So I mentioned a long while back that when I was little, I attended a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge in January 1993. Back then, most episodes of Challenge and Superstars were almost exclusively established character vs. jobber. I know it sounds boring, but back then it worked well because it helped establish and enhance those characters as top tier, and made PPV matches, and the occasional feature match on those shows feel special and exciting.
That said, nobody's going to buy a ticket to watch exclusively jobber matches, so instead of announcing the show that was coming to your town, they would just announce dark matches that they'd be doing in addition to the TV taping. These would always be big matches and heavily promoted, but wouldn't typically be shown on TV at all. These were the dark matches for the taping of Wrestling Challenge that we attended.
Big Boss Man vs. Bam Bam Bigalow Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Yokozuna Nasty Boys vs. Money Inc. for the tag titles Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels for the intercontinental title Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair The Undertaker vs. Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna for the WWF title (Yokozuna had THREE matches that night, geez, the two dark matches and a jobber match)
It is the very same Undertaker vs. Razor Ramon match that we attended, and had no idea aired anywhere, ever! Holy shit what a lucky find! If you're a fan of this era, btw, the rest of the video is worth a look as it also contains the very first WWF ladder match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, as well as the Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair match where Bret Hart won the WWF title for the first time. A nice piece of history. Man I miss this wrestling style too. We'll never see that again.
As I said, they were big matches. Bret Hart and Yokozuna DID main event Wrestlemania. Two of them, even. As for Savage, unfortunately this was around the time Vince decided Savage was going to do almost exclusively commentary. He left for WCW shortly after.
As I said, they were big matches. Bret Hart and Yokozuna DID main event Wrestlemania. Two of them, e
Mr. T. did wrestle in the first Wrestlemania. He was tagged with Hogan against Piper and Bob Orton. Then in WM2 he had a mock boxing match against Piper where Piper was disqualified for slamming him.
edit: It wasn't Bob Orton... I completely forgot who the other guy was... Paul Orndorf(sp)?
Mr. T. did wrestle in the first Wrestlemania. He was tagged with Hogan against Piper and Bob Orton.
Fun Fact: Combining wrestling and boxing is what created MMA, btw.
Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki fought Muhammad Ali in a match in Japan in 1976 that is credited as being the precursor to modern MMA. The fight was... not good, by all accounts. The lead up to it was a mess, the negotiations on the rules were a cluster, and the result was viewers worldwide demanding refunds.
But I guess the idea of pitting fighters with vastly different background and skills against each other was too good to let go.
Fun Fact: Combining wrestling and boxing is what created MMA, btw. Japanese wrestling legend Antoni
Yeah, WWF/WWE taped everything. They still do. And a lot of the old Colosseum Home Video releases had matches from house shows and dark matches from TV tapings. Those didn't air on TV, but were exclusive to the Colosseum Home Video tape.
I attended a house show in, I think August or September 1993? I forget exactly when. I remember one match was Mr. Perfect vs. Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. And I wanna say Mr. Hughs was in a match. Pretty sure none of those matches were on any home video release.
Yeah, WWF/WWE taped everything. They still do. And a lot of the old Colosseum Home Video releases
OH SHIT! Mr. Perfect! I completely forgot it was him and Ric Flair in a dark match as well. Also damn, Michaels held that belt for a long time! I wanna say he won it about a year before the one you saw, and only lost it at Wrestlemania 10, 1994, so almost two years.
Ah yes! This taping also had the TV debut of Doink the Clown
OH SHIT! Mr. Perfect! I completely forgot it was him and Ric Flair in a dark match as well. Also dam
It was probably September, 1993, at the earliest. The first WWF/WWE show I saw on TV was a USA Network special the week of SummerSlam 1993. I guess there was no episode of Raw that week, so they had this special instead. It wasn't your typical Star vs. Jobber card, either. But I forget what the undercard was. I just remember the main event was Money Inc. vs the Steiner Bros. for the WWF Tag Team Championships inside a steel cage. The finish was, one of the Steiners escaped, leaving his brother to get beat down by DiBiase and IRS. Then IRS went to escape, but the Steiner on the floor got underneath him, and put IRS on his shoulders. So when DiBiase escaped, it didn't count 'cause IRS never touched the floor. It gave the other Steiner time to escape, and the Steiners won.
As for the house show I was at, I think the Mr. Hughes match may have been against Bret Hart. I don't remember. But I do remember Mr. Perfect vs. Shawn Michaels. Shawn was the IC Champ, as you know, and was defending it against Hennig. I think Mr. Perfect won by DQ or count-out. I forget. He grabbed the Intercontinental Championship belt, and Shawn wanted it back. So he laid it in the ring, and turned his back. But up above the stands where the audience sat were big TV screens that showed the action. So when Shawn went to grab the belt, Mr. Perfect turned around and chased him off. They did this a few times before Shawn managed to successfully grab the belt and escape. That was fun.
Also, Shawn was technically stripped of the title in late-1993 when he was suspended by WWF IRL. I forget why he was suspended. I wanna say drug issues, but he continued abusing them through the rest of the 90s, and didn't get suspended again. Anyway, after he came back, Razor Ramon was already crowned the new champ, so they did the "I never lost the title" storyline which resulted in both belts being on the line at WrestleMania X. Shawn technically wasn't the champion, but Razor's reign wasn't exactly undisputed, either, since Shawn did have a legit claim to the championship.
It was probably September, 1993, at the earliest. The first WWF/WWE show I saw on TV was a USA Netw
Michaels typically lost by count-out a lot when he was intercontinental champ, I remember that. He did so against Randy Savage, and again at Wrestlemania 9. OH! That's right, he VERY briefly did lose the title on Raw against Marty Janetty, but won it back within the same month.
Michaels typically lost by count-out a lot when he was intercontinental champ, I remember that. He d
See, like the only reasons I can think of for Michaels being suspended is drug use, or throwing a fit backstage. Maybe he came to the show so doped up he couldn't work. (Like Jeff Hardy at that one TNA PPV.) And I think it may have also been to make an example out of him. Though that example was basically, do as much drugs as you want, just don't let it interfere with your work.
I'm too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia or whatever. :P
See, like the only reasons I can think of for Michaels being suspended is drug use, or throwing a fi
Yeah I remember one story, I think it was told on one of the Legends of Wrestling games as an extra, but Jim Duggan and Iron Shiek were traveling together, cops pulled them over, Shiek was high as balls and they found loads of pot in the vehicle. They got suspended, not because of the drugs, but for getting caught breaking kayfabe. They were supposed to be enemies, and they were seen traveling together.
Yeah I remember one story, I think it was told on one of the Legends of Wrestling games as an extra,
Who is Mister Perfect? He sounds like a made-up character they only had for the NES game, lol... like "Mister Dream" from Punchout, when Nintendo lost the license to use Mike Tyson's name and likeness.
Who is Mister Perfect? He sounds like a made-up character they only had for the NES game, lol... lik
Mr. Perfect, aka Curt Hennig, was one of the best wrestlers in the 80s and 90s.
The idea for the character was that he was the best at everything. Basketball, football, baseball, bowling, golf, he could do it all, and do it all flawlessly. Or rather, Perfectly. In reality, I'm sure that wasn't the case. Hennig was an incredible athlete, but no one is perfect. :P
But they did vignettes of him doing things like tossing a basketball over his head from 3-Point range and sinking it, nothing but net. Or throwing a football, and then being able to run fast enough to catch it. Or hitting a home run off of every ball from a pitching machine in an MLB stadium. Or bowling a perfect 300 game. I think there was a vignette of him getting a bunch of hole-in-ones in golf, but I'm not so sure of that. They were all heavily edited, obviously. But did an effective job at saying, yeah, this guy is the perfect athlete. He really is Mr. Perfect.
Mr. Perfect, aka Curt Hennig, was one of the best wrestlers in the 80s and 90s. The idea for the ch
Damn. I miss that era of the WWF. I remember going to Wrestlemania 2, 3, and 13 with my Dad, not to mention a lot of the local WWF shows too so I know what you mean by the dark matches. We also went to the 3rd Survivor Series and watched Ultimate Warrior eliminate Andre within seconds. That was shocking. I do have to say though, the Stu Hart's family had it tough. They lost so many of their boys. I'll give the video a watch. Always love to remember some of the good times. Thanks for that.
Damn. I miss that era of the WWF. I remember going to Wrestlemania 2, 3, and 13 with my Dad, not to
Awesome ^_^ I started watching in 91, just before Bret Hart won the intercontinental belt. And yeah I went back several years ago and watched the Superstars and Challenge episodes leading up to 3 (damn those things are hard to find) it was hype as fuck! But seeing as back then Challenge and Superstars episodes were pretty much the exact same except for the matches, I gotta wonder if they were regional, where they tape in one region and air it in another, because we didn't get Wrestling Challenge, only Superstars, but Challenge was what was being taped that day.
So you were at 2? Which arena/main-event did you get in that clusterfuck of an event?
Awesome ^_^ I started watching in 91, just before Bret Hart won the intercontinental belt. And yeah
Chicago. We almost always went to any show in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, as long as my dad's jobs (or mom) didn't get in the way.
Chicago. We almost always went to any show in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, as lo
My Dad had to work two jobs to cover the bills because mom would spend all his money at bingo halls. Don't get me wrong, bingo is very enjoyable, but mom never understood the meaning of 'moderation' and went on a 3 times a week (Friday-Sunday), if not daily, basis. As for WM2, it was the only time I've ever seen Ozzy in real life.
My Dad had to work two jobs to cover the bills because mom would spend all his money at bingo halls.
Sometimes I hate the whole time limit on editing comments. -------------- I am not sure which show it was, but one of my biggest memories with my Dad was the one time he bought ringside seats. I don't remember which wrestlers it was, but I remember them coming out of the ring into the seats and using MY chair to bash each other's heads in. My Dad took so many pictures of that event.
At another event, I remember sitting in a seat just right before the ringside metal folding chairs and getting one of those brand new cool-looking fiberglass light strand things and waving it around during the matches.
Thanks for this again. I don't think about my Dad as much as I use to. Just so much going on in life right now that I rarely have time to remember the good times. Unfortunately, those times ended up fading because my mom starting getting more and more jealous and started to worm her way into making me hate my Dad. That continued until a family therapist I was seeing caught my mom in a lie and then kicked her from our sessions. Me and my Dad made up after that, but I was practically and adult by then.
Sometimes I hate the whole time limit on editing comments. -------------- I am not sure which show i
We had something similar happen in a Raw event. Main event was a 6-man tag, don't remember who else but it was Cena on one side and Triple H on the other, and Randy Orton came running through the crowd right past us to jump the barricade, I'm just like "Oh what the hell is this idiot do--OH!" He knocked my friend back into his seat on his way past. After he hit Cena with an RKO, he came back through the way he came in. I printed out the image from WWE.com to show everyone where you can see the top of my friend's head and the tips of my fingers off the side, I'm like "Wanna touch, wanna touch" >.>
Anyway back to WM2, what was the main event in Chicago again? Like one of them was the battle royal with Andre, one was Hogan and Bundy, and the third... I wanna say Savage was involved in that one? But I don't remember.
aww *snugs* We had something similar happen in a Raw event. Main event was a 6-man tag, don't remem
The battle royal wasn't the main event, but it was still part of the Chicago show. It was a bunch of wrestlers against some NFL guys. I barely even remember the battle royal and only that one because Hillbilly Jim was in it, my Dad and I considered him a hometown hero since he was from Kentucky, though I wasn't shocked Andre won, he was good at winning those, usually. I also remembered Ozzy being involved in the main event somehow, but I had to look it up. It was the British Bulldogs going against the Dream Team for the tag team championship (I swear, that was one wild way to win a match). Man, I completely forgot about Brutus before he became the Barber.
With WM3, if I remember this one correctly, I am fairly certain it was one of those where my Dad and I went to the local arena to watch a satellite broadcasting of the event on what was essentially a giant imax screen. It wasn't really the same as being there in person, but it was still enjoyable. This was before our cable company started doing pay-per-view. I think it was the following year that we started ordering all the PPV's and watching from home.
We tried to go to another WM at one point, my Dad even bought tickets for us to go, but my mom got in the way of it and prevented us from going. Dad ended up losing a lot of money because WM tickets weren't cheap, even back then.
The battle royal wasn't the main event, but it was still part of the Chicago show. It was a bunch of
The only Wrestlemania I attended was 25, with that Shawn Michaels v Undertaker match everyone loves. Of course there was a problem. I gave money to mom, she gave money to someone else, and they ended up getting the tickets from an associate of ticketmaster rather than ticketmaster themselves and they screwed me. I paid for the seats right behind the floor ones, $120 if I'm not mistaken, but then the company we got the tickets from lost mine, and instead of re-doing those tickets they sent me someone else's tickets, had someone else's name on them and said $40 right on them. We could barely see anything. I called WWE fan relations to see if they could fix it and they were just like "but.. THE EXPERIENCE!"
The only Wrestlemania I attended was 25, with that Shawn Michaels v Undertaker match everyone loves.
I've only been to one WWE event since those days, a RAW show at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY, back in 2007. I paid nearly $50 for a ticket, only to end up in the nosebleed section, where it was so difficult to see anything that I couldn’t even enjoy the event. I had wanted front-row seats, but they sold out on the first day, and scalpers were asking close to $400 for them. After that experience, I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and just stuck to watching on WWE.com instead.
I've only been to one WWE event since those days, a RAW show at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY, back
