Current Non-Annoyance

[Adam54]

I do not remember Ax & Smash, weirdly enough. But I do remember Tugboat. Didn't he also wrestle under a variety of natural disaster names like Typhoon and Earthquake?

Actually, I just checked Wiki.....Mal....go meet Tugboat. PLEASE GO MEET TUGBOAT. He's responsible for one of the single greatest wrestling moments of all time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Ottma ... .281993.29

[Adam54]

Also, Current Non-Annoyance:

I'm going to watch Bill Clinton receive an award/give a speech tonight. Cannot wait.

[Corporal_Hicks]

[Adam54]

That's the one!

Thanks, Hicksy!

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I only know Tugboat from his time in what was then the WWF.

If it helps put things in perspective, Demolition was the WWF's pretty transparent answer to the Road Warriors.

Once the Road Warriors moved over to the WWF, they became known exclusively as the Legion of Doom. They were referred to as both the Road Warriors and Legion of Doom before this, but Road Warriors had been their official name at AWA and WCW and some places in between. I guess it makes sense that McMahon would have them ditch their old name for WWF branding purposes.

There was an immediate and predictable feud between Demolition and the Legion of Doom. It didn't take too long for the Legion of Doom to surpass Demolition in popularity. I don't feel like Demolition lasted too long once Legion of Doom was in the WWF.

I had already checked out by the time this feuding was going on. I probably sound more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am. I really only followed wrestling as a viewer from 1987 to 1989.

[Adam54]

I would assume that the Road Warriors name was trademarked by either AWA or WCW and Vince didn't have the rights to call them such.

Just a guess though.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I don't think that's it. They were with a bunch of companies as the Road Warriors before. The name went with them wherever they went. It wasn't trademarked by any one organization--as far as I know, at any rate.

Their Wikipedia page claims that "Vince McMahon retired the Road Warriors moniker" when they moved to WWF. This suggests that he had the power to do it (instead of being forced to do it), but I'm not sure. It also appears that they went back to being the Road Warriors after they left the WWF. Also, it appears that they went back to being called the Legion of Doom whenever they returned to the WWF.

[Mal Shot First]

Wow. Who the hell came up with the Shockmaster's costume? It's almost as if they actually intended him to be a joke character.

[Djack Zteelecock]

Wow. Who the hell came up with the Shockmaster's costume? It's almost as if they actually intended him to be a joke character.

Well, you could pretty much ask that type of question about all of professional wrestling. But yeah, I just watched that video and I don't know what was better, him wearing a glittery storm trooper helmet, or him flying through that paper wall, falling down, and his helmet flying off. I'm anything but an authority on pro wrestling, but I get kind of a 60's 'Batman' vibe off of it: they seem like they are in on the joke to some degree, maybe a large degree. There was a pretty funny, and sort of enlightening, video I watched almost by accident a couple of months (or, more likely, a year) ago where some wrestlers got into a feud with Glenn Beck, and they recorded one of their monologuing "don't mess with us" type videos, and in the middle of it the camera angle changed and they broke character and chided Beck for not being able to tell that this whole thing is a joke, and then they went back into character and finished. I suppose a lot of people who are more familiar than me with the industry already pretty much knew this about it, but I was surprised to see that level of self awareness and humor about the whole thing. I found a video that included the footage I described; I'll post it.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

They probably intended Shockmaster to be "crazy"/"unhinged"/"not a giver of fucks."

There were some wacky gimmicks in the nineties. You had people like Goldust, Mantaur, a guy named Glacier who was a clear attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Mortal Kombat's Sub-Zero, all the Mick Foley creations, the Undertaker, Doink the Clown, and Papa Shango.

There's been some monumentally dumb shit since the nineties, too. For example, there's Eugene. His gimmick--I shit you not--is that he is mentally retarded. Have a look at this shit:

[Dalty]

Guys. Please?

[Adam54]

Papa Shango later became The Godfather.

Dalty would appreciate The Godfather.

Oh and Doink the Clown was one of my favorites as a kid. I always rooted for him, but he rarely ever won a match. It was pretty much the closest I'll ever get to knowing what it's like to be a Cubs fan.

[Dalty]

Stick me in a room with two TVs. One showing American Wrestling, one showing the Kardashian's.

20 minutes later and I am an Al Qaeda sympathiser.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Make it ten minutes. I wouldn't want your brain to suffer any more than it has to.

[Adam54]

C'mon. You wouldn't even watch American wrestling if he were still around?

[Dalty]

Nope. Not even. He was a sop to the fact the WWF (as it was at the time) was popular over here amongst poor and stupid children from educationally sub-normal family backgrounds.

[Mal Shot First]

Dwayne Johnson is a charismatic guy, which is probably why I had forgotten how obnoxious his Rock persona was, especially in the late 90s when he first became popular. He's not even that bad in the video linked above (his usual douchebaggery is sort of toned down a bit). He's pretty damn annoying here (which means the video is sort of in the wrong thread):



Goddamn. I just want to slap the shit out of him.

[Space Tycoon]

Stick me in a room with two TVs. One showing American Wrestling, one showing the Kardashian's.

20 minutes later and I am an Al Qaeda sympathiser.

As I've said on a few occasions, viewing the Kardashians is no vice as far as I'm concerned. Listening to them, however is the pisser.

[Jubbers]

He's pretty damn annoying here (which means the video is sort of in the wrong thread):

That made me think of this:





C'MON!

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

The Rock and Triple H are pretty much speaking in the same voice in the above. The only real difference is that the Rock is speaking in third person.

Modern male wrestlers are sort of like modern male country singers. Most of them sound pretty much the same whenever they open their mouths. It doesn't matter whether they're heels or faces.

[Corporal_Hicks]

There is no creativity with the entrance music either.

[Adam54]

I beg to differ.

Wait...no creativity in the entrance music, or in the entrances themselves?

Either way, feast your eyes on the Wyatts.

[Adam54]

Honest to God, Bray Wyatt is 80% of why I still watch wrestling. Arguably one of the ten best they've ever had on the mic and he's been up for maybe a year. Unbelievable talent.

[Mal Shot First]

Stone Cold E.T. needs to be a real WWE character.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

He's no less believable than some of those mentioned above.