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

CMpunked

A Primal Nut wrote: »

How soft is the ring?

You know those yoga mats? A little bit thicker than one of them.

Learning to fall absorbs it obviously but how much? High falls from the likes of Powerbombs or the Last Ride really look like they would take the wind out of someone.

Taking a bump takes a LOT out of you, regardless from what height, really.

Do steel chair shots to the head hurt or back hurt at all.

To the head? I cant speak from experience but im sure they do, as anything would being stuck on someones skull. The back and torso will hurt but again, the body absorbs some of it. Along with the ring spring if your being hit while on the ground.

montyrebel

I have heard that taking a bump is like being in a car crash at 20 miles per hour, how true this is, I dont know

savemejebus

It was Andrew "Test" Martin (RIP) that said that:

A doctor explained it to me like this: Every time you take a fall in the ring it’s like getting rear-ended by a car going 20 mph, so how many bumps in the ring a night do you take? Multiply that by how many times a week you work all year long. That’s a hell of a lot of whiplash and pain.

Insect Overlord

Those "Don't Try This At Home" ads never stopped me and my brother from messing around when we were kids. DDTs, side-walk slams, power-slams, belly-to-back suplexes, we did them all. Onto mattresses and duvets, obviously. :P
But the submissions really work. Most of them wouldn't be practical in a self-defence situation, but they hurt if you end up on the wrong end of them. The Camel Clutch is nasty.

MitchKoobski

One thing I never understood was why they said "Don't Try This At Home", and then went on to promote how Mick Foley would jump off his roof etc and The Hardyz taught themselves in their backyard.

gimmick

CMpunked wrote: »

You know those yoga mats? A little bit thicker than one of them.

With a sheet of wood not far beneath it. Same as a boxing ring. And it is not as soft or deep as a yoga mat. It is not a very soft landing by any means.

gnfnrhead

I don't know if he still does it, but Orton used to punch the ring several times before the RKO. You can hear how solid it is, but also tell it isn't as hard as they make out since he only hurt himself once and that wasn't even his hands, that was his dodgy shoulder. If it was as hard as they claim, that would have hurt him like hell and possible broke a few fingers every time.

Hard enough that it wouldn't be fun to smash your face in to, but not hard enough to do a lot of damage by simply hitting it.

2nd Row Donkey

montyrebel wrote: »

Here is a question for you, I have looked for this info myself and came up empty.

Can anyone find out who and what matches they had when the WWE first came to the odyssey arena in belfast, think it was 2002.
I remember Chris Benoit, Eddie guerrero, Big Show and yes even Rikishi was there, he did his wee dance with the Belfast Giants.

I am positive John Cena was there as well but not as he is now as some sort of ****ty vanilla ice white rapper, can anyone help?

I was there - ringside behind Cena who was wearing these ridiculously tight orange hot pants. He was heell and gave the woman and children some abuse at ringside but I have to say I was massively impressed by him that night.

CMpunked

gimmick wrote: »

With a sheet of wood not far beneath it. Same as a boxing ring. And it is not as soft or deep as a yoga mat. It is not a very soft landing by any means.

Hell no. The few times i tried it instantly made me respect anyone that gets in there and busts their ass, regardless of level or skill.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I don't know if he still does it, but Orton used to punch the ring several times before the RKO. You can hear how solid it is, but also tell it isn't as hard as they make out since he only hurt himself once and that wasn't even his hands, that was his dodgy shoulder.

Hard enough that it wouldn't be fun to smash your face in to, but not hard enough to do a lot of damage by simply hitting it.

Jump to 3.18 and you will see the padding, it aint exactly a mattress by any means!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLrUmWwvrYc

As well as being slightly padded, the ring has a spring underneath that takes the brunt of the pressure. More-so making sure the ring doesnt literally collapse like it has in the big show/henry and big show/lesnar matches.

But Orton is clever, he goes near to one of the corners to punch the canvas where it is somewhat less springy, giving it more of a solid punch sound.

GTR63

gimmick wrote: »

With a sheet of wood not far beneath it. Same as a boxing ring. And it is not as soft or deep as a yoga mat. It is not a very soft landing by any means.

I remember being at a Tna event and afterwards they invited fans into the ring to take pictures and being really tempted to take a bump or run the ropes. Chickened out and never did though.

Lord TSC

I remember on the first series of Tough Enough, they had people run the ropes, and after only a few bounces, they had huge bruises under their arms. So even something as "simple" as that can hurt...

savemejebus

Are the ropes still elevator cables coated in rubber?

starviewadams

WWE has always used rope I think,it was WCW that used the elevator cables in rubber.

gerrybbadd

starviewadams wrote: »

WWE has always used rope I think,it was WCW that used the elevator cables in rubber.

Yip, I think it was Foley wrote about this, and it was a major factor in his ear literally popping off the side of his head, wrestling for WCW in Germany

Butch Cassidy

MitchKoobski wrote: »

One thing I never understood was why they said "Don't Try This At Home", and then went on to promote how Mick Foley would jump off his roof etc and The Hardyz taught themselves in their backyard.

They've gone nuts with the "Don't Try This at Home" this last few years. The promotion of Foley's Dude Love backyard tape and the Hardys was years earlier. Although, I believe the first few "Please, don't try this at home" aired back in 2000 and included footage from the Cactus Jack/Triple H streetfight.

Silvervision VHS tapes always used to have a warning card at the start saying that the wrestlers shouldn't be imitated. Very early ones were voiced by Lord Alfred Hayes.

A Primal Nut wrote: »

This is a question I've often wondered but was afraid to ask. It's probably come up before but anyhow I haven't found it so far.

How much does professional wrestling really hurt?

How soft is the ring? Jim Ross said its like concrete during the Mankind-Undertaker Hell-In-A-Cell. Other people say its like a bed.
What about if they fall outside the ring or on a (seemingly) hard surface? Learning to fall absorbs it obviously but how much? High falls from the likes of Powerbombs or the Last Ride really look like they would take the wind out of someone.

They softened the ring after the Cell match where Foley took that awful bump through it and hit the ring. He has always maintained that the first bump was ok, that he was reasonably comfortable and knew what he was doing and able to protect himself (to a degree obv.) but the 2nd was unplanned and the rings back then were solid.

Compare the rings pre-98 anything after the Cell match well, recently. There's far more spring in them today.

savemejebus

I thought that but could have sworn i read somewhere recently that wwe were using cables too.

Butch Cassidy

Yep as Star said, WCW used elevator cables which was what took half of Mick Foley's ear off (the "ropes" were particularly tight that night).

DEFTLEFTHAND

savemejebus wrote: »

I thought that but could have sworn i read somewhere recently that wwe were using cables too.

No WWE have always used real rope, you'll notice the difference if you compare the width and texture of the rope to that of a TNA or WCW ring. Also there's much more give in real rope which facilitates fluid quick paced matches. I remember Bret Hart saying that when he went to WCW he found the cables hard to adapt to as they slowed momentum.

jaykhunter

IIRC -
80s/90s WWF - actual rope with coloured tape (much looser)
TNA - cable with padding over it (and hence gets all wonky)
Todays' WWE - inner core cable + rope strands surrounding it, coloured tape over it.

It was on Ask the Ref (with Jimmy Corderas) where he talked about ropes. Rovert or Flah might be able to confirm/deny

connemara man

Charlie Haughy wrote: »

:

This pic got me thinking as when it was taken there was only 2 heels in the group. Does the WWE like to have a balance of face to heels in control of the championships?

jaykhunter

connemara man wrote: »

This pic got me thinking as when it was taken there was only 2 heels in the group. Does the WWE like to have a balance of face to heels in control of the championships?

WWE are really fickle with changing titles; so this bunch of mostly-faces is entirely coincidental, it just lined up that way when they were finished tinkering with the booking; and decided to actually make a big deal about it too.

That said, Mania's supposed to be when the faces finally triumph (but lately WWE stretch out the big win to backlash or the one after) but generally going into mania, the heels have the main belts. It is very odd to see so many face champions (before mania anyway!).

Charisteas

Yeah I'd agree with Jay, the babyface/heel combination is coincidental. Even the only two heels in that group, Rhodes and Phoenix, are both very over and well-praised. A decent young set of workers indeed.

Purely speculation on my part, but I would say that WWE gave Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder their titles and their shot in the limelight to appease the smarks during the traditionally quiet December period. They know buyrates and ratings are generally lower this time of year, so the timing was perfect to please the Internet folk and also see if these guys can take the ball and run with it.

connemara man

And well D Bryan will be heel soon thanks its just when the pic appeared that kind of stood out to me

A Primal Nut

Thanks for the replies. Its interesting to read this. Especially about the elevator cables in WCW - what was the point of that.

Regarding the bumps, don't know why some of these guys put themselves through this in the ring. I thought injuries only happen when things go wrong but even when things go wrong I'd expect plenty of injuries.

I have to say some of the bumps wrestlers take amaze me. That they agree to it and they aren't paralyzed!!

Watch from 4:41 on. I don't think I've ever seen such a ferocious powerbomb. Noble drops at an amazing speed and onto the hard outside area. The consensus is that Noble was faking how injured he was but I can't imagine how that wouldn't hurt a lot!! He landed so fast he didn't really fall very well - right on his back. And I'd expect him to be screaming in pain, whether a pro wrestler or not. I keep thinking there is some secret to it all that I'm missing.

Foley's first fall in KOTR 98 mentioned earlier in the thread I can understand because at least he has a table to break the fall somewhat and he had more control over how he fell (getting his arms out, etc). How he got up so quickly after the second one I'll ever know.

gnfnrhead

I think Noble had to retire from that Powerbomb.

You can see on Sheamus's face for a second or two he is thinking "Oh bollocks".

A Primal Nut

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I think Noble had to retire from that Powerbomb.

You can see on Sheamus's face for a second or two he is thinking "Oh bollocks".

But the fact that Sheamus promised to force Noble to retire in the interview before that suggests that it was planned?

Andy_rse

Was the 1994 Royal Rumble finish supposed to happen like that or did they mess it up? I cant remember.

Cheers.

jaykhunter

Andy_rse wrote: »

Was the 1994 Royal Rumble finish supposed to happen like that or did they mess it up? I cant remember.

Nope it was planned. FWIW originally Luger was supposed to get the belt circa SummerSlam 93, then Vince decided to stretch out the payoff until WrestleMania X. But instead of the fans rallying behind Luger to get the big win, they quite lost interest in him and branded him a loser/choker/gimp.

Around 93, Bret was considered to be next in line to lead the company around then but Vince wasn't convinced (and wanted another Hogan; not the smaller, more technical, less frills Bret) but wanted to push Lex as the new flag-waving Hogan.

But since the crowd had dissipated for the Lex express, WWF went maybe/maybe not with Bret and Luger both as top babyfaces at the Rumble and you get the booking clusterf-- that is the lead up and execution of WMX. Luger says he was supposed to win the belt at WMX until he got drunk at a bar WM weekend and told everyone the booking plans. TBH I feel that injecting Bret into this spot at the Rumble was a big indication of WWF officially losing faith in Luger and fast-tracking Bret, despite him being him a programme with Owen.

So yes. A planned spot :P

DEFTLEFTHAND

Is it true that the finish to the Royal Rumble in 2000 was botched? The Rock and Big Show were involved if I remember correctly.

jaykhunter

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Is it true that the finish to the Royal Rumble in 2000 was botched? The Rock and Big Show were involved if I remember correctly.

Ha! That's right! Rock was supposed to "Shawn Michaels" back in when Big Show went out, and Rock would be the clear winner (and face HHH at Mania 1-on-1). But it was botched and Rock's feet actually hit the ground first. They decided to make an angle out of it; and by the end, Big Show (and foley) wangled their way into the main event :eek::rolleyes: