimmick as "big samoan guy who dances" his ring attire and name are clear references to Sumo. I don't remember that ever being a part of his character- was that ever mentioned/referenced with him? Also how badly did Taka get hurt being thrown from the ring? It looks brutal, and even when they announce he'd been taken to the hospital, King is still laughing at the replays like an rear end in a top hat.
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Feb 8, 2021 17:41
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ChrisBTY posted:Let's ask a hypothetical: If Owen's piledriver wound up retiring Austin on the spot how does the wrestling landscape in the 90s change? They probably slot Rock into Austin's spot on top of the card, but a lot of what happens depends on if the Screwjob still goes down 3 months later. If it does, they probably give Owen more of a push as the Black Hart than they did in reality to fill Austin's anti-authority spot going against Corporate Rock.
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Feb 8, 2021 18:04
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"I WANNA SEE THAT CHAH-NESE GUY FALL OVER AGAIN JR HAHA" "... He's Japanese."
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Feb 8, 2021 18:05
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Admiral Joeslop posted:Much like sneezing, sleep is something Vince can't ultimately control, and thus must hate it. I always remember that bit about Jericho going to Vince's (Mc)Mansion in his first book and even at home Vince was immaculate with his hair done and a suit. Like you'd think business casual would be fine for hanging out at your house and trying to figure out if Too Much or the JOB Squad goes over with Bruce Prichard.
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Feb 8, 2021 19:18
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Lazy like a Fox posted:Yesterday I was watching the 2000 Royal Rumble, which has an extended period where Rikishi cleans house. At some point it occurred to me that despite me only ever remembering his gimmick as "big samoan guy who dances" his ring attire and name are clear references to Sumo. I don't remember that ever being a part of his character- was that ever mentioned/referenced with him? The basic Rikishi timeline after his run as The Sultan is “shows up in sumo gear after putting on weight because LOL butts, stumbles into Too Cool dance partnership, success (until “I did it for tha Rock”).” Best I can figure they were going to go for Yokozuna #2 but dropped the idea once the Too Cool partnership kicked in.
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Feb 8, 2021 19:20
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BodyMassageMachine posted:The basic Rikishi timeline after his run as The Sultan is “shows up in sumo gear after putting on weight because LOL butts, stumbles into Too Cool dance partnership, success (until “I did it for tha Rock”).” Best I can figure they were going to go for Yokozuna #2 but dropped the idea once the Too Cool partnership kicked in. The irony of him being the 2nd Yokozuna when Yoko was almost the other Headshrinker with Samu.
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Feb 8, 2021 19:40
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Mob posted:The irony of him being the 2nd Yokozuna when Yoko was almost the other Headshrinker with Samu.
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Feb 8, 2021 19:59
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I just found the Rikishi gimmick debut, and he even does the same 'crossing my arms sitting on a guy' Yokozuna would do. It's so incredibly blatant.
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Feb 8, 2021 20:14
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rare Magic card l00k posted:I just found the Rikishi gimmick debut, and he even does the same 'crossing my arms sitting on a guy' Yokozuna would do. Wasn’t Rikishi’s finisher the Banzai Drop? Or at least a signature move?
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Feb 8, 2021 21:13
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BodyMassageMachine posted:Wasn’t Rikishi’s finisher the Banzai Drop? Or at least a signature move? His finisher was similar to Bam Bam Bigelow's "Greetings from Asbury Park". He started to a sit down splash as a signature after his rear end got over with the crowd.
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Feb 8, 2021 21:19
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BodyMassageMachine posted:Wasn’t Rikishi’s finisher the Banzai Drop? Or at least a signature move? The Banzai Drop was a signature, yeah. He used it in the debut too.
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Feb 8, 2021 21:20
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BodyMassageMachine posted:Wasn’t Rikishi’s finisher the Banzai Drop? Or at least a signature move? At first, I think he had the Banzai Drop, then he ended up using a "Rikishi Driver", which was a terrible reverse piledriver. After the failed heel turn, he tagged with Scotty and I think mostly relied on the Stinkface. Also, it's worth noting he debuted as Rikishi Fatu, but they changed it to Rikishi Phatu, then just settled on Rikishi. He wasn't super different from the gimmick of Fatu, who danced to make a difference in kids' lives somehow; that gimmick just had him in tights and boots and jobbing, and some sort of unresolved angle where suited Samoan goons would watch him from a distance. So, anyway, Fatu sucked, and they turned him into The Sultan, and then went with Rikishi I don't know, either.
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Feb 8, 2021 21:22
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BodyMassageMachine posted:Wasn’t Rikishi’s finisher the Banzai Drop? Or at least a signature move? When he started, he had a piledriver finisher and used the Banzai as a setup. I believe he stopped using both after a while as the Stinkface was more over with the crowd (also you couldn't do piledrivers any more)
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Feb 8, 2021 21:22
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Wasn’t he called Sammy Sumo for a bit? He worked dark matches for a long time between the sultan and rikishi gimmicks and in pretty sure that was a name he went by.
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Feb 8, 2021 21:23
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Didn't rikishi use a fire thunder driver for a while? I remember thinking that it was actually pretty good.
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Feb 8, 2021 21:27
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Looking up the timeline of all of the shots that Rikishi got in the 1990s, I had no clue that he spent most of 1999 in Memphis as "street Hustler J.R. Smooth", feuding with Michael Hayes and Kurt Angle. According to Meltzer reports at the time, Rikishi was more or less fired after Wrestlemania XIV, and sent to Memphis to sort of work out the remainder of his contract/work with developmental guys. Matty and Ekmo (aka Rosey/Umaga) were his underlings, and they called themselves BSK. CopywrightMMXI posted:Wasn’t he called Sammy Sumo for a bit? He worked dark matches for a long time between the sultan and rikishi gimmicks and in pretty sure that was a name he went by. quote:In a match that didn't air on television, Sumo (Solofa Fatu) returned with a new gimmick pinning Crash Holly. What they need with Fatu at this point is beyond me. Don't they already have a bunch of 330 pound guys who move slow, have no charisma and can't get any heat? He spends the next few weeks reporting that he's being called Ratishi Fatu in dark matches. The weirdest thing to me is that he's only on TV as Rikishi for like three weeks before he gets paired up with Too Cool. Edge & Christian fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Feb 8, 2021 |
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Feb 8, 2021 21:53
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Deathlove posted:Didn't rikishi use a fire thunder driver for a while? I remember thinking that it was actually pretty good. Yeah, that’s what the Rikishi Driver was. Except he was so big people’s head never even came within a foot of the ground so he basically just had the opponent bounce off his shoulder while he dropped to his rear end.
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Feb 8, 2021 22:20
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Dacap posted:Yeah, that’s what the Rikishi Driver was. Except he was so big people’s head never even came within a foot of the ground so he basically just had the opponent bounce off his shoulder while he dropped to his rear end. On its own, it probably looked like a generic sitdown shoulder driver thing, but when you realize it was supposed to be a reverse piledriver...
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Feb 8, 2021 22:58
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Rikishi deserved every chance he got because of his clothesline sell.
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Feb 8, 2021 23:12
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rare Magic card l00k posted:Rikishi deserved every chance he got because of his clothesline sell. Rikishi was the beneficiary of a system that said: 1. Give a guy a gimmick, go to step 2 2. If this guy can pull off the gimmick, give him a meaningful storyline to develop a character, push accordingly; else, go to step 3 3. If this guy can't pull off the gimmick, take him off TV, repackage, go to step 2 Rikishi was a Headshrinker, then danced, then Sultan'd, then sumo danced, then did a hit job as a sumo dancer, then went back to sumo dancing, but less people cared. In the mid to late 90s, talent was thin enough they'd try out multiple gimmicks until something stuck. Kane didn't happen until he'd been a dentist and a Kevin Nash. Savio Vegas used to be a ninja.
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Feb 8, 2021 23:26
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Red posted:Rikishi was the beneficiary of a system that said: In simpler terms... "We thought this guy was talented enough to give him money, if we give up on him that means admitting we were wrong."
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Feb 8, 2021 23:35
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The extreme of this probably being Mark Henry, where they gave him a *lot* of money, refused to admit they were wrong, kept trying to drive him out of the business so he'd quit rather than admit they were wrong (and also to not pay him all that money he was owed), and Henry went "Nah I'll be a total idiot for that sort of money, gently caress you"
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Feb 8, 2021 23:47
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Red posted:Rikishi was the beneficiary of a system that said: I've just watched Chaz go through like three or four gimmicks in the space of year and I'm like, "Does anyone actually give a poo poo about Chaz to warrant this?"
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Feb 8, 2021 23:57
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rare Magic card l00k posted:In simpler terms... Absolutely, though besides money, sometimes a guy will get like 8 chances just for being big.
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Feb 9, 2021 00:01
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Red posted:Absolutely, though besides money, sometimes a guy will get like 8 chances just for being big. Yeah, but I'm counting that as often part of the giving him money step.
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Feb 9, 2021 00:02
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Wasn't it Rakishi at some early point?
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Feb 9, 2021 02:14
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Rusty Shackelford posted:Wasn't it Rakishi at some early point? no thats just how Jim Ross pronounced Rikishi for some rason
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Feb 9, 2021 02:14
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I'd rather have lovely sitout piledrivers where the dude's head remains a foot off the map than 'good' sitout piledrivers that shorten Steve Austin's career by 5 years. Trying to making chicken soup out of chicken poop made way more sense in the 90s when WWE had nothing going on in the midcard than it does in the 2010s-20s where it's not 'finding something that will work' and more 'you will like this guy whether you like it or not' over guys the crowd actually likes.
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Feb 9, 2021 02:45
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Dacap posted:Yeah, that’s what the Rikishi Driver was. Except he was so big people’s head never even came within a foot of the ground so he basically just had the opponent bounce off his shoulder while he dropped to his rear end. It looked brutal when they hid that with the camera angle, or in the Smackdown games where they could just animate the head smashing into the ground.
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Feb 9, 2021 03:30
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