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Post by Triangle Lancer on Jun 10, 2021 12:00:20 GMT -5
Literally came into this thread to suggest this in the opposite direction! Also in the other direction, I was shocked when I found out Sunni War Cloud, who did various televised independents in the mid and late 80s was in the 1955 Parkhurst trading card set. The Pete Sanchez who did TV jobs in the late '80s and early '90s was not the same guy as the longtime undercarder. D'oh! Damn you Wrestlingdata.com! The WWF had a few guys who wrestled in the 90s that took previous names of old carpenters. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. Thank you for the correction.
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Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on Jun 10, 2021 13:09:29 GMT -5
Sam Houston wrestled the dark match at Royal Rumble 1991.
Didn’t even know he was still with the WWF by then.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2021 14:36:11 GMT -5
Dave Heath? I heard that guy became a vampire or something. I didn't even notice that! Who would've thought that Gangrel and the Genius would've wrestled on the same card? You've got Lanny Poffo, Gangrel, Typhoon, Koko B Ware, and Duke Droese on the same card. That was definitely when WWE was having a severe identity crisis. Speaking of Duke Droese, he was around a lot longer than people remember, too. He made it through half of 1996 up to a point when the seeds of the early Attitude Era were already being planted. I remember, as a kid, I had a Coliseum Video of "WWF World Tour 1996," which included a Duke Droese v. British Bulldog match and a Steve Austin v. Bret Hart match, where Steve Austin has already mostly moved beyond the Ringmaster gimmick and Todd Pettingill mentions that Bret needs to watch out for Austin's "stunning" new finisher. That overlap is kind of insane to me in retrospect, because I think of Dumpster as a decidedly 1994-1995 "part-time job" era guy.
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Post by karl100589 on Jun 10, 2021 15:00:57 GMT -5
Mark Henry was in the WWF/E for 25 years and while he's recognized as a legend and Hall of Famer NOW as well as overall nice guy, for a good portion of his career(like almost the entirety of the 2000s) he didn't do much and was barely on TV, mainly due to injuries and improving his conditioning and wrestling skills in OVW. In fact his original lasted until 2006 and they were trying to get him to quit with humiliating storylines such as his sexual misadventures with making out with a transvestite and sleeping with Mae Young. It didn't work and he stuck it out(pardon the pun). He then renewed his contract(which I was surprised that he was given that option) when it expired and he was getting failed push after failed push as a generic angry big man until something clicked in 2008 when he won the ECW championship. Ironically enough, he finally got over with the fans(at least the first time since his "Sexual Chocolate" days) in 2009, and beat then WWE champion Randy Orton and the company pretty much ignored those reactions DESPITE BEING ABLE TO CONTROL THE VOLUME OF THEM BY WAVING HIS HANDS IN THE AIR. He was eventually cooled down throughout 2009 and 2010, but his big break came during his Hall of Pain run which culminated in him winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Randy Orton(this time with the face/heel roles reversed) and held it for three months. He then went on to be a respected veteran in the business before quietly bowing out(at least in ring) in 2017 and while becoming a backstage producer with a match here and there. If there's anybody who personifies perseverance, its the World Strongest Man. He could've easily and quietly left the scene in 2006 and became a footnote in wrestling history, but he had far more patience than most guys in his position would to the point where he got a "thank you" World title reign for sticking around as long as he has. So yeah TL;DR that would be my answer.
I have a real soft spot for his ECW Champion run with Tony Atlas as his manager.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Jun 10, 2021 16:03:58 GMT -5
Was Ice Train's WCW run really uninterrupted from 1993 forward? I thought he left in 1997 and returned in 2000. Ice Train wasn't there continuously as he was in and out quite a bit with like three different short runs from 1993 until when they closed in 2001. He actually spent more time out of the company then in it during that period. He was there for about a year from 93 to 94 before disappearing. Then came back in early 96 when he started teaming with Scott Norton as a Fire and Ice then had a singles run where he was managed by Teddy Long. That lasted about another year before he disappeared again. I think his last appearance during that run was Alex Wright turning heel by walking out on him in a tag match against the Dungeon of Doom which you think would've led to feud between the two but nothing came of it as Train was gone afterwards. Then he returned again in 2000 as MI Smooth which lasted until the company was bought out. Sam Houston wasn't there in 91 at least not under contract. I think he was just doing some house show loops during that time probably just filling in for someone and was with them when he did that dark match against Sags for the 91 Rumble. Virgil still being there in summer of 94 is amazing. I remember being shocked coming across a match on Youtube from like June of 94 where he went over Barry Horowitz on Superstars. Crazy he was still around and getting a win on TV. Turns out they dusted him off to feud with Nikolai Vokoff when they were doing the whole Nikoali is broke storyline with him having to sell out to Dibiase. Kind of like Virgil being Dibiase's old servant and trying to talk some sense into him however it didn't really go anywhere. Another one that shocked me was Ronnie Garvin still being in WWF until November of 1990. It's hard to realize as he had no major appearances after his win over Valentine at Rumble 90. Most of his last few months was spent being used teaming with no name enhancement guys on TV which was like the ultimate kiss of death back then.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jun 10, 2021 16:12:43 GMT -5
It's kind of insane that Jim Duggan was still working a weekly WWE schedule into 2008 (he was 54).
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Rican
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
July 17, 2011 - HHHe called it
Posts: 16,461
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Post by Rican on Jun 10, 2021 16:46:06 GMT -5
The Great Khali was in the WWE for 8 years. Idk why in my head it’s always like 2-3 years but when I was rewatching all the Rumbles recently he just kept showing up year after year lol
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Post by koreycaskets on Jun 10, 2021 17:20:23 GMT -5
The Great Khali was in the WWE for 8 years. Idk why in my head it’s always like 2-3 years but when I was rewatching all the Rumbles recently he just kept showing up year after year lol And was always the fav to win every RR.
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Post by jason1980s on Jun 10, 2021 18:21:38 GMT -5
I think Virgil was still with WWF until May 1995. Not sure if it was a contract deal all those years or if they just asked him back for matches. I can't even remember who his opponent was. I just checked history WWE, it was a few matches with Jean Pierre Lafitte in May in Canada, Illinois and Indiana. I always wonder if Vince even knew he was brought on until the Royal Rumble match when he was a replacement for Kamala.
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,571
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Post by cjh on Jun 10, 2021 18:28:32 GMT -5
I think Virgil was still with WWF until May 1995. Not sure if it was a contract deal all those years or if they just asked him back for matches. I can't even remember who his opponent was. I just checked history WWE, it was a few matches with Jean Pierre Lafitte in May in Canada, Illinois and Indiana. I always wonder if Vince even knew he was brought on until the Royal Rumble match when he was a replacement for Kamala. Virgil made a handful of appearances in May/June 1995 on 5-6 house shows but was not with the company anymore at the time. They needed someone to fill in, and he got the call.
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Post by dynamitekidd on Jun 10, 2021 19:40:10 GMT -5
Pre-NWO Buff Bagwell doesn’t get talked about much, but he was the WCW rookie of the year in like ‘91, and stayed until the end.
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Post by jason1980s on Jun 10, 2021 20:21:18 GMT -5
I actually liked seeing the Bushwhackers stay so long. I was at the Baltimore Arena the night before the Curtain Call (same card I think) and got their Boomerang toy.
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petef3
Don Corleone
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Post by petef3 on Jun 10, 2021 20:43:04 GMT -5
Another one that shocked me was Ronnie Garvin still being in WWF until November of 1990. It's hard to realize as he had no major appearances after his win over Valentine at Rumble 90. Most of his last few months was spent being used teaming with no name enhancement guys on TV which was like the ultimate kiss of death back then. They were actually starting a Ron Garvin-Rick Martel program in the summer--Martel cuts an insert promo on him during a Garvin squash--but Rick's injury derailed that. I doubt it would have been much more than a house show opener and Garvin was headed to JTTS-dom anyway, but it would have been something for him, at least.
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Post by jason1980s on Jun 10, 2021 21:26:02 GMT -5
They were actually starting a Ron Garvin-Rick Martel program in the summer--Martel cuts an insert promo on him during a Garvin squash--but Rick's injury derailed that. I doubt it would have been much more than a house show opener and Garvin was headed to JTTS-dom anyway, but it would have been something for him, at least.[/quote] What kind of injury was it? I always assumed it was Rick's time to take time off for the summer for his real estate business. He left summer 1988 (cited as his wife's illness), summer 1990, summer 1991 and summer 1993 and even missed two Summer Slam PPV payoffs.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Jun 10, 2021 21:48:34 GMT -5
Props to Funaki for staying on the payroll as long as he did. It pays to be a good jobber I guess. INDEED!
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petef3
Don Corleone
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Post by petef3 on Jun 10, 2021 23:10:22 GMT -5
They were actually starting a Ron Garvin-Rick Martel program in the summer--Martel cuts an insert promo on him during a Garvin squash--but Rick's injury derailed that. I doubt it would have been much more than a house show opener and Garvin was headed to JTTS-dom anyway, but it would have been something for him, at least. What kind of injury was it? I always assumed it was Rick's time to take time off for the summer for his real estate business. He left summer 1988 (cited as his wife's illness), summer 1990, summer 1991 and summer 1993 and even missed two Summer Slam PPV payoffs.[/quote] I can't find the exact injury but he never actually "left"--he was announced for SummerSlam '90 and then pulled a week or so before the show due to a supposed modeling engagement in France, and was appearing on the Brother Love Show every week to hawk Arrogance (which directly led to the Jake feud).
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Post by Mike Bockwinkel on Jun 10, 2021 23:32:38 GMT -5
Dolph Zigggler is still in WWE.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Jun 11, 2021 5:01:50 GMT -5
They were actually starting a Ron Garvin-Rick Martel program in the summer--Martel cuts an insert promo on him during a Garvin squash--but Rick's injury derailed that. I doubt it would have been much more than a house show opener and Garvin was headed to JTTS-dom anyway, but it would have been something for him, at least. What kind of injury was it? I always assumed it was Rick's time to take time off for the summer for his real estate business. He left summer 1988 (cited as his wife's illness), summer 1990, summer 1991 and summer 1993 and even missed two Summer Slam PPV payoffs. I can't find the exact injury but he never actually "left"--he was announced for SummerSlam '90 and then pulled a week or so before the show due to a supposed modeling engagement in France, and was appearing on the Brother Love Show every week to hawk Arrogance (which directly led to the Jake feud).[/quote] www.huffpost.com/entry/the-balancing-act-of-wres_b_5535801Great article on Martel here from seven years ago. In it he actually explains the injury. Apparently he pinched a few nerves in his neck in a match against Hercules. He tried to keep working through it but it got worse and he ended up having to ask Vince for time off as he started worrying about ending up like Orndorff with one arm smaller then the another due to him not taking time off because he was in the midst of a major program with Hogan. Funny thing is even though he didn't wrestle a match for four months (June to October), with WWF's monthly TV tapings it came off like he was never gone if you were watching on TV. He got hurt in the match with Hercules taped for Prime Time on June 6th then tried working through it as he started his house show program against Garvin, working five matches with him (one of which Garvin shockingly won) before bowing out. However the day before the Hercules match he had a squash match win over Brady Boone taped for Wrestling Challenge that didn't air until over a month later on July 8th. They also announced his Sumemrslam match with Tito where he was replaced by Warlord due to the "modeling engagement France". Then after Summerslam they still had him doing interviews and appearing on Brother Love every week (which ended up leading to the Jake angle) through September as they were really invested into the Model character and wanted to keep him on TV as he recovered from the injury. So going by TV he was never really gone. One of the good things about the Model character that if he was hurt or he needed time off for whatever reason they had easy ways to keep on TV with Arrogance vignettes or write him out with the "he's been busy modeling in Europe" explanation which they also used to explain his sabbaticals in 91 and 93.
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Post by wildojinx on Jun 11, 2021 15:26:31 GMT -5
Iron Sheik was around until December 1997! Now granted, he had left as an active wrestler earlier, but the fact that he was still there as Sultan's manager that long (I believe his last appearance was actually the same night as Vince's "Cure for the Common Show" speech that launched the attitude era) is kind of strange.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Jun 11, 2021 18:03:42 GMT -5
Iron Sheik was around until December 1997! Now granted, he had left as an active wrestler earlier, but the fact that he was still there as Sultan's manager that long (I believe his last appearance was actually the same night as Vince's "Cure for the Common Show" speech that launched the attitude era) is kind of strange. I was also surprised he made it over a year (March 91 to May 92) for his Colonel Mustafa run considering how terrible and washed up he was at that point. Even then the only reason they finally fired him was because he stashed his cocaine in the Berzerker's bag while they were waiting in customs to enter Canada. Thankfully he was so dumb he actually told Berzerker he did it which gave him the chance to hide the bag somewhere and ditch it. Berzerker was understandably super pissed about this and angrily confronted Sheik later in the day and then told Sgt. Slaughter (who I guess must have been in office at that point even though he was still wrestling) what happened when Sarge came over to see what the problem was. Sarge asked Sheik if he did it and he admitted to it which led to him getting dismissed. If wasn't for that though who knows how much longer they would've kept him. Probably not much longer I would guess but who knows. He was almost 50 years old during that run which makes it even more incredible that they would hire him back Slaughter Irag angle or not.
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