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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 13, 2021 22:12:32 GMT -5
This is getting to be a sadly regular thing. Yet another legend has passed, as ten bells ring out for Dominic DeNucci... Denucci was born in 1932 and lived in Frosolone, Italy, until 1955, when he came to Canada, at the age of 19. he had no family in America to sponsor his immigration, but he could come to Canada. He settled in Montreal, where a great uncle resided. he had been a greco-roman wrestler, in Italy and worked out at the Palaise Nationale, where amateurs and noted pros worked out, including the likes of former Olympian Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Pros Yvon Robert and Tony Lanza approached him about becoming a pro and he started training, eventually debuting in Montreal, working under a mask as The Masked Marvel. He soon moved on to Detroit, where he was partnered with the original Dino Bravo (his real name_ and his brother, Dominic. The pair would work across Canada, including The Maritimes (Nova Scotia, primarily), Toronto, and Winnipeg. He also began working for Pedro Martinez' National Wrestling federation, in Cleveland and Buffalo and was a popular draw there, under his own name (well, variation, as he was born Dominic Nucciarone), in the late 60s and early 70s. He wrestled in Calgary, as Don DeNucci, and also in san Francisco, where he defeated Ray Stevens, the top draw in the territory, for the belt. He was also part of the initial days of the World Championship Wrestling promotion, run by Jim Barnett, in Australia, feuding with Killer Kowalski, over the IWA World title. He wrestled for 2 years in the promotion and made later trips back, where he was always a crowd favorite. His popularity there led to him being booked in the World Wide Wrestling federation, in New York, in tag-teams, with partners like Bruno Sammartino, Victor Rivera, and the later Dino Bravo (Aldolfo Bresciano). He held the WWWF International tag titles with Bruno, and the WWWF tag titles with Rivera and Bravo, before settling into a role as the stepping stone to a match against WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino. He eventually had a falling out with Vince Jr and left the promotion. DeNucci was noted as a mentor for young up and comers and was paired in matches with a green Hulk Hogan, in his first WWF run (before he went to the AWA and back to the WWF, as a huge star). he eventually set up a wrestling school, in Pittsburgh, where he had settled and trained such noted performers as ECW World Champion Shane Douglas and WWF Champion Mick Foley, as well as referee and Manager Brian Hildebrand (who worked under the name Mark Curtis, in Smokey Mountain and WCW). Dominic was always a popular draw with Italian and immigrant populations and other than his early days in Montreal, mostly worked as a babyface. He wrestled occasionally, in later years, for charitable events and special occasions, last time in 2012. His wife, Jeanine, died in 2017, after a long battle with COPD. Dominic soldiered on, but his own health began to decline and he was hospitalized in 2020, with heart issues and passed away on Thursday, at age 89. DeNucci, by all accounts, was a class act, the real deal in the ring and a straight shooter outside the ring and was beloved by colleagues and students. He understood his role in a promotion and always worked to make his opponent look good, while remaining strong, himself, which is the true art of professional wrestling. Here he is with Victor Rivera (when they were WWWF Tag-Team Champions) against the Blackjacks... Mick Foley told the story 9in Beyond the Mat, I believe) of training under Dominic and Dom having him show him a punch. mick did it like he saw on tv, with the foot stomp to the mat and a pulled punch to the chest. He had Mick switch places with himself and Dominic laid in a punch to Mick's chest that he said nearly caved it in. He told him to make it real. He did learn to work a punch properly, to lay it in, but not do damage. A bit of stuff with Mick and Dominic.... RIP to one of the greats.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 22, 2021 7:15:09 GMT -5
Wow, that ovation for Punk was something. Not sure it can be sustained, or if he can still work, but at least short term it's going to be quite a boost.
If the rumors are true and Danielson's coming too, I think WWE might have a legit problem.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 22, 2021 12:19:14 GMT -5
Wow, that ovation for Punk was something. Not sure it can be sustained, or if he can still work, but at least short term it's going to be quite a boost. If the rumors are true and Danielson's coming too, I think WWE might have a legit problem. Well, they have a legit problem in that they don't seem to be able to create real "stars" anymore, who are big draws in their own right, rather than the promotion drawing as a touring company, with someone placed in the top position. Lesnar and Cena are really mostly part-timing it and everyone else who gets elevated has had no more drawing power than any other interchangeable wrestl...sports entertainer. I know that's what Vince wanted, that people would come out for the WWF, regardless of the star, so that they always drew and he wasn't beholding to an individual, like with Hogan. Problem is, the big stars draw big money and the company, by itself, draws a lower level, but at a consistent rate, over a longer period. That fine, until the company isn't drawing on its own, anymore. Really, outside of the PPV events and tv tapings, their touring business, before COVID, was way, way down. The other revenue streams more than made up for it; but, it proved that people didn't care for the "stars" on the tours and were more interested in "big events." Really, I think they would be better served by getting out of the Monday Night Wars mindset and look at themselves more as a season of tv and write a season arc program that is executed across the season, whether that is quarterly, semi-annual or annual. It would make the whole more compelling. Ironically, that is the Old School method of long term booking, as territorial angles played out over 3, 6 or 12 months, depending on how they were drawing and the commitments of those involved.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2021 13:39:15 GMT -5
I don't like Punk....horribly over-rated and all he brings to AEW is his greasy hair and ridiculous looking face. I used to turn off RAW when he'd come out ranting for 25 minutes...
He's into comics tho...
Only thing worse is Brock's new look....yuck....
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 22, 2021 14:24:01 GMT -5
Corny & Brian Last on Punk's debut and AEW's current momentum, while also throwing a little cold water on the idea that they are a financial challenge, right now, to the WWE...
WWE's revenue, is huge; so, it will be quite a while before AEW, assuming they don't pull a WCW move, assumes a level of parity, on financial terms. Momentum does help accelerate the revenue coming into them; but, as WCW proved, that can be a momentary bump and can reverse itself with bad decisions, injuries or other factors.
Corny & Brian reviewing the debut....
Personally, Punk means nothing to me, as I had stopped watching WWE long before he turned up there. I was aware of him in Ring of Honor, but never saw any of their product, since they were mostly only available through DVD purchase, in that time frame, and I wasn't shelling out money for unseen product, unless I heard tremendous things. Ring of Honor got good word of mouth, in that they didn't do the goofy crap the WWE was doing; but, I didn't hear anything that said, "I have to see this!". Had they gotten national retail distribution, in that era, and a reasonably priced DVD been on the shelf at Best Buy, like Shimmer, I might have bought it. I bought two Shimmer discs that way, which were fine, for what they were, but it wasn't Manami Toyota or Ayako Hamada (though she did wrestle with them, later). I sampled TNA that way, too; but, again, nothing really said "buy more."
I'm not the audience here. Punk means star power, as he had it in the WWE, despite some of the people in charge and they had to go with it, even when he was a pain in the ass. To this crowd, he means a ton, as he is a major star to this generation. Danielson will probably also get a huge reaction (Punk being in Chicago no doubt helped his response), but his physical state will affect how he can be used. He's 40 and his body has had a lot of abuse. The smart move would be to adopt a more mat-based style, which he can do extremely well, but isn't AEW's bread & butter. Perhaps he can help introduce such a thing and work with younger guys in developing their skills at that, to help balance AEW's product. I wouldn't hold my breath on that. Regardless, he will add younger star power, which gives him more of an upside than a Mark Henry or Big Show.
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 22, 2021 18:57:54 GMT -5
I don't like Punk....horribly over-rated and all he brings to AEW is his greasy hair and ridiculous looking face. I used to turn off RAW when he'd come out ranting for 25 minutes...
He's into comics tho...
He's probably a better talker than an actual worker because I can't remember anything about the lead up to his infamous "pipe-bomb" or his match with Cena where he literally walked out of the building with the spinner belt. Comic Con was interesting that year for the sole reason of WWE appearing and Punk crashing it
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 22, 2021 20:21:51 GMT -5
I've no idea if he can still work, doesn't matter, really. I want him around for the promos... he could have great feuds with MJF and the Elite.
IF AEW does it right, they can use Punk (and maybe Danielson) to make stars... Darby, MJF, Page, and Jungle Boy all have the potential, and all but Page are are really young. As long as they don't make the WCW mistake and let the vets bury the new guys, but I don't think they will.. Jericho didn't, after all.
Punk's not just into comics he wrote an issue of Thor a while back.. it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.. maybe a story in an Annual? I have it, but I don't remember exactly.
@ Cody RoH definitely started the style of work AEW is now, so I suspect it's probably not for you... I definitely was a big fan at the time though.. PUnk, Danielson, Daniels, the Briscoes, Joe... great stuff, but alot of flippy moves and false finishes.
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 22, 2021 20:59:15 GMT -5
Punk's not just into comics he wrote an issue of Thor a while back.. it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.. maybe a story in an Annual? I have it, but I don't remember exactly. I thought he wrote Drax, not Thor?
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 22, 2021 21:43:28 GMT -5
Apparently we are both correct... he wrote for 13 issues of Drax after the Thor Annual I mentioned.... now that you mention it, I vaguely remember that being announced, but not being a fan of the character, I skipped it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 22, 2021 22:40:22 GMT -5
I've no idea if he can still work, doesn't matter, really. I want him around for the promos... he could have great feuds with MJF and the Elite. IF AEW does it right, they can use Punk (and maybe Danielson) to make stars... Darby, MJF, Page, and Jungle Boy all have the potential, and all but Page are are really young. As long as they don't make the WCW mistake and let the vets bury the new guys, but I don't think they will.. Jericho didn't, after all. Punk's not just into comics he wrote an issue of Thor a while back.. it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.. maybe a story in an Annual? I have it, but I don't remember exactly. @ Cody RoH definitely started the style of work AEW is now, so I suspect it's probably not for you... I definitely was a big fan at the time though.. PUnk, Danielson, Daniels, the Briscoes, Joe... great stuff, but alot of flippy moves and false finishes. Early Ring of Honor and the later ROH, which led to All-In, which ended up being a pilot for AEW, are two different eras. Gabe Sapolsky's Ring of Honor was a bit of an attempt to carry on some of ECW, with less of the garbage matches and more of the Eddie Guerrero-Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio-Juventud Guerrera, and RVD-Jerry Lynn style of matches. A lot of those guys got poached away, including Danielson, Punk, Samoa Joe and some others. The Sinclair ROH morphed into something else, especially post-Cornette. That early Sapolsky era is more what I am talking, though, like I say, I was never interested enough to mail order tapes/discs. I was pretty much done with following wrestling, on a consistent basis. I followed a bit of it, early on, when I still subscribed to the Wrestling Observer. When I wasn't watching WCW, much at all, and wasn't consistently watching WWF, I debated continuing the Observer. I kept it going into the Invasion mess, but dropped it not too much after; certainly well before the death of Eddie and the Benoit murder-suicide. The latter soured me on watching anything and I actually purged the bulk of my tapes and discs, because I was so tired of the death and denial. Once more stuff of various eras and promotions became readily available on Youtube, that became more my outlet. To me, AEW's problems are getting the young guys to slow it down enough to be safer and have a longer career, and pick the proper moment to do something, to tell a story, not just for a "Holy S#$%!" moment. They also need to plan longer term and not just throw money around to acquire talent. Pick the right talent, pay them the right money and build towards the future. the rest will come along. They've done well with their tv, at least, and the new show got good reviews from Corny, who said the hour format made things move along more smoothly than the longer show. WWE has the same problem. RAW was once a tight show, where important stuff happened and you wanted to see more. The more they kept expanding it, the more things dragged on and you just wanted it to end and the good stuff got undercut by the bad. Tv is a lot like that, in general, in that there are so many outlets that so much crap gets done, instead of tight network lineups that can keep you watching for 2 or 3 hours straight. Now, the networks are happy if they can get one hit show on a night and milk it for all its worth.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 23, 2021 7:14:02 GMT -5
I kinda feel like the 1 hour show is too short to be honest... you're getting 3, 4 matches tops. It would make sense in the old days, when they did squashes, but that's not really a thing any more (though AEW does them now and then)
I definitely hear you with the storytelling, but I'm not sure that would work anymore.. most people don't have the attention span for rest holds and story telling. the 'Holy SH%!' moment is what people are paying to see, so they try their hardest to deliver.
I agree early RoH was different from when Cornette was there, and now it's really just another company, but I think the work rate was similar to what AEW does now, and the booking wasn't that different... they had rankings more based on wins and losses, longer matches, fewer title changes than WWE at the time.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 23, 2021 23:54:25 GMT -5
Dark Side of the Ring, Season 3, starts back up again September 16. Subjects include:
Vince McMahon's Steroid Distribution Trial The Plane Ride From Hell (WWE) Chris Kanyon FMW Luna Vachon XPW Johnny K-9
The steroid trial has a lot with Jerry McDevitt, Vince's lawyer, who tore the Federal case to shreds. That in and of itself should be interesting. I would like to see if they talk to Jerry Jarrett, who was tapped by Vince to run the WWF, if he was convicted and sent to jail, running it on a smaller budget, to maintain things until Vince got out. Jarrett was probably the most successful individual promoter still standing, at the time, and he had a relationship with the WWF, with talent exchanges and Memphis helping to develop young guys.
The Plane Ride From Hell is a perfect example of the immaturity of far too many in the business (hell, modern life, in many ways) and the problems of cooping up a group of arrested adolescents, with booze, drugs, egos, and too much time on their hands.
Kanyon should be interesting and DDP is heavily featured, as they were close. Kanyon was closeted, which is one aspect, hugely talented, but not getting a push, until Raven's Flock, and a tragic ending.
Luna Vachon is another tragedy. 2nd generation ("Butcher" Paul Vachon's daughter, niece of Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon and Vivian Vachon), top female wrestler in the indies, part of Kevin Sullivan's army, in Florida, wrestled everywhere, married to Vampire Warrior/Gangrel (Dave Heath), suffered from bipolar disorder and had drug and alcohol issues. By all accounts, she was a sweet person, caught up in a crazy business, with real mental health issues and substance problems, who died too young. Madusa Micelli is featured.
FMW started the garbage wrestling stupidity, with washed up guys, like Atsushi Onita and Mr Pogo, foreign talent who weren't going to get contracts in the big leagues (or had been dropped, like Corporal Kirschner), and some young, promising talent, who destroyed their bodies in these dumb matches. Hayabusa was tremendous to watch when in a straight match, but he did enough death match crap, then ended up paralized, when he slipped on the ropes, executing a quebrada (Lionsault, for Jericho fans), when he landed on his neck. He was eventually able to walk again, but died a few years after that. Guys like The Sheik and Terry Funk did death matches for them, when they had no business anywhere near that nonsense, and Funk did it in IWA and ECW, too! Also home to Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, who took their concussion-fest to ECW, in its latter days. Awesome committed suicide.....wonder if the concussions he probably suffered every match contributed to the depression and other issues?
XPW-knock-off of ECW, run by a porn distributor, that did even dumber s@#$ than the worst of ECW.
Johnny K-9: aka Bruiser Bedlam, in Smokey Mountain. Wrestler, biker, convicted and imprisoned for murder.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 24, 2021 9:50:36 GMT -5
The SQUASH is still very real. WWE just had Becky Lynch return at Summerslam and defeat Monica Bel Airin 30 seconds to win the Smackdown Women's Title. Ridiculous. Was supposed to be Sasha Banks fight but she wasn"t "cleared" to wrestle when she had done so for the last 3 weeks prior? Sheeeeeeeeeeesh
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Post by commond on Aug 24, 2021 9:52:58 GMT -5
I am not a fan of garbage wrestling or deathmatches, but Hayabusa's injury had nothing to do with that style of wrestling. It was a botched spot pure and simple. And Onita wasn't washed up when he started FMW. He wasn't even washed. He was a young guy who reinvented himself after a series of career-threatening injuries. Onita at his peak with FMW was considered on par with the aces from the other Japanese promotions. Terry Funk became known as a Hardcore legend after his Japanese deathmatches and ECW work, but he was doing the same stuff with Lawler in the early 80s.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 24, 2021 21:50:45 GMT -5
I am not a fan of garbage wrestling or deathmatches, but Hayabusa's injury had nothing to do with that style of wrestling. It was a botched spot pure and simple. And Onita wasn't washed up when he started FMW. He wasn't even washed. He was a young guy who reinvented himself after a series of career-threatening injuries. Onita at his peak with FMW was considered on par with the aces from the other Japanese promotions. Terry Funk became known as a Hardcore legend after his Japanese deathmatches and ECW work, but he was doing the same stuff with Lawler in the early 80s. Not saying he was injured in a death match, just that he was good enough not to be doing that stuff and he took some years off his career before the accident. He got a few opportunities with New Japan; but, for whatever reason, they seemed to be only short term (Super J Cup type things). Onita's knees were shot and he was pretty much done at All-Japan, when he got backing to start FMW. He was a big draw, at the start and got his inspiration from the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl, in Memphis (well, Tupelo, MS, but that was the Memphis circuit), but they didn't do anything as dangerous as exploding rings, barbed wire, broken glass, beds of nails and such. There big money-drawing days only lasted about 3 or 4 years, though, before crowds had seen enough. I stand by saying Funk had no business getting into their ring and working those matches. He brawled in other promotions, but there is a big difference between that and taking bumps into barbed wire and around pyrotechnics. hell, if Foley is correct in his book, he said they were using C-4 charges for the explosions. That's insane! That is an actual explosive, not just a noisemaker, and a powerful one. Foley's book had the picture of his charred arm from getting caught in an explosion. Lawler and Funk brawled and did pile driver spots, but they were not doing stuff in barbed wire and glass and taking shots to the head. They did chair shots across the back and shoulders, which was crazy enough, in my book. Funk could and did mat wrestle, when he felt like it, but just seemed to be legitimately crazy. Growing up in the business, I'm not surprised. The main reason he was working FMW and, later, IWA, was because he had done his retirement, in Japan, and Baba wasn't going to book him to wrestle, since they did his retirement match. Terry just wouldn't or couldn't go home and live life and took bookings for those guys. Yeah, they were big, for a short window; but, New Japan, All-Japan and UWFI were all huge, at the same time. New Japan is still standing, All-Japan is a diminished form and UWFI basically lost a reason to exist when real shoot matches came along. FMW became diminishing returns, quickly, and even tried an entertainment style, after selling off to new owners, who tried to run a more WWF-inspired style. That's when Hayabusa got hurt. He was good enough to be working New Japan; but, I think the stigma of working for FMW held him back. Baba hated that and wouldn't allow it near All-Japan, and New Japan tended to turn their noses down at it, too. WAR, under Tenryu, did a mix of some of the garbage stuff (but not as wild as FMW, W*ING, IWA or Big Japan), along with traditional and lucha/junior heavyweight stuff (especially Ultimo Dragon, who was their top junior). I liked FMW's non-garbage matches and had some of Hayabusa's matches, as well as Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda. ECW was similar in that I enjoyed when they did competitive matches and they ran some good angles; but, I don't want to see a stunt show, have no desire to see guys whack each other with shinai, take chair shots to the head, unsafe scaffold matches (didn't like them in WCW, either) or anything involving weapons. It's called "wrestling;" go out and wrestle. As XPW and CZW and IWA showed, ECW was like Mid-South, by comparison.
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