Posted January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784936 I wanted to start this companion thread to the Most Important matches thread. What are the best, most important, most memorable angles, turns and promos in wrestling history? The matches are great, but we love the other stuff too! Whether its Andre Cross Ripping, Dusty's Hard Times, Pine Boxes, Mega Powers Colliding, Cactus' Anti-Hardcore, or just a need to talk to Tom, there is no shortage of candidates.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784945 Specifically, the promo Archie Gouldie cuts from about 1:00 to about 5:22 in that video. Probably the best promo in the history of Stampede Wrestling, arguably one of the very best ever.
January 24, 20178 yr Author comment_5784948 Holy shit. That is one of those promo's I've always heard about but never actually seen. That was incredible.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784949 Glad you appreciated that. It gave me chills back in the day. Gouldie was amazing on the stick. And... starting around the 2:15 mark here... I'd say the biggest heel turn in pro wrestling history. I can imagine someone arguing for Bash at he Beach or Mega-Powers Exploding or Andre tearing the cross off Hogan's chest on Piper's Pit or the Barbershop Window, but... nah. This is the cake-taker.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784950 Finally (for now): I couldn't find a clip of Terry Gordy slamming the cage door on Kerry von Erich's head... but I did find this: It's another pretty significant heel turn, starting around 5:50. Love this idea for a thread. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784960 These all fall under great promos: Midnight Express promo on Tully/Arn (August 88 - WTBS Studio in response to being jumped in locker room) Midnight Express promo on OMX (11/12/88 - WTBS Studio in response to being jumped the week before in WTBS studio) Flair returns to WCW (09/14/98 - Nitro) Bret Hart returns to Canada (03/29/99 - Nitro)
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784975 Flair returns to WCW (09/14/98 - Nitro) Is that the "Abuse of power! You!" one? That was absolutely amazing.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784987 - CM Punk pipebomb promo July 2011 - The Rock's initial comeback to Raw February 2011 - Nexus debuts June 2010 - Cactus Jack "Cane Dewey" promo in ECW - Steve Austin "No Baby That's For Somebody Else" promo in ECW - Mick Foley promo on Orton in Hershey January 2004 - Mark Henry "retirement" promo June 2013
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784988 "Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass." "Hulk Hogan, you can go to hell ! You're outta there. Straight to hell." Yeah, I know, not very original. But I can't think of any bigger ones.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784989 And of course, Shawn Michaels "losing his smile" infamous promo. Which basically forced Vince to book Bret vs Austin II at Mania 13.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784991 "BUT WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?" Also I would argue that Miz's first Talking Smack promo is one that will be looked as an all-timer in the near future.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784995 Something I wrote about the Rockers Barbershop angle... In January of 1992 I was 10-years-old. My Saturday morning started by getting up before everyone else, eating a huge bowl of cereal, watching cartoons until 12:00 when WWF Superstars came on, then going outside to play around with my friends. In general, the first friend I’d go see was my next door neighbor Maurice. Like me, Maurice was obsessed with wrestling. He was a huge Hogan mark, like I was a huge Savage mark, but we were both huge marks for the Rockers. The breakup of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty during Brutus Beefcake’s Barbershop segment may very well be my biggest wrestling memory as a child. For a lot of people, Hogan joining the NWO was the most impactful heel turn they can remember, but not for me. The Rockers were everything I wanted from a team. They wrestled a fast pace, had cool entrance music, and most importantly had a finishing move that came off of the top rope. As a kid that was the trifecta for me. So when Shawn Michaels super kicked Marty Jannetty and threw him through the barbershop window, I didn’t know how to react. I remember running out of the house to find my friend Maurice, only to notice that he had just ran out of his house looking for me. We didn’t get our bikes, we didn’t go see if any of our friends were outside, we just sat under a tree and tried to make sense of what we had just witnessed. I’ll never forget what happened that day, and that is the beauty of being a wrestling fan.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784996 The DiBiase collection: - Taking multiple piledrivers from Terry Gordy + promo from hospital, GCW, 1981 - Turning on JYD after being best man at his wedding, Mid-South, 1982 + Jim Duggan disguised as a gorilla - The "Mr. R" angle (a mask angle involving Tommy Rich), GCW, 84 - Everything leading up to Tuxedo match with Duggan including the Tuxedo showdown, and smashing Duggan's car up with a baseball bat, Mid-South 85 - Turning on his mentors, the Funks, at the behest of Stan Hansen, AJPW, 8/31/85 - Brainbuster on the concrete from Dick Murdoch before title match with Ric Flair + afters, Midsouth, 11/6/85 As Million Dollar Man - Swimming pool skit, late 87 - Basketball skit, 88 - Trying to buy the belt + Evil twin ref angle Main Event, 88 - Creation of the Million Dollar Belt including cape and maniacal laughter, 89 - Leadup to and breakup with Virgil, 91 including making him clean fungus from between his toes - Destroying Brutus Breefcake's face for being a loser, 93
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784998 Will also always put over all of the promos from Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry feud, especially the empty arena one and the one where Bruno has a scar on his head.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5784999 The Bullet & The Stud - Bob Armstrong comes back to Southeastern after a serious injury where weights got dropped on his face and wants to make amends for the things he did during his last run as a heel, namely screwing Ron Fuller over during a World Title match with Ric Flair. Bob Armstrong offers to be Ron's partner in his feud with Arn Anderson & Jerry Stubbs but Ron doesn't trust him & doesn't want his help leading to some great promos from both of them.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5785000 "Cane Dewey" has already been mentioned, and it's a great promo, but if someone with better internet skills than me can find the "Uncle Willy" promo from ECW, I consider it the best thing Foley ever did
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5785003 There are so many Memphis angles and promos, we could dedicate an entire thread just to Memphis alone and it might be more than every other territory combined. Bill Dundee heel turn leading to LLT 1983 Lawler Dundee special hyping LLT 1983 Tag Team of the Year Angle for New Gabs Drew Machine Tarred and Feathered Entire Lawler Kaufman feud Funeral for the Bruise Brothers Jackie Fargo hyping the Gabs This is your Life Jerry Lawler Bill and Buddy Show Dutch Mantel face turn 1986 Lawler-Snowman feud Savage/Lawler vs Rude/Bundy studio brawl Lawler getting run over by a car Randy Savage and Lawler's dead daddy Austin Idol as Lucha dor Tommy Rich + Jimmy Valiant Entire Lawler + Bock feud with promos esp. punching promo Drunk Lawler leading to 1985 LLT Flair puts a bounty on Lawler 1982 Those are just off the top of my head. I know I am missing some really obvious ones.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5785012 I put together this play list recently. I know it's a lot of videos. I also broke it down by territory in other playlists if you want to go that route. By no means complete. Still a work in progress.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5785026 Piper's final Pit before Wrestlemania III. "Daddy's coming home!!" That buildup period to Wrestlemania III (Fall '86-Spring '87) has some of the best angle and mic work all-around in that company.
January 24, 20178 yr comment_5785031 Anyone have a link to Cornette's goodbye to the Heavenly Bodies SMW promo? That's one of the greatest I've ever heard.
January 25, 20178 yr comment_5785049 Anyone have a link to Cornette's goodbye to the Heavenly Bodies SMW promo? That's one of the greatest I've ever heard.
January 26, 20178 yr comment_5785235 And... starting around the 2:15 mark here... I'd say the biggest heel turn in pro wrestling history. I can imagine someone arguing for Bash at he Beach or Mega-Powers Exploding or Andre tearing the cross off Hogan's chest on Piper's Pit or the Barbershop Window, but... nah. This is the cake-taker. Yeah nothing beats this. As a turn, I'm sure it was just as shocking live (if not more) than Hogan at Bash at the Beach but it initiated that incredible late 96-97 CMLL run with tons of great matches and a few all timers, many of which had beautiful storytelling. While the whole NWO deal was garbage and an embarrassment to wrestling.
January 26, 20178 yr comment_5785316 The entire Memphis ep for Jerry Lawler vs. Ric Flair (8/14/82) should go in.
January 26, 20178 yr Author comment_5785317 This isn't an angle or promo, but it is a legendary non-wrestling performance that is well remembered and greatly enhanced the quality of a legendary match so I feel compelled to bring up Bobby Heenan's 1992 Royal Rumble Commentary Performance (and the post match interview for that matter) as something that belongs in the pantheon of non-wrestling performances on a wrestling program. Which now opens the floor up to:What some other all time great/memorable performances by a commentator? "Lance Russell" is a viable answer by itself.
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