Unpopular Opinions

[Big Pete]

Lol, Bischoff had no money. You've been listening to too much 83 weeks.

What did you think I meant by Turner's backing?

 

[Pippen94]

What did you think I meant by Turner's backing?

Don't know what you mean?! Seem to have learned wrestling history from WWE documentaries lol

 

[Big Pete]

Don't know what you mean?! Seem to have learned wrestling history from WWE documentaries lol

You clearly don't if that's your take.

 

[Pippen94]

You clearly don't if that's your take.

Bischoff, Pritchard, Cornette..am I missing anybody you listen to?!

 

[Big Pete]

As riveting as I am, wouldn't you much rather talk about Pro Wrestling?

 

[Pippen94]

As riveting as I am, wouldn't you much rather talk about Pro Wrestling?

Not really. I'd like to know which sources you consume and how you piece together wrestling history.

 

[Big Pete]

I'm open to a lot of sources.

What's your take? Would WCW be able to thrive without Turner's financial backing? Would things have been different if Bischoff didn't fumble in 1999?

 

[Valheru]

Bischoff, Pritchard, Cornette..am I missing anybody you listen to?!

All 3 are reasonable sources and undoubtedly have intimate knowledge of the business and booking decisions made during their tenures. Equally, all 3 are prone to embellishing or outright lying at times.

Who do you listen to?

 

[Pippen94]

I'm open to a lot of sources.

What's your take? Would WCW be able to thrive without Turner's financial backing? Would things have been different if Bischoff didn't fumble in 1999?

Tba, WCW and it's demise bores me. It's been covered to death and there's no conclusive answer. I was around at the time and WCW had become an imitation of WWF. I had no attachment to it. What's happened afterwards with new companies jockeying to take it's place and the Indy boom in part leading to another major company is more interesting. People go back to WCW and ECW, but I believe that's WWE controlling history. Those companies are mythologized not least because it makes WWE look stronger for eventually besting them.

 

[Pippen94]

All 3 are reasonable sources and undoubtedly have intimate knowledge of the business and booking decisions made during their tenures. Equally, all 3 are prone to embellishing or outright lying at times.

Who do you listen to?

Granted those three guys are entertaining. Only Cornette I'd call reliable but he's behind the times in most things.

The most in-depth deep dive into the demise of WCW was by the between the sheets podcast.

 

[Big Pete]

The WWE doesn't take any pride in beating ECW. ECW were viewed more as a feeder system and they were happy to do business with them. They're happy to paint them in a more flattering light to help sell merchandise, but they're far from the only promotion to do that.

I just think there's millions of fans who exclusively watched during this period and enjoy revisiting it.

Each to their own.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Back on the topic of the thread - Cody pinning Drew was the right call.
1. Cody vs Randy is the bigger match (the duo have so much history)and Drew being there dilutes it (he has no link to the other 2)
2. Drew is leaving after mania to shoot a movie - having Jacob wreck him establishes a new star
3. They’ve started planting seeds for the Cody heel turn, he will likely play the heel in this feud and will be a full heel by Summerslam.

 

[Pippen94]

The WWE doesn't take any pride in beating ECW. ECW were viewed more as a feeder system and they were happy to do business with them. They're happy to paint them in a more flattering light to help sell merchandise, but they're far from the only promotion to do that.

I just think there's millions of fans who exclusively watched during this period and enjoy revisiting it.

Each to their own.

Might be, but when did you first watch WCW?! If memory serves I think you said 1999. Please correct if wrong. Are you reminiscing about a company you never saw in its peak?!

 

[Pippen94]

Back on the topic of the thread - Cody pinning Drew was the right call.
1. Cody vs Randy is the bigger match (the duo have so much history)and Drew being there dilutes it (he has no link to the other 2)
2. Drew is leaving after mania to shoot a movie - having Jacob wreck him establishes a new star
3. They’ve started planting seeds for the Cody heel turn, he will likely play the heel in this feud and will be a full heel by Summerslam.

Do you still watch?! The impression I get is product has been poorly received by fans for over a year now. I just use twitter and Reddit and don't watch.

 

[Big Pete]

Back on the topic of the thread - Cody pinning Drew was the right call.
1. Cody vs Randy is the bigger match (the duo have so much history)and Drew being there dilutes it (he has no link to the other 2)
2. Drew is leaving after mania to shoot a movie - having Jacob wreck him establishes a new star
3. They’ve started planting seeds for the Cody heel turn, he will likely play the heel in this feud and will be a full heel by Summerslam.

They never really established Drew as champion, so outside of setting up something with Sami the whole storyline felt like a waste of time.

I'm disappointed we're not getting Cody/Gunther.

 

[Big Pete]

Might be, but when did you first watch WCW?! If memory serves I think you said 1999. Please correct if wrong. Are you reminiscing about a company you never saw in its peak?!

That's right, I started watching WCW in the lead up to Road Wild '99 which was the tail end of Bischoff's run. However in the 26 years since then I've caught up on a lot of the episodes I've missed. When I first started getting into Pro Wrestling, I was avid reader of DDT Digest which covered the history of WCW. Then over time it was the Observer/Torch archive which served as a good time capsule and they clearly had good sources.

There's still a lot of stuff from the Herd and Watts era I've yet to see but there's only so many hours in a day.

What about yourself? Also while I'm at it, when did you start watching @Marshall_magic and @Valheru?

Would actually be curious to know what your history is with this wacky business. Did you dip in and out? Did you stick with one promotion or branch out? etc and Where are you now with your viewing habits?

 

[Marshall_magic]

They never really established Drew as champion, so outside of setting up something with Sami the whole storyline felt like a waste of time.

I'm disappointed we're not getting Cody/Gunther.

Felt like they put the belt on Drew for a shock, although it also seemed like a triple threat or fatal 4 way was on the cards.

I would enjoy Cody vs Gunther, although there is still time for that. Randy isn’t getting any younger and his back/shoulders aren’t holding out forever.

 

[Valheru]

That's right, I started watching WCW in the lead up to Road Wild '99 which was the tail end of Bischoff's run. However in the 26 years since then I've caught up on a lot of the episodes I've missed. When I first started getting into Pro Wrestling, I was avid reader of DDT Digest which covered the history of WCW. Then over time it was the Observer/Torch archive which served as a good time capsule and they clearly had good sources.

There's still a lot of stuff from the Herd and Watts era I've yet to see but there's only so many hours in a day.

What about yourself? Also while I'm at it, when did you start watching @Marshall_magic and @Valheru?

Would actually be curious to know what your history is with this wacky business. Did you dip in and out? Did you stick with one promotion or branch out? etc and Where are you now with your viewing habits?

I started as a young fella, watching random tapes at family friends places when they babysat me. Somehow some of them ended up at my place. The most recent ones i remember from that time are Mania 7, summerslam 91 and Survivor series 91 so one would assume im talking circa 1991 which would make me 5 years old but who knows.

From there I borrowed tapes from time to time at the video shop. The ones I remember watching most are the 93-96 WWF shows.

As a teenager I got a lot more in to it and started watching weekly programming around 1998 when it hit the mainstream again. I watched both promotions through that period til mid way in 1999. I cant remember if we lost access to WCW here in Australia or I got bored of it but either way I stopped WCW at that time. I stuck with WWF/E with pretty heavy investment right up until the PG era really hit in 09-11. Since then it's been casual at best and I havent watched much AEW at all.

Since that time though I've done multiple rewatches of the attitude era, the whole WCW run from the first Starrcade up until its demise and a fair bit of the territories too.

 

[Big Pete]

If you still had access to RAW, I'd say you just lost interest in Nitro. I can't blame you, I was actually trying to get into WCW prior to Road Wild but nothing hooked me. It wasn't until Goldberg, Hogan, Luger etc. returned that I started getting hooked.

I've been thinking about that mid-99 period lately. It's interesting because it was like they were trying to blur the lines between babyface/heel but not doing it effectively. This was also the period where DDP hits his ceiling. If his first run was more successful, the perception around him changes.

 

[Evil_Mush]

1992-93-era Doink was one of the greatest heels of all time.

As was 89-92 era Rick Martel (maybe that is not an unpopular opinion but he does seem forgotten or overlooked in discussions about great wrestlers of the past).

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers were one of the greatest heel tag-teams of all time, and had one of the best entrance theme songs (I regularly get the "we don't like heavy metal , we don't like rock n roll, all we like to listen to is Barry Manilow" line stuck in my head over and over again ).