Louis Therouxs Weird Weekends

Otis Driftwood

At 9 pm tonight the episode of Louis Therouxs Weird Weekends where he takes a look at the wrestling industry from the Indy deathmatch circuit(think its Ian Rotten he meets,been years since I seen it though) to WCW where he goes to their power plant training facility.Very interesting show.
As I said,9 pm on Dave - Sky channel 111.Will be on Dave +1 sky channel 158 at 10.
Well worth catching it.

rovert

It wasnt Ian Rotten

rizzla

Really like the documentarys made by Louis Theroux. Saw this years ago, will definitely give it another watch, can't remember much of it, just him puking when they train him too hard.

SASR

Ah, Theroux is quite the man. Seen that episode a couple of times, I seem to remember the two main guys in the hardcore promotion being a Balls Mahoney lookalike and a poor man's Al Snow.

fatal

Ive seen it a number of times now.Its a good insight into the training and set up of a wrestling promotion

rovert

fatal wrote: »

Ive seen it a number of times now.Its a good insight into the training and set up of a wrestling promotion

And why WCW failed

jeffk

missed the first few mins is this repeated?

Vince135792003

jeffk wrote: »

missed the first few mins is this repeated?

I'd imagine it's on youtube.

rizzla

jeffk wrote: »

missed the first few mins is this repeated?

Other than the times listed by the OP, nope.

rovert wrote:

And why WCW failed

How so? I didn't really get that from the doc.

jeffk

Vince135792003 wrote: »

I'd imagine it's on youtube.

ah cool ill go have a look now,haven't seen this since it aired going back around beyond the mat.

rovert

jeffk wrote: »

missed the first few mins is this repeated?

It is Digital TV so of course it is repeated :pac:

jeffk

rovert wrote: »

It is Digital TV so of course it is repeated :pac:

Yeah well i know that but im recording two programmes on sky + and cant look so i thought someone else had seen when its on next.

Ah the classic opening with raven i remember that much lol

Vince135792003

Here's the start of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnknnjr6oIQ&feature=related

jeffk

Vince135792003 wrote: »

Here's the start of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnknnjr6oIQ&feature=related

cheers im just downloading the full 5 from youtube,one of those videos that's always handy to have on the pc!

Red Sleeping Beauty

rovert wrote: »

And why WCW failed

How did it show why WCW failed ?

rovert

rizzla wrote: »

How so? I didn't really get that from the doc.

How many Wrestlers did the PowerPlant ever turn out compared with say OVW? DDP, Goldberg that is it really and Goldberg wasn’t the most polished wrestlers when he debuted proper on TV. The rest of the guys in the main just had great cardio and little wrestling skills. The amount of talented and marketable wrestlers that dumb initiation test (which was actually a money making a scam) turned away would make you cry. Buddy Lee Parker was an eejit.

WCW didn’t exactly look like the most happy or organised work environment.

Vince135792003

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

How did it show why WCW failed ?
[/YOUTUBE]

The Power Plant clips weren't exactly inspiring.

rovert

Vince135792003 wrote: »

The Power Plant clips weren't exactly inspiring.

Not on racial grounds either.

jeffk

Did the powerplant train felix skipper from scratch or did he just train there for a short time?

SASR

jeffk wrote: »

Did the powerplant train felix skipper from scratch or did he just train there for a short time?

Elix.

rizzla

jeffk wrote: »

Did the powerplant train felix skipper from scratch or did he just train there for a short time?

I think I remember seeing him have a few matches for them, they had an amazing cruiserweight division. Dunno if he had no background before going there, but they trained him and used him.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I think this was shown around the time that Wrestling With Shadows was shown on TV was it ? And then Beyond the Mat came out maybe a year later.

This was a great episode, i really enjoyed it. In no way did it show why WCW "failed" . Infact it hid the reason's why WCW failed and actually made WCW look almost like a decent organisation .
The powerplant at the time was a great concept but the unfortunate thing was it was churning out clones. I remembered it well as i was actually going to apply for it in my younger day's when there was no wrestling training here. Prices were huge though .

rovert

Deleted User wrote: »

This was a great episode, i really enjoyed it. In no way did it show why WCW "failed" .

Way to ignore my points. :rolleyes:

Deleted User wrote: »

Infact it hid the reason's why WCW failed and actually made WCW look almost like a decent organisation .

Nearly every wrestler was miserable and that Flair being sent to a mental home storyline was the stupidest thing ever. I hardly drew causal interest (Louis's.)

Deleted User wrote: »

The powerplant at the time was a great concept but the unfortunate thing was it was churning out clones.

Didn’t you just say?:

Deleted User wrote: »

In no way did it show why WCW "failed" .

Deleted User wrote: »

I remembered it well as i was actually going to apply for it in my younger day's when there was no wrestling training here. Prices were huge though.

They were so huge as the initiation test was a con job so they could make potential wrestlers who paid like $2,500+ for the training quit. Parker had the worst case of small man's complex ever. This was in stark contrast to the methods of Cornette, Pritchard & Davis were they would take people's abilities and attributes then turn that into a marketable package fit for WWE TV. Most of all those guys knew unlike Parker that wrestling was FAKE.

rovert

rovert wrote: »

Way to ignore my points. :rolleyes:.

It was intentional .

Funny thing is TV ratings back then were still higher then what WWE is getting now .

rovert

Deleted User wrote: »

Funny thing is TV ratings back then were still higher then what WWE is getting now .

The television audience was smaller though, boardband and Tivos werent around either.

Back then WCW were getting 3.5's and 4.5's were as WWE/F were getting 6.5's .

It really does show how much wrestling is suffering at the moment . Wonder if there is anyway back from it with UFC's growth .

EdK

* Tank Abbott
* Bryant Anderson
* C.W. Anderson
* Chad Brock
* David Flair
* Alan Funk
* The Giant
* Goldberg
* Sean O'Haire (began training in November 1999)
* Shane Helms
* Horshu
* Mark Jindrak
* Chris Kanyon (began training in May 1995)
* The Demon
* Kid Romeo
* Aj Styles
* Lash LeRoux (began training in 1997)
* Lodi (began training in 1997)
* Steve McMichael
* Ernest Miller
* Shannon Moore
* Scotty O
* Diamond Dallas Page
* Chuck Palumbo (began training in 1998)
* Dean Power
* The Renegade
* Reno
* Mike Sanders (began training in 1998)
* Shark Boy
* Sonny Siaki
* Sick Boy
* Elix Skipper
* Bob Sapp
* Johnny Stamboli
* The Wall
* Alex Wright
* Jimmy Yang (began training in 1999)

Powerplant trainees,some decent talent there even if not all of them did all their training at the plant

rovert

Again

rovert wrote: »

Way to ignore my points. :rolleyes:

Deleted User wrote: »

Back then WCW were getting 3.5's and 4.5's were as WWE/F were getting 6.5's. It really does show how much wrestling is suffering at the moment .

You could say the same for Television ratings in the States in general in fairness.

rovert wrote: »

Wonder if there is anyway back from it with UFC's growth .

Wrestling is a cyclical business, people have written it off before many times in the past.

rovert

EdK wrote: »

Powerplant trainees,some decent talent there even if not all of them did all their training at the plant

Compare that list with WWE's system. Speaking of the WWE system many of the Powerplant guys had to be retrained there as they their training wasnt up to standards.

gimmick

^ Not up to standard full stop, or not in the stadard WWE style? or both i suppose.

Going mad I missed this. I was only flicking last night and never bothered checking this out. Ah well, it will be repeated sooner or later.

EdK

The whole thing has been posted in this thread

rovert

gimmick wrote: »

^ Not up to standard full stop, or not in the stadard WWE style? or both i suppose.

Kind of both really. I do acknowledge that there is a bit of snobbery in WWE about wrestlers being trained the "wrong way" elsewhere but the majority of ex WCW guys sucked and were dangerously sloppy.

gimmick wrote: »

Going mad I missed this. I was only flicking last night and never bothered checking this out. Ah well, it will be repeated sooner or later.

Ah it will, Ive seen the DVD for a tenner in the shops as well.

rovert

rovert wrote: »

Compare that list with WWE's system. Speaking of the WWE system many of the Powerplant guys had to be retrained there as they their training wasnt up to standards.

That was more down to knowing how to work a WWE style. It was also a tactic used by WWE to show that they were superior product. One famous case was Kronic who they wanted to go to their training camp. Kronic made an appearence and then Walked out as they were offended by being told to train.
Yet Goldberg came in and he wasnt to train.

Compare WWE's training to that of Japan, wwe is rubbish . Infact WWE like wrestlers to go to Japan first and learn real proper wrestling before joining them. If you were to have Japan on you CV you will be more likley to get a job.

Red Sleeping Beauty

EdK wrote: »

* Tank Abbott
* Bryant Anderson
* C.W. Anderson
* Chad Brock
* David Flair
* Alan Funk
* The Giant
* Goldberg
* Sean O'Haire (began training in November 1999)
* Shane Helms
* Horshu
* Mark Jindrak
* Chris Kanyon (began training in May 1995)
* The Demon
* Kid Romeo
* Aj Styles
* Lash LeRoux (began training in 1997)
* Lodi (began training in 1997)
* Steve McMichael
* Ernest Miller
* Shannon Moore
* Scotty O
* Diamond Dallas Page
* Chuck Palumbo (began training in 1998)
* Dean Power
* The Renegade
* Reno
* Mike Sanders (began training in 1998)
* Shark Boy
* Sonny Siaki
* Sick Boy
* Elix Skipper
* Bob Sapp
* Johnny Stamboli
* The Wall
* Alex Wright
* Jimmy Yang (began training in 1999)

Powerplant trainees,some decent talent there even if not all of them did all their training at the plant

I think rovert's point was that only 4 of those guys made it to the main event. I could be wrong but off the top of my head those are :

*The Giant
* Goldberg
* Diamond Dallas Page

And David Flair I think had some involvement with a Hogan/Ric Flair feud or angle that culminated in a Cage match at Uncensored 99. Esentially WCW weren't developing their own talent to push to the top. Look at Souled Out 2000, a load of their top players were out injured or werent' arsed wrestling, I don't know which. But their main event was some cobbled Benoit/Sid match for the title to try and reboot it. Then benoit and the others bolted.

The refusal of the top brass or whoever was booking to give the younger fresher wrestlers a shot was one aspect to their downfall. But also their booking in 2000 was insane. They had like 20 world title changes in the space of a year*

*or something to that effect.

Oh and I posted the youtube videos on the first page. It might also be on BBC's online player but I doubt we can view it. I remember looking for something as was told the service wasn't availble outside the UK I think.

callaway92

When was this filmed orginally 1998/1999??..I just watched it there and it was interesting

Bubs101

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

I think rovert's point was that only 4 of those guys made it to the main event. I could be wrong but off the top of my head those are :

Miller made it to the upper midcard in WCW, The Hurricane was cruiserweight champ when it went down. AJ came too late for them obviously but was a phenomenal product, Bob Sapp is massive in japan and Tank Abbot was a continuous draw in MMA

Red Sleeping Beauty

gimmick wrote: »

^ Not up to standard full stop, or not in the stadard WWE style? or both i suppose.

Going mad I missed this. I was only flicking last night and never bothered checking this out. Ah well, it will be repeated sooner or later.

Bret Hart did some training with Ken Shamrock after his match with Vader where he broke his nose and injured his ankle.

Bubs101 wrote: »

Miller made it to the upper midcard in WCW, The Hurricane was cruiserweight champ when it went down. AJ came too late for them obviously but was a phenomenal product, Bob Sapp is massive in japan and Tank Abbot was a continuous draw in MMA

Was Abott not brought in to add some legit fighter credibility to the show and to entice some MMA fans to WCW ? Much in the same way Shamrock was 2years previous in WWF ?

callaway92 wrote: »

When was this filmed orginally 1998/1999??..I just watched it there and it was interesting

I think it was 1998 . Hitman Hart,
Wrestling with Shadows was shown on BBC within a few months of it.
IMDB says it premiered in America in December 98, so it's concievable that it was on BBC then in the
first half of 99.

rovert

callaway92 wrote: »

When was this filmed orginally 1998/1999??..I just watched it there and it was interesting

May 1999ish

Bubs101 wrote: »

Miller made it to the upper midcard in WCW

Of which WCW though :rolleyes:

The reason Miller got pushed in that position was the same reason as Booker T being made champion and Stevie Ray getting a commentary job. A major racial discrimation lawsuit was filed against the company. Miller was rotten in the ring and eventhough they had a certain charm a garbled promo is still a garbled promo.

Bubs101 wrote: »

The Hurricane was cruiserweight champ when it went down.

I liked the revived cruiserweight division but come on he didn’t have a career like the Hardyz, Edge & Christian.

Bubs101 wrote: »

AJ came too late for them obviously but was a phenomenal product

I don’t think AJ claims most of his success to his training in the Powerplant. I think NWA:A, Jerry Lynn and Raven had more input into his success. AJ wasn’t known for his ring psychology or promos when he debuted in NWATNA was he.

Bubs101 wrote: »

Bob Sapp is massive in japan

Oh yeah it wasn’t his look and charisma that got him over.

Bubs101 wrote: »

Tank Abbot was a continuous draw in MMA

He learned his punching power for Buddy Lee Parker and promos from Pistel Pez did he. :rolleyes:

Bubs101

I was just pointing out some dudes who made it elsewhere. Miller was worth the training alone for his appearance at the Rumble. Also thought that the Natural Born Thrillers had potential as a tag team, good look

rovert

Bubs101 wrote: »

I was just pointing out some dudes who made it elsewhere.

Hold a minute Tank Abbot was a star and created a reputation which he still lives off BEFORE entering WCW. In addition none of those guys you listed really "made it."

Bubs101 wrote: »

Miller was worth the training alone for his appearance at the Rumble.

Until WWE realised he couldnt wrestle a lick.

Bubs101

rovert wrote: »

In addition none of those guys you listed really "made it."

AJ certainly has. Just his loyalty has stopped him going further. Helms has gone as far as he realistically could with the Hurricane gimmick and Sapp has made it in Japan

Red Sleeping Beauty

Bubs101 wrote: »

AJ certainly has. Just his loyalty has stopped him going further. Helms has gone as far as he realistically could with the Hurricane gimmick and Sapp has made it in Japan

Yeah but how much of that could be attributed to the WCW's power plant ?

rovert

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Yeah but how much of that could be attributed to the WCW's power plant ?

Likewise Bob Sapp, Bubs.

I already addressed who AJ thinks were responsible for his success.

Fozzy

Sapp only started training in the Power Plant about a month before WWE bought the place

Styles was only involved with WCW in 2001 as well, so the longest amount of training he could have got there was less than four months

Lesnar went through the Power Plant also .When he finsihed there he went to WWE. They then send him to OVW .

rovert

Deleted User wrote: »

Lesnar went through the Power Plant also .When he finsihed there he went to WWE. They then send him to OVW .

Pardon?

SASR

Deleted User wrote: »

Lesnar went through the Power Plant also .When he finsihed there he went to WWE. They then send him to OVW .

No.

Cactus Col

It's been a good while since I've seen this documentary. Thought it was very enjoyable. But I was struck from Raven's arrogance. For a jumped up mid-carder he did hold himself in high regard.

rovert

Cactus Col wrote: »

But I was struck from Raven's arrogance.

He admits now to being an asshole then and in ECW.

SASR

SASR wrote: »

No.

Ummm yes. He was on WCW's radar and they got him out to the powerplant. In the end he ended up signing a contract with WWE who sent him to OVW.