hassanchop
Grimlock
Who are you to doubt Belldandy?
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Post by hassanchop on Apr 12, 2024 2:36:04 GMT -5
For me, it was about time. I believed 1998 was the year he should have been a bigger star.
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on Apr 12, 2024 19:06:18 GMT -5
Booker, feuding with Jarrett, Steiner, Sid (if he didn't snap his leg off), Storm.. that would have been a great main event collective if WCW survived the merger and wasn't sold for pennies. They were definitely getting back on track before it folded. Still some whacky stuff going on, but it was starting to find an identity beyond the nWo. Booker definitely should have been at the forefront of that.
Man, the 'what if' of post 2001 WCW still holds a nostalgic, and even emotional weight for me. It was only in the year or so prior to it closing that I'd really gotten into it, through VHS releases of PPVs and Best Ofs, the Toy Biz figures, and then the Channel 5 broadcasts, but I was really enjoying WCW alongside WWF. Hell, I'm a huge fan of Ready to Rumble.
There was a certain feel to the product that no other promotion has really been able to capture, and a lineage that, whilst Rocky, really was rooted in the competitive sport of pro wrestling.
Schiavone's "I have seen it, and I still can't believe it" still hits to this day for many fans of WCW.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
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Post by Sephiroth on Apr 13, 2024 7:03:27 GMT -5
For me, it was about time. I believed 1998 was the year he should have been a bigger star. In the proper timeline, Booker was the one to go over Goldberg to end the streak, officially ushering in the post NWO age for WCW.
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67 more
King Koopa
He's just a Sexy Kurt
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Post by 67 more on Apr 14, 2024 0:59:39 GMT -5
Booker, feuding with Jarrett, Steiner, Sid (if he didn't snap his leg off), Storm.. that would have been a great main event collective if WCW survived the merger and wasn't sold for pennies. They were definitely getting back on track before it folded. Still some whacky stuff going on, but it was starting to find an identity beyond the nWo. Booker definitely should have been at the forefront of that. Man, the 'what if' of post 2001 WCW still holds a nostalgic, and even emotional weight for me. It was only in the year or so prior to it closing that I'd really gotten into it, through VHS releases of PPVs and Best Ofs, the Toy Biz figures, and then the Channel 5 broadcasts, but I was really enjoying WCW alongside WWF. Hell, I'm a huge fan of Ready to Rumble. There was a certain feel to the product that no other promotion has really been able to capture, and a lineage that, whilst Rocky, really was rooted in the competitive sport of pro wrestling. Schiavone's "I have seen it, and I still can't believe it" still hits to this day for many fans of WCW. Oh man, the Channel 5 stuff. ZAP BIFF WHAMMO
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on Apr 14, 2024 2:12:09 GMT -5
Booker, feuding with Jarrett, Steiner, Sid (if he didn't snap his leg off), Storm.. that would have been a great main event collective if WCW survived the merger and wasn't sold for pennies. They were definitely getting back on track before it folded. Still some whacky stuff going on, but it was starting to find an identity beyond the nWo. Booker definitely should have been at the forefront of that. Man, the 'what if' of post 2001 WCW still holds a nostalgic, and even emotional weight for me. It was only in the year or so prior to it closing that I'd really gotten into it, through VHS releases of PPVs and Best Ofs, the Toy Biz figures, and then the Channel 5 broadcasts, but I was really enjoying WCW alongside WWF. Hell, I'm a huge fan of Ready to Rumble. There was a certain feel to the product that no other promotion has really been able to capture, and a lineage that, whilst Rocky, really was rooted in the competitive sport of pro wrestling. Schiavone's "I have seen it, and I still can't believe it" still hits to this day for many fans of WCW. Oh man, the Channel 5 stuff. ZAP BIFF WHAMMO Indeed. Annoying as a kid when you want to see those chair and guitar shots, or table bumps. It did add to the whacky nature of WCW at the time, however haha
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Post by Ryushinku on Apr 14, 2024 3:49:51 GMT -5
I was real happy for Booker, but remained concerned in general for WCW because the PPV had been so terrible. Almost all the PPVs in 2000 were terrible!
And I also worried because the WCW Heavyweight Title had been hot potatoed around so much that year. I didn't know that Booker would hold it for long, happy as I was he got it.
In hindsight, he got a better run with it than most. Even if he did get pretty much squished when they got Steiner in that spot.
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krozor
Don Corleone
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Post by krozor on Apr 15, 2024 17:34:30 GMT -5
I loved Booker in Harlem Heat and as a singles guy. Top 2-3 favorite WCW guy at the time for me, and I wanted him to get a real singles run more than any other younger/lower card guy in the company (Jericho, before he left, would have been right there). Like others have said above, it was tainted by Russo immediately turning him into a pretty clear cheap Rock knockoff with the change in how he was styled and suddenly using a Rock Bottom as a finisher. But it was still really exciting and rewarding to see him finally get there and gave me hope that WCW was somehow going to turn it around.
They did not. Nevertheless!
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hassanchop
Grimlock
Who are you to doubt Belldandy?
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Post by hassanchop on Apr 16, 2024 3:13:13 GMT -5
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Apr 17, 2024 8:45:37 GMT -5
I watched him from his Harlem Heat days. It was a deserved culmination of a lot of hard work. It was, but as pointed out by a few people here, if you didn't have that long term association in place, he hadn't been portrayed well in about a year. Circumstances were what they were, but ideally they'd have given him at least a month of buildup, so this wasn't GI Bro/The guy that lost to Big T. Have a similar setup, because they basically had to, but maybe have a battle royal, Booker wins as GI Bro, loses in screwy fashion. Hate to add to the shootyness, but the next night, Booker comes out AS Booker, drops the GI Bro stuff and challenges Jeff as his real self. He can put over his history, accomplishments, how long it took to even get an opportunity and he won't let it slide etc. Jeff puts a bunch of hurdles in his way, Booker overcomes them and wins the belt.
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john84
Fry's dog Seymour
Proud Father of 3 :)
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Post by john84 on Apr 17, 2024 14:03:49 GMT -5
I was glad at the time as I've always enjoyed Booker as a performer. I remember my brother and I popping for it at the time. The only thing that soured me on it at the time is that WCW were hot-potatoeing the belt so even at the age of 16 I knew it wouldn't last long before someone else got the belt.
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Apr 18, 2024 4:20:35 GMT -5
Booker's 5 time catchphrase seems a lot less impressive when 3 of those were in the space of 2 months due to Russo pinballing the belt around, one was on the last Nitro because Steiner sat out his contract, and one was after they hotshotted the belt to Kurt Angle for a week for some reason
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salz4life
Grimlock
Prichard is a guy who gets that his job is to service his boss.
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Post by salz4life on Apr 18, 2024 10:37:13 GMT -5
I was happy because I always like Booker T and the booker/writers did him no favors in the year before that. I will never forget the program for the letter T. LOL
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Apr 22, 2024 14:51:55 GMT -5
Only caught rare glimpses of WCW as a kid, but was kinda impressed when I saw Booker was champ. Felt like the company was coming out from under the shadow of NWO and going in a pretty fresh direction. Granted, that wasn't the case but that's no fault of Booker.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Apr 23, 2024 7:15:32 GMT -5
Oh man, the Channel 5 stuff. ZAP BIFF WHAMMO Indeed. Annoying as a kid when you want to see those chair and guitar shots, or table bumps. It did add to the whacky nature of WCW at the time, however haha Shane Douglas grabs the mic 'Cut the *whipcrack* music!'
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