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186 | King Of The Ring 1996 - Part 1 · The ExtraCooler Show

0:00
Welcome to the Western show. You continue to talk like you're
0:05
talking right now. You'll be history on this
0:07
program. Cooler show.
0:12
Nobody eats beefaroni on a boat, man.
0:14
That's a problem. Yokozuna blew my mind.
0:23
What do you do, Jack? Tony.
0:37
Let's go. I'm not under your skin.
0:39
I'm ready for this episode. Now, yeah.
0:46
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our King of the Ring 1996
0:53
extravaganza. This is the Extra Cooler show.
0:56
My name is Nick, otherwise known as Extra Cooler, and this week
1:01
I've got everybody here, the Knights.
1:02
The Knights are here. That's more Survivor Series.
1:05
Sorry, but the whole, the whole Survivor Series team is here.
1:08
So we got Matt, Jim and Mike for our 96 King of the Ring episode.
1:13
As usually, you can find us on Instagram at the Extra Cooler
1:16
Show and at Extra Cooler, and as usual, join us over in our
1:20
Discord channel. I'm excited.
1:23
Sorry for all the sorry for all the Knicks chatter that's going
1:26
on in the discord right now. Bunch of New Yorkers talking
1:28
about grumpiness of and coach firing coaches.
1:33
So you can come to that. You can come to Discord for that
1:35
too. Yeah.
1:36
We got every sports tab, little sports tab action we.
1:40
Got everything OK? We ready.
1:42
This is a big one. This is a 2 parter.
1:45
I love our two parters. We always talk about how it is
1:47
our favorite thing to record these full pay per views.
1:51
This is episode 186. Before I go on, thank you again
1:55
for for joining us. I've been trying to say that to
1:58
you guys. There's a lot of wrestling
2:00
content out there and we appreciate you tuning into our
2:02
show. This is the greatest card ever
2:06
in the history of the King of the Ring.
2:08
Of the King of the Ring, there's been 4 King of the Rings.
2:11
Well, including this one. Yeah.
2:14
That is the intro of the of the night and how they're
2:17
introducing this card of the greatest card in, you know, in
2:20
WWF history of King of the ring of King of the.
2:24
Ring. Bizarre way.
2:26
It's a mouthful. Edens Yeah, exactly.
2:28
And yet they're not wrong. And yet they're not wrong. 100%
2:33
So all right, let's take a trip back to June 23rd, 1996,
2:38
Milwaukee, WI. The venue is the Mecca Arena.
2:41
The attendance is just under 9000 people, which I thought was
2:45
interesting, but I feel like it's par for the course for
2:47
1996. That's sad.
2:50
The the the tagline of this, which they don't really drop
2:54
here, but it's on like the the poster and the VHS tape is to
2:58
battle is honor to win. Is hell OK there Vince on the
3:04
call. We've got Vince McMahon and good
3:07
old Jr. and they're joined by Owen Hart right off the bat.
3:12
But we're going to, we're going to get there first.
3:14
But let's rewind even further for some perspective in the
3:17
world of professional wrestling for those of you who are
3:21
listening probably already know. But to me, it's cool to kind of
3:24
rewind and and think about dates.
3:26
So again, King of the Ring takes place on June 23rd.
3:29
So on May 27th, Scott Hall appears on WCW Television.
3:36
Two weeks before this event, Kevin Nash shows up on WCW
3:42
Television. Two weeks after that we've got
3:45
Bash at the Beach 96, right? So there's there's a lot going
3:50
on in wrestling. Think about how like earth
3:53
shattering this is for the industry right now.
3:55
It's. Insane.
3:56
The start of NWOI mean spoiler alert, the start of Austin and
4:01
and really his ascension to start him.
4:03
It's crazy what's really happening during this time in
4:05
1996. And we write off 1996 as being
4:08
awash. You know this, It's interesting.
4:12
It's a massive, massive sea change going.
4:14
On this, this what, 6 weeks? Yeah, let's say, let's say two
4:18
months. This two months is probably the
4:21
most important two months in professional wrestling.
4:25
You could argue that you know, wrest.
4:27
I mean wrestling today's it's still feeling the aftershocks
4:31
of. 100%. Right.
4:33
So not only that, it also starts probably this on other spoiler
4:38
alerts. Probably starts probably the
4:39
second biggest feud of WWF in the late 90s, first being
4:46
Vincent Austin. I'm talking about Undertaker and
4:49
Mankind. 100% So let's backtrack even more so on.
4:54
So we talked about Hall appearing on WCW television on
4:59
the 27th of May. Well on May 19th, that's when
5:02
everything really changes in both companies.
5:05
That is the infamous curtain call that takes place at Madison
5:08
Square Garden. And when I say this changes
5:11
everything right there, there Hall and Nash are saying goodbye
5:15
to their buddies. You know, everybody knows about
5:17
this moment. But the key part that makes that
5:20
so important is because of that, Triple H was scheduled to win
5:25
the King of the Ring at this event in 96.
5:28
But because of the curtain call, you know, he got a slap on the
5:31
wrist because, you know, Hall and Nash were gone.
5:35
Sean was the face of the company.
5:36
So who else are they going to punish?
5:38
Triple H? So he has to take a back seat.
5:40
He's not even on this main card. We just previously lost the the
5:45
warrior, right? Yeah.
5:48
So he is, he is in the doghouse. Talk about Sling multiverse
5:53
there though, right? Like imagine Splinter there is
5:56
is fascinating. About 100.
5:58
Percent. You could spend 8 episodes on
6:00
that. Maybe more.
6:01
I think it works out all right for him in the long run.
6:04
For sure, for sure. Maybe it wouldn't have worked
6:08
out the other one, who knows. You never know.
6:11
You know, maybe we wouldn't be blessed with our first dark
6:13
match in the night, which shows 8 minutes and 6 seconds and it's
6:16
the body. Donnas Skip and Zip introducing
6:20
their new manager Cloudy and they they defeat the new rockers
6:23
Marty Jannetti and Leif Cassidy. I didn't even go back and watch
6:28
this. Oh no, yeah, 8 minutes though. 8
6:31
minutes of of action Tag team action.
6:35
It's this big Leafs debut. Is it?
6:39
That was his first entry into the WF with Marty, right?
6:42
The new rockers should be like, you know, dumped in the
6:46
Chattahoochee River along with Marty Janetti's murder victim
6:51
'cause they are. Decomposing corpse they are.
6:54
So bad. Do you think Marty just gave
6:56
like an old singlet to to leaf Cassidy?
6:58
And I was like, here you go. He's got like a cartoon
7:03
character of like, you know, all this.
7:05
The black and green one too. You know what I'm talking about,
7:08
right? That's the one that like Marty
7:09
is like hungover and just throws on.
7:11
He slept in that one last night, the black and neon green.
7:16
He goes to church in it and shit.
7:19
Our next match of the night is that the the one we just spoke
7:23
about is Hunter Hurst Helmsley defeating Aldo Montoya.
7:27
You know, the doghouse. Yeah, doghouse.
7:30
He gets to wrestle with his not quite cool enough guy to make
7:35
the click, but you know he's just on the cusp of hanging out
7:37
with the guys. Not only is it a dark match
7:41
against Aldo Montoya, but it's also 3 minutes long.
7:44
It's not like he's actually getting to go out there and do
7:47
anything. It's a 3 minute match at.
7:49
Least he wins. Yeah, fair.
7:51
All right, all right. Imagine job into Aldo Montoya.
7:54
Guy wears underwear on his face. He's in a war.
7:57
So all right, let's get to this main event.
7:59
That's a great dark card. I love that dark card.
8:02
It is the best, better dark matches I've ever heard.
8:04
Of I feel like the body donnas with skip, zip and cloudy kind
8:08
of sums up wrestling in WWF in 1996 and like what I remember it
8:13
to be, especially before this event, but our no you go I.
8:18
Was going to say, yeah, that's exactly why I like put 1996 up
8:22
as a wash in WWF. Like to this point.
8:25
And I know that we're we're still early on in the year and a
8:28
lot more is going to happen, but still it feels like it's that
8:31
decaying corpse of 1995 just kind of carrying in to steal a
8:35
gemism there. No, but it's like, it's like a
8:38
new birth within a pile of shit though, you know, like there's
8:41
like a bud shooting out of like manure or something. 100%,
8:46
that's a great. I like that.
8:48
All right, let's kick off this card.
8:50
Let's. Kick off this card.
8:51
Next drawing. Let's kick it off with a RAR we
8:55
get. Our video package which
9:00
highlights the eight match card we're about to see.
9:04
Some of the highlights for me personally are that I I was
9:08
going to say something and I bit my tongue.
9:10
I was going to talk I'll of The Ultimate Warrior and he's.
9:14
Had it started now? Yeah, it's.
9:16
OK, no, this is APG show and you know I'm an educator and I don't
9:21
want to say things say the the words I want to say about.
9:24
Not until the 50. Not until the 50 minute mark.
9:26
Exactly. So the the highlights is it.
9:30
It highlights the feud of Warrior versus Jerry Lawler.
9:34
This is an infamous moment on Raw where Lawler is presenting
9:40
the the the framed artwork that he actually made of Ultimate
9:45
Warrior. And then he goes and smashes it
9:47
over his head. But it it's infamous more
9:49
because Warrior is such a chicken.
9:51
He's wearing a baseball hat. Not only that, he's so goddamn
9:55
lazy. He just painted his face like
9:57
with the black warrior symbol on it, like almost like Vince made
10:01
him. I mean, I guess I like that
10:03
better than when he used to do the cheek the cheek thing.
10:05
The. Cheek.
10:06
The cheek felt lazy and if you notice Jerry Lawler hits him
10:10
with like the not the glass side and it had to have been because
10:14
Warrior asked for it that way. But Lawler, I mean the glass
10:17
shatters and it essentially goes directly into Lawler's face.
10:21
He has to turn away and protect himself.
10:23
This this this guy took a goddamn scepter off his forehead
10:27
in the Royal Rumble and he's afraid to take like some fake
10:31
plexiglass off the head. Warrior 96 is mailed in man.
10:35
It's got like 5 stamps on it and it's.
10:39
Spoiler alert, a scepter makes a return in that.
10:42
Match later. Yes, Sir.
10:43
I got excited about that. Other things in the video
10:46
package include Golda saying something wildly perverse to
10:50
Ahmed Johnson that I could not decode, but I'm sure we'll get
10:54
to that later. Unless you want to drop that
10:56
now. Do they?
10:57
Yeah. I mean, I had the subtitles on.
10:59
We don't, I'm not even going to say what I thought he said.
11:01
But I mean, what he actually says is like pretty.
11:03
He says Ahmed's going to melt in his hands and melt in my mouth.
11:09
That's what he says. So it's like, oh, I, you know,
11:12
that's like. M&M's.
11:14
That's all. Yeah, I don't think I've ever
11:18
seen Jim react that way. Yeah, that was, I mean, it's
11:21
like 30 seconds into the leg, Yeah.
11:24
And and not only that, I thought it was interesting in this whole
11:28
video package Warrior drops like he he calls Lawler an ass, which
11:33
was kind of like when you think about television in 96, that
11:37
that word was not dropped on television.
11:39
Like at least I don't remember it until Austin started saying
11:43
it on regular basis. Yeah.
11:45
We're really starting to feel the attitude error coming.
11:48
Attitude, yes, yeah, it's bubbling under the under the
11:50
surface right here. And we'll get to more of it and
11:53
probably in Part 2. The vibes are attitudinal.
11:55
You might have to you. Might have fixed up.
11:58
As we come out of the video package, we get a shot to the
12:01
crowd as it leads right from the video package into Owen Hart's
12:05
music, which I thought was interesting.
12:07
You know how like they usually have like the the music as they
12:10
pan over the crowd and show the Sega blimp.
12:14
But you got Owen coming down in a tuxedo to join the announce
12:17
team, which at first I thought, oh, this is going to be a nice
12:19
surprise. Yeah, he's got what busted wing
12:22
here he's got right he's. Got he's got cast on.
12:25
Cast on his arm? Yeah, on his wrist.
12:31
Stone Cold Steve Austin facing off against Mark Marrow with
12:35
Sable in the King of the Ring semi finals match.
12:38
So Austin comes out first to what is a very jarring version
12:42
of his music. I.
12:45
I think that's jarring is the exact word I put down because it
12:47
sounds like heel demolition music.
12:49
It's like that or bad guy doink after the but you know, it's
12:53
like that peel music for like an evil character, like truly evil
12:57
that WWF would do it's. Like ridden master version and
13:01
you exactly I. Didn't it's horror music?
13:03
It's like horror movie music. Right, like yes, I didn't expect
13:07
the glass to shatter obviously, but I I don't know why I just
13:11
didn't remember this this music and this is kind of like Austin
13:16
is they're showing. Low energy, so low energy.
13:19
Oh my gosh, yeah. Does not set the tone.
13:22
They're showing hand. It's kind of the same way.
13:24
I'm sorry to keep talking over you, Nick, but like, no, Austin
13:27
just walks to the ring casually. Like it's not anything that is,
13:31
you know, the Texas rattlesnake and his head bobbing back and
13:34
forth and talking shit to the crowd.
13:36
It's literally just him. Like he could be crossing his
13:38
arms and just walking down the aisle and feels that energy and
13:41
the the ringmaster music kind of matches that.
13:45
It's funny too, 'cause he looks exactly like he will look, you
13:48
know, like the look does not change really, right?
13:50
Like but but it's just the the the.
13:52
Character. He's got a he's.
13:53
Yeah, he's got a beard. There's a little chin strap
13:57
there, a little little. Fade.
13:58
He's coming in, so he was basing his.
14:00
SO first they showed the highlights of him beating Spark
14:04
Plug, Holly and Sabio Vega to get here, but he was basing his
14:08
original character off of Woody Harrelson from Natural Born
14:13
Killers. That's cool.
14:14
I like that. Right.
14:16
And you know, he had just think about it.
14:18
When he was ringmaster he had no facial hair and he had like hair
14:22
on his head. It was so blonde, it was always
14:26
hard to see right? But it's like a Huss cut almost,
14:28
yeah. So then after they show us the
14:31
highlights of Austin thankfully beating Spark plug Holly and his
14:35
like real first feud in WWF Savio Vega, you got your button,
14:42
your finger ready for this one. I have a clip of the intro
14:46
because we get Mark Marrow and Sable coming down to the ring
14:49
and Vince is going full Vince right here and we just we just
14:53
have to listen to him go off about the Wildman coming down
14:57
and Panther in the ring. And I personally believe Mark
15:00
Marrow does not stand a chance whether he has that homely ugly
15:04
look at Sable or not here. Comes the Wildman.
15:08
Where is it? And where is sable?
15:11
What a combination, ladies and gentlemen, take you to the world
15:14
boasting. Better make she must start.
15:18
And here they come. Wow.
15:19
I love where is he? He gave him like all 1/2 a
15:22
second to get out there. Where is he?
15:24
Where? He doesn't even let the guys
15:25
open the door. Yes, we have to talk.
15:28
About that. So this is that classic entrance
15:31
way. Where are they Jesters on the
15:34
outside like it's? The Kings, they're like, they're
15:37
like court guy, you know? Like jesters like.
15:40
Knights. I don't know.
15:41
Yeah. And what is it the year is it,
15:43
Is it the year before or what year is it when Matt and Jeff,
15:46
aren't they, they play that right?
15:48
Oh yeah, it's. Not this one.
15:49
Yes, you're correct that they play that role, but it is not
15:52
this one. I think it's the previous.
15:55
Yeah, I would guess it was the previous one and it's the two
15:59
lions on the door. Purple and gold and here you go.
16:03
You got the two guys opening the doors and you know they play
16:06
around with that a little bit and to the left of the entrance
16:09
way or the right as you're watching it on screen is the
16:12
throne and the scepter and the Cape and the crown are all set
16:16
out ready to be crowned the king of the ring here.
16:18
And it's just that little subtle set that you're getting and it
16:22
makes it unique. It makes it fun, but in the same
16:25
breath it's like, man, this is kind of low budget.
16:28
Yeah, and like and, and I thought, I remember thinking why
16:31
purple and gold? Like to me, when I think WWF and
16:35
purple and gold, I think Royal Rumble.
16:37
I don't think King of the Ring like it's it's a.
16:41
Rumble. Yeah, purple is the traditional,
16:43
of course. But there's no but I don't know.
16:48
King of the Ring is red in the logo you're.
16:51
Not not a purple man to begin with.
16:53
You know, it's grown on me a little bit these days.
16:55
Fair enough, fair enough. It's grown on me a little bit,
16:57
I'll I'll admit, but. I it felt important though back
17:01
then with the cassette, even if it is low budget, like looking
17:03
back like yeah, Oh yeah, you're right, this is.
17:05
In the door. Yeah, sorry.
17:07
Go ahead. Confirming so I don't have to
17:10
have have housekeeping for next episode.
17:12
It was 1995 where the Hardy Boys are.
17:14
Yeah, are the entrance way. The year before, even.
17:18
Yeah, it's, it's one year before this and Matt Hardy is looking
17:22
very similar, but Jeff has this blonde mullet looking thing.
17:26
It's it's, it's bizarre. I'm gonna go out on a limb, and
17:31
I said this before we hit record.
17:34
I think this is peak sable. I think this is the best Sable.
17:41
I think it's the best Sable looked and maybe because I
17:45
appreciate I I feel like this fits her more than, you know,
17:49
the the the perverse, like all the stuff that Vince getting all
17:53
wild and stuff. You're fair.
17:55
Fair. The handprint sable well.
17:57
Just the handprint sable but. Yeah, the match graphic where
18:00
like Wildman is like looking directly to the side at her too.
18:03
It's pretty side. Side.
18:04
It is good. He's still happy.
18:06
He's still happy. Mark Marrow too.
18:09
He so Mero beat Skip and Owen to get into the King of the Ring.
18:15
I'm assuming Owen's wrists got hurt and that's why he jobbed to
18:18
Mark Mero. Otherwise, I can't be
18:21
undefeated. Until this, Yeah, This is his
18:23
first loss in WWF, which is pretty crazy.
18:27
Since when does a girl become a good manager?
18:29
Owen says. Like.
18:31
Owen, he's like, Oh, yeah, he's but I found it interesting that,
18:35
you know, Mero is, I don't know if he was purposely planting the
18:39
seeds, but Vince clearly only cares about Sable, like as much
18:42
as throughout this match, he's trying to sell Mark Mero.
18:45
He cares. He, he he sees all the potential
18:49
in Sable right now. Oh.
18:50
Without a doubt. You know, for all the, you know,
18:53
the talk of the, the attitude error and all the guys that are
18:55
involved in this, the three women on this card are like the
18:59
three pillars of women's attitude error.
19:02
I'd say I. I.
19:03
Completely talking about Diana Hart Smith, she's.
19:07
The forehead. And the Mount Rushmore.
19:10
I left the door open for that one.
19:11
Yeah, poor Ted. But it is interesting that there
19:16
are a lot of women present in a non wrestling role on this card
19:23
and it's almost like Vince if he realized it or not.
19:27
It's pretty incredible what he's able to do with all three of
19:30
them. But anyway, moving right along,
19:33
we've got Austin had just the week before debuted the Stone
19:37
Cold Stunner, which they showed in the package and they kind of
19:40
like explained it. Man, that move looks raw.
19:43
We see it. We see it later.
19:45
It's blunt, right? Like looks very blunt instead of
19:48
like how you know, quick and I don't know, it's just like.
19:54
Owen's got some some interesting lines throughout this event.
20:00
I feel like he also peaks in this match but he's throwing
20:04
around things. Like you don't see Stone Cold
20:06
carrying around some hose bag to the ring.
20:09
Whoa, Owens G, He must. Usually.
20:12
Move from Stew. I thought it was a it was a much
20:19
slower going back to Austin. It was a much slower version of
20:23
Austin in the ring as well. Not even just the entrance, but
20:26
like, everything he did was very slow and methodical and like,
20:30
over the top heel, even though like you could, you could feel
20:34
the crowd starting to turn and like, turn him face.
20:38
Yeah. Especially when the promo hits
20:40
later, which we'll get to. Yeah.
20:43
It's him controlling the match for the most part throughout the
20:46
entirety of it, and it's it's heel moves like pulling up the
20:50
protective mat on the outside. It's the time out.
20:53
Dropping marrow yeah exactly. He calls time out after he gets
20:56
hit out out of the ring and and things like that.
20:58
So it it's definitely a different Austin like you said,
21:01
but it's very fitting of the role, I feel like and it's very
21:06
fitting of what's to come. I think it was a really 100% no
21:09
good representation of Austin and the.
21:12
Rabbits. So this match, this match is
21:13
long. It's almost 17 minutes long.
21:16
I wanted to text you guys, but I, I refrained from because I
21:19
wanted to ask you here at about the 15 minute mark, right?
21:23
You got Mark Mero. He's trying to break out of a
21:26
Boston crab. I don't know if anybody picked
21:28
up on this and I kind of wish that I showed it to you ahead of
21:30
time. He right, he's laying on the mat
21:32
and as he's twisting out of the Boston crab, I swear to God, he
21:37
lets out a rap. No, no joke.
21:40
I rewound it like 5 times to confirm, but he, he does it and
21:44
it, you know, it throws Austin out of the Boston crab and he he
21:49
escapes that and then we get the the spot which no one has really
21:54
been able to like if you look up on the Internet or listen to
21:57
other podcasts like something to wrestle with, it's never
22:00
confirmed where Austin busts his lip open.
22:04
I think I. Think it's on the plancha.
22:06
I thought he said he somersault. Plancha.
22:08
See, it happens before that. That's what like.
22:10
Wikipedia has it listed as the plancha, but I think it's the
22:14
spot where Austin throws Mero into the corner.
22:18
Mero like bounces off the second turnbuckle and like does like a
22:22
dive backwards onto Austin and it looks like he his head hits
22:27
Austin's lip or something. Because then after that, that's
22:31
when the plancha happens and Austin's like really bloody.
22:35
That's that's what I thought too, Nick, because it's it's a
22:37
very bizarre kind of interaction or move out of out of marrow
22:41
here. As you said, he has, you know,
22:43
gets whipped into the corner and instead of turning around and
22:45
taking it back first, he jumps into the corner and leaps up
22:50
where his feet are on the second ropes.
22:52
His hands catch the top ropes and then he catapults himself
22:55
backwards like a like a doink cannonball kind of situation in
23:00
a video game, right. And it looks like his like,
23:04
almost like his hip, like his hip bone in his back is what
23:08
connects with Austin's face. And it just tears him up.
23:11
I mean, man, yeah, we we hear throughout the night, 16
23:14
stitches. But it's his tongue and his lip.
23:16
It's his upper lip. So he's got that gnarly scar
23:18
that you still kind? Of brutal.
23:20
This day. It's a lot of.
23:22
Stitches to get in one's mouth, Yes.
23:24
Yeah. Yeah.
23:25
Yeah. I I was there and when I was
23:29
seven years old, I have a matching scar.
23:31
We'll talk about that later. There, I will say this, this
23:35
match has like a ton of action. I think it went a little too
23:38
long. I agree, but let's go do.
23:42
You think it's have you seen a better Wildman Marc Marrow match
23:45
or Marvelous Marc Marrow in WWF? No, Maybe.
23:49
No, definitely. No, no.
23:51
So I I thought it was interesting.
23:54
Let's I'm just going to move right to the ending, right?
23:57
Austin goes to stomp Mero with like that iconic stomp to the
24:03
gut and you think you're going to get the stunner, the early
24:06
version of it. Instead, he hits a hotshot,
24:09
which looks like essentially looks like a powerbomb.
24:11
Instead, he drops Mero behind him onto the top rope, which is
24:15
a cool spot, But then then he he follows it up.
24:18
He just picks him up off the mat and just hits him with the
24:21
stunner. No stomp, nothing, just a nasty
24:24
stiff looking Stone cold. Stunner lays him out. 123 Stone
24:28
cold advances. Wildman takes his his his first
24:32
loss in WWF. Wow, I didn't realize it was his
24:35
first loss. But, you know, there's a couple
24:37
of things that makes the stunner look so stiff here.
24:39
First, it is Austin falling straight onto his ass like it
24:43
looks like it hurts his tailbone when he drops this move on him.
24:46
And he's still, you know, finessing it a little bit,
24:48
figuring out what it's going to, what it's going to turn into,
24:50
and trying to gain some longevity out of it, which it
24:52
certainly changes over time like we're talking about.
24:55
But the other side of this was the way Mark Marrow sells the
24:59
hell out of this. He's grabbing his throat.
25:02
Yes, he is riding Bean and even. Stomping his feet like.
25:07
He's even stomping his feet while he's getting pinned.
25:10
Yes, and he's not trying to out at all.
25:12
I thought it was really cool and puts the move over in such a
25:15
huge, huge way that. Definitely put it over.
25:18
A cool, cool way of seeing the stunner sold at the very
25:22
beginning. And obviously things change and
25:24
you get the, you know, the floating Scott halls of the
25:26
world. Later on it goes, it's like a
25:28
blunt guillotine, you know, like, so this bouncy thing, like
25:32
the Scott Hall thing you mentioned.
25:34
Come on, Wildman, Come on. Wildman before, before we move
25:38
on from Wildman and give this cans and all that.
25:41
Like what? What is exactly the gimmick?
25:43
What exactly is he there? There they go.
25:45
Is it like a Tarzan type? Thing that's that's my
25:47
assumption. As well right?
25:48
It's got giant claws on his gear which I never paid enough
25:51
attention to him until this event when I noticed that him
25:54
and Sable have like matching like claws on his wrists and
25:58
like claws on his shorts undies and it's.
26:01
Targeted. Right.
26:02
It's gotta be Yeah. And hers are like honor.
26:05
I don't know. I don't not saying that she hit
26:07
love handles, but like her love handle area, you know, Yeah,
26:10
Honor Yeah. Said it's it's it's an
26:12
interesting, interesting little take here.
26:15
And in 1996, you're really not seeing it in high definition.
26:18
So who's? No, who's gonna pick up?
26:19
Not at all. And his they're like puffy claws
26:22
too. It's not like a like a sewn on,
26:24
like stitched on thing. It's like they're like just got
26:27
some depth to them. I was saying it's like a grill.
26:29
This guy's like, what, a Jaguar or something?
26:31
Like, you know. Yeah, definitely some jungle
26:33
jungle cat. There's some like cat rent on
26:36
the side of his trunks too. You gotta do it one more time.
26:38
I had to leave. I had to leave the whip in.
26:44
They're big. Isn't that like your two
26:46
gimmicks are like I'm my first gimmick was Little Richard and
26:49
my second one was a Wildcat. Like what the?
26:52
That's exactly it. Like a feline only.
26:55
Only professional wrestling, that's.
26:58
Honestly doesn't come down with a whip.
27:00
Yeah, All right. Cans in the cooler.
27:04
What do you guys got? I give it like A77A full 7.
27:08
Wow, it's been so long Mikey doesn't remember how to give it
27:13
his. I like I'll give it like AI
27:16
don't know 3.25 honestly, I like that.
27:20
I thought it was I thought it was a fun start and it's like
27:22
kind of unexpected and like I said, I think it's maybe Mark
27:25
Marrow's best match. He's like I'm like, Oh yeah,
27:27
this guy's kind of somewhat enjoyable as a mid Carter, you
27:30
know, and Austin, obviously it's like the dawn of Austin 316.
27:34
Knowing that of course, maybe colors it a bit, but I I had it.
27:38
I. Had a similar thought process in
27:40
that like 3-3 and a half. 3 1/2 seems high, I couldn't go there.
27:46
Three felt too low for me because I enjoyed it.
27:48
I think if you shaved like 5 minutes off the match and picked
27:51
up the pace at times it would have been a little bit better,
27:55
so I'll go 3. I went 275 and I think that the
27:59
quarter point difference here is Vince McMahon.
28:01
He, just like Tony Vince is just not doing it for me, especially
28:05
when Sable is on our screens. And it just, and I think it
28:09
really just drove it down for me and it took me out of the match.
28:12
Even though we're seeing like we're all talking about the
28:14
beginning of Stone Cold here and it's cool to watch, but I don't
28:17
know, 275 maybe. Watch on mute.
28:20
Yeah, dude, though I think though, like I I get what you're
28:22
saying about McMahon, but like the purposes of this show, I
28:25
like that adds to it for me. Oh yeah, McMahon is in his bag.
28:29
He's like the. Wild man, where is he?
28:32
That's why it was so important to pull that audio because it's
28:35
that's the tone for the entire night of Vince McMahon.
28:38
When there's a woman on our screen and we'll get to, you
28:40
know, three more. He doesn't really comment on the
28:42
the last his brother or her brother is sitting right next to
28:45
him. Mikey, what'd you get?
28:48
You know, I was going to give it same as you, 3 1/4.
28:52
You know, it's solid, but you know, I feel like I've, I've
28:58
give so many others, like higher scores, like lower scores.
29:02
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just, it's solid.
29:04
But you know, that's what it is. I feel like that's a good point,
29:07
Mike of like it's the first match of the night and it's not
29:10
necessarily like your show opener curtain jerker, like show
29:14
stealer here, like the WWE kind of books out now or tries to,
29:19
but Dave Meltzer gave this 3.75. I was really, really surprised
29:24
by such a high rating here. That's high for like him,
29:27
especially back then. Too, I wonder if it's skewed
29:29
because of like the world, like in professional wrestling and
29:33
how like down they were on everybody and and everything
29:37
pretty much So I I don't know. Yeah, in relative to the rest of
29:41
the card too, I felt like, I think my expectations were super
29:44
low of like what the thing was going to be.
29:47
And it pays off in a different way later in Part 2.
29:50
But now, like I think I was just setting the tone early of like,
29:54
all right, Vince gets in my way and my low expectations gets in
29:57
the way. And I think I may have
29:58
downplayed it a little bit as I'm the low man here.
30:00
Yeah, I think it's just a solid start to the card, honestly.
30:03
Well, solid, not spectacular. Fine.
30:05
Yep. Good.
30:05
I'll take that. All right, let's talk about
30:08
what's in everybody's cooler. The extra cooler show and what's
30:10
in the cooler is brought to you by Sloop Brewing Company.
30:12
Sloop Brewing is known for their hazy and hey, oh, geez, I was
30:15
gonna, I jumped it. See, it's been a while.
30:18
It's been a while. Sloop Brewing is known for their
30:21
hazy and golden Ipas like Juice Bomb and Supersoft.
30:25
I'm going to go first. I don't have tequila for this
30:27
episode because it's June, baby. It's June where like the
30:31
countdown is officially on. Summer is almost here.
30:34
Today's like the first day that felt like summer out there here.
30:38
And I have a Montauk, the surf beer.
30:41
It's a golden ale. It's 4.5%.
30:44
That's one of my favorite Montauk.
30:45
'S it is good. It's good.
30:47
I like their cans too, it's very pleasing and summer looking.
30:50
Yeah. Clean and simple.
30:52
I bought the variety pack. I've got myself also a summer
30:55
beer here too. I've got the Jenny Coulsh, the
30:57
Ruby red that's like the classic one.
30:58
Oh yeah, boy. I love that one.
31:00
I have a few. I have a cooler down here.
31:02
I usually do not do that move, but I've got a cooler with
31:05
they've got the alternate one in there too.
31:07
So that's my favorite. Jenny two-part episode.
31:09
You got to be prepared here. Yeah.
31:11
Yeah, this is great. It's great.
31:12
Crushable Michael. So let's see if you can guess
31:18
the beer. I have Stella.
31:20
No, I'm going to describe the can cover.
31:23
Such a quick no. It's got liberty on it.
31:27
Oh, hello high water. High water.
31:29
Man correct. Nice, I have not had that in a
31:31
long time. Yeah, it's that time of year
31:34
where I got to get that and the Dell's Shandy.
31:37
Hell yeah. Summer beers, man, those are
31:39
good golf beers too, yeah. Yeah.
31:42
All right. We're we're about to make a bad
31:43
decision. And I went into the fridge and
31:47
talking about Maddie Light here. It's still Maddie Light's having
31:50
a rough week. And I went into the back of the
31:52
fridge and I found something that was so apropos I had to
31:55
bring it out. Oh nice.
31:56
I have beautiful a Steve Austin's broken skull 316 Cheers
32:01
boys, that's. Your big boy right there.
32:03
It's a big boy. Drink it.
32:05
What kind of What kind of beer is that one?
32:07
On time. Oh.
32:08
It's a nice, yeah. Yeah, it's it's it's the classic
32:11
IPA, 2nd 2 Broken Skull IPA, El Segundo Brewery.
32:15
They've changed the. Can though, huh?
32:17
Big old 316 on the side. This is actually the second one.
32:19
So they had the broken skull IPA.
32:21
This is now the broken Skull 316.
32:23
It's I like that, not necessarily new, but this they
32:26
put out on March 16th, not this year, but I think it was the
32:30
year previous and it's kind. Of I don't know how that wasn't
32:32
the can from the jump. Yeah, yeah.
32:34
That's with the white tax. Yeah, it's a fantastic cast.
32:37
It's just like the the T-shirt graphic.
32:40
That's exactly what it is, just a big old 316 on it.
32:42
And I felt like it was it needed to happen.
32:45
We'll see how much I actually drink of this boy, bad boy, but
32:49
it's necessary. So cheers boys.
32:50
Good to. Be Cheers.
32:51
Cheers. All right.
32:53
Oh. I forgot the drop for what's in
32:54
the cooler. Damn it, I'm so disappointed.
32:57
We'll have to make sure that's there for next time.
32:59
Put it in housekeeping. You're.
33:00
Stupid. Tell me something better late
33:04
than never. All right, Next up, we've got
33:06
Doc Hendricks backstage with Jake the Snake Roberts, and
33:10
this, in my opinion, might be Jake the Snake Roberts.
33:14
Worst backstage promo ever. It's awful, if you ask me.
33:18
It's not. It's not Jake.
33:20
He doesn't have like the classic Jake cadence.
33:24
It's just not what I wanted to hear.
33:27
Not at all. Poor Jake's got a wheel in the
33:29
sand at this point. Yeah, I think he was doing some
33:32
like backstage he was doing some writing.
33:35
He was in the writers room for a lot of this era of his career,
33:40
but it was just like too amped up for me to not what I want to
33:44
hear out of Jake the Snake Roberts.
33:46
But here we go. It's him versus Vader with who's
33:49
part of camp Cornett. Talk about an underrated
33:53
faction. You guys know I love factions
33:55
but this match is the the other semi final match which goes it's
33:59
like the polar opposite of the last match that we just watched.
34:02
This is 3 minutes and 34 seconds.
34:07
Vader and Jim Cornette they got the big bully and I love his
34:10
music I love his music, I love his entrance.
34:12
I love Vader and this guy was so underused in WWFI feel like.
34:18
Vader 96 looks like a threat. He's an absolute fat and like,
34:22
it's kind of shocking they didn't do more with him.
34:24
I'm glad he gets that match with like Michaels at SummerSlam, but
34:27
other than that he's never. She messes up and though.
34:30
Yeah, yeah, I hope Sean treats him like shit in that one.
34:33
Yeah, so Jake, they, Jake's out next.
34:37
They, they this is the first time I think we hear how old
34:41
Jake is. He's 41 years old, younger than
34:44
all of us. But as Owen said.
34:47
No. That's.
34:49
True, right? Is he younger than?
34:51
All you know man it. Made me feel so old while I was
34:55
watching this because they are essentially putting Jake Roberts
34:58
in the ground because he's 41 years old and we're sitting here
35:02
at 43 ish and. And here we go and I'm like.
35:07
He looks he. Looks like that's not good.
35:10
He looks like he's about 61, like Owen jokes.
35:13
And Owen adds like a decade every time we talk about Jake.
35:18
And like every Jake match, he gets older and older because of
35:22
what Owen's saying. But when Owen says he's 5156, he
35:26
looks like he's like 61, I would say.
35:30
He's doing like the. I think it's the shirt, right?
35:32
It's like, yeah. Vince put him in a shirt, a
35:34
vest. Like he's wearing AT shirt in
35:35
the ocean now you know he's like.
35:37
That's. The wrestling version of that,
35:40
yes. It's it's not exactly that it's
35:43
covering him up either. It's.
35:44
Like it's there's a. Super boxy like rectangular
35:48
shape that is just put on him to cover his gut, but down the
35:52
center the buttons still are like pulling apart.
35:55
So the buttons are like, for those of you that I think the
35:57
best way that I could describe the buttons, the buttons are
36:00
like the buttons you would see on like overall straps and they
36:04
like go across, they like loop over a button.
36:06
It's it's bizarre. Vince definitely put him in his
36:10
vest. Thank God because I I feel like
36:12
he would have looked even worse without the vest on because Jake
36:15
never had much like he was never toned guy.
36:20
You know, he's never known for his physique, but.
36:24
He looks like he's serving, you know, like chicken wings.
36:27
Hard bowling alley, you know prior.
36:30
That's actually that's that's the perfect, perfect analogy
36:34
there is he's serving chicken wings at the bowling alley
36:36
because it's it's rough, man. And then the the back to the
36:40
promo with the Bible verses and it just it's a sad display with
36:45
Jake Roberts, man. It just you can't.
36:47
Even say that exactly. You can't even say that.
36:51
We're saying this because we know what becomes of him because
36:56
it's just it's it's awful. And then when you find out that
36:59
he eliminated Triple H or Hunterhurst Helmsley and Justin
37:02
Hawk Bradshaw to get here, it's kind of like, wow, they decided
37:05
to go with Jake over one of those two guys.
37:08
And granted, like the Justin Hawk Bradshaw gimmick was a
37:11
joke. Nobody took that serious.
37:13
But. I think it's was it Vince going
37:16
to the veteran hand when he's lost his couple of guys, right?
37:20
And Bretts sitting on the sidelines, too.
37:22
Yep, no, Brett. And like you said, sitting on
37:26
the sidelines, healing up, making movies, whatever he's
37:29
doing. And then you've got, yeah, it's
37:31
really ringing the doorbell of Jake Roberts, Ultimate Warrior
37:34
and Jerry the King Lawler. Like that's really where we're
37:37
at. Those are those are his reply to
37:40
not having a big mega star until he starts making one during this
37:44
week. Well, plus, you look at this
37:45
card like this is now the second match, so it's the fourth guy
37:49
that has returned or made their debut in within a year.
37:53
Most of them in 96 like Vader Rumble 9 to 6.
37:56
Jake's the same Mero's a few months back at WrestleMania 12
38:00
and Austin's like what late 95? He shows up as the ringmaster,
38:04
right? So like, and this trend
38:05
continues throughout the night. So this match, as I alluded to
38:11
earlier, is super fast. Roberts avoids the charge by
38:15
Vader and he tries to hit a DDT on him, but Vader pulls the
38:19
referee in as a human shield and gets disqualified.
38:23
It was like just a super sloppy ending, like.
38:28
He gets disqualified as he's hitting.
38:30
You know Vader gets disqualified as he's getting hit with.
38:33
With a move. So why don't you just put them
38:36
out? Are they trying to protect Vader
38:38
here? But.
38:38
That's my guess. Move he's still laying out in
38:41
the looking up at the lights. I just it was a bizarre finish
38:44
and you know, Vader is is, you know, head down and essentially
38:48
in the armpit of Jake and just grabs the ref and pulls them
38:51
down it. Was a terrible ending Jake they
38:55
start selling the the busted ribs from Jake because as a
39:02
result of using the referee, Vader's disqualified Vader then
39:06
destroys and obliterates Jake Roberts in the corner with the
39:10
Vader bomb and. You got to love Jim Cornette
39:14
coming in here and playing a role as well.
39:17
Think about a basketball player boxing out like he's got the
39:20
tucked into the corner and he's holding on to both ropes, but
39:23
he's trying to make it look like he's, you know, struggling to
39:27
keep the ref in there and he's just shaking his ass back in I
39:29
kind. Of like Cornet in like this era,
39:31
like especially with these guys, like with Vader and and Bulldog
39:35
and Owen, like I kind of liked it and I looking back, I still
39:39
like it. I don't know, it's weird.
39:41
It definitely is a better side of Jim Cornette.
39:44
Yes, I don't mind it, that's for sure.
39:46
So then we get a Coliseum home video exclusive of Vader and
39:50
yelling at Jim Cornette backstage, which is kind of
39:53
pointless. We're gonna do cans in the
39:55
cooler before we move on, yeah. Yeah, cans in the cooler one
40:00
Doug in the cooler. One Doug.
40:02
All right. I'll give it.
40:03
I'll give it like a 2 just because Vader looks good.
40:05
That's like it, you know, Like Vader looks like a legit beast
40:08
tonight that, you know, 21, you know, whatever.
40:11
I bet, Meltzer says Doug. Quarterly.
40:13
If you're giving, if you're giving this A2 because Vader
40:16
looks good, I don't want to see what you're about to give.
40:18
The Smoking Guns match with Sonny in there.
40:20
Schwing. Next up, we got the Smoking
40:24
Guns, the tag, the tag Team Champions, Billy and Bart, with
40:29
Sonny, who is their new manager, facing off against the Godwins,
40:33
Henry and Phineas with Hillbilly Jim and some other pals that
40:37
they're going to bring down the ring.
40:39
Wait, that That's Henry, That's Henry Godwin.
40:42
I I thought that was a minion the whole time.
40:47
Vince is trying to get us excited about the good old
40:49
country boys. That's like Billy goats.
40:55
Oh yeah, they got the Billy goats.
40:57
And. No, that's.
40:58
There's some critters, as Vince says.
41:00
Critters. They doesn't know what they are.
41:04
It should be Country boy was what they come down to.
41:08
Oh, they change it. But it's changed on the.
41:11
Network. You didn't have.
41:12
The rights to the absolutely 100.
41:14
Percent 'cause I I. Remember, they was being.
41:17
Country. Boy, they don't.
41:19
Is it is it AWF song or was it like some legit country boy
41:23
song? There we.
41:25
Go. Somebody is.
41:26
Kissing it all right, the then then.
41:30
So as they're coming down, we get Doc backstage with Sonny and
41:35
the guns. Doc shows us cloudy.
41:38
Sonny's not happy about it and Doc decides to get Billy on the
41:42
mic and he can't even get out his line.
41:45
This guy, she's beautiful. She's an award-winning manager.
41:53
What? You stumbled over your words
41:55
because you couldn't get manager out like.
41:57
Standard Wrestling. Vocabulary shit.
42:01
The entrances to this match take what feels like forever, but
42:06
this is a ground breaking match. You know why this match features
42:10
the most denim ever worn? Yes, I was wondering about that.
42:14
In WWF history, you got 4 participants wearing denim
42:19
wearing jeans, and then so 2 wearing jeans.
42:22
And then you've got the added layer of overalls that the
42:24
Godwins are wearing and then you've got Hillbilly Jim also
42:28
wearing denim. So that's a lot of denim.
42:30
Say, Sunny, you disappointed me. It looks like a goddamn like
42:33
square dance. What do you call that?
42:35
A. Hoedown or something this this
42:38
match man the lot of distraction, lot of like heel
42:44
tactic. I thought it was interesting
42:46
Owen is referencing Yoko in during this calls him a fat
42:50
slob. I I don't remember what happened
42:53
between them. Yeah, but they were, they were
42:55
tag team friends. Yeah, they were tag team
42:58
champions. Yeah, champs.
43:00
They don't remember them splitting up.
43:01
I don't know. God wins Joko a couple of times
43:05
because of the Jim Cornette connection which he.
43:07
He calls him a fat slob in this match and then in the main event
43:10
as well. All.
43:12
Right, Are we talking about the male urge, the male urge to
43:15
create a time machine and like go back in time and save Sunny
43:19
be like you're you know, we're making fun of Jake the snake 41
43:23
more 43. It will probably like look like
43:25
Doc Brown coming out of the big Sunny get in here.
43:33
I got to show you that like, it's like a demented, you know,
43:38
our puberty Christmas Carol, basically the ghost of Christmas
43:42
future. Did you have the same male urge
43:45
when cloudy The new body Donna's match was in the picture in
43:48
picture. Hey, what can I say?
43:51
Yeah, to each their own. So at the end of this match Bart
43:55
hit to boot to Phineas and allows Billy to pin Phineas with
43:59
a roll up. That sucks this match.
44:01
I, I, I guess you guys maybe can be offended for me, but like
44:06
Hillbilly Jim, why Jim? I mean like.
44:10
That's his friggin name. Yeah, I know, but like.
44:13
Billy James doesn't work. Yeah, Billy James, like.
44:17
Hey, Billy, Jimmy's too many syllables.
44:19
I'm going to ditch gigolo Jimmy Del Bay.
44:21
I'm going hillbilly James. I like that.
44:28
Cans in the cooler. What do you guys got for this
44:29
match? I think we talked.
44:30
Name is James Morris, so boom, there you go.
44:34
I wrote a a haiku or I guess in wrestling it's a haiku.
44:40
Here we go ready. Here we go.
44:41
This is my cans in the cooler. Hog farmer Minion Bart hits
44:45
Phineas with boot. 2.25 cans. That's 575, right?
44:53
The syllable. Is that a haiku?
44:56
Still, James is coming in strong with a haiku haiku a haiku A.
45:01
Haiku. A haiku or a mang?
45:04
A mang, if you will. Pardon me but I'm going 1 1/2
45:08
cans on the cold earth. This was this was rough to get.
45:10
Through yeah I I can give it 2 for sunny that's about it just
45:15
just to keep my eyes on sunny and make me feel like a.
45:19
Sunny man. The male urge is.
45:21
Obsessive. Male urge to save her.
45:23
Save her. You know, like with The Time
45:25
Machine. I'm not like trying to be sexual
45:26
on the show or anything. No, no.
45:29
She's like, this is life and death stuff.
45:32
One of the Michael. Mike, what do you?
45:42
Got one and a half, 1 1/2. 1 1/2 All right, Doc is backstage with
45:46
Camp Cornett, Clarence Mason, who I have no clue why he's even
45:50
being paid anymore. You got Davey Boy Smith and
45:55
Diana, which I wrote my notes. He's there because of like a
45:58
lawsuit with Diana and Shawn Michaels, I think.
46:01
OK, so that helps answer my question of why is Diana around?
46:06
And then we see Mr. Perfect walk into the locker room as David
46:10
boies screaming something into the microphone.
46:13
It's I, I don't even know what he's talking about at this
46:16
point. He can never speak.
46:17
He he's like, I think he's one of my favorite extra cooler show
46:21
characters because every time we're like, this guy is gold.
46:25
It's not even marble. I'm.
46:27
Going to win everyone. I'm going to be the the first
46:30
ever third triple champion he calls himself or something.
46:35
Word. Salad to like the extreme
46:37
British world's word salad. My favorite is WrestleMania 7.
46:41
What? He says.
46:41
Oh yeah. Is this the day for the British
46:43
Bulldog? Yes, it is the day for the
46:46
British Bulldog. You got.
46:48
To consider that I mean. Because because I'm bizarre is
46:52
is classic classic extra cooler show Episode 2, I think Episode
46:57
2. That's that's the all timer.
46:59
Can we talk about real quick you know after the previous match,
47:02
Diana is looking like Teamu sunny here like he's just like
47:05
like I think you know if you put like anyone after sunny, you got
47:10
to stop talking about sunny. I'm sorry, let's move on.
47:12
She's. Doing better than Sunny right
47:16
now. She's still alive.
47:20
Yeah, I think so. Oh yeah, she is.
47:22
She is. Sorry.
47:22
They're. Both hard to kill, too weird to
47:24
die. Yeah.
47:26
All right, Next up, we've got Matt's favorite wrestler, The
47:30
Ultimate Warrior, facing off against Jerry Lawler in another
47:33
really long match. This match goes 3 minutes and 50
47:37
seconds, thank God. But the highlight for me was
47:40
Lawler coming out first with the microphone and he's checking out
47:44
the the the throne, the crown. He takes the scepter from the
47:48
stage that Matt referenced earlier.
47:51
But he's basically out here to get heat.
47:53
Probably because Vince probably realized like we need to get
47:58
some heat on you because Warrior is stale.
48:01
Like, he's probably like, this guy sucks and he's throwing out
48:06
insults to anyone he can get his hands on.
48:09
Is that, you know, classic? Is that your face or did your
48:12
neck throw up? And the classic Lawler laugh
48:14
after? Oh, yeah.
48:16
Speaking of Speaking of Burger King, I think you made too many
48:18
trips there. When you wear blue, do the
48:21
people trying to mail letters in you?
48:24
That woman like is is staring daggers right into his eyes and
48:29
as soon as she is done she drops a big old F bomb FU like plain
48:34
as day just curses them. Out and the camera picks it up
48:37
too. What about that guy that like
48:39
swats at his scepter? They look pissed too.
48:41
He look a little pissed at Oh yeah he made fun of his wife.
48:44
I assume it's his wife. And then there's the line that
48:47
only professional wrestling can get away with.
48:50
Take a look at her face. It's girls like you that turn
48:53
men into people like gold dust. I heard.
48:57
I was like, Oh my God. Yeah, that one didn't
49:00
necessarily translate into into nowadays, But no, we'll talk
49:04
about gold dust a little bit further.
49:06
Did anybody else notice that Jerry the King Wallers
49:10
microphone had a piece of paper wrapped?
49:12
Wrapped around it I did. It looked like his entire stick
49:16
was on the microphone, like if he got lost he was gonna go down
49:19
and look at it. I rewelled.
49:21
Comedy routine. He needed his team.
49:23
Was literally on the microphone, like yeah, piece of paper in his
49:27
hand, microphone around it. It was so bizarre.
49:30
And I rewound it to try to see if he looks at it at all.
49:33
And he. Doesn't.
49:34
No, he doesn't at. All makes you wonder if Vince
49:37
wrote his jokes for him. I think this is more or less
49:41
like he didn't feel confident in doing it and if he like if it
49:46
just hit hit the fan like it didn't go the way that he wanted
49:49
to. He had a backup or something to
49:50
look at. But like how crazy could that
49:52
have been? If you catch him like looking
49:55
down at notes like The Rock having his promo on his arm,
49:58
that. Type roller especially.
50:02
Do you expect them to be not need that?
50:04
Such a professional, like the just such a lack of better
50:09
words, pun intended, like it. It was definitely surprising.
50:13
And so the fact where I was like, all right, I have to watch
50:16
this again and see what happened here.
50:18
And I love that. He takes a hit at the Milwaukee
50:20
Brewers and says that they're all drunks.
50:23
I thought that was fun. Classic cheeky.
50:25
Yeah, hearing hearing him come down the aisle and do this whole
50:27
shtick really made me realize A why Owen was out there and B
50:34
like that you're missing the heel commentator out there like
50:37
and and Owen wasn't very good at his job.
50:40
We haven't really spoken about that too much.
50:42
I think we'll talk about that more important too in the main
50:45
event. But but it made me miss Lawler.
50:48
And I'm not a Lawler guy, but I I feel like it it needed it to
50:53
go with Jr. and and Vince. But again, here we are man.
50:59
Warrior makes his entrance, he gets the pyro.
51:01
Lawler starts attacking him. Lawler has his hands wrapped up
51:04
right because he says they were burnt, correct?
51:08
So he's using the tape, he's using all his dirty tactics.
51:10
The weakened Warrior. He tries to finish the match
51:13
with a pile driver, but Warrior no sells the pile driver like a
51:17
real prick and and just begins dominating Lawler with a series
51:23
of clothes lines and shoulder blocks.
51:26
Warrior looks great, but he looks slow as hell, like he's
51:29
got concrete feet. I mean, he takes a beating to
51:33
begin the match, obviously, and tactics and, you know, being
51:37
choked by his, his duster that he's wearing down to the ring
51:40
and then choked with the tape like you were saying.
51:42
But did anybody catch Vince McMahon's introduction of
51:46
Ultimate Warrior here? Did you record it?
51:49
I didn't record it and I and I kind of regret not not doing so.
51:52
But he just goes, oh, here he comes, the most reckless
51:56
individual in the history of the World Wrestling Federation.
51:59
The most reckless individual like.
52:02
Take. That sounds personal.
52:03
Yeah, exactly. Take.
52:04
That show out and bash him over the head and then bury him like
52:07
that was like, oh shit. Like obviously we hear all The
52:11
Ultimate Warrior stories and we see all the things that go on
52:14
and you know, the the self destruction of DVD and all that.
52:18
But like, he was still big enough to put him on the
52:21
freaking show T-shirt. Yeah.
52:24
The white. He knew because in his mind, as
52:27
much as he was trying to push Sean, he to him, Warrior was the
52:31
cell, I think, and and Warrior's the name and.
52:38
Yeah, extremely similar to WrestleMania 9, which we saw,
52:41
just saw the backstage thing on Peacock, right, like where they
52:45
have like their current star Brett in the main spot.
52:48
But no, let's get Hogan just. Yep, not good enough.
52:51
Yeah, not good enough. We got to put butts in the seat.
52:53
Yeah, so War Warrior hits Lawler with a running shoulder block.
52:57
What a great finisher, And pins him to win the match.
53:00
Yeah. Why?
53:02
Sorry, go ahead. No, a typical warrior like, you
53:04
know, kneels on him to pin him. Yeah, I don't know.
53:07
They're like a real prick. You said you said you said it
53:09
best. Zero cans in the cooler.
53:12
Let's put a mat under the lie detector test.
53:15
Did you? Did you?
53:16
Did you like Warrior in 1996 And get the hot lamp on you, you
53:20
know? I'm giving this one can in the
53:24
cooler and that should tell you as as much as I feel here.
53:29
Yeah, this is not the warrior that I I grew to love as a young
53:33
child putting my mother's makeup on my face to look like ultimate
53:38
warrior like that's that's The Ultimate Warrior you think of
53:41
you don't think of. All right, so you know BCAD
53:45
right. Once warrior puts that tattoo on
53:48
his arm, warrior's dead. It's over Beyond that anything
53:52
before. All right, let's talk.
53:53
But anything beyond that warrior tattoo on his arm, like I'll
53:58
check out. Thanks man.
53:59
I think it's tough for our generation too, our specific age
54:02
that like, it's 96, like we're in 8th grade by this point.
54:05
We have moved on. I'm supposed to believe in this
54:07
like Mickey Mouse bullshit, Like, especially as the Attitude
54:11
Era is bubbling up here and to the surface, you know?
54:14
And it's not like watching Warrior back back then when he
54:18
was around, like the promos, they didn't hit the way they do
54:21
now. Like, you know, you see memes
54:23
and stuff all the time of Ultimate Warrior promos.
54:25
Everybody loves a good Warrior promo.
54:27
Yeah, but back then, it wasn't like a laughing matter like
54:30
nobody. At least we didn't as kids.
54:32
Watch it and laugh at the promos, right?
54:35
It was like, look at this monster.
54:37
What is he doing on my screen and what the world is he talking
54:40
about? Trying to figure all that out,
54:42
right? And not really understanding
54:43
what he's saying other than, you know, fueling up the rocket, the
54:47
rocket fuel. And then at the end of the
54:49
match, he the like, in typical warrior fashion, goes up on the
54:53
stage and like grabs the crown and like, looks at the throne.
54:57
I don't understand the whole point in that.
54:59
What? What?
55:00
What was that? Warrior being warrior just.
55:04
Warrior being warrior. Yeah, exactly.
55:07
He just picks up the crown, looks at it, puts it down and
55:09
then walks to the back and it's I don't even know why the camera
55:12
is following him and they decide to put that on screen.
55:16
When you I, I think I give this a 0.5.
55:19
That's what my score my cans. But I feel like I would have
55:22
liked it better if it was a straight up squash match.
55:25
I know it's quick, but like I want him to run in, squash him
55:28
run out and that's it. That would be cool.
55:30
Right. That's what that's what he did
55:32
to Triple H at at 12 essentially so.
55:36
Fair enough, fair enough. Ultzer gave this dud, yeah.
55:39
Well, yeah. Does anybody go higher than A1?
55:43
Like could you give it a one? Can anybody I gave it A1.
55:46
Because out of respect for my childhood, that's not it.
55:51
Like, you know, what's kind of interesting is like Warriors on
55:54
the same card as Jake the Snake here, who they never finished
55:57
that feud back in 92, Matt's favorite feud, of course, with
56:00
the snakes and everything that would.
56:02
I would rather see that. Them, you know.
56:04
Obviously like both faces at this point, but this I I never
56:08
cared for like the Lawler stuff. No offense to Lawler, but like
56:10
Brent was Lawler. I'm like, I'd rather see Brent
56:13
wrestle like a legitimate. Yeah, when they tried to sell
56:15
him as a top heel like the that No thank you they're.
56:18
Talking about Jake, 41, was he like 46 here or something like
56:21
that? I imagine that.
56:22
Has to be all right. So after this, we've got Gorilla
56:26
and Doc Hendricks in the locker room as Jake is getting taped up
56:30
really selling home the the rib injury.
56:33
And now Jay we get back and Owen is selling Jake as 8191 years
56:40
old. I I love that Gorilla Monsoon
56:43
says the doctor doesn't have X-ray glasses.
56:45
We don't know what's going on. Come.
56:47
On SO our next it's called an X-ray.
56:52
Gorilla next match is Mankind versus The Undertaker in a match
57:03
that goes almost 20 minutes, 18 minutes, and 21 seconds.
57:07
Mankind, just to give more perspective.
57:10
They highlight this feud and how we got here with a video
57:14
package, which I've grown to appreciate.
57:17
These days are over. Mankind has debuted less than
57:22
two months ago on April 1st of Raw after WrestleMania 12.
57:26
Another one's the list there. Yeah, he he's shown up and he's
57:32
playing mind games with the Undertaker right away.
57:34
So like that really tells you how invested they are with this
57:37
guy that they are throwing him right at.
57:40
And I remember like when he debuted, I remember being like,
57:43
I know this guy. Like, again, we weren't much big
57:47
WCW fans. You'd catch it here and there on
57:49
TBS or like I had the the trading cards that everybody
57:53
knows. And I remember having a Cactus
57:55
Jack card and I remember thinking like, I know this guy.
57:58
I know him from somewhere. I can remember digging up an old
58:01
magazine and being like, that's definitely who it is.
58:03
That's mankind, that that's him. That's how I knew it.
58:06
Premiere like old PWI magazines, you know, like, and be like the
58:09
bloody ones with him. Cactus Jack.
58:11
And he'd be like, whoa, who's this crazy guy?
58:14
And it it it's really cool that I don't know, this early version
58:18
of mankind, I feel like is such a forgotten version of him
58:22
because of what he turns into and and the feud.
58:25
But it's like it's, it's fun to watch like from the entrance
58:30
from the get go, like the just all the little like nuances that
58:34
he presents as. Gimmicks.
58:36
They're dead serious about the gimmick.
58:39
Oh yeah. It's like, and it's kind of
58:40
terrifying. Hell yeah.
58:42
Pretty much is I and I, I've grown to appreciate the Mankind
58:46
evolution, the character of, you know, Mick Foley along the way,
58:49
but the dedication this man has to the gimmick is just
58:53
phenomenal. Re watching all of this and
58:55
going back and seeing it happen is is really friggin cool and I
58:59
loved loved doing that through this match.
59:02
How many Mankind matches? This is about WrestleMania.
59:05
How many Mankind matches Real quick answer quick are at
59:08
WrestleMania? At a WrestleMania as.
59:11
Mankind 00. Wow.
59:14
No, it's 2. 20 I thought someone said 0.
59:18
Sorry, he has 6 total matches, 2 as Mankind, 3 as Foley himself
59:23
and one is with. Cactus Jack.
59:25
Jack and Chainsaw Charlie. Wow, so Paul Bearer comes out
59:31
after Mankind and he's coming down the aisle alone.
59:34
I again, this is one of those matches that I can remember.
59:37
I watched this pay-per-view live.
59:38
I remember. Yeah, yeah, I can remember
59:41
watching it on the black box 'cause this was the era, like
59:45
right before I came back. Yeah, I was.
59:47
I was getting back into it. And Austin, I was sold on Austin
59:51
and the the start of this match with no Undertaker coming down
59:57
with Paul Bearer is a cool thing to me.
59:59
Like you, him standing on the top rope basically waiting, the
1:00:02
lights go on and he gives the clothesline to Mankind.
1:00:06
You could tell right off the bat that they had chemistry.
1:00:10
And all I kept thinking of as I'm watching this match is
1:00:15
everybody thinks of the Sean Undertaker WrestleMania matches,
1:00:18
but I think. And, and everybody thinks of
1:00:21
Mankind, Mick Foley and Triple H but I think these two, I think
1:00:25
Mankind and Mick Foley, Mick Foley's like the Undertaker's
1:00:28
best dance partner and or at least my favorite.
1:00:31
Yeah, I know. I go ahead I fully.
1:00:34
Agree and I love that when they can take the purple, this is
1:00:40
purple Undertaker at this point, like purple gloves that when you
1:00:44
get a grey or purple glove Undertaker to speed up and shows
1:00:48
that passion, that emotion, that fire.
1:00:51
I love, love, love that. And you get it right out the
1:00:54
gate in this match. And he is just laying it down
1:00:57
with these punches to to Mankind right out the gate.
1:00:59
And it just sets the tone for me.
1:01:01
And I love that Mankind brings that out of Undertaker.
1:01:05
And that's the history that you that you're talking about.
1:01:09
That's how I feel it. It's through that.
1:01:11
When I was talking earlier about how this is like the second big
1:01:15
like a most important feud of the WWF in the late 90s, it's
1:01:20
like they both they both do like such good things for each other.
1:01:26
Like Mankind kind of humanizes the Undertaker like he was this
1:01:32
like yes, keeper guy at like huge, like dead guy beforehand.
1:01:36
And then after this feud, he's like, almost, he's like
1:01:40
transitioning into like, like a human person, you know?
1:01:43
Everything you guys are bringing up is the reason I just threw
1:01:46
those stats at you with like Mankind and WrestleMania,
1:01:48
because the thought in my head was, how is it possible that
1:01:51
these two never fought at WrestleMania?
1:01:53
Mankind and the Undertaker, like, oh, what a missed
1:01:56
opportunity. Because to Nick's point too,
1:01:58
like if those two went at WrestleMania, maybe that like
1:02:00
eclipses, you know, Undertaker and Sean, like maybe not.
1:02:04
Those are Alzheimer's obviously, but you get my point.
1:02:06
You get my point. It's just like, oh, I wish these
1:02:08
two because he, like you said, Mike, he brings out the best in
1:02:12
them. He humanizes them.
1:02:13
Like it changes Undertaker. Undertaker was still doing the
1:02:16
sit up here. Yeah, yeah.
1:02:18
So you know if my. Little is Michael Myers.
1:02:22
Yeah, it's a great it that it's a really good point, and it's a
1:02:25
great shift for the Undertaker the to go back to Mankind's
1:02:31
character. Just like little things that he
1:02:32
used to do, like everybody knows the hair pulling, but I always
1:02:35
loved the squealing. Yeah.
1:02:37
That he did. Oh yeah.
1:02:39
It's just I loved mankind, yeah. There's that 1.1 point where
1:02:44
he's like ripping his hair out and squealing at a fan in the
1:02:48
front row and the guy goes to take a photo of him.
1:02:52
God I wish that would surface on the Internet what that photo
1:02:55
looks like, if that guy has it. You know exactly what like the
1:02:58
lighting would be like. Oh God.
1:03:04
So Undertaker. Undertaker lands a big boot,
1:03:06
tries to finish the match by attempting the the Tombstone
1:03:09
pile driver. Mankind slips out of the move
1:03:11
and hits a swinging neck breaker.
1:03:13
These are just like all things that they do so well.
1:03:16
Like you would never say that Nick Foley.
1:03:18
Mankind is like the the great technical wrestler.
1:03:22
He looks great. He looks fantastic.
1:03:26
So Mankind grabs Undertaker's urn, which is like a nice way
1:03:30
for that to start to get introduced into this, tries
1:03:33
attacking with it, but Paul Bearer snatches the urn from
1:03:36
Mankind and then he works on Undertaker applying the mandible
1:03:40
claw. That's when Paul Bearer tries to
1:03:42
hit Mankind with the urn, but Mankind pulls Undertaker in to
1:03:46
prevent that from happening. Undertaker gets hit with the
1:03:49
urn, then the mandible claw is applied and he wins the match
1:03:54
like that. That's such a strong debut.
1:03:57
You're beating the Undertaker in a near 20 minute match.
1:04:00
Of SummerSlam, Yeah. Arguably as strong as a debut as
1:04:04
you can have, I'd say. Right.
1:04:06
It's got to be one of the greatest, like greatest debuts,
1:04:10
if you ask me and you almost forget the timeline of like when
1:04:14
the turn happens with Bearer. I almost I forgot that it
1:04:17
happened at SummerSlam. I like, I had to go look it up
1:04:20
and be like, when? At what point is that?
1:04:22
And then I love the other like the wrinkle of adding gold dust
1:04:27
in there and sprinkling gold dust in there with another.
1:04:29
Weirdo. Yeah.
1:04:32
It's fantastic. All that you need is Undertaker
1:04:35
wearing the mask and that looks like borderline pornographic,
1:04:37
those things. Yeah.
1:04:41
Did anybody have an issue with the commentary during this
1:04:44
match? It really stuck out for me about
1:04:47
how bad they were trying to put this over.
1:04:49
Yeah. As mutilated and not.
1:04:51
Not being for the weak at heart or This resembles a prison riot,
1:04:55
Jr. kept saying over and over again.
1:04:57
Like, sure, there were some like brutal head.
1:05:00
There was a, you know, unprotected chair shot here to
1:05:05
Mankind's head. There was, you know, the Cactus
1:05:08
Jack elbow to the outside, which I love anytime that Foley pulls
1:05:12
that out. But like.
1:05:14
If he punt his punt him too at some point.
1:05:16
Basically when he runs around the ring and like yes.
1:05:18
Yeah, yeah, yes, there is that spot, the classic, you know,
1:05:23
Mick Foley spot, we can call it, where he runs around halfway
1:05:26
around the ring and then runs his hip into the head of the
1:05:29
Undertaker, into the steel steps.
1:05:31
Yeah, it looks. Great.
1:05:32
The first time I remember seeing that, oh God.
1:05:35
And it was like jarring. It was like, what are we seeing
1:05:38
here? What's going on?
1:05:39
And yes, there was some things that didn't match what was
1:05:43
happening on the rest of the card.
1:05:44
But for them to put this in the prison riot or not for the week
1:05:48
card really took a, you know, 1/4 can away from this rating
1:05:53
for me. Yeah, I think they were trying
1:05:54
to push and sell the Mankind gimmick and that's why they were
1:05:59
doing that. But I completely agree with you.
1:06:01
I it didn't work, it didn't fit, it was totally unnecessary.
1:06:05
Yep, it's probably exactly what like Vince had his, what was his
1:06:10
name going to be originally be like Norman the Executioner or
1:06:12
something like that, right. And that's probably Vince what
1:06:16
he was going to go with anyway. And like now, just keep it for
1:06:18
mankind. The commentary.
1:06:23
I, I do think it's why don't you guys give me a cans in the
1:06:26
cooler for this match as we close out Part 1 of this
1:06:29
episode. I, I, I can't, I got to give it
1:06:32
higher than like the Mero Austin match from being fair.
1:06:36
So like I, I kind of, I don't know, it's a tough spot.
1:06:40
You could do it, set the bar high.
1:06:41
I'm going to say 375. Oh, all right.
1:06:43
Because I, I, I thought this was fantastic.
1:06:46
I didn't expect this from the Undertaker, honestly, at this
1:06:48
point. Yeah, agree.
1:06:49
And obviously it's a lot of it has to do with Foley, but
1:06:51
Undertaker's legit too. And obviously he goes on to
1:06:53
great things. So this seeing these two this
1:06:57
early right off the bat and the the shocking result too.
1:07:00
I I think it's great. It like this is when the card
1:07:03
like whoa this is like a legit card.
1:07:04
Actually, Mike, what about you? I almost gave it a four, but I I
1:07:10
also wrote down 375. There you go.
1:07:12
No cheers. Cheers.
1:07:15
That that quarter can is keeping a shot away.
1:07:17
I'm doing 3 1/2 because of the commentary took it away from me.
1:07:22
Don't be so confident that shot was going to happen because I
1:07:24
have it as a four. This was my favorite match on
1:07:26
the entire card. All right, OK.
1:07:29
I love this and I think it's again like that that little peek
1:07:33
behind. I love seeing the start of of
1:07:37
careers and the start of these legends being born yeah yes, he
1:07:41
was a legend in WCW like a top guy.
1:07:45
You know, not to take away from that, but the fact that he come
1:07:47
over from that and pull this off in 96 when the tide is turning
1:07:52
to like when they're getting away from the outlandish
1:07:54
characters to me, I I love this match.
1:07:57
I again, and I'm not a big Undertaker guy, but when you
1:08:01
throw Mankind or Mick Foley with him, you, you had me at that.
1:08:04
I think this is Nick's 96 attitude Mount Rushmore, like
1:08:09
all the guys in that are on this card.
1:08:11
Mankind Austin Pillman shows up later and.
1:08:16
Yeah, yeah, that would be my 4 I think.
1:08:18
Wow. Maybe not.
1:08:20
I mean, Sean's there too, but he's more like he's looking
1:08:22
like, you know, Michael Higginbottom, Michael
1:08:25
Chippenbottom or something. Like he's got the leather house.
1:08:28
But like you said, go you talk about those four guys and I know
1:08:31
I gush about gold dust and I'm going to talk about him more in
1:08:34
part too, obviously. But they're they're all four of
1:08:38
them are so important to the Attitude Era and you, I think
1:08:41
you remove one of them. I don't know if we get there in
1:08:44
the same way that we did. So that that concludes part one
1:08:49
of our King of the Ring 1996 special.
1:08:52
Obviously we got some more fun stuff in Part 2, which you guys
1:08:57
can listen to in in the coming weeks.
1:08:59
So. That's the one where we start
1:09:02
half in the bag. Yes, yes, exactly.
1:09:05
If you really wanna like if you miss us that much in between
1:09:09
Part 1 and Part 2, you can go and you can check out our Bash
1:09:12
at the beach 96 episode and really, really engulf yourself
1:09:16
in in this era of wrestling. So be sure to follow us on
1:09:21
Instagram at the Extra Cooler show and at Extra Cooler and
1:09:24
over on our Discord channel in the show notes.
1:09:26
Hop in there, please. Thanks again guys for listening
1:09:30
and we're gonna go record Part 2 right now.
1:09:34
See you. Cheers.
1:09:35
Man, I I think we just need to apologize.
1:09:39
King, I think you made one too many trips there hen you.
1:09:42
On behalf of the. People try.
1:09:44
To mail letters in you.