Backstage stories, fights, road stories, etc

[Dunthreevy]

Wasn't entirely sure where to put these links, so here we are.

If you've ever wondered about how the The Brawl For All was planned, orchestrated, and politicized check out these links. Some of this information may already be widely known but this is the first I've ever read anything about it.

Part I
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0404/609425/brawl-for-naught-the-backstage-story-on-wwe-infamous-brawl-for/

Part II
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0412/609673/brawl-for-naught-part-ii-the-backstage-story-on-wwe-infamous/

I've heard Vince Russo talk about this on his podcast. He said it all started because JBL was running his mouth backstage about how he can shoot beat anyone up in the locker room. God I hate JBL.....Looking back this was one of the worst angles the WWF has ever done. I think most of the guys in the tournament were fired and quit after this. I think Savio Vega was forced to retire after injuring his arm after this.

And to think it was all just for JR to try and put over a 40 year old dude, who no one really cared about, for one last run. Pure brilliance!

[skbucks1985]

Wasn't entirely sure where to put these links, so here we are.

If you've ever wondered about how the The Brawl For All was planned, orchestrated, and politicized check out these links. Some of this information may already be widely known but this is the first I've ever read anything about it.

Part I
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0404/609425/brawl-for-naught-the-backstage-story-on-wwe-infamous-brawl-for/

Part II
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0412/609673/brawl-for-naught-part-ii-the-backstage-story-on-wwe-infamous/

I've heard Vince Russo talk about this on his podcast. He said it all started because JBL was running his mouth backstage about how he can shoot beat anyone up in the locker room. God I hate JBL.....Looking back this was one of the worst angles the WWF has ever done. I think most of the guys in the tournament were fired and quit after this. I think Savio Vega was forced to retire after injuring his arm after this.

And to think it was all just for JR to try and put over a 40 year old dude, who no one really cared about, for one last run. Pure brilliance!

I'd say the only thing about the Brawl For All that made sense was using it as a vehicle to push Dr. Death, assuming he won. He was a HUGE star in Japan and while he was no spring chicken he was the same age AJ Styles is now. So I definitely understand why they tried to get one last big run out of him.

[Polk377]

I've heard Vince Russo talk about this on his podcast. He said it all started because JBL was running his mouth backstage about how he can shoot beat anyone up in the locker room. God I hate JBL.....Looking back this was one of the worst angles the WWF has ever done. I think most of the guys in the tournament were fired and quit after this. I think Savio Vega was forced to retire after injuring his arm after this.

And to think it was all just for JR to try and put over a 40 year old dude, who no one really cared about, for one last run. Pure brilliance!

I'd say the only thing about the Brawl For All that made sense was using it as a vehicle to push Dr. Death, assuming he won. He was a HUGE star in Japan and while he was no spring chicken he was the same age AJ Styles is now. So I definitely understand why they tried to get one last big run out of him.

Why did they assume he would win though? Bart Gunn was destroying everyone and it wasn't even close. Should have been a good push for him as a real tough guy but they stupidly put him in the ring with Butterbean.

[skbucks1985]

And to think it was all just for JR to try and put over a 40 year old dude, who no one really cared about, for one last run. Pure brilliance!

I'd say the only thing about the Brawl For All that made sense was using it as a vehicle to push Dr. Death, assuming he won. He was a HUGE star in Japan and while he was no spring chicken he was the same age AJ Styles is now. So I definitely understand why they tried to get one last big run out of him.

Why did they assume he would win though? Bart Gunn was destroying everyone and it wasn't even close. Should have been a good push for him as a real tough guy but they stupidly put him in the ring with Butterbean.

He was a 4 time All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. You put that guy in a shoot fighting competition with a bunch of bar tough guys, you gotta think he's the heavy favorite.

[Polk377]

I'd say the only thing about the Brawl For All that made sense was using it as a vehicle to push Dr. Death, assuming he won. He was a HUGE star in Japan and while he was no spring chicken he was the same age AJ Styles is now. So I definitely understand why they tried to get one last big run out of him.

Why did they assume he would win though? Bart Gunn was destroying everyone and it wasn't even close. Should have been a good push for him as a real tough guy but they stupidly put him in the ring with Butterbean.

He was a 4 time All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. You put that guy in a shoot fighting competition with a bunch of bar tough guys, you gotta think he's the heavy favorite.

When fists start flying it doesn't matter how good of a wrestler you are. If you look at the bracket the heavy favorite should have been Dan Severn who was a real MMA fighter.

[skbucks1985]

Why did they assume he would win though? Bart Gunn was destroying everyone and it wasn't even close. Should have been a good push for him as a real tough guy but they stupidly put him in the ring with Butterbean.

He was a 4 time All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. You put that guy in a shoot fighting competition with a bunch of bar tough guys, you gotta think he's the heavy favorite.

When fists start flying it doesn't matter how good of a wrestler you are. If you look at the bracket the heavy favorite should have been Dan Severn who was a real MMA fighter.

It actually matters a lot. If you look at early MMA before guys became much more well-rounded fighters and it was largely one specialty vs another specialty, the wrestlers usually dominated the strikers. You're right about Severn but he was probably not going to be able to stay in the competition and didn't because if you have a professional MMA fighter going up against a bunch of, not even, amateurs but guys with no fighting experience you're looking at the potential of some major issues

[skbucks1985]

Why did they assume he would win though? Bart Gunn was destroying everyone and it wasn't even close. Should have been a good push for him as a real tough guy but they stupidly put him in the ring with Butterbean.

He was a 4 time All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. You put that guy in a shoot fighting competition with a bunch of bar tough guys, you gotta think he's the heavy favorite.

When fists start flying it doesn't matter how good of a wrestler you are. If you look at the bracket the heavy favorite should have been Dan Severn who was a real MMA fighter.

It actually matters a lot. If you look at early MMA before guys became much more well-rounded fighters and it was largely one specialty vs another specialty, the wrestlers usually dominated the strikers. You're right about Severn but he was probably not going to be able to stay in the competition and didn't because if you have a professional MMA fighter going up against a bunch of, not even, amateurs but guys with no fighting experience you're looking at the potential of some major issues

[jakecronus8]

Re: the JBL/Styles story.

I was talking about it with a friend back and forth via Twitter a while back. Never tagged JBL or Styles in the tweets, yet he still found them and blocked both of us. Clearly a guy that googles himself multiple times daily.

[Dunthreevy]

Apparently Del Rio is still starting **** with people backstage. When you are constantly finding yourself in the middle of issues, you have to start looking at the common denominator.

http://www.f4wonline.com/mexico/alberto-del-rio-gets-backstage-brawl-sunday-night-mexico-226371

[WRau1]

Apparently Del Rio is still starting **** with people backstage. When you are constantly finding yourself in the middle of issues, you have to start looking at the common denominator.

http://www.f4wonline.com/mexico/alberto-del-rio-gets-backstage-brawl-sunday-night-mexico-226371

I saw some recent pictures of the two the other day and maybe it was because Paige was standing near Del Rio and another pretty big guy, but she is looking insanely skinny.

[Ruzious]

He was a 4 time All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. You put that guy in a shoot fighting competition with a bunch of bar tough guys, you gotta think he's the heavy favorite.

When fists start flying it doesn't matter how good of a wrestler you are. If you look at the bracket the heavy favorite should have been Dan Severn who was a real MMA fighter.

It actually matters a lot. If you look at early MMA before guys became much more well-rounded fighters and it was largely one specialty vs another specialty, the wrestlers usually dominated the strikers. You're right about Severn but he was probably not going to be able to stay in the competition and didn't because if you have a professional MMA fighter going up against a bunch of, not even, amateurs but guys with no fighting experience you're looking at the potential of some major issues

The problem with the WWE assuming Williams would win it and then actually be a draw was... he was over-the-hill after the brutal way he wrestled in Japan for so many years, and I believe his knees were shot. And he wasn't a particularly charismatic or talkative guy for US pro rassling. His personality and ring style were perfect for Japan - not for the US. He was no SCSA - who had the same given name.

[skbucks1985]

When fists start flying it doesn't matter how good of a wrestler you are. If you look at the bracket the heavy favorite should have been Dan Severn who was a real MMA fighter.

It actually matters a lot. If you look at early MMA before guys became much more well-rounded fighters and it was largely one specialty vs another specialty, the wrestlers usually dominated the strikers. You're right about Severn but he was probably not going to be able to stay in the competition and didn't because if you have a professional MMA fighter going up against a bunch of, not even, amateurs but guys with no fighting experience you're looking at the potential of some major issues

The problem with the WWE assuming Williams would win it and then actually be a draw was... he was over-the-hill after the brutal way he wrestled in Japan for so many years, and I believe his knees were shot. And he wasn't a particularly charismatic or talkative guy for US pro rassling. His personality and ring style were perfect for Japan - not for the US. He was no SCSA - who had the same given name.

He definitely couldn't have handled a full-time schedule but I think he had enough left for one or two big matches. I think this was still during the corporation so they had a pretty easy way to mask his deficiencies in that department

[Polk377]

It actually matters a lot. If you look at early MMA before guys became much more well-rounded fighters and it was largely one specialty vs another specialty, the wrestlers usually dominated the strikers. You're right about Severn but he was probably not going to be able to stay in the competition and didn't because if you have a professional MMA fighter going up against a bunch of, not even, amateurs but guys with no fighting experience you're looking at the potential of some major issues

The problem with the WWE assuming Williams would win it and then actually be a draw was... he was over-the-hill after the brutal way he wrestled in Japan for so many years, and I believe his knees were shot. And he wasn't a particularly charismatic or talkative guy for US pro rassling. His personality and ring style were perfect for Japan - not for the US. He was no SCSA - who had the same given name.

He definitely couldn't have handled a full-time schedule but I think he had enough left for one or two big matches. I think this was still during the corporation so they had a pretty easy way to mask his deficiencies in that department

The only thing Dr. Death had going for him was his friend JR was in charge of talent relations. He was in no way marketable in that time and would have flopped anyway.

[Dunthreevy]

The problem with the WWE assuming Williams would win it and then actually be a draw was... he was over-the-hill after the brutal way he wrestled in Japan for so many years, and I believe his knees were shot. And he wasn't a particularly charismatic or talkative guy for US pro rassling. His personality and ring style were perfect for Japan - not for the US. He was no SCSA - who had the same given name.

He definitely couldn't have handled a full-time schedule but I think he had enough left for one or two big matches. I think this was still during the corporation so they had a pretty easy way to mask his deficiencies in that department

The only thing Dr. Death had going for him was his friend JR was in charge of talent relations. He was in no way marketable in that time and would have flopped anyway.

He was never going to be a star in the states. Say he wins the tournament, then what?

[Ruzious]

He definitely couldn't have handled a full-time schedule but I think he had enough left for one or two big matches. I think this was still during the corporation so they had a pretty easy way to mask his deficiencies in that department

The only thing Dr. Death had going for him was his friend JR was in charge of talent relations. He was in no way marketable in that time and would have flopped anyway.

He was never going to be a star in the states. Say he wins the tournament, then what?

Starts a bar fights division - better known as the BFD... after they ruled out calling it BarF.

[Dunthreevy]

So that whole shouting/shoving match between Brock and Jericho...

Jericho was pissed because of Brock busting open Orton, and he was supposedly told by Vince and others that it was all a work. Well this interview with Orton says otherwise.

http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18270143/randy-orton-thriving-creatively-new-member-wyatt-family-wwe

"Even now, four months later, I don't even know what happened," Orton said. "If it was supposed to happen, I wasn't aware of it. Basically s--- happens in that ring and he's a big old dude and he has some bony-ass elbows and that's all I can say. But there's an art to what we do. We're not trying to kill each other. We got 200 shows a year so taking a blow like that to the head definitely pisses me off because I'm on the shelf for three weeks with a concussion and I had just gotten my boots back on a month before SummerSlam after being out 9-10 months with a shoulder injury. So all those facts pissed me off but when you do this for a living s--- happens."

[WRau1]

So that whole shouting/shoving match between Brock and Jericho...

Jericho was pissed because of Brock busting open Orton, and he was supposedly told by Vince and others that it was all a work. Well this interview with Orton says otherwise.

http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18270143/randy-orton-thriving-creatively-new-member-wyatt-family-wwe

"Even now, four months later, I don't even know what happened," Orton said. "If it was supposed to happen, I wasn't aware of it. Basically s--- happens in that ring and he's a big old dude and he has some bony-ass elbows and that's all I can say. But there's an art to what we do. We're not trying to kill each other. We got 200 shows a year so taking a blow like that to the head definitely pisses me off because I'm on the shelf for three weeks with a concussion and I had just gotten my boots back on a month before SummerSlam after being out 9-10 months with a shoulder injury. So all those facts pissed me off but when you do this for a living s--- happens."

That was a pretty good article.

[Dunthreevy]

So that whole shouting/shoving match between Brock and Jericho...

Jericho was pissed because of Brock busting open Orton, and he was supposedly told by Vince and others that it was all a work. Well this interview with Orton says otherwise.

http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/18270143/randy-orton-thriving-creatively-new-member-wyatt-family-wwe

"Even now, four months later, I don't even know what happened," Orton said. "If it was supposed to happen, I wasn't aware of it. Basically s--- happens in that ring and he's a big old dude and he has some bony-ass elbows and that's all I can say. But there's an art to what we do. We're not trying to kill each other. We got 200 shows a year so taking a blow like that to the head definitely pisses me off because I'm on the shelf for three weeks with a concussion and I had just gotten my boots back on a month before SummerSlam after being out 9-10 months with a shoulder injury. So all those facts pissed me off but when you do this for a living s--- happens."

That was a pretty good article.

Yeah, ESPN's coverage of WWE has gotten to be pretty good. Brian Campbell is a legit fan and I'm pretty sure he's one of the main guys pushing it at ESPN. He covers WWE/MMA/Boxing over there.

[Dunthreevy]

Apparently Del Rio is still starting **** with people backstage. When you are constantly finding yourself in the middle of issues, you have to start looking at the common denominator.

http://www.f4wonline.com/mexico/alberto-del-rio-gets-backstage-brawl-sunday-night-mexico-226371

Adding to this bs...

http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/12/14/13952950/alberto-del-rio-paige-ninja-turtle-rafy

So the guy never even touched Paige, but simply paid her a compliment in passing and referred to her as "beautiful" and Del Rio flew off the handle. Not only that, he unmasked the guy? What a POS.

[Dunthreevy]

Not sure where else to post this thought so this thread will have to do...

Rick Martel was one tough son of a bitch. I had completely forgotten that he ended up having a run with WCW during their prime run in 97-98 and was even the TV Champ. He lost the title at SuperBrawl 98 to Booker T and suffered what turned out to be a career-ending injury during the match. About halfway through the match, Booker T hip-tossed Martel across the ring and Martel's leg hit one of the ropes in an awkward way. Martel ended up tearing an inside ligament of his right knee, fractured his leg and suffered cartilage damage. Even after that, he still managed to wrestle and put on a good showing for the remaining 6 minutes of the match. As Bruce Prichard would say "that's one double tough son of a bitch".