|
In the game of human chess, Larry Zybysko is the king. Rey mysterio is a bishop because that looks closest to a dart.
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 05:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 05:52 |
|
|
https://twitter.com/djexile27/status/1382724554083201029 posting my own tweet
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 17:33
|
|
|
Rusty Shackelford posted:Flair, Backlund, and Lawler are all roughly the same age so when they were in the WWF in 1992, they were ~42. Backlund was presented as an old guy, though. And Lawler was a part-timer.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 18:50
|
|
|
Red posted:Backlund was presented as an old guy, though. And Lawler was a part-timer. While true, when Backlund won the title in 1994 he was 45, beating Bret Hart who was 37 and dropping it to Kevin Nash who was 35. World Champions being in their 20s wasn't really a thing until the attitude era it feels like (even Shawn Michaels was 31 when he won the title in 1996). Also today most of the wrestlers aren't hard-partying, heavy drug-using types so their bodies hold up a lot better. 40 years old in the 90s looks a lot different from 40 years old in the 2020s.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 19:07
|
|
|
Angry_Ed posted:While true, when Backlund won the title in 1994 he was 45, beating Bret Hart who was 37 and dropping it to Kevin Nash who was 35. World Champions being in their 20s wasn't really a thing until the attitude era it feels like (even Shawn Michaels was 31 when he won the title in 1996). Also today most of the wrestlers aren't hard-partying, heavy drug-using types so their bodies hold up a lot better. 40 years old in the 90s looks a lot different from 40 years old in the 2020s. I guess it's not as bad now as it was back then, but a lot of guys have died surprisingly early: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_premature_professional_wrestling_deaths
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 19:18
|
|
|
Had not come across this before, Sting vs Vader from a 93 show in Dublin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn4l5vtDHb0
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2021 15:09
|
|
|
Backlund was portrayed as old during his second run. I remember being really impressed how this old man lasted so long in the 93 Rumble.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2021 15:37
|
|
|
Kosmo Gallion posted:Backlund was portrayed as old during his second run. I remember being really impressed how this old man lasted so long in the 93 Rumble. It's kind of hilarious that his gimmick in the Hart feud was crazy old man who screams at the cloud. The fact that he made it work is impressive, it's a shame they couldn't at least give him 1 PPV to defend the title.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2021 19:10
|
|
|
iamsosmrt posted:It's kind of hilarious that his gimmick in the Hart feud was crazy old man who screams at the cloud. The fact that he made it work is impressive, it's a shame they couldn't at least give him 1 PPV to defend the title. I mean he didn't really, the two matches with Hart were pretty bad.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 05:35
|
|
|
Backlund's heel gimmick was great but he was pretty meh to bad near the end of his first run for the title and he did not better with age
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 05:46
|
|
|
Backlund's entire run was worth it for the crazy promos like "I FEEL LIKE... A GOD!" and screaming nonsense words. Backlund's face stuff was generally terrible, because his style just didn't work with guys like Ramon, though he was clearly athletic and skilled. Plus, his "WHOA WHOA WHOA!" thing he did when he got hit or rolled out of the ring made zero sense for a face. Doing it when he was a crazy old man was perfect, though. Kosmo Gallion posted:Backlund was portrayed as old during his second run. I remember being really impressed how this old man lasted so long in the 93 Rumble. To be fair, he laid on the ground outside the ring for a while. I thought he meshed with Flair really, really well, though. MassRafTer posted:I mean he didn't really, the two matches with Hart were pretty bad. The match he had with Bret where he snaps was really good, from what I recall, though I thought the ending was a little confusing. I also like the towel match, except for the Bulldog being brain dead, but I'm a mark for Bret. The 'I Quit' match was terrible, and pretty much every other match he had in his return was bad.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 17:41
|
|
|
I NEVER HAVE EVER EATEN MARIJUANA
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 17:50
|
|
|
Red posted:Backlund's entire run was worth it for the crazy promos like "I FEEL LIKE... A GOD!" and screaming nonsense words. My friends and I loved Backlund at the time in what was probably an ironic way and we would just yell "WHOA WHOA WHOA" all of the time. He was a giant weirdo but for some reason captivating to 12 year-olds? When he snapped, it really was something interesting for us – here was this kind of boring old wrestler who wasn't flashy or exciting who suddenly loses his mind and turns into a maniac. We also totally bought the crossface chicken wing as a legit finisher and would use it on each other all the time when we wrestled.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 18:26
|
|
|
MassRafTer posted:I mean he didn't really, the two matches with Hart were pretty bad. Fair point, though I wasn't so much praising his match quality as much as the fact that he turned a random WWF Superstars appearance with Bret Hart into a world title push at all is way above 95% of that era's roster's accomplishments. They also did a pretty good job of turning the chickenwing crossface into a pretty big deal of a finisher, mostly because of how crazed he looked when he locked it in. How many other "unbreakable" submission holds led to world titles before they were eventually broken?
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 20:31
|
|
|
Pope Corky the IX posted:I NEVER HAVE EVER EATEN MARIJUANA I think about this every time I have an edible.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2021 23:29
|
|
|
It’s kind of strange they don’t trot out Backlund every so often like they do with all living wrestlers who want to make a buck
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 00:16
|
|
|
oldpainless posted:It’s kind of strange they don’t trot out Backlund every so often like they do with all living wrestlers who want to make a buck Didn’t he have a match with Heath Slater?
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
oldpainless posted:It’s kind of strange they don’t trot out Backlund every so often like they do with all living wrestlers who want to make a buck Last I remember was Make Darren Young Great Again which, yeah
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 01:19
|
|
|
Red posted:Didn’t he have a match with Heath Slater? Man, did Heath Slater job to every legend? I know he was one of the last people to get any offence on Bret.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 02:26
|
|
|
Maigius posted:Man, did Heath Slater job to every legend? I know he was one of the last people to get any offence on Bret. Heath had a reputation for being very safe and easy to work with.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 04:18
|
|
|
Maigius posted:Man, did Heath Slater job to every legend? I know he was one of the last people to get any offence on Bret. In the lead up to the the 1000th episode of Raw he'd come out and cut a promo using a legend's catchphrase and then that legend would return and beat him up.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 04:23
|
|
|
Weird thing that just occurred to me: - 1983: Backlund drops the belt to Sheik - 1984: Backlund moves down the card and eventually leaves - '84-'91: Backlund works AWA, Japan, coaches amateur wrestling - 1992: Returns to the WWF Backlund was gone from the WWF for about 8 years, but the WWF (and the business) changed wildly when he came back. Look at WWE now, and think back to 8 years ago, or 2013. WrestleMania 29 included Rock/Cena, HHH/Lesnar, Del Rio/Swagger, UT/Punk, and Shield/Orton-Show-Sheamus. There was no women's match, but a lot of those bigger stars are pretty much done, and guys from the Shield graduated (even if one of them moved on) - but WWE hasn't really changed that much.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 04:54
|
|
|
Seams posted:In the lead up to the the 1000th episode of Raw he'd come out and cut a promo using a legend's catchphrase and then that legend would return and beat him up. Yup, and it was loving awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNlQXoJ09KA Slater was hilarious in this role, and the way he sold JBL's lariat is probably one of my favorite sells of all time. That said, as usual this angle didn't lead to any career advancement for Slater, but it was very enjoyable while it lasted.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 11:24
|
|
|
Germansimp posted:Yup, and it was loving awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNlQXoJ09KA lol there's nothing better than someone screaming "that's not funny!" at a bunch of people laughing at him, good instincts on him
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 12:08
|
|
|
Germansimp posted:Yup, and it was loving awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNlQXoJ09KA Slater's niche was 'extremely good punching bag.' It is not a bad niche, but it is a niche. And it was his. Heath Slater getting clowned on by legends is the best possible use of Heath Slater.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 17:41
|
|
|
Beating the christ out of Heath Slater was a much better sendoff for Vader than his previous sendoff
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 18:06
|
|
|
DeathChicken posted:Beating the christ out of Heath Slater was a much better sendoff for Vader than his previous sendoff I still remember Vader kinda going "You remembered" after the pinfall. It was surprisingly poignant.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 20:10
|
|
|
That’s what made Slater’s release so hosed up. He was a solid guy you could trust in the ring with delicate older wrestlers that could also still make them look like a million bucks. And he also made the most of the afterthought that was his tag team with Rhyno.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 20:49
|
|
|
Pope Corky the IX posted:That’s what made Slater’s release so hosed up. He was a solid guy you could trust in the ring with delicate older wrestlers that could also still make them look like a million bucks. And he also made the most of the afterthought that was his tag team with Rhyno. he's gonna win the WWE championship when he comes back to fulfill the prophecy of 3MB
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 20:52
|
|
|
Slater getting trucked over and over and over at the '18 Rumble before finally being thrown in the ring by Sheamus just to then eliminate him was great.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 21:12
|
|
|
mongo  https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/1385629206084820999
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 17:22
|
|
|
I haven't read this story because it's paywalled, but that picture https://twitter.com/danwiederer/status/1385613450781630464
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 17:42
|
|
|
RC and Moon Pie posted:I haven't read this story because it's paywalled, but that picture If you use dev tools in your browser you can remove the div blocking the content. There's an interview with him there and in between getting heavy and being serious, he cracks some jokes like the Mongo of old.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 17:44
|
|
|
RC and Moon Pie posted:I haven't read this story because it's paywalled, but that picture what a lovely way to die.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 17:44
|
|
|
WatermelonGun posted:what a lovely way to die. I've watched a few men die of ALS now. It's a lovely way to die.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 19:23
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/MarcMero/status/1386293226915733504
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2021 16:56
|
|
|
Last night I came across an ESPN feature on Mongo from 1991. His homelife is portrayed thusly: Pepe is no surprise to WCW fans, but Mongo did not have any children in 1991. He just owned a Reptar RC toy for himself. Lived his best life and that's why he has no regrets.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2021 18:40
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8NuYw0I-c I love reading/watching stuff about Starrcade 97/98. It's amazing how this company built up big main event angles really well and then just screwed the pooch so spectacularly twice in two years at the same show.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2021 10:18
|
|
|
Seams posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8NuYw0I-c Starrcade 98 had an absolutely horrendous build. They introduced Bam Bam Bigelow as a nemesis for Goldberg but were doing Nash vs Goldberg at Starrcade, so we got a bunch of really lame matches with no finishes because of it. Then you had the Flair heart attack angle during the Bischoff build and it was just awful.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2021 15:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 05:52 |
|
|
Didn't they do the Flair heart attack angle twice? And the second time they had to really double-down because nobody believed it and they were just pissed off it was being attempted again?
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2021 15:57
|
|