Mr. Perfect vs. the Blue Blazer at Wrestlemania 5 in 1989........

[Wetzelbill]

Was a fantastic match. Man, I just watched it and it was great. Mr. Perfect was a little lethargic, but came away with the end. Blue Blazer was simply awesome. Fast, quick, showing an outstanding aray of aerial and technical skills.

Curt "Mr.Perfect" Hennig used to be my hero. I used to do a version of the Perfect Plex when I wrestled. I had to modify it so it wouldn't be illegal in collegiate or freestyle type wrestling, but I would get so many pins with that thing. I always admired Owen "Blue Blazer" Hart. He and his brother Brett, along with Hennig and Ric Flair, were the premiere technical wrestlers of this era. IMHO. Owen was always fun to watch. Just great.

This match was such a treat to watch, and made even sadder by the fact that both men left us well before their times. Hard to imagine they are dead now. Those guys though, they were what pro wrestling was all about. Each man could carry a match. Very exciting. Knew their craft in and out. Always in shape. Great athletes, not just glorified bodybuilders, like some wrestlers have been. Really brought me back watching that. I know my fellow DU grappling fans can appreciate what I'm talking about. :)

[LSK]

1. how did you watch it?

Got super-delayed PPV?

[Wetzelbill]

3. bought the new Wrestlemania Anthology, every single Wrestlemania ever

I am in hog heaven!

[enigmatic]

2. Damn!

That's one of the ones I was going to tell you to watch; I knew you'd get into that:)

The thing about both Hening and Owen was how underrated both were on the stick (Owen especially); you're right, too; they looked like atheletes, not bodybuilders....

You'll get an E tonight or tomorrow; I goptta get that DVD, too..

[Wetzelbill]

5. The Road Warrior Dvd has

an early match of theirs in the AWA vs Curt and his dad Larry "The Axe" Hennig. I haven't watched it yet, but Curt is so young looking and skinny. Wow. As Mr. Perfect he's pretty buffed up. I think he admitted to using steroids at one time, but the guy was always a great athlete, not a muscle guy. Technical skills were awesome.

Owen Hart used to wrestle for Simon Fraser University. A guy I used to coach with said Owen was their when his team, Northern Montana, used to go up and wrestle them. Owen always was underrated. His skills are unbelievable. As the Blazer he was way, way ahead of his time. He was doing stuff that guys like Mysterio, Kidman and XPac started to do 10 years later. Yeah, the whole set is great. It's got like 21 DVDs in the whole thing. 69 hours worth of action. Awesome! :)

[enigmatic]

11. The AWA stuff is amazing

They used to play a bunch of their old shows up here on ESPN Classic Canada until recently; I taped a bunch of them (along w/ episodes of Championship Wrestling From Florida, Universal Wrestling Federation, and Wild West Wrestling, which was the off-shoot of WCCW), I should see if I still have them.

If you've never seen them, I'll send those to you; seeing Verne Gagne, a YOUNG Sean Michaels and Marty Janetty, and Curt Hennig is a mind-blower..

[Wetzelbill]

15. I just watched The Rockers vs Twin Towers

on the same one as Perfect and the Blazer. They look so young! I couldn't imagine how young Michaels and Janetty look in the AWA. AWA was interesting because Gagne was so old school, he never got into the theatrics of stuff, like the WWE started to do. It was just pure old school, hard knocks grappling. Love that stuff.

Yeah, if you have them I'd love to take a look. I should send you some of my stuff too. I have a lot of the recent PPVs and plus the Ultimate Warrior and Road Warriors DVDs. Great stuff.

[enigmatic]

19. Gagne hated the showbiz stuff

w/ a passion; that's why he let Hogan go, because he had charisma to burn and was going to overshadow everybody else in the AWA just by that.

Have you ever seen the Nick Bockwinkle-Hogan AWA Title match in SF where Hogan wins, but AWA officals overturn it, saying Hogan threw Bockwinkel over the top rope and was thus dis-qualified? And the crowd just riots; cups, bottles, even a few chairs get thrown into the ring; it was nuts. Bobby Heenan was managing Bockwinkel at the time, too; he had to run for his life w/ Bockwinkel after the overturn.

That was a shoot, too; Hogan wasn't told what was going to happen..

[richmwill]

21. Shawn Michaels told a really funny story once...

...He said that when he and Marty Jannetty went to Verne with the idea of starting a team called "The Midnight Rockers", Verne didn't get it at all and got really confused over the idea- because when Shawn and Marty said "Rockers", Verne thought they meant "rockers" as in rocking chairs.

[enigmatic]

23. hahahaha

Oh man, I can just see Gagne's face in my mind saying that, too!

[Wetzelbill]

24. dupe

[enigmatic]

39. That wasn't a dupe!

we both had the same header in our posts; we really ARE brothers:)

[Wetzelbill]

44. wow, nevermind

I just glanced and thought it was. I've been doubling up like that a lot lately.

That's scary. Let us never speak of this moment again. :)

[Wetzelbill]

26. no I never watched that

oh wow, that sounds wild. Nick Bockwinkel, damn, I haven't heard that name since I was little!

Why is it that even liberal pro wrestling fans know a lot about the history of it and everything? We just all must be infinitely curious. All the fans on DU sound like pro wrestling analysts or something, haha.

[enigmatic]

28. That's a good question

There are alot of serious wrestling fans here that know what they are talking about; maybe we should get Skinner to open a DU Pro Wrestling Group:)

[Wetzelbill]

32. that might actually be cool

I'd just be too lazy to start it myself,haha.

Damn, Batista tore his lat. Ouch that has to hurt. Yeah, it'll be a while before he can comeback.

Can we see a Mr. Kennedy title reign? :)

Hey, what do you think of Bobby Lashley? That dude is an animal. He tosses around guys like they were little kids. His muscles are so big he's scary.

[enigmatic]

37. I love Lashley

And I'd love to see him and Mr. Kennedy feud, but I think he's going to end up w/ Beniot, if Beniot doesn't follw Christian out the door and to TNA when his contract runs out in a few weeks.

Smackdown's roster is just so much more interesting than RAW's right now, even w/ Bastista being out for awhile, IMO. Lashley could be a real beast if they book him correctly..

[Wetzelbill]

49. it was funny watching him throw around Simon Dean, Nunzio and

Vito The Sicilian Silencer. Oh man, it reminded me of when you play around with girls or with little kids and they try to wrestle you, and you have to be careful you don't just launch on of them. Lashley throws people and they look like they were shot out of a cannon. Angle is like that too. Just launches guys. I watched a match earlier today when Angle wrestles Kane and he German suplexes him three times. I kind of got scared watching it. Kurt Angle is so explosive that it's just not right. It's frightening. Lashley is that same way. It's just not normal to be like that, haha.

I always wondered what Angle would have been like in the UFC. A lot of No Hold Barred fighting champions used to wrestle Angle. Kurt basically retired Randy Couture, Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman from freestyle wrestling and they all were some of the best fighters the MMA world ever saw. I bet Angle would own everybody now. I see him when he gets all intense, his eyes are freaky. I remember I was a mean fucker in the wrestling room. I used to pound all the people my size, sometimes a little bigger. I broke a guys arm once, knocked another guy out, made three kids cry in one tournament, made a state champ cry and I know I'm not as mean as Kurt Angle. I just bet he was a bitch to go after in the wrestling room. Like those Kurt Angle Invitationals, when he just tortures poor fuckers. I bet he literally did that for real in practices. I know guys kind of like that, they don't fuck around. Angle's an Olympic champ, I couldn't even imagine how mean that guy could be.

[enigmatic]

53. Angle's one guy I wouldn't want to screw with

For that reason; like he says, he wrestled w/ a freakin' broken neck! He's the toughest SOB in both lockerooms IMO; have you ever read his autobio? His brothers are even tougher than he is..

[Wetzelbill]

55. no, man I should get that, Angle's always been a hero of mine

since he was in college and I was just beginning to be a serious wrestler.

Funny, that the number one ranked guy in the nation at my weight when I was 17 was Kurt's cousin, Mark Angle. I had a friend of mine wrestle him before. They went at it pretty good. My friend was an all-american, a few times over in freestyle. He beat me before, just too good a technician, I'm more of a brawler. Never went to any national tournaments that year though, so I never wrestled Kurt's cousin. I was a serious bull rider at the time too, so that took up my summers.

Oh yeah, wrestler's (amateur wrestlers) are some different people. It doesn't surprise me that he wrestled with a broken neck. I used to dislocate my shoulder, I blew my knee out etc. I know guy's who you would have to put a bullet in them to make them quit. A guy as tough as Angle puts them all to shame I'm sure. Man, I bet he is the toughest SOB in the WWE, probably by far. Actually, a guy who looks like they could handle themselves pretty well too is Chris Benoit. I bet Benoit can scrap too. Those old Stu Hart dungeon grads are super tough.

[Fox Mulder]

4. Did you get the new Wrestlemania DVD bundle?

I want to get it. :(

But I'm still trying to decide whether or not I should get the Wrestlemania DVDs or the Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD set. :shrug:

[Wetzelbill]

6. yup, I got it

I would suggest Wrestlemania, but if you're a Buffy fan, which I never watched it, then I just can't tell you. However, the whole Wrestlemania anthology is well worth it.

[Fox Mulder]

8. I'm a bigger fan of wrestling.

I think I'll go with that one. :hi:

I can always buy Buffy later when I get some extra cash.

[Wetzelbill]

9. good decision

that's how I was, I was debating getting either 24 or Deadwood then I thought, hell with it, I'm going with the wrestling. :)

[richmwill]

7. Cool. I'll probably end up getting it...

...But not the entire set. They also split the disks up into sets of 5, and are selling those in addition to the huge box of WrestleMania's. Give me the first 2 mini-volumes (covering 1-10), and they can keep the rest.

[Wetzelbill]

12. I thought about switching them up like that

but it's not much more just to get the whole thing.

You must be hardcore old school. :)

[richmwill]

10. One question that I forgot to ask...

I'm curious to know how they handled music-licenses in the box set. Please tell me Hogan/Mr. T came to the ring to "Eye Of The Tiger" on the WrestleMania 1 disk. Please...

[Wetzelbill]

13. I haven't watched it yet, let me check for you, I'll be back in a few

[richmwill]

14. Ok, thanks (n/t)

[Wetzelbill]

16. they come out to Hogan's theme song

and they also leave to it.

[richmwill]

17. Nice

Good, they left the music in. Usually, they cut out the entrances, even on the newer WWE DVD's. And yes, in answer to your previous query, yes I am hardcore old school- started watching WWF in 1982.

[Wetzelbill]

18. the Bob Backlund era!

:)

[richmwill]

20. Exactly!

"With his manager, Arnold Skaaland". Have fun watching the DVD's tonight- many memories, I'm sure.

[Wetzelbill]

22. I'm about to go headbutt somebody

:)

[enigmatic]

25. Damn, I forgot to tell you

Basista got hurt at the Smackdown taping Tuesday; it looks pretty bad...

[Wetzelbill]

27. No way! oh that is terrible!

I better get back in the weight room, they might need a replacement. :)

So what happened? I better look up some info.

[enigmatic]

29. He got double choke-slammed by Kane and Big Show

When they "invaded" Smackdown; here's the story from PW Torch:

http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_15328.shtml

[enigmatic]

30. Here's the statement from WWE

via Rajah.com (who's based out of Edmonton!):

http://www.rajah.com/base/2005/4522

[Wetzelbill]

31. thanks I'll read it

[Fox Mulder]

33. I saw that.

Batista is one of my favorite wrestlers. I heard he may be out for a few months...according to wrestlezone.com. :(

God...I just hope JBL doesn't become the champ now. :grr:

[Wetzelbill]

damn conservative, huh?

I'd like to see Benoit win it again. Orton is always a blast too.

[Fox Mulder]

36. JBL...

couldn't get much more conservative than him.

[Wetzelbill]

40. oh I know

I still can't help but like him though. The clothesline from Hell is vicious.

[enigmatic]

34. I think it'll be Edge

as soon as they move him to Smackdown. I want my boy Mr. Kennedyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy................Kenneddyyyyyyy to get a shot at it, but he's probably going to get the US Title in a couple months..

[Wetzelbill]

35. just once I'd like to see Mr. Kennedy come out at the beginning of a show

and say "Mr. Kennedyyyyyyyyyy" and then just turn around and walk backstage, then right at the end of the show, before it fades out, walk back out and say "Kennedyyyyyyyyy." That would be the longest pause ever.

[enigmatic]

43. I told Mrs E

that when WWE releases a Mr. Kennedy action figure, she's gotta pay due to my inner child and get me one for Christmas:)

[Wetzelbill]

50. LOLOL

I would expect nothing less. You gotta get a shirt and everything.

I love his entrance music too.

[Fox Mulder]

38. Edge may be out too...

he's got a pec tear, according to wrestlezone.com.

[enigmatic]

41. Oh shit, that's right

I can't believe I forgot that; I guess it might be a tournament to get the title, then. Probably Orton's time again..

[Fox Mulder]

45. I'm guessing either Orton, Eddie Guerrero, JBL, or Benoit.

I'm hoping it's Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit who wins the title.

[Wetzelbill]

42. damn, they are dropping like flies

[Fox Mulder]

46. That's what happens when you work in a business...

that destroys your body.

They're like football players. They wrestle until their 40s, then retire. I gotta give mad props to Ric Flair for staying with wrestling as long as he has. It shows he really loves what he does.

[enigmatic]

47. I'm loving Flair's latest run

you can tell he's having a great time w/ it...

[Fox Mulder]

48. So am I.

Seeing Flair with the Intercontinental Title is sweet.

Did you catch his match with Triple H last week at Taboo Tuesday? I didn't, but I heard it was really good and one of the bloodiest matches ever...

[enigmatic]

51. It was a bloodbath

You know w/ Flair (who does the best cut-jobs in thr biz) and Trips (who learned well) it would be. I'm not the biggest Trips fan out there by any stretch, but usually Flair can get a good match out of just about anybody, and really inspired Trips to go all-out in this...

[Wetzelbill]

54. I gotta buy that too

I love Flair. I really love great technical wrestlers.

Woooo!

[Fox Mulder]

57. Triple H...

he started turning me away from wrestling when he kept winning the title a couple of years back. It gets old seeing the same guy win it all the time. *cough*Jeff Jarrett*cough*

I give him props, though. He's putting on a good feud with Ric Flair.

[Wetzelbill]

52. Flair is a true original

that man loves the sport. Really great to see him do his thing still. I watched the match when he beat Carlito for the IC title. He was great. I was thinking that Flair used to go to Puerto Rico and wrestle Carlito's dad, Carlos Colon all the time. Shit, Flair was probably Carlito's hero or one of them, that had to be a thrill competing against a legend like Flair.

[Fox Mulder]

56. Carlito was probably ecstatic fighting Flair.

I would've been. It would've been a dream come true for me.

[Wetzelbill]

58. oh I know

it had to be the greatest thing ever for him.

I met Dan Gable once. I couldn't even talk to him. I just handed him my program and he autographed it. That's the only thing I can compare it too. I was just ecstatic, I can't imagine how Carlito felt.

I'd probably let Kurt Angle, Angle slam me! It would be an honor to tap out to that guy. :)

[Fox Mulder]

59. Kurt Angle...

he's my favorite wrestler of all-time. I have the WWE World Title with his nameplate on it. I want to get the WWE Championship (Old undisputed title--v.2) with Kurt Angle's name on it as well.

Yes...I am such a big fan of wrestling that I even own a title belt. Sweet, eh?

I want to buy Cena's title when it comes out in December...but I can't afford to fork out $500 for the deluxe version.

[Wetzelbill]

60. oh yeah

Angle is the greatest. When I was first getting serious about wrestling - collegiate and freestyle - Angle was just making a big name for himself. Always loved that guy. When he won the Gold medal I went nuts. I couldn't believe he got into pro wrestling. That was just the greatest thing for me. He's been my favorite since.

It's awesome that you have that belt! $500 is a lot for a belt! That's more than I pay for rent, haha.