Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Gorski
I don't watch any more but I used to love it back in the day. I was a huge fan and then lost interest and sort of came back into it during the RAW v Nitro period and then lost interest again for the past I dunno 7 or 8 years but this was what I really liked about it. I loved the HTM's schtick. You would look at the guy and just be annoyed by Jimmy Hart and his whole "greatest intercontinental champion of all time" bit - and the fact that he was IC champ forever made you only want to see him lose more and more each week. Then that allowed the Ultimate Warrior to show up, squash him and begin his mega push. HTM can't top Ted DiBiase as probably my all time favorite heel but he's pretty close.
I felt DiBiase was handled brilliantly. First with all the vignettes showing what an obnoxious ass he was, then because there is no way a guy like him could believably beat a guy like Hogan they have him pay off Andre to do it. Then they set it up so that he faces Savage in the finals of the tournament because it would be more believable that he could beat Savage instead of Hogan - he never does win the belt but sticks around with the main eventers for the rest of the year in tag matches and what not. Then with his mega push over they create his own belt for him and allow him to be relevant that way for awhile, allow him to feud with another legend (Rhodes) and then of course the whole Virgil turning on him bit. Then as his push as a singles wrestler really wound down they built him up as a tag team wrestler with Money Inc and allowed him to be relevant in the tag team championship for another couple years.
And in the end I really wish he could have been world champion because you just knew the only way he could have done it was to do something dirty to get it - you knew he couldn't beat Hogan or Ultimate Warrior or anyone like that but he could get outside help or he could bribe the ref or whatever else and it didn't matter that he physically wasn't capable of beating those guys or that the Million Dollar Dream would never put Hogan down. But the thing of it is if he did win it you knew Hogan would swear revenge and take it back at some point which is sounds like is lacking now with The Miz. That's what made it great - you knew Sgt Slaughter only beat Warrior because of Savage. You could hate those guys and you felt that Hogan, Warrior etc...hated them too and would get back the title somehow.
I'm sure some people look back on that era as lame but to me those were the days when they could tell a good story and a feud would build up for months and when that feud ended it usually ended with the start of a new one (ala Warrior v Slaughter turning to Warrior v Savage). Even the midcard feuds were memorable. Just doesn't seem like that anymore and that's probably why I stopped watching.
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See I think you just nailed all the drama in this thread.
We all remember one era when we were impressionable and it left an imagine on us.
Growing up an hour from Charlotte, I remember Tully Blanchard beating Dusty Rhodes in the parking lot with a baseball bat and breaking his wrist. Then I remember the firecracker to his face...those were HUGE moments to me and the way wrestling "should" be done.
Others remember the "Ultimate Warrior" invading WWWF..I remember going, thats the "Dingo Warrior" and why is he getting so much bigger.
For WWWF it topped out to me when Savage took the bell to Steamboat's throat and we watched Steamboat got through speech therapy lessons.
My point is...yes its lost its innocence. Yes it sucks to everyone who is over 25. But so did those moments.
Just take it for what it is...quit trying to figure out how to make it better. Enjoy what they give you and then go to sleep. I think Raw is a lot better on the backside of a 12 pack myself....