Hard to believe five years ago today I was in Las Vegas with Blade doing our second Starrcast show. Those were so much fun, just an absolute riot. That evening I was at the first Double or Nothing and I had never, ever experienced anything quite like it. I was sitting next to Stu Saks from Pro Wrestling Illustrated and he too was blown away. Just an insane underground movement type of feeling that I’ll never forget, so much excitement and enthusiasm! Hopefully we get a bit of that tomorrow night for the show even if things aren’t what they once were as far as fan sentiment. Onto the mailbag!
Neil K has an RD sighting…”Were you at the Skyline Drive-in tonight working on one of the arcade machines? Sorry if it’s a weird question, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was you while I was playing some pinball.”
Yep, that was me! My buddies and I were putting in a Target Toss machine for folks out there to enjoy. Never be afraid to come talk to me, I’m pretty lame but I am in general a friendly chap. At least I think I am. I’ll ask around to verify.
Jason C wants to know…”How do I submit a story for your site?”
Just drop an email here and make sure the subject line doesn’t look SPAMMY. Or Tammy, that would also be bad.
Michael F asks…”If you had to listen to any wrestlers theme music on repeat for the rest of your life (excluding Kerwin White) who would it be?”
Say his name and he appears!
Christopher H ponders…”Hey RD. I can’t believe it’s beentwenty five years since Owen Hart died. Two questions. When Steve Austin finally won the heavyweight title, did you ever think Owen would work with him again and win the title? And second, do you think Austin was right to hold a grudge against Owen after the botched piledriver since it was obviously an accident? “
Man I remember when Owen passed like it was yesterday. I didn’t watch the show that night, I was down at Disney, and when I woke up that morning I heard the news and was just in utter disbelief. I can only imagine watching that live, it would have been so traumatic. As far as if he and Austin could have worked together, I dunno…Steve always seemed to want to carry grudges, be that with the likes of Jeff Jarrett, Hulk Hogan, Flair, you name it. Could Vince have worked magic there and gotten it to happen? I honestly think no, as if Austin didn’t want to do something, he wasn’t afraid to walk away entirely. So yeah, wouldn’t have happened.
Paul O asks…”Have you ever been to a wrestling show in a mall, or have any other fun mall memories to share, wrestling related or not?”
Been to shows at military bases, parks, and a furniture store that I legit thought was a junkyard. But never at a mall. I was from the mall generation though, and I absolutely LOVED going to them. Arcades, record stores, food courts, book stores!! Imagine it’s the 1990s and you are going to the mall…what would be the first place you went? Answer in the comments below please!!
Dustin N wants to know…”Who do you consider the biggest “can’t miss” prospect in wrestling who, did in fact, completely miss?”
Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I thought Rene Dupree was absolutely the next big thing. I saw him at an Ohio Valley Wrestling show and he was the perfect combo of athleticism and showmanship. He had that crowd eating out of the palm of his hand and I knew, I just knew, he would be huge.
Marko B continues the trend with…”Thoughts on Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin (who was always great on the mic) stumbling through his brief time in WWF”
Jimmy Garvin was gold, Jerry, GOLD! I loved him but they totally miscast him in the WWF. Have we ever inducted poor Jimmy’s WWF run? If not, I’m adding it to the list.
Chad A watched something terrible…”So an induction request, recently watched the December 22, 1997 Raw which featured the precursor to the finger poke of doom with HBK vs HHH, any chance you can induct the WHOLE episode (or at least the HBK vs HHH match) because it’s one of the worst Rae’s I’ve ever seen”
You know, I think I remember that fiasco as I want to say Hunter did this completely wacky running the ropes bit. That would make for a great animated GIF, so I will add this one to the pile too. And people think we’ll run out of material on this site. For shame!
Austin EW inquires…”What was the rotten piece of ham shaped like that was found under Blade Braxton’s bed as a teenager? Which, was why he was keeping the ham piece…”
Dude, Blade was his own unique mystery and I never ever figured it out. As Roddy Piper would say, “Just when you think you’ve figured out the answer, I change the question.” That was Blade. He was incredible and every day I miss him.
That’s it for this week…but…I will be on old man social media covering Double or Nothing Sunday night. Join the fun rightchere!