tms
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,901
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Post by tms on Sept 3, 2019 13:20:05 GMT -5
Who's this Art Donovan? According to Gorilla he was Ar Oh Wah Who.
Does anyone have the MS Art picture someone did with Art asking how much dis fella weighed while Gorilla has angry lines coming from his head while Randy looks on? That was glorious.
I always loved his line about IRS: Randy is dish, one of dah wreshlis?
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,583
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Post by cjh on Sept 3, 2019 13:45:02 GMT -5
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. Commentary for the matches and the studio segments for shows like Mania and All-American were usually recorded just a few days, maybe a week before the shows aired. They could have mentioned it a lot sooner, but there were still matches with him involved left to air.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 14:05:37 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. Or the simple explanation.
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Post by koreycaskets on Sept 3, 2019 14:16:33 GMT -5
At least they didn't have him win king of the ring
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Post by flakeymcgill on Sept 3, 2019 14:18:08 GMT -5
I wonder why Monsoon sat on the end rather than in middle like most PBP guys in 3 man booth
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Sept 3, 2019 14:32:47 GMT -5
They did a STWW episode about KOTR 94 a couple months ago. According to Bruce they wanted somebody who was big in the Baltimore Market. According to Bruce, Vince called him towards the end of the show and found the whole ppv and Art in particular, hilarious because it was so bad.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,959
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Post by chazraps on Sept 3, 2019 14:46:35 GMT -5
I always loved his line about IRS: Randy is dish, one of dah wreshlis? A midst the garbage, repeat viewings of the show reveals a handful of Art gems. When asked if Tatanka and Owen Hart would make good linebackers: "Yeah! Throw a pair of pants on those guys and they'd actually be intimidating!"
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,583
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Post by cjh on Sept 3, 2019 14:49:16 GMT -5
Underrated Art line.
*Bam Bam Bigelow has Razor Ramon in a backbreaker.* Gorilla, is he dead?
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Post by Sir Woodrow on Sept 3, 2019 14:57:13 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. Now all I can imagine is Randy surrounded by all these Parrots squawking "SHUT UP BIRDS! NO I DON'T HAVE A CRACKER!!"
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SmashTV
Dennis Stamp
Big Money, Big Prizes, I Love It!
The Excellence of Allocation
Posts: 4,485
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Post by SmashTV on Sept 4, 2019 0:56:48 GMT -5
Can you imagine if Heenan had not left to WCW? He would've had lots of fun verbally tormenting Donovan Under the circumstances I can imagine Heenan actually breaking character a few times while doing it too!
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Post by Aceorton on Sept 4, 2019 10:40:24 GMT -5
Can you imagine if Heenan had not left to WCW? He would've had lots of fun verbally tormenting Donovan Under the circumstances I can imagine Heenan actually breaking character a few times while doing it too! Heenan and Monsoon with Donovan would have been a glorious train wreck because Heenan would have had Gorilla corpsing, too.
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,037
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Sept 4, 2019 12:48:37 GMT -5
Local legend who could match wits with the likes of Carson.
Seemed like it would be a no-brainer. Then the concept of "pounds" eluded him.
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Post by Milkman Norm on Sept 4, 2019 12:55:55 GMT -5
They did a STWW episode about KOTR 94 a couple months ago. According to Bruce they wanted somebody who was big in the Baltimore Market. According to Bruce, Vince called him towards the end of the show and found the whole ppv and Art in particular, hilarious because it was so bad. The most interesting thing to me was that ATB Gorrilla was more frustrated with Macho than Art.
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Post by Aceorton on Sept 4, 2019 14:22:39 GMT -5
They did a STWW episode about KOTR 94 a couple months ago. According to Bruce they wanted somebody who was big in the Baltimore Market. According to Bruce, Vince called him towards the end of the show and found the whole ppv and Art in particular, hilarious because it was so bad. The most interesting thing to me was that ATB Gorrilla was more frustrated with Macho than Art. I can't remember what Savage did. Was it that he kept trying to explain basic stuff to Donovan and was thus drawing more attention to him?
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fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
Posts: 38,961
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Post by fw91 on Sept 4, 2019 18:11:09 GMT -5
Dietician. He needed to find people’s weights to build a proper meal plan
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SmashTV
Dennis Stamp
Big Money, Big Prizes, I Love It!
The Excellence of Allocation
Posts: 4,485
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Post by SmashTV on Sept 5, 2019 2:29:01 GMT -5
The most interesting thing to me was that ATB Gorrilla was more frustrated with Macho than Art. I can't remember what Savage did. Was it that he kept trying to explain basic stuff to Donovan and was thus drawing more attention to him? Yeah, of the two Savage was more tolerant of Art and would reply to some of his questions before eventually losing patience. I remember Savage actually putting Michaels over as ‘one of the best we’ve got’ when Donovan asked who ‘dis fella is?’. There’s two other lines I remember from Savage where you can note he’s gone from tolerance to resentment. These aren’t exact quotes but it’s the overall gist. AD: ‘Randy, if dese guys come over here I’m gonna take off all my clothes and fight ‘em for ya!’ Savage: ‘I appreciate that!’ AD: ‘Seeing dese guys fight is da same as da start of any Super Bowl!’ Savage: ‘Exactly the same but completely different!’
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Squirrel Master
Hank Scorpio
"Then the Squirrel Master came out of left field and told me I'm his bitch!"
Posts: 6,643
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Post by Squirrel Master on Sept 5, 2019 13:09:13 GMT -5
Excellent question, Shelton.
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Post by jason1980s on Sept 5, 2019 13:58:07 GMT -5
Art was a popular guest at autograph signings, banquets, TV shows, commercials and a lot more so for him this had to be just another appearance. He probably got a call from WWF, didn't know the promotion from any other TV spot, probably didn't even know what it was until getting to the event, and took his pay day like anything else. He is really entertaining, in a good way, if he's in his element like talking about football. WWF definitely confused him.
On a personal note, back in the mid 2000s my father knew a few business associates who knew Baltimore Colts. He wound up having a guy take him to Donovan's home (a small house located on a large property where he held wedding receptions) where my father arranged another time for both me and him to meet at the house. When we got there, of course Art had no idea why we were coming. Art would have fun talking about it when I would show him pictures we took inside his kitchen but it was all typical of the Art you got at King of the Ring. Just another fan, or in WWF's case a promotion, wanting him for an appearance or meet and greet and accepting the deal with little knowledge of having done so.
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Post by Milkman Norm on Sept 5, 2019 23:00:40 GMT -5
I haven't watched the show in a long time & I'm sure that Art said some really stupid things. Really though mocking him his regional accent (dis & dat) is a softball. Secondly the weight thing makes total sense if he is treating wrestling like a real combat sport where things like height, weight & reach are importantly. Finally a hypothetical: you're are a former athlete non-fan who doesn't watch the product and either isn't smart/ wants to play along. You see the 6'5 260 lbs Razor Ramon against the 5'9 215 lbs Owen Hart. Who are you gonna view as the under dog and put over?
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efarns
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,273
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Post by efarns on Sept 6, 2019 8:01:26 GMT -5
I haven't watched the show in a long time & I'm sure that Art said some really stupid things. Really though mocking him his regional accent (dis & dat) is a softball. Secondly the weight thing makes total sense if he is treating wrestling like a real combat sport where things like height, weight & reach are importantly. Finally a hypothetical: you're are a former athlete non-fan who doesn't watch the product and either isn't smart/ wants to play along. You see the 6'5 260 lbs Razor Ramon against the 5'9 215 lbs Owen Hart. Who are you gonna view as the under dog and put over? I think you make some good points. They overexposed him. Having Art out there asking really basic questions is not a bad storytelling device. It's like having a dumb character or the new kid in a movie who the other characters can explain the backstory to. I don't know what casual fans were going to be watching The King of The Ring, but it's a good way to catch them up on the wrestlers and characters by having Gorilla and Randy explain the action "to Art." That said, by the Owen and Bret angle, Art should have been gone.
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