Well this is one of those frustrating moments where I felt like the WWF had a perfect reason to take a shot on Luger and didn't capitalize.
Otherwise it was a pretty good card with a much better-than-expected title match as Yokozuna could still move a little.
Sorry I've been in the basement for a good bit but family vacations come before all else and I needed the Caribbean sun and the ABC Islands were more than willing to provide it for me.
I still will get all these Main Events done by the 15th because the Princess never the Kingdom down.
Anyway Summerslam 1992, it's one of the great WWF/E of yesteryear and it was a pretty risky move by Vince deciding to hold this sucker in England but a crowd of 80K+ proved the risk worth taking.
Both halves of the Double Main Event were excellent as well but which match was better?
Thought this was a well-thought post worthy of discussion, so I’ll just post it here via the inbox without adding much.
I know this has been brought up for debate in numerous threads, but I'm not sure it's been a topic of it's own.
Growing up as a wrestling fan in the late 1980s was a special time for me. Maybe it's because time seems to pass very slowly as a child, but it seems that superstars who seemed to be around FOREVER while I was growing up, really weren't around that long.
Just for clarification, I'm counting a superstar's first big in-ring run with the WWF beginning no earlier than 1985 (exceptions being Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper). Take a look at Ted DiBiase. Even though he wrestled for the WWWF in 1979, I don't consider this run as part of my analysis. Ted DiBiase debuted the "Million Dollar Man" character in late 1987 and his in-ring career was over by mid 1993--a mere 5-1/2 years. I know he stuck around well into 1996 with his Million Dollar Corporation before jumping to WCW, but his in-ring career had long been over.
Other such superstars include:
Bret Hart 1985-1997 (12 years) - Took off 7 months from WrestleMania XII to Survivor Series 1996
Hulk Hogan 1983-1993 (9.5 years) - Took off 1 year from WrestleMania VII to WrestleMania IX
Shawn Michaels 1988-1998 (9.5 years) - Took several short stints off (knee surgery in 1990, 9 thugs in Syracuse, lost smile)
Roddy Piper 1984-1992 (8 years) - Took off 2 years from WrestleMania III to WrestleMania V
Randy Savage 1985-1992 (7.5 years) - Took off 8 months from WrestleMania VII to This Tuesday in Texas
Jake Roberts 1986-1992 (6 years)
Ultimate Warrior 1987-1992 (5 years) - Took off 8 months from SummerSlam '91 to WrestleMania VIII
Mr. Perfect 1988-1993 (5 years) - Took off 1.5 years from SummerSlam '91 to Survivor Series 1992
Big Boss Man 1988-1993 (4.5 years)
Earthquake 1989-1994 (4.5 years)
Ricky Steamboat 1985-1988 (3.5 years)
You get my point, ad nauseum. With the exception of Hart, Hogan and Michaels, most of the biggest names in the company during the late 1980s and early 1990s didn't last more than 8 years in a single stint with WWF. Also, most of the guys with over 5 years in had periods where they were gone for at least 6 months for one reason or another.
However, I look at contemporary WWE programming, WWE's current roster, and when each superstar debuted:
Undertaker - November 1990 (19.5 years) - Took 7 months off in 1994; currently works reduced schedule
Triple H - May 1995 (15 years) - Missed about 14 months due to 2 torn quads
Mark Henry - September 1996 (13.5 years)
Kane - October 1997 (12.5 years)
Edge - June 1998 (12 years) - Most recently missed 5 months during end of 2009 due to injury
Matt Hardy - September 1998 (11.5 years)
Big Show - February 1999 (11 years) - Took a little over a year off around 2007
Chris Jericho - August 1999 (10.5 years) - Took over 2 years off between SummerSlam 2005 and Survivor Series 2007
John Cena - June 2002 (8 years)
Randy Orton - April 2002 (8 years)
Batista - May 2002 (8 years)
Then they wonder why the product has gotten stale. Hell, even Hornswoggle's been with WWE for about 5 years. When you really break it down, it looks like the average of the current roster has spent about 5 more years in their initial big run with the company than their predecessors. I feel this is due to about four major factors: age, exposure, competition, and down time.
AGE: John Cena just turned 33 a couple of days ago. Hulk Hogan was 30.5 when he won his first WWF Championship in 1984. Today's superstars are getting their biggest pushes at younger ages (SEE Swagger, Jack) so that by the time they reach John Cena's age, there is nothing left for them to do . . . even though they could theoretically go another 20+ years. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I could handle another 20 years of Cena!
EXPOSURE: When I was growing up, it was a treat to see a Hulk Hogan interview, let alone watch him wrestle . . . a jobber. There was less original programming every week and only a handful of PPVs per year. John Cena gets at least 15 minutes of air time each week and is expected to sell over 12 PPVs a year. So even though Hulk Hogan lasted from 1983-1993 and John Cena's only been around since June 2002, John Cena has actually been around for 16 "Hogan" years.
COMPETITION: Although I'm not the biggest Jeff Hardy fan, I do have to give him credit as he never seems to overstay his welcome as this is now his second stint in TNA. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, there were viable alternatives to the WWF, such as WCW, AWA, and ECW, among others. Unless TNA stops bringing in WWE rejects that people don't want to see (Nasty Boys, Val Venis, Orlando Jordan, The Band, etc.), TNA will never be real competition.
DOWN TIME: Wrestlers just don't seem to take that much time off anymore. In the old days it wasn't uncommon for a guy to take a year off for one reason or another. These days superstars rush back from injury (SEE Cena, John and Batista, Dave). When Shawn Michaels injured his knee in 1990, Shane Douglas subbed for him in The Rockers, while Michaels recovered. Now, even when a guy gets injured, he's still heavily featured on programming so fans don't FORGET him and he doesn't lose his SPOT. This mentality is flawed. Fans will never forget a good worker (SEE Steamboat, Ricky) and by heavily featuring an injured star, it never really feels like he's gone; so when said star comes back, it doesn't feel as fresh as it could. I do have to take my hat off to Big Show, Chris Jericho, and Rob Van Dam for voluntarily taking extended leaves of absence.
npiwowar
P.S. - Speaking of Matt Hardy--who has been with WWE for about 12 years, excluding the stint when he was released for whining about Lita on the Internet--why hasn't this guy been PUSHED? You could give a dozen reasons, such as Vince likes big guys, but just about any reason could be countered in comparison with Jeff who was given the keys to the company and jumped to TNA. Matt is bigger than Jeff, has less personal demons, seems more reliable/dedicated, has about equal mic skills, and at times has been just as over, but has never risen above the mid-card. Right now he seems stale, but I feel McMahon missed the boat with him on several occassions. Matt seemed really over in 2003 with the whole Mattitude thing. He also could have been risen to the main event with Edge over the whole Lita thing in 2005. I also remember his feud with MVP in 2007 being really good. The whole thing that got me thinking about this was that I was watching SmackDown this week and saw Drew McIntyre destroy Hardy the same way Edge did at SummerSlam 2005, killing all his heat in the process. I wonder why Matt hasn't ever jumped to TNA because of this treatment.
Do you think that if Mr. Perfect stuck around the WWE in 1997 instead of going to WCW he would have Rick Rude's spot in the original DX? If you think about what Perfect was doing at the time, he had just started managing HHH when he turned heel on Marc Mero and helped him win the IC title. Plus, if you watch Perfect's DVD they kept mentioning that he was a huge prankster, which would have fit in the funny and rebellios DX at the time. Rude always seemed like an emergency replacement to me because Perfect left. He never quite fit in with them. In fact, if you go back and watch Rude, he looks uncomfortable (and maybe even downright embarrassed) to be associated with DX. Perfect would have probably enjoyed doing alot of the jokes and antics that DX did. What do you and your readers think?
I think people think up strange scenarios. I mean, it might have been a good fit, but Rude was added to the group because they poached him from ECW, not because he happened to be around, so who knows.
The SmarK Retro Rant for Wrestlemania X
- Given we're at that point in the RAW Legacy rants, now is as good a time as any to redo this show, what with Shawn Michaels' final match coming up this weekend.
- Live from Madison Square Garden.
- Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
Charlie sez…
Since your blog was interested and I have NO life, here's all the figures I could pull up on WWE DVD sales numbers. These are for North America (possibly the United States) only.
Only THREE WWE DVDs have sold over 100,000 units at the Manufactures Suggested Retail Price. This does not factor in bundle sales, clearance, etc. It WOULD factor in store sales, such as Best Buy which always has the movies on sale the first week they are released.
The top three are...
#1: The Rise & Fall of ECW (aprox 165,000 units at MSRP)
#2: Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology (aprox 125,000 units at MSRP)
#3: The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection (aprox 110,000 units at MSRP)That puts it in perspective of what the very top of the ladder is. I'm guessing wrestling fans thought these things sold millions. They don't. BUT understand that they're the WWE's most profitable division because all the stuff contained in them is just archival footage. It costs pennies on a dollar to produce these sets.
The average set sells around 25,000 units. Here are the ones that are above average performers. If a DVD released after 2008, I did a rough guess based on removing the overseas stuff using sales data from older stuff. And since you can take it with a grain of salt, I put a * next to any such set.
Bloodbath: Wrestling's Best Cage Matches (about 85,000 copies)
Tombstone: The History of the Undertaker (About 70,000 copies)
The Road Warriors (about 55,000 copies)
Bret Hart (about 45,000 copies)
Shawn Michaels: From the Vault (about 45,000 copies)
Greatest Stars of the 80s (About 35,000 copies)
Shawn Michaels: Heartbreak & Triumph (about 30,000 copies)*
John Cena: My Life (about 30,000)*
Chris Benoit: Hard Knocks (about 25,000 copies)And these are the under performing ones...
Eddie Guerrero: Cheating Death, Stealing Life (about 20,000 copies)
ECW Blood Sport (about 17,500 copies)
Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man (about 15,000 copies)*
Mr. Perfect (about 7,500 copies)
History of the AWA (about 5,000 copies)
Roddy Piper (about 3,000 copies)
Dusty Rhodes (about 2,500 copies)
History of WCCW (about 2,500 copies)*
ECW Extreme Rules (about 2,000 copies)*
Brian Pillman (about 1,500 copies)
Superstar Billy Graham (about 1,000 copies)I tried to get numbers for the 2009 releases but they were all over the place. More then likely places reporting them made the numbers up based on how much they liked the sets. The WWE the actual numbers pretty well guarded. I was told that Kane's release was the lowest single-wrestler set of the last year (released in December of 2008 but they factor it into the last calendar year).
I think actually the WWE likely has readjusted their expectations for what a DVD is expected to sell. And mind you, in the music industry a concert DVD that says 5,000 units is considered to be a MAJOR success. So the WWE isn't exactly hurting from this drop in sales. This is all stuff that is 'in the can'.
Sources: Billboard, Video Shop Magazine, WWE's pre-2008 sales figures.
One of the most revered shows in wrestling history and its not for the Main Events but rather a terrific undercard where everyone busted their behinds in front of an active crowd. This was also the first Wrestlemania without an appearance by you-know-who and the last one for Randy Savage, closing the book on the WWF's golden era.
I didn't do the Ladder match because I had to save up energy for the Ironman but on a re-watch I gave it ****1/2. I liked their Summerslam match better. Savage-Crush and the Mounties-MOM matches age pretty well too.
Enjoy.
Depending on how much you loved Hogan-Savage, I say this card probably had the best WWF title match until X-Seven or so. Although I have to watch the Ironman again this weekend and see how it stacked up.
This was a very historic card for a few reasons as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels made their WM singles debuts and beat old mainstays Roddy Piper and Tito Santana respectively to start the movement of the stars to the next group. And The Undertaker began a his lengthy run as one of the top faces in the promotion while ending Jake Roberts' first WWF stint. I'm guessing Sid was also in that plan of new stars but some things don't work out like they are suppose to.
Enjoy
Few things have captured my attention in wrestling like the Shawn Michaels saga. Being a huge HBK mark I'm always interested in the battles he's fighting but he's really sucked in the crowd this time. As I said in a comment on that thread, I watched the Royal Rumble with a large group of people and they were PISSED when he got eliminated. And they've backed this thing into such a corner that there has to be a major payoff. My idea was to have Shawn hijack his way into the MitB match knowing that's his only shot and cashing it in later that night but that could be a hard sell and I'm not sure if Shawn wants to do a bunch of ladder spots.
Moving on.
This Wrestlemania was dubbed "Megapowers Explode" as Hogan and Savage continue their on-again/off-again feud that spanned 15 years in the ring and a horrible rap album. Some people claim that Savage has a bullet in his gun with Hogan's name on it. If that's the case it's pretty sad, but not surprising because Savage is batshit crazy.
I hate to see former friends battle like this. It breaks my heart actually. And to see it come to the point of where one guy is threatening to kill another. It's not where we need to be in society. So Hulk, Savage...right here, right now on Scott's blog I'm asking both of you to squash it. Just move on. The Madness and the 'Mania can live peacefully together again.
And now, your bit of culture for the day, via my inbox...
Written while I should have been working:
Flippin’ through the channels back in nineteen-eighty-eight
I spied a badass freak in leather pants, a bandana and shades
He was agitated, tense, most certainly a head case
But he looked awesome on that stage with that gold belt ‘round his waist
It came to pass his name was Savage, and his conduct proved costly
He was braggin’, posin’, boastin’, roastin’ Ted Dibiase
When suddenly a Giant struck, but when all seemed lost, he
Called upon his friend the Hulkster to come bolster his posse
And with good reason; I concede Elizabeth was fine
But soakin’ wet that southern belle weighed maybe one-twenty-nine
They called themselves the Mega-Powers, and without even tryin’
They made all their foes retreat like their receding hairlines
Then the inevitable heel turn, as Savage turned jealous
Convinced that the Hulkster was a bit overzealous
In his affection for Liz, his need to dom’nate the biz
And we fans were left to plead, “How could it have come to this?”
But little did we know that that was only the start
A DeLorean flash-forward to break your little mark heart:
Elizabeth is dead and Hulk Hogan is a dick
Randy Savage is a paranoid-ass hip-hop trick
Many others ‘mong our heroes are now dead like Liz
Bam Bam Bigelow and Big John Studd and Davey Boy Smith
Mr. Perfect and the Earthquake, but the worst part is
Twenty ‘Manias later, Vince McMahon still lives
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WWE BADD BLOOD 2003 DVD US $1.49 |
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WWE JUDGEMENT DAY 2004 DVD US $1.49 |
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Extreme Rules 2010 DVD 2010 WWE DVD BRAND NEW US $8.99 |
