for the wrestling fans, flash back four or five years
A couple Mondays ago, I was at Rich Ramillosa's house for his birthday. More like late Sunday night, but it was past midnight so we got to be the firsts to officially ring in the day. We started off by watching a tape of the most recent RAW with folks. It was a real treat for me, since I don't have cable at home (and so I can't watch RAW, ECW, and stuff like that). Then afterwards, he realized he wasn't gonna be home that night to watch the new episode of RAW. He asked his friend to tape it for him, which he agreed to. But having no new VHS tapes, he went to dig through his old tapes and see if there was something he could record over.
Since they're not labeled, we popped in each tape to see what was on it. Turned out they were all old wrestling tapes, and so we started on a nostalgia trip. The real standout, and the one which we watched in full, was an episode of RAW from the first months of 2002. This episode was from back when I was staying in Baltimore (and was watching both of the wrestling shows each week with my friends out there). A very memorable and cool time in wrestling, and a moment in time just before (and after) a lot of major changes in the format.
This was shortly after Vince McMahon had purchased WCW, and would purchase ECW as well. We were delighted by the people who had been brought over, both superstars and lower-key folks. And then of course Stacy Kiebler and Torrie Wilson, who were far more talented and attractive than any WWF women of the time. It was when they shocked us by bringing back nWo, to lead into Wrestlemania 18. And crazier still, it was when they were still called WWF. The name change to WWE would occur later that year. Similarly, this was back when the entire WWF roster was still united. The whole "split" between rosters of RAW and Smackdown would not occur until later that year as well. So in many ways, this was the end of an era.
Steve Austin's "WHAT?!" gimmick was still going strong. Kurt Angle was doing promos for "800-CALL-ATT" and their Wrestlemania X8 contest. DDP was everyone's favorite motivational speaker, with that creepy leather grin. The Hardy Boys were together, and still in prime condition. Ric Flair had a majority share in WWF, and wouldn't sell it to Vince. In return, Vince brought back nWo! An inconsistency in story, since I seem to recall Hogan going back to a face (and his yellow/red) just before WCW ended. But I couldn't help but mark out anyhow, as this was big stuff.
And then Wrestlemania 18 was coming, which would have two big matches in relation. Steve Austin vs. Scott Hall, which was okay. But then there was the expected "clash of legends" between The Rock and Hulk Hogan. That was an interesting match, because even though Hogan was the heel... he still got lots of cheers from people who were just glad to see him back. It was a nice show of mutual respect, and at least The Rock didn't hafta jobber to Hogan as badly as RKO needed to (in their match at Summerslam THIS year) ^_^
The other tape we ended up watching was an even older one, the WCW pay-per-view "New Blood Rising." Again, so many cherished memories and things we missed. There was a fantastic match between 3Count and the Jung Dragons. We had Kanyon, of course, who betta? Not to mention Buff Bagwell's mom on a forklift. And then the mud wrestling match, with a young Stacy Kiebler (back when she was still Miss Hancock). Further testimony as to why no woman in wrestling will ever usurp her as my favorite. This was when they kicked off the baby storyline, and she was still with David Flair.
We need to watch old Wrestling shit more often. In this day and age, you can prolly download any past PPV on Bittorrent or IRC. Prolly even RAW and other shows. I tried to find the 800-CALL-ATT Wrestlemania X8 commcercial on YouTube and Google Video, to share with you guys, but no luck -_- I did manage to find another clip, though, related to this time period. Absolutely hilarious, so well-done with the music. You guys should remember it. We even get a "Space Austin" as the last note of the song:
EDIT: The clip was removed from YouTube a couple days after I linked to it -_- The usual excuse, "copyright reasons." It's a shame, too, because it was just a short segment from an ancient RAW episode. It's not like WWE stands to lose anything from people sharing that particular clip, seeing as that footage is not commercially available. It's not like someone had uploaded a PPV, or a DVD rip, or something you can actually purchase from them. Yay for unfair policy.
Since they're not labeled, we popped in each tape to see what was on it. Turned out they were all old wrestling tapes, and so we started on a nostalgia trip. The real standout, and the one which we watched in full, was an episode of RAW from the first months of 2002. This episode was from back when I was staying in Baltimore (and was watching both of the wrestling shows each week with my friends out there). A very memorable and cool time in wrestling, and a moment in time just before (and after) a lot of major changes in the format.
This was shortly after Vince McMahon had purchased WCW, and would purchase ECW as well. We were delighted by the people who had been brought over, both superstars and lower-key folks. And then of course Stacy Kiebler and Torrie Wilson, who were far more talented and attractive than any WWF women of the time. It was when they shocked us by bringing back nWo, to lead into Wrestlemania 18. And crazier still, it was when they were still called WWF. The name change to WWE would occur later that year. Similarly, this was back when the entire WWF roster was still united. The whole "split" between rosters of RAW and Smackdown would not occur until later that year as well. So in many ways, this was the end of an era.
Steve Austin's "WHAT?!" gimmick was still going strong. Kurt Angle was doing promos for "800-CALL-ATT" and their Wrestlemania X8 contest. DDP was everyone's favorite motivational speaker, with that creepy leather grin. The Hardy Boys were together, and still in prime condition. Ric Flair had a majority share in WWF, and wouldn't sell it to Vince. In return, Vince brought back nWo! An inconsistency in story, since I seem to recall Hogan going back to a face (and his yellow/red) just before WCW ended. But I couldn't help but mark out anyhow, as this was big stuff.
And then Wrestlemania 18 was coming, which would have two big matches in relation. Steve Austin vs. Scott Hall, which was okay. But then there was the expected "clash of legends" between The Rock and Hulk Hogan. That was an interesting match, because even though Hogan was the heel... he still got lots of cheers from people who were just glad to see him back. It was a nice show of mutual respect, and at least The Rock didn't hafta jobber to Hogan as badly as RKO needed to (in their match at Summerslam THIS year) ^_^
The other tape we ended up watching was an even older one, the WCW pay-per-view "New Blood Rising." Again, so many cherished memories and things we missed. There was a fantastic match between 3Count and the Jung Dragons. We had Kanyon, of course, who betta? Not to mention Buff Bagwell's mom on a forklift. And then the mud wrestling match, with a young Stacy Kiebler (back when she was still Miss Hancock). Further testimony as to why no woman in wrestling will ever usurp her as my favorite. This was when they kicked off the baby storyline, and she was still with David Flair.
We need to watch old Wrestling shit more often. In this day and age, you can prolly download any past PPV on Bittorrent or IRC. Prolly even RAW and other shows. I tried to find the 800-CALL-ATT Wrestlemania X8 commcercial on YouTube and Google Video, to share with you guys, but no luck -_- I did manage to find another clip, though, related to this time period. Absolutely hilarious, so well-done with the music. You guys should remember it. We even get a "Space Austin" as the last note of the song:
EDIT: The clip was removed from YouTube a couple days after I linked to it -_- The usual excuse, "copyright reasons." It's a shame, too, because it was just a short segment from an ancient RAW episode. It's not like WWE stands to lose anything from people sharing that particular clip, seeing as that footage is not commercially available. It's not like someone had uploaded a PPV, or a DVD rip, or something you can actually purchase from them. Yay for unfair policy.