Classic Era Flashbacks

[Kace-1]

Circa 1983. When Exotic Adrian Street isn't competing, he's recording music. This is quite possibly the first official music video by a pro wrestler.

 

[Kace-1]

1989, Florida Championship Wrestling. Fresh from a brief stint in NWA-WCW, a superheavyweight team known as the Commandos have arrived, consisting of Commando Ray Candy and Commando Boone aka Grizzly Boone. For Commando Ray, this was basically the sequel to the Zambuie Express.

Their opponents are a couple of preliminary talents looking to work their way up the food chain. Rick Diamond is one of them. The other is a fella by the name of Mike Awesome. Mike will become more important a decade later. While the match takes place, another team on the horizon, the Nasty Boys offer their thoughts.

On commentary are Gordon Solie and a guy known more for managing and color commentary work more than anything directly competitive, Diamond Dallas Page. Like Awesome, Page's career would be vastly different a decade later. Your referee is Mickey Jay and his mullet.

 

[Kace-1]

1986, World Wrestling Federation. "Mean" Gene Okerlund enjoys a candid interview with Roddy Piper.

 

[Kace-1]

1985, NWA Mid-Atlantic. David! Fly!

 

[Kace-1]

January 4, 1999; WWF Raw is War. The match itself had been taped a week earlier, but still managed to become one of the seminal moments of Raw's 1st decade and the Attitude Era. Mick Foley aka Mankind had spent years breaking his body for the sake of his art as Cactus Jack and Mankind and this New Year's edition of Raw is where all those years of bumps, bruises, and injuries culminated in this match against the Rock for the WWF Championship.


January 4, 1999; WCW Monday Nitro. Conversely, this live edition of Nitro became infamous for Miss Elizabeth charging Bill Goldberg with sexual assault on the night he was to challenge Kevin Nash in a rematch for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Tony Schiavone sarcastically spoiling Mankind's winning of the WWF title on Raw, and Hulk Hogan who had feigned retirement for a Presidential campaign on the heels of Jesse Ventura's Gubernatorial victory in Minnesota returning to challenge Nash in Goldberg's place. Between this and the feel good moment [well, except for Rock fans, I suppose] on Raw, the tide in the so-called Monday Night War shifted firmly to the side of the WWF for good, all the way to March 26, 2001 when the war would reach its surrender ceremony.

 

[PatsFan2003]

Argentine Apollo...

One of my favorites when I was a kid.

 

[The Q]

January 4, 1999; WWF Raw is War. The match itself had been taped a week earlier, but still managed to become one of the seminal moments of Raw's 1st decade and the Attitude Era. Mick Foley aka Mankind had spent years breaking his body for the sake of his art as Cactus Jack and Mankind and this New Year's edition of Raw is where all those years of bumps, bruises, and injuries culminated in this match against the Rock for the WWF Championship.


January 4, 1999; WCW Monday Nitro. Conversely, this live edition of Nitro became infamous for Miss Elizabeth charging Bill Goldberg with sexual assault on the night he was to challenge Kevin Nash in a rematch for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Tony Schiavone sarcastically spoiling Mankind's winning of the WWF title on Raw, and Hulk Hogan who had feigned retirement for a Presidential campaign on the heels of Jesse Ventura's Gubernatorial victory in Minnesota returning to challenge Nash in Goldberg's place. Between this and the feel good moment [well, except for Rock fans, I suppose] on Raw, the tide in the so-called Monday Night War shifted firmly to the side of the WWF for good, all the way to March 26, 2001 when the war would reach its surrender ceremony.

I still can't believe how bad that backfired.

I still don't understand why.

 

[The Q]

.......and of course the 3rd Man reveal. That one turned things on their head!

Wrestling was NEVER the same after this.

The REAL start of the attitude era.