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Post by chunkylover53 on Jan 1, 2010 21:43:31 GMT -5
Note: I would put "cutting edge", but I ran out of space.
Back in 1996, WWF was going through a slow, but gradual change. They were shifting away from their traditional "Family Friendly" format and started becoming more edgy and controversial.
1996 introduced the likes of Triple H, Mick Foley, Steve Austin, and The Rock who later became megastars as the decade progressed. It even showed a smidgen of T & A with Sunny, Sable, and Marlena. It also produced the sexually questionable and ambiguous Goldust.
But the main point I'm trying to get to is the Brian Pillman Gun Angle. The segment featured two former tag team partners and close friends - "The Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The two had a feud brewing up in the previous weeks, with Austin breaking Pillman's ankle with a steel chair, famously dubbing it "The Pillmanizer".
The hatred between the two got so intense, that Austin was about to break into Pillman's house. But living up to his name, "The Loose Cannon" came prepared with his 9mm Glock, and was not hesistant to wreak havoc.
When Austin broke into his home, Pillman pointed the gun at him with a crowd of people seperating the two. Pillman even sweared, with it becoming unedited. The feed went out and then came back on with Pillman's friends dragging Austin out of the house.
The WWF, and later Pillman himself later apologized to the USA network for having the segment air.
But the point I'm trying to get to is was this segment a desperation act on WWF's part in order to garner ratings, or was it something innovative for its time?
I don't have a straight answer per se, so I will say it was a little bit of both. I mean, it did push the envelope IMO and wasn't something done before by a wrestling program.
In another sense, it was unrealistic and went against the logic of pro wrestling. I mean, why would any network let a show that is suppose to come off as real air this footage? If two wrestlers who legit hated each other got to that extreme, no company in their right mind would acknowledge such an occurence between the two. Then again, professional wrestling dosen't follow alot of common sense, so who am I fooling.
It might've been a desperation act, but certainly in the sense of Katie Vick, but moreso in the sense of trying to get people to say "I can't believe this happened".
Your thoughts?
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Post by Rorschach on Jan 1, 2010 21:49:24 GMT -5
It was cutting edge, but I don't believe it was ever intended to be such. It was like they fell ass backwards into it, and Pillman gave them a cutting edge moment. Almost like as if one of the cast members of SNL did something like that on THAT show, something totally unscripted and shocking. It would get them mega press and attention, but it wouldn't be like the producers INTENDED it to happen.
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Post by coolkevthedude on Jan 1, 2010 23:00:22 GMT -5
It was cutting edge. Pro Wrestling is fake, everyone already knows it's scripted, so what does it matter if it comes of real, or not real.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2010 23:08:29 GMT -5
It came off as a bit desperate, IMO. Moreover, it was too much; how could you continue the angle afterwords? The problem I have with something so extreme is that everything else after it has to live up to that moment.
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Post by Hawk Hart on Jan 1, 2010 23:12:28 GMT -5
It was cutting edge. Pro Wrestling is fake, everyone already knows it's scripted, so what does it matter if it comes of real, or not real. Suspension of Disbelief? People know movies and television are scripted, but if they come off as real they affect people on a much deeper level than if they seem like scripted events. I say cutting edge. |
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Post by coolkevthedude on Jan 1, 2010 23:33:09 GMT -5
It was cutting edge. Pro Wrestling is fake, everyone already knows it's scripted, so what does it matter if it comes of real, or not real. Suspension of Disbelief? People know movies and television are scripted, but if they come off as real they affect people on a much deeper level than if they seem like scripted events. I say cutting edge. good point |
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Post by bob on Jan 2, 2010 1:54:13 GMT -5
cutting edge and I still mark hard for it
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Post by Professor Chaos on Jan 2, 2010 4:37:49 GMT -5
With how nuts Pillman and Austin came off around that time I marked like it was real. This a few months after the NWO formed and I marked for that like it was real as well. What a great time to be a wrestling fan back then.
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Post by quantum on Jan 2, 2010 13:09:23 GMT -5
It was cutting edge. Pro Wrestling is fake, everyone already knows it's scripted, so what does it matter if it comes of real, or not real. Suspension of Disbelief? People know movies and television are scripted, but if they come off as real they affect people on a much deeper level than if they seem like scripted events. I say cutting edge. My thought exactly. Saying 'what's the point in tryi8ng to make wrestling seem like it's legit/real' is like saying what;s the point in paying millions of dollars to make a Hollywood blockbuster everyone knows it's fake. I would say the angle was a mix of both and did do a lot ot push the WWF to a more edgy product and just to be nit picky Hunter Hearst Hemsley (HHH) debuted in summer of 1995 not 1996. However Mankind coming in 1996 did also help a lot to push the product to a more hardcore one especially with his feud and matches (boiler room brawl and buried alive match) with The Undertaker. |
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Post by ericv1 on Jan 2, 2010 14:38:54 GMT -5
I say Cutting Edge. Even though for the past few months WCW Nitro was murdering Raw in ratings, it was time for a change. Fans grew bored of the say your prayers and take your vitamins schtick that Hogan taught them and they wanted to see bad ass characters like Stone Cold Steve Austin. The angle itself was a sign that WWF was moving in a different direction. Pillman even managed to scream "Get outta the f***ing way!" which was not censored. It was indeed a sign of things to come.
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Post by SAJ Forth on Jan 2, 2010 18:20:58 GMT -5
While I think that there was desperation to some degree, wrestling was moving in a new direction. And even though I feel they eventually went overboard, it was a cutting edge move for it's time.
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Post by chunkylover53 on Jan 3, 2010 23:28:55 GMT -5
It was cutting edge. Pro Wrestling is fake, everyone already knows it's scripted, so what does it matter if it comes of real, or not real. Suspension of Disbelief? People know movies and television are scripted, but if they come off as real they affect people on a much deeper level than if they seem like scripted events. I say cutting edge. Well if you go by professional wrestling in a strictly traditional sense, you'll know it was suppose to be seperate from movies and television and come off as completely realistic. This was just too over-the-top to be taken seriously. It didn't completely expose the business like the late 90s/2000s did, but it was something out of the norm for a wrestling program. |
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Post by The Varsity Club on Jan 7, 2010 1:43:35 GMT -5
best moment i have ever withnessed on monday night wrestling ever! It was that good.
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Post by efarns on Jan 8, 2010 19:44:02 GMT -5
Anything truly cutting edge is probably born of desperation.
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Post by SAJ Forth on Jan 12, 2010 21:24:04 GMT -5
Anything truly cutting edge is probably born of desperation. That is true. |
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Post by ScottZ on Jan 21, 2010 1:07:14 GMT -5
Funny thing was, a buddy of my burst out laughing when Austin battered his way thru the back door, just when the camera swung away from the couch. I'm like, 'WTF you laughing at?'. Well he saw Pillman's double-door fridge by the entrance as the camera panned by and thought Austin was gonna burst outta the with shelf racks, lettuce leaves hangin off, and icicles from his goatee and blue skin. That's the way he put it anyways.
We're not friends anymore.
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Post by SAJ Forth on Jan 21, 2010 3:23:43 GMT -5
Funny thing was, a buddy of my burst out laughing when Austin battered his way thru the back door, just when the camera swung away from the couch. I'm like, 'WTF you laughing at?'. Well he saw Pillman's double-door fridge by the entrance as the camera panned by and thought Austin was gonna burst outta the with shelf racks, lettuce leaves hangin off, and icicles from his goatee and blue skin. That's the way he put it anyways. We're not friends anymore. I laughed a bit at this story. And I'm sorry about that. |
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Post by ScottZ on Jan 25, 2010 0:05:11 GMT -5
Yeah pretty much something like this..  |
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Post by simongr81 on Feb 3, 2010 14:53:03 GMT -5
Yeah pretty much something like this.. Would make sense as Mick Foley said when Austin suggested he wanted a "colder" nickname, WWF creative initially came up with Ice Dagger and Chilly McFreeze! And I vote cutting edge! |
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Post by jobsquad on Feb 11, 2010 13:40:27 GMT -5
Desperation for ratings when WCW could do no wrong.
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