The VIP Thread

[MTR]

I remember my first show but I can't remember exactly when it was. Perfect and Bret Hard did a draw. Andre lost via DQ I think to HillyBilly Jim. Duggan and Haku got involved in the match. It was supposed to be Brain Busters vs Bushwhackers but a Bushwhacker was sick so just a one on one. I think Jake the Snake was on the card. Red Rooster went against Brooklyn Brawler lol I was supposed to meet Andre and the Bushwhackers in the VIP room because my dad's company (Pepsi) was a sponsor and had a VIP room and that is how we got the tickets.

Second one I went to had Rockers vs Orient Express. Hercules lost to I think Ultimate Warrior in an IC title match.

[Donald Pleasence]

First wrestler I ever met was Doink the Clown, at Sports World in Paramus, NJ. Can't remember the year, but I'd guess it was around 94/95. Who knows who was under the face paint though. Could have been anyone. Argh, I'd do anything to relive those days.

[MTR]

The first wrestlers I ended up meeting were in Memphis after while I was living in Oxford after Andre snubbed the vip room at the first show I went to. Mo from Men on Mission was working there as Rob Harlem he was a trip to talk to. He wasn't with the company anymore and this was during a time frame that WWE wasn't using Memphis. That would change when while I was there though and got to see a lot of people getting into the business like R-Truth and Bryan Danielson.

[Nash Diesel]

I barely remember the shows I went to in the 80's. Just little memories like I know one had Hogan possibly in the main event and another show where they were completely sold out of Brutus Beefcake's white and pink shirt so my cousin Kara snagged me the dope black and silver Jake the Snake shirt. That was around 2nd grade so 1989-1990 because I met a guy named John who was a grade older that went and had the Demolition shirt on.

I remember more of the shows in the 90's like this one where my best friend and I went with this older kid who had no friends but his mom worked at Younkers that had a ticketmaster. So he always had front row and asked us to come with him. I remember we saw Yokozuna v. Bret Hart in a steel-cage.

I think my favorite show I ever went to was this 4 hour Superstars taping I went to in May 1996. I think it was 2 nights after IYH Good Friends Better Enemies. The day before we had met Sunny and the Bodydonnas at a Fox Family Fun Fair lol. It was just wild to be there for that string of tapings and we had front row, cameraman gave us free Sunny shirts to wear and they put us on camera. The dark matches were Vader v. Warrior, The Undertaker v. Mankind in a squash-it was supposed to be Diesel v. Taker in a Casket but Diesel didn't show. The main event was HBK defending the World title against The Ringmaster in a fucking classic. I saw bigger shows in terms of ppvs and shit like that hell even going to see Raw a couple years ago with my son in 2019 was great but this Superstars taping man I was like 15, stoned with my boy Frank just loving it.

[3puppies]

My first live event was a house show at MSG in May 1994.

Wish I could remember the card, I just remember Doink the Clown, Sparky Plugg and Kwang being on the card, of all people

You would never find a happier 11 year old boy, I can guarantee you that. What the fuck has happened to me.

You fell in love with Tony Khan

[Murphy]

First show I attended:

WWF @ London, England – Arena – November 28, 1996 (6,631; sell out)
Barry Horowitz pinned TL Hopper (sub. for Yokozuna) with an inside cradle
Rocky Maivia pinned Bradshaw with the running shoulderbreaker
Crush pinned Bob Holly with the heart punch
Farooq pinned Barry Windham with his feet on the ropes
The Executioner (w/ Paul Bearer) defeated Aldo Montoya via submission with the Asian Spike
Steve Austin defeated WWF World Champion Psycho Sid via disqualification when Davey Boy Smith prevented the pin after Austin used the title belt as a weapon; after the match, Sid attempted to hit the powerbomb on Smith until Bret Hart made the save; after the match, the champion hit the chokeslam on Hart and left
Bret Hart defeated Vader via submission with the Sharpshooter
WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith defeated Henry & Phinneas Godwinn after Owen came off the top and reversed Phinneas’ cover of Bulldog; the challengers originally won the match and titles after Phinneas hit the Slop Drop on Owen, but Owen’s foot was on the bottom rope so the match continued
The Undertaker pinned Mankind (w/ Paul Bearer) with the tombstone in a No Holds Barred match

[Mazer]

I never went to a show growing up. I did find the card of the first show I ever went to online. It was a house show in 2001. I remember being seated in front of someone who really hated Regal. Just the whole match was chanting Regal sucks. Even during completely dead parts.

Also the 4 way was lot of fun. They went full out. The Dudleyz were at the peak of their powers, and were busting out tables and crazy spots for this random house show.

1 Spike Dudley defeated Crash Holly
2 Jeff Hardy defeated Billy Gunn
3 WWF World Light Heavyweight Title Match
Jerry Lynn (c) defeated Eddie Guerrero Match
4 4-Way Match
X-Factor (X-Pac and Justin Credible) defeated Acolytes Protection Agency (Bradshaw and Faarooq); Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley); Radicalz (Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko) Match bewerten
5 WWF European Title Match
Matt Hardy (c) defeated Edge
6 WWF Hardcore Title Match
Big Show (c) defeated Test
7 The Undertaker defeated Kurt Angle
8 WWF Intercontinental Title Match
Kane (c) defeated Rhyno
9 Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho defeated The Alliance (Steve Austin and William Regal)

[MTR]

Reports that Natural Disasters going into WWE Hall of Fame. Over due in my view. Sucks Earthquake is no longer with us to be there if this is true. Honestly figured Demolition would go in this year since they only do like one team a year and they just signed legends deals and mended fences.

[Nash Diesel]

Reports that Natural Disasters going into WWE Hall of Fame. Over due in my view. Sucks Earthquake is no longer with us to be there if this is true. Honestly figured Demolition would go in this year since they only do like one team a year and they just signed legends deals and mended fences.

I don't want to say "wack" but yeah.....This is probably the only fucking way Fred was ever going into the HOF unless they wanted to put "shittiest gimmicks" wing as the new twist lol. Tugboat, Shockmaster.....Maybe the Demolition deal happened after they already secured Natural Disasters. I didn't hate this team but they were kinda lame. Didn't even get a long title run despite being 40x bigger than everyone they fought.

[Donald Pleasence]

Yes, way too much wrestling. I remember wishing that had a cable network just for wrestling, back in the 90s. I always hated that shows were on different channels. Back then I would have absolutely watched everything on that channel I wished for, but these days probably not.

[Nash Diesel]

I don't know how anyone can realistically consume everything from just one company let alone 5-6. I just don't have the time to invest myself into anything but WWE in terms of modern wrestling even then I'm barely watching anything but Raw now that the others hows aren't on Hulu. I actually find myself zoning out to some old shit on DVD or the Network. Or this badass channel that is nothing but FMW. I don't have time to pay attention religiously to TNA, NJPW, etc. I never had that kind of time even when I was younger. Remember when WCW had Nitro, Thunder, Saturday Night, some people even had Worldwide and there was another show the name escapes me. WWF had Raw, Heat, then the weird shows like Metal or Jakked but that was like Worldwide where not everyone got it.

Oversaturation is a real problem and while it's cool as fuck that with the net you can put eyes on so many different promotions. The flipside is that you make it harder and harder to invest beyond "I love watching wrestling." I don't necessarily need to know what the fuck has been going on the last 4-5 months in MLW to pop on and watch Paul London wrestle a "honey pot" match or whatever that shit was lol

[MTR]

I can't watch everything. I used to try but not happening. I kind of pick and choose. If I am able to watch something live that helps but not always able to so then pick and choose watch to watch. I actually haven't watched anything beyond highlights of AEW for a while now. I have watched Raw most weeks since the move to Netflix. I don't have access to TNA anymore but even then I only watched stuff here and there when I did. I do what I can to keep up with New Japan but pretty much only watch Wrestle Kingdom. I catch some stuff about MLW here and there but don't keep up. Not even sure where to watch them. Pretty much don't care about NWA anymore.

[MTR]

So the next official person into the HOF this year is Luger.

[mth]

We watched Evolve. It was pretty fun. I like Keanu Carver, Cappucino Jones is awesome, and Cartwheel was fun stuff. My wife's been getting a lot more into wrestling lately and we've been watching RAW, NXT, and SD every week since the Netflix move and now this show, too. She also wants to watch LFG but I don't so not sure if that'll be a thing we do. Can't complain about the missus becoming a bigger fan.

[Nash Diesel]

I can't watch everything. I used to try but not happening. I kind of pick and choose. If I am able to watch something live that helps but not always able to so then pick and choose watch to watch. I actually haven't watched anything beyond highlights of AEW for a while now. I have watched Raw most weeks since the move to Netflix. I don't have access to TNA anymore but even then I only watched stuff here and there when I did. I do what I can to keep up with New Japan but pretty much only watch Wrestle Kingdom. I catch some stuff about MLW here and there but don't keep up. Not even sure where to watch them. Pretty much don't care about NWA anymore.

MLW=free on Youtube.

I think it's like trying to watch every basketball game that's on tv every week. Now, I know some dudes who definitely be doing that but they also work at bar and grills lol. I'll be honest, I don't even remember the last non-WWE ppv I watched. Maybe when we went and saw Hangman win the World title 3 1/2 years ago at Full Gear. I remember when I first got into TNA, 2004-2005 and WWE were doing brand split ppvs PLUS I was also into UFC....It's no wonder we were broke and I wound up divorced lol. I'm not saying I ordered it all I'm just saying we had to pick and choose and then I'd go buy the VHS or DVD of the ones I missed.

So the next official person into the HOF this year is Luger.

He's one of those guys who definitely belongs in every pro wrestling HOF. With WWE acknowledging the top WCW/NWA talent, it's not super shocking WHY it's taken this long but better now than ever. I feel we deserved, as fans, inductions like Randy Savage, Vader, and Sid before they passed. I was never super into Luger but I respected his status. My favorite memory of Luger isn't even wrestling related it's seeing him on an episode of Superboy as a variant. We used to joke that he looked like The Beastmaster. Flexy Lexy 4 Life.

[MTR]

Good to know about MLW for when I want to check it out.

Yeah you just can't watch it all. WWE has spoiled me with the PLE's on streaming. Only watch AEW ones if I go to someone's house to watch. Lately there have been times I have been interested in TNA but yeah don't have the cash to get PPVs.

Luger is well deserved. His run in the WWE was not the best. There was definitely a struggle to get him over and keep him over but man he was always over in WCW it seems. They pushed him as beast as a heel and a face and it worked for the most part. I am sure there were times he was not super over but overall he was definitely one of their top talents and I was more a fan of him there than in the WWE. I don't think it was all his fault when it came to the WWE stuff. They really should have pushed him more as a beast and I thought they were when he slammed Yoko but then they did the whole Lex Express thing and he couldn't beat Yoko without hitting him with this forearm wit the plate in it. Just lame shit.

And I agree that we definitely got robbed of seeing people going in like Savage and Vader and Luna Vachon before they passed.

[Nash Diesel]

Looking back I have to wonder if WWF made the mistake of panic booking to find the next Hogan/Warrior. Luger coming in as The Narcissist with Bobby Heenan by his side was genius. Turning him babyface just a few months after Mania 9 just felt stupid and then not putting the World title on him at Summerslam, another fumble. They probably thought they would make Luger more sympathetic and his win even bigger but let's be honest-He wasn't Hogan. He wasn't even Warrior. If he had stayed heel, it would've been better. You would've had Yoko and Luger as the top heels.

Here's my other hindsight 20/20 fantasy booking: What if they would've had Hogan drop the strap to Luger at KOTR 1993 instead of Yoko? Hogan/Luger always had a Hogan/Mr Wonderful vibe. 1993 was a wild year for WWF so I get the hesitation on certain stuff but man I really think Luger would've thrived more as a heel in WWF. On the flipside, he wound up being one of the top babyfaces in wrestling for a few years when he went back to WCW.

[Donald Pleasence]

The Narcissist was awesome. What a body.

[MTR]

He was always a good heel. Having Bobby was great. He had different ones in WCW and always added to him.

[Murphy]

Back to the watching discussion, I watch too much.

For quite a while now, I watch Raw, Smackdown, NXT and Dynamite. All WWE/NXT PLEs.

AEW PPVs I watch way down the line, which is not ideal.

I do struggle with Smackdown now it's 3 hours, so it's sort of on in the background.

Surprised Mrs M puts up with it, really. Espcially with having a 2 year-old.

Raw and PLEs I watch with my son.

[Donald Pleasence]

I had a dream last night that Vince McMahon returned as the mastermind between the rock and Cena pairing. He was the final final boss. And he proceeded to power bomb Cody Rhodes in the center of the ring at mania

[3puppies]

I had a dream last night that Vince McMahon returned as the mastermind between the rock and Cena pairing. He was the final final boss. And he proceeded to power bomb Cody Rhodes in the center of the ring at mania

The trouble with that, though, is where do they go next? Vince would probably call out Steph to come shit on Cody's head, and Steph would nix that angle.

[Donald Pleasence]

I'm sure that piece of trash Triple H would band together a group of guys to face this new regime, headed by Cody. Maybe Rollins and Punk resolve their differences.

Cody, Rollins, Punk (Triple H in corner) vs. McMahon, Rock, Cena.

Possibly the oldest combined age of participants ever in a match.

[MTR]

It is official now. Natural Disasters are in the HOF

[Nash Diesel]

It's still wild to me how short of a tag title reign they had considering how much bigger they were than almost everyone in the company.

[MTR]

I know. They were like 900 lbs combined or something like that.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm not negative to them going in but it is a harsh reminder of how the WWF were starting to fall off a little around 1991. Once Hogan beat Slaughter it was like...then what? I don't even want to remember 1991 it was that bad lol. People want to talk about some of the more recent memories but people don't know about that weak ass 1991.

[Donald Pleasence]

Hart vs. Hennig, the rise of the Calaway, and Fliehr debuting was enough to cancel out all the bad. Throw in Poffo vs. Hellwig.

[Donald Pleasence]

Does Miro return as Rusev or Miro? I assume Malakai Black returns as Aleister Black?

[MTR]

as much as i like both of them i would rather them just go hit the indies or TNA or something. they will just get lost in the shuffle like they did in AEW. I mean look at Andrade....

[Nash Diesel]

as much as i like both of them i would rather them just go hit the indies or TNA or something. they will just get lost in the shuffle like they did in AEW. I mean look at Andrade....

Look at Andrade but look at Penta, Cody, Punk, Jade, or even in NXT you have Pillman Jr, Ricky Starks, Ethan Page......So yeah if you take one example of a guy who is "lost in the shuffle" that's a pretty glass half empty approach. And that's just the former AEW wrestlers. Stephanie, Giulia, Grace, they're doing very well in NXT.

[Nash Diesel]

With that said...I'm not really into Rusev. Black....I know my sons who are in their early 20's were/are big big fans of his. With Fenix coming in you have to think we're at the very least going to get some very good wrestling.

[MTR]

Look at Andrade but look at Penta, Cody, Punk, Jade, or even in NXT you have Pillman Jr, Ricky Starks, Ethan Page......So yeah if you take one example of a guy who is "lost in the shuffle" that's a pretty glass half empty approach. And that's just the former AEW wrestlers. Stephanie, Giulia, Grace, they're doing very well in NXT.

I should have been more specific

I was talking about the ones that came from AEW that were WWE first and then AEW. Cody is like the only one that has like done well. Andrade came back with a bit of a splash and then now lost in the shuffle. I feel like Miro and Black will be the same. Spears is doing some what well in NXT after coming back but he just dropped the title that he just won to Saints so at least he is leading a group and getting tv time so far down in NXT. I am not really talking about Pillman, Starks, Page, etc. Just the ones that left and came back.

If talking AEW to WWE. That is a bit different. Penta is doing well so far. I am sure Fenix will do well. Starks and Page and Pillman are doing well in NXT. I mean I have been a bit worried about them getting lost in the shuffle but so far not bad.

[Donald Pleasence]

Andrade needs a stable

[Nash Diesel]

Triple H seems to be wanting to right some wrongs with signing Black and Andrade. Vince didn't really do anything of worth with either but they were top guys in NXT. Although if you do look at Andrade, and who knows what the deal is there, it is underwhelming.

[Donald Pleasence]

There's only so many talent that can shine in a bloated roster.

[MTR]

agreed and honestly WWE and AEW both are bloated.

[Nash Diesel]

And with less house shows it's even worse. AEW does ZERO house shows and have a roster almost the same size as WWE.

[MTR]

yup

[Donald Pleasence]

They tend to keep people around for decades these days. Remember in the 80s and 90s where a guy would be on the roster for 2 or 3 years max? And they'd be household names too. But like you've got Akira Tozowa on the roster who's been there what 7, 8 years, and Joe Budden down the street would be like who the fuck is that? But you mention Rick Rude and he'd be like yeah I remember that dude in the WWF

[Donald Pleasence]

Triple Loser praising Trump leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't give a shit if he was just talking about in wrestling.

[Nash Diesel]

Triple Loser praising Trump leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't give a shit if he was just talking about in wrestling.

I mean I'm not a fan of Trump but I don't get why anyone is shocked. Not only has Trump been part of the WWE for like 40 years, Linda is in the cabinet, Trips has literally had his pic taken in the Oval with the family and Trump during his first reign of terror.

[Donald Pleasence]

It's not a shock, just a disappointment.

[Nash Diesel]

It's not a shock, just a disappointment.

You shouldn't be though because we've known this for years. I'm not a fan of Donald Trump you know that better than most lol. What I don't understand are people acting like this is news. When has the WWE NOT shown support toward Donald Trump? Even if we just remove the wrestling....Linda McMahon has been working with him since 2016.

Have you seen the clip going around of Triple H sitting behind Linda recently, he takes a drink of water and for a split second you think he's about to do his entrance? Hilarious.

But again...You're disappointed but you shouldn't be. It's obvious he would be supporting him or he wouldn't be on his nuts.

[Mazer]

The twitter exchange between Jade and Trinity earlier this week escalated quickly