Scott Keith

Blog question

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Hi Scott,


You mentioned in your Hogan DVD rant that him and Rude had great chemistry together but never really worked a programme. Are there any other examples of guys who had great chemistry but, for whatever reason, never feuded?


Cheers 

Bret Hart and Ricky Steamboat!  They had the one match and it was GREAT but then Bret went full time into tag teams instead.  

Money in the Bank

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The next PPV after Wrestlemania is supposedly MITB.  Do you think they would attempt doing this at the Performance Center? 

They might have to!  

Fwd: March Bashness 2020: Decide the Unbreakable Eight

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Some interesting matchups this round. Fortunately it's not an all chalk tournament as we've got our own Cinderella. 

First link is for the second round results:

For folks who just want to vote, here it is:

Thanks again!
Keep those action figures six feet apart in between matches.

Mania Incentive

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There’s 0 ticket revenue and PPV buys are insignificant in the network era. I assume a rescheduled mania would still have a good gate at an arena and network views wouldn't be bad.  So whats  the main financial consideration driving mania still happening next week instead of postponing?

I don't think there is one.  I think Vince was counting on someone like ESPN to agree to carry the show, and couldn't swing the deal.  So now he's stuck airing it on the Network and wasting whatever value it might have had.  

Dino Bravo’s fault

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Scott with all that's going on in the world with the coronavirus, I can't help but blame this whole thing on Dino Bravo. Even though he's been dead 27 years i can't help but think it's his fault, cause as you know Dino Bravo is the worst.

Wow.  That’s cold.  Even by Dino Bravo standards.  

Dark Side of the Ring Benoit doc

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I imagine you'll get a few emails about it, but the Benoit doc was fascinating & heartbreaking. There is new insight from Nancy's sister & Benoit's other son, as well as Vickie Guerrero, Dean Malenko (who sadly appears to have Parkinson's Disease based on how he was shaking throughout), and Chris Jericho. Really emotional ending as well. Did you catch it and will we see a review?
Haven’t watched it yet and frankly I’m not really in a place where I want to watch another thing about how horrible Benoit was.  I’m more looking for fun stuff at the moment.  

The question must be asked…

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With a bloated card that just keeps growing, including matches that absolutely nobody but Vince wants to see (Elias v Corbin?) and matches constantly changing as wrestlers wind up in quarantine, spread over two days, pre-taped so guaranteed to have spoilers floating around, and zero fans in attendance for any of it to make it feel like a big deal, and all in the midst of a global crisis that has made wrestling a complete afterthought right now…is this looking like a runaway for the worst Mania of all time? I mean, there have been some stinkers, but I can’t think of any of them that had this much working against them going into the show.
To be completely fair about it, any discussions about the quality of the show are gonna require an asterisk the size of the International Space Station.  

Heel WWF Champions

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Hi Scott,

Wishing you and your family well.

Read your latest Hogan DVD, of course. If the WWF was a “heel territory” where it would all be about the chase, would could you see and not see carrying the title long term during the late 80’ and early 90’s? Let’s say before the rise of Bret and dominance of Yoko. Going to guess you are down with Savage. And Flair in the WWF. How about those never champion if given a proper chance?

Jake Robert? (if no demons)

Rick Rude?

Ted Dibiase?

Who else?

Jake would be a shitty choice as champion. Just the wrong style and person for the position. 

Dibiase 100% could have carried the ball. 
Rude maybe later in career.  Definitely after 94.  
Mr. Perfect could have gotten a run.  Possibly heel Luger too given the right circumstances.  Definitely Razor Ramon.  Watching those 92 Superstars made me realize how badly they missed their chance by not pulling the trigger on him.  

The Hulkster

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Good sir.   Since the Hogan dvd set did big blog numbers for you I thought maybe you’d like some Hogan related questions

1.   What’s your personal favorite Hogan match?

2.  At what point in his WWF run did Hogan stop becoming a draw?   I always thought it to be around WM 8 when he was going to “retire” after his match with Sid

3.   You correctly wrote after WM 18 that the WWE had a limited window of time to cash in on Hogan before his popularity faded away.   Looking back did they handle things right by putting the title on him right after WM?   Could they have drawn his time out more by pairing him with Edge in a tag team like they did later on that year?

4.   Is there anyone in Hogan’s career that you think he could have done big business with that he never got a chance to?   I’ve always thought Rick Rude was a good answer

1.  The Rock match is certainly the one I've watched the most times.  
2.  Late in 91.  The Flair feud was the last big hurrah for him and it died off fast.  
3.  They 100% should have kept the tag titles on him and Edge because they could have milked that formula for months.  Hogan as the hot tag guy who comes in pre-charged and hulking up was next level genius.
4.  I think Rude would have done business with Savage, but not Hogan.  It just would have been a different and fun dynamic with Hogan.  Jake the Snake is another guy who might have done business but they'd be sabotaging themselves needlessly with it.  I think Bam Bam Bigelow is the ultimate answer, because he would have been a scary heel for Hogan to slay and would have come out of it OK in the end. 

Woman in the Hall of Fame

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So it came up in the most recent Dark Side of the Ring…  is there a time where Woman makes it in to the WWE Hall of Fame?

Aside from the fact that she doesn't really warrant inclusion in a Hall of Fame, no, I don't think they're opening up that particular can of worms.  

Joshi Intro

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Hey Scott, 

With everything on shutdown and all of us stuck at home, and new wrestling fairly scarce, I figured I'd share out the "Intro to Joshi" playlist I made when somebody asked in one of the daily threads in case more people might dig it. Basically it's got one match each for most of the big stars from the 90s era when Zenjo peaked, with the philosophy being that as people go through it they'll naturally find favorites and can spiderweb out on their own from there (or as us one of us joshi geeks in the daily threads for recs). 

I dunno, it's good wrestling. Figured I'd share. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8T41tZLu1g&list=PLm6tbFfvTAxmS90jVo4Ri87aAn3St_NbE&index=2&t=0s

Always happy to share good wrestling!

Greg Valentine Question

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As every wrestling fan should know, Greg Valentine needs ten minutes just to get warmed up. But did we ever get an explanation (kayfabe or otherwise) for what this was actually supposed to mean? Or is it just one of those Gorilla-isms that sounds memorable in the moment but you're not supposed to think too hard about?

It meant that he excels in long matches.  I dunno, I thought it was always pretty clear.  

Wrestlemania Reimagined

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Hi Scott,


Long time reader. Have to give my friend, Andy, the credit for this hilarious question.

What Wrestlemania moment would you want to see reimagined with no audience?

Some our answers included Hogan/Rock, Bryan winning the title, Shawn's entrance at 12, Austin's heel turn at 17 or, my personal favourite, Bossman being hung.

Could Bret and Austin have made the double turn work without a crowd?  I dunno but it would have been an interesting challenge for both.

Hulk and Heenan

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I always wondered what the relationship was backstage between Hulk and Heenan over the years. Heenan followed Hulk from AWA to WWF to WCW and never stopped hating him in kayfabe, even borderline spoiling the “3rd man” when Hulk came out because he didn’t trust him.

But they drew so much money against each other from Bockwinkel to Bundy to Andre and the Family to Flair so I always wondered if they were friends. We know Bobby hated Warrior, but what about Hulk?

Nope, they were close friends in real life and in fact Hulk got Bobby a job with the AWA and then I believe Bobby actually recommended Hulk to Vince.  Bobby would never have destroyed his body putting over someone he hated like Warrior.  

WrestleMania

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do you think Vince will edit in some canned heat to the matches? why not do something really different and put each match in a different virtual arena like street fighter or something? 

I think the New Day would be down for that.  Although I wonder if Vince has seen that episode of Black Mirror….

Vince’s Built-In Advantage

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During the 80's when Vince McMahon started aggressively expanding he already controlled New York, Philadelphia, Boston, DC and most of the rest of the Northeast. Compare this to Crockett's triad of power in Atlanta, Greensboro and Charlotte. You would think Verne would have been in a good position to compete with Chicago, Milwaukee, the Twin Cities, Denver, Vegas and San Francisco under his belt but he was too far behind the times and threw it all away. Considering the huge difference in population and media exposure between the markets wasn't the war against Vince doomed from the start? Or do you think better business practices and creativity could have stemmed the tide? 
It might have stemmed the tide but the end result was inevitable.  Vince had the TV guys in his pocket and the Northeast and yeah, they weren’t beating him.  

Wednesday Night Nitro ?

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Hey Scott,


Quick question – how do you think things might have gone if WCW had decided not to directly compete, and had run with Nitro on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?  Would the 'clean air' have helped get WWF viewers?

I feel like it wouldn’t have helped.  It was really the feeling of getting right into WWF’s space that drove the rebellious feeing of the show.  If it was on a Wednesday then it’s Thunder.   And that ain’t beating RAW.  

Some aew questions

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1) mox was hot and over and great match to win the title and since then he wrestled once and has since videoed it in as opposed to show up. Seems the inner circle – elite is main angle and Mox is on the sideline. Mistake to take the title of Jericho ? 


2) cody, in the past , has said ,” there’s no “invisible wall” like in the other company” during interviews to say why he wouldn’t go fight a person during an interview. Yet this pat week cody and the elite stood in the ring like idiots while Jericho rambles on and Sammy hits on Cody’s wife , with Cody standing 10 ft away? Wtf. Makes cody seem like a bitch. Dude is hitting on his wife and he just stands there? 
Yeah man, crowds are WAY down lately.  Obviously it was a huge mistake.