PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

MORNING THOUGHTS (2 HOURS LATE): REMEMBERING YOUR FIRST TIME AND THE LOST ART OF THE HOUSE SHOW

LOOKING BACK AT THAT FIRST TIME...AND HOW NOW ISN'T NECESSARILY BETTER THAN THEN

No matter how jaded you may become, no matter how old you may age and no matter where your life takes you, you will always remember your first time.

Not THAT first time.  Get your minds out of the gutter.  The first time you walked into an arena to see your first live professional wrestling show.

For yours truly, the date was December 26, 1986, a World Wrestling Federation event at Madison Square Garden.  Through the magic of video, for the first time in years, I was able to go back and re-live that event, this time not as 12 year old boy, but as an adult with the intimate understanding of how the wrestling business worked and with knowledge of the personalities behind the personas.  It was an interesting way to go back looking at the event, almost like going back and watching Star Wars as a child, then going back and viewing it again with an understanding of how the special effects were pulled off and the costumes were designed.  You don't believe R2-D2 and Chewbacca could be actual real-life creatures anymore, but you can't help but marvel at the ingenuity of the creative genius.

After watching the show, several things really stood out to me, foremost being that the WWE house show experience of the current WWE shows are really lacking in comparison.  While the in-ring work may be a bit better and obviously all things have to evolve, there are so many tiny little things that added a unique aura that you were attending something special on this dusty old videotape that you rarely see today.

One was the attempt, on a simple house show (now, it was Madison Square Garden and it did air on the MSG Network, but it was still just a house show) to build a relative unknown commodity in the Honkytonk Man into a heel for the future.  Honky, originally brought in as a babyface, was an immediate failure, so he was turned heel with the idea that the fans didn't respect him, so he was out for himself.  At this show, Honky was booked to wrestle enhancement babyface Sivi Afi, who was hired to replace Jimmy Snuka by the company and never caught on.  

Today, we'd likely see Honky go over in some sort of back and forth competitive bout.  In 1986, WWE booked Honky to attack Afi before the bell, to the point that he couldn't "compete".  It got under the skin of the fans, who were cheated out of a match they might not have paid to see necessarily, but still expected to watch.  Later in the card, it was announced that Afi had recovered and demanded his match right then and now.  They then had their bout, with Afi cleaning house on Honky before finally losing to the Shake, Rattle & Roll neckbreaker.  Now triumphant, Honky refused to leave and danced and danced for the fans.  

I can actually vividly remember this exact moment of the show because I called him a "son of a b**ch", which as any 12 year old kid in that era knew, more likely than not would immediately result in a slap upside your head for the shameful crime of using an expletive in front of your father.  In this case, however, my dad laughed and agreed.  For some reason, I always remember that moment.

As Honky continued to get booed out of the building, he finally left the ring.  Tito Santana, at this point a former WWF Intercontinental and Tag Team champion who still had a decent fan following and was booked as if he could return to championship form at any point, was making his way down the aisle.  He and Honky passed each other and teased a moment where something might happen.  Honky backed off and Santana continued towards the ring.  Honky sneered and attacked him from behind, laying out Santana in the aisle before leaving.  

Over the course of one show, fans now had three reasons to want to hate the Honkytonk Man.  Within six months, the cowardly heel would go on to have one of the most celebrated Intercontinental championship reigns ever - at a point where the belt meant you were booked into a position to main event and carry some house shows, because it was one of the most important parts of the company.  

By the same token, Tito Santana, was left a sympathetic babyface because after the attack, he still entered the ring to wrestle Hercules Hernandez, who fans bought as a legitimate tough guy.  Santana came from behind and even had the match won with his dreaded figure four leglock.  In 1986, you could still believe that was a real submission.  However, in another great moment, Bobby Heenan jumped up from commentating to ring the timekeeper's bell.  Since everyone was watching Santana (at least I was), no one initially realized what happened and believed Tito had won.  Of course, that wasn't the case and Hernandez ended up winning.  Twice in one night, Tito had been ripped off, but still wrestled his heart out.  He left as big a babyface as he entered and now had potential grudge matches against two heels.

Character development like that, on a house show, is something we never, ever see anymore when it's all about the next episode of Monday Night Raw.

Another house show factor that has been eliminated in the pursuit of evolution are the preliminary matches.  On this show, Paul Roma (then an undercard babyface just cutting his teeth in the company) defeated veteran Canadian heel Terry Gibbs while the first match after intermission saw Jose Luis Rivera, who was super over in the building (I wouldn't realize until years later it was because of his ethnicity and the large contingent of Hispanic fans in attendance - for all the talk of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio being huge draws for the Latino market, WWF in NYC always marketed to that aspect of the audience with everyone from Pedro Morales to Savio Vega) defeating Brooklyn's own Steve Lombardi.  

Neither match today would be considered a classic but they both accomplished their goals.  The first match was designed to whet the appetite of the audience as they got into the show (or arrived late) while the second was to get everyone back from the concession stands and into the show again before the calvacade of stars continued.  While names like Val Venis and Funaki may as well be the 2008 equivalent of the names I've mentioned above, the plain 1980s vanilla wrestlers in tights wrestling were treated differently.  They weren't characters designed to fill space, they were treated as young or old wrestlers vying to get a win and move up the roster.  That feel for competition, even in what were meaningless bouts in hindsight, is something you never fully realize the way the product is presented in 2008.

Of course, you had your main event and you still have that today when you attend a house show, but the difference today, by design, is that you are paying for the brand name letters of WWE.  In 1986, you were paying to see Hulk Hogan or whatever babyface was on top in his absence.  On this night, it was Hogan defending the WWF championship against Kamala, who had been developed for months as the undefeated Ugandan Savage.

As a 12 year old, you sort of know there's no Santa Claus and the Wizard is really just a meek old man behind a curtain.  Still, when you are that age and 18,000 plus jump on their feet at the first chords of "Real American", you can't help but get caught up in the excitement of the moment.  Jaded online fans can b*tch all they want, but Hulkamania was the real deal in 1986.  I have never considered myself a Hogan fan to where I was excited by his jive or his work, but anyone who downplays his importance to the success of WWF is simply out of his mind.

One thing about Hogan that I think a lot of fans - any even babyfaces today - seem to forget is that a huge part of Hogan's success as a performer was his ability to sell and make every challenger seem as if they had a chance of knocking him off the throne.  Everyone raves, rightfully so, about Ric Flair's ability to do this, but the reality is, Hogan did the same, in a different way, for the WWF.  In this bout against Kamala, they circled, went back and forth for 90 seconds and then Kamala knocked Hogan off his feet.  He then went to town as Hogan screamed in pain and reached out to the crowd, grimacing for their support and help.  We all know the Hogan song and dance but watching Hogan set it up by putting over Kamala inside the ring up until it was time to "Hulk Up" at Hogan's peak really is a thing of beauty. 

While today we might see Triple H or John Cena "on the ropes" (in longer, more athletic matches, for sure), for most fans, there is never that sense of doom for their heroes at any point.  As a 12 year old, I totally bought into the idea that Hogan could lose and his underrated work was a HUGE reason why.

Even more amazing was that the main event was not designed for Hogan to stand victorious, but build to a return the following month against Kamala.  After a DQ caused Kamala's loss, an intermission interview (that aired on TV but oddly enough, not live in the Garden) where Bobby Heenan claimed he was interviewing the true winner of the bout - Kamala - degenerated into a huge brawl that saw everyone - EVERYONE - on the card pulling apart Hogan and Kamala, complete with Vince McMahon in the middle trying to restore order, led to a later announcement of the main event the following month.  

Today, you go and see WWE based on the name, likely not knowing more than a talent list. Then, you go back if and when WWE is scheduled to return, again based on that brand name. The feeling of continuity between house shows is long gone in comparison to the past. Then, you walked out of MSG with a complete list of matches and talent you would see a month later, excited about the prospects. Now, you just wait for the brand name.

To be fair, the business has evolved and with the never-ending rotating door of talent injuries, hiring and firing, that sort of continuity might not be feasible today, but back then, it certainly added an aura of importance to every, single house show.  When Howard Finkel got into the ring at MSG and that yellow MSG logo microphone lowered from the ceiling (what, you think Ken Kennedy originated that?), you knew something important was going to be announced.

In many ways, it's a shame that today's house shows have lost those special little attentions to detail.  The real lure of the shows are the chance to see what you can watch for free on Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights, only live and in person.  If WWE ever wanted to come up with new ways to increase the quality of their shows and change things up, all they need to do is what I did, and look back into the past.  What worked then could work now - after all, it worked for a reason.  It was special.

Other Thoughts from 12/26/86: Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon are without a shadow of doubt in my mind, the all-time greatest announcing duo in wrestling.  They back and forth banter, while ribbing each other and staying in character, did nothing but enhance the show, never once overshadowing the talent.  As much as Jim Ross is the measuring stick for the best announcer when it comes to dramatic moments in wrestling, Monsoon and Heenan are what announcing teams should be modeled after....Bret Hart, at this point, was simply an undercard tag team heel performer.  How strange it is to see him at such an early point in his WWF career....As silly as it sounds, the interviews building up a Hillbilly Jim vs. Mr. Fuji tuxedo match (there's a bout we never see today) were really good at setting the stage for the bout.  The obvious punchline of Fuji wearing silly looking boxer shorts at the climax was silly, but it was silly in a good way for the time.

Complete results of the show in question, courtesy of the awesome website www.thehistoryofwwe.com, were:

Prime Time Wrestling - 12/30/86: Paul Roma pinned Terry Gibbs with a sunset flip from the top rope at 9:22
Prime Time Wrestling - 12/30/86: Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated Cpl. Kirchner & Dick Slater when Neidhart pinned Kirchner after the Hart Attack at 12:36
Prime Time Wrestling - 4/28/87: WWF Women’s Champion the Fabulous Moolah pinned WWF Women’s Tag Team Champion Leilani Kai at 10:10 with a double axe handle and roll up after dropkicking the challenger into the referee (Best of the WWF Vol. 12)
Pedro Morales defeated Dino Bravo via disqualification at 14:24 after Bravo accidentally punched referee Dick Kroll when Morales ducked his head
WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Kamala (w/ the Wizard & Kimchee) via disqualification at 6:39 when the Wizard tripped up Hogan from the outside and then held his legs down for Kamala to splash him twice; Hogan was then triple-teamed and was held down by the Wizard and Kimchee for Kamala to hit a splash off the top but Hogan was able to escape and clear all three from the ring; following the bout, Bobby Heenan interviewed the Wizard, Kimchee, & Kamala backstage until Kamala was attacked by Hogan, with both having to be separated by several wrestlers and officials, including Vince McMahon (Hulkamania 2)
Prime Time Wrestling - 12/30/86: Jose Luis Rivera pinned Steve Lombardi with a backslide at 2:37
Prime Time Wrestling - 4/28/87: Hillbilly Jim defeated Mr. Fuji in a tuxedo match at the 4-minute mark (Best of the WWF Vol. 11)
Prime Time Wrestling - 12/30/86: The Honkytonk Man pinned Sivi Afi with the Shake, Rattle, & Roll at 7:02; the match was set for earlier in the evening but Honky attacked his opponent prior to the bout, thus forcing it to be rescheduled for later in the card; after the bout, Honky stayed at ringside, dancing for the fans until Tito Santana came out for his match, where he was attacked from behind by Honky with Santana’s knee clipping the ring steps
Prime Time Wrestling - 12/30/86: Hercules (w/ Bobby Heenan) pinned Tito Santana at 15:40 after Santana was distracted by Heenan at 15:40; Heenan was introduced prior the match beginning before rejoining Gorilla Monsoon at the announce table; originally the match ended at 12:46 after Heenan left the commentary position and rang the timekeeper’s bell while Santana had the figure-4 applied on Herc, attempting to confuse referee Dick Kroll that the time-limit had expired but the referee ruled there was still time left in the match
Prime Time Wrestling - 2/13/87: Blackjack Mulligan pinned Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Slick) at the 33-second mark with a flying back elbow; prior to the bout, Mulligan attacked Volkoff as he was singing the Russian National Anthem; after the contest, Volkoff attacked Mulligan until he was sent from the ring.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet