Joey:
Thanks for reading. Things like these are always difficult to write but I’ve realized in some of the past few wrestling deaths, that writing about it tends to help me personally get a little closure and it just feels good to put your thoughts out there during a tough day. Continue reading
When you watch WCW pay per views, it’s clear that fashion was a big part of the WCW announcer life when it came to the themed shows. Life was tough for broadcasters in the pro wrestling business. Enjoy.
Handsome gentlemen in their own right
You can go straight to hell, Eric Bischoff.
Poor Mean Gene couldn’t even escape this.
This week, we’ve chosen Big Bubba vs. Mr. JL from a random old episode of WCW Saturday Night. While the video quality isn’t ideal, the match sure is. Dusty Rhodes + bicycle + nWo ski mask refs = magic. Members of the site @TimWelcomed, @typicalROHfan and @TomBlackett give their (lack of) expertise on the action.
Tim:
I remember the first time I ever really understood how great we had it when Dusty Rhodes was on commentary. I still can’t find video of it and I think I may have seen it once since the original broadcast somehow. In fact, I may just be making it up… like that time my dad got licked on the face by a llama while at a drive-though petting zoo that my family swears never happened. Anyways, I think it was on a WCW PPV pre-show but it involved a spark from the pyrotechnics catching Dusty’s jacket on fire and him yelling “I’m on farrr, Tony!” Again, this may or may not have ever actually happened but I like to think it did.
On to the match… Mr. JL wearing my second favorite purple wrestling attire ever. Big Bubba and NWO Ref are matching and I think that is cute. While I’m thinking about how excited the crowd must be it happens. “HE GOT A BITHYCLE.” The NWO referee was really pissed that he got called into work while he was getting ready to go skiing with Mrs. NWO Ref but when he saw his man, Big Bubba, using a bicycle it all became worth it. Dusty is still ranting about the bicycle and I believe he said something about “a-filibusterin’.” Jerry Lynn is amazing but still loses to “Bubber.” This match was such a blessing.
typicalROHfan:
This short match is a work of art. WCW Saturday Night featured so many gems, some good, great great, some the opposite of good and great. This was all of the above. Dusty Rhodes is the best worst announcer there can be. He’s not good at all but he’s hilarious in his wacky forming of words that he isn’t as intolerable as someone today like a JBL or Tazz. A match like this shows the best of his material.
Mr. JL and Sabu had the most underrated WCW feud that no one remembers so I’m partial towards the JL mask. Not as partial to NWO ref Nick Patrick‘s ski mask. With all the power and money the NWO claimed to have, couldn’t they afford a better mask or at least to have the NWO letters on it?
With the WWE Network coming, I have the idea that matches as beloved as this one should be recreated. Imagine Luke Harper choking The Miz with a bicycle. Dusty Rhodes would have to be on commentary. If we leave the commentary as is, Jerry Lawler would just make a joke about his future gf learning how to ride a bike and JBL would try to acquire a two seat bike for him and Vince McMahon.
Tom:
We’re launched straight into the action and OH WOW, there’s immediately a lot to take in:
1) Mr. JL is a very terrible name, but his gear’s pretty good! Did he predate Mysterio in wearing a sleeveless shiny shirt? Man, Jerry Lynn gave so much to the wrestling business and asked for so little in return.
2) The dastardly nWO ref concealing his identity in a balaclava is fantastic, especially since it has a bobble on top, just like any good #HEEL would have. “You can’t even market that mask” declares Dusty, which is definitely not true – if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the wrestling business can market anything (though not necessarily successfully).
3) WAIT NEVER MIND THE REST BECAUSE HE GOT A BITHYCLE!
And yeah, the rest of the match might as well not have happened, because Dusty Rhodes freaking out about the presence of a bithycle in a professional wrestling match pretty much hijacks the rest of the show. Dusty asks about the whereabouts of the child who was a-riding that bithycle, but that dolt Tony Schiavone doesn’t have any answers for him.
Great moment of commentary, or GREATEST moment of commentary? I might go for the latter, since it’s also the inspiration for my greatest artistic achievement; a ceramic tribute to the American Dream:
Honestly, I think Dusty’s never looked better than in mug form.
Before Wrestling On Earth was formed, I wrote a little about this on a Tumblr page that not many people knew of. If you were one of the few to read it, you will notice there are quite a few differences in this list. I’ve re-watched a lot of WCW and it has changed a couple of my opinions as you’ll see here.
There have been many WWE produced shows or DVD’s discussing the NWO and it’s usually always the same story. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff create the NWO. It becomes the greatest phenomenon to hit pro wrestling and usher in a new height of pro wrestling popularity at the time. They add too many wrestlers to the faction, it becomes convoluted and begins to sink the WCW product.
In this week of Seven Things, we look back at some of the forgotten rebels of the New World Order and their legacies. After all, it was supposed to “4 life” for the whole NWO; not just the popular kids.
The last edition of Seven Things featured a look back of the silly history of The Giant/Big Show so it only makes sense we start this one off laughing at him again, especially after his abysmal Survivor Series main event this weekend. The Giant joined the NWO shortly after losing the WCW title to Hulk Hogan due to wanting the money and power that came with the New World Order. After a while, The Giant would want another title shot vs. Hogan which led to him getting kicked out of the NWO.
WCW would begin to trust him for the next year and what did he do? The big man stabbed them in the back again, joining the NWO again siding with NWO Hollywood to take down the NWO Wolfpac and WCW. It was just too sweet for his appetite of looking foolish to pass on. This NWO run surely had to work out better for The Giant, right? Wrong. The Wolfpac and Hollywood would merge creating a super NWO which only allowed elite guys such as Horace Hogan and Disco Inferno to be in it. The Giant was beat down and kicked out again for not reaching the standard. When giving thanks this week, please thank Big Show for countless moments of unintentional humor.