The Wrestling Thread

[DomDom]

But if it meant that much, he would want it for himself, no?

He might have wanted it, but decided to do the selfless thing and let someone have it who can benefit more from it.

Remember that AJ Styles was doing a whole "I'm gonna quit !" thing. Sting decided that doing the right thing was more important than doing what he wanted.

[RussellV1]

He might have wanted it, but decided to do the selfless thing and let someone have it who can benefit more from it.

Remember that AJ Styles was doing a whole "I'm gonna quit !" thing. Sting decided that doing the right thing was more important than doing what he wanted.

so what's the point of AJ Styles vs Sting for the TNA World Title at Bound for Glory then?

[DomDom]

so what's the point of AJ Styles vs Sting for the TNA World Title at Bound for Glory then?

The promo made that clear. Sting tried to kid on that he didn't let AJ win. AJ called him on it. AJ wanted the match. Sting accepted, mainly because he didn't have much choice.

[YER SISTERS YER MAW]

Just curious to know if the WWE has ever approached Sting over the years to join the company? I know he was a loyal and devoted servant to the WCW brand, and maybe the buyout of the company to Vince stuck in his throat. But surely the WWE would've made some sort of attempt to poach him away from WCW earlier in his career considering he's one of the biggest names in the wrestling buisness?

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Just curious to know if the WWE has ever approached Sting over the years to join the company? I know he was a loyal and devoted servant to the WCW brand, and maybe the buyout of the company to Vince stuck in his throat. But surely the WWE would've made some sort of attempt to poach him away from WCW earlier in his career considering he's one of the biggest names in the wrestling buisness?

For me Sting is the biggest name never to have worked for Vince McMahon. When Vince first purchased he was keen on bringing in Sting for the Invasion story but he declined the offer as he felt that they weren't treating the old WCW guys with respect and were basically burying them with the exception of Booker T.

[YER SISTERS YER MAW]

For me Sting is the biggest name never to have worked for Vince McMahon. When Vince first purchased he was keen on bringing in Sting for the Invasion story but he declined the offer as he felt that they weren't treating the old WCW guys with respect and were basically burying them with the exception of Booker T.

Cheers! I'd have took a guess at that being Sting's reaction at that point in time, but he'd have been some coup for Vince if they'd managed to sign him earlier in his career.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Cheers! I'd have took a guess at that being Sting's reaction at that point in time, but he'd have been some coup for Vince if they'd managed to sign him earlier in his career.

I honestly think Sting would have been huge had he gone to work for Vince at the time.

[DomDom]

WWE Allied Powers : The World's Greatest Tag Teams Part 1

I'm not going to be necessarily doing this disc by disc. I'll do what I can fit in. The team I mention first in the naming of the match is the team being covered.

The British Bulldogs vs. The Hart Foundation - WWE MSG 23/09/1985

The timing and execution of these two teams was absolutely perfect. Some of the stuff they were doing was repetitive, but because of how they mapped the match out, the fans remained sucked in and everything seemed fresh. Also, amazing payoff for all of the cheating from The Hart Foundation as well. Very good match from these two teams but that is exactly what you expect. ****1/4

The Steiner Brothers vs. Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki - Japan Supershow 21/03/1991

I think this was a WCW/NJPW show, but since I'm not sure I'm not going to call it as such. Some great stiffness here as well as some breathtaking stuff for the time. The Steiner Brothers managed to wow the Japanese crowd even though they were sorta the heels here. The match didn't follow the formula, which makes this a good choice as it showed how well the Steiner Brothers could apply themselves to other styles of wrestling. A very good match. ****

We move on to "Outstanding Aerial Achievement by a tag team". Our contenders are Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, The High Flyers, The Fantastics, The Killer Bees.

The Killer Bees vs. Demolition, 2/3 Falls Match - WWE Houston 09/10/1987

Demolition~~!! The commentary for this match is horrific. I have no idea who it is on commentary, but I might try and make a point of never listening to them again. Some great double teaming on the legs from the Bees. This match ran out of speed big time after the second fall though. Not surprising as the layout of the match was suspect at best. There was probably better matches with these teams out there so I'm disappointed that this one made the set. **

The Hardy Boys vs. Edge and Christian - WWE King of the Ring 1999

Really ? This is the best they could do for this one ? These two teams had a blinder at No Way Out 2000. I can't understand the logic behind having this match on here, other than it being the breakout match for both teams. The length of the match leads to this being the sort of match that left an impression on people, as the few minutes they spent in there was balls to the walls action. I can't go too high with the score because of the length, but this was impressive. The fans were NUKED by the end. **3/4

The Fabulous Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs, Country Whipping Match - WCCW October 1983

BADSTREET ATLANTA G.A.~~~!!! :D I'm also delighted to see Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy make it onto the set. The two men in the ring can both use a whip. For a match with a lot of whipping ... this was just as bad as it should sound. What the hell did this match do to deserve it's place on the set ? Didn't even have a proper ending. Ugh. DUD

The Funks vs. The Briscos

There isn't a date here and the promotion is "Championship Wrestling". Hmm. The quality is harsh too so I don't know how long I'll last watching this. It's clipped anyways. Time to head off I think.

Harlem Heat vs. The Steiner Brothers - WCW Hog Wild 1996

Given that later in the same show, the crowd were absolutely dead for Benoit vs. Malenko which was a belter, I can't for the life of me understand why the fans were loving this match so much. Of course, the same idiot fans felt the need to pelt the ring with stuff for no good reason. Largely dull match here which lost all of it's steam when Rick Steiner tagged out, and both teams seemed to be completely lost, wondering what was supposed to be next from them. **

That's it for now.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Vintage Collection this week was awesome .

[TAFKAC]

I think we all know the whole Sting letting AJ win thing made little sense and demeans the belt. Also agreed vintage was awesome this week.

And another point about No Surrender, why have Lashley not go over in a squash. No one cares about Rhino anyway. Just strange booking all round.

[The Hero of the Day]

Too fucking right.

For me, it was the absolute benchmark of the Attitude era. Summed up everything it was about.

Remember "Jerry the King" Lawler's reaction anyone ?

[The Hero of the Day]

I honestly think Sting would have been huge had he gone to work for Vince at the time.

I'm not so sure. Sting was the most popular wrestler in 1997 hands down and didn't wrestle one match until December 27th at Starrcade. Stone Cold was no where near him at that time in my opinion.

Got to respect him on not taking Vince's offer up. Although it would have been interesting to see how he would have been used in the WWF vs WCW/ECW angle.

[RB-Scotland]

I'm not so sure. Sting was the most popular wrestler in 1997 hands down and didn't wrestle one match until December 27th at Starrcade. Stone Cold was no where near him at that time in my opinion.

Got to respect him on not taking Vince's offer up. Although it would have been interesting to see how he would have been used in the WWF vs WCW/ECW angle.

Had they booked it sensibly and had no strong heel/face alignments like they did, a Sting/Rock confrontation would have been money.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Adding Sting to Vinces machine would have done huge business. He claims not to have signed because he feared how he would have been used. I actually reckon he would have been made to look shit hot instead of being squashed and buried like many others and I kinda think his reason for not signing is pretty stupid.

[DomDom]

Remember "Jerry the King" Lawler's reaction anyone ?

The man actually screamed and giggled and stuff and ran around on the spot. Glorious.

I'm not so sure. Sting was the most popular wrestler in 1997 hands down and didn't wrestle one match until December 27th at Starrcade. Stone Cold was no where near him at that time in my opinion.

You're not wrong. The buildup to Hogan/Sting made Sting an absolute superstar. Austin was sorta getting there, but still hadn't broken out of the upper midcard. There wasn't the hysteria that would be around him after the Rumble.

The way that Sting was used after that point just goes to show why WCW failed. WWE pushed a guy right and then put him through the roof afterwards. WCW push a guy right and then murder his push at the first chance.

[RussellV1]

non-major Smackdown spoiler

Vickie Guerrero is back

[The Naitch]

non-major Smackdown spoiler

Vickie Guerrero is back

Excuse me?

[DomDom]

No she's not. If she was, it'd almost make up for Batista being on Smackdown.

She was only back as part of the 10th year celebrations.

EDIT

Second more detailed spoilers are making it seem a bit more suspicious. I had no idea it was Eric Escobar that was with her. They COULD have talked Vickie into coming back to give this kid a decent shot with a monster heel manager.

Edited September 30, 2009 by DomDom

[DomDom]

WWE Allied Powers : The World's Greatest Tag Teams Part 2

Right, back onto this collection.

The Midnight Express vs. The Fantastics - NWA Great American Bash 1988

Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to watching this one. Cornette is in a straightjacket and put in a cage above the ring. His actions pre-match are amazing, especially when the referee isn't accepting his bribe. Un-fucking-believable match which sums up exactly why the WCW/NWA tag team division was the best in the world at that point. Some of the team work and one on one stuff going on here was just so ahead of it's time, it would not have been out of place in an ROH ring. I can't advise this match enough. It's amazing. ****1/2

The Nasty Boys vs. Public Enemy, Street Fight - WCW Superbrawl VI

Heenan : "Dusty says he can smell danger in the air. I say it's The Nasty Boys.

I liked the sense of chaos in this match for the first few minutes, it was just a whole load of fun garbage brawling as all four men just beat the crap out of each other all over the place, with some good garbage can/chair/table stuff and not really giving much room for breathing and hiding the limitations of all of the guys well. It should have lasted a couple of minutes shorter though. There's worse matches from both teams so not a bad selection. **1/2

The Rockers vs. The Brainbusters - WWE MSG 18/03/1989

Oh, you KNOW you want this ! This was some quality tag team action. Take some away for the stupid ending and the awful first couple of minutes when both teams were all over the place. The Brainbusters in WWE were great because they spent their short spell just facing off against the best teams in WWE at the time, and then just disappeared again when they were done. ***3/4

That was the end of Disc 1 for anyone wondering.

Demolition vs. Strike Force - WWE Wrestlemania IV

Strike Force's music could have been done by Bruce Springsteen. It just has that awesome sound. The great thing about Demolition was that everything they did had a very distinct look. Right down to the way they simply struck you, it was their style and nobody else's. Nothing pretty about Demolition so this wasn't the best of matches, but on this rather poor Wrestlemania, it was a breath of fresh air, and in hindsight, it wasn't really a bad match. **3/4

The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff vs. Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo - WWE Wrestlemania

Yup, the very first Wrestlemania. Very slick tag team wrestling, helped along by two guys who had been around the block more than once, and the other guys getting better and better by this time. Like most of the matches on this show, this match got raped for time. Shame that, as this could have been a show stealer given half a chance. As it is, this is just a very decent match. **1/2

The Dudley Boys vs. The Hardy Boys, Steel Cage Match - WWE Survivor Series 2001

Intriguing match here. I remember this match being decent at the time and haven't really tried to look it out since then. Oh, and this was the match that sparked the first breakup of The Hardy Boys, leading to their "meh" match at Vengeance a month later. I don't understand the point of having tag out rules in this sort of match. They're in a cage. Just let them battle ! The ending showed major stupidity on the part of Jeff, but that was part of the storyline. So I'll penalise it for being not very good instead. Right, that's harsh, but this could have been much better and the tag rules ruined it. Both teams had no idea how to work around it. **3/4

The Outsiders vs. Harlem Heat - WCW Halloween Havoc 1996

The nWo. By an unreal distance, the best faction to grace the pro wrestling ring. Here is the faction that actually had the main say in knocking WWE off the #1 spot. The Outsiders had almost no chemistry as a tag team. Funny sorta crowd as The Outsiders played the heel role, but The Outsiders were so popular that they just ended up getting cheered the whole way, and neither team seemed ready to adapt to this. This was sorta boring anyways. Interesting to hear the way the crowd reacted to The Outsiders though. *

The Brainbusters vs. Sting and Nikita Koloff - NWA Great American Bash 1988

You just can't help but be sucked into this match. The charisma of Sting and Koloff alone makes this worth watching as both men had the fans eating out of the palms of their hands. Then you had the amazing work of both Blanchard and Anderson when they had the control of the match. The pace of the match was frighteningly consistant and the heat in the audience was absolutely electric. Two amazing tag team matches on the same show means I might have to check out the actual show itself. ****1/4

Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens vs. Red Bastien and Billy Robinson, 2/3 Falls Match - AWA December 1972

This might be the oldest match I have ever watched. This match features the coolest rope bump I have ever seen from Bastien. Just get this DVD and watch this match. It's worth it for this little thing alone. I was in tears of laughter. Get past that and you actually have a really good tag team match. Another highlight was the commentator saying "What. An. Upset." along with the bell ringing. Some great fun to be had in both the wrestling and the commentary. ****

More tomorrow !

[The Hero of the Day]

You're not wrong. The buildup to Hogan/Sting made Sting an absolute superstar. Austin was sorta getting there, but still hadn't broken out of the upper midcard. There wasn't the hysteria that would be around him after the Rumble.

The way that Sting was used after that point just goes to show why WCW failed. WWE pushed a guy right and then put him through the roof afterwards. WCW push a guy right and then murder his push at the first chance.

Probably the most exciting time for WCW and it was no wonder they were better than the WWF with that kind of anticipation. Austin was still heal if my memory serves me correctly and was still fueding with Bret Hart. But yes, after the Royal Rumble 98 and Wrestlemania 98 it was no question that Austin was bigger than Sting.

It does sadden me how Sting was used. Never ever should have been put into the nWo Wolfpac despite it being a cool moment with him slamming the Giant. And, well Sting vs Vampiro says it all really. Bottomline with WCW was that they couldn't get past the nWo angle.