Unpopular wrestling opinions

gerrybbadd

I, too, used to "watch" the scrambled channels. One of my earliest memories of this was Goldust try to kiss Razor Ramon, think it was the Royal Rumble in 96.

I used to love Saturday mornings so I could see the action of sky 1. Remember Shotgun Saturday Night - loved that show! I was a big fan of Todd Pettingill as well.

gimmick

Monokne wrote: »

This is spot on.

Unfortunately, when I read a lot of things on boards these days it strikes me that there is a less discerning fanbase, one which basically watches WWE Network and accepts WWE's version of history as fact or close to it. It feels as though arguing the rights and wrongs of Montreal with most people here would be redundant. They probably don't know about the 4 way in Springfield when Bret was going to drop the belt in the ring, for example. Or they've decided that they've heard the bull**** "Bret was going to show up on Nitro" line enough times that as completely absurd as it is is, they buy it.

The long and short of it: Bret had creative control and didn't agree to the scenario put to him. They had 4 more weeks to get the title off him. No one put a gun to Vince's head. He broke the contract because he wanted to.

Thats a nice broadside and general brush against every other poster on this forum. Not a good attitude to have here and it is beginning to grate.

Ill be watching your posts and I hope you can reign in this superior attitude as I really do not like banning people.

Omackeral

beakerjoe wrote: »

Ah the old scrambled cablelink channels, I watched (listened rather) many a PPV, Raw or Premier League match on those channels.

Kids with the Network are spoilt, they didnt pay their dues like us 80's 90s kids.

Fantastic.

beakerjoe

Omackeral wrote: »

Fantastic.

Ive got VHS tapes with Kama Mustaffa who was starting to be called The Godfather versus Dustin Runnells who was doing his "Hes coming back" gimmick from Shotgun. The times

Imnotthehulk

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jul/27/channel4.broadcasting

An article from 2001 talking about Channel 4's decision to not extend their contract with WWF (E)

slicus ricus

beakerjoe wrote: »

Ah the old scrambled cablelink channels, I watched (listened rather) many a PPV, Raw or Premier League match on those channels. I used to love teh odd free weekend where we got the movies or sports channel for free, it felt like winning the lotto.

gerrybbadd wrote:

I, too, used to "watch" the scrambled channels. One of my earliest memories of this was Goldust try to kiss Razor Ramon, think it was the Royal Rumble in 96.

That's amazing, I thought I was the only one who used to do that! I spent many the Friday evening listening to Raw when I was a teenager. The biggest memory I have of that is when Shawn Michaels was unveiled as the newest member of the NWO, I could not believe he was back!!

beakerjoe wrote: »

I used to love teh odd free weekend where we got the movies or sports channel for free, it felt like winning the lotto.

Those were the best weekends ever when I was a kid, would be glued to Sky Sports for the weekend. It's funny, now I just would not be without any of the Sports stations (Sky, BT, Setanta, etc), thinking back to those days makes me realise that I kinda take having Sky Sports for granted now and really shouldn't!!

beakerjoe wrote: »

Kids with the Network are spoilt, they didnt pay their dues like us 80's 90s kids.

Damn millennials, they haven't got a clue;)

Chain Smoker

That does bring up something I've always been a bit interested by and definitely an unpopular opinion. I'd rather listen to an amazingly called wrestling match with JR and someone else who isn't **** than I would watch an absolutely amazing match shot on a limited number of cameras with no or sub-standard commentary.

I think I'd rather listen to especially good non-English language commentators than watch an amazing match with ****ty production values, tbh. Much like tons of sports, your mind is plenty able to fill in a lot of the blanks once the commentators can convey emotions sincerely.

DM_7

Chain Smoker wrote: »

That does bring up something I've always been a bit interested by and definitely an unpopular opinion. I'd rather listen to an amazingly called wrestling match with JR and someone else who isn't **** than I would watch an absolutely amazing match shot on a limited number of cameras with no or sub-standard commentary.

I think I'd rather listen to especially good non-English language commentators than watch an amazing match with ****ty production values, tbh. Much like tons of sports, your mind is plenty able to fill in a lot of the blanks once the commentators can convey emotions sincerely.

I think that is one of WWE's big failings these days, for all the lights, all the camera work, the commentators simply fail to put the product over. They fail to present the talent as Superstars.

Itssoeasy

Reading the posts about in the 1990s i remember having to try and get family who had sky to tape things and the like. I remember during the summer months having to listen to ucc radio in the late nineties of a Tuesday to hear victor Barry(formally of red FM) give the results of raw from Monday in the US. When I think about I must have been mad.

Hoping your parents would go out on Friday so you could watch raw on sky After we got it and trying to switch between that and TCM for nitro. I mean the old Nokia 3210 could barely pick up a signal in east cork never mind the Internet.

The wrestling fans today don't know their born.

beakerjoe

I have vivid memories of being 15 and getting my mates mam to tape Raw on a Fridays for me and PPVs on the Sunday.
I would always drop over at 8 with my blank VHS and 4 after school on the Monday or 11 on Saturday if it was Raw to collect. I remember looking at WWF.com during school looking for spoilers.

I also remember looking at sky one teletext that hade a few wrestling pages. They ha one advert page in which the details of Raw were available from a premium phone number. It would read something like this :


JERICHO ARRIVES - 1690 6607701
HHH GETS TO AUSTIN - 1690 6607702
Mankind to get his chance? - 1690 6607703
Bis Show and Rock collide - 1690 6607704
Jarrett gets 1up – 1690 6607705
Al Snow has issues - 1690 6607706
Blackman explodes - 1690 6607707
Roaddog gets lucky - 1690 6607708

Vauge spoilers like that kept me going from Tues to Friday. I remember watching Jerichos debut on Friday in my mates and it was electric to a young Beakerjoe, esp knowing Jericho was finally here before hand.

Those sky pages also had the most far out fan rumours :

I heard Billy Gunn is reforming the Smoking Gunns with Al Snow, who will be repackaged as Gunns Cousin, Hal Gunn.

Kane will be unmasked and will feud with a masked Austin at Royal Rumble.

Goldberg will be revealed as the man who raised the briefcase on Austin at King Of The ring.

Shawn Stasiak will be pushed as a main event talent in the coming weeks

Kankan14

beakerjoe wrote: »

JERICHO ARRIVES - 1690 6607701
HHH GETS TO AUSTIN - 1690 6607702
Mankind to get his chance? - 1690 6607703
Bis Show and Rock collide - 1690 6607704
Jarrett gets 1up – 1690 6607705
Al Snow has issues - 1690 6607706
Blackman explodes - 1690 6607707
Roaddog gets lucky - 1690 6607708

I just called all those numbers and got no reply

beakerjoe

Let me be clear in saying I never rang the numbers (dont think you could from Ireland),but the slight spoiler was enough to get me excited for Raw.

Look at me now, its wednesday and I havent bothered to watch Raw.

CastorTroy

Maybe try 0044 before them?

beakerjoe

CastorTroy wrote: »

Maybe try 0044 before them?

My mother would have bate the snot out of me quicker than a Ryback squash match if I dared to ring a premium number. Actually a regular number would also have warranted a smack around the head.

I always asked my brother in law to tape the ppvs for me back in the 90's

Monday - Wednesday he would tell me "I have it taped I just forgot to bring it".

When he would bring it there would be ads during the PPV. All the years I didnt have Sky I presumed there were ads during the PPVs.

It was only when I got Sky I found out that there were no ads during the PPVs and my brother in law never taped them live, it was the repeat during the week

When I did get Sky I would tape the PPVs live and get up at 6 to watch the main matches before school. Even snuck downstairs to watch the odd one live.

Many great memories of listening to Raw on the scrambled sky sports channels on a Friday night like others have said.

Mr.Nice Guy

I remember that Sky teletext page well. It was full of rumours most of which were rubbish. I remember one about how Raven was going to come to WWF and be revealed as the guy who taught Kane how to speak. Also good to know I wasn't the only one who listened to the scrambled channel for Raw.

It really sucked having to wait for Raw though. I remember being in school and having a mate, despite my pleas, spoil the result of Austin vs Angle for the WWF Title where Austin won the belt back from Kurt on Raw. I think this was the night Regal turned heel and joined the Alliance.

All that being said, how lucky to get to experience wrestling back then. I feel bad for the young 'uns nowadays having to put up with what they do.

Kankan14

beakerjoe wrote: »

Let me be clear in saying I never rang the numbers (dont think you could from Ireland),but the slight spoiler was enough to get me excited for Raw.

Look at me now, its wednesday and I havent bothered to watch Raw.

Lol ya i can imagine most parents going nuts when the phonebill arrived. I remember sneaking downstairs at 1am to watch the royal rumble on c4 and my ma discovering me right when mae young was exposing herself in the bikini contest. If only she came in when any other diva was on screen(or any other match for that matter)Awkward times indeed

beakerjoe

Kankan14 wrote: »

Lol ya i can imagine most parents going nuts when the phonebill arrived. I remember sneaking downstairs at 1am to watch the royal rumble on c4 and my ma discovering me right when mae young was exposing herself in the bikini contest. If only she came in when any other diva was on screen(or any other match for that matter)Awkward times indeed

My ma considered all womens wrestling to be "porno"..... I tried to defend it back then, but in hindsight she was dead right.

God bless her

leggo

Kankan14 wrote: »

Lol ya i can imagine most parents going nuts when the phonebill arrived. I remember sneaking downstairs at 1am to watch the royal rumble on c4 and my ma discovering me right when mae young was exposing herself in the bikini contest. If only she came in when any other diva was on screen(or any other match for that matter)Awkward times indeed

"It's not what it looks like Mom! It's porn! Regular, everyday porn! Please don't stop loving me!"

Itssoeasy

My only memory of my mother commenting on wwe was the Rock and hogan on raw before wm18. My mother is a nurse and hogan slamming into the ambulance didn't go down well.

In hindsight I can see her point.

Ageyev

My 90s wrestling memories are similar to others here.

In school there'd only be one or two kids who had Sky Sports and the tape would be passed around the cool kids/best footballers first - went to an all boys school where your clout was based on how good you were at schoolyard football! I rarely ever got to borrow the tape of any of the PPVs despite my attempts at bribing people with chocolate.

I watched the WrestleMania 11 replay by flicking between the scrambled channep and the 'Multi-View Super channel'.

Most enduring memory was WrestleMania 13. I tried recording it in my grandfather's gaff but I screwed up setting the timer - I programmed it for midnight March 23rd instead of 24th! A friend stayed up late to watch it live but didn't record it. I borrowed a recording of the replay but they cut out the portion of the Submission match where Austin was bleeding.

I think I also watched a live recording of Mania 13 "scrambled". Jim Ross' calls were soooo good that night.

beakerjoe

I just watched the MITB ppv and read the thread. It seems like everyone is loving the Ambrose winning finish. I couldn't have hated it more. Its just a collection of wrongly timed booking.

For me it was just 1 or 2 years too late. He should of gotten this push a long time ago

Ambrose winning now, in that fashion, does nothing for me. Since his feud with Rollins ended (HITC where Brays hologram appeared), he has been booked woefully. Hes actually been booked so bad, that it highlighted his weaknesses. He has been nothing short of a joke midcard act and him winning the belt now in 2016 after so much **** (The awful Bray feud to the terrible program with Jericho and most of the **** in between) is just poor. They should of pulled the trigger in 2014 when his stock was much higher and he was much more over.

Ambrose will need a lot of character rehab after the last 2 years IMO and that's just one problem. Another is his actually wrestling ability. He stinks. Most of his matches fail to register any drama with me. His arsenal of moves leaves a lot to be desired, his over reliance on scrappy-do like brawling sucks the life out of most of his matches. I just cant watch any of his matches lately due to them being samey. I

To make matters worse, while I'm not a fan of the Roman mega push, taking the title off him now is a bad move. He had moved away from the awful scripted promos (to be fair hes not the only victim of this.) for most part, and after a great program with AJ to establish him as a top guy, hes now been stripped of the belt just when he was starting to be entertaining. It baffles me.

The whole booking of these 2 guys is poor and both are victims of awful, hesitant booking.

Ruu

Deleted User wrote: »

I always asked my brother in law to tape the ppvs for me back in the 90's

Monday - Wednesday he would tell me "I have it taped I just forgot to bring it".

When he would bring it there would be ads during the PPV. All the years I didnt have Sky I presumed there were ads during the PPVs.

It was only when I got Sky I found out that there were no ads during the PPVs and my brother in law never taped them live, it was the repeat during the week

When I did get Sky I would tape the PPVs live and get up at 6 to watch the main matches before school. Even snuck downstairs to watch the odd one live.

Many great memories of listening to Raw on the scrambled sky sports channels on a Friday night like others have said.

*ring mat bounce* and you would be able to tune in to the move ("that was definitely a back suplex!"), your senses would be sharper! Then followed by Jerry Lawler screaming.

KennyM

I agree regarding Ambrose. When he was in the Hell in a Cell main event against Rollins 18 months ago, he was super hot, on the verge of being a genuine star.

Then he lost every single PPV match to Wyatt & Rollins and lost so much steam. The Lesnar feud where he was booked like a jobber was the nail in the coffin.

It's better than having the title on the babyface Reigns the crowd hates or the heel Rollins the crowd wants to like, but it's not great either.

gerrybbadd

Ah lads, spoilers!

johnnyryan89

That the Styles and Cena match wasn't all that great. Felt Cena was a bit rusty and would have been better off having them wait until Summerslam.

beakerjoe

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Ah lads, spoilers!

Sorry Gerry, my bad, it was unintentional.

briany

Being able to tune into Monday Nitro on TNT for the first time was amazing. I'm guessing it was the 11/5/98 episode because Barry Horowitz faced off against Disco Inferno. It would have aired here on the Friday, making it the 15/5/98 showing. That was probably on the week we first got satellite and my first experience of watching wrestling that wasn't on a VHS cassette.

Does anyone remember a German channel (ZDF?) that used to be high up in the channels? It used to show ECW Hardcore TV alongside random WCW programming. It would show Nitro, for example, but then maybe also a random PPV of Wargames also. Then it would show some mad German softcore that always seemed to come out of nowhere and ads for phone sex lines with very Teutonic-looking and sometimes very topless women.

Kolido

Yeah I remember watching Royal Rumble 94 on I think it was call RTL
I'm sure I still have a recording of it on video tape at home somewhere.

I vaguely remember watching WCW PVPs on German channels also.

Raven Runner

I don't like the Bayley gimmick I thought her finisher on Nia Jax was fairly ridiculous too given the size difference between them at the NXT show in Dublin recently.