Welcome to the weekend! If you are hanging around tonight, come join us to chat… we will be talking Great Balls of Fire (check out Brian’s preview here!) plus there is a full slate of baseball tonight too.
Oh, and it is Friday so that means… live watch time! Join us around 915PM ET to watch Great American Bash 1997 as a group!
Hello? Echo!
Sup!
Howizit JT!
Busy day my man… buddy from NY is in town this weekend and is headed over to chill for a bit.
I hear you man, off today but working the next four, two closing shifts and a delivery day on Monday. Gonna feel beat and planning on spending Wednesday watching the three new Planet of the Apes films back to back to back.
Picking up the Aries discussion – seems like he wasn’t happy pigeon-holed into being a cruiser so he requested his release.
As an aside, really sucks his Mania pre-show match (and all pre-show matches) didn’t make the Mania 33 blu-ray or DVD.
Hopefully after a few years away he can come back as a trainer/commentator. He was real good on 205 Live.
Yah agreed. Maybe he gets a couple more in ring years out of his system and then comes back.
Does that really matter anymore with the network?
Oh goodie, never watched Great American Bash 1997, hoping there’s some sleeper gems on this show.
Yeah there is some good stuff on here for sure.
Is it starting now?
I believe in 8 minutes.
I am a idiot and read it 3 times and still missed it.
915 ET
I love that the Network now is showing random shows during the day. Right now it’s the August 96 Clash.
Yeah agreed… really leads you to just find random stuff you may have never tossed on.
Better than 5 repeats of Total Bellas through the day.
The strap match at superbrawl 96, is so weird. I know it’s the whole pillman thing. Also flair has a good line when he comes out, at someone in the crowd. I’ll take your wife home and I’ll make a woman out of her.
AJ Styles won the US belt at the MSG show tonight.
Wow, no dusty finish or anything?
Also I hope that Owens isn’t hurt.
Wow trying to make MSG mean something.
About time! When was the last non-Hardcore Title WWF/WWE house show change? Edge’s quickie one-day IC belt reign in Toronto before dropping it back to Jarrett the next night at the PPV back in 1999?
Never mind the last time a proper MSG house card (not a Raw/SD taping or PPV) saw a title change! Probably have to go back to Hogan’s winning the belt all the way back in Jan of 1984!
Backlund/Diesel man
D’OH!
Yeah, that’s a big one to miss in favor of going all the way back to 1984.
SMH…
Christian won the IC Title from Booker T at a RAW House Show in Des Moines Iowa in August 03.
That’s interesting. Now if they only had an avenue that they could have aired the show on. Hmmmmm.
Firing it up!
Ok let’s do it!
Opening promo time
I’m paused and ready to go!
That is a very patriotic looking entrance!
It’s how they do in Moline!
I had the biggest crush on Kimberly as a kid.
Tony says 13 times the Bash has come into our homes…except it didn’t start of PPV till 1988 and there were no events in ’93 and ’94.
The American dream on commentary!
Always a treat on these shows!
SeeCoSis!
Nice gold theme on Dragon’s ring gear.
I thought it was Ultimo Dragon and not Ultimate Dragon.
Ah WCW…
Crowd seems hot! A sea of Sting and nWo shirts.
Hmmm…was that a botch?
it looked like it.
ooo Ill jump in. Always down to watch a clash
GA Bash 97
Ahh time stamp?
9 minutes and change
Ok.
Ok Im at Dragon-Psi lets do this
Great American Bash 1997 actually. Clash is on the Network live feed.
I always liked using Dragon in WCW vs nWo World Tour and Revenge because of that spinning heel kick.
Yeah his offense is pretty fun.
Had to bounce for a few I’ll be back in shortly
See I like how the WCW crusierweights all have these unique looks. Even those these two are masked they look COMPLETELY different.
Vicious martial arts from that dastardly Sonny Onoo!
Onoo, Onoo, ONOO!
I hated him as a kid, so he was doing His job well haha
I was a dumb teen, I thought that was Psychosis’ real hair.
That guillotine leg drop looked nasty.
When/why did psciosis lose his hair?
Dusty needs to talk more during this match, I need to hear about some clubberin’.
Seems tenay took his microphone
Dat just innit right Dahdee!
When a move is named after you, better believe you do it beautifully.
Only thing that kills this match a bit is the lack of selling. When you take a jumping tombstone piledriver I would expect you to be out for just a little bit.
Yeah, but that’s the Lucha style. Not a lot of selling
True, I try to remember that.
That was a nice drop kick/moonsault combo
Yeah, that was sweet.
That was a fun opener!
Like the Dragon sleeper as a finisher
Ooooh, I might have a few questions/comments for Christ Benoit!
Ahh way back when the internet was a novelty
Can you guys give me a time stamp of whereabouts you’re at
I’m at 22 minutes
Alright I got Steiners coming down the aisle
Me too. They just got in the ring
Steiners may be my favorite tag team of all time. I’m biased as hell Bc I grew up watching them.
Love these Harlem Heat tights…
Can anyone tell me what the hell is on stevie rays shoulder? I remember it bothering me as a kid.
Were Harlem heat the first guys to wear the breathe right nasal strips
First guys I remember wearing them.
I think it some kind of branding or burn mark.
Scott having his own suplex city
I know there were other great tag teams in wcw history but when I think of wcw tag teams these two come to mind
I love the test of strength spot. I used to do that with my little brother all the time.
That was an ugly spot
Crazy to think in 3 years these two would be fighting over the World title.
AJ styles beat kevin owens for the us title at a house show tonight
Hmmm, I wonder if Owens is injured, or will they switch it back tomorrow.
Maybe just trying to make MSG mean something again?
I was gonna go tonight too, but decided against it
When was the last title change at a house show? Primo and epico winning the tag titles in 2011? I can’t remember one since
Joe beat finn for the nxt title at a house show last year
Nak and Joe swapped too
That’s right in Lowell. Alright well that’s 2 in the last 6 plus years. I like it, might boost house show attendance a little though there is a big difference between a msg show and a show in Toledo,Ohio( no offense to the fine folks of Toledo)
Does the NXT title change between Balor and Joe count?
Spinnaroonie
Weird suplex/slam combo
You know I really liked Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin in WCCW. He was funny as shit.
There was a particular promo where Chris Adams is trying to challenge him and Gavin is just taunting him and the crowd mercilessly. Screaming hes a joke, laughing at him, strutting around, having Precious spray his hair.
Oh and the Steiners-Harlem Heat combo never really produced matches above a 3, maybe 3 1/2
Yeah they fought a bunch but never had great chemistry.
Trash finish.
I love the Steiner bull dog
Guess I should’ve gone to MSG tonight…
Aaron Judge just set a new record for New York Yankees homers by a rookie. Number 30. And it’s only July
If he stays healthy he’s breaking mcgwires rookie record
Agreed
Monster.
Hoo boy, I have heard bad things about this upcoming match.
nobody could pull off the just the top button look like konnan
vincent took a lot of beatings back than
Ahh shucky ducky – Hugh Morrous
Your name is Hugh? WHAT Hugh Morrus? WHAT Is that because you’re funny? WHAT Are you humorous? WHAT
Not the smoothest of take downs
Haha no it wasn’t
Gonnad vs Hugh Morris…on ppv
I honestly thought konnan joined the nWo when they had the month when anyone could join.
He looks more like he joined Los Boriquos.
Who did join in that stretch? Buff, Norton, Big Bubba, Wallstreet? Was there any real reason why the latter two didn’t exactly take?
I remember JJ Dillon saying that wallstreet and bubba had valid wcw contracts. So wallstreet had a singlet with a wcw crossed out. As for bubba no idea.
Lol right. He was anti-WCW but couldn’t actually be in the nWo. Just weird that they didn’t roll with it given that both were perceived as ex-WWF guys.
Konnan didn’t join NWO until mid 1997… I liked when he did because he sucked as DoD Konnan.
So probably soon after this match.
Yeah it may be the next night? He kicks the shit out of Rey and injures his knee.
Thanks!!! It’s a bit fuzzy to me.
I believe you mentioned that on this weeks letters from center stage
Just what I want in a match between Konnan and Bill DeMott, long restholds.
Tama Tonga is shooting baby
https://twitter.com/Tama_Tonga/status/883498889923493892
I read in the observer at how the young bucks weren’t happy with Josh barnett
Yeah he completely blew off the Meltzer Driver on the outside
I didn’t know that, it Made it seem that Barnett isn’t a fan of the young bucks in the observer.
Im not a Young Bucks fan either.
They’ve just been rolling around the ring for 85% of this match!
I’m sorry, but Konnan looks blown up and lethargic here. I can tell DeMott is at least trying.
What dreck.
That was rough
Konnan legit looks like he’s dying, not selling
So konann was a big star in Mexico, has anyone seen any of those matches?
First time to a interview segment, after the third match.
Gene schilling about Hennig’s upcoming debut.
Was it rodman?
Oh yeah, it might have been.
They teased Hennig jumping for about 864 years
I’m glad they put the no longer active on there I was about to call
The Mark of the Quad Cities is my favorite WCW venue name.
mortis and wrath…. they were actually not bad as a team. just hampered by a dumb storyline
I always liked them… so crazy how they had this weird subculture that existed within WCW while all the NWO stuff was happening…
They should’ve put subtitles on that promo
Ladi dadi we likes to party!
Great theme!
Like the Nasty Boys, Public Enemy has a character; it’s just undefinable.
Glacier came at the wrong time, at 94-95 it would’ve worked better imo.
Mortis, Wrath, and Glacier. NOW I feel like I’m watching 1997 WCW!
I forgot how cool Mortis gear looked
Yeah it was awesome
Yankee bullpen is a dumpster fire
SO annoyed
If wcw was smart, they would’ve made a comic about wrath, Mortis and glacier.
WCW’s licensed merchandise was just sorely lacking all around. Really feels like it was just some guy working from a P.O. Box.
I mean the other shirts I’ve seen in the crowd, looks bad. The only good one was the nWo shirt.
Smart to keep it simple. I had three (yes) DDP shirts. None of them looked that good, nor were very comfortable.
I had a sting shirt with his face on it. And a wolfpack t shirt.
Steve Blackman should’ve played Glacier, then gone to the WWF
I was a mark for this feud for sure…
I have no recollection of the helmet.
It unfortunately just missed peak Mortal Kombat mania. The third game came out in ’95, so it had cooled off big time by this point. Having to compete with the nWo couldn’t have helped either. But I admire the attention to detail!
also nick Patrick was on David Penzers podcast and admitted Hogan told him not to do the fast count at starrcade. Dk if that had been mentioned. If it has, I’m sorry.
I’ve heard that, but never from Patrick. Wow. In most companies, I think I’d be afraid of losing my job for so spectacularly fucking up the biggest match of all time, but, y’know…
Yep wcw. I’ve been watching wrestling for as long as I remember. And that finish still pisses me off. The sting wm match doesn’t bother me as much as that starrcade does.
So petty. Like it wasn’t enough to take 99% of the offense, Hogan had to actually get a clean pin to boot!
Sting should’ve won clean in 5 minutes. Then sting wins the rematch. Sting beats hall at Uncensored. This starts the nWo starting to breakup.
I’m even OK with them having a competitive match on account of Hogan using his usual cheap shot bullshit to gain an advantage. And/or you can make something of Sting having ring rust. Whatever the case, as long as Sting goes over decisively and looks strong, you’re fine. They literally did everything wrong they could’ve done.
Could’ve gotten a solid year out of the nWo slowly circling the drain and tearing apart from within, but they just refused to let it go.
The WM match was an ego stroke that had no greater impact. The Starrcade match was an ego stroke that killed 18 months of build and ruined the drawing power of Sting.
That was a good chain shot!
Ahh wcws attempt at a woman’s division.
Hey! As we detailed on LFCS it was good stuff during this stretch!
I will have to go back and rewatch the matches.
Yeah, but when they had a title they did nothing with it. Then two years later they attempted a division that went nowhere.
The playlist for that LFCS episode has some fun stuff for sure. The 99 stuff was blah.
Women’s Wrestling Expert Lee Marshall is tremendous.
Oh no, Tony’s picked up Eric’s bad habits- “back leg front kick” SMH!
Yeah that was asinine stuff.
Hokuto is like ten steps ahead of Madusa here.
Wendi richter name drop!
Fuck you Clippard, fuck!
He needs to go. DFA tonight after the game
Can someone please explain to me why Tyler Clippard is still a Damn Yankee
Braves will give you yankee fans Jim Johnston
Madusa is a screecher.
Nice brain buster for the win… I always enjoyed this feud and I don’t even know why. It just stayed with me.
Madusa got rather exposed here, but it kinda worked given the finish. Her selling was fucking outstanding.
Haha bobby saying maybe she can be a hairdresser or a stewardess
Mean Gene, purveyor of tact.
LOL. See also, “Malenko, you BLEW IT!”
Leave her alone chants!
Time for the akward Benoit match.
Return death match
A return from the dead match? Hmmm…
Indeed. Cringe. At least Nancy’s not out there for this one.
It is billed as a Death Match though.
The fact that this feud was still going was absurd.
Well time to check my fantasy teams
Benoit: Okay Meng feel free to hit me as hard as you like, even blows to the head go wild.
Meng: Are you sure brudda? I don’t want to really hurt you.
Benoit: Don’t worry man. I mean, what could go wrong from this!
Kind of fucked up that this was nearly 10 years to the date prior to that shit going down.
Pretty cool that AJ won the US Title tonight at MSG.
But he’s being wasted. He sooooo should’ve stayed in NJPW. *eye roll*
Lol right. Not bad for the face of TNA for so many years.
Yeah, staying in NJPW would have been AWFUL. *Another eye roll*
Right because I’m sure a man approaching 40 loves being away from his kids for weeks and transcontinental flights back and forth.
True. That’s the #1 reason people enjoy working for WWE. All the days off!
It’s also abundantly clear that my comment was in regards to booking, since yours was as well.
I won’t deny that it is a shame WWE does not focus AJ in the WWE title picture instead. And I have no arguement with you Jordan, love your work. My apologies if I came across snarky in any way towards you.
Man, snark is fun. My comment was purely that him being in NJPW would hardly be a bad thing. I think WWE pushes him pretty effectively.
This is both uncomfortable to watch, but highly entertaining
I can still watch Benoit’s stuff without trying to think of what went down at the end.
I can’t do it. This whole match, I’ve been reading Reddit.
It sort of depends on the day, my mood, and the match.
I can watch older stuff but near the end in 07 it’s hard to watch, also if I watch the triple threat from mania 20 I stop once triple h taps.
Yeah 2007 Benoit is really tough to watch.
The MVP series is good I think. WM 23 and Backlash are both good Matches.
Not the easiest finish to digest… let’s move on…
Anyone going to see Spider-Man this weekend?
Hoping to go see it next week sometime.
Anybody ever call the wcw hotline
Nope… just Sushi-X and the local newspaper insider line
I always liked that wcw bash at the beach logo.
How bout the WWF Hotline around this time? Anyone call that?
I called in 93 to vote on who faces Pierre on a raw episode, Luger won the vote and I think I voted for him. I also called to vote for superstar of the year and I voted for Bret on that one.
That was his momma, that was his momma!!! – Dusty at his best.
Say what you will about Mongo, but that heel turn a year before this was like the last great Horsemen angle.
Nah last great horsemen angle was flair returning at Greensboro
More a Flair moment than a Horsemen moment to me, but I realize that’s splitting hairs.
You mean Greenville after Fall Brawl 98?
was it Greenville? When arn brought out everyone then act like he forgot flair? If so yes that one haha.
Yeah and he calls Bischoff a no good son of a bitch. One of my favorite WCW moments.
Yes haha that one. Fire me, I’m already fired. Abuse of power abuse of power.
Yeah great stuff.
That was the slowest thez press ever
Kevin Greene, better than Steve McMichael at everything.
Mongo was really over in 1997… I liked him as a Horseman but yeah Greene was a natural, wish he stuck around more.
Kevin green looks like the golic brother who was Zack Morris ra in the college years.
WCW 97 Jarrett is the worst Jarrett
Also in the Boricas with Konnan
Savio was scouting
See now I want to see Jarrett wearing a doo rag, cruising in a low rider and calling out ‘vatos’
We will rebook the gang wars with Jarrett in the boricuas
Wel then it becomes the greatest thing ever. Better than pizza rolls!
96-97 Jarrett was useless. I mean he did nothing, AT ALL. He just occupied space.
Did they sell shirts that said 4 life? I don’t remember them maybe that guy had his made at the mall kiosk
I recall them.
Ahhh, Good Ol’ Bad Hip Piper!
This was a hot feud, both the Slamboree and GAB builds.
I remember Syxx and Flair drew some great heat together when against one another. See, of all the nWo members, Waltman was the one I truly bought wanted to spit in the face of tradition.
Ha. Massive pop for Flair and Syxx going at it.
Was that brilliant or horrible? On one hand, I flinched everytime Piper took a bump. On the other hand, having a plastic hip made him seem too old to still be in the ring much less Main Event.
It bombed when he did that terrible “the WWF has no one hip” joke.
I cannot stop myself from looking at that huge ass lipoma on Flair’s back during this period.
Did he inherit it from Dusty’s gut?
Lol distinct possibility. Although I think Dusty said his …thing… was a birthmark.
I know it might be early but what’s the next Live watch after this one?
Not sure… I’m thinking we will do every Friday for now
We should do a few weeks of events that highlight wrestlers in the WWE Greatest Wrestlers project. Open it up to Old School shows, Tuesday Night Titans, SNME and Prime Time Wrestling.
Yeah that is a good idea. Originally I was thinking of staying in line with the month… like keep doing July shows, but I like that thought process too.
How bout some Summerslam Live watches JR? Since that is around the corner.
Welp, battery is about to die. If I don’t make it for the duration, it’s been real fellas.
The Slamboree six man is so much fun… if you guys haven’t seen it in a while, check it out. Red hot crowd.
I remember liking that Match alot.
Mmmm…Evil Liz.
Obviously it sucks to not hear DDP’s real entrance music, but I actually don’t hate the dub.
Yeah it’s kinda close to it i guess.
It sounds like it was digetic music and not dubbed in, that helps.
Definitely. Unlike The Cat and Ms. Jones dancing completely off-key to the fake James Brown music.
Yeah it has grown on me by this point. Dun dun dun dun dun duunnnnn
I wish Buffer had continued with DDP’s intro while he blindsided Savage: “Introducing now, sneak attacking from behind, given the nWo a taste of their own medicine…”
Loved those Buffer narrations.
He was always over the top but it was funny.
Where does Savage/Page rank on the all time WCW feuds list?
Hmm gotta be maybe Top 10 i would say.
Definite top ten, maybe top five?
What’s the best WCW Feud of all time? Sting/Flair, Sting/Vader, Steamboat/Flair?
I mean, probably NWO vs WCW if that counts. Flair/Steamboat had the feud with the greatest matches for sure.
I was thinking nWo vs WCW too.
Holy shit that piledriver
Yeah that was gross.
You know what would be a fun Live watch is Bash At The Beach 2000 with the Hogan/Russo fiasco.
Savage is just a motherfucker here. Turning heel definitely suited him.
He needed it badly after he sputtered at the end of 96. He was tremendous in this madman douche role.
This is such a fun brawl.
This is the Savage/DDP No DQ Match right?
Good show everyone, had a fun time as always! If you need something to fall asleep to, there is a 12/86 Boston house show on the stream right now…
Eastern Start times are rough, but excited by this 12/86 house, Hogan / Kamala – that has to be a mess
I knocked out the final RAW to Fully Loaded 2000. I love the opening with Kurt Angle saying Albany wrong and Triple H telling Foley not wanting to team with that Olympic twerp.