The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Mafro]

Kane and Big Show desperately need to strawberry float off

strawberry floating sick of the pair of them still being in and around main event storylines in 2015.

[Mockmaster]

I could watch that spot where they both grab each others necks for the chokeslam 1,000,000 times.

[KK]

"Well....it's the Big Slow"

How apt that was from The Rock...in 1999.

[Cosmo]

Why is WCW Saturday Night not on the Network? I'm missing out on so much story in between Nitros.

[Slimgrady]

Why is WCW Saturday Night not on the Network? I'm missing out on so much story in between Nitros.

I know!I wanna see Renegade for gods sake!!Also Saturday night had a great entrance and general look,it's like Robocop came up with it when he was around.

[KK]

Dusty Rhodes used to call it "The Mothership". Saturday Night (& WCW Pro, which had a set somewhat similar in style to Jerry Springer) do become less important into 96 and pretty much irrelevant by 1997, but it's still ridiculous it's not up. I'm not watching any of the pre Nitro PPVs because you can't follow anything as Worldwide isn't up either (which used to be on ITV for a few years). I have seen a few of the PPVs from the early 90s though as they were released on VHS.

Superstars is another massive omission. I'm sure by the time they upload RAW IS WAR from 97 Shotgun Saturday Night will be missing too.

[KK]

Talking of the Network, I CANNOT BELIEVE they've changed DDP's theme music. Okay yes, it was one of the most blatant knock-offs of a song ever (Nirvana's Smells like Teen Spirit) but if WCW could get away with it then what's WWE's excuse. They used it on some of the DVDs.

I know it's all down to license fees, but Sandman without Enter Sandman for example just doesn't work.

Eric Bischoff revealing the Higher Power on Nitro about an hour prior to it airing on RAW:

[Return_of_the_STAR]

I never knew he did that. He sounded like such a dick in that clip.

Makes me think how much the attitude era benefited from the lack of substantial Internet spoilers.

[CuriousOyster]

I never knew he did that. He sounded like such a dick in that clip.

Makes me think how much the attitude era benefited from the lack of substantial Internet spoilers.

Was even better when he revealed Mankind won the title later on Raw and 500k people changed channel Idiot.

Definitely, suppose wrestling magazines used to do similar things that dirt sheets do now. Used to love a bit of Power Slam, cant believe its still going.

[Dig Dug]

Powerslam closed down last spring.

[KK]

I think Bischoff must have thought as spoiling RAW worked so well in 1995 the tactic would work again when he had Tony Schiavone do it at the start of 1999 (it didn't) and then Bischoff himself did it again when he (briefly) returned to commentary in 1999 (it didn't). The reason being it was now WCW that sucked. The irony in claiming the WWF were rehashing the same old crap is so unbelievable I don't know how he could have said it with a straight face. Plus maybe he got sucked into Dave Meltzer's personal belief, which he still holds to this day, that the Higher Power storyline sucked.

The lawsuit Eric is talking about BTW is about Sable suing the WWF. She turned up on Nitro I think it was a few weeks later in the crowd. The WWF then attempted to take WCW to court over it. The excuse WCW came up with was she just so happened to purchase a ticket to Nitro...in the front row...with security.

I don't recall that clip at all, as the Higher Power unveiling was a complete surprise to me at the time. So either I wasn't paying attention to the commentary on Nitro or it was one of the occasional times Sky started RAW IS WAR earlier at 9/9.30.

[Codename 47]

On the subject of Nitro and Raw, i've been watching the Monday Night Wars stuff on the Network which has been a pretty good watch i have to say, especially as i've kinda forgotten some aspects of how both shows were back in the day. I don't know whether some WCW's faults are exaggerated or if WWE's are downplayed but it's very interesting stuff. The most telling things are how the main/only reason Vince and co pushed his own product forward so much was because of the very real threat of competition from WCW - something that is solely lacking today.

Also, some of the examples they give of WCW's latter days and demise just seem to ring true a lot with how today's WWE product is at times. Nonsense segments and characters, really questionable booking, etc. It's funny having Vince comment in one of the episodes how these things are why WCW went downhill, yet his product is repeating a lot of these mistakes today,

[Cosmo]

I watched the go home show for Halloween Havoc 95 and then listened to the review on the B&V&C Show. It's coming to the end and Alvarez spoils the result of the HH main event. I could've cried.

[KK]

There is one other major surprise on the card.

I've also started to watch RAW at the same time. Just about to watch In Your House 3...with the rather convoluted main event.

[shadow202]

Just watched the Austin and HHH podcast, it was a very good listen. Trips sold himself like a boss on it too

[Codename 47]

Just watched the Austin and HHH podcast, it was a very good listen. Trips sold himself like a boss on it too

Yeah it was a really good watch/listen. Austin does a pretty good job of asking questions that probably a lot of us wishes we could ask. HHH did come across pretty good but i wasn't too sure about his explanation about the Punk thing. He pretty much said him going over and Nash being involved was what was best for Punk at the time. Other than that he's right about the struggle of almost catering to two different target audiences a lot of the time and other stuff. It was interesting what he said about promos being scripted. It partly being down to some talent preferring being scripted and others they do to make sure they stay within certain boundaries. It sounds like some talent do get more leeway than others.

[Zellery]

I thought Triple H came across really well in that interview. If Vince ever does finally strawberry float off, the company will be in good hands I feel.

[Cosmo]

That Halloween Havoc main event. My word.

EDIT: And it's even got a credits sequence at the end.

[KK]

I think WCW ran credits on their PPVs until 1997...for some reason.

[Cosmo]

I feel sorry for that poor dog that Steve McMichael had on every Nitro.