Tenta's Fifty Nifty

[Tenta]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to my brand new project, and the brand new way to extend my posting on these boards, to make sure I have a whole week of non-spam posting. This is a brief glance of all the major works across the United States of America. I’d like to think of myself as a fairly patriotic man, with loyal ties to the great old USA. Now, I’d be foolish to insinuate that America is the most important country for professional wrestling, but it’s certainly up there and home to the largest current market for pro wrestling. For years, most Americans have felt like we had the best professional wrestling… And boy, are we wrong. But that’s no reason to ignore the contributions of the work of our home states, and the land in which we love. This, ladies and gentlemen, is:

Tenta’s Fifty Nifty

[youtube]aGvK8X0KY2Y [/youtube]​

And today, we start off our look at the United States with the Good Old Keystone State.

Ah, Keystone… So, so many nights in which you’ve helped me get drunk, and so many drunken hook ups you’ve led to. Through the glory, and the mistakes, you were always my cheap little buddy. Always there to satisfy me, and always there to be by my side. Sure, you tasted like absolute crap, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, you were there, and you were always there for me. For that, my dear friend, though my palette has broadened, and now you taste like the backside of a mule, I will always love you.

[youtube]xNarn1MY6kY&feature=related[/youtube]​

What’s that? I actually have to post about wrestling on here? Fuck… Well, anyway, Keystone… We’ll always be together… Though I’ve thrown you up too many times to count.

Anyway, with that love fest out of the way, surely we’ll all know I’m talking about that good old home of the Quakers. Yes, home to Benjamin Franklin, and plenty of the other peaceful founding fathers. Technically, the first USA Capitol could be found here, as well, as the Founding Fathers all met here to outline what the US Government would indeed look like. It was here that the foundation of democracy was born (For us, at least. You see, those pesky Greeks had the system down long before us. But, eh, who’s keeping score here.) And it also is home to plenty of the best professional wrestling you’ll ever find. As a matter of fact, this state happens to be one of the best amateur wrestling hotbeds in the whole country, as Penn State’s team is one that is continuously ranked in the top ten every year. Naturally, this fact becomes a bit obvious when one considers, arguably, the best wrestler to come out of Pennsylvania (Wow, only a couple paragraphs in, and I’ve almost spoiled the whole induction. Clearly, I need to work on being subtle). So without further ado, let’s put this American puzzle together with the first state, voted by you to start this Nifty Fifty:

Pennsylvania

Yes, yes, Pennsylvania. This state is largely notorious for having perhaps the most passionate fans in the world, for just about every sport. Growing up with the Eagles, Steelers, Phillies, and other such teams learns you to toughen up, and be hardcore about your teams, or in this case, wrestling. It’s something you have a passion for, which always makes Pennsylvania crowds so much fun. The fun comes from watching these extremely hot crowds give all their energy into a match. It’s things like that that turn a decent match into a great match, and a great match into an all time classic. And these hardcore fans make any event that’s held in Pennsylvania a hot event, always filled with hardcore fans waiting to either pounce on a guy they don’t like, or cheer for the matches they love.

And speaking of Hardcore… I’m now officially brought to Pennsylvania’s most important contribution to the world of Professional Wrestling.

ECW

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Who could’ve guess that, when Tod Gordon purchased the remaining stock of the flailing Tri-State Wrestling Alliance, owned partially by Joel Goodhart, that he was on the brink of a revolution that would forever change the landscape of professional wrestling.

Well to be fair, no one did, because it wasn’t exactly his revolution. No, that revolution belonged to the brilliant, if not twisted, mind of Paul Heyman, arguably the greatest booker in the history of American professional wrestling.

Yes, I said it; Paul Heyman very well may be the best booker in the history of American professional wrestling. Now, as an owner, the man was inept, if not a tad corrupt. But absolutely nobody had a mind and a passion for the pro wrestling business than Paul Heyman. It’d be interesting to consider how things would have worked if Paul owned WCW, instead of ECW. Still, he took an independent promotion, performing weekly in a Bingo Hall in the bad sections of Philadelphia, and made it a legitimate member of the “Big Three” in the heyday of Professional Wrestling’s late 90s boom. He took the wrestlers that no one else would give a chance, because they were too small, or didn’t look good enough, or didn’t wrestle a certain style, and he made them superstars. He took a bleak outlook, and got a cable deal out of it. He is the reason you know men like RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, and Taz. Without this promotion, there would probably not be hardcore wrestling to the extent we have now. The entire glorious ladder matches that we were spoiled within the 2000s and the consequential TLC matches would have been nowhere without ECW. That little Bingo hall in Pennsylvania is responsible for launching so many careers, and providing fans with entertainment that, quite frankly, WCW and the WWE just weren’t offering at this point.

Also, ECW is the fatherland for all fans known as smarks. I’ve said it before, and I do legitimately believe it; ECW fans are the most intelligent breed of fans in the world of professional wrestling. And it’s not just because they look up the dirt sheets, and always have the info they always need. It’s not even because they boo John Cena. Smarks are smart, because they know when a promoter is feeding them shit, and won’t put up with it. They let their voices be heard, and let the owner know that they will not put up with the kind of television any longer. You want to know why Vince invests in attracting children? Because children are naïve, and won’t know to voice their opinions so much if they don’t like something. That was the appeal of ECW… It catered to its fans, and gave them the entertainment they wanted, with double the passion of any other promotion out there, including the big boys. ECW’s following was loyal, and as long as ECW did all they could to entertain the fans, they were going to put their all into the success of ECW.

Though ECW did apparently rub one certain wrestler the wrong way when it attempted to court him… Apparently, he took offense to a certain crucifixion angle run by Raven and Sandman. Thus, what once was supposed to be this wrestler’s debut would be put on hold for three more years, where he’d then debut, as the most decorated rookie in the world of professional wrestling. Now, he is known as the greatest wrestler in wrestling today, and may go down in history as one of the all time greats, if not the greatest wrestler of all time. And this man calls the Keystone State his home. Ladies and gentlemen, Pennsylvania’s greatest wrestler;

Kurt Angle

This man is pretty much the total package, and everything you could possibly look for in a professional wrestler. Of course his amateur skills are legendary. Aside from Dan Gable, Cael Sanderson, and possibly Brock Lesnar, one could make the argument that he was the greatest American wrestler. His technical skills are only a fraction of his real talent, and that’s truly saying something. Even as a rookie, the guy was gold on the mic. The amount of different characters the guy can play leaves you astounded. He can go from a cowardly heel to a psychotic freak faster than you can say Rhaka Khan. The man will always have a lasting legacy for his Three Is, and his ability to use all of them to enhance his persona is downright classic. The guy has faced them all, and beaten every single wrestler he’s ever faced. A fourteen time heavyweight champion, the man has an outside shot of breaking Ric Flair’s record, and at the rate TNA is going, he may wind up with the TNA strap about seven to eight more times before he hangs up the boots. Having said that, his personal issues may come back to haunt the guy. But we shouldn’t let that affect how we view the guy. This man is sheer greatness, and we should simply note that for the legend he truly is.

So many threads have been made about the guy, and I can’t do him justice. So, as will become customary, I’m going to show his greatest match, and have you view greatness. This, fittingly enough, occurs in Pittsburgh, right in Kurt’s hometown. And it is arguably his best match ever. Considering he’s only a two year vet here, that’s saying something. So without further ado, allow me to take you to Kurt Angle VS. Steve Austin, at 2001’s Unforgiven:









Now, that was wrestling excellence. Now, that was our recap of Pennsylvania. Don’t think Kurt Angle was the best. Want to add your own contribution? Feel free to add your own fantastic moments, and add what you love about Pennsylvania. In the meantime, I’ll be researching for next week, as I do (This may be difficult for me) Rhode Island. If anyone would like to help me, let me know. I know X is from Rhode Island, so any help would be great.

However, that is all for this state. Join us next week for Rhode Island.

See ya.

 

[PEP3]

Jesus Christ, and I thought that the post I used to start my "Is TNA Populating Itself with 'WWE Rejects'?" thread was long and convoluted! LOL! How goddam long did it take you to put this one together, Tenta?!

Anyway, I'm going to completely embarrass myself here. When I read "The Keystone State" was kicking off your Nifty Fifty, the first thing that came to mind was The Nasty Boys. I know, I know. I, too, am embarrassed that Knobbs & Sags -- the pride of Allentown, PA -- sprang up before either ECW or Kurt Angle. In fact, I'm downright ashamed.

Blame it on the fact that I knew these guys personally, many, many moons ago when I was just a kid. Both had been working the indy circuit for a while, mostly as singles jobbers in the old AWA Southern territory, when they decided to form The Nasty Boys.

Only a few months after teaming up, they won the AWA Southern Tag Titles over in Memphis. After dropping those, they hit Florida Championship Wrestling, where Dusty Rhodes was booking at the time, and they were made Florida Tag Champs. They were still pretty young and fresh-faced then, still had their teeth and showed no signs of the unbelievable bloat and physical deterioration present now. They were also remarkably nice guys.

The first time I met the pair, Jerry was shocked and impressed that a 14-year-old kid living in a rather rural part of Florida knew his full last name (Saganovich) and most highlights of his [to date rather uneventful] pro wrestling career. In fact, I remember he was so impressed, he kind of guided me around introducing me to other wrestlers on the roster, each taking turns trying to test my knowledge of their individual careers and the industry in general.

I particularly remember when Sags introduced me to Brett Sawyer. He was like, "Ask this kid anything. He knows everything about wrestling you can imagine!" So Brett spent about 15 minutes trying to stump me. He asked questions about who he won and lost titles to, what his past wrestling nicknames had been and even about his much more famous/established older brother Buzz Sawyer. When he failed to trip me up, Sags was like, "I told you this kid is good!"

Anyway, over the next eight months to a year, my dad and I went to one or two FCW shows a month, and the guys always greeted me like we were pals. And I remember encouraging Sags & Nobbs to try their luck in the bigger companies. They were excited about the chance -- and hoped Big Dust would hook 'em up with the NWA/WCW -- but they were scared, too.

Guess they didn't have much reason to be. From jobbing in high school gyms to beating one of the greatest tag teams of all-time The Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Titles, and then several more reigns as WCW World Tag Team champs, these guys had a great career.

I told them it would work out. With all that useless wresting trivia and historical knowledge I had even then, Jerry should have known I was right.

 

[Tenta]

Jesus, PEP, the more I hear about you, the cooler you get man, bar none. That is just a flat out awesome story. There's absolutely no shame to this matter. I'd love to say I met a pro wrestler for anything other than an autograph or something like that. That's just a damn astounding story, and these are the kinds of things that make me fall back in love with wrestling again. Grade A, and this is the exact feel I'm trying to get for these types of stories, man.

As for the Nastys, I always found them underrated. People look at them and say, "They were Hulk's friends, and they have no talent." These guys were flat out brawlers, no other way around it. This was, arguably, the best brawling team of professional wrestling, excluding the Demolition and Road Warriors. These guys were flat out hardcore, and could clubber with the best of them, as Dusty Rhodes used to love to say. Plus, their look was just fan fucking tastic. I loved those mullets, the chains, everything about them. And say what you will, but these guys were so fucking over, no matter where they went.

In honor of the Nastys, I'm going to put up a damn good match between them and another Philly Team, The Public Enemy. Now the Public Enemy, just like the Nastys, could clubber. But they could also fly with the best of them. Something about watching Rocko Rock doing flips through tables was just entertaining. These were also members of the first ECW, the very first brethren. They both, may they rest in peace, were easily on par with the Nasty Boys. Thus, I present this match, not exactly from PEP's heyday, but certainly my favorite Nasty Match. I believe this took place at Superbrawl VI, my very first WCW PPV. And it was The Nastys and the Public Enemy, in a street fight.

​

 

[PEP3]

Trust me on this one, Tenta, I've got tons of great stories like that one.

When I was 14 years old, aspiring to be a pro wrestling journalist (well, at least I accomplished part of that one), I became the very first person to ever interview a 19-year-old rookie named Dustin Runnels. Maybe you've heard of him?

By that time, as a student studying for my eventual career, I'd already "interviewed" several pro wrestlers. The Rock 'n Roll Express. "Mean" Mark Calloway (yep, 'Taker, before he was The Phenom), Johnny (Ace) Laurenitis. They all came to wrestle in my high school gym once.

These days, whenever possible, I still use my journalism schtick to speak to pro wrestlers. I've done great interviews/write-ups on Gail Kim, Sonjay Dutt, Ken Yasuda, Lillian Garcia. In my living room is a framed magazine cover story I wrote about Batista.

The piece de resistance, though, is a photo taken with Stone Cold Steve Austin the day I met and got to hang out with him for about a half-hour in his hotel suite. Our interview ended about 15 mins. in, and we just spent the next 15 mins. shooting the shit about old school wrestling. Once again, he was duly impressed by my knowledge and acumen. In fact, I entered a fan of his. I think by the time I left, he was a fan of mine! ;-)

 

[PEP3]

OK, now I just feel like a braggart. Honestly, I am just really lucky to have my career. Since I was eight years old, I've wanted to be a journalist. When I was 10, I wanted to be a wrestling journalist, working on assignment for Pro Wrestling Illustrated. When I was about 16, I realized those magazines don't really "report" news, they promote kayfabe storylines, so I changed my career focus.

Along the way, I've met tons of wrestlers. Obviously in keeping with this thread, The Nasties were among those guys. So were the people mentioned above, along with many other more and less known wrestlers. Some (like Saggs) hold a really special place in my memories.

Now I'm an entertainment/celebrity journalist. Many of the celebs I choose to focus on just happen to be involved with pro wrestling. It's about the closest I'll get to living that 10-year-old kid's dream.

 

[The Con Volt]

You know what? Fuck it. Im getting in this thing. By the way, great choice on starting with pennsylvania. It's truly one of those under appreciated states for the square circle. When you think wrestling, you're more likely to think of Florida, Wisconsin, Tennessee. But oh well, I'll wait for those states.

Anyways.

Pennsylvania. ECW, Kurt Angle, and the Nasty Boys. Those examples alone are enough to make a believer out of anyone that wrestling can be amongst the greatest entertainment in the world.

ECW. What can you say? For me, It's the very first wrestling I ever watched. I was just a little guy when my dad sat me down to watch barely legal with him on PPV. And I have to admit, I was IMMEDIATELY a fan for life. From that point forward, I watched all the wrestling I could. WWF, WCW, but in all honestly, ECW was always my favorite in the early years. Sure I loved Steve Austin, Sting, Flair, The Rock. But my favorite wrestler in those years was Rob Van Dam. I truly believe he is one the top 10 greatest in the sports history.

Kurt Angle. IMO, He, Jericho, And Christian are the current best in the business. Bar none. He was so ignorant to the sport of pro wrestling when he did commentary in ECW the night Raven crucified sandman. And to think they almost had him. But he truly has become one of the most skilled, naturally gifted athlete not only in this sport, but in all sports the world over.

The Nasty Boys. You know what? I'm not even gonna touch that subject. PEP3's story was cool enough

 

[jmt225]

Speaking of the Nasty Boys, one of my all time favorite matches was them vs. Kevin Sullivan and Cactus Jack in a street fight, and it happened in all places: Philadelphia. It even had Dave Shultz, former Philly Flyers hockey player, as a special guest referee. Awesome, awesome match, that still holds up today. Not many hardcore matches from the nineties in WCW and WWE can claim that.

And while I'm a huge fan of Kurt Angle and respect him deeply, I don't give a fuck what anyone says, Pittsburgh will ALWAYS be Shane Douglas country. If you want proof, just watch November to Remember 1997, when the Franchise took on ECW Champion, Bam Bam Bigelow. It was in Pittsburgh, and that building was filled with nothing but Gold shirts, representing Shane's Triple Threat faction. When Shane Belly-to-Bellied to Bigelow through that table and got the 3 count, that ranks right up there with the loudest pops in ECW history. Great memories.

Also, one of my favorite matches in WWE history took place in Philly, and that was when Jeff Hardy won his very first singles title against HHH, when he won the Intercontinental Championship on Smackdown. The only reason I remember that show being in Philly is because the image of Hat Guy and his pal marking the fuck out over Hardy's victory remains stuck in my head to this day. Those two guys very well could be the greatest wrestling fans, ever. You can tell they truly loved the sport. I mean, every time WWE, WCW, and of course ECW were in town, you'd see them both front row, rooting for the good guys, wishing death upon the bad guys. I miss seeing them regularly, and if you ask me.... those two mean as much to the Pennsylvania wrestling scene as ANYONE throughout the history of the business.

 

[PEP3]

Hey, Con Volt, glad you liked my little trip down memory lane. Yeah, The Nasties are good guys. If they're pals with Hogan, it leads me to believe The Hulkster might be a halfway decent human being, too.

Something a couple of posts have touched on is that not one or two people in the pro wrestling come from Pennsylvania, thousands do. More than the wrestling, more than the booking, more than the incredible violence, the thing that truly put the original ECW on the map was the fans. Those people put their asses in the seats week in, week out to watch ECW grow from "Eastern Championship Wrestling" into the most "Extreme" form of pro wrestling ever broadcast on TV and PPV.

Time and time again, the ECW originals have thanked those fans. Too bad we don't know each and every name, because they truly helped make a wrestling legend.

 

[Freddy4190]

This is excellence man. I love this idea. Curious about my homestate, Virginia.. I have to admit. I really didn't get into wrestling until about 1999, and didn't even think of ECW until about 2005. I have since studied up a bit on ECW and man oh man, how I wish I was part of the experience back in the day. I love Kurt Angle, definitely one of my top 5 favorite wrestlers. The man's versatility was insane. He could literally put on 5 star matches in any enviroment, and wrestle them with damn near anybody.

 

[philly_kid]

First off let me start by saying I am not new here I've been reading posts on here for about 3 years now, and finally said f it and joined. But anyways, I've been part of wrestling my whole life, forcefully at first, but fell in love faster than I could remember.
When I first saw the title of this thread i was hoping you would bring up PA fast, and little did I know you'd do it first! I was there for the long haul TWA, ECW, etc. The innovators before the innovators became famous. JHB, Tony Stentson, Glenn Osbourne, JT Smith, Public Enemy,etc those guys were the innovators of Hardcore wrestling in Philly. Making the circuts in the late 80s early 90s doing barbwire matches, cage matches, everything you name they did it and with passion too. Before ECW blew up people from my neighborhood would wrap the street corners of Front and Swanson to see real guys fighting real wars. Being born and raised in South Philly I can tell you how much passion goes into wrestling events.
Who would of thought TWA wrestling would of turned into what it turned into.

 

[Petey]

Now, that was wrestling excellence. Now, that was our recap of Pennsylvania. Don’t think Kurt Angle was the best. Want to add your own contribution? Feel free to add your own fantastic moments, and add what you love about Pennsylvania. See ya.

My first reply ever answers the man's question and I get a spam warning That's quite the welcome to the site. Thanks jmt225.

Anyways - as I said, two other Pennsylvania Greats are Bruno Sammartino & Mark Madden.

I remember hearing stories of Bruno and the Studio Wrestling Program from my dad when we watched wrestling. Add to that his ability to sell out arenas and his lengthy title reigns and his greatness is hard to argue.

I also enjoyed listening to Mark's radio program, and then seeing him on WCW Programming. The same personality and humor showed in both products. And as been shown on this site in many places, his knowledge of the squared ring in undeniable.

Shane Douglas has already been mentioned.

Finally, why drink a California based Keystone beer when you could drink a smooth Rolling Rock?

 

[NSL]

And while I'm a huge fan of Kurt Angle and respect him deeply, I don't give a fuck what anyone says, Pittsburgh will ALWAYS be Shane Douglas country. If you want proof, just watch November to Remember 1997, when the Franchise took on ECW Champion, Bam Bam Bigelow. It was in Pittsburgh, and that building was filled with nothing but Gold shirts, representing Shane's Triple Threat faction. When Shane Belly-to-Bellied to Bigelow through that table and got the 3 count, that ranks right up there with the loudest pops in ECW history. Great memories.

jmt is the man.

I saw this thread, and figured you'd have ECW and Angle, and you didn't disappoint. You're not "wrong" with Angle either, but to live in PA, and watch ECW from it's early days, you know that Shane Douglas is the face this state associates with wrestling.

He was never big with NWA, WCW, or WWE, but he sure as hell made a name for himself, and left his mark on history, in ECW. He was even pretty good in TNA's early days. He was a man of the people, even when he was a "bad guy". He broke Gary Wolfe's neck, and went on for about 3 months cutting promos about it. He even sat in a wheelchair outside the hospital Gary was in after the surgery while talking about banging Wolfe's old lady, Francine.

Shane Douglas is the man, but Angle's not bad either.

 

[RVDgurl]

Ah....Pennsylvania. What a great state!

ECW, was in fact, the greatest contribution that PA has made to the wrestling business. It is my all time favorite promotion. ECW featured some PA natives such as Shane Douglas, Francine, Stevie Richards, The Blue Meanie, and The Sandman to name a few.

And how about ROH??? Currently my favorite promotion and it runs a damn close second to ECW on RVDgurl's list of all time favorite wrestling promotions.

Lastly, I have read each post twice to see if I missed this...but I can't believe nobody has yet mentioned The Rock. Born and raised in PA!!

 

[Tenta]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to my brand new project, and the brand new way to extend my posting on these boards, to make sure I have a whole week of non-spam posting. This is a brief glance of all the major works across the United States of America. I’d like to think of myself as a fairly patriotic man, with loyal ties to the great old USA. Now, I’d be foolish to insinuate that America is the most important country for professional wrestling, but it’s certainly up there and home to the largest current market for pro wrestling. For years, most Americans have felt like we had the best professional wrestling… And boy, are we wrong. But that’s no reason to ignore the contributions of the work of our home states, and the land in which we love. This, ladies and gentlemen, is:

Tenta’s Fifty Nifty

[youtube]aGvK8X0KY2Y [/youtube]​

Alas, I must confess, folks…. I forgot entirely about this project of mine. I swear, it wasn’t intentional, and I offer my apologies. Sometimes, when you’re taking on the world, you forget things. Well, not to worry, today, we’re going to include that you can never forget, even if it is the smallest state.

… What’s that? The District of Columbia technically counts? You’re kidding me! You’re fucking kidding me! Who counts DC as a separate state, goddamnit! Who’s the politically correct fuck who just won’t give up! Next thing you know, you’re going to tell me The Vatican is its own country!

…. Son of a bitch, you’re joking. There’s a reason it’s called Vatican City. It’s a fucking city! Anyway, screw it Rhode Island is the smallest state in the US. However, it’s just as important as any other state there is to have. Mainly because Xfearbefore is from there. And I’m not going to lie… It was difficult to do research on this one. It really was extremely difficult. I was almost tempted to say that Xfearbefore was Rhode Island’s contribution to the World of Professional Wrestling. Instead, I get to go with a pay per view from 1994, and a fairly shitty one at that. Goody. Anyway, let’s get this damn thing over with, as we discover.

Rhode Island

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Yeah, I’m sorry, I promised myself I wouldn’t use Family Guy jokes, and I promise, I’ll keep them at a minimum. Trust me, there’s going to be a lot of filler in this episode. As much filler as I can possibly pile in. Anyway, let’s get this show on the road, and bring to you the Biggest Moment for Rhode Island:

The 1994 Royal Rumble

Yes, I know, pretty pathetic, isn’t it? I’m sure there have been other moments that have happened here, but this was the first thing I found. Maybe a championship changed hands in this state that I don’t know of, but this Pay Per View seems like the best thing to offer from Rhode Island, respectfully. I won’t do a typical KB Review of this thing, but I’ll just gloss over the very important details of this show, and why it should be memorable to you:

1. It ignited the legendary Owen and Bret Hart feud.

Yes, it was at this event in which The Hart brothers had a WWE Tag Title match against the Quebecers. That’s soon to be a trivia question some day. Anyway, it surely wasn’t a bad match, and the story was pretty terrific. The main jist of it was that Bret wouldn’t tag out, and this frustrated his brother, Owen. Owen got in, and did quite a bit of damage, prepping himself to look very strong for the inevitable turn we were about to get. Bret tags back in, and pulls the typical hot tag routine. However, he hurt his knee falling out of the ring when the manager of the Quebecers, Johnny Polo (You may know him as Raven), pulled the ropes down. Bret injured his knee, and though he fought valiantly, he wouldn’t tag in to Owen. The finish came when Bret could no longer stand due to the pain of the knee. After the match, Owen yelled at Bret for not tagging out of the match. He then turned on Bret by kicking his injured leg and leaving him lying in the ring. It’s known to us as probably one of the best turns in the WWE’s history, and would lead to a compelling story to build off for the rest of 1994, and for pretty much the rest of Owen’s career, actually. It also provided this little treasure that will always live in my heart, as perhaps the greatest promo gaff in history.

[youtube]voa2sXaKqk4[/youtube]​

Tell me you didn’t see that for one second, and laugh immensely at this little goof. Simply put, this was a terrific heel turn, and worked in a semi shoot style, though in reality the Hart brothers loved each other dearly.

2. The Undertaker went away, in a moment that was… Less legendary…

I swear to God, I want to do a JTMFTG entry sheerly on how awful this was. I’ll sum up the events leading up to this moment, and then let the video take it away, once again. The Undertaker and Yokozuna were feuding over the WWE Title at this point, in one of the slowest feuds you’ll ever see. It partially leads to why I never bought into Yokozuna as a viable champion. Anyway, they signed a contract to wrestle at the Royal Rumble, and while Jim Cornette, Yoko’s manager, slipped in a rule making this the Undertaker’s only shot, Paul Bearer slipped in a stipulation of his own. That stipulation was that the match would be a casket match. So of course, The Undertaker can’t die, so it took ten guys to beat on the Undertaker. Then, Yokozuna attacked Paul Bearer, and opened up the urn. I swear, it looked like the urn just let out a massive fart. The Undertaker’s power faded, and he lost the Casket Match. Which led to this colossal clusterfuck….

[youtube]9aqpnwE0bc4[/youtube]​

Yes, folks, welcome to WWE booking in 1994. You wish this was the worst, but I promise you, this was only the beginning. Sources say that was Marty Jannety that pulled a Jesus and rose to the heavens. I’m not sure, and quite frankly, that’s a good thing. Anyway, this was a pretty poor pay per view. Can’t wait to see KB review it. But that is the most noticeable thing about Rhode Island.

Thankfully, there is an identifiable wrestler from Rhode Island. And that man is;

Pitbull #2

This was Anthony Durante, who teamed up with Gary Wolfe to form a tenacious, wild tag team known as the Pitbulls. They and the Eliminators, John Kronus and Perry Saturn, had some wars that were out of this world, as did the Pitbulls with the Dudleys. Former ECW Tag Team Champions, they would team up to beat Raven and Stevie Richards (Hey Lee, how about that Stevie Richards never won anything argument?) and have some great tag team matches. They were a part of the ECW’s tag team revolution, in a time when the tag teams of WWE and WCW were struggling. This man is also responsible for attempting to injure Raven on night, purposely performing a Superbomb stiff in order to hurt the guy. In short, the boys “Broke the Code”, and though in ECW this didn’t matter much, it was still fairly controversial. Pitbull 2 would also have some single success winning the ECW TV Title from Shane Douglas.

Unfortunately, tragedy also hit the man. Having broken a neck, the man found himself in a case most wrestlers do; taking prescription pain pills to an excess. Durante died on September 25, 2003 along with his girlfriend, Dianna Hulsey, both from drug overdoses. A substance believed to be the painkiller OxyContin was found in the house but it was officially determined that he overdosed on the painkiller fentanyl. He and his girlfriend were found after lying in their home dead for days, all while their two small children, a 21-month-old boy and 8-month-old girl, were apparently alone in the house among the bodies. Again, these are the type of horror stories that, sadly, fill our wrestling world. What with the sensitivity to the matter, including the recent passing of Umaga, one has to realize the danger of these pills. It destroys lives. And in the sad case of Anthony Durnate, it led to the end of his.

Sorry to end this on such a somber note, guys. Just given what history tells me. That’s all for Tenta’s Fifty Nifty. Join us next week as we reveal South Carolina.

God bless.

 

[Nadeem Ahmad]

Steve Blackman was listed as being from Annville, Pennsylvania on a website so I do not know if it was accurate but he was great at performing martial arts and could wrestle in hardcore matches too but I think he did not get to be very charismatic as was apparent by the small reactions that he received from the crowds. I saw a thread which was made about him and it is ironic that he did not live up to expectations of this state considering he was allegedly from there. What can really be said about him besides that he was a nice hardcore fighter but barely would be considered to be a wrestler? They did not even emphasize the finishing manuever of this man which probably was called "The Guillotine" and I remember it looked like he was doing the "leg scissors" but he hardly let a lot of that untapped potential offense hurt people as he was told to be limited in the ring. Where was the brotherly love for him?

Another major dissapointment of the recent wrestling in Pennsylvania was Wrestlemania Fifteen. Other than the main event that Michael Cole supposedly spoiled the outcome of, hardly anything historic, groundbreaking or too memorable happenned that was standard of a "Wrestlemania". I mean Ray Traylor and Mark Calloway basically blew it in the cell which had usually been a part of historic encounters, Test and D'Lo Brown proved that "tag team wrestling" is better when it does not exist despite the fact that I loved D'Lo as a performer, Kane practically validated the status of most big entertainers as being like tools to get by with and Vince McMahon was playing too much of a role in the brawl that was the match for the title as the simple hardcore fighting was not even to satisfy the thirsty fans of Philadelphia that wanted to see blood.

I know this is not a thread about that program but I wanted to point out that although the crowds of Pennsylvania are good indicators at a lot of times, even they did not boo nor cheer very heavily to let everyone know what they thought of this horrible product aside from when Rocky and Steve Austin came out during entrances and when they beat each other through the ramps and through the audience. I mean it was forgettable for Wrestlemania and easily one of the worst three shows of the series to me that I felt Philly did not probably expect.

As far as Rhode Island was, I do remember that either "WWF Raw is War" or "WWF Smackdown!" were filmed there at a couple of times and I know that Providence was the location of "WWF Smackdown!" during a winter.

 

[NSL]

Congrats Tenta. You taught me something. I had no clue Durante was from Rhode Island. I'm not sure I care about the state any more though. Sorry.

It obviously has a pretty poor history with wrestling, and I wouldn't expect it to have much with Providence being the only city they could really do many shows at. Who knows, maybe they'll do a show there next year, and we'll get a title change, or X jumping the barrier and having his way with Maryse in the ring.