Ricky Jackson

The Hart's were in a somewhat delicate situation with Ed, as they relied on his influence with Channel 7 in order to have a show on the air, so they often had to bend over backwards to appease the guy. His presence on the show also legitimized Stampede wrestling for many fans and non-fans, as Ed was an icon in the Calgary community for several decades. Did he hurt the product at times? Probably. Was he a good announcer? Compared to the all-time greats, no. Did he wear Cliff Huxtable sweaters? I always picture Ed as a suit and tie guy, but I haven't really watched much Stampede in the YouTube era, so he probably did near the end of the run.

It is probably going to be Eric Bischoff. Abyss/Park will be the "mole" & Bully Ray will turn on Sting. I haven't watched a second of this angle, but Bischoff was the first name that came to mind when I started reading this thread. I also wonder if by using Aces and 8's as a name (the "Deadman's Hand") TNA is trying to con the rubes into thinking Taker is behind it.

Yeah, I wrote about Nash's bullshit during that episode in another thread a while ago. Can't remember which one. What disappointed me was nobody on the panel called him out on any of it.

I think he meant the WWF lost some big sponsers, like Coca Cola, around 1999 because of pressure from parents groups over the Russo-scripted sleaze on Raw IIRC.

I think Russo might be booking Monday Night Football. Nah, the ending to that game was too subtle for him--maybe if the ref ripped off his shirt to reveal a Seahawks jersey...

I don't think he did. I can remember reading the one he did for Konnan, but not Mysterio. Didn't Meltzer fall way behind on a bunch of bios around that time? I also seem to remember a promised AWA history or Gagne bio that never materialized as well.

I don't think FLIK cares.

Yeah, a lot of my YouTube wrestling playlists have been shrinking lately due to the crackdown.

Bryan being involved in an angle with Kane, and it doesn't suck, clinches the wrestler of the year award for him in my eyes.

Fantastic.

Just did some quick research, and neither died of heart attacks, contrary to legend. The first, Alberto Torres in 1971, died of a ruptured pancreas three days after a match with Baker according to the Online World of Wrestling. The second, Ray Gunkel in 1972, had heart disease, but it was apparently a blow to the chest during a match with Baker, causing a blood clot that went to his heart, which killed him, according to Slam!.

Great work Kris. I've become a fan of II in recent years and have been looking out for a comprehensive overview of his career. Very informative, and it really makes me wish some previously unknown treasure trove of Omni footage would magically turn up someday.

I think if a wrestler gets less than 10% of the vote they fall off.

The Cappetta interview is really good. I'm a big fan of the vintage vault podcasts. Great work. Hope you guys are working hard trying to track down Dennis Stamp for an interview someday.

I have no love for Bischoff, but Nitro coming along in 1995 did revitalize what was a totally comatose, stuck in the past North American wrestling scene (outside of ECW) and arguably got the ball rolling towards what is often considered the hottest period ever for the business. I'm not sure how much credit Bischoff deserves for this, though. And considering the wrestling most of us love more or less ceased to exist after 1997, replaced by high spots, scripts, and the chase for high ratings, maybe he should be damned to hell.

I'm not sure, I was only half listening, but I think Jim Rome just got trolled by an e-mailer into saying "Triple H" on the air multiple times without irony.

Graham was a huge star for most of the 70s in multiple territories. Backlund's fall was maybe greater--going from 6 years on top in NYC to out of wrestling completely in about two years.

I know Piper abruptly left Georgia in late-82 just as he was starting a program with Lawler. He was booked to face him at the Omni and it was hyped on TV, but the match never took place. I'm sure there is a lot more to his leaving Georgia than just missing one show. And if he was "blackballed" in the US it wasn't for long because he was wrestling for Crockett as early as 1/1 83 and likely sooner. I don't think I've ever heard the plane crash story before and the 45 dog collar matches in 60 days is typical wrestler exaggeration. Edit: Piper wrestled Flair in Greensboro on Thanksgiving night 1982.

I'm pretty sure the 67 million you quote was the pre-canceling of TV shows price, and that Fusient backed out once the shows were cancelled.

I grew up in Calgary and have probably watched more Stampede than most on this board, but I could never argue with a straight face that it was better than Memphis.

triple post. sorry.

double post

I think the plan by Bischoff was to shut everything down and start over with this planned show: I think the plan was to use RVD as the new top star. Not sure what the role of the other guys was going to be.

Meltzer? I thought we stopped taking him seriously years ago. I mean really, 78,000 for Mania III? Bah. Nonsense. Seriously though, I'm sticking with the continuation of the Hogan-Savage feud being the main draw, with the addition of a well built-up Zeus as a nice bonus.

The Summerslam 89 number is a definitely a testament to how hot the Hogan-Savage feud really was.