The Rasslin Thread | Page 5 | Vital Football

The Rasslin Thread

Just noticed you're still alive and glad to hear it Fen.

We need to at least keep the rasslin thread above the boring thread, although I'm sure some will argue they're the same thing.

I'm actually up to date at the minute, I was even watching HiTC on my phone on the way home from work! AJ deserves a proper mania match, no offence to Jericho or Shane but we need to see him in the semi-main (as SC calls it) at least.

Enjoyed the tag match in the cell too, one of the brightest feuds on any roster for a long time. Not so keen on the Jinder-Nakamura match but it was as expected, just ok. I think Shane needs to quit the cell though, his kids don't need to see him die ffs. Nice to see them taking it seriously when KO mocked Shane :19:

In random wrestling-related news, I spent a good while in Hogan's beach shop in the states, got some good memorabilia to check out in there and an excellent selection of belts. Also found some late 80s/early 90s WWF/WCW figures and even rings when clearing out my mums old place recently. Some proper retro goodness but not my full original collection, definitely a few missing like Demolition, Rick Rude, Andre etc (some of my first buys unfortunately). Makes me wish I'd actually been a collector but it was hard enough to convince my wife to marry me as it was.

Finally, I don't think we can avoid Reigns/Lesnar, the VKM hardon is too strong on that one.
 
Alright Fen,

If you're out there fella it would be good to get your take on the emergency changes to the TLC card and the state of wrestling in general.

Attendances seem way down, perhaps there is a club out there that could save the wwe! Or maybe I've been listening to too much Dave Meltzer and things aren't that bad.
 
Once again the rumours of my demise are greatly overplayed.

Loved the changes to the card and what went from a 1 match card turned into a very good card. Loved the Finn vs AJ match.

Big news though!.. Did you see that Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega for WK12 has been made for Jan 4th. I nearly shat my pants when I saw it. It's worth checking out on youtube when Y2J drops the challenge.
 
Fen,

We need to work at this wrestling thread thing, we seem to catch posts every few weeks so our comments are out of time with each other!

Was not keen on the naked Charlotte pics but put her in a Forest shirt and she's clearly marriage material. Drinking with the father-in-law would also be an interesting experience!

I did see Jericho appear on screen and challenge Omega - I've started following the bc more closely these days, I've even started to take a shine to the bucks - mainly just through watching the elite on youtube.

I've also started listening to some Cornette stuff as he never fails to crack me up on just about any subject. I've also made more of an effort to keep up to date with wrestling in general as things have settled down after a bitch of a year for me.

I've already caught War games, SS and last night's Raw. I thought War games was more entertaining than SS to be honest, honourable mentions for Velveteen vs Aleister Black and Adam Cole (Bay Bay) and Killian Dain in the main. I literally have no idea about the booking for the mens 5 on 5 at SS though, that shit went downhill fast and I thought it was beyond terrible.

Although I enjoyed Brock vs AJ I'm getting bored with Brock and didn't like AJ looking so weak for the first part of the match. Probably my bias as I'm a huge mark for AJ.

Other random thoughts: Vince has given up on Finn, KO and Sami are a bit lost, Angle really looks his age even though I love him, and Baron Corbin still has the charisma of a plank of wood.

Right if you reply by clash of champions I'll reply to that around the Rumble :19:
 
At this rate we will have adhered to that suggested timeline Fen!

Not much going on in the fed really, I even started picking up some ROH which is not like me. Would like to get your thoughts on some recent developments if you're around:

What did you make of Final Battle?

Can the Elite really fill a 10k seat arena?

Will Vince really bring back the XFL?

Do you think there are signs that DB will wrestle in wwe again?

I've treated myself to some more BC merch for Christmas, not like they need the extra business!

 
Ahoy hoy.

I an indeed not dead.

My thoughts:

Jericho is playing a blinder in building up the match with Kenny Omega at WK13 and I cannot wait. (Okada vs. Naito should be good too).

I don't really watch alot of ROH if I am honest. But Cody did hold that belt for far too long.

I doubt they can fill a 10k arena. The only logical way they could ever do those numbers is if they got CM Punk back into the ring against a big name (in fact they could sell twice that).

DB will almost certainly wrestle again but whether it's WWE remains to be seen. They seem to be pointing towards a match between him and Shane'O Mac at Mania. I'd rather see him against a proper wrestler though.

Glad to see AJ back with the strap and I am holding onto the hope that they will do him against Nakamura at Mania (please please!).
 
The rasslin thread is not dead yet!

The Jericho/Omega build up wouldn't work half as well under wwe PG rules, I definitely think he has done the right thing going to Japan for this. I heard HHH praise it in an interview but it did not sound sincere :15:

I don't really watch ROH either, I would struggle to identify half of the roster to be honest but once in a blue moon something catches my eye.

Punk is a perfect fit for Bullet Club, and when you look at their merch numbers already he could literally print money. I don't see him making waves in UFC, that first fight was brutal.

I had always assumed DB would have to leave wwe to wrestle again but now I'm not so sure. He would be wasted with Shane at Mania though, I would even prefer the Miz after that talking smack stuff they did. Miz is not going to kill DB with a hard hitting style either, clearly someone like Lesnar would be a bad return match! All those Germans would be a recipe for concussion disaster.

The Jinder experiment was only designed to get wwe over in India imo and that failed miserably! They had to cancel one show and the crowd were much more interested in HHH. So now AJ is back where he belongs...but I'm not sure I trust Vince to get his next feud right. Probably end up facing Baron Corbin at Mania or something.

Can't believe I didn't call the female Rumble, with all the women being rushed to the main rosters it was quite obvious!
 
It will never die young man, no matter how much VKM seems hellbent on alienating us.

Jericho is having a blast it seems. I think he's having way too much fun over there for this to be a one off and if this match is a goodun we might see more. I don't think it will be a 5 star match but the way it's being built is that it will be an all out brawl (I am thinking ala Bret Austin from WM13).

Dbry should really get someone better. I think a Cesaro or a Ziggler would be good. Both would bump well for him without working too stiff in the match.

The problem with the Bullet Club is they are akin to 99/00 NWO in that every man and his dog seems to be a member. That said, if Punk were to return to wrestling it would be a license to print money. Unfortunately as much as I know Vince and co will always do whats best for business in spit of personal fueds. HHH and Steph hate Punk's guts and we will never see him in a WWE ring again if they have any say on the matter.

I honestly believe the Jinder thing wasn't so much about India, but to have create the 'Evil Foreigner' gimmick one last time in the hope of having Cena go over him at Mania. It's not been relevant since Hogan Slaughter at WM7 and it's failed miserably. I am just glad its over. I think Corbin has been buried as everyone thinks he is a dick (who'd of thunk it?).

Who you got for both Rumbles.

Mens: Nakamura has been by pick if they are smart and do the WM match we all want. Braun is a big pick. Surely Vince isnt stupid enough to have Roman win it and even Cena would be met with a fan revolt. Dark horse pick. Joe.

Womens: Asuka hands down. They should keep her looking like a killer and keep her strong.

 
I'll throw my name in the hat here as a wrestling guy. Only just seen this thread, as I rarely visit anything other than 100% Forest.

I'm not into any modern wrestling - only the classic stuff. I've tried watching the modern stuff, but it's so far removed from what I know as wrestling that I actually get annoyed with it, so I don't bother any more.

I'm a former pro-wrestler of 16 years in total (1996-2012) and promoter (1999-2012).

I know it's an old subject now, but I've just read the first post and have a few favourite matches, some of which probably won't mean a lot unless you're familiar with the classic British wrestling of yesteryear, and Japanese wrestling.

* Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (All Japan Pro Wrestling 25/5/1992)

* Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) vs. Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson (WCW Wrestlewar 1990)

* Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) vs. Southern Boys (Tracey Smothers & Steve Armstrong) (WCW Great American Bash 1990)

* Steve Grey vs. Zoltan Boscik (British match, Woking, 8/5/1976)

* Steve Wright vs. Tiger Mask (New Japan Pro Wrestling, 1/4/1982)

* Vic Faulkner vs. Mick McMichael (British match, Digbeth, Birmingham, 22/3/1980)

* Ken Joyce vs. Steve Grey (British match, Crawley, 9/8/1975)

There are loads and loads of others that spring to mind, but I'd recommend having a look on Youtube for any of those, if you've not seen them. I know a few of them are on there.
 
Welcome to the thread Conroy. Nice to have you on board.

I have seen a few of those matches. MIdnight VS Rock n Roll Express matches were awesome.

Alot of modern wrestling is tedious but there are some great matches out there still. I'd reccomend anything UK based (Pete Dunne Vs Tyler Bate from NXT: Takeover Chicago is awesome. A good mixture of old school british technical strong style coupled with modern high spots). The UK is going through a boom at the moment and it's awesome. Still cant believe Bate is only 20 and Dunne 23.

For your consideration: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x62s3rf

Also anything in Japan is red hot at the moment. Kenny Omega is the man right now. I know many of the matches you have mentioned. I was a massive Inoki mark in my younger years too and actually wore out my VHS tape of his last match.

You watched alot of Johnny Saint stuff from back in the day Conroy? Way ahead of his time and super technical.

You used to wrestle and promote? That's really interesting mate. Where did you ply your trade?
 
I have seen lots of Johnny Saint stuff. In fact, I have around 1600 DVDs of British and European wrestling from the 1960s to the present day. My favourite British wrestler is Ken Joyce, who is another in the same 'tricky technical' style as Saint. Well worth a look if you've never seen him.

I did like quite a bit of Japanese stuff in the 90s and have actually been rewatching some of it just lately, funnily enough. As I say, though, I just can't get into anything modern. I've tried watching the likes of Dunne and just find it all so obviously choreographed. I watched a tag featuring him and a few other guys, and they were just obviously waiting for moves. Good luck to them, but it's not for me.

I wrestled personally from May 1996 until the end of 2012. I started with Hammerlock Wrestling in Kent and, at one point or another, worked for most of the major promoters in Britain (Ricky Knight, Orig Williams, etc), as well as a number of smaller promotions. Quite a lot of my work was in Scotland, especially after I moved there in 2005, but I worked all over the place really. I also spent a month wrestling in Canada in 2001 for the Can-Am Wrestling Federation, with my friend Justin Richards.

I also ran my own promotion (WILD Promotions) from 1999 until 2012. Most of our shows were in Scotland, but I did also run a few around the midlands, including a couple of shows in Nottingham in 2002 at Carlton Forum Leisure Centre.

I never made a massive impact on wrestling, but I'm happy with the career I had. I had some amazing expriences, met some amazing people and worked with some fantastic wrestlers in the process. I only worked full-time in wrestling for a couple of years. Most of the rest of the time, I was a weekend warrior. I did wrestle some well-known guys though - Jake Roberts, Barbarian, Kurrgan, Tracey Smothers, and some others I can't think of just now, but will no doubt remember as soon as I submit this post. As well as some British guys like Johnny Kidd, Drew McDonald, Pete Collins, Blondie Barratt, etc, who were all on TV.

I was also involved in the training of guys like Drew McIntyre and Wolfgang in 2002 / 2003, although I wouldn't take credit for any of their success. They've both done very well for themselves.
 
Shit Guvnor you really are a wrestling guy, how did you keep that quiet so long?

I'm not familiar with a lot of those matches you list, I was only a nipper in the 80s and it was a long time before I realised wrestling existed outside of WWF. Like most young fans today I guess!

I have gone back and watched matches involving Tiger Mask and the Midnight and Rock & Roll express though. I was an avid viewer of WWF, WCW and ECW in the 90s and in recent years have tried to pick up some ROH and NJPW. I have enjoyed NXT more than anything in the last 2-3 years.

I bet you have some incredible stories Guv, are any of your matches on youtube for our viewing pleasure?
 
Loads of stories. I've written some blogs over the years about various different times, places and people, but I've not got them up online anywhere at the moment. I need to find a site to host them, then I'll post them up again somewhere. They're quite long, so I need to find somewhere that'll take longer blogs.

I'm not sure if I've got any full matches online, but there are a couple of highlight videos - one of me and one of my promotion....

Carl Conroy Highlight Video
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf00ur

WILD Promotions Highlight Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxmJl47pBIQ

Incidentally, before you pan me for using the YES! thing, I was doing it years before Daniel Bryan, lol.
 
No panning at all big Guv, nothing but respect after watching those. It made me chuckle when the next video from you after the bonecrushers was Forest top 15 goals 95-96, just what you'd expect :19:

Some good shtick in there had me laughing but your elbow drop is no laughing matter, is that one of your signature moves? I noticed a cheeky sharpshooter in there, Bret was always my guy as I thought his work was always believable, and when I found some of his matches with Dynamite as a kid my ideas on wrestling definitely started to change.

Any snippets for us marks that can fit on here? Any of those well-known guys you've worked with surprisingly nice/difficult?

Just when you think there are only 3 wrestling fans on the entire board some fooker turns out to be an actual wrestler that has run his own promotion. Great stuff Guv :14:
 
Ha! I'd never call anyone marks, especially since the biggest ones can normally be found in the dressing room! :15:

Yeah, I did use the elbow drop quite a lot as an impact move - that and the knee drop. I used to like using the submission moves too. One of my favourites was a move I'm not sure has been used for a while (I could be wrong) - a rolling surfboard / bow and arrow type move, where you hook an Indian deathlock on the legs, then grab the arms and roll sideways, so both are on their backs. I first saw Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko using it in ECW. Great little move. Like I say, I never really saw it used very often except by those guys. Brad Armstrong was a favourite of mine for stealing stuff from too.

Barbarian was the biggest surprise I think, out of those guys I mentioned. He's always been someone who came with a 'fight people and wreck the hotel room' reputation, but he couldn't have been nicer when I worked with him in 2003. Really, really sound guy, and that was even when everything was going wrong with the accommodation arrangements and we ended up driving around for hours trying to get something sorted at 1am. Playing basketball with him and a 7ft American called Tiger Steele, in a run down Glasgow sports centre, is a fun memory.

Jake was coked up and drunk as shit when I worked with him in 2002, which was a shame. Funny guy though. He managed to get himself locked in the toilet at the first show I met him, when the door handle broke and no-one could open it for about twenty minutes.

Honky Tonk Man seemed alright, although I didn't really speak to him all that much. Decent enough bloke, by all accounts.

Tracey Smothers was brilliant. We had a match together in Scotland in 2006 that went about 53 minutes, approximately 7 minutes of which was wrestling. The rest was crowd work and various other silly stuff. Horrible to watch back on tape, but great for the crowd on the night, who ate it up. Whenever I saw him at shows after that, he would put me over to anyone who would listen, so that was nice.

I worked with Kurrgan in Canada in 2001. He was a nice guy. Absolutely huge too - legitimately 6'11", with hands the size of shovels. His chops hurt. A lot. Every night. It was through another guy on that tour, Leatherface (our adoptive uncle while we were over there - wonderful guy), who worked for IWA-Japan, that I nearly ended up going to Japan. He wanted me to be a manager out there for him and his group, but it was one of those deals where they wanted me to get them work over here in return and, at the time, I couldn't get them enough dates for it to be worth them coming. Would have been interesting though.

I know there are others I've worked with. I just can't think of them off the top of my head. There were guys on that Canadian tour who were semi-famous, at least within North America, but not worldwide, like Biff Wellington and Cuban Assassin, who worked for Stampede Wrestling back in the day.

Off the top of my head, I don't think any of the well-known guys I worked with were arseholes. I worked with plenty of them over the years, but they were normally guys on a much smaller level. The only one really was Biff, who was an arrogant prick. Everyone else on that tour was really cool, especially the two midget wrestlers, who we spent a lot of time with. They used to travel sitting sideways, feet to feet, in the boot of the minibus. One of them, Butch, had done some work for the WWF in the 80s.

I briefly met a few other people at shows, like Mick Foley, D'lo Brown, etc, when they were working over here. Foley seemed a bit in his own little world although, to be fair to him, he was knackered from travelling and had just been told in a very hurried, excited way by someone that Eddie Guerrero had died. One of the promoters on that show seemed very excited to be the one to give him the news and just blurted it out without a lot of thought, so I can understand him being a bit shell-shocked.
 
Flipping hell Conroy, that's really fascinating. Never thought about getting back into the business again in some capacity?

Ive heard Honkey was always a prick from other people who've met him. Jake is one of all time favourite people in wrestling. His mind for the business is staggering and his psychology is another level. Have you seen the 'Resurrection of Jake the Snake'? Awesome documentary. So glad he got clean and sorted his life out.

Skip? - You seen the Wrestle Kingdom 12 results yet or are planning to watch it?

Also.. Who you for for the rumbles?


 
I can only speak as I find really. I never did any business with him, so can't speak on that score, but he seemed alright to me. Fairly quiet and unassuming, by all accounts.

I don't think I'd ever look to get back into it again now. Never say never, but it's changed so much from what I knew. Also, the people who made it worthwhile for me are mostly gone now too, so it would be more business than enjoyment. If you take the enjoyment out of it, it's not really worth it. I found that out in the couple of years I was working full-time with it.

I've not seen the Jake documentary yet. I'm sure I'll have a look at some point. I'm glad he's sorted himself out. Just wish he'd been clean and sober when I worked with him in 2002 / 2003. He was a right mess then.
 
LyttleByLyttle - 16/1/2018 21:55

Anyone going to watch the Raw special?

If so do you know what time / day it’s on in the UK?


LBL it's Monday the 22nd. However, due to time difference it will air on Sky Sports@ Arena at 1am on the morning of the 23rd