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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2019 18:57:33 GMT -5
Mae Young 76 Years Old She and Fabulous Moolah were a tag team battling Ivory (She was the WWE Women Champion) and they got together a handicap Bra and Panties match that's unbelievable. Mae Young was pure crazy, taking table drops from Bubba Ray. She actually hadn't wrestled much, before she and Moolah started making appearances in the WWE. She was pretty much just training people, including a lot of guys. She was the last link from the Mildred Burke years. Moolah was also pretty much just training and booking, when they came back. Giant Baba was 60, when he had his last match, but his health deteriorated rapidly and died within a month. However, he was mostly wrestling in comedy matches, in the undercard (not Kenny Omega or Colt Cabana comedy, but, lighter matches to kind of cleanse the palate, before the big ones). Terry Funk is 75 and had his most recent match 2 years ago. he has made a career of retirement matches, starting in 1991. However, his wife, Vicki (seen in Beyond the Mat) just recently passed away and word is that Terry took it very hard (they were married for over 50 years). He didn't start doing a moonsault until he was in his 50s! Dory still wrestled for his own promotion and had his most recent match last year, at age 77. He is still sane enough to keep it on the mat. Sadly, Verne Gagne sort of had a match, at 83. in 2009, he was residing in a nursing home, suffering from dementia and got into an argument with a 97 year-old resident and knocked him to the floor, breaking his hip, then "pulled on the body." It was kind of reported that he bodyslammed and stretched the guy' but, police reports it was more push-shove than anything else. he had no recollection of what happened, nor did the victim, who died a couple of weeks later, due to complications from surgery. Interesting about Terry and I find it hard to believe and managed to keep it in the mat. That's guy is so freaking amazing and a tremendous performer too. I do remember seeing him wrestle at the age of 55 or so and that match went on for a good 15-20 minutes! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 31, 2019 19:05:32 GMT -5
Terry's good at picking his big spots. He was always a consummate brawler, who made you forget he could wrestle, too. He did a lot to elevate ECW, in a lot of people's eyes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2019 19:15:14 GMT -5
Terry's good at picking his big spots. He was always a consummate brawler, who made you forget he could wrestle, too. He did a lot to elevate ECW, in a lot of people's eyes. I really enjoyed his time at ECW and he really an incredible performer. Back in 1997 ... he took on the Sandman and Stevie Richards and after that took on Raven to nab the ECW Champ in Barely Legal. I remember watching this and I was stunned by his physical shape and his ability to keep on going! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2019 14:18:51 GMT -5
One of the first WWF PPVs I owned on videotape was Survivor Series 1990. I had taped it off satellite TV. And I hadn't been watching the WWF for that long when I saw this, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. I do wonder, next year's event will be the 30th anniversary of the Undertaker (more on that in a moment).
At the end of the PPV, all the survivors of the various matches battled in an "Ultimate Survival" match. In this case, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana teamed to take on Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, Warlord and Power & Glory. For whatever reason, the "Ultimate Survival" concept was never done again, which I was sad about.
And what about that bloody egg? The Gobbledy Gooker. Okay I was a naive 10-year-old when I saw this PPV, but I knew about the egg beforehand. For whatever reason, I thought someone like King Kong Bundy, or another monstrous heel, would break the egg and return. I expected some sort of wrestler. I didn't expect the Gobbledy Gooker!
Returning to the Undertaker, as the 2020 Survivor Series will mark the twentieth anniversary, I think they should commemorate it somehow. Have the Undertaker lead a team of four, with Ted DiBiase ringside, against four heels. If there's a way to get some of the original participants (e.g. Honky Tonk Man) in the bout, I'm all for it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2019 14:57:54 GMT -5
And what about that bloody egg? The Gobbledy Gooker. Okay I was a naive 10-year-old when I saw this PPV, but I knew about the egg beforehand. For whatever reason, I thought someone like King Kong Bundy, or another monstrous heel, would break the egg and return. I expected some sort of wrestler. I didn't expect the Gobbledy Gooker! The Gobbledy Gooker ... most wrestling fans thought it was King Kong Bundy; in reality it was one of weirdest gimmick in WWE history. It was Hector Guerrero did that and I just could not believe that he did this stunt. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2019 19:48:27 GMT -5
Who is the best FEMALE wrestler of all time?
I liked Gail Kim, Charlotte Flair, and Beth Phoenix for variety of reasons. Kim for all around, Flair for name appeal and showmanship, and Phoenix for raw brute power. I'm having a hard time deciding which one ... but Trish Stratus and Flair would be top contenders for that crown and Wendi Richter and Madusa been around ... and I liked all four of them. Also in consideration is Mickie James ... but, I have to go with Charlotte Flair because of her Star Power and being the daughter of Ric Flair helps her a lot. It is not an easy thing to do here.
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Post by chadwilliam on Nov 1, 2019 22:46:09 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 1, 2019 23:17:34 GMT -5
Hard to really say, since the WWE is the only source of information. Could be mechanical issues, could be a pilot issue, could be a number of things. These kind of things get the conspiracy-minded wildly speculating. They were there as guests of very important people; so, unless someone did a Vader (see his incident in Kuwait, back in the 90s), then I doubt it is likely anything other than mechanical, until a reputable source reports otherwise. I did hear that someone threw a water bottle, during the women's match, though they wore full bodysuits and t-shirts, to appease the cultural demands of the Saudis. It is wrestling, though, so I wouldn't past some idiot to get themselves into a Midnight Express situation, and I don't mean Dennis & Bobby or Bobby & Stan. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 1, 2019 23:52:53 GMT -5
Who is the best FEMALE wrestler of all time?I liked Gail Kim, Charlotte Flair, and Beth Phoenix for variety of reasons. Kim for all around, Flair for name appeal and showmanship, and Phoenix for raw brute power. I'm having a hard time deciding which one ... but Trish Stratus and Flair would be top contenders for that crown and Wendi Richter and Madusa been around ... and I liked all four of them. Also in consideration is Mickie James ... but, I have to go with Charlotte Flair because of her Star Power and being the daughter of Ric Flair helps her a lot. It is not an easy thing to do here. All time I would probably go with Mildred Burke, the pioneering women's champion. She used to actually wrestle and beat men, in carnivals. In the modern era I would have to go with Japanese wrestler Manami Toyota. She was probably the best wrestler, male or female, in the world, in the 90s..... (highlights of a match against Akira Hokuto) I like Gail Kim and Charlotte is a chip off the old block; but, even the best of the WWE women's division, the best of Shimmer and the modern Japanese joshi puroresu leagues (the women) can't hold a candle to the stars of All-Japan Women, in the 80s and 90s. The 80s saw the rivalry between the Crush Girls, Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka and Bull Nakano & Dump Matsumoto. Then, there is Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto, Hiari Fukuoka, Devil Masami, plus American wrestler Debbie Malenko. Madusa spent quite a bit of time over there and came back way better than when she was working for the AWA, which led to her time as Alundra Blayze. Throw in Sherri Martel in that, too. For the older era, aside from Burke, June Byers was great, Ella Waldek and, especially, Penny Banner. She was one of the early flyers and worked as an independent. She also had a tempestuous marriage to wrestler Johnny Weaver, which resulted in many fights between them. Check out the documentary Lipstick & Dynamite, sometime, for a look at Moolah, Mae Young, Penny Banner, Ella Waldek, Ida May Martinez and the best name in wrestling, Gladys "Kill 'em" Gillem! Funny story; Niko Case was contributing a song to the soundtrack (a cover of Nick Lowe's "Raging Eyes") and she watched some footage of Ella Waldek talk about growing up in Washington, as Elsie Shencenko, to Russian immigrants, on a beet farm. Case recognized the name as her grandmother's family name and that they were the only Russians in that area. She called her grandmother who told her, "Oh yeah, you had a great-aunt who was a famous lady wrestler." That was Ella Waldek. They finally got to meet in Toronto, at a film festival. Here's what Mildred Burke looked like, in her hey day....  vs June Byers  Way ahead of her time. In this day and age, she probably would have beaten Rhonda Rousey for the UFC title. Thing was, in the days before Moolah was the main booking agent for women's matches, the women actually wrestled matches, especially ladies like Waldek, Burke, Byers, Banner and such. When Moolah was running the show, it turned into more of the hair pulling, butt dropping, hair mares and that routine. First women's match I saw was Debbie Combs (another independent) and Leilani Kai (one of Moolah's troupe), on an ICW show. Combs is the daughter of Cora Combs, who was US Women's champion, in the Midwest and Mi-Southern areas. Debbie was good; but, because she wasn't one of Moolah's, she never really got to show it off in the WWF. She did wrestle Sherri Martel, when she had the title, and Madusa/Alundra Blayze once. She was supposed to wrestle her at Wrestlemania X; but, was replaced by Leilani Kai. Seriously, though, you can find a bunch of Manami Toyota's matches on Youtube and they are amazing. You can also find some of the other All-Japan Women stars, like the Crush Girls & Nakano & Matsumoto. The Crush Girls also became pop stars, with hit singles and spawned a whole generation of young women who wanted to be professional wrestlers. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 4:59:24 GMT -5
Haven't seen as many female promotions as you guys, so will have to post from that perspective.
I always enjoyed Madusa's work - and wish she'd been given a bigger spotlight by the WWF. I remember her being at only 3 PPVs during her tenure (1993-1995). The WWF could have done more with the women's title.
I did see some of Madusa's non-WWF work.
Trish Stratus worked hard to progress.
I'll try and check out some Japanese wrestling. I am sure I'll enjoy it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 6:09:15 GMT -5
For the record, I don't recall any female Japanese Wrestlers and that department alone ... I'm poor on. Mildred Burke, I would put her in that regards and possibly the best and sad to say this; only saw her once on television and I just can't remember who she was battling. Regarding Sherri Martel ... I only knew her when she was managing Macho Man Randy Savage. I really never liked her for an extent and not my cup of tea. I have to do a little more research on this subject to make my own selection; sad to say this my only exposure to Women's Wrestling was WWE and TNA Impact. One Impact Wrestler that does reminds me to Beth Phoenix ... is Tessa Blanchard.  My dream match would be Charlotte Flair vs Tessa Blanchard It would drive Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard Nuts! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 10:40:30 GMT -5
Fantasy Booking: Roddy Piper should have won the 1992 Royal Rumble.
Earlier that night, he had won the Intercontinental Title from the Mountie. Imagine if he'd won the 30-Man Rumble where the vacant WWF Championship was on the line.
Imagine Gorilla Monsoon shouting really loudly: "Hot Rod has walked out of here tonight with both the Intercontinental Championship and World Wrestling Federation Championship! I don't believe that will ever be replicated!"
And it wouldn't have been. What a coup that would have been for Hot Rod, walking out with both of those titles. Of course, such a scenario would not have worked with the booking plans at the time.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 2, 2019 18:04:51 GMT -5
For the record, I don't recall any female Japanese Wrestlers and that department alone ... I'm poor on. Mildred Burke, I would put her in that regards and possibly the best and sad to say this; only saw her once on television and I just can't remember who she was battling. Regarding Sherri Martel ... I only knew her when she was managing Macho Man Randy Savage. I really never liked her for an extent and not my cup of tea. I have to do a little more research on this subject to make my own selection; sad to say this my only exposure to Women's Wrestling was WWE and TNA Impact. One Impact Wrestler that does reminds me to Beth Phoenix ... is Tessa Blanchard. My dream match would be Charlotte Flair vs Tessa Blanchard It would drive Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard Nuts! Tessa is very good and only getting better, as she gains experience. Madusa was good, in the AWA; but came back from Japan so much better, after spending time training with the All-Japan Women's Dojo. She also convinced Vince to bring some of them over to wrestle her, which led to Rhonda Singh (Bertha Faye), Bull Nakano, and Aja Kong wrestling her in matches, before Vince cut her and the women's division loose, to save money (which is how she eventually wound up on Nitro, with the belt). Sherri Martel was great, as a wrestler. She had more athletic matches than Moolah's main bunch and was the first wrestler that Jim Cornette managed. tremendous heel that really made you hate her, though she did a pretty decent babyface (like when she beat Moolah, for the title, in the WWF). The WWF was promising with Madusa, the Jumping Bomb Angles, Leilani Kai & Judy Martin, Rhonda Singh, Bull Nakano, and Aja Kong. Kia Stevenson, aka Awesome Kong is fantastic. The actresses on GLOW have actually turned out to be pretty darn good and some of them, if they chose to, could have a career at it. Kate Nash is outstanding and can do just about any move perfectly. Some interviewers asked the actresses who would win a battle royale, and the majority pointed to Kate Nash. I really liked Aja Kong's Hypervisual Fighting Arts Arsion promotion, from the late 90s. She was the star and veteran, with a mix of Japanese, American and Mexican women. Ayako Hamada (daughter of Gran Hamada and sister of Xochitl Hamada) got her first major exposure there. Also Mariko Yoshida, Michiko Omukai, Fabi & Mari Apache (daughters of lucha legend Gran Apache), Mika Akino (amazing flyer), Reggie Bennett, Cheerleader Melissa, Chaparita Asari, and, later, Lioness Asuka. They also tried to introduce a female Tiger Mask, Tiger Dream, portrayed by Candy Okutsu. She was trained in the moves by Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask. Unfortunately, she was somewhat reckless and prone to injuries, which killed the gimmick, quickly. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 20:15:23 GMT -5
Thanks for recap ... Cody.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 20:17:05 GMT -5
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