The Wrestling Thread

[Greggulator]

A lot of wrestling chatter came up in the chat last night after Tom's discussion of The Bruise Cruise.

The late, great WCW promotion used to have a Bruise Cruise which was a cruise in which patrons could interact with their favorite WCW superstars. Perhaps this is where Sting learned how to use a zip line?

The following video also involves a boat. Evildoers Vader and Sid Vicious (along with managers Colonel Robert Parker and Harley Race) formed an alliance called "The Masters of the Powerbomb" and graciously offered Sting and Davey Boy Smith a chance to retire before a match.

Sting and Davey Boy ignored the request. So Sting, Vader and their managers went to the beach where Sting and Davey Boy were playing beach volleyball with children. Seeking revenge, the Masters of the Powerbomb hired a midget named Cheatum to place a bomb on a boat, which is nearly fatal.

Blast at the Beach

[AaronC]

I loved wrestling as a kid.  My best/worst/only celebrity sighting was seeing Sting at a Wendy's before a NWA live event in 1988. 

[fish]

I loved wrestling as a kid.  My best/worst/only celebrity sighting was seeing Sting at a Wendy's before a NWA live event in 1988.

Were any NWA people there?  I wonder if they had a weird encounter with Sting, and maybe that has something to do with Fuck The Police.

[Chris L]

The following video also involves a boat. Evildoers Vader and Sid Vicious (along with managers Colonel Robert Parker and Harley Race) formed an alliance called "The Masters of the Powerbomb" and graciously offered Sting and Davey Boy Smith a chance to retire before a match.

Sting and Davey Boy ignored the request. So Sting, Vader and their managers went to the beach where Sting and Davey Boy were playing beach volleyball with children. Seeking revenge, the Masters of the Powerbomb hired a midget named Cheatum to place a bomb on a boat, which is nearly fatal.

Pretty cheesy for wrestling, but if the Masters of the Powerbomb were a rock band they would pretty much be gods for all of the above.

[Greggulator]

The New Breed are the best forgotten tag team from the NWA. Their gimmick: They were from the year 2002 and were sent back in time to right the wrongs of the past! Their promos are the absolute most bizarre in pro wrestling history, which says a lot. I can't find it on YouTube, but there's one where they state that Dusty Rhodes is the president in 2002. They also came out to "Fight for your Right to Party". In a way, they foretold the future in the same manner that Network predicted how our media would one day be. Dusty Rhodes' interviews aren't too far from George Bush's circa 2002 and rap-rock was still an unfortunate part of mainstream music during that era.

Also, Chris Champion (1/2 of the New Breed) broke his arm. He worse a cast to the ring that was decorated with microchips.

New Breed Transformers Promo

[Greggulator]

Here's another New Breed promo. It must be seen to be believed. They have a talking robot named XTC1 who claims that the Rock'n'Roll Express are "minute slaveworkers" in the year 2002.

New Breed XTC1

[davidgoeschatting]

WCW sure had a vision beyond what was happening at the time. But seriously, 1/2 their PPVs you hear Jim Ross passive-aggressively saying, "It's all about the wrestling here, no posedowns for the last 20 minutes." Yeah, but you guys had some TERRIBLE gimmicks.

[ABBAs Helicopter]

Locally speaking, there's a movie due out soon covering the story of Memphis Wrasslin'. It's called Memphis Heat(Website/trailer at http://www.memphis-heat.com/ and blog at http://www.memphisheatthemovie.com/), and the guys that produced it were previously responsible for the Memphis Garage and Frat Band history books and collections, as well as a couple of other books on local pro wrestling. So far it's only playing locally, but they're open to taking it anywhere that they think people would see it.

Memphis wrestling was a big deal for a few reasons. Not only did they innovate in feud and rivalry presentation by developing realistic personal storylines, but there were there a lot of people (both local and from other territories) that had some great feuds and matches in Memphis (Jerry Lawler, Randy Savage, Jimmy Valiant, Terry Funk, Jeff Jarrett, Bam Bam Bigelow, Rocky Johnson, and Rick Rude, for starters). The Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler feud was considered one of the greatest due to Kaufman and Lawler going to any length to make people believe that the hatred was legit, in spite of not having what wrestling people would call "good" matches.

Really though, if you know somewhere that would be into screening the movie, they have contact info on the blog site.

And as a bonus, here's something else legendary from Memphis Wrestling:

Jimmy Hart & The First Family - "We Hate School"

[ABBAs Helicopter]

Also, Chris Champion (1/2 of the New Breed) broke his arm. He worse a cast to the ring that was decorated with microchips.

Knowing that Chris Champion was part of this isn't a shock, he played a knock off Ninja Turtle named Cowabunga in Memphis before this.

Also, the best of the goofy Sting/Cheatum mini-movies is still THE WHITE CASTLE OF FEAR.

White Castle of Fear

"Vader challenged me to A GAME?!"

[jbissell]

Roddy Piper is playing at the comedy club by me in May. I might go if I can get in free.

[JonFromMaplewood]

I grew up near the WWF corporate offices in Stamford, CT.  I used to see Hulk Hogan and the Mad Samoans at the mall a lot.

[dcgut]

My knowledge of wrestling is limited to the "Mass Transit Incident"

[davidgoeschatting]

Roddy Piper is playing at the comedy club by me in May. I might go if I can get in free.

Might see him in Atlanta as well. He did this show called Tournament of Nerds in L.A., where he judged which nerd represented a nerd idol the best. Someone represented Hulk Hogan, and Piper annihilated him. It was entertaining.

[Greggulator]

The Andy Kaufmann/Lawler feud is a huge influence on my life. Andy Kaufmann was the first comic that I was completely obsessed with, and the Lawler stuff is the reason why. Breakfast With Blassie is one of the most ridiculous things ever filmed and is a must-watch. It also helped propel REM briefly to my favorite band status when they released Man on the Moon.

My favorite Memphis-based rassler of all-time is "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. Gilbert's dad was a wrestler and he got into the industry that way. Hot Stuff overcame his smaller size and became one of the best heels in the history of wrestling. He was so great at being the Machiavellian schemer. Eddie's trademark was to help out a face, earn his trust, and then eventually turn on him for some sort of perceived slight. He also threw fireballs from his hand.

He was one of Jerry Lawler's biggest rivals but could never take away the crown from The King.

Behind the scenes, Gilbert was totally enigmatic. He was a booker in a lot of the leagues he belonged and was considered a genius. But his drug addiction and ability to disrupt locker rooms by sleeping with other peoples' wives always forced him out. His last match saw him wrestling against a trained bear in Puerto Rico. He died that night after a cocaine-caused heart attack.

Anyways, here's a clip of him running Jerry Lawler over with a car -- a formative part of my childhood. People in Memphis actually called the cops after they saw this happen. Memphis seems pretty awesome, even though the Grizzlies bore me to death.

Eddie Gilbert runs over Jerry Lawler

[TacoSmith]

Reviving this thread just to post this video. I watch it pretty much on a weekly basis.

Booker T says Hulk Hogan is a Nigga