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Post by Def Rebel: Fight For NY on Feb 8, 2022 12:10:14 GMT -5
Seriously we are so spoiled with how "starting off hot" is pretty much the norm nowadays, because good lord it did not used to be that way. I've been watching old episodes of RAW and Smackdown (1996-2003 mainly) while I fall asleep a ton lately and one of the reasons why is because the opening usually match puts me in the perfect frame of mind to absolutely doze off.
I wish I was old enough to say that I grew up when shows opened with something like Goldust vs. The Stalker or The Godwinns giving dudes the almighty SLOP, because I probably would be a lot more patient about anything and everything in life. Like damn dude you can't stop just cause you're in yr Mark Henry and Rikishi vs. heel Los Guerreros era, there's a whole Smackdown Six waiting for you. Live your life.
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tafkaga
Samurai Cop
the Dogfather
Posts: 2,105
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Post by tafkaga on Feb 8, 2022 13:20:16 GMT -5
I remember when Nitro would open up with Jung Dragons vs. La Parka/Ciclope/Damian or something and the crowd would be so hot from the opening minutes of the show. The rest of the show might have sucked but they knew how to get it started.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 9, 2022 11:13:20 GMT -5
An exception to this would be Saturday Night Main Event, where Hogan would have his matches first often, if I recall, with the reasoning being that, well, that's when the most people were watching. It was also a much easier sell getting the match the kids would want to see over with early than letting them stay up later pre-DVR.
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Post by Def Rebel: Fight For NY on Feb 9, 2022 11:24:13 GMT -5
I remember when Nitro would open up with Jung Dragons vs. La Parka/Ciclope/Damian or something and the crowd would be so hot from the opening minutes of the show. The rest of the show might have sucked but they knew how to get it started. WCW and ECW definitely figured that out A Lot quicker than WWE did. I think Vince had an ideological objection to ppl getting up midway thru the show to piss. Like f*** no you piss now or you hold it. This is yr one shot. One opportunity. |
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Demented
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Post by Demented on Feb 9, 2022 12:37:58 GMT -5
I remember when Nitro would open up with Jung Dragons vs. La Parka/Ciclope/Damian or something and the crowd would be so hot from the opening minutes of the show. The rest of the show might have sucked but they knew how to get it started. Watched a random episode of Nitro last night. The date was November 16th, 1998. The opening match was Billy Kidman defending the Cruiserweight title against Juventud Guerrera. Absolute f***ing banger of a match.
The rest of the show.... ugh.
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Post by Milkman Norm on Feb 9, 2022 13:04:10 GMT -5
An exception to this would be Saturday Night Main Event, where Hogan would have his matches first often, if I recall, with the reasoning being that, well, that's when the most people were watching. It was also a much easier sell getting the match the kids would want to see over with early than letting them stay up later pre-DVR. The opening of SNME would be the cold open/monologue time on SNL. So just like that show SNME would front load everything . |
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Post by wendytorrancev1 on Feb 9, 2022 13:09:58 GMT -5
For a while during the summer of 2000, most of the show openers would be tag team matches.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Feb 9, 2022 13:37:52 GMT -5
Now days with WWE you be lucky if you get a match as the first segment. The WWE really needs to mix things up in that. It seems there show follows the exact same format each week. Starts off always with a Promo mostly with who is World Champion for the brand and ext.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Feb 9, 2022 16:50:46 GMT -5
Now days with WWE you be lucky if you get a match as the first segment. The WWE really needs to mix things up in that. It seems there show follows the exact same format each week. Starts off always with a Promo mostly with who is World Champion for the brand and ext. They did this for so long that I am still relieved when Dynamite opens with a match |
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Wardlow on Wardlow 54
Wade Wilson
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Post by Wardlow on Wardlow 54 on Feb 9, 2022 17:17:46 GMT -5
I remember when Nitro would open up with Jung Dragons vs. La Parka/Ciclope/Damian or something and the crowd would be so hot from the opening minutes of the show. The rest of the show might have sucked but they knew how to get it started. I went to a Nitro in Boston in 97, opening match was Ultimo Dragon, Juvi and Super Calo vs. Psicosis, La Parka and Silver King. And it was friggin' awesome lol |
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msc
Dennis Stamp
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Post by msc on Feb 9, 2022 18:30:08 GMT -5
The WWF used to have what I called the Opening Match Title Switch spot in 1999-2000. Namely, if the first match after the opening promos was a title match, and the champ hadn't been seen in a few weeks, or were taking on someone "with momentum", you were 99% sure of a title change. That usually perked my interest. Examples include Angle/Val, Test/Bossman and Crash Holly/Test from the same month or so period!
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Post by eudypfohl on Feb 23, 2022 2:37:17 GMT -5
I remember for a period of time the WWF seemingly started every RAW with the Godwinns. I'd tune in, hear their music, and immediately change the channel as they ho-downed to the ring.
Must've been 1995 and into 1996
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2022 9:32:39 GMT -5
I remember when Nitro would open up with Jung Dragons vs. La Parka/Ciclope/Damian or something and the crowd would be so hot from the opening minutes of the show. The rest of the show might have sucked but they knew how to get it started. WCW and ECW definitely figured that out A Lot quicker than WWE did. I think Vince had an ideological objection to ppl getting up midway thru the show to piss. Like f*** no you piss now or you hold it. This is yr one shot. One opportunity. This was probably a huge upside to all PPVs having intermissions back in the day. I've only ever been to one WWE PPV (WM 30) since they're never anywhere near me, but it would have been nice to have not had to choose which match to miss for a bathroom break. |
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Post by Aceorton on Feb 23, 2022 10:48:32 GMT -5
I remember for a period of time the WWF seemingly started every RAW with the Godwinns. I'd tune in, hear their music, and immediately change the channel as they ho-downed to the ring. Must've been 1995 and into 1996 You just KNOW that was Vince's idea of starting off a show red-hot. |
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Post by jason1980s on Feb 23, 2022 12:00:28 GMT -5
I remember for a period of time the WWF seemingly started every RAW with the Godwinns. I'd tune in, hear their music, and immediately change the channel as they ho-downed to the ring. Must've been 1995 and into 1996 You just KNOW that was Vince's idea of starting off a show red-hot. I'm surprised it took Vince so long to bring in Dennis Knight for a tag team. And with Hillbilly already a WWF employee you'd think Vince would have figured him in with Henry even earlier. I personally thought the opening matches at least 1980s-1990s were usually a hot one to start off the show, they would often have some of the best workers on the card like Pillman, Johnny B. Badd, the Rockers etc...You have a stinker or two like Orndorff/Muraco simply because neither guy could afford to be pinned but for the most part the first match got the crowd real excited. |
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Burst
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Post by Burst on Feb 23, 2022 12:08:19 GMT -5
I'm sure someone has probably done the stats -somewhere-, but I'd be very curious to see the trends for RAW opening with matches vs opening with match-length promos, vs opening with promos that result in an "unplanned" match, particularly over time. The guest host era in particular I barely remember RAW -not- opening with a promo.
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Post by wildojinx on Feb 23, 2022 22:30:09 GMT -5
You think thats bad, try some of those mid-80s WWF house show openers. Usually two jobbers having slow, chinlocky matches.
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Post by jason1980s on Feb 23, 2022 22:43:04 GMT -5
You think thats bad, try some of those mid-80s WWF house show openers. Usually two jobbers having slow, chinlocky matches. Wasn't there one in the mid 1990s WWF where most of the wrestlers hadn't gotten to the show yet so the first two openers were told to go long. I think it was Savio and Bob Backlund. They did the pre show to the December 95 In Your House and a match like that to me as a kid was the main event. |
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Post by Vice honcho room temperature on Feb 23, 2022 22:54:10 GMT -5
I would say the first match you see on TV isn't the first match the crowd saw. Also even then the match to put on while the crowd fills in isn't always the "opening match" and Third a TV taping the matches could be moved around.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 24, 2022 22:10:49 GMT -5
I would say the first match you see on TV isn't the first match the crowd saw. Also even then the match to put on while the crowd fills in isn't always the "opening match" and Third a TV taping the matches could be moved around. Yeah, dark matches are usually a thing, but the point about TV tapings, yeah, those were infamously grueling for the promotions and the audience alike. There's a reason the ticket sales for them were often terrible pre-Attitude in high swing, since you often would be watching like hours and hours of squashes or if you're lucky, some midcarders who might know how to make use out of extra time, or might just be plodding as hell since people got paid poorly for TV at the time, so they rarely brought their A game. |
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