WWF/WWE/ECW/WCW

Memphis had near mythical status for me since I could only read about it in the magazines. At one point I even ordered tapes of Memphis out of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Then Pro Wrestling This Week came on and they would show highlights. It came out of a small powered station in Virginia so I would hold the rabbit ears of the television at all kinds of crazy positions just to catch things like Eddie Gilbert running over Lawler with a car, or Tommy Rich hiding under the ring in the Austin Idol/Lawler cage match.

First time I ever traveled through Memphis everyone wanted to go to Graceland. I instead went to the Mid-South Coliseum and the Channel 5 TV Studios. Sadly this was long after wrestling was gone from those places.

Would've killed to see the live saturday show every week. And the Kaufman stuff is just too great.

jstate wrote:

Memphis had near mythical status for me since I could only read about it in the magazines. At one point I even ordered tapes of Memphis out of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Then Pro Wrestling This Week came on and they would show highlights. It came out of a small powered station in Virginia so I would hold the rabbit ears of the television at all kinds of crazy positions just to catch things like Eddie Gilbert running over Lawler with a car, or Tommy Rich hiding under the ring in the Austin Idol/Lawler cage match.

First time I ever traveled through Memphis everyone wanted to go to Graceland. I instead went to the Mid-South Coliseum and the Channel 5 TV Studios. Sadly this was long after wrestling was gone from those places.

Would've killed to see the live saturday show every week. And the Kaufman stuff is just too great.

I lived in the area for 3 years and I lived near Nashville for 5 years before that so I got to see Memphis wrestling during the 80s for about 8 years and it was glorious. Everybody who was anybody came through the territory and battled the "local talent" like Austin Idol, Bill Dundee and of course Lawler. I remember when this huge black guy came in known as The Soultaker. Know who he was? Papa Shango/The Godfather in WWE. Randy Savage? Check, he was there. Flair? Constantly. Jimmy Hart? always Lawler's arch-nemesis. Tommy Rich, Eddie Gilbert, The Fabulous Ones, The Sheepherders, The Moondogs (in about a half dozen incarnations),...everyone came through Memphis. It was just simply a great time to be a wrestling fan.

But the Kauffman stuff was my favorite of all time. His weekly hygiene tips were simply hilarious. The following clip was after Lawler lit a "fireball" in Kauffman's face on the WMC weekly Saturday program.

Her in Dallas we had the Sportatorium and GWF (Global Wrestling Federation) and World Class Championship Wrestling before it. It was another territory that was filled with stars of yesteryear. They would play it on USPN and apart from WCW and WWF, it was the only other place for me to catch wrestling. It featured these guys (some before their trip to the big leagues and others who's days were behing them-guys who got there start there in red):

Kerry Von Erich
Eddie Gilbert
Cactus Jack
Lightning Kid (X Pac Sean Waltman)
Jerry Lynn
Barry Horowitz
Chris Adams
Handsome Stranger (Buff Bagwell)
Booker T
Stevie Ray
Axl Rotten
Ian Rotten
Iceman Parsons
Butch Reed
Gary Hart
The Soultaker (Godfather)
Scott Putski
Michael Hayes
Jimmy Garvin
Terry Gordy
Tug Taylor
Black Bart
The Patriot
Rico Suave (Jeff Grettler)
G.Q. Knight (Wayne Knight-Mideon)
Bobby Duncum, Jr.
Johnny Hawk (JBL)
Gary Young
Manny Fernandez
Sam Houston
Jeep Swenson
Skandar Akbar
Scott Anthony (Raven)
Stan Lane
Bruce Pritchard (Brother Love)

They would also show old WCCW shows and I got to see these guys before they hit the big time):

Mark Callous (Taker)
Steve Austin


Unfortunatly, I never got to go to the Sportatorium despite living in the area. Life was hard for a kid who watched wrestling with a family who hates it and no friends that liked it.

Well, at least the WWE website aknowledges Tensai being A-Train:

Quote :

WWE.com has posted a superstar profile for Lord Tensai, and the site is acknowledging that he was previously A-Train and Albert in the company. WWE also notes, as it did on Raw, that he became a big star in Japan before making his return to WWE as Lord Tensai.

Wonder if next Monday, the commentators will now aknowledge it.

like they had to research it or something

Coincidentally, I just found this lengthy but interesting article on the whole Kauffman/Lawler feud. I guess it all started 30 years ago this past weekend.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/07/us/kaufman-lawler-wrestling-match/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

I think i read that this morning

Lately Big Papa Dump has been flaming his fellow wrestlers on Twitter. I really wonder if anybody gives a rat's ass what this steroid pumping douche has to say. I used to love the Stiener Brothers, one of the best tag teams of all time, and both legitimatly great wrestlers. However, Scott started beefing up (unaturally-he denies it but come on, it's pretty obvious) and becoming boring and repetitive in the ring. And along with that became a bully and a complet a$$hole. He is one guy who has definatly overstayed his welcome and burned every bridge he's crossed. Now that TNA finally got smart and cut him loose he has burned another bridge, he'll be lucky to get another wrestling gig anywhere.

DallasBlack wrote:

Lately Big Papa Dump has been flaming his fellow wrestlers on Twitter. I really wonder if anybody gives a rat's ass what this steroid pumping douche has to say. I used to love the Stiener Brothers, one of the best tag teams of all time, and both legitimatly great wrestlers. However, Scott started beefing up (unaturally-he denies it but come on, it's pretty obvious) and becoming boring and repetitive in the ring. And along with that became a bully and a complet a$$hole. He is one guy who has definatly overstayed his welcome and burned every bridge he's crossed. Now that TNA finally got smart and cut him loose he has burned another bridge, he'll be lucky to get another wrestling gig anywhere.

I've recently watched Starrcade 1990 and comparing this Scott Steiner to the Scott Steiner of the past 14 years is crazy. Except for the face there's nothing that resembles that great agile Tag-Team Wrestler.
Though i have to say that he surprised me in TNA. At WCW after he turned into this mutant he basically only had one great match (vs. Bill Goldberg, Fall Brawl 2000) and his WWE Solo run was horrible but he seems a lot more comfortable in TNA. For example the Match against Kaz & Samoa Joe, Sacrifice 2008 was good as was his singles match against Samoa Joe from Slammiversary 2006

I think that Twitter thing is the beginning of a storyline, as some TNA guys (Hogan for example) responded and TNA is known to incorporate Twitter and the Internet into their Storylines

Scott Steiner (using his a variation of his real name Scott RexSteiner) started out in the local Indiana promotion owned by Dick the Bruiser that I used to follow when I lived in South Bend as a kid. Even as a rookie he was so far ahead athletically of everyone in the promotion. I think they made him champ almost right away. You knew he'd make it to the big time someday. But never dreamed it would be from his mouth and not his wrestling ability that would propel him into a huge singles star. Okay the roided up beyond belief helped too. When he started you could barely hear him speak he was so soft spoken.

That late 80's frankensteiner is still one of the most amazing moves I've ever seen. I'm still not even sure how a human could physically pull that off. He'd be halfway flipped over before his legs even got the guy's head.

Here's a clip of Scott from the Bruiser's promotion. Their TV show was actually a lot of fun. Always had a ton of blood too. I could tell a ton of funny stories about the BS his opponent the Great Wojo would tell us kids who would go to the shows. Most involved challenging Hulk Hogan. Although apparently his claim to be a former Olympian actually turned out to be true funny enough.

Quote :

But the Kauffman stuff was my favorite of all time. His weekly hygiene tips were simply hilarious.

As much as I loved Kaufman's wrestling stuff, I could never get into his stand up comedy. I guess I wanted it to be him just doing the Memphis stuff. I did love his Letterman appearances though.

And the thing I really loved with Kaufman was he always got killed by Lawler in the end. I hated later when the celebrities always had to beat the actual wrestlers. That made no sense to me.

ShadowAngel wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Lately Big Papa Dump has been flaming his fellow wrestlers on Twitter. I really wonder if anybody gives a rat's ass what this steroid pumping douche has to say. I used to love the Stiener Brothers, one of the best tag teams of all time, and both legitimatly great wrestlers. However, Scott started beefing up (unaturally-he denies it but come on, it's pretty obvious) and becoming boring and repetitive in the ring. And along with that became a bully and a complet a$$hole. He is one guy who has definatly overstayed his welcome and burned every bridge he's crossed. Now that TNA finally got smart and cut him loose he has burned another bridge, he'll be lucky to get another wrestling gig anywhere.

I've recently watched Starrcade 1990 and comparing this Scott Steiner to the Scott Steiner of the past 14 years is crazy. Except for the face there's nothing that resembles that great agile Tag-Team Wrestler.
Though i have to say that he surprised me in TNA. At WCW after he turned into this mutant he basically only had one great match (vs. Bill Goldberg, Fall Brawl 2000) and his WWE Solo run was horrible but he seems a lot more comfortable in TNA. For example the Match against Kaz & Samoa Joe, Sacrifice 2008 was good as was his singles match against Samoa Joe from Slammiversary 2006

I think that Twitter thing is the beginning of a storyline, as some TNA guys (Hogan for example) responded and TNA is known to incorporate Twitter and the Internet into their Storylines

You might be right about the last part, though he does have a propensity to run his mouth so it's kind of hard to say. Love your description of him as a mutant .

Jstate talking about him being soft spoken origionally is why I'm convinced he uses steroids (apart from the unnatural physique). Steroids tend to make one very angry and vicious which would explain why he turned into such a grade A a$$hole. It's more sad than anything else that someone could change so much for whatever reason he did so (I think that bad accident he was in might have been a factor, it wasn't til after that that he changed).

I think Andy Kaufman did alot for Wrestling, the article i read said he took being a Heel to a new level. I would have to agree.


In other Wrestling news

Scott Hall was arrested again
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/252933-update-scott-hall-arrested-for-beating-girlfriend
(his mug shot he looks rough)
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/252935-photo-scott-halls-mug-shot-from-arrest-earlier-today

Not Scott Hall. Not Mr. Teetotaler!

Addy wrote:

I think Andy Kaufman did alot for Wrestling, the article i read said he took being a Heel to a new level. I would have to agree.


In other Wrestling news

Scott Hall was arrested again
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/252933-update-scott-hall-arrested-for-beating-girlfriend
(his mug shot he looks rough)
[url=http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/252935-photo-scott-halls-mug-shot-from-arrest-earlier-today

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/252935-photo-scott-halls-mug-shot-from-arrest-earlier-today[/quote[/url]]

I think Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, both Hardys and Jake Roberts are having a "who can take the most chemical abuse" contest.

jstate wrote:

Scott Steiner (using his a variation of his real name Scott RexSteiner)

It's actually Scott Carl Rechsteiner...some par of their family (either parents or grandparents) are of german descent

DallasBlack wrote:

Jstate talking about him being soft spoken origionally is why I'm convinced he uses steroids (apart from the unnatural physique). Steroids tend to make one very angry and vicious which would explain why he turned into such a grade A a$$hole.

I wouldn't go that far, there are assholes who never took steroids, there are people who took steroids and are calm. It's not a black/white world we live in, right?
I mean by all accounts, Arn Anderson never took drugs, never took steroids but there's the famous stabbing incident with Sid Vicious/Justice from the early 90's were Arn nearly died.
(I think of that accident because the 4 Horsemen theme came up in my playlist...isn't it one of the most awesome themes in wrestling of all time? it rocks!)

Scott Steiner certainly has anger issues and is known for violence (in 1999 he drove over the foot of some construction guy because he thought he can still tackle the road with his SUV) and certainly he took steroids. Nobody nearing age 50 can have that body, heck, nobody age 35 can suddenly start to create such a body, unless there are steroids or mythical powers involved. I can accept Brock Lesnar being natural because there are pictures of him age 15/16 were he already looks like the protagonist of the Altered Beast video game and he went on from there, some people are built like tanks.
I even doubt that with Scott it's all steroids or HGH, i guess he uses creatine and pumps his arms up with oils and water to look enormous without having any strength (like Batista, he looked like a beat but whenever he went to a gorilla press slam you can see him shaking, his legs start to go down)

BTW, I thought the opening segment with Lesnar and Cena brawling on Raw last night was excellent, especially because Cena apparently suffered a legitimate busted lip.

That's the kind of heat and "realism" that has been missing from WWE for far too long IMO.

Of course then we got a bunch of 3 Stooges BS and more of Y2J pouring alcohol on CM Punk but that opening segment was worth the price of admission IMO.

tohostudios wrote:

BTW, I thought the opening segment with Lesnar and Cena brawling on Raw last night was excellent, especially because Cena apparently suffered a legitimate busted lip.

That's the kind of heat and "realism" that has been missing from WWE for far too long IMO.

Of course then we got a bunch of 3 Stooges BS and more of Y2J pouring alcohol on CM Punk but that opening segment was worth the price of admission IMO.

There are actually reports that Cena asked Brock to really hit him as to create more reality. However, I think it's a bit too soon as Cena has already suffered a major loss and Brock cannot loose his first match back. The best thing they can do is have Brock "injur" Cena and get him off TV for a while so he can come back and get his revenge.

Yup Mr I made his Dreams come true (as he pushes the guy into the fountain)

I dunno if I believe that with Cena, Lesnar in the past has been known for being careless in the ring and having been in the MMA thing I think he has some ring rust. But it was great realism.

Looks like Scott"Last Call"Hall has made news again and this time it's for domestic abuse.

Scott Hall was arrested last Friday in Florida following a domestic disturbance with his girlfriend, reports TMZ.com.

According to an arrest report obtained by the website, Hall allegedly choked out his girlfriend in a drunken fit of rage. Hall's girlfriend Lisa Howell says he had been drinking "for days" when they got into an argument Friday evening.

Howell says she got into her car to drive away from the residence, and in a blind rage, Hall grabbed her by the throat and tried to pull her out of the driver's seat. When confronted by police, Hall appeared heavily intoxicated with an "unknown white secretion flowing from both sides of his mouth." He denied getting violent.

Police observed several signs of physical injury on Howell, including red marks around her neck, so Hall was placed under arrest for domestic battery. His arrest required two sets of handcuffs due to his large stature.

Hall could not be immediately booked in jail because he was too intoxicated. He was taken to a nearby hospital to receive medical clearance before he was booked in Seminole County's John E. Polk Correctional Facility.

Howell has refused to press charges against Hall. TMZ says it's unclear if the case will move forward in court.

Kevin Nash said it best, "The only person who can help Scott is Scott."

So many people have tried to help him, WWE even sponsored his last rehab. Unfortunatly, Scott keeps getting himself into trouble every time someone gets him out of it.

I hate to say this, but I wouldnt be surprised if he died soon. Id wish hed clean his act up and stay clean. He was such a great talent.

Talk about throwing your talent away. I'm surprised he's not already dead. I saw his mugshot from this latest arrest. He's only 2 years older than I am but he looks about 15 years older.

Wrestling legend Scott Hall claims police completely overreacted when they arrested him for domestic abuse on Friday -- insisting he never ONCE got violent with his girlfriend.

...Scott's lawyer tells us [TMZ], "The police arrested Mr. Hall against the wishes of Ms. Howell, who insisted that the argument did not result in violence. Ms. Howell claims that there was no physical abuse."

Lisa has refused to press charges -- but the lawyer's statement contradicts the arrest report ... which states Scott did get violent.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery. Obviously, despite all his stints in rehab, Scott Hall still hasn't passed step 1.

This part alone tells me he has no idea what he did:

Quote :

When confronted by police, Hall appeared heavily intoxicated with an "unknown white secretion flowing from both sides of his mouth."