wwe

Looking back: 1992 Royal Rumble

February 5, 2016

A couple of weekends ago, the WWE held its annual Royal Rumble event. For many years, this was one of my favorite events to see. I’ve been to it live three times, including 2014-2015. The first time I went, though, was in 1992.

Though the way things have been done recently have made my interest start to falter, I still like to watch some old things and an occasional independent show (though I will be attending fewer of those with the closing of 2CW). Recently, on the way to and from work one day, I was listening to Ric Flair’s podcast and he was talking about the 1992 Royal Rumble.

Flair and his co-host Conrad Thompson were watching the Rumble and talking about it as it happened – well, watching via the WWE Network. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put the Rumble on and watch along as I was driving, but just listening to the names and such made me realize how awesome that event was.

Four of us went to that event in 1992, held on a cold January night in Albany at the Knickerbocker Arena – or “The Knick.” Of course it’s no longer called that, but back then it was the spot. The place was jam packed and we had some really good seats. The four included me, my brother Pat, and two friends Pete and Jason.

Being there was pretty cool. I had been to wrestling events before, but never a pay-per-view. It was definitely a lot of fun.

Looking back, though, what a list of people who were involved.

Heck – just look at the undercard. Whether singles matches or tag team matches, such names as Owen Hart, Roddy Piper, Jacques Rougeau (as The Mountie), and the Legion of Doom (Road Warriors) were all involved.

As for the Rumble match? Wow. First, it was for the then-WWF (now WWE) championship.

Look at this who’s who of professional wrestling in that match (not all participants, but some of the biggest names):

The British Bulldog
Ted DiBiase
Ric Flair
Shawn Michaels
Tito Santana
The Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich)
Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
Roddy Piper
Jake “The Snake” Roberts
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
Irwin R. Schyster (Mike Rotunda, father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas)
“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka
The Undertaker
“Macho Man” Randy Savage
Rick Martel
Hulk Hogan
Sgt. Slaughter

That’s quite a list of people.

The ending, of course, came as Hulk Hogan was eliminated by Sid Justice. Hogan then grabbed Sid’s arm long enough so Flair could come from behind and eliminate Justice to become the new WWF champion.

It’s kind of cool to look back at this card, though, and know I was there. Unfortunately, back then, there wasn’t any digital photography and I didn’t carry along a film camera, so I have no images from there. Either way, it’s neat to realize how many names were involved in this event and to try and remember everything that happened.

I remember the crowd going bonkers when Roddy Piper won the intercontinental title. It was really loud when people counted down from 10 on each entrant. I remember the place being packed and having a good time all around.

I’ll have to play it back on the WWE Network one of these days just to see if I can remember what it was like to be there that night. It was definitely different back then than how it is now.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Royal Rumble a fun time again

February 5, 2015

The Rumble from our seats.

I think I need to stop going to the WWE Royal Rumble. Not really. But the weather never seems to agree with me going.

After all, it seems, whenever I go to it — at least the past two years — bad weather follows. First last year in Pittsburgh, then this year in Philadelphia.

Still, it was one heck of a blast.

Three of us took a trip to Philly (was supposed to be four, but the fourth couldn’t pull it off) for this year’s edition of the Royal Rumble, the “official” start for the road to Wrestlemania.

Ticket.

And the Royal Rumble is easily my favorite WWE event of the year. In fact, it was the first pay-per-view I ever saw in person (1992, Albany).

This year, the ride down was a little sketchy at times, but not too bad. The weather could have been way worse. It was VERY cold out. But we didn’t get hit with the snow storm they were calling for on Monday.

As for the Rumble, it was a fun event. We had solid seats. thanks in part to a connection I have. The same one I used last year, which was amazingly awesome.

Not only that, we got to see another wrestling show (Chikara), and ate at Geno’s, which is always a bonus. In the end, it was a fun weekend, the event was pretty solid, and it was enjoyable to get away for a night.

See a few photos below (all iPhone as I wasn’t supposed to bring my main camera in, though I think I could have pulled it off).

Thrown out of the Rumble!

Rumble filling up!

The Rock with the winner!

Blurred lights as Bray Wyatt comes out.

Three-way dance for the Championship!

The former Brodie Lee (left), now Luke Harper, squares off with Buh Bug Ray Dudley.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing: Compulsively (22/28)

February 22, 2013

Pro wrestling is filled with heroes and villains. It’s the way it’s always been. And, usually, at some point, the hero beats the villain and all is well in the world.

In recent years, that line is a little more skewed. Good guys get booed. Bad guys are cheered. There are “tweener” guys who act all bad ass and cheat or whatever, but still get cheered.

For the most part, I’ve been a fan of the good guys. I don’t mind the tweener folks and, sometimes, I enjoy cheering for the bad guy. But I usually go with the normal view of pro wrestling and cheer the good guys.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again — when I watch wrestling, I want a little believability for a few hours. I know it’s a show and I’m fine with that. But I want to be entertained and I want to believe. Make me cheer for you or make me boo you. That’s your job. The Internet has made it harder because you have groups who always go against the norm. And that’s fine.

A flag from the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, as well as an autograph from Ray Rougeau, obtained a few years earlier.

Alas, I need to go back in time.

It was in the mid-80s and it was a Sunday night. The (then) WWF was holding Wrestlemania — I think the second one, but this was before the days of pay-per-view. You had to go watch it in other places. I wasn’t getting to do that as I was still a wee lad and was home. The WWF was on that night on some network with an old taped show.

On that show were the Rougeau Brothers — Jacques and Raymond. At the time, they were good guys. I started liking them. Eventually, they turned heel. Bad guys. Those crazy Quebecois wrestlers! What did they know? Alas, for some reason, I stayed liking them. They were arrogant, but funny.

I still consider them one of my favorite tag teams of all time.

They started doing a gimmick where they basically threw aside Canada as their home and adopted Memphis and became the “All-American Boys.” They still wore colors somewhat connected to Quebec (well, the light blue anyway) and their outfits had some fleur-de-lis on them, but they carried small American flags and handed them out.

At a show one time, I actually received one. I still have it. When they were still good guys, they were in my town for a small show and I got Ray Rougeau’s autograph. Jacques wasn’t signing, unfortunately. A few years later, when Ray was working in the front office, the WWF came to my town again. I had the chance to chat with Ray for a good 30 minutes. It was truly a great conversation.

But I digress…

They also had a catchy theme song, too. Have a listen in the video below:

For years, I’ve been a bit compulsive about this theme. First, it was just to get it and have it. The theme never appeared on any of the WWE theme CDs, so it wasn’t until the age of YouTube that I actually ever found it. Then, from there I needed to know the lyrics.

Think about this for a moment — the Rougeaus probably had this theme hit somewhere in the late 80s and ran for a bit. I never knew the French part of the lyrics (outside of the Parlez-vous Français).

So I constantly searched.

And searched.

I asked some French-speaking friends. They never came through for me. Even after taking French in college, I had no clue.

My quest was simple. Find out what the hell they were singing. You could say I was searching a bit compulsively.

Finally, I’ve cracked the code.

You see, I decided to go to Nicky. I figure if she’s going to put us through hell with this writing challenge and with some of these nutty themes, she owes me, right?

Exactly.

So I sent her the link to the video asking her to listen to this catchy tune (apparently, she didn’t agree that it was catchy), but she did pull off what I have been searching for — the lyrics!

The French part says:

On peut pas les sentir, dans le monde ils sont les pires, on aime les faire fâcher, ‘cause I mean we love the USA!

Yeah, exactly.

Translated, they are saying:

We can’t stand them, they’re the worst in the world, we like to piss them off, ‘cause I mean we love the USA!

Classic.

Basically, though they are trying to act all USA like and like they are “good guys,” they were spitting in the face and mocking the American fans. Talk about being bad guys. They were fully booed and it was awesome.

Truly a great heel team.

So the quest to find out what was said is over. No longer do I need to be compulsive about this. It’s over. One of the great mysteries of my childhood is now solved.

We’re All-American boys!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Woo Woo Woo, you know it!

July 15, 2011

I don’t often write about professional wrestling on this blog. Every once in a while, I find something that I just feel I want to blog about.

Such as watching Edge’s retirement live in Albany.

Or the bloodbath that is independent wrestling.

With all going on recently in the WWE, there’s a lot that could be talked about, but I want to tackle one subject.

Zack Ryder, bro.

When he first arrived in the WWE, I was trying to figure out what his point was. He was jobbed out (lost all the time) and didn’t seem to have a place. He got to the point where he was annoying.

Alas, where credit is due, it is given.

Ryder is a sensation now. And he’s done it in a different way that most pro wrestlers do it.

He’s taken to the Internet.

Twitter. YouTube. Facebook. He’s a social networking guru when it comes to getting his name out there. He’s funny, engaging and honest.

And he’s an absolute riot. From his weekly show “Z True Long Island Story,” to his candid and humorous tweets, Ryder has taken the Internet by storm.

So much so that Sports Illustrated, on SI.com, named Ryder one of its Twitter 100, where SI polled more than 50 SI staffers who are hardcore Twitter users, asking them who they visit daily for news and entertainment.

Are you serious, bro?

Ryder, who has tweeted more than 3,000 times and has 144,957 followers (as of this writing), is the lone WWE superstar on the SI list.

His followers keep getting stronger, too. Signs constantly appear on live WWE TV in support of Ryder (who has appeared on RAW, the flagship show of WWE recently, but not in a major role).

What he has done is shown how to become a star without getting all that face time on TV.

As the self-proclaimed WWE Internet champion — he even has a title belt for it — he’s really showing that he can become a star and maybe the WWE should take a peek at what he can do.I saw a YouTube video of one of his recent matches at a house show (a non-televised show) and his moves were pretty solid. He can work a microphone, is obviously over with the crowd and seemingly can play the heel or the face, when needed.

Though his other social networking setups don’t have as many followers as Twitter, he’s still strong on them.

His YouTube channel has 48,109 subscribers and more than 3,000,000 total upload views of his weekly show, which (as of July 15) has 22 episodes.

More than 24,000 people like his Facebook page.

The bottom line is this broski has a following now, and eventually the WWE is going to have to pay attention, or so I would hope. Who knows with them, however.

If not, I’m sure the fanbase Ryder has created will still continue to follow him and his exploits through the Internet.

For those of you who might be wrestling fans (and even those who aren’t), you should seriously consider giving his weekly show a peek. They average about 5 minutes each and have a cast of characters, which include Zack’s father (who is, on the show, infatuated with WWE superstar John Morrison), some of his friends, other WWE star and various other people (including Broski of the Week, where someone sends in a 30-second video on why they should earn that title).

He shows stills of signs at WWE events from the past week’s TV shows and appears to have one heck of a time with the show.

His two “catch phrases” are quite funny in “Woo Woo Woo, you know it” and “take care, spike your hair.” The latter even has a song. Classic stuff.

This is the kind of stuff I still like about professional wrestling (at times). It’s entertaining and funny. That’s what the WWE should be. I realize sometimes it has to be “serious,” as it’s basically an adult soap opera. But I like to laugh and be entertained and Ryder does that.

Hopefully, he’ll eventually get a bigger stage to do it on. And maybe even defend his Internet championship belt.

Woo Woo Woo, you know it, Bro.

And remember, take care and spike your hair.

Online:

Zack Ryder on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ZackRyder
Zack Ryder on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/longislandicedz
Zack Ryder on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/longislandicedz

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.

Edge goes full circle in Albany

April 17, 2011

When I was five or six years old, I first got into professional wrestling (though, apparently, the WWE has taken the wrestling out of its name and it’s now just the “WWE,” and nothing more… an entertainment company), enjoying it’s larger-than-life show.

My brothers used to watch the Saturday morning shows — from the old World Class Championship Wrestling on WRGB to the NWA on TBS to the then WWF on several channels. Since that time, my interest in professional wrestling has gone from the far-fetched (as in wanting to become a wrestler when I was in high school) to a big fan to now, where I’m a casual fan who likes to catch one weekly show as it’s basically an adult male soap opera.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the biggest names in the business over the years, from Vince McMahon to the Undertaker to Shawn Michaels. It’s been pretty cool to see some of the things I’ve seen and also watching as the “sport” went from a “it’s real” to “it’s entertainment.” It’s now funny. It’s entertaining. There’s good writing and stories. That’s why it’s actually still somewhat interesting to watch.

I also still like to catch some live events from time to time, more of the independent wrestling, but it’s fun to watch in a live setting (I’ll actually have a future post about watching wrestling live as I’ve seen some wacky things).

Five years ago, four of us went to Albany to the then Pepsi Arena to watch a WWE pay per view — New Year’s Revolution. It was the second pay per view I had seen in person, following the 1992 Royal Rumble in Albany. The main event of this one was an elimination chamber match, in which John Cena successfully defended his WWE championship and was a bloody mess.

As the match — and we thought — the pay per view ended, WWE chairman Vince McMahon walked out on stage and announced there would be another match as Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase. (side note — the Money in the Bank briefcase guarantees the holder a title shot at any time and any place up to one year after he’s won it).

Two minutes later, Edge won his first WWE championship.

Though wrestling is a form of entertainment and matches are obviously pre-determined, the storylines and performers are built up to massive levels. People have a vested interest in what happens. There are still “good guys” and “bad guys.”

Edge has been both.

And he’s been damn good at both.

But at 37 years old, with all the abuse his body took over his 14 years with the WWE (including a broken neck several years ago), it all came to a screetching halt this week. See, following his Wrestlemania match, where he defended his world championship, Edge saw some doctors as he apparently had been feeling numbness in his arms (never a good thing). They advised he have surgery as it was something with his neck again. They also wouldn’t clear him to wrestle again as he could risk becoming paralyzed or even die.

Not for nothing, but I don’t care how addicted you are to the rush of things, I wouldn’t mess with that. So, this past week on RAW, the WWE’s flagship weekly show, Edge retired. Though often thought to be an angle when things like this happen, this wasn’t a story. This was real. The WWE showed wrestlers — good guys and bad guys — applauding Edge.

This next clip is kind of long, but shows that even though the world of the WWE is scripted, people can get emotional. It’s no different than a professional athlete retiring or a normal joe leaving a job after so many years.

Now, the WWE does a second weekly show — Smackdown. Most of the wrestlers are on one or the other. Edge is actually the champion on Smackdown, which is why his appearance on RAW was a little more shocking. But RAW is the live weekly show, so it was worth having him there.

That being said, he needed to surrender his world championship on Smackdown — which was taped Tuesday — in Albany. So me, my former sports editor and his son went up to watch. It’s the first time in several years I’ve seen the WWE live, so it was cool to watch. We had some great seats and got a chance to see Edge’s final time as champion — in Albany.

That’s what fans will see on Smackdown when it airs tonight on SyFy.

But after the show “went off the air,” is when it got really cool and interesting. With other superstars coming out to applaud Edge and him giving a final speech.

I wanted to attach the YouTube video to it, but the version that was online was removed by WWE, so when I wrote this post, I couldn’t find it again.

In the end, I’ve had the chance to see some cool things in regard to wrestling and this ranks right up there with the best of them. I’ll look forward to seeing how they play it all on television.

And for those of you who might be ‘rasslin fans, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that Edge was fun to watch over the years. From the ladder matches, to the tables, ladders and chairs to everything else, he really put a show on for the fans. I have a feeling he’ll be enjoying a trip into the WWE Hall of Fame next year.