Articles by Scott Keith

More fun with Bret/Shawn

29th November 2022 by Scott Keith

One of the frequent criticisms of the WM12 Iron Man match is that there are no falls during “regulation” time; it defeats the whole purpose of it being an Iron Man match, and furthermore, once you've passed the 30-minute mark without a fall, it becomes increasingly
obvious where it's going, which kills a lot of the suspense. With that in mind, let me put it to the blog: if we're fantasy rebooking this match to include some falls (we'll proceed with the assumption that the finish is the same, with the ending tied after
60, and a need for sudden-death overtime), how many does everyone think would be ideal, and who should get the first one?

I think a good ratio would have been Shawn up 3-2 nearing the end, but Bret ties it up with seconds to go and thinks that he's the winner because it's a tie. And then Shawn wins it in the OT in the end.

The Real Man

29th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Besides Roman Reigns was there a bigger star made in the last decade than Becky Lynch? And would you say she has reached that Cena/Rock star level status? If Roman is 1A right now in all of wrestling she has to be 1b. There was a reason when Smackdown started on Fox that it was Becky in the ring with the Rock. She is an absolute superstar in entertainment in general, not just wrestling. She did some acting before the baby but it looks like she will be doing even more now, with a potential marvel role in the works. And if the past couple days is a sign of things to come without Vince, with the huge spot at wargames and an all timer promo last night, she is just getting started.

The best part of it was it was an organic rise kinda like the Rock and Stone Cold. She wasn't handed anything, she got herself over on her own. Even when it seemed like a crazy idea that she was made a heel after becoming a mom, she crushed that when everyone predicted it would fail. She also helped establish bianca as a full blown superstar in her own right, as well as bring up Liv to become a main event player. That is the sign of true greatness, when you helped others get over huge. Plus she even had a great match with Lita during that run and the SS match with Charlotte was all kinds awesomeness. If it wasn't for her I don't think women would of had a shot of main eventing Mania ever.

And not only was she a huge part of the women's revolution, but she also changed the game with the way she incorporated social media into building feuds. She is an absolute wizard on twitter with the way she uses it to either start feuds or antagonize her enemies. Plenty of people have tried to copy it but none have come close. Seth is on an time run right himself right now and he isn't even close to the most over person in his family. I mean she literally took Ric Flairs nickname, one of the greatest of all time, from him whether he wanted it or not, and people were just like ok yeah that works she is the Man now. What you think, is there anyone even close to her and Roman?

You're doing a lot of heavy lifting by putting Becky on any kind of level with Roman Reigns.

Ronda Lousy

28th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Survivor Series seemed to be pretty well received for the most part with the only match of little-to-no redeeming quality being Ronda Rousey vs. Shotzi.

Since Ronda sent Charlotte Flair packing she hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire with her sloppy, heatless matches. Having Shayna Baszler in her corner almost makes it worse because Shayna is the only one of the pair that consistently looks like she actually wants to be there.

It seems like the plan is to get to Ronda vs. Becky at WrestleMania, but at this rate is anybody going to actually care once they get there or should Becky just bulldoze her to get the Smackdown title back on someone the fans are actually reacting to?

Maybe they should have Ronda do promos about her thoughts on the Holocaust and see if that generates more heat.

Punk the color commentator

28th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Any idea why the devil Tony Khan hasn't brought Punk back to do full-time commentary while he heals from his injury? Would be a great way to try and salvage the ratings, especially since everyone will be eagerly hanging on Punk's every word since the scrum established his rightful contempt for the Lynch Mob Crew (also known as the Elite).

Put him on commentary, give him free reign, and just let him go to town and if the Elite have problems, if Jericho has problems, Tony can tell them to go fuck themselves since fans want Punk back and not the Elite.

Hell, have him show up to do commentary for Dax/Bryan and use it to end the farce of the “Best of Seven” crap by having the Bucks/Omega rage quit walk out when he makes his triumphant return and boots their boot licker Excalibur from his spot at the announcing table.

Jesse

Man I'm so sick of the Elite and Death Triangle having great matches on TV every week. You're really the voice of the voiceless here, just like Punk himself!

NAWA/SAPW

28th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Hello Scott,

Apparently there used to be some kind of promotion in North/South Carolina, first NAWA, then SAPW, with basically the same roster, in 1990/91.

Vince Torelli aka Ken Shamrock was there, Chris Chavis before Tatanka (same war dance) Nasties before their first WCW run, Sam Houston, Matt Borne, many more older guys (Wahoo, Ivan Koloff), and many new talents.

What do you know about this?

Sounds like another indie promotion to me.

Kliqamania

28th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Seriously, what should Hogan's old clique be called? With Bruti, Nasty Boys, Tenta, Duggan, later on Bubba TLS etc? Hogan's Heroes? Beer Brothas? Nepotism Nasties?

I always just called them the Friends of Hogan. Unless you can come up with something witty that rhymes with Orange.

Brisco Brothers Heel Turn

26th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Hi,

Just read the repost of Starrcade 83 and the discussion of the Broncos heel work.

Have you seen this collection of promos and matches from their turn? It’s phenomenal stuff. Might be worth a rant if you’re hard up for content.

Adam

The Brisco Brothers Turn Heel (Collection) (1983) (Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling)

Always looking for more content.

The Irony Of CM Punks AEW Run

26th November 2022 by Scott Keith

One thing nobody has pointed out, that I've seen anyway is how of all the crap Punk dealt with and talked about with WWE, it seems like he took that mentality with him to AEW. Alot of guys over the years have talked about how The Young Bucks don't really carry themselves as they should when they meet vets. Their was the infamous Booker T/Bucks situation for example where they didn't shake his hand and I believe one of them put their ring jacket on his chair. So maybe Punk went in there like that and that was basically the root of his issues with them?

Or maybe, and follow along with me here, he’s just an asshole.

Battlebowl

25th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Hi Scott,
Can you think of any way that WCW could have made the Battlebowl concept work? I was a teenager at the time, so I wasn't thinking about how everything fit into long-term storytelling or made sense when it came to traditional wrestling booking psychology, and I enjoyed the novelty of seeing tag team partners “randomly” thrown together for one night only. Looking back, I recognize the problems with the idea, but it was fun and memorable to me at the time. Is there some way that the idea could have been tinkered with in order for it not to be a total creative disaster?

Yeah, cut it down a LOT for one thing. Go with 5 tag matches, and instead of a battle royale, make it a Beat the Clock challenge so that whoever wins in the fastest time gets a tag title shot at the end of the night. That way guys have real incentive to work together and win, plus a tangible goal for the end of the show.

Lightning in a bottle promos

25th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,

Can you think of a time someone who was a mediocre promo managed, for once in their life, to put everything together and deliver the promo of their life?

My example would be Ricky Steamboat right before his WM III match with Savage. I can still hear it in my head ‘I *will* come away with the championship belt – and see new horizons!’

Mark Henry in his fake retirement speech to John Cena.

Big Show’s 1st WWF Title Reign

24th November 2022 by Scott Keith

When Vince put the belt on Big Show at SS 99, was the expectation that he'd be in for a long reign included headlining WM 2000 with the belt, or was it always going right back to HHH?

There was no expectation of a long reign, it was just a thing they did to provide a big title change after pulling Austin from the show, and to try and heat up Show again after the abysmal run he'd had in his first year. Had he took off as champion I'm sure they would have been happy to keep it on him, but it certainly wasn't the expectation.

Hogan and Dusty in the WWF

24th November 2022 by Scott Keith

During Dusty's 89-91 run, he and Hogan were never together in a promo or a match together, not even on the same Survivor Series team or face off in the Rumble, or even a Coliseum Video match. Was that done intentional by Vince to make sure Dusty wasn't
considered on Hulk's level, or just something that they didn't think about?

They didn't need to be around each other. Dusty headlined the C-shows against Ted Dibiase and Big Bossman in small towns and drew good money, and Hogan did the big cities against Earthquake and everyone was happy.

Top Angle

24th November 2022 by Scott Keith

Curious what you think is the angle of 2022 as we get close to the end of the year? Not sure if anything can top the bloodline, especially now with the Sami stuff. I get some people are bored with it, but for the majority it seems to be hitting on all levels and adding Solo/Sami has helped take it to the next level. Title fights feel the most important they have in years.

I guess next would be CM Punk/Elite, but that was more of accident than anything planned. Now of course you could say it's still TBD while get to enjoy the masterful angle play out between Jade and Bow Wow. I mean that's for sure gonna bring in the viewers, especially after almost record lows last week. I don't get how AEW has all this money and they can't attract one rap artist who is at least someone relevant to the current musical landscape.

I guarantee you I would have no idea who anyone “relevant to the current musical landscape” was even if they spent the money to get them. And many other wrestling fans would be in the same boat, so they might as well stick with Scrappy Doo or whoever he is if it makes Jade happy to do an angle with him.

And yes, the angle of the year is clearly the Bloodline run with Sami. Unless Punk comes back next month to pay off the Elite trolling, which is still a possibility given how hard they were pushing.

ECW music

24th November 2022 by Scott Keith

I was just watching some 1994/95 ECW – I understand why most people seem to not be able to watch it anymore. Whether it's the storyline content aging like milk, the lack of music, or just that it's nothing more than a shitty Northeastern indie at that point. But I'm from the Northeast, seen a lot of that in my time so that's exactly what I was craving.

Later ECW is easier to watch, the story content may still swing towards icky sometimes but at least the actual wrestling is better. Plus, I was watching near the end so even though the original music is gone I know what it's SUPPOSED to be. I wondered if knowing what was originally there would help Eastern Championship Wrestling go down a little better – do you (or the Otters) know of anywhere there's a comprehensive list of ECW entrance songs used throughout the years? Probably Reddit, right? I avoid that place. Icky in the present in my experience.

“Comprehensive” is not a word I hear associated much with ECW, the promotion that would be diagnosed with adult ADHD if you took it to a doctor. But no, I don't know of anything myself.

Teddy Hart’s scumbaggery exposed in documentary on Peacock

23rd November 2022 by Scott Keith

Not sure if you get it in Canada, but if so, any plans to watch the Teddy Hart documentary? It is both fascinating & sickening. It reveals what a truly lowlife POS he is. It's very revealing of a guy who could've been an enormous star in wrestling.

Unless it’s on Crave I don’t think it’s available up here.

Scrypts

23rd November 2022 by Scott Keith

So I know you generally don’t watch NXT, and I’m equally sure you will receive a ton of emails about this but let’s talk about the debut of Scrypts if we may?

First off we spend weeks getting cryptic videos about some guy who is apparently some form of an anarchist, despite having a name that sounds more like Isaac Yankem’s pharmacist. Then he shows up dressed like the great pumpkin with a pompom glued to his head, drawing the letter “S” in the air, while the whole crowd looks like they smelled a fart. Then after he wins he leaves a thank you note. So the conclusion that Scrypts actually refers to script… cursive. So the guy is less Of an anarchist and in actuality a calligrapher…. Which is definitely a choice.

My question is outside of obvious candidates like glacier, the gobbledygooker, the shockmaster, etc… what is the most hyped debut you can recall that the actual debut stunk to high hell?

Also between this and the iron survivor challenge, at what point do they reveal the drugs that NXT creative is on?

Mostly heart medication I think.

As for hyped debuts, WCW set a standard that’s tough to top. Berlyn! The Demon! Glacier! All the greatest hits.

Enjoyable Predictability

23rd November 2022 by Scott Keith

Hey, Scott:

You called the finish to MJF v. Moxley a mile away. Curious as to some of your favorite moments as a fan, in which you KNEW what was going to happen well ahead of time, but it was still fun to watch. For example, Randy Savage's heel turn on Lust Hogan in 1989. Certainly predictable, but Savage's over-the-top (and justifiable!) paranoia and post-match rant knocked it out of the park.

Aaron

Obviously Megapowers are number one. Lots of the Austin v McMahon story was easy to see from a mile away but usually ended with Vince humiliated. Sting and his friendship with Flair in 95 was of course a notable one as well.

Matches non wrestling fans like

22nd November 2022 by Scott Keith

I remember showing a couple of my friends in high school a Masato Tanaka Vs Mike Awesome match and being surprised that they did not want me to turn it off. I think they just liked how physical it was. Especially because they hated wrestling and always talked down on it. Of course you got big matches but is there any low key matches you have showed non wrestling fans and being surprised they liked.

Orange vs Gentleman Jervis from the viral posts years ago. Probably got Cassidy his job.

Ultimate Formula Tag Teams

22nd November 2022 by Scott Keith

Hi Scott, hope you are well.

Was listening to a Mick Foley podcast recently, and he mentioned teaming with Goldust in the fall of '96 to do a house match against HBK & Undertaker, which has got to be one of the greatest Face-In-Peril/Hot Tag Guy combinations of all time. Aside from Steamboat & Hogan (they did have at least one match together, right?), what other FIP/HTG combinations have hit that level of formula awesomeness?

A related thought is to think of potential combinations that never happened (to my knowledge), but would have been marvellous. Ricky Morton & a face Nikita Koloff (while he was still jacked up) in JCP comes to mind. Steamboat & Ultimate Warrior could have been another. What say you?

Take care.

Jon

Yeah Warrior is like the greatest hot tag guy of all time, because he spends the whole match getting hyped on the apron and then comes into the match with all three specials charged. I can’t specifically remember it happening but I feel like Bret Hart and Warrior would have been glorious.

CM Punk & The Walking Dead

22nd November 2022 by Scott Keith

So “Cult of Personality” featured prominently on “The Walking Dead” series finale & then CM Punk appears on post-show. What does this all mean for the future of AEW & professional wrestling as a whole?

The crossover between the universes is surprisingly robust, in as much as apparently a barbed wire baseball bat features in both.