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Post by CubsFan71 on Oct 19, 2010 5:49:23 GMT -5
Ok this one is mainly for us old timers on the board. I just want to know who misses the territory days of wrestling? I mean back in the day we had the WWF, NWA, AWA, World Class, Mid South, Mid Southern, Florida, Mid Atlantic, etc.
There was no shortage of great wrestling back then. IMHO the wrestling was better as well as the wrestlers themselves. You could really get behind the good guys like Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, The Von Erichs . Also you could really love to hate the villains like Flair, The Koloffs, The Freebirds, The Heenan Family.
The feuds/storylines were also IMHO much more compelling. You had Rhodes vs Flair/The Horsemen, Lawler vs Kaufman, Hogan vs whoever Heenan threw at him.
Also you had the best commentators back then as well. Tony Schivone and David Crockett, McMahon and Ventura, Lance Russel to name a few.
I know I miss the territory days. Does anyone else?
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Post by organicmeatbag on Oct 19, 2010 7:05:50 GMT -5
I miss them tremendously...I grew up watching Memphis Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Poffo's ICW, and the Blanchards' SCW, and they were all just tremendous promotions to watch, particularly Memphis... Gordon Solie gets his props as the best commentator in wrestling history, and rightfully so, but I'll personally put Lance Russell up there with him any day... he made even the most absurd angle (and believe me, Memphis did manage a few of those now and then, even in their best days) sound feasible... I just miss the days of Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee tearing the house down with a little psychology and a lot of great timing...I got to watch the whole Andy Kaufman angle unfold...these are what made me want to be in the business... I feel very fortunate to have been exposed to territory wrestling back then...
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bwo4life
Trap-Jaw
Those were the days.
Posts: 301
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Post by bwo4life on Oct 19, 2010 7:43:03 GMT -5
The territories are what keep me watching today. Between youtube and ordering DVDs of the shows, it is really the only wrestling I watch (with ROH, PWG and Chikara thrown in).
The shows were fantastic. Mid-South, Memphis, WCCW and CWF were fantastic. The Blanchard's SCW was a great promotion which was hardcore before ECW even was a thought. I even like when WWF was strictly a northeast thing.
It is sad we don't have that anymore. Sure there are indys. But the territories were better. A wrestler could go from Texas to Florida to Memphis to St. Louis to Portland to WWF to Calgary and be new, fresh. With indys and the interweb, some guys can not stay relevant.
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Post by T Vang is a HO-DADDY~! on Oct 19, 2010 9:50:30 GMT -5
First, I'll admit I'm not anold-timer,however I really like old wrestling. The biggest thing that is worse is that no wrestlers stay fresh and exciting. Back in the day wrestlers could go to a different territory and work differently and possibly come back to their home base a better and more interesting wrestler.
I think one of the best examples of this is David Von Erich, who never could've worked as a heel in TX but was able to go to CWF and do a really cool brief heel run as an arrogant young sob. If he had stayed in TX that never would've happened.
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Oct 19, 2010 15:56:26 GMT -5
I only caught the tail end of the territories in the mid to late '80s, but that was more than enough for me to miss it. I'll always prefer those days, I think.
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ICBM
King Koopa
Didn't know we did status updates here now
Posts: 12,288
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Post by ICBM on Oct 19, 2010 16:26:20 GMT -5
I loved it man. yes I miss it. WWF was slick on TV and looked great but it wasn't really wrestling like we were used to in texas. I still remember vividly when I watched crocket's tv for the first time on UHF frequency on this old black and white TV my folks gave me. i used to crank and crank on that dial and play with the coat hanger so I could watch World Wide on firday nights when my parents thought I was in bed. Bob Caudel Tony Schiovone and Jim ross were great. David Crocket would do some commentary here and there but those voices joined Mark Lawrence and Bill mercer as my wrestling soundtrack.
Cable was great for wrestling fans once it started up but it also helped kill the terretories just as well as Vince's national expansion. Friday afternoon WCWA, Friday night AWA, late friday NWA World Wide. Saturday morn WCCW/Wild West then NWA WCW(the show not the promotion), saturday night at 6:05eastern superstation 25(in my town it was 25), Saturday night WWF Superstars, Sundays WWF wrestling challange and NWA main event. It was phenomenal and I never ever got sick of it
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Post by Ultimo Chocula on Oct 19, 2010 17:41:23 GMT -5
Don Owen was the man.
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TuneinTokyo
Hank Scorpio
The Mountain from Stone Mountain
Posts: 6,431
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Post by TuneinTokyo on Oct 19, 2010 18:56:40 GMT -5
I miss most of what the territories offered even down to the house lights, ring and tag ropes, non folding chairs, the boxing and athletic commission that sanctioned the events, the promotors, the interviews. (I hate watching wrestlers hold secret meetings with a camera in front of them while the audience in the house watches it all unfold)
I loved battle royals where the winner won 10'000 dollars. I miss reading the results of the house shows in the sports page of the newspaper. I miss smoking in the Cow Palace and no barriers. I miss seeing the old guys and old ladies who would scream the worst obcenities to the wrestlers. I also miss wrestlers that didn't need fireworks and music to make an entrance. They were there to do a job that needed to be done. I can hear a guy like the Crusher saying music and fireworks, who needs that S@#$ you lousy bum. I miss reading about wrestlers from other territories through magazines. They seemed more larger than life. Cable kinda ruined it for me even though I was able to watch NWA and Texas wrestling.
I remember Kaufman making the nightly newscast the first time he and Lawler went at it. I thought it was so real and remember feeling sad for Kaufmann.
I miss almost all of it, and rarely watch the product that is out there today. Shame really.
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Oct 19, 2010 19:01:46 GMT -5
As someone who was never around for the territories, I instead fantasize about what wrestling would look like if the current indy promotions acted as the territories.
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Post by BlackJackRobby on Oct 19, 2010 22:17:45 GMT -5
Northern Minnesota boy here, and I grew up hearing all about the AWA and even grandma's and people you would never expect to like or know wrestling can talk about Verne, the Crusher, the Bruiser, the Vachons, Larry the Ax, the Baron, High Flyers, Bobby Heenan, and my favorite Bockwinkle.
What was differnt though, is how the AWA was taken over so quickly in the 80's. I remember hearing about show's in Duluth, and being excited for it. Then watching WWF Superstars on TV, and as a kid it was just better.
Eventually everyone forgot the AWA was even around, it just lost all presence.
It wasn't just because the WWF signed away the talent, or the other talent just could not cut it on tv, it just seemed the AWA didn't try to stay local anymore.
When you can sell out in Minnesota, Winnipeg, Wisconsin, and Chicago why are you running shows in Las Vegas? Just confusing.
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Post by Slingshot Suplay on Oct 20, 2010 3:48:52 GMT -5
I miss it like crazy. I remember reading all of the wrestling magazines and seeing the list of federations from around the globe, but especially around the u.s. Wrestlers became legends in their territories and that left fans longing for "Dream Matches" between champions, I even remember that they used to have articles that would have hypothetical dream matches.
I missed watching WCCW, AWA, GWF, NWA/WCW, WWF, IWCCW and ECW on tv. Each federation had it's own feel to it and provided so many hours of enjoyment for me as a kid/teenager.
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