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those of you who aren’t familiar, WrestleCon is kind of like Axxess on a budget with everyone running their own booth. The key differences though are you have a TON of indy wrestlers, plus dozens of legends. You pay a flat rate to get in () and then each autograph and picture you want is an additional charge (I think the most I saw for a regular guest was but most are less than half of that). For the sake of finances, I only paid for a handful of pictures.
Booker T.:
Demolition:
Every bit as intimidating as you would expect. I said they were one of my favorites when I was a kid. Ax: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN WERE? WE BETTER STILL BE!” He smiled after.
Jerry Lawler:
Vader:
This was overcoming a childhood fear. Vader beat Sting. No one could beat Sting!
Lita:
And finally, Tito Santana:
My all time favorite midcarder and, before New Day, the original Kofi Kingston. Very nice guy.
Stan Hansen (Talked to him a bit about growing to appreciate his work a bit more. He seemed pleased that someone younger was taking the time to do so.)
Lex Luger
Tully Blanchard (One of the first guys I talked to. Blanchard: “Well you start with the best.”)
J.J. Dillon
Lashley (VERY nice guy and I talked to him for a few minutes. I even got to pick up the TNA World Title and it actually took two hands. That thing is WAY heavier than it looks.)
Scott Hall (Long line so just a quick handshake and Too Sweet.)
Ken Shamrock (Nicer than you would expect.)
Abyss (Nice guy again. Told him that he and AJ had my favorite TNA match ever, which he said was his favorite too (Lockdown 2005).)
Kevin Nash (Again, just a quick Too Sweet as the line was long.)
Slick
Brutus Beefcake
Barry Windham
Shelton Benjamin
Luke Williams (Bushwhackers) (I said he had licked my face as a kid and he seemed to act like that was the weirdest comment ever.)
Winter (Gorgeous.)
Laurel Van Ness
Thea Trinidad (Barely staying in her top.)
Melissa Santos (Funny, looks much better in person and you can hear the announcer in her.)
Fred Ottman (Tugboat) (Nice guy.)
Christy Hemme (Same as Lita/Kelly: You can feel the energy coming off of her.)
Wade Barrett (Tall, very polite, seemed to be having a great time.)
Steve Lombardi (I said I had watched him lose for years and he said “You mean watching me make money all those years?” Very positive guy and seemed to know what he was in wrestling, which is rare.)
Ryback
Raquel (BroMans manager for a few weeks) (Looked outstanding.)
Mil Muertes
Wild Samoans
Torrie Wilson (Got to give her a quick hug. Still looks great.)
Raven (A lot calmer than you would expect. We talked about his podcast for a bit and I asked about the golf cart story at Wrestlemania XVII, which he says is true.)
Ethan Carter III (Funny guy.)
Eugene (Trying to sell a lot until I mentioned I was from Lexington and then had a nice chat about his family being from there.)
One Man Gang (Nicer than you would expect.)
Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria/Tara)
Gary Michael Cappeta (Ring announcers fascinate me for some reason and he was another nice guy.)
Teddy Long (Very polite and seemed to be having a blast.)
Jack Swagger (Incredibly nice, had a quick chat with him about his ECW run. WAY taller in person, which he says he gets a lot.)
Rock N Roll Express (Their line was almost empty for some reason. You would think they would be a hot ticket right now.)
Sinister Minister
Bill Apter (Asked my name and thanked me for coming out after a chat about his book, which is worth reading.)
Abdullah the Butcher
Al Perez
Al Snow
Aron Rex (Nice guy.)
Bill Alfonso
Brian Blair
Bruce Prichard
Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Talked with him about his team with Eddie, which he seemed very proud of. Nice guy and much more fun to talk to than I was expecting.)
Cisco (Lucha Underground)
Dink
Dan Severn (Not really a fan but came off as one of the most well spoken there.)
Duane Gill (Gillberg)
Gail Kim (I know she gets on my nerves but DANG she is a beautiful woman in person.)
Gangrel
Jake Roberts (Much friendlier than last year at Axxess)
James Storm
Jeff Jarrett (Told him I was from Lexington, which was an old USWA town. He smiled quite a bit.)
Jim Brunzell
Jim Neidhart
Justin Roberts
Ken Anderson
Kevin Thorn (Talked to him about his OVW days, which seemed to be a good topic for him.)
Marc Mero
Mascarita Dorada (El Torito)
Virgil (Actually really nice.)
MVP
Molly Holly
Pete Gas
Rachel Ellering
Glacier
Rene Dupree
Samuel Shaw
Eddie Edwards
Davey Richards
Rocky Johnson
Sabu
Sam Houston
Hurricane
Shelley Martinez (Not exactly able to rock the sexy outfits anymore.)
Stevie Ray (With Booker. Has some massive arms.)
Stevie Richards (For you Lee.)
Taya Valkerie (Talked about her stuff from the WrestleCon Supershow. Very nice.)
Tommy Dreamer
Vickie Guerrero
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Night Raw
Date: May 27, 1996
Location: Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
Oh and over on Nitro, Scott Hall jumped the barricade.
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Goldust vs. Ultimate Warrior
Smoking Gunns vs. BodyDonnas
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Ahmed Johnson vs. Vader
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
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Night Raw
Date: May 13, 1996
Location: Sioux City Auditorium, Sioux City, Iowa
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
Zip vs. Ahmed Johnson
Duke Droese vs. Vader
Justin Hawk Bradshaw vs. Aldo Montoya
We get a serious video from Vince, basically saying that the tour of Kuwait was this big show of freedom. During the trip, British Bulldog attacked Shawn Michaels on a beach and tried to drown him. Ok then.
Shawn Michaels vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Overall Rating: C. The main event pretty easily bails this one out as Shawn did so often around this time. What brings it right back down again is the idea of watching British Bulldog vs. Shawn for the title on pay per view as it just sucks the energy and excitement out of me. The rest of the show was your usual 1996 mess but that main event was solid.
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
Survivor Series 1996
Date: November 17, 1996
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 18,647
Commentators: Jim Ross, Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
Free For All: Team Bart Gunn vs. Team Billy Gunn
Bart Gunn, Aldo Montoya, Bob Holly, Jesse James
Billy Gunn, Salvatore Sincere, Justin Bradshaw, The Sultan
Holly comes in with a bulldog as we see Aldo walk up the ramp opposite the cameras (an MSG standard). Sultan grabs a chinlock and we take a break to come back with Sultan slamming Bart on the floor so Sincere (a flamboyant yet still generic Italian) can baseball slide him in the face. Back in and Bart grabs a side slam to get rid of Sincere and tie the match up.
Bradshaw (who JR says is going to be something special) comes in and kicks the freshly tagged Holly in the face. We go to a split screen to see Austin running Dok Hendrix out of his dressing room and come back to Bradshaw hitting the Clothesline From an Undisclosed Location to eliminate Holly.
Team Furnas and Lafon vs. Team Owen Hart/British Bulldog
Doug Furnas, Phillip Lafon, Henry Godwinn, Phineas Godwinn
Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Marty Jannetty, Leif Cassidy
Leif comes in to cover and the former powerlifter sends him flying on the kickout. The bad guys get smart with a blind tag and a springboard missile dropkick to wipe Furnas out in a great looking visual. JR goes into yet another rant about the referees not catching the heels cheating, which is a really weird complaint for a heel to have.
Paul Bearer insists he WILL NOT get into the cage and be hung above the ring. Mankind will crush Undertaker like the cockroaches he used to eat for dinner.
Undertaker vs. Mankind
Bearer is in an individual cage above the ring and if Undertaker wins, Bearer is his for five minutes. The entrance is an important one as Undertaker descends from the rafters and debuts the sleeveless leather attire that would become his signature look for the next several years. It marks the evolution of the original character to the newer, sleeker fighting machine that could hurt people at will.
Team Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Team Marc Mero
Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry Lawler, Goldust, Crush
Marc Mero, The Stalker, Rocky Maivia, Jake Roberts
Rating: D. They accomplished the goal of giving Rocky a good rub to start (hence why you have goons like Crush around to take a fall like this) but this was WAY too long. You could probably cut out five to ten minutes here and do just about the same thing. Windham was worthless (as he was for most of the time after 1990 or so) and there were way too many stretches of boring non-action dragging it down.
Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
Bret takes him down and stays on the arm with a hammerlock until a hard elbow to the jaw puts him down. Austin keeps slugging away until Bret pulls him into another armbar. Bret: “ASK HIM!” Did Jericho get that from Bret? Steve comes right back with a hot shot and starts choking on the bottom rope.
Faarooq/Vader/Razor Ramon/Diesel vs. Flash Funk/Savio Vega/Yokozuna/???
Jimmy almost runs over for the tag back to Vega, who hits maybe 10% of a spinwheel kick on Diesel. Faarooq rams him into the post and the Jackknife ends Vega to hopefully start wrapping this up. The Superfly Splash ends Ramon less than a minute later and then the remaining six come in for the big brawl, resulting in a massive DQ and no winner.
WWF World Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Sid
The threat of a powerbomb sends Shawn bailing to the outside and we have a breather. Back in and Shawn gets smart by going after the knee, including a Figure Four (actually done on the proper leg). The hold is turned over and Sid sends him shoulder first into the post to take over. Shawn goes right back to the knee and the fans boo him out of the Garden. Thankfully they catch on to the idea and Sid blasts Shawn to the floor with a clothesline.
Back in and Sid gets in a few kicks to the face, followed by a big backbreaker for two. We hit a cobra clutch of all things (Sid would use that occasionally and it always looked weird for someone his size) before a chokeslam drops the champ. Shawn hits his flying forearm and is loudly booed, though the nipup draws a high pitched pop.
Shawn checks on Jose as Sid poses to end the show.
Ratings Comparison
Team Jesse James vs. Team Billy Gunn
Original: N/A
2012 Redo: N/A
2016 Redo: C-
Team Furnas and Lafon vs. Team Owen Hart/British Bulldog
Original: B-
2012 Redo: C+
2016 Redo: B
Undertaker vs. Mankind
Original: C+
2012 Redo: B
2016 Redo: B
Team Jerry Lawler vs. Team Jake Roberts
Original: D
2012 Redo: C+
2016 Redo: D
Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
Original: A+
2012 Redo: A+
2016 Redo: A+
Team Vader vs. Team Yokozuna
Original: D-
2012 Redo: F
2016 Redo: F-
Shawn Michaels vs. Sycho Sid
Original: C-
2012 Redo: B
2016 Redo: B+
Overall Rating
Original: B-
2012 Redo: B+
2016 Redo: B
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/15/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-1996-bret-vs-austin-the-prequel-and-rock-debuts/
And the 2012 Redo:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2015/11/04/survivor-series-count-up-1996-thats-blue-chip-right-there/