Not to that degree, no. One of Vince's best gimmick ideas.

Actually, did the feud start AT Wrestlemania V itself when Ted tried to steal Damian during his match with Andre?

 

The Jake/DiBiase feud did start in 89, right after Mania V. There was a match between Jake and Virgil on Superstars where Ted "injured" Jake post match, allowing him to take time off for either rehab or to recuperate from injury, maybe both. Jake returned post-Summerslam and the feud was rekindled, with matches at MSG in late 89, Jake being on the Hogan side vs DiBiase's team at Survivor Series, and probably house show matches around the horn. Feud ended, of course, at Mania VI.

 

That's a pretty long feud even for 89, what were they doing all of that time?

Jake Roberts defeated Andre the Giant (w/ Bobby Heenan) via disqualification at 9:39 when Andre attacked guest referee Big John Studd and repeatedly headbutted him as Roberts chased Ted Dibiase and Virgil in the aisle after Dibiase attempted to steal Damien from ringside; after the bout, Roberts slid Damien in the ring, scaring Andre from ringside; moments later, Mooney conducted an interview with a Roberts fan in the crowd

Don't remember this at all. A rare Mania to Mania feud.

It's my classic example of WWF continuity booking in the 80s -- don't know when the last time DiBiase and Andre tagged was, guessing Summerslam 88, but they were still allied enough for DiBiase to help him out there. It's just a nice little Easter egg that the Mega Bucks are still sort of in league while the Mega Powers have exploded.

 

But before today I'd never connected it to the actual Jake feud itself.

And according to Cawthon, Jake took time off after the DiBiase injury because of "legal issues dealing with charges of assault", with a "fractured disc in his neck" being the kayfabe excuse (although, didn't Jake suffer a legit neck injury from HTM's guitar shot and suffer life-long repercussions from it?). Jake's return bout didn't air until October 7th.

Didn't Jake have splinters of fiberglass in his skin as a result of that injury? Those are a bitch to deal with, and I can't imagine the kind of pain you'd get from that.

Speaking of DiBiase and getting back to the original topic, a question: was Million Dollar Man really the first evil rich guy gimmick? There are shades of it in the Horsemen, and shades of it in Cornette's character, but was there an out and out "baddie millionaire" before this?

I don't think millionaire was played up, but heel rich nobility was certainly a staple of wrestling for a long time. Baron Michele Leone, Lord Lansdowne, etc.

Didn't Jake have splinters of fiberglass in his skin as a result of that injury? Those are a bitch to deal with, and I can't imagine the kind of pain you'd get from that.

One of the wrestling biographies I read a few years back said that HTM used a real guitar for that angle and it was then that sports-entertainment learned it might be a good idea to use gimmicked guitars.

Jake talks about the Honky Tonk thing on his DVD. They had Jake chasing Honky Tonk around an invisible-to-auidence part of the Snake Pit where Honky changed his real guitar for a shitty ass gimmick one. Problem was, he actually started with the gimmick one and the real one was the one he grabbed to hit Jake with.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kFP8uSflEQ

 

0:25 Honky enters w/ fake guitar (which is supposed to be the real one)

2:26 Honky is chased off by Snake, goes around the back.

2:35 Honky emerges from other side where he grabs real guitar (that was supposed to be the fake one)

2:40 Ouch.

 

It apparently legit injured Roberts neck, yeah.

 

 

EDIT- Not 100% sure how much of this is true, but I'm sure that's what I remember Snake saying.

Well, look at the gimmicked ones Jarrett used all those years. It usually exploded on people's heads and made for a nice visual. This one takes a few shots before the back comes off.

Well, look at the gimmicked ones Jarrett used all those years. It usually exploded on people's heads and made for a nice visual. This one takes a few shots before the back comes off.

There was an amusing incident in TNA where it breaks during his entrance and he has to try and play it off like he was never carrying it.

 

Jake talks about the Honky Tonk thing on his DVD. They had Jake chasing Honky Tonk around an invisible-to-auidence part of the Snake Pit where Honky changed his real guitar for a shitty ass gimmick one. Problem was, he actually started with the gimmick one and the real one was the one he grabbed to hit Jake with.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kFP8uSflEQ

Jeez, what a complete dick Jake was thear, if I was the Honky Tonk Man i'd have cracked his ass with the guitar too.

Well, look at the gimmicked ones Jarrett used all those years. It usually exploded on people's heads and made for a nice visual.

Gimmicked guitars weren't 100% safe either. I still remember David Young showing me a gigantic splinter of wood that was embedded in his scalp after Jarrett whacked him with one of the "safe" props.

Regarding Demolition, I think why some people may not necessarily remember them that well is because they weren't remembered for a lot of top-notch matches or strong feuds. They had good matches with teams like the Hart Foundation, the Brain Busters and Strike Force, but not many people put their matches with The Powers of Pain, the Twin Towers or Andre/Haku on a pedestal.

 

And when it came to feuds, there weren't that many that led to a PPV match. The stuff with the Brain Busters was fun, but no PPV match between the two teams -- heck, when they had Tully and Arn set for Survivor Series, they put them against a team with The Rockers on the other side while Demolition was in a match involving the Powers of Pain. And speaking of which, when they did the Demo/PoP double turn, it didn't really come off that well with the live crowd.

 

Then there was the first Demos/Harts match in which the Harts were feuding with Jimmy Hart and the Demos kind of got treated like a side act.

 

I'll never dispute that Demolition was over and that turning them face was a smart move, but while the team is well remembered, there aren't that many programs or matches they had that really stand out.

Aw, c'mon, considering Andre's immobility the MSG Colossal Connection match is great! And the entire Twin Towers series is really good too. I've seen four house show matches between them and I'd recommend all of them. I think someone on the board actually complained that Demos were selling TOO much in one, like they WANTED the heel in peril formula for some weird reason.

 

I won't defend the Powers of Pain matches much. They're slight.

 

But the Twin Towers matches and the Colossal Connection match are better than any of the Strike Force one. They're better than Summerslam 90 too.

It's interesting to me that people remember Demolition and discuss them so much today. To me, they were a forgettable team. I'm re-thinking that a little because obviously, they weren't, or they would have been forgotten. But it does make me wonder what I was missing.

I'll take a stab at it.

 

I think the biggest thing that made them memorable was their music. That starts off and you want to start belting out the lyrics because it was just awesome. I think they also get remembered because they were different to the other teams when they started. There wasn't really a couple of ass kickers at the time so they stood out greatly. They also had good timing as the Hart Foundation were kind of off the scene and Strike Force wasn't getting it done as the top team. I also think their promos were good and pretty memorable for the energy they could have.

 

But I think the music is one of the biggest factors. It gave them this aura of importance. One of the coolest things when they did Chikara in 2008 was the crowd went totally apeshit and started signing along to the music.

The first Demolition/Powers Of Pain match is good. Demos were working heel and POP were faces.

It's fun and I was really glad when it turned up but it's still sort of slight compared to the other things mentioned. But the big thing with me (again) was that I had no use for Demolition as a kid. By the time I started watching they were Smash and Crush and past Sting and Barry Windham as a kid I hated anyone over 250 lbs, really. I was a scrawny kid and only wanted to see little guys.

The first Demolition/Powers Of Pain match is good. Demos were working heel and POP were faces.

Who's bright idea was to have Barbarian and Warlord as faces?

They were capitalizing on the fact that a huge portion of the fanbase thought it was the Road Warriors and that they had jumped to the WWF.

That lasted what, one TV taping?

Powers were faces til November. The Fuji turn was so strange, since it looked like he was turning face.

 

Watching 88 NWA, I did not realize Warlord did not wear facepaint til the WWF.

I think the Demos thing is easy is explain ... Why are people still talking about Ultimate Warrior? Most over promotion of all time in that period and they were champs for most of it.

I think the Demos thing is easy is explain ... Why are people still talking about Ultimate Warrior? Most over promotion of all time in that period and they were champs for most of it.

I myself hated the Ultimate Warrior and everything about him, but that was when I was going through my "I'm 19 now and wrestling has gotten really stupid and I'm going to college/ following the Grateful Dead around the country" period. I still can't watch a Warrior match, I hated him so much. But I'd imagine that there's a ton of people who were kids during Warrior's run who thought he was fucking awesome and still have nostalgic feelings.

They were capitalizing on the fact that a huge portion of the fanbase thought it was the Road Warriors and that they had jumped to the WWF.

Remember they also started with "The Baron" (Baron Von Raschke) as their face manager. Very surreal.