Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect call today’s action, still taped from Austin, Texas. Perfect puts over all of the positive attributes of Ric Flair, who is a guest on today’s Funeral Parlor.
Happy Saturday Everyone!
Today we return to a review theme we’ve had on here before, by looking at a one match show where only one contest has stood the test of time in the general consciousness of the average wrestling fan. This time out we’ve got WWF Over The Edge 1998, a show with a highly regarded and much loved Main Event…and very little else.
The Main Event between Dude Love and Stone Cold is fantastic though, so that’s a bonus. Let’s see how the rest of the card shapes up all of these years later. I actually have Over The Edge 1998 on VHS and used to watch it a lot back in the day, so even if the overall show isn’t amazing I do have a lot of nostalgia for it.
You can view the card by clicking the link below;
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=2018&page=3
Vince McMahon moderates the evening’s panel, which features Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. The production values for the first episode of 1992 are an upgrade over 1991 as the panel has a background set with the WWF logo lit up behind them.
Heenan continues to put over Ric Flair’s odds for the Royal Rumble.
The SmarK Rant for WWF No Mercy 1999 (UK Version) – 05.16.99
So another crazy thing about the WWE Network is all the stuff that I didn’t even realize was on there, for example all the UK-only PPVs that I never watched and reviewed in the first place. So we might as well start going back and getting those all knocked out, too. Suffice it to say, I’m going into these completely blind and I have no idea what we’re gonna get.
Live from Manchester, UK, drawing 18,000 and broadcast on Sky Sports.
Your hosts are Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan calling the action, continuing a taping cycle from Corpus Christi, Texas that took place on December 2.
The SmarK Rant for Coliseum Video presents German Fan Favorites II
This was a random request from a reader because he thought I might enjoy it. So weird that they’re still missing huge chunks of the Coliseum Video catalog on the Network and chose to put a random compilation released for the European market on there. Also where’s German Fan Favorites part 1?
Released October 24 1994
Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon, who really loves the German fans.
After 1990 saw declining house show attendance, television ratings, and pay-per-view buyrates, the WWF decided to pivot to a more controversial and adult oriented product in 1991. The company ran controversial television angles that included the Undertaker trying to kill the Ultimate Warrior by suffocating him in a casket, Jake Roberts having a deadly cobra bite Randy Savage, and Roberts slapping Savage’s wife Elizabeth. House shows saw a continuation of some of these themes as the Ultimate Warrior beat up Sensational Sherri after cage matches at the beginning of the year. The WWF also tried to seize on current events by giving the WWF Championship to American hero-turned-Iraqi sympathizer Sergeant Slaughter. However, this direction failed to restore fan interest and may have done the opposite as families began to tune out the product. The WWF’s other media gambles were also flopping as the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) was losing money and an experiment in weekly pay-per-view, This Tuesday in Texas, failed to take off. To make matters worse, the declining fan interest caused the WWF to lose a reliable cable partner in NBC. The April 15 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event would be the last of that series to air on NBC for more than a decade.
In response, WWF owner Vince McMahon pivoted back to Hulk Hogan, the centerpiece of the WWF’s 1980s expansion boom. Hogan regained the WWF Championship from Slaughter at WrestleMania VII and spent much of the year defeating Slaughter and his cronies on house shows, eventually finishing the feud with a victory in a handicap match at SummerSlam. However, while Hogan’s presence on top stopped some of the house show bleeding that had happened while the Warrior held the title, it did not lead to the revival that McMahon hoped for. Hogan also did himself and the company few favors when questions about his past steroid use started to swirl. On The Arsenio Hall Show on July 16, Hogan denied using steroids except to rehabilitate a bicep injury in 1983. When questioned later, he was not able to keep his story straight. The summer trial of Dr. George Zahorian also reflected poorly on Hogan as it was revealed that the former WWF ringside physician had sold steroids to Hogan, McMahon, and a handful of other WWF wrestlers. While Hogan and the WWF hoped the scandal would go away, national media kept asking questions, which hurt the company’s image to families and sponsors. And when Hogan briefly lost the WWF Championship to the Undertaker at Survivor Series, fans reacted positively to the title switch, signifying that they were ready to move on from the Hulkamania boom.
1991 also marked the rise of a new talent in the WWF as veteran Bret Hart moved out of the tag team ranks and captured the Intercontinental Championship from Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam. This changing of the guard started to build the foundation for a new WWF babyface, one that was not as strong on the mic but one who had stronger in-ring skills than past main eventers. Former WCW/NWA Champion Ric Flair also jumped to the WWF in the summer, arriving with a great deal of fanfare. However, the WWF failed to market Flair effectively to its fans and his series of “dream matches” on house shows against Hogan in the fall of 1991 failed to live up to box office expectations. The WWF saw Sid Justice, another arrival from WCW/NWA as a future main eventer but Sid’s hot run was stopped in its tracks when he suffered an arm injury and was sidelined for the last three months of the year. And the company found it hard to fill holes in the roster made by the Warrior, who was fired after SummerSlam; Rick Martel, who left shortly after WrestleMania VII after one of the hottest runs of his career; and Perfect, who was suffering from what was feared to be a career-ending back injury.
Overall, it had been a rough two years for the WWF. Going into 1992 it had to find a way to creatively recapture the magic of the 1980s boom while also repairing relationships with television partners and sponsors. Would it find a way to get Saturday Night’s Main Event back on the air? Were they ready to move on from Hulk Hogan? And how would it grapple with a steroid scandal that threatened to erode everything that had been built from the first WrestleMania?
For the last WWF show of 1991, Vince McMahon moderates a panel with the usual combination of Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Heenan says that Santa Claus visited him and told him that his Christmas gift is coming on January 19 at The Royal Rumble.
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, commentating a new round of tapings from Corpus Christi, Texas. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these tapings took place on December 2.
The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 11.18.96
Live from New Haven, CT
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler
Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect are doing commentary for the last Superstars of 1991, starting a new taping cycle in Austin, Texas. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on December 4 and drew a heavily papered crowd of 7,500.
Happy Saturday Everyone!
We reviewed a WrestleMania Stinker a couple of weeks ago so we’ll review the show that followed it this week in the form of WrestleMania XII. WrestleMania XII didn’t have a particularly high bar to clear when it came to being better than WrestleMania XI, partly thanks to the WWF having an injection of fresh talent in the following year such as Triple H, Dustin Runnels, Steve Austin and Vader, all of whom featured on the WrestleMania XII card.
The WWF also had a big Main Event match that should have appealed to their fan base with top babyfaces Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels going at it in an Iron Man match. The show didn’t end up being a complete success but there is some decent stuff here, so let’s take another look at WrestleMania XII.
You can view the card by clicking below;
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1980&page=3
Vince McMahon moderates tonight’s panel, which features Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Heenan and Perfect swipe some of the production crew’s Christmas gifts.
The SmarK Rant for WWF Superstars – 08.27.84
OK, this is it for real this time, the go-home show for Summerslam 94, which is where I bid farewell to Superstars for good.
Taped from Wheeling, WV, where they’ve been for the past MONTH now.
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, calling the last episode of the taping cycle in Springfield, Massachusetts. Monsoon gives Heenan a big Christmas gift. Heenan thinks it is a big watch but runs away screaming when he thinks it is a bomb.
The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 11.11.96
Taped from Ft. Wayne, IN
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect are in the booth, wrapping up a long taping in New Haven, Connecticut. Perfect tells children at home that Santa Claus is Ric Flair. Bells are heard in the background along with Flair’s voice.
Vince McMahon moderates tonight’s panel, which features Gorilla Monsoon, Slick, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. Slick has been recast as a babyface reverend, saying that he “saw the light” after getting powerslammed by the British Bulldog. He shakes Monsoon and McMahon’s hands to make up for his heel ways.
Heenan says Jake Roberts went too far by hitting Elizabeth in Texas because it riled Randy Savage up. Monsoon is irate, arguing that Roberts “raped Elizabeth of her dignity.”
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are calling today’s action, still broadcasting from Springfield, Massachusetts.
The SmarK Rant for WWF Superstars – 08.20.94
You know, I did promise that I’d get through Summerslam before I dropped this show forever, so I might as well make good. Two episodes left.
