Category: Wrestling Musings

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/jacques-rougeau-releases-tribute-video-aew-declined-to-play-at-redemption/

A little late to the game, but I only came across this a short while ago and I figured, why not?

So, I’m providing a link to said video because it’s a Facebook video, as well as a Twitter video and neither plays nice with the embed here. But basically, it’s the video that former Mountie Jacques Rougeau wanted AEW to play at their pre-show and threw a fit when they said no.

And look, it’s a nice tribute video. Well done… but I can also understand AEW’s refusal to air it. Partly because of the AI-generated content (Tony Khan is reportedly against AI in general) and partly because of some footage and audio elements that they simply don’t have the rights to… and yes, one of those clips happens to be that one night in Montreal where ol’ Jacques got to pin Hollywood Hulk Hogan at a WCW house show in 1997.

Last I recall, WCW is the intellectual property of World Wrestling Entertainment. And I don’t think the TKO people would be too thrilled with the closest to a direct competitor airing footage from one of their shows on the pre-show to one of their PPVs.

Again, I thought it was a good little tribute video and it would have been nice to have seen it on a wider platform… but there are so many red flags to be found there that I’m even amazed Rougeau thought there was any chance of this being aired on AEW programming, especially THAT one particular clip.

Still, the fact that we got a Rougeau appreciation night where people loved Raymond and shat on Jacques (who’d go heel on the crowd because… sure, why not?) is something to be cherished by someone out there… somewhere.

Someone had the audacity to forward me Grayson Waller’s so-called “pipebomb” from this past week’s edition of NXT. I watch it, I believe none of what this man is saying, and the whole thing went over like the proverbial fart in church.

Let’s be fair, though; as great as that original “pipebomb” was fifteen years ago, it’s not exactly timeless. Punk eventually got what he wanted and now his so-called “pipebombs” are more like water balloons. They’ll make a bit of a mess, but they’re practically harmless.

Grayson’s wet fart is somewhere beneath that, even. At least Punk sells his bullshit and can convince you it’s real. If Grayson was capable of cutting such promos, he wouldn’t be exiled back to NXT while his former tag partner is filling a spot on RAW.

Anyway, I’m on the road for the next few hours and should be home later tonight. Will throw something together for Saturday night.

Later.

So after what seemed like weeks into the show’s lifespan, I finally managed to come across an airing of the new Mayhem show from Scott D’Amore’s Maple Leaf Pro wrestling promotion… which airs at midnight on TSN. Hell of a time to catch a wrestling show… reminds me of the days when they used to air first-run RAWs at midnights. The good ol’ days…

Oh wait, those weren’t good ol’ days. I still went to bed early those days… AND I slept well (enough).

Anyway, the show itself is a passable hour of wrestling. Opening with a fun six-man tag match between the team Jay Lethal, Blake Christian & Lee Johnson going up against Psycho Mike, BILLY GUNN (yes, he’s still going… when does he main event Wrestlemania? ) & Zach Gowen (yes, that Zach Gowen… the one-legged Zach Gowen… he’s still going, too… when does HE main event Wrestlemania?) that saw Lethal score the win for his team by rolling up Psycho Michael… is Lethal still with AEW? Is it wrong to presume a string or two was pulled to have the AEW guy go over the Psycho Mike fellow?

Next match are mostly fresh faces for me, as the team Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews (a.k.a. SUBCULTURE) defeated Gabriel Fuerza & Vaughn Vertigo (a.k.a. FIGHT OR FLIGHT) in a match that was a bit too short for my liking, especially with two teams I’m largely unfamiliar with. Alas, the drawbacks of running a short runtime is what will hurt some of these shorter matches, including the one women’s match that also went by fairly quickly and featured two women I knew nothing about.

Main event featured Rohan Raja defending what they called a PWA Champion’s Grail against the Dark Order’s Evil Uno, who – despite being an AEW guy – did NOT win the match, but then out comes Stu Grayson, who I’m told is the interim Canadian champion (lots of interim champions these days) and he accepts Raja’s challenge from last week to put his title on the line, but only if Raja puts up his grail for grabs.

And then the show ends with Adam Copeland cutting a promo… I guess he’ll be showing up at a later MLP show. Christian Cage, however, couldn’t be bothered. He’s too busy being father of the year, somewhere.

So what do you want me to tell you? It’s a hour-long show (with commercials) that has a couple matches and a couple squashes to fill time. Just fine if you want to kill an hour watching perfectly acceptable wrestling, but certainly not worth staying up at night on a weekly basis. Even trying to DVR this thing, it’ll probably be something I’ll forget to catch up on with all the other stuff going.

That having been said, I’ve seen a couple (full) MLP shows in the past and there’s been some promise with some of the stuff they pulled out. Wish those guys all the best and hopefully, I’ll be able to watch a couple more of their shows down the road. There’s an interest on my end… but this show needs a better timeslot.

On July 7th, 1996, former WWF Champion and beloved wrestling superhero Hulk Hogan did the unthinkable and turned his back on the fans, aligning with the invading Outsiders at the Bash At The Beach. He then proceeded to cut a scathing promo telling the fans who turned their backs on him to stick it and declare his new alliance with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to be the New World Organization Order of professional wrestling, brother.

So 30 years ago, we had the birth of the nWo. A lot of people want to make a big deal of Austin 3:16 being uttered for the first time last month, but it took a while for the Stone Cold train to really get rolling and only then would that phrase grace a T-Shirt that would outsell everything else on the market.

But before that T-Shirt came to pass, there was the nWo.

And the nWo was a big deal. Even someone like me who only had the most peripheral exposure to wrestling knew what an nWo was. It was the first thing I heard most about. It was the first shirt that I’ve seen most kids wear back in the day. And it was pretty much the talk of the town until Steve Austin REALLY started getting big the following year… then everyone was talking about Stone Stunners and stuff like that.

There has been some debate as to whether Bobby Heenan (who was doing color commentary for the show) spoiled the Hogan turn when he openly asked “Whose side is he on?” in regards to Hogan showing up to seemingly save the day during the main event. Some folks argue that the line gave away the turn and in a way, I could almost see it. It’s a bit of a tell, a hint of doubt. You don’t want anyone to doubt Hogan. And had it been any of the other commentators, then yeah, I’d say it would be a giveaway because why would they doubt Hogan as anything but the paragon of virtue?

You know who have cause to doubt Hogan?

Bobby Heenan.

Anyone who has watched Hulk Hogan in WWF or even in WCW knew that there was one dissenting voice who rallied against everything Hogan did. During the height of the Rock N Wrestling era, it was Jesse Venture. In the 90s, it was Bobby Heenan. The heel announcer who rooted for the bad guys and poked fun at the good guys. And there was no good guy that Heenan had a hate boner for than Hulk Hogan… and for good reason. He managed some top challengers to Hogan’s WWF title, including King Kong Bundy and Andre The Giant. Even back in the AWA days, Heenan was seconding reigning champion Nick Bockwinkel during his defenses against a young upstart challenger named – you guessed it – Hulk Hogan.

Bobby Heenan has every reason to doubt Hogan. He doesn’t like the guy. He doesn’t trust the guy. Him not being completely on board with him saving the day, I can buy that. Even Dusty Rhodes reacted incredulously at the comment, shutting Heenan down. Heenan questioning Hogan based on their past history? Yeah, that’s not a tell. That’s a perfectly logical reaction.

So in recent years, WWE edited the line out from replays and Heenan is now silent during the whole deal. So now that we fixed the offending line, everything is a-okay and the turn is more of a surprise, right?

Well, of course, it isn’t.

First off, deleting a line doesn’t preserve the surprise. It makes it more obvious that something isn’t up. Heenan being silent is like… “Hey, he knows more than he’s letting on.” THAT’s more of a tell than anything.

And also… what’s the point of removing a line to preserve a turn that everyone knows is coming because it happened THIRTY FUCKING YEARS AGO?

It’s one thing to fix a flubbed move during a pre-tape or a naughty bit during a replay… but one line removed because… reasons? Dude, now you’ve made it more obvious. And for what? A clip that most people aren’t going to see in their entirety anyway? Does it really matter whether that line is kept?

Anyway, what does it matter? I still have the show on VHS. It still works. Maybe one day, I transfer it to DVD and then to media box.

Lots of maybe one days…

Later.