The High School Gym Raws

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

I can't remember how many actually took place in high school gyms. I think it may have just been one or two.

Anyway, here is the card for one: www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1938

Too bad Shawn Michaels retired. Now Gus Kantarakis can never get that win back.

[fw91]

why? as bad as business could have been, surely they were better than that.

[edgehead]

I just went and checked this out on the network for a few minutes. I've been watching since 1992 and I was too young to realize how small these arenas...or gyms...were at times. Cool to see how far they have come looking back.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Mar 20, 2016 12:08:12 GMT -5 edgehead said:

I just went and checked this out on the network for a few minutes. I've been watching since 1992 and I was too young to realize how small these arenas...or gyms...were at times. Cool to see how far they have come looking back.

Indeed, two of the people on the card linked in the OP are a fortnight away from wrestling in front of a crowd at least 80 times bigger than that high school gym.

(That's right, Buck Quartermain's comin' for YOU, Owens)

[Sephiroth]

Mar 20, 2016 11:50:05 GMT -5 fw91 said:

why? as bad as business could have been, surely they were better than that.

This was back when RAW was first launched

[JTG Fan]

not a RAW, but




WWF @ Sayerville, NY - High School Gym - July 14, 1995
Skip defeated Nick Barberry
Jean Pierre Lafitte defeated Aldo Montoya
Adam Bomb defeated Hakushi
Savio Vega defeated King Mabel via disqualification
Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Doink the Clown
Bam Bam Bigelow defeated King Kong Bundy

[Perd]

Or as Jerry Lawler calls it "the good old days".

[abjordans]

Mar 20, 2016 12:27:14 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Mar 20, 2016 11:50:05 GMT -5 fw91 said:

why? as bad as business could have been, surely they were better than that.

This was back when RAW was first launched

No it wasn't.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Mar 20, 2016 12:41:01 GMT -5 Perd said:

Or as Jerry Lawler calls it "the good old days".

Alright alright alright

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Whoa business was definitely on the shitter.

I remember reading Mick Foley's first book about being a wwe superstar in the early 90s wasn't necessarily a good thing. That guys couldn't even cover their expenses while traveling. This all confirms it.

[Deleted]

I'd read Torch Arena reports from 1996 WWF shows and I'd see numbers like 800, 950, 1,100 people attendance.
Shows in their home territory. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania. (Not counting Cape Cody Melody Tent.)

[willyjakes]

Well very few literally took place in actual high school gyms. I think it was just a term used just to describe the period of rapidly declining crowds where they had to bend over backwards to make 3,000 look big and loud. A lot of these events were in small time college gyms, or in arenas where large chunks of the crowd was blacked out.

[chazraps]

Mar 20, 2016 12:31:17 GMT -5 JTG Fan said:

not a RAW, but




WWF @ Sayerville, NY - High School Gym - July 14, 1995
Skip defeated Nick Barberry
Jean Pierre Lafitte defeated Aldo Montoya
Adam Bomb defeated Hakushi
Savio Vega defeated King Mabel via disqualification
Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Doink the Clown
Bam Bam Bigelow defeated King Kong Bundy

Bomb vs Hakushi actually sounds pretty cool.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Still get better attendance and ticket revenue then TNA.

[sdjonesbackhole]

i snuck into one in NJ with John Clark of NBC 10. Bret was the m.e. but cant remember much else. besides the fact there was only about 2000 people. This was when the entrances had those themed logo cut outs in the lighting. Razor had little RR razors etc..and ofcourse the neon entry way.

[ben:friendship frog]

I just watched the Taker match from the show in OP. Two really bad acting plants in the front row!

[Joe Neglia]

Mar 20, 2016 12:31:17 GMT -5 JTG Fan said:

not a RAW, but




WWF @ Sayerville, NY - High School Gym - July 14, 1995
Skip defeated Nick Barberry
Jean Pierre Lafitte defeated Aldo Montoya
Adam Bomb defeated Hakushi
Savio Vega defeated King Mabel via disqualification
Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Doink the Clown
Bam Bam Bigelow defeated King Kong Bundy

High school shows were still a staple of WWF right up to the Attitude era. Most often they were C-shows or even sponsored fundraising events. I've seen some from the early-mid 80s where the main event was two lower mid-card guys and the rest were just jobber vs. jobber matches.

[auph10imitated]

Assuming this is the RAW in the OP, it looks alot bigger than a high school gym.

www.dailymotion.com/video/xkgfcl_hunter-hearst-helmsley-triple-h-vs-buck-quartermaine_sport

[Joe Neglia]

Mar 22, 2016 12:33:00 GMT -5 auph10imitated said:

Assuming this is the RAW in the OP, it looks alot bigger than a high school gym.

Dunno about that one, but depends on the school - some "big city" schools, especially ones that have strong basketball teams, can have huge gyms.

[thegame415]

WWF @ Carbondale, PA - High School - November 9, 1993
Wrestling Challenge taping:
It was later reported the principal and school board were upset in the condition the school was left in after the taping, including whiskey bottles in the cafeteria, human feces in the locker room floor, and a broken door.