I'm Sorry

I did say I wasn’t going to take another year-long hiatus. Well this isn’t a hiatus, I’m turning it in.

I’ve thought for a few days about this and I kept coming back to the real reason I took that long break: I wasn’t enjoying doing it. I think that was in my mind before I took the break, that and the schedule I gave myself, but I just wasn’t looking forward to watching the shows as I should have been. Then I watch WrestleMania III, 1988 Royal Rumble and Survivor Series, and I enjoyed them. Then I get back into reviewing them and find that I’m not enjoying it as much nor am I looking forward to watching anything.

I wanted to do the archive binge because I enjoy pro wrestling and wanted to see everything I missed. Funny thing is that it’s preventing me from actually doing so. I started WrestleMania IV a couple days ago and I’m a quarter of the way through it and I can’t seem to get started on watching it again. When I get set to, I remember the blog and push it back again. I can’t keep doing this.

The reason I started this blog is because I enjoy the shows and I enjoy reviewing things. ‘What a great combination’ I thought to myself. Well it is a good combination, I just can’t do it. At least not for professional wrestling.

I know I just brought it back, I know I just plugged it, but I’m not going to lose enjoyment from something by forcing myself to do what I don’t want to do for a few people on the internet. I still love blogging, I still love reviewing. I just need to find another avenue.

So to everyone that was interested in Vintage Wrestling Reviews: I apologize but I’m gone for good this time. I’ll keep this apology up for about a week, then I’m killing the site. 

Returning to a Computer Near You

I wish I could make a joke about how I’ve been absent for so long, but like any great professional wrestler, I’m making a return. But then it would be too forced and unfunny.

So here’s the truth: I kind of slinked away since December, but I’m coming back. I’ve been going through everything I said I was going to do just to see if I could find it. The good news is I can find most of everything! The bad news is there’s still some things and shows I can’t find. But if anyone remembers my second to last post, I’ll simply list them and go on from there.

However, there are two shows that I listed way back when that I was going to review that I won’t end up doing: Shotgun Saturday Night and Velocity. The reason being that they don’t really amount to much. I’m planning for the first two years of Heat, but it doesn’t look like there’s much of anything after 1999 for that anymore.

I should also mention that while I’ve been away, I’ve gone through a few events. I may do full reviews for them at a later date, but for now, I’ll just mention what stood out.

I watched WrestleMania III and quite enjoyed it, especially the Savage-Steamboat match. I read that it was named “Match of the Year” by a couple publications and I agree. 4/5

Saturday Night’s Main Event #12 from 11/11/87 was also pretty good, Savage fully turning face was good and the formation of the Mega Powers was interesting. 3/5

I liked the first Survivor Series as well, especially how Andre the Giant's team won against Hogan's. It was the first time a heel won a pay per view, which was interestingly bold. 4/5

 The 1987 Starrcade was pretty good, but I didn't really see anything that stood out. 3/5

As for 1988, the first Royal Rumble was fun and I like how Hacksaw Jim Duggan won it. The other matches on the card for the event were pretty good as well. 4/5

The last thing I’ve seen was the WWF Main Event  from 2/25/88, where Hogan lost the title to Andre the Giant who gave it to Ted DiBiase. It’s been a great angle. 4/5

Apart from that, I haven’t really gone anywhere. So, as soon as I finish up my rundown list of what I can find and where, I’ll be back.

Soon… very soon. 

Executive Decision

Friends and readers,

After the last string of rundowns, I've been thinking.

I want to continue this review blog, but it’s difficult to do so when video of full or partial shows cannot be found, especially of 10 ½ months straight. I don’t want to turn this into a simple rundown blog of the card and nothing else. I thought of giving them all average ratings because I thought that only a handful of episodes weren't uploaded. It was my way of just bridging them.

I don’t want to do that with almost a whole year’s worth of shows. What if the episode is amazing? What if it sucks? I either give it more than it should have or not enough.

So from now on, instead of bridging missing shows with simple 3’s. I’m just going to mention them in the head of the next review and get on to the next show I can actually find. If at least one individual match from the show can be found, then the post will go up and that one lone match will be reviewed. That is the one case where I won’t mind doing a rundown of the rest of the show.

It is quite upsetting to me too. Like I said in my first post, I wanted to watch all of the greatest and worst moments I’ve read about in context. The context of the WrestleMania III match between Hogan and Andre the Giant was one that I had been anticipating. I can’t help that I was born in 1991, wasn’t allowed to watch wrestling as a kid and got into it in late 2009. At least I got some context. That’s better than nothing. Here’s to the 90s.

Anyway:  Saturday Night's Main Event from January 3, 1987 tomorrow. 

1985 Overview

So we begin in 1985.

WWF produced four airings of Saturday Night’s Main Event on May 10, October 3, October 31, and December 19.

There were four events broadcast via pay per view this year:

WrestleMania I on March 31

The Great American Bash on July 10

The Wrestling Classic on November 7

Starrcade on November 28

Sounds like a short, but good year. My thoughts coming soon. 

Programs and Scale

These four companies have produced numerous programs over the years (and RAW is nearing its 1000^th episode). Therefore, I wanted to note which shows I will write on and rate.

·         WWE

o   Saturday Night’s Main Event (1985-1992/2006-2008)

o   WWF Superstars of Wrestling (1986-1997)

o   Monday Night RAW (1993-present)

o   Sunday Night Heat (1998-1999)

o   Smackdown (1999-present)

o   ECW (2006-2010)

o   Superstars (2009-present)

o   All Pay Per Views

·         WCW

o   Main Event (1988-1998)

o   Clash of the Champions (1988-1997)

o   Power Hour (1989-1994)

o   Nitro (1995-2001)

o   Thunder (1998-2001)

o   All Pay Per Views

·         ECW

o   ECW Hardcore TV (1993-2000)

o   ECW on TNN (1999-2000)

o   All Pay Per Views

·         TNA

o   iMPACT (2004-present)

o   All Pay Per Views

What I want to do is go by year and list the programs and the pay per views that year brought. I will then take each week individually and rate each individual show produced during that week. Each promo, interview, and match will be commented on and the matches rated on a 1-5 scale. The final show will be rated on the averaged ratings for the entire show.

It Begins.

Haven’t we all felt the need to archive binge on something? To find our favorite comic strip, television show, movie or book series and read or watch all the entries again? Well, I’m preparing to start rooting through one of the biggest archives of them all: Professional Wrestling.

WWE started off as the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1963 when Vincent McMahon Sr. left the NWA. In 1984, Vincent McMahon Jr. took his father’s company and changed it from the territorial wrestling promotion and turned into the global phenomena, known as the WWF, and now WWE.

But WWE hasn’t been alone in the wrestling business over the years. WCW started in 1983 as Jim Crocket Promotions and became WCW in 1988. In 2001, WWE bought them out. ECW started in 1992, was bought out by WWE in 2001, and was brought back as a WWE program from 2006-2010. TNA began in 2002 and is still going.

I want to do this because I only recently began watching WWE, in the summer of 2010 the week after the NXT riot. I read about the shows as well as individual matches and promos and felt like I missed out (which I'm sure quite a few people would agree with). I could just look up the best of the best matches and watch them individually, but then I wouldn't get context. I want the good along with the bad, including the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom. This is going to take quite a long time, but I'm sure it will be very enjoyable. 

WWE, WCW, ECW, and TNA have and continue to produce numerous shows. Join me on my Archive Binge as I watch the shows and write about them. And there is no other place to begin than WrestleMania I, in 1985.