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Post by RI Richmark on Sept 2, 2019 18:54:00 GMT -5
With the WWE and (part of) the KOTR being in Baltimore tonight it brought back memories of this. I remember seeing him introduced and wondering "Who the hell is this guy?" and "Why is he here?" He obviously had no idea what was going on.
Were the WWF THAT desperate for a celebrity? I know he was a legendary Baltimore Colt but his career ended in the 1960's, way before most WWF fans were born. I'm willing to bet that 95% of fans didn't know who he was. Even if you were a fan from the Baltimore he was likely just a name from a bygone era. I can't see how he was supposed to bring in new viewers. Hell, I don't remember him being advertised, he just appeared.
Personally I wonder if he was supposed to be somewhere else that night but he got confused, showed up at ringside and Gorilla & Savage just didn't have the heart to tell him to leave.
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bigbadbull
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Post by bigbadbull on Sept 2, 2019 18:56:52 GMT -5
To find out how much this guy weigh.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2019 18:59:05 GMT -5
I think they thought he'd be better because of his appearances on David Letterman and Johnny Carson's shows
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 2, 2019 18:59:46 GMT -5
I think having him out for like *A* match would have been fine, but he really didn't need to be there all night, especially with the commentary team audibly more and more irritated with him as it went on.
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Post by wildojinx on Sept 2, 2019 19:18:57 GMT -5
It does strike me as odd, it would be like if Steve Allen had commentated every match at WM6.
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Post by thegatewaydrug on Sept 2, 2019 19:53:31 GMT -5
KOTR '94 was the first PPV Vince was NOT in attendance for, leaving Bruce Prichard and Pat Patterson in charge of everything. Both, presumably running around to handle other issues, left Monsoon and Savage on an island with no one in "Gorilla Position" to pivot on the fly and pull the plug on ol' Art.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 2, 2019 20:38:01 GMT -5
KOTR '94 was the first PPV Vince was NOT in attendance for, leaving Bruce Prichard and Pat Patterson in charge of everything. Both, presumably running around to handle other issues, left Monsoon and Savage on an island with no one in "Gorilla Position" to pivot on the fly and pull the plug on ol' Art. Given how Savage liked things very particular and hated change, he had to be miserable. Gorilla was definitely annoyed, but Savage was like a neurotic house cat whose owners just bought like 6 parrots. |
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Sept 2, 2019 23:26:31 GMT -5
I think they thought he'd be better because of his appearances on David Letterman and Johnny Carson's shows This is it. He wasn't some A-List household name celebrity, but in an era where not every household had cable television, he was a frequent talk show guest and sports color/pundit. Being a Baltimore legend, it seemed on paper like it could work. |
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Post by chronocross on Sept 2, 2019 23:28:44 GMT -5
Not sure why they didn't just have him do one match or do ring announcing or even come out for an introduction at the top of the show.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 2, 2019 23:36:51 GMT -5
I think having him out for like *A* match would have been fine, but he really didn't need to be there all night, especially with the commentary team audibly more and more irritated with him as it went on. yeah especially as it was pretty obvious after the first match he had no idea what the hell was going on. can only assume Vince figured they were already paying him for the night so he wanted his moneys worth. |
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Post by flakeymcgill on Sept 3, 2019 1:15:42 GMT -5
I think they thought he'd be better because of his appearances on David Letterman and Johnny Carson's shows This is it. He wasn't some A-List household name celebrity, but in an era where not every household had cable television, he was a frequent talk show guest and sports color/pundit. Being a Baltimore legend, it seemed on paper like it could work. Sure but to 99+% of the TV audience the fact they were in Baltimore mattered as much as knowing the Bagel shop across the street from the venue has a 2-for-1 offer on every Thursday. It'd make sense if you introduced him to the live crowd or maybe have him involved in some skit so he could get a pop from the Baltimore attendees but if I'm someone watching the show I'm almost certainly not living in Baltimore. On commentary you're there for the television audience not for the live crowd. People who might give a toss about who he is just see him sitting down. People who likely don't care who he is and don't give a toss that the event is in Baltimore are subjected to his commentary for 3 hours. |
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Post by SmashTV on Sept 3, 2019 2:30:06 GMT -5
I’m from England so had no idea who the hell he was, and assumed he was some NFL legend. I’ve since discovered he was more of a local hero than anything else.
As much of a hindrance as he was that night, though, he made more of an impact in one night than some commentators do in their whole career.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Sept 3, 2019 2:43:51 GMT -5
This is it. He wasn't some A-List household name celebrity, but in an era where not every household had cable television, he was a frequent talk show guest and sports color/pundit. Being a Baltimore legend, it seemed on paper like it could work. Sure but to 99+% of the TV audience the fact they were in Baltimore mattered as much as knowing the Bagel shop across the street from the venue has a 2-for-1 offer on every Thursday. It'd make sense if you introduced him to the live crowd or maybe have him involved in some skit so he could get a pop from the Baltimore attendees but if I'm someone watching the show I'm almost certainly not living in Baltimore. On commentary you're there for the television audience not for the live crowd. People who might give a toss about who he is just see him sitting down. People who likely don't care who he is and don't give a toss that the event is in Baltimore are subjected to his commentary for 3 hours. Vastly underestimating how known Donovan was at the time. |
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Post by flakeymcgill on Sept 3, 2019 4:20:41 GMT -5
Sure but to 99+% of the TV audience the fact they were in Baltimore mattered as much as knowing the Bagel shop across the street from the venue has a 2-for-1 offer on every Thursday. It'd make sense if you introduced him to the live crowd or maybe have him involved in some skit so he could get a pop from the Baltimore attendees but if I'm someone watching the show I'm almost certainly not living in Baltimore. On commentary you're there for the television audience not for the live crowd. People who might give a toss about who he is just see him sitting down. People who likely don't care who he is and don't give a toss that the event is in Baltimore are subjected to his commentary for 3 hours. Vastly underestimating how known Donovan was at the time. He'd have been equally well known if the event was held in Newark though. Commentary team are there for the TV audience and for the vast majority of that audience the fact the was held in Baltimore was not relevant |
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Post by Milkman Norm on Sept 3, 2019 7:47:06 GMT -5
chazraps answered the question. Explanation is not excuse. But since the thread was about why he was there & not directly about how bad he was on commentary it seems to me everything has been wrapped up.
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Post by CeilingFan on Sept 3, 2019 7:55:54 GMT -5
Can you imagine if Heenan had not left to WCW? He would've had lots of fun verbally tormenting Donovan  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 8:08:28 GMT -5
KOTR '94 was the first PPV Vince was NOT in attendance for, leaving Bruce Prichard and Pat Patterson in charge of everything. Both, presumably running around to handle other issues, left Monsoon and Savage on an island with no one in "Gorilla Position" to pivot on the fly and pull the plug on ol' Art. No wonder Vince won't retire - the first PPV he missed resulted in the Art Donovan Catastrophe. He's probably had more nightmares about that than the steroid trial. Gotta wonder how extensive his absence for that steroid trial spread. Seeing mention of KOTR '94 always reminds me of Joey Marella - it was the last major event he worked before he died in a car crash a few weeks later - and recently I rediscovered the tribute video they ran for him on WWF TV......which according to Pettengill's narration aired A MONTH after his death. I couldn't fathom why it took so long for Gorilla's son to get acknowledgement of his passing, but IIRC Prichard said on STWW once that Vince couldn't even make it to Joey's funeral. So were WWF operations at the time *SO* tied to Vince's presence that things like a death tribute were even affected? |
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cjh
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Post by cjh on Sept 3, 2019 10:07:02 GMT -5
KOTR '94 was the first PPV Vince was NOT in attendance for, leaving Bruce Prichard and Pat Patterson in charge of everything. Both, presumably running around to handle other issues, left Monsoon and Savage on an island with no one in "Gorilla Position" to pivot on the fly and pull the plug on ol' Art. No wonder Vince won't retire - the first PPV he missed resulted in the Art Donovan Catastrophe. He's probably had more nightmares about that than the steroid trial. Gotta wonder how extensive his absence for that steroid trial spread. Seeing mention of KOTR '94 always reminds me of Joey Marella - it was the last major event he worked before he died in a car crash a few weeks later - and recently I rediscovered the tribute video they ran for him on WWF TV......which according to Pettengill's narration aired A MONTH after his death. I couldn't fathom why it took so long for Gorilla's son to get acknowledgement of his passing, but IIRC Prichard said on STWW once that Vince couldn't even make it to Joey's funeral. So were WWF operations at the time *SO* tied to Vince's presence that things like a death tribute were even affected? They had to wait to air the tribute because Marella was still on TV for weeks after his death due to the shows being taped in advance. |
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Sept 3, 2019 12:02:49 GMT -5
No wonder Vince won't retire - the first PPV he missed resulted in the Art Donovan Catastrophe. He's probably had more nightmares about that than the steroid trial. Gotta wonder how extensive his absence for that steroid trial spread. Seeing mention of KOTR '94 always reminds me of Joey Marella - it was the last major event he worked before he died in a car crash a few weeks later - and recently I rediscovered the tribute video they ran for him on WWF TV......which according to Pettengill's narration aired A MONTH after his death. I couldn't fathom why it took so long for Gorilla's son to get acknowledgement of his passing, but IIRC Prichard said on STWW once that Vince couldn't even make it to Joey's funeral. So were WWF operations at the time *SO* tied to Vince's presence that things like a death tribute were even affected? They had to wait to air the tribute because Marella was still on TV for weeks after his death due to the shows being taped in advance. Yep... it's not like today when things are done live (or when Smackdown was done that Tuesday for Friday) where you can just quickly make up an In Memoriam thing and put it to broadcast. Things were shot, edited and handed off weeks and I believe in some cases months in advance. |
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Post by Wieners=$$$ on Sept 3, 2019 12:45:31 GMT -5
I think they thought he'd be better because of his appearances on David Letterman and Johnny Carson's shows How much does this gig pay? |
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