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Post by jason1980s on Dec 28, 2016 21:04:02 GMT -5
Really cool observations.
My vague rumble observations usually include non-roster members (1996, 1997 for example). Like what was the point of having guys the regular WWF crowd would not recognize and the commentators really couldn't put over to the home viewers.
I watched WWF shows regularly and I never recall seeing Blu Twins until the PPV so it sure may have confused the crowd at the show.
Also would observe the guys who served as last minute replacements. Guys like Nikolai or Rick Martel were guys WWF could count on at the last minute. Same goes for Virgil, I guess, but he was still kind of with WWF at the time.
Also, you would see random guys who you hadn't seen on TV in a while coming back to make up the numbers (Tatanka, Kama in 1996) or guys who were still on TV and would make up the numbers for Rumbles but would soon be gone between rumble and wrestlemania.
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Post by 2coldMack is even more baffled on Dec 28, 2016 21:45:55 GMT -5
Really cool observations. My vague rumble observations usually include non-roster members (1996, 1997 for example). Like what was the point of having guys the regular WWF crowd would not recognize and the commentators really couldn't put over to the home viewers. I watched WWF shows regularly and I never recall seeing Blu Twins until the PPV so it sure may have confused the crowd at the show. Also would observe the guys who served as last minute replacements. Guys like Nikolai or Rick Martel were guys WWF could count on at the last minute. Same goes for Virgil, I guess, but he was still kind of with WWF at the time. Also, you would see random guys who you hadn't seen on TV in a while coming back to make up the numbers (Tatanka, Kama in 1996) or guys who were still on TV and would make up the numbers for Rumbles but would soon be gone between rumble and wrestlemania. The basic reasoning in the lean 95-97 years is purely because WWE didn't have a thick enough core roster to fill up a Rumble, so they had to outsource, hence guys like Dory Jr. and Omori 96 and the luchadors in 97. The lucha guys were also there in the misguided hope that having Mexican wrestlers in a Texas border town would help draw more folks in.
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Post by Joe Neglia on Dec 28, 2016 22:54:03 GMT -5
1988 Where the hell was Rick Martel? Martel took leave in June '88 to care for his severely ill wife and wouldn't return until January 89 (kayfabed as Rick suffering in-ring injuries at the hands of Demolition), just in time to reform Strike Force so they could break them up and start Martel's heel run.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Dec 28, 2016 23:32:13 GMT -5
1989 Everything kind of falls flat once Hogan gets eliminated. Seriously! After Hogan, the biggest name in the match was DiBiase. And, they could have easily put Rick Rude and Ultimate Warrior in the match since all they did at that Rumble was that stupid posedown. Though, I think they should have kept Hogan and Savage in the match until the end and have it end with them and DiBiase where they double team DiBiase, but a mistake causes Hogan to accidentally eliminate Savage. And, while Hogan is trying to apologize to Savage on the outside, DiBiase sneaks up behind Hogan and eliminates him. That would have been a much better way to set up the Megapowers Explode storyline they were starting at the time.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Dec 28, 2016 23:38:44 GMT -5
1992 DiBiase was really crappy at drawing numbers I like to think that DiBiase got punished for buying Number 30 in 1989 by being forced to draw from the first 10 numbers for his other Rumble appearances.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Dec 29, 2016 2:43:11 GMT -5
1988 Where the hell was Rick Martel? Martel took leave in June '88 to care for his severely ill wife and wouldn't return until January 89 (kayfabed as Rick suffering in-ring injuries at the hands of Demolition), just in time to reform Strike Force so they could break them up and start Martel's heel run. But the Rumble was in January '88. At the time Martel and Santana were still Tag Team Champions.
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Post by SmashTV on Dec 29, 2016 5:04:34 GMT -5
1992 It's amazing how different Darsow looks as Repo Man rather than Smash but a real shame they didn't hide his tattoo better. DiBiase was really crappy at drawing numbers Using the Coliseum Video version of this PPV on the Network is weird because they include an interview where Ric Flair reveals he pulled #3 and it kind of blows that surprise. I watched this Rumble live on PPV. This was the PPV where I said "Oh wow, I had forgotten about him" around 6 times. Haku, Volkoff, Valentine, Barbarian, and Hercules felt like such filler. Nikolai had been gone for over a year at this point and then wasn't seen again for another 3 years. People forgot that he was a babyface. They should have just called an audible and been like "Randy, you f***ed up, you're out." Especially since he didn't win the thing. 16 members of the WWE Hall of Fame are in this match and a few others that should go in eventually. Hogan probably wouldn't have grabbed Sid's arm if Sid hadn't talked so much shit after throwing Hulk out. As a sixteen year old, I was still capable of marking out and did so big time when Flair won. The sight of Hogan looking defeated and confused when the crowd went with Sid stayed with me for a long time.
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Post by SmashTV on Dec 29, 2016 5:17:02 GMT -5
1994 It's amazing how Undertaker never got revenge over any of the other guys who helped Yokozuna. You would think they would have had him go through them all to get back to Yokozuna last. I also wish it was better explained why certain guys helped out. Crush, Tenryu and Kabuki made sense since they were aligned with Fuji but the other guys had nothing to do with him. Must've cost Fuji a fortune. No wonder he couldn't afford those suits anymore. Was this when the Druids helped with the coffin? Not that I'm wanting to tarnish any memories, but I remember noticing that one of them still had his wrestling boots on...
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Post by Rumble McSkirmish on Dec 29, 2016 5:23:26 GMT -5
Bret loses the title to Sid the next night. Instead of getting a rematch he faces Austin and Undertaker gets a title shot at Mania. Actually Bret did get a rematch against Sid on the go home RAW before Wrestlemania 13, it was the the infamous steel cage match where Bret went on his "This is bullshit" tirade to close out the show. It actually had a good story line going through out the match as Austin actually tried to help Bret win, because by doing so would turn their match into a title match. And then Taker tried to help Sid because if Bret won Taker/Sid would not have been for the the title. Obviously Taker was more successful in his interference.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 5:51:45 GMT -5
Bret loses the title to Sid the next night. Instead of getting a rematch he faces Austin and Undertaker gets a title shot at Mania. Actually Bret did get a rematch against Sid on the go home RAW before Wrestlemania 13, it was the the infamous steel cage match where Bret went on his "This is bullshit" tirade to close out the show. It actually had a good story line going through out the match as Austin actually tried to help Bret win, because by doing so would turn their match into a title match. And then Taker tried to help Sid because if Bret won Taker/Sid would not have been for the the title. Obviously Taker was more successful in his interference. Wasn't that night the first ever Raw Is War?
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Dec 29, 2016 6:18:22 GMT -5
1996 Dory Funk, Jr. has looked 85 years old for the last 30 years Hunter being the workhorse of the match is interesting since it was his first Rumble. They clearly thought a lot of him early on. This Omori guy looks way too Asian Sorta appropriate that the first person Vader bullies in the Rumble is Bob Holly. It's amazing that Doug Gilbert didn't manage to work himself into a shoot with Lawler in the small amount of time he was in the ring I never understood why they tried so many times with The Headhunters but then barely put in the effort. The Squat Team? And then they don't even have names? Part of me wishes that HBK found Lawler and a bunch of dead Doinks under the ring It's amazing how we got a few moments of Diesel vs. Fake Diesel in this match. Kama in the Final Four is weird. Never saw him as anything but midcard. Wow, he was actually in the final 3. Mr. Perfect says it's impossible that HBK won two years in a row even though Hogan had already done it. Diesel takes his frustrations out on The British Bulldog because he's bizarre Shawn celebrates his victory by taking his clothes off in the ring....yikes Yeah, I watched this one on the Network for the first time. Got to the end, Oh, HBK's been in for the whole thing, must be hot so he's taking some stuff off. Oh, ok, he's playing up to the heartthrob thing, teasing the women in the audience. Ok you can stop now. Stop Please Stop.
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Post by jason1980s on Dec 29, 2016 8:21:32 GMT -5
The basic reasoning in the lean 95-97 years is purely because WWE didn't have a thick enough core roster to fill up a Rumble, so they had to outsource, hence guys like Dory Jr. and Omori 96 and the luchadors in 97. The lucha guys were also there in the misguided hope that having Mexican wrestlers in a Texas border town would help draw more folks in. [/quote] The lucha guys makes sense in that regard and wrestling was changing with incorporating outside wrestlers into the roster. WCW had already done lucha style for about a year and had done it better. WWF was really never able to capitalize on the wrestlers. And with the Attitude Era starting to come along, I don't think they would fit too well. I still would've liked to see the spots go to regular roster guys who normally wouldn't get a PPV like Salvatore Sincere or Bob Holly. Actually, the original WWF Magazine had several guys listed as participants: Billy Gunn, Executioner, Bradshaw and Stalker. Obviously three wouldn't be around because of storyline changes. As for the early rumbles lacking star power and direction, it was the beginning of the events and I think the events were just being played around the feuds: Hogan/Andre in 88 and Hogan/Savage in 89. Same thing for Hogan/Warrior in 1990. It really wasn't until (maybe) 1991 and definitely 1992-1993 that the rumble started having a main event feel to it. I do think 1988 should've had more guys in it, though or at least "all hands on deck" as you mentioned in case anyone couldn't make the event. The house show on the same night doesn't seem to great, aside from Beefcake, Savage, Honkytonk and Valentine.
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Post by CeilingFan on Dec 29, 2016 14:45:51 GMT -5
both Hulk Hogan and Jake The Snake Roberts were in the Rumbles from 89 until 92, but never in the ring together.
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Post by Gravedigger's Biscuits on Dec 29, 2016 15:51:20 GMT -5
1995 I always wondered who "TK" was on HBK's fist It was the initials of one of the ring girls/models who used to hold the signs on Raw. I think they were going out at the time. Kayfabe I thought it just meant "The (Heartbreak) Kid". I though it stood for 'The Kliq'.
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Post by James Fabiano on Dec 29, 2016 16:16:36 GMT -5
1997 The whole ending reeks of Russo. Oh you have NO idea what's to come...
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Post by lildude8218 on Dec 29, 2016 16:59:45 GMT -5
1988 Where the hell was Rick Martel? Martel took leave in June '88 to care for his severely ill wife and wouldn't return until January 89 (kayfabed as Rick suffering in-ring injuries at the hands of Demolition), just in time to reform Strike Force so they could break them up and start Martel's heel run. But this was January of 1988 while he was still tag team champion.
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Post by Eunös ✈ on Dec 29, 2016 19:41:38 GMT -5
In the 1990 Rumble they did the entrance music per entry with Marty Jannety and Jake Roberts but seemed to think "Ah screw it" and didn't bother after that.
Don't think it was till 97 that all entry themes would play in a rumble.
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Post by lildude8218 on Dec 29, 2016 19:46:54 GMT -5
1998
"Vince, your tag teams suck!"
Tito Santana on the Spanish announce team. Ray Rougeau on the French announce team. Vince could have paired them up and made the Mexi-Can Connection
I was a mark for The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust for some reason
JR: "Vader is thick" heh
"Total Package" with an arrow pointing down
I'll admit, at the time I didn't realize Chainsaw Charlie was Terry Funk until they mentioned it.
I wonder how some of the guys in the back felt about Rock, Shamrock, Goldust, and Vader pulling double duty and Mick getting 3 slots in the Rumble while they weren't even on the PPV. I mean only 1 Boricua got to be in the match.
I wonder if anyone anywhere was ever a Tom Brandi fan
Let's punch this trash can because that won't hurt our hands
Funk legitimately tries to kill Mosh with a chair before he even gets in the ring
It's like Rob Conway has entered 3 or 4 times in a row now. Crowd is dead.
Was there a reason that Jarrett and Cornette attacked Owen? My mind is blanking on this.
Rocky and D-Lo fight for some reason even though they don't have to
Kurrgan with black crap all over his stomach for no apparent reason
Marc Mero's theme sounds like the music they play during Talking Dead when they do the trivia portion
Jeff Jarrett's gear at this time reminds me of a New Mexico license plate
Sorry Miguel Perez, no room for you, we have to let Honky Tonk Man in the match instead
Triple H out on crutches but basically walking normally
Jim Ross REALLY hated Ahmed's earrings. I hate his skull cap.
"Mark Henry is handling the big Johnson." Hot....wait.....
It's about this point when I realize that half of these low to midcard guys are only still in this match so Austin can clean house when he finally comes out
Now D-Lo and Mark Henry are fighting for no apparent reason. Maybe D-Lo's the problem.
Apparently Austin was #22 even though it could have been Bastion Booger with food poisoning again
Austin's music hits and everyone stops and waits for him. Odd strategy.
Savio still hates Austin.
Faarooq attacks Rock and then every other Nation member. Shit's getting out of hand now!
Honky lasted WAY too long for being a one-off entry
The final four could have been a Raw main event tag match at some point. I'm too lazy to look and see if it was.
The Rock being the runner up shows that even though he was in a mid-card feud with Shamrock and about to start something with Faarooq that the company clearly thought a lot of how he had tweaked his character and had plans for him.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 20:01:57 GMT -5
In the 1990 Rumble they did the entrance music per entry with Marty Jannety and Jake Roberts but seemed to think "Ah screw it" and didn't bother after that. Don't think it was till 97 that all entry themes would play in a rumble. I think they did the music past #2 to hype the drama of Jake (#4) coming out to confront DiBiase, who he was feuding with at the time. Once #5 (Savage) came out, no more music. And '96 was the first Rumble where everyone had their entrance music.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 20:13:10 GMT -5
1992 I watched this Rumble live on PPV. This was the PPV where I said "Oh wow, I had forgotten about him" around 6 times. Haku, Volkoff, Valentine, Barbarian, and Hercules felt like such filler. Nikolai had been gone for over a year at this point and then wasn't seen again for another 3 years. People forgot that he was a babyface. I think Nikolai was advertised, too, so it's not like he was a last minute add. Haku had been gone from TV for a while, I think working int'l dates for the company (and would do so afterwards until he left during the summer or so). Valentine was on his way out, as was Barbarian. Herc, who was a lowcarder thanks to Roma leaving, somehow got spots on major PPV's after Power & Glory ended its run, and bailed a month after this (his last show being the infamous MSG show where he totally no-sold Sid in a squash match). And yet, even though they were all lowcard guys at the end of their WWF careers, they all had good history with the company (gosh, Valentine had been there since the '70s I think) and being there - with THAT title stip in place - helped strengthen the whole roster of the match.
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