Q&A thread - Your Questions Answered! **no chat**

B.A._Baracus

The relationship that Vince and Shawn have would suggest that nothing happened to Shawn after over selling at SummerSlam.
There are a dozen things that McMahon let Michaels away with over the years.

Lord TSC

Logic might also dictate Vince was annoyed at Hogan for pulling out of a rematch (which likely would have been a massive draw) too...

Hematocyte

Q: Was there any editing done to the commentary for the video release of Summerslam 97 (specifically the match between Owen Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin)?

It just seemed curious that in the lead-up to the piledriver accident that the commentators seemed to be heavily emphasizing how every move Owen Hart did was adding strain/damage to Austin's neck (I think they mentioned 'Austin's neck' in one context or another *10 times* in the 5 minutes leading up to the piledriver).

Also in the next match on the card they gave an update on Austin and they were going with the line that the injury was caused by an accumulation of moves (rather than just the piledriver), which is what made me suspect the may have gone back and redubbed the audio to make it fit that story.

Ape Lincoln

Hematocyte wrote: »

Q: Was there any editing done to the commentary for the video release of Summerslam 97 (specifically the match between Owen Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin)?

It just seemed curious that in the lead-up to the piledriver accident that the commentators seemed to be heavily emphasizing how every move Owen Hart did was adding strain/damage to Austin's neck (I think they mentioned 'Austin's neck' in one context or another *10 times* in the 5 minutes leading up to the piledriver).

Also in the next match on the card they gave an update on Austin and they were going with the line that the injury was caused by an accumulation of moves (rather than just the piledriver), which is what made me suspect the may have gone back and redubbed the audio to make it fit that story.

I saw the show live at the time and just watched the match on the Network and I'm going to say no. Dubbed audio always stands out even today with Smackdown. It's just very difficult to match live audio commentary with overdubbed stuff and getting McMahon, JR and Lawler into a studio to record a commentary for a VHS release would not have been a high priority in 1997. Ross calling Austin suffering a stinger was defintely on the live broadcast as I had no idea what he was on about - a stinger huh? like a stinger bar?!

The piledriver spot was Owen's idea and his offence was building up to it towards the end of the match, Austin was selling the neck through the match. Inverted piledrivers were/are common outside of WWF Undertaker and Owen did the move on Bret at Wrestlemania 10. Austin was hesitant about taking it since he had put on a bit of weight in 97. It's a shame what happened as it was a very good match and if he hadn't have been injured so many things could have turned out differently.

There's a few different releases of Summerslam 1997 - the VHS release which is the same as Silvervision's tagged classics and the Anthology box set which is probably what is on the Network. The match is on some of the Austin DVDs too.

A Primal Nut

Read this on JR's blog on WrestleMania:

Hogan also kicked out of the Warrior's pin at 3½ minutes into the match, which is one of the older and more subtle tricks in the book. It was the same, old-school technique that the Iron Sheik did to Hogan when Hulk first won the WWE title in 1984, and the same thing that Sgt. Slaughter did at WM VII while losing to Hogan in Los Angeles.

What's he on about? How is kicking out of a pin a trick? And also I watched the match and there were no Warrior pin attempts that early on.

gerrybbadd

A Primal Nut wrote: »

Read this on JR's blog on WrestleMania:



What's he on about? How is kicking out of a pin a trick? And also I watched the match and there were no Warrior pin attempts that early on.

I'd say he means 3 and a half seconds, so he still attempts to kick out, just that momentary minute amount of time too late.

Makes him look strong (not knocked out by the offence)

Deadlie

Kane did that a lot too for the first few years of him, I remember. it did look great, like he'd just been a millisecond short of being safe.

Ape Lincoln

Hogan didn't sell Warrior's offence by kicking out just after the 3 count and jumping straight up to his feet. It made it look like Warrior's win was a fluke and/or he just barely beat him. Typically the loser of a match sellls having been beaten and they stay on the mat for a bit.

Endaaaagh

Whatever happened to Eli Cottonwood from (the old) NXT? Is he still wrestling?

rovert

Endaaaagh wrote: »

Whatever happened to Eli Cottonwood from (the old) NXT? Is he still wrestling?

Released. He had Luke Harper's role very early on in the Wyatts before Luke Harper came on the scene.

He sucked, was 37 and not getting any better in ring so it was a major upgrade.

Ape Lincoln

Can someone explain to me the situation in WWE with JTG and Zack Ryder.

A Rogue Hobo

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Can someone explain to me the situation in WWE with JTG and Zack Ryder.

I get the impression that they're both looked at as sort of the Steve Lombardi/Barry Horowitz of this generation. Neither are hugely charismatic but are looked at at as good hands to have in the company to have new talent they think about pushing to wok with. They're reliable and probably have jobs for a few more years especially now with the Performance Centre. That's complete guesswork but seems to be the logical train of thought.

Ape Lincoln

But JTG hasn't wrestled even at a house show since last year and at that he only worked about a dozen times.

I remember he had a rant on a Twitter a few years ago about pay but know nothing of what else happened.

Horrowitz and Brawler at least worked squash matches on TV back when they were common.

A Rogue Hobo

Wow I had just assumed JTG was still doing house shows as enhancement talent and just not appearing on T.V. In that case I have no clue I'm afraid.

Why is it that at the early In Your House PPVs they would have dark matches featuring the likes of Bret Hart, Undertaker and other top level talent that don't even appear on the PPV itself? Like at In Your House 2 Undertaker has a casket match with Kama whom he was feuding with at the time in a Dark match main event. It just seems strange to have top draws wrestle at the show but not have them appear on the PPV itself?

Professional Griefer

We'll see JTG at WM30 according to Kofi.

kksaints

Is David Otunga still with the WWE? Havent heard anything about him in a long time.

A Rogue Hobo

kksaints wrote: »

Is David Otunga still with the WWE? Havent heard anything about him in a long time.

He's still under contract but hasn't appeared in about 2 years. I remember reading at the time he asked for a leave of absence for personal reasons. Could be similar to Marcus Cor Von/Monty Brown he asked for time off and was under contract for a good while, then was never seen again and then eventually released without much attention.

Ape Lincoln

A Rogue Hobo wrote: »

Wow I had just assumed JTG was still doing house shows as enhancement talent and just not appearing on T.V. In that case I have no clue I'm afraid.

Why is it that at the early In Your House PPVs they would have dark matches featuring the likes of Bret Hart, Undertaker and other top level talent that don't even appear on the PPV itself? Like at In Your House 2 Undertaker has a casket match with Kama whom he was feuding with at the time in a Dark match main event. It just seems strange to have top draws wrestle at the show but not have them appear on the PPV itself?

In Your House 1-16 were budget shows priced at $20 when the A pay-per-views were about $30 or $35. The lower price meant it was a 2hr PPV and didn't feature all the top wrestlers. The live crowd however got a full show hence the dark matches. It's common still today to put on a fan friendly match after the TV taping.

There's some genuine curios in then IYH some of which were recorded eg. HBK vs Mankind at in Your House 12.

The In Your House PPVs went to a full priced 3hours (well, 2hr 40min) with the September 1997 one. Charging full price for them in 1997 actually helped them out financially as at the time they were losing money.

Edit: they were saving Kama vs Undertaker for Summerslam which was full price and giving that away on a cut-price PPV perhaps would've harmed the casket matche's drawing power - whatever that may have been.

orestes

Professional Griefer wrote: »

We'll see JTG at WM30 according to Kofi.

Yeah, but he'll be wearing a hood like the rest of Undertakers druids.

Hematocyte

Q: Something I've always wondered is is there there any divide in the locker-room between:
(a) the career wrestlers (ie the guys who always wanted to be wrestlers) and
(b) the 'real' athletes (former martial artists, olympians, weightlifters, football players etc) who only took up wrestling after their first career choice ended.

rovert

Hematocyte wrote: »

Q: Something I've always wondered is is there there any divide in the locker-room between:
(a) the career wrestlers (ie the guys who always wanted to be wrestlers) and
(b) the 'real' athletes (former martial artists, olympians, weightlifters, football players etc) who only took up wrestling after their first career choice ended.

Yes but I think over time the misdirected resentment between the two groups got channelled towards the WWE office and the vibe between the two groups turned to tolerance/collaboration.

Omackeral

I understand that in a two man commentary team you have one man to call the action (play by play) and one man to give expert analysis (color). What's the third mans role meant to be in a three man set up? Is it to add heel/face dynamic?

And don't say to shill the network or app!

Ape Lincoln

Omackeral wrote: »

I understand that in a two man commentary team you have one man to call the action (play by play) and one man to give expert analysis (color). What's the third mans role meant to be in a three man set up? Is it to add heel/face dynamic?

And don't say to shill the network or app!

It's a bit of a stretch to call Michael Cole's work on commentary 'play-by-play' since he does the Vince McMahon "what a move!" thing. Cole is the lead, Lawler is what he is and JBL is Vince's mouthpiece

Blue_Dabadee

Why do we get TNA PPV's for free?

QikBax

mxph3 wrote: »

Why do we get TNA PPV's for free?

Well ask yourself one question.

"Would I pay for a TNA PPV?"

There's your answer

jaykhunter

mxph3 wrote: »

Why do we get TNA PPV's for free?

1) Exactly what jamc said (TNA can only convince about 0.01% of their American audience to pay for a PPV; 8-10,000 out of a ~1million)
2) TNA's current deal with Challenge includes all TNA content in a lump package. They're also on many days tape delay.

It might seem skewed on the internet but TNA are a vastly smaller company/less valued company than WWE, as ROH are very small to TNA.

Ape Lincoln

mxph3 wrote: »

Why do we get TNA PPV's for free?

Even WWF pay-per-view shows were "free" on Sky Sports through their hottest period 1997-2002 despite having had done pay-per-views on Sky Box Office during that period. I doubt TNA could afford to or would want to try deal with Sky Box Office. Pay per view is on the way out anyway.

D.Q

Lads,

I need some help. Watching something on the network, a countdown show or something.. but it showed an undertaker entrance and it looked like there was bodies or souls or something clawing at him as he walked out. What show was that at? ****ing coolest thing ive ever seen.

Eire-Dearg

What's become of Paige's brother, the lad who was on that Channel 4 documentary with her?

GTR63

D.Q wrote: »

Lads,

I need some help. Watching something on the network, a countdown show or something.. but it showed an undertaker entrance and it looked like there was bodies or souls or something clawing at him as he walked out. What show was that at? ****ing coolest thing ive ever seen.

That was at Mania last year iirc.