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Vagabundo posted:Wasn't the programming broadcast also some real low-effort poo poo as well? Would things have gone differently if there'd been real effort put into the broadcast, with matches geared to appeal to the GCW fanbase? When the Briscos and Jim Barnett sold their shares of Georgia Championship Wrestling to Vince, one of the promises he made was to provide original content, including shows taped at the TBS studios. Now, Black Saturday was July 14, 1984. The first WWF show that actually had original programming was March 2, 1985. Basically what Vince aired was a bunch of highlights from other WWF shows and house show clips. Needless to say, Ted Turner didn't much appreciate that and neither did the fans. On top of being recycled content, it was also very much the standard WWF larger than life, cartoon wrestling that the Georgia fans absolutely didn't want. That's why Turner reached out to Bill Watts and gave him a sunday afternoon slot on TBS for Mid-South Wrestling.
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# ? Apr 11, 2021 10:43 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 06:18 |
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MrBling posted:Basically what Vince aired was a bunch of highlights from other WWF shows and house show clips. Needless to say, Ted Turner didn't much appreciate that and neither did the fans. On top of being recycled content, it was also very much the standard WWF larger than life, cartoon wrestling that the Georgia fans absolutely didn't want. Didn't according to legend the station get flooded with calls over people SUPER upset these people they didn't know and didn't care about were where their Georgia wrestling had been previously when the new stuff started?
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# ? Apr 11, 2021 15:38 |
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MrBling posted:On the topic of the territories and TV, there's a really big what-if surrounding the aftermath of Black Saturday. Vagabundo posted:Wasn't the programming broadcast also some real low-effort poo poo as well? Would things have gone differently if there'd been real effort put into the broadcast, with matches geared to appeal to the GCW fanbase? https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1239389081991368706 Vince obviously knew he was on borrowed time and just needed to get to WrestleMania. And that's just the behind the scenes stuff; fans WERE angry to not have their wrestling anymore. Think about how angry they had to be to flood the phones at WTBS in 1984, when the average person couldn't just Google the phone number.
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# ? Apr 11, 2021 19:12 |
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davidbix posted:Has the "Turner committed to funding Watts" story ever been confirmed by anyone other than Watts (and maybe Jim Ross), though? The Atlanta Constitution actively encouraged fans to call WTBS in July 1984. The Constitution ran occasional news stories on wrestling, but with a corporate feel. They weren't regularly hanging around with Dusty Rhodes or at the bar with Gordon Solie. (That said, their encouragement could also be revenge for a few incidents where The Constitution's switchboards were blown out because TBS - namely Skip Caray - got incensed over comments about Atlanta Braves' viewership and encouraged fans to call.) Mid-1984's a crazy time for Atlanta. McMahon invades. Ole Anderson immediately cuts a temporary deal with Turner to get the preferred wrestlers back on the air. And Ann Gunkel is still around, fishing for airtime wherever she could get it and with whoever she could get it with a new group. In March 1985, three separate groups were running on TBS with the debut of Mid-South.
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# ? Apr 11, 2021 19:27 |
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RC and Moon Pie posted:The Atlanta Constitution actively encouraged fans to call WTBS in July 1984. The Constitution ran occasional news stories on wrestling, but with a corporate feel. They weren't regularly hanging around with Dusty Rhodes or at the bar with Gordon Solie.
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# ? Apr 11, 2021 19:45 |
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Whilst it is well known that Vince is yelling in the ear of Micheal Cole, is he yelling at the other announcers too? Do all announcers at ringside get the same feed of Vince yelling, or can/does he yell at each individually in turn?
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# ? Apr 12, 2021 04:10 |
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Foley left his commentary gig in part because he was sick of Vince in his ear all the time IIRC
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# ? Apr 12, 2021 04:24 |
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BrigadierSensible posted:Whilst it is well known that Vince is yelling in the ear of Micheal Cole, is he yelling at the other announcers too? Do all announcers at ringside get the same feed of Vince yelling, or can/does he yell at each individually in turn? IIRC, only Lawler got by without Vince screaming at him, apparently because Vince knew Lawler would just quit if he pulled that poo poo.
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# ? Apr 12, 2021 06:09 |
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I recall in the 60s or 70s there was a wrestler who sued a promoter because he signed a contract guaranteeing a championship run and it either didn't materialize or went against the terms of the contract. This became a news story (though don't know how much of one) due to it being an admission that wrestling was scripted. Does anyone recall the details of this? Edit: it was Ron Starr and Leroy McGuirk TTBF fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Apr 13, 2021 |
# ? Apr 12, 2021 20:38 |
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What are some of the better Dark Side of the Ring episodes? I've seen the Benoit episodes and the Von Erich episoes, which were both excellent (although the Von Erich one really glossed over what a piece of poo poo Fritz was), and I'd like to check out some more.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:17 |
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The Owen Hart episode is one of the best. I’d also recommend the Bruiser Brody episode.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:25 |
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TL posted:What are some of the better Dark Side of the Ring episodes? I've seen the Benoit episodes and the Von Erich episoes, which were both excellent (although the Von Erich one really glossed over what a piece of poo poo Fritz was), and I'd like to check out some more. I really liked the Gino Hernandez episode. And the Abrams UWF is great if you aren't familiar with the story (alternatively the Between the Sheets Patreon special on it is so great)
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:29 |
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The David Schultz episode The Brawl for All episode My general feeling is s2 is better, feels like they really hit their stride and there's more for diehards
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:33 |
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The New Jack episode was interesting mainly for it becoming apparent that no one knows when New Jack is telling the truth or lying about something, least of all New Jack
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:36 |
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TL posted:What are some of the better Dark Side of the Ring episodes? I've seen the Benoit episodes and the Von Erich episoes, which were both excellent (although the Von Erich one really glossed over what a piece of poo poo Fritz was), and I'd like to check out some more. Owen Hart and the Von Erich's
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:50 |
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DeathChicken posted:The New Jack episode was interesting mainly for it becoming apparent that no one knows when New Jack is telling the truth or lying about something, least of all New Jack That episode made me want to have some of Jack's spaghetti
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 16:51 |
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I really liked the Gino Hernandez one too as I was unaware of the story and everything about it is . Tbh, the only one I remember not enjoying is the Macho Man/Liz one, since it seemed to brush over what an rear end in a top hat Savage was. I also can't remember a thing from the New Jack or the Road Warrior episodes.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 17:21 |
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DeathChicken posted:The New Jack episode was interesting mainly for it becoming apparent that no one knows when New Jack is telling the truth or lying about something, least of all New Jack IIRC New Jack was briefly in Beyond the Mat and in the directors commentary, the guy talked about how personally charismatic he found New Jack, but couldn’t use him as much as he wanted to because he couldn’t trust what he was saying to go in a documentary.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 19:33 |
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pseudodragon posted:IIRC New Jack was briefly in Beyond the Mat and in the directors commentary, the guy talked about how personally charismatic he found New Jack, but couldn’t use him as much as he wanted to because he couldn’t trust what he was saying to go in a documentary. "Not Denzel, but maybe Denzel's friend.". Underrated line from that movie.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 19:43 |
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El Gallinero Gros posted:"Not Denzel, but maybe Denzel's friend.". Haha my friends and I would say that line all the time, and I totally forgot it in my old age. Thanks for reminding me!
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 19:51 |
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I can kind of forgive the Von Erichs episode glossing over Fritz's assholeness because they really needed Kevin's cooperation to make it work, and he wouldn't have cooperated if they told the story how it ought to be told (which is throwing Fritz all the way under the bus).
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 20:57 |
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TTBF posted:I recall in the 60s or 70s there was a wrestler who sued a promoter because he signed a contract guaranteeing a championship run and it either didn't materialize or went against the terms of the contract. This became a news story (though don't know how much of one) due to it being an admission that wrestling was scripted. Does anyone recall the details of this? In 1980, he was contacted about the NWA jr. title. But by this point in time, the belt, controlled by Leroy McGuirk, had lost much of its value and the champions were never treated as major stars outside the McGuirk territory like Hodge was. Plus, McGuirk’s territory was doing poorly. He claimed he was promised a two-year run as champion and a certain amount of money. But he was paid considerably less than promised and asked to drop the title to Les Thornton. He refused and filed suit. The promotion wanted him to drop the title in the ring before leaving, and even offered to allow him to shoot for the title as opposed to dropping it, with the belief that Thornton, who had a reputation as a tough guy, would likely win in such a scenario. His lawsuit got national attention because it was 1980 and a wrestler had filed a lawsuit which explicitly said he was promised a world championship in pro wrestling, was cheated on money by a promoter, and explicitly said how matches and title results were predetermined. It was considered a black eye for wrestling and a lot of promoters didn’t want to use him. He had also talked about unionizing wrestlers. There was talk that year among some of the NWA promoters about blacklisting him, but Mike LeBell, who he was working for at the time, said outright that the guy was a great wrestler and he was not going to stop using him. Roy Shire, who Starr was loyal to and who would come in to headline the Cow Palace shows after Shire close down the rest of the territory, also continued to use him. LeBell also booked him into New Japan, where he wrestled Tatsumi Fujinami for the NWA International jr. title at Budokan Hall. I'm having trouble finding any mainstream coverage of the lawsuit, but I haven't looked too deeply yet. TL posted:What are some of the better Dark Side of the Ring episodes? I've seen the Benoit episodes and the Von Erich episoes, which were both excellent (although the Von Erich one really glossed over what a piece of poo poo Fritz was), and I'd like to check out some more. I haven't seen any finished episodes for season 3 yet, so don't ask.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 21:01 |
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I’ve never watched a minute of WCW programming, so with that in mind, is Booker T holding the Scott Hall picture funny for a reason other than the deadpan stare at the hard camera? Is there a context involving the two that makes it so legendary?
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 22:13 |
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britishbornandbread posted:I’ve never watched a minute of WCW programming, so with that in mind, is Booker T holding the Scott Hall picture funny for a reason other than the deadpan stare at the hard camera? Is there a context involving the two that makes it so legendary? scott hall was persona non grata for a while due to his alcohol issues, up to actually beeping his name out of a nash promo iirc. the relaxed on that but kept him off tv, the picture was basically a "remember this guy?" joke it's probably considered funnier here than some places because of photoshops made over the years either replacing the scott hall picture or sticking it somewhere else. i remember a bunch involving aj holding up the tnamecca award which is another hilarious picture in context
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 22:52 |
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It was also a theme with the match; it was a SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS MATCH, which translated to having boxes on poles at each corner of the ring and three of them contained weapons and the fourth contained the belt and whoever got the belt was champion, which is already a very silly way to do a match for your world championship, but the contents of the weapon boxes were a coal miner's glove, a blow-up sex doll, and the aforementioned lovingly made portrait of Scott Hall, so the entire match was kind of a "look at how dumb this is" comedy thing. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's also the match where Beetlejuice from the Howard Stern show punched Jeff Jarrett in the dick.
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 23:01 |
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CarlCX posted:It was also a theme with the match; it was a SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS MATCH, which translated to having boxes on poles at each corner of the ring and three of them contained weapons and the fourth contained the belt and whoever got the belt was champion, which is already a very silly way to do a match for your world championship, but the contents of the weapon boxes were a coal miner's glove, a blow-up sex doll, and the aforementioned lovingly made portrait of Scott Hall, so the entire match was kind of a "look at how dumb this is" comedy thing. One of the boxes fell off and to the floor, my old brain recalls both of them conveniently ignoring said box. Was it the one with the belt?
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# ? Apr 13, 2021 23:44 |
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lol i cant believe i forgot to explain how one of the dumbest matches of all time was involvedIronCladBurrito posted:One of the boxes fell off and to the floor, my old brain recalls both of them conveniently ignoring said box. Was it the one with the belt? box that fell was the blowup doll the box with the title fell apart when booker touched it and the title fell out. jj dillon had to hand it to booker while shiavone screamed "he got the... got the... the belt fell on the floor"
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 01:22 |
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Critical posted:lol i cant believe i forgot to explain how one of the dumbest matches of all time was involved Wasn't it the ring announcer who picked it up first? WCW Champion Dave Penzer.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 02:46 |
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Rusty Shackelford posted:Wasn't it the ring announcer who picked it up first? WCW Champion Dave Penzer. yup you're absolutely right. even funnier.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 02:47 |
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I'm pretty sure if you included Dave Penzer in a ranking of WCW Champions, he'd be near the middle. Maybe even sneaks into the top half.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 03:06 |
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The Trifecta of wrestling failing to do hanging objects correctly: WCW: Box explodes by being touched. TNA: The X keeps falling down. WWE: Jack Swagger can't get the MITB case down.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 03:27 |
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rujasu posted:I'm pretty sure if you included Dave Penzer in a ranking of WCW Champions, he'd be near the middle. Maybe even sneaks into the top half. Are you basing this on individual reigns or total body of work?
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 04:57 |
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It's still baffling to me that WCW did the "Spin the Wheel" match and didn't rig the wheel.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 14:42 |
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After Big Time Wrestling folded, were there any concerted efforts to try and get a territory promotion in California going again?
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 14:43 |
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Dawgstar posted:After Big Time Wrestling folded, were there any concerted efforts to try and get a territory promotion in California going again? As far as I'm aware after Big Time went away in San Fransisco and Hollywood went away in LA, the WWF just started running shows in their territories unopposed. And that was the end of the territories there.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 15:01 |
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Halloween Jack posted:It's still baffling to me that WCW did the "Spin the Wheel" match and didn't rig the wheel. Lamuella posted:As far as I'm aware after Big Time went away in San Fransisco and Hollywood went away in LA, the WWF just started running shows in their territories unopposed. And that was the end of the territories there.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 16:03 |
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davidbix posted:It's tricky because it's become increasingly clear that we don't have anything resembling the real story. The non-NWA side was that the surviving ABC Booking shareholders conspired at Ray Gunkel's funeral to reincorporate as a new company, Mid-South Sports (eventually Georgia Championship Wrestling, not to be confused with Bill Watts' Mid-South Sports) with her left out. But...the business records on record with the state of Georgia show that she incorporated Gunkel Enterprises a month before Mid-South Sports was incorporated.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 16:11 |
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I'm trying to find that picture of Scott Keith holding up his first book with a Cheeto stain on his shirt
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 18:12 |
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CarlCX posted:It was also a theme with the match; it was a SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS MATCH, which translated to having boxes on poles at each corner of the ring and three of them contained weapons and the fourth contained the belt and whoever got the belt was champion, which is already a very silly way to do a match for your world championship, but the contents of the weapon boxes were a coal miner's glove, a blow-up sex doll, and the aforementioned lovingly made portrait of Scott Hall, so the entire match was kind of a "look at how dumb this is" comedy thing. Don't forget, it was for the WCW Championship that Vince Russo vacated! Preposterous booking before, during, and after the match, a true WCW triple threat.
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 18:24 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 06:18 |
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davidbix posted:Is that confirmed or is that Scott Keith bullshit, though? I mean, Coal Miner's Glove was for sure rigged to be that, for whatever reason. I'm guessing Vader/Foley was supposed to be a Texas Death Match. Is there one I'm missing?
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# ? Apr 14, 2021 18:45 |