May 17, 201411 yr comment_5603705 Yeah. Just last year I watched an episode of Nitro with a Benoit/Nancy promo that (I believe) was intended to come across like it was filmed at some seedy hotel spot or something, and they were trash-talking Sullivan and his link to Woman. Just uncomfortable, like you said. The feud itself is tremendous, but it's almost eerie to go back and watch the buildup that bridges the gaps between their matches.
May 18, 201411 yr comment_5603893 And who had the Goldberg music theme in 1997 ? No other than Pat Tanaka as a jobber. Kinda surrealistic.
May 19, 201411 yr comment_5603960 Schiavone and the other announcers not picking on the fact the Amazing French Canadian were actually singing their national anthem in *french* and saying "they don't know the words !" each time around was embarrasing. Wait, what? They we were really signing it in French!? I thought "disrespectfully signing gibberish" was their whole gimmick.
May 19, 201411 yr comment_5604035 Schiavone and the other announcers not picking on the fact the Amazing French Canadian were actually singing their national anthem in *french* and saying "they don't know the words !" each time around was embarrasing. Wait, what? They we were really signing it in French!? I thought "disrespectfully signing gibberish" was their whole gimmick. Yep. The first sentence is "Ô Canada ! Terre de nos aïeux, ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.". You can hear them sing those words. They sing it very very badly and offbeat (like they use to sing their Quebecers song) but they say the right words (and the French version seems to be the original one too). So yeah, the announcers look like complete idiots there.
May 26, 201411 yr comment_5604696 Yeah, who the fuck would voluntarily want to watch more Beefcake matches? Colleagues on the subway who couldn't believe Ed was actually telling the truth!
June 9, 201411 yr comment_5606388 Ah, 911 squashed and chokeslamed by Giant in Philly. Totally forgot about that one.
June 15, 201411 yr comment_5607350 Anybody knows why Nancy suddenly disappeared from TV after May 26, 1997 ? It was really never mentionned, and Benoit kept on feuding with Sullivan for a while.
June 18, 201411 yr comment_5608178 Anybody knows why Nancy suddenly disappeared from TV after May 26, 1997 ? It was really never mentionned, and Benoit kept on feuding with Sullivan for a while. Wiki says that she just disappeared without a mention. Maybe someone thought it a good idea to take her off the road after she became involved with Benoit for real? I don't remember the timeline of that angle becoming reality very well.
June 19, 201411 yr comment_5608709 We had a family friend who actually put up a few thousand to help sponsor JW Storm's boxing career. Guess that didn't work out too well for them. Storms Religious strength show is a pretty good bit of carny as well. Does "feats of strength" (brick breaking, etc.) to show the power of God, and solicits donations while doing so. I believe he pockets a very good percentage of what he is able to bring in.
June 19, 201411 yr comment_5608760 Anybody knows why Nancy suddenly disappeared from TV after May 26, 1997 ? It was really never mentionned, and Benoit kept on feuding with Sullivan for a while. Wiki says that she just disappeared without a mention. Maybe someone thought it a good idea to take her off the road after she became involved with Benoit for real? I don't remember the timeline of that angle becoming reality very well. At this point Chris & Nancy had been together for a while already. Awkward Chris Benoit moment : putting on the crippler crossface on Meng until he passes out. I really didn't had trouble rewatching most of Benoit's matches during this period, but this spot was just uncomfortable as all hell.
June 21, 201411 yr comment_5608908 Anybody knows why Nancy suddenly disappeared from TV after May 26, 1997 ? It was really never mentionned, and Benoit kept on feuding with Sullivan for a while. Wiki says that she just disappeared without a mention. Maybe someone thought it a good idea to take her off the road after she became involved with Benoit for real? I don't remember the timeline of that angle becoming reality very well. At this point Chris & Nancy had been together for a while already. Awkward Chris Benoit moment : putting on the crippler crossface on Meng until he passes out. I really didn't had trouble rewatching most of Benoit's matches during this period, but this spot was just uncomfortable as all hell. I watched that last month. I felt a little icky as well. What I find uncomfortable as hell is the little boy screaming in Benoit's WWE entrance video. I'm not trying to be funny, either.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616875 Totally forgot about that Syxx vs Flair match at Road Wild 97. Man, Flair looks like he couldn't give a fuck. The more I'm going back through this year, the more the idea that poor Flair was fucked over by WCW and should have been working on main events seems absurd. He looked old, dated, didn't care about putting younger talent over and was a walking parody on promos. Meanwhile, Hogan, as much as a destructive asshole as he would soon become, was still drawing shitloads of money and was an effective in-ring worker and a terrific promo.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616893 He was fucked over by WCW and should have been working main events. I think anyone who was pretty consistently popping out the highest rated quarter hours on the show - even while being misused - and had accomplished so much in wrestling and wasn't being treated like a legend in the booking would be unmotivated to give them something great every time. When he's actually given something to sink his teeth into, like the feuds with Hennig and Bret, he gives some great promos. I'm not disputing that he was unmotivated during this time and should have given more in the Syxx feud, but I also think he should have been booked much closer to the top.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616897 I'm curious to see how the whole Hennig feud has aged, because thus far Flair really showed me nothing I would call really good in 97. And in the ring he wouldn't give anything great at this point even on his best day. Hogan was a better worker than Flair in 97. Should he have worked a program on top against Hogan during the year ? Well, when you consider they gave Piper two other PPV main event slots, yeah, probably, although that already had been done to death in the previous years. But as a performer, Flair wouldn't crack my top ten in the company in 97 (from the top of my head : Hogan, Savage, Rey, Benoit, Eddie, Regal, Jericho, Wright, Dragon, Syxx, Outsiders, DDP, Jarrett were all all around more entertaining than Flair at this point)
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616930 Flair should have been in JJ's commissioner roll as a foil to Bischoff while wrestling part time in high profile matches. Then after Dusty joined the NWO, they should have built to a Final Showdown between him and Ric. He needed to be in a visible position with some attention, but not necessarily tippy top.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616934 We are discovering in 1999 that Flair could still work a pretty great match DESPITE the horrible booking.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616935 Flair as the face and Dusty as a heel in 1998 would have been something to see.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616949 We are discovering in 1999 that Flair could still work a pretty great match DESPITE the horrible booking. Don't remember any. Not even close.
August 3, 201411 yr comment_5616957 I wouldn't say great so much as good, interesting and worth watching. I like both Hogan PPV matches. I like the Benoit match from Thunder. I like the Goldberg match from Nitro quite a bit. However, Hogan has been the biggest surprise in the ring of 1999 WCW that I've watched lately.
September 1, 201411 yr comment_5622187 Here's a piece of trivia, Glacier's undefeated streak in single matches came to a end when he got beat by… Buff Bagwell. Had no recollection of this.
September 19, 201411 yr comment_5626656 Rewatching all this stuff in context, 1998 actually began in late October/early November 97. No wonder Starrcade 97 was a failure.
September 19, 201411 yr comment_5626664 All of a sudden, the booking fell apart on top, leading to the godawul Piper vs Hogan Age in a Cage match, terrible mistakes that would never have been done before, nWo oversaturation on Nitro, counterproductive promos (Bischoff and Hogan basically promoting Sting's movie) etc... And once in a while, a pretty damn good show. Just like in 98. WCW just doesn't look like the killer promotion it had been from Spring 96 to the Summer of 97, at all.
September 20, 201411 yr comment_5626765 All of a sudden, the booking fell apart on top, leading to the godawul Piper vs Hogan Age in a Cage match, terrible mistakes that would never have been done before, nWo oversaturation on Nitro, counterproductive promos (Bischoff and Hogan basically promoting Sting's movie) etc... And once in a while, a pretty damn good show. Just like in 98. WCW just doesn't look like the killer promotion it had been from Spring 96 to the Summer of 97, at all. I agree. After summer 1997 there was a lot of head-scratching stuff and that Hogan-Piper cage match just kind of comes out of nowhere.
September 21, 201411 yr comment_5627120 Interesting that the downturn in WCW quality coincides almost exactly with Terry Taylor taking on more of the booking duties while Sullivan's responsibilities were reduced.
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