Rolling 2014 Haunted Rocking Chair Thread

if you can track it down (there's some on youtube), i'd actually recommend some Memphis stuff, which is right at the balance of old school and cartoony

reigns gets emergency hernia surgey, missing night of champions:
http://www.wwe.com/shows/nightofchampions/2014/roman-reigns-breaking-news-26669136

hey, I wonder if that's why they had the match on Raw.

woo - loved this first match

http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/2014/09/brodus-clay-revealed-how-the-wwe-locker-room-dealt-with-darren-young-coming-out/

so I've started watching some of the WCCW stuff on WWE Network as EZ Snappin recommended, just finished the first episode. they seem to have intentionally started with an episode that sets up the very beginning of the Freebirds / Von Erich feud - the main story on the show is the arrival of Michael Hayes, who delivers a pretty fun promo trailing the appearance of Terry Gordy in a few weeks time.

The secondary story being that Kerry Von Erich has been put out of action by Great Kabuki who was reputedly trying to claim a $10000 bounty placed on the Von Erichs by Ric Flair, which I assume is gonna lead to the infamous Flair / Kerry Xmas match that kickstarts the Freebirds / Von Erich feud.

Best bit of the whole show is a taped interview where Flair answers the charges made against him and accepts Kerry Von Erich's challenge. Man I know it goes without saying but really it's not even funny how much better he was than every single other person involved in the show. What a great promo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EQ0qeccjrg

Hallelujah.

lol Kerry Von Erich was such a terrible promo

The Von Erichs all cut shitty promos.

https://twitter.com/theisb/status/516743482996977664

been digging monday night war mini-docs

Bit of a missed opportunity I felt. They had the chance to try and go somewhere a bit different with it in terms of format, or at least to go more in depth into particular stories, but it's been all the same old footage, all the same talking heads spouting the same revisionist history and received wisdom.

Joke's on me I suppose for entertaining the notion that by this stage they might have dropped (or at least amended slightly) the narrative of WWF = plucky underdog with exciting young talent and creative vision vs WCW as classless and incompetent new money behemoth full of over-the-hill traitors looking to put YOUR favourite WWF superstars and their families ON THE STREET!!!!!! but i suppose that ship sailed a long time ago.

I don't have internet in my new apartment so ive cancelled my subscription to the network, gotta say I've only really been missing the old school content and the old ppvs

i liked them but they're good for ppl like me who missed that era in wrestling and don't really know those characters. i just watched the mick foley episode and i had never even seen the footage from that cage match before so it was very educating. i do think the larger narratives about WCW v WWE are pretty silly, but as a jumping off point to do mini docs about particular performers and groups - i think it's working really well. had no idea about degeneration X either, so i liked that ep. and the next one i've got is the hart episode so i'm psyched to learn more about the screwjob.

also laughed at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwKTaOvhVdg

the MNW stuff depends on whether it has interesting archive footage, for me

the party-line shit ruins most of the WWF-centric stuff, absolutely no interest in watching a bunch of talking heads pretend that pretty much everything about DX wasn't awful cringey shit

hopefully they can manage to do a good one about Sting's 1996-1997 "run" and not somehow relate it back to themselves in any way

idk if they pretended DX wasn't cringey - lots of interviews w/ mcmahon going, "i think we maybe went too far," and other ppl talking about how uncomfortable they were w/ the new direction of the company. i like when HHH rode the tank over to WCW tho - that was cool :P

INCOMPETENT WCW OFFICIALS HAD USED UP ALL OF THE WRESTLING DATES ON STING'S CONTRACT AND HAD TO IMPROVISE IMPLAUSIBLE NON-WRESTLING SEGMENTS TO KEEP THE COMPANY'S FRANCHISE STAR VISIBLE

JEFF JARRETT LATER HELD THE WWF TO RANSOM BY SELFISHLY WINNING THE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE AND EVERY SUBSEQUENT TITLE DEFENSE UNTIL THE END OF HIS CONTRACT, FORCING HEARTBROKEN WWF OFFICIALS TO HONOUR THE TENNESSEE NATIVE'S OUTRAGEOUS FINANCIAL DEMANDS

no c'mon, it's not that bad. and the docs give WCW + Bischoff a lot of credit. plus don't they own the Nitros now? so it wouldn't behoove them to trash their own programming.

i did think it was pretty dumb/LOL of Bischoff to tell ppl that Mankind was about to win the heavyweight championship on Nitro that night

yeah idk I didn't watch it but every time Triple H mentions it he always goes on about how much they were pushing the envelope and doing things that had never been done in the business before and it's like yeah you were just like humping stuff and holding up stuff that looks like dongs

i did cringe at every single "i'd rather be in chyna" sign

yeah they definitely cop to the fact that their own product was stale and that WCW had something hot for a while but they overplay the idea that WCW got successful because it used WWF guys, and make out that WCW poaching guys whose WWF contracts were up was somehow mean and ruthless but when WWF signed the Radicalz it was nobly giving them a real job away from the company that spurned them

also calling WCW a sports entertainment company and wheeling out that fucking "Vince, I'm in the RASSLIN business / that's nice Ted, I'm in the ENTERTAINMENT" business anecdote

u kno tho i don't remember who it was but i just watched an episode where they say that they poached a superstar from WCW bc 'turn about is fair play' or something like that, 'we could do the same thing.' i did get the impression that hiring foley tho was - idk noble - but that he wasn't being kept at WCW and obv it was a great move to give this guy a chance to make a name.

it's hard to ignore tho that WCW got successful partially using WWF guys when the huge NWO innovation was essentially packaging WWE guys as outsiders (lol_)

yeah I was just like Milhouse all crying "WHEN ARE THEY GONNA TALK ABOUT STIIIIING" during those bits tbh

so far i've only seen clips about Sting -- i gotta think they're saving his mini-doc for when they debut him or whatever they're planning on doing with him?

also i'm guessing the chris jericho ep will be heavily WCW too? or am i overestimating the amount of time he spent there?

think that will just be covered in the recent cruiserweight ep which was OK - Jericho was good in-ring but made to be unbelievably boring as a character from 96-8 then did all of his awesome wacky heel stuff in quite a condensed period from then til he left

this was an improbable late-game contender for funniest DX moment imo, the buildup to the triple threat match being that they would team to beat Cena no matter what and didn't care which one of them won:

http://youtu.be/t5x5F84qtTA?t=30s

next ep apparently is exclusively Jericho. Also the Goldberg ep prob heavily wcw

oh that's good, might watch a bit of the goldberg one now

They've all been bullshit. They called Goldberg a fucking Steve Austin copycat in the Stone Cold one. That the NWO was the only thing that WCW really did, up until the cruiserweights - and then the cruisers were treated like the real fucking #2 draw because they are wwehistorybait while the horseman, goldberg, the amazing tag teams, sting, luger, ddp etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. get ignored.

Its fascinating how WWE are doing their best to sort out their business, Joey Styles on WWE.com, Triple H on NXT duty, whoever is getting the big names back on side for the HoF (Triple H got Bruno back) - and yet they still do this shit. In fact, who the fuck is to blame with how atrocious the 'content' on the Network is? Countdown is bollocks, this is shit, they've only had two good documentaries (the Bryan and the Shield one) in six months, idk if anyone ever cared enough to watch the 4 year old Legends House... Would it really be that hard to idk do those legends roundtables again, or a Steve Austin talk show like his podcast or Wrestler A talks a bit about his 5 favourite matches with footage...

is there anything u can recommend for balance? in the bret hart ep shawn michaels says that WWF competed initially w/ WCW by focusing on younger, more athletic talent - and he claims that the actual wrestling was better on WCW. this is before bret jumps ship and i can imagine that might not have always been true - but was it ever true? i don't mind a biased narrative, esp if i get to see lots of enjoyable archival footage (i do think there hasn't been a single ep i've seen yet that couldn't have been improved by being cut in half)

the wrestling was way better on wcw 96-99. i think the only way it can be argued otherwise is that wwf had the occasionally great match (the stone cold v dude love series sticks out, as does triple h v the rock for the ic belt) but maybe nothing on the scale of ddp v savage or reyrey v eddie.

i also think the 'younger talent' thing is a bit askew, wcw rejects stone cold and mankind came but had started out in the 80s, they bought in vader, sid and terry funk, they gave bret who also started in the 80s a 20 year contract*. the main event guys who started kinda then (kane, triple h, rock, edge, jeff hardy, jbl, i guess you can count christian and mark henry although it took them over a decade to become champs) don't look that different from a wcw list (eddie, rey, jericho, benoit, big show, goldberg?). they were pretty much head-to-head in that regard, while both also making silly decisions about veterans they kept hiring. Maybe it would have been a lot different if Vince cottoned on quicker about talent, instead of doing things like just going to AAA for shit to compete with Rey&Eddie, or investing a lot in the minis or whatever.

idk what to suggest for balance though, other than just seeing the shows from the time. i just decided to give the show another go btw and i think the new goldberg episode is terrific. it doesnt really cover old ground, it shows wcw in a positive light, it goes quite in depth as to why it worked and has some insightful talking heads (heyman is especially a joy, obviously.)

*isnt it insane that this would still be going now for 2 more years?

i was searching jewish magazines for articles about paul heyman (it looks like he's never been profiled which is pretty unusual for jewish press) and found this interview with peter rosenberg (who cohosts cheap heat on grantland) where i learned for the first time that macho man's mom was a member of the tribe???

I could definitely see it happening. There’s more of a Jewish history there than people know. Arguably the greatest performer of all time, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, is half-Jewish. I recently read an article about him and he would get ribbed and joked on for being cheap and people said it came from his mother’s side of family. I was pretty psyched to find out he was Jewish.

You also have one of the most important players in the last decade in [World Wrestling Entertainment manager] Paul Heyman. He’s phenomenal. His character’s never been outright Jewish — there may be times when they play on some stereotypes — but he’s a brilliant mind. Whenever I talk to him, he always makes mention of my being Jewish and me being a good Jewish boy.

heyman is the best

just watched the ECW ep and thought it was great - tons of heyman

I definitely take Mordy's point that this is a great intro newer fans who haven't seen this stuff before, and to that extent I'm sure it's doing its job. But once you've seen a few of their documentaries it really does get tired watching the same shit over and over again. The whole endeavour isn't helped by the fact that in retrospect, so much of what went on in the Attitude Era was fuckin whack.

I just hope that in a year or two once they've drained this particular well they offer some closer looks at some different periods that haven't already been so heavily dissected and analysed.

I'll resubscribe when (if?) they start adding some '70s WWF Capitol Wrestling. Been reading about some of that stuff recently and I'm kinda fascinated with the whole structure of the company in those days, the Three Wise Men of the East vs the babyface champ and so on. I'm developing a small but burgeoning obsession with the Grand Wizard of Wrestling, though I can't quite place why. Some combination of the name, the sensational shades and turban ensemble and the fact that he died right before things took off in a big way and seems therefore to have been forever excised from the collective memory in spite of the fact that he was the top heel in the company for a full decade p. much.

also posted this in the living in philly thread:

kinda want to go to this but not alone -- any ilxors interested?

CHIKARA - TOMORROW NEVER DIES
2300 Arena - Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, 12/6/2014
7:00 PM

http://www.chikarapro.com/events/

give us the low down on chikara. the osw review ecw series was incredible if someone wants a ewhole overview.

The ending of Ambrose vs Rollins at HIAC got me so pissed off. Usually I don't get worked up over bad finishes but this one was completely inexcusable and made absolutely no sense.

ive not been watching raw - are ambrose & wyatt fueding? ididntgi

i guess they are now?

I haven't been watching RAW either, but AFAIK Wyatt has been off TV for a few weeks.

he's been doing these promos. rumor is that [SPOILERS?????] ascension is coming up from NXT at wyatt guys?

as*

eurgh those guys are like the worst thing about nxt. plus they'd have to change like their whole look.

good news tho: they'll no longer be on NXT

orton face turn?

In 2014 John Cena is wearing a KEEP CALM AND NEVER GIVE UP t shirt. I really like John Cena as a wrestler despite how hard he makes it to do so.

RYBACK BACK

yeah! he looked awesome

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/528263290993266688/photo/1

the "network exclusive" Sheamus/Rusev match completely ruled btw