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Column of Honor: 09.10.11: WWF Shotgun Saturday Night Memories
Hey, if you remember way back last year when I wrote my article on Monday Night Raw memories I mentioned that one day I’d write about WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. Well, that day is today. I have that plus the usual ROH news and commentary this week. Welcome to the Column.
At the beginning of 1996, WWF (as it was known then, now WWE) was in the middle of a crisis. They were steadily losing the war against WCW with its new Monday Nitro program which was going head-to-head live against its Big Titan competitor. Nitro gave the Turner led-brand the lead in the wrestling war for the first time ever…and the gap was substantial.
WWF Monday Night Raw as a show had lost some of its punch and by 1995 was not as “raw” as it used to be during its formative first few years. The show was only live once a month and taped the rest of the time—and WCW would take advantage of that at every occasion, including Eric Bischoff giving away results so that the viewer would stay to watch WCW Nitro.
That’s not to say that there wasn’t great talent on the WWF roster or that I didn’t enjoy the wrestling on a personal level –if anything I hold a fondness for the year 1996 in wrestling. because of it being the first run for Shawn Michaels as WWF Champion, the (short-lived) return of The Ultimate Warrior (and though I was now a teenager there was still a huge part of me that was a Warrior fan boy like when I was a young kid) and the beginning of the rise of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the man who would help to bring WWF back from second-place all the way to a resounding triumph over their competition. However, that was still to come.
As much as I was a WWF loyalist, I admit it; I was growing curious about the competition during this period. I had watched WCW irregularly as a child, but never really sticking around on a long-term basis due to brand loyalty to WWF. However, starting around late 1995, I decided to check out the competing program on Monday Nights…and sometimes I would stick around for longer than intended, even missing whole segments of Raw because I was more interested on what was on Nitro. I would also begin to watch their weekend programming, “WCW Saturday Night” and “WCW Main Event” on a regular basis. Then, of course, Memorial Day 1996 occurred, with the invasion of Scott Hall…and wrestling history changed forever. I was no longer just a child mark by 1996-by that point had begun to learn things about professional wrestling and know more things about the behind the scenes of the business. I was able to access the internet at my high school (and at my friends’ houses and then with my own personal computer) and I was able to join a burgeoning population that knew more about wrestling than WWF or WCW wanted you to know.
WWF would try a great many tactics to compete with WCW at this point—from denigrating its opposition (for years I could recite the “Huckster” and “Nacho Man” parody skits word-for-word) to eventually working with the third guy at the party-Extreme Championship Wrestling. Vince McMahon, at the behest of his son Shane and booker Vince Russo began to try to reincorporate edginess and reality back into the angles and storylines (what would soon become known as the “Attitude” era).
The Shawn Michaels-Owen Hart “superkick” concussion storyline was one of the early examples—using HBK’s real-life attack at a bar by a dozen military officers as the basis for playing up head trauma sustained during a match. That injury and his return kicked off his comeback trail and positioned Michaels as the heir apparent to the WWF Championship. More sensational angles would follow, including Goldust “resuscitating” Ahmed Johnson and the Stone Cold-Brian Pillman Home Invasion angle, where Pillman brandished a gun to protect himself from any criminal trespass by Austin and the television feed “broke” before anything over the top could be shown. Incidents such as these piqued my curiosity and brought me back to the WWF, but if anything, it was the wrestling matches from Michaels and Hart that would convince me to keep with them. Even so, I had my eye on WCW and my hand on the remote control so that I could click back-and-forth between the two shows. Ah, the days before DVR.
One other tactic WWF tried during this era was to begin a new show, one that was edgier, grittier and seemingly more uncontrollable than Raw. The show, WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, was an attempt to explore those edgier themes, a prototype of how Monday Night Raw would eventually evolve as a product—to become more unpredictable, with more exploitation and titillation than ever before under the “Raw is War” and “War Zone” monikers.
WWF went back to the roots for Shotgun Saturday Night, all the way back to the first year of their Raw series by holding the shows live in New York City, but instead of one weekly regular spot such as The Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center (which is now home to Ring of Honor wrestling shows on a regular basis), the shows would be in a different live venue every week. Many of them were nightclubs, like Webster Hall. There were also shows at The All-Star Café (a now-defunct sports bar in Times Square that once infamously hosted sports talk show host Jim Rome’s shows) and a show in a lobby at Penn Station underneath Madison Square Garden.
The first episode aired live on January 7th, 1997 from the Mirage Nightclub and featured a crazy menagerie of WWF personalities, beginning with the hilarious opening minutes of Bob Backlund warning us about the depravities and violence going on inside and calling for Shotgun Saturday Night, New York and Saturdays in general to be banned. A wild and crazy Bob Backlund was always good for entertainment, and this was Backlund at some of his more unconventional best.
The premier show also featured some not-so-fantastic wrestling—match-ups such as Goldust vs. Sultan (the future Rikishi) and Ahmed Johnson vs. Crush of the Nation of Domination. The former match concluded when Goldust’s “Director” Marlena lifted up her top (her back to the camera so no one could see) and distracted Sultan so that Goldust could win. Already this was something different because the tease of nudity had not been tried on the Raw program. The latter match did have a threatening aura to it because of the bar setting, so an Ahmed / Crush brawl seemed more gritty and real (even when it wasn’t) and the perception came across that a dangerous bar fight could break out at any time. The match itself was not so great and showcased some of the shortcomings of the mid-card roster at that point in time.
The show also tried to change up some of WWF’s existing personalities. Brother Love made a surprise return appearance to WWF after several years’ absence, cornering a tag team called the Flying Nuns, named Mother Smucker and Sister Angelica. However, it was very clear that these two cross-dressing men were actually The Headbangers, Mosh and Thrasher. They had been wrestling with WWF for a while at that point and were known personalities to the audience. Brother Love renamed them his Sisters of Love after their match. It was a strange and weird booking decision that didn’t last long—they were back as The Headbangers the very next week.
The show at Penn Station was perhaps the most high profile episode of the show’s early days since Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian Angels was a guest on the show and the main-event featured The Undertaker wrestling Hunter Hearst Helmsley (still portraying the blue blooded Greenwich Connecticut snob. That match concluded in a disqualification when Undertaker smashed the Intercontinental Title into Helmsley (who had brought the title into the ring), but that led to one of the more visually impressive moments of the entire series when The Undertaker gave Hunter a Tombstone onto a MOVING escalator. That was very crazy and potentially dangerous—though there were referee on top of it to help him out before he became mincemeat.
The only show held outside of New York was an episode shot in a saloon style bar in San Antonio. It was a crazy atmosphere, made even more unpredictable due to the usage of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Terry Funk and Jake “The Snake” Roberts on commentary at various times throughout the show. That episode ended in a brawl between Funk (in a crazy, quasi-shoot promo calling out WCW and calling Vince McMahon a bastard and his mother a whore) and Austin (still a heel at that point), with them brawling around the bar area and dunking each other beer trough. The live crowd ate it up, but Vince McMahon was audibly nervous and freaking out—doing his best spin on Funk’s tirade as part of the uncontrollable nature of the situation. It was clear that McMahon didn’t expect Funk to go that far—and soon after The Royal Rumble Funk was out on his rear, at least for a short while.
In an effort to combat WCW’s usage of luchadores, WWF dipped into the lucha pool as well. Early episodes of Shotgun featured some min- luchadores, including Mascarita Sagrada as well as some mini wrestlers dressed up as the WWF stars at the time, such as Mini-Mankind and Mini-Vader. Mascarita Sagrada was often used in a supporting comedy role, interacting with Jim Cornette in a men’s bathroom during the first episode and then flirting with Sunny on another episode. The regular-sized luchadores like Hysteria and Venom were also used, but ultimately were not as impressive as the likes of Rey Mysterio Junior, Konnan, La Parka and Super Calo. WCW had already picked up the best possible lucha and cruiserweight talent long before WWF got to that idea.
Speaking of Sunny—the late night running time of the show allowed a little more sex than usual—or at least the intimation of it. WWF had already run some of Sunny’s more provocative videos on Raw, but it was on Shotgun Saturday Night that she teased some very naughty photos and videos—which, well, didn’t quite live up to the billing. However, Sunny was definitely given more slack as far the sexual innuendo she provided in her commentary and for the time-frame she was in fact one of the hottest female members of the roster at the time.
The show was also a sign of the times in the wrestling industry—and how fast it would change in the years to come. The Fake Razor Ramon and Fake Diesel were featured on the second episode. They weren’t called “fake” by WWF—they tried to convince fans they were the real deal (because the men who originally played those characters—Scott Hall and Kevin Nash—were tearing it up in WCW). However, the fans were not convinced and not impressed, but so they began to be labeled as “Fake Razor” and “Fake Diesel” very quickly after their debut and most of the time they were not popular with the audience. These characters flopped and within months were gone from the promotion. Not The Road Dogg, but country-singer Jessie James Armstrong wrestled on the fifth episode. Not The Rock, but Rocky Miavia wrestled against Fake Razor on the second episode but already one could hear the backlash from fans about his traditional babyface gimmick.
Times were soon changing in World Wrestling Federation (as well as many wrestlers’ persona)—but Shotgun was decidedly caught in-between the New Generation era and the “Attitude Era” that was to come. The first several weeks of Shotgun Saturday Night were unique because of it was different than anything being produced by WWF at the time, though not necessarily better in terms of wrestling action. This was a far cry from the studio shows they taped for weekend syndication, but aside from the shock and entertainment value of a Terry Funk tirade or Steve Austin unleashed, it also wasn’t very good.
In some ways, perhaps Shotgun Saturday Night was an idea too ahead of its time—too much edge and raunchiness before the fans (and more likely, Vince McMahon and his sponsors) were ready for it. In addition, there were prohibitive costs for WWF at the time, from finding new venues every week to bringing in talent from the house show loop back to New York City for these shows and then back out again to more house shows. WWF also took talent away from those shows to wrestle on the live Shotgun episodes, meaning people who were paying good money sometimes weren’t seeing their favorite wrestlers live and in-person.
Soon enough, Shotgun Saturday Night became homogenized to a safer, more cost-effective product. The decision was made not to tape live in New York or anywhere on location, but rather tape the show before Raw. The show became something more in-line with its syndicated Metal and Jakked brethren—the second generation offspring of Wrestling Challenge and Superstars, but without the occasional newsworthy developments. It became a preliminary showcase where featured wrestlers squashed local jobbers and undercard workers and the major events of Raw would be replayed in video packages. Sometimes the same matches would be shown on those programs and Shotgun Saturday Night, making the show inconsequential and redundant. All the life, excitement, unpredictability and even the sometimes amusing, sometimes perplexing strangeness had been drained from the show.
Amazingly, Shotgun Saturday Night does continue to be remembered by at least a few people, judging from John Cena’s recent name check during a promo. Many of the early moments of this oddity of a wrestling show are available to watch via YouTube and the occasional episode or match will show up on WWE’s Classics on Demand channel. It remains a strange but interesting note from an anachronistic era, when Degeneration-X was a heartbeat away from forming and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was still marketed as a dangerous bad guy, but seemed really cool and attractive to rebellious teenagers and adults looking for an anti-hero to champion.
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night was an early example of what would eventually become of many of WWF’s future attempts to think outside the box, such as the several Extreme Championship Wrestling invasions (and in fact Shotgun’s debut was just one month before WWF began to collaborate with Extreme Championship Wrestling by hosting their wrestlers and promotingtheir debut Pay Per View), the ECW on Scifi television show and even WWE NXT. These unconventional decisions eventually became sanitized and watered-down, essentially crane-lifted back into “the box”, but it is astonishing enough to have knowledge and proof that these programs and booking decisions existed and were not somehow some strange dreams or delusions of the wrestling audience.
–Davey Richards defeated Tommy End in Barcelona, Spain on 07/04/2011.
–Davey Richards defeated Roderick Strong in Chicago, Illinois on 08/13/11.
b- winner of that match defends vs. winner of Briscoes / ANX (Ladder War 3) in Chicago Ridge, IL on 11/19/11.
–Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe in Toronto, ON on 5/7/11.
–Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli), Jay & Mark Briscoe and The All-Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) in New York City, NY on 06/26/11.
–Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeated El Generico & Colt Cabana in Richmond, VA on 07/08/11.
–Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) in Chicago, IL on 08/13/11.
Time for a new feature here at Column of Honor—I’m calling it Plus 1 (+1). Essentially, a Plus 1 is given when I am in agreement with a point someone made this week or if someone said or did something I liked. So, who is in The Plus Column this week?
to Wrestling Observer / Los Angeles Times’ Todd Martin for his inspired usage of Allen Iverson’s “Practice?” speech as parody in discussing the firing of Nick Diaz and his removal from a title fight against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 137, to be replaced by Carlos Condit who was scheduled to fight BJ Penn on the undercard. A gem from Todd: “We’re talking about a press conference, not a fight, not a fight, not a fight, we talking about a presser.” Though I don’t necessarily agree that Diaz shouldn’t have been fired, that was an excellent pull Mr. Martin and great entertainment. Then Diaz was unfired and placed in Carlos Condit’s spot against BJ Penn! RUSSO SWERVE!
to Sugar Dunkerton for re-tweeting my Sunny Delight-inspired “Sugar D” comment, leading to a conversation about of all things, Sugar Water Drinks…and for being a man who excels at trash talk, whether on CHIKARA DVDs or through his Twitter. Check out the following Tweet: “In the spirit of @DragonGateUSA’s store specials, I’m giving away 3 for 1 lariats to my opponents all 3 nights. No coupon code needed.” FOLLOW HIM NOW, FOOL!
to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla for naming their October 22nd event “Steen Wolf”, a fantastic word play on the movie Teen Wolf starring Michael J. Fox (and not the incredibly inferior recent MTV show of the same name). Kevin Steen has been the backbone and the MVP of PWG this year. He is an incredibly deserving PWG Heavyweight Champion and I am looking forward to watching his matches at 8 and The Battle of Los Angeles 2011.
+1: Todd Martin
+1: Sugar Dunkerton
+1: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
…And that’s how this feature is going to work. Tune in next week for more addition through satisfaction via +1.
For lo tho ye walk in the valley of the shadow of death, thou shalt not fear it, for in it lies the miracle of Truth, that there is no life so rich and full that cannot be ripped asunder and no life so meager and wanting that cannot be built upon and improved. Ergo, listen ye well to this treasured advice found within The Book of Truth, for these words are worth their weight in gold. So sayeth The Truth, so sayeth The House:
To you who have made it through all the readings and lessons contained within this book, you are now ready for the wondrous and amazing next steps that await you on The Path of Truth. You should now feel completely enlightened and at one with the world. The Truth has revealed itself to you, about life, the universe and everything…and that truth is that this world is a horrible, sinful cesspool of morass and decadence from which nothing survives without losing grace, beauty and purity. But you, who have read the stories and psalms and essays contained herein this Book of Truth can do something about this sad state of affairs. You can change the world; change what it knows, until you change what it is in its very existence, down to the very core, the infinitesimal molecules of its DNA. You, my son / daughter (circle one) of Truth, are the harbinger of change. Go out and blossom, let The House multiply in number, both in your heart and in those of your friends and family members. Spread The Truth far and wide, ensuring this world is a better place in the present and that this world has a future. Yes, if thou hast made it this far thou are now one step closer to becoming a fully consecrated member of The House of Truth, though many more challenges and trials still await thou. For instance, we offer our weekly Truth Reinforcement Meetings with your local Community Truth Leader (see our website for their names and locations of these ministries) and discounts on our fantastic Weekend “Truth Does Not Retreat” retreats and our seasonal cruises to the Bermuda Triangle. Also, be sure to ask about our weekly meal plans, which include delicious breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks at a low food cost per week. We also offer “Big Truth Sibling” programs, where for less than the cost of a cup of coffee you can sponsor a child in need of The Truth. And then, perhaps one day, you will be ready for the final and most important test—the physical component of The House of Truth-participating in a wrestling match in service of The House. But for now, be content with having proven your literacy, that your mind is working and active and that your heart is brim with Truth. You are a stronger, wiser and more handsome man / beautiful woman (circle one) for having chosen to read this book and gosh darn it, people like you.
-Final Words of Acceptance and Enlightenment in The Book of Truth
-It’s official: Jimmy Jacobs will substitute for Steve Corino to wrestle against El Generico at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor IX iPPV at New York City on September 17th, 2011. Kevin Steen remarked on Twitter that he’d be there either way and expressed some incredulity at ROH officials changing the match. Corino has a tour of Japan through Zero-1 that runs through the back half of September. This is a good change as far as overall match quality as Jacobs can provide a more exciting match in-line with Generico’s pace and style. At the same time, the Steen storyline can still take place, as he can invade and go on his path of destruction.
-ROH is also including an autograph session beginning at 6:15 PM for fans in attendance at the Grand Ballroom at the Hammerstein. Eddie Edwards and ROH TV Champion [shhhh Ari! It didn’t happen yet so its still a secret!] Jay Lethal will be available for autographs and meet and / or greets. Or both.
-Ring of Honor’s return to Collinsville, Illinois is now officially announced (St. Louis Wrestling mainstay Larry Matysik spilled the beans on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio show) for Sunday November 6th, 2011 at the Gateway Center at a 4PM matinee bell time. This will be the first ROH show in that area since Hate: Chapter II back in 2010, which was headlined by Kevin Steen versus El Generico in their second singles match and a six-man tag featuring The Briscoes teaming up with Amazing Kong (now known as Kharma) against The Kings of Wrestling and Sara Del Rey. Tickets for this show will go on sale September 15th through the ROHwrestling.com website.
The Collinsville show will feature a ROH World Tag Team Title match between Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (or whomever is current champion) against the Future Shock team of Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly. They are finally receiving the title match they earned at the Tag Team Contender’s Lottery tournament from Tag Team Turmoil this past July. The winners of this match go on to wrestle at Glory By Honor X in Chicago Ridge on November 19th against the winners of The Briscoes vs. All-Night Express in the Ladder War match from Death Before Dishonor IX in just two weeks.
-Frank Talent of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission passed away on Thursday evening September 8th. Talent was featured in some of the early Ring of Honor shows and was a fixture at many of the independent wrestling shows that took place at the ECW (now Asylum) Arena. Condolences to his friends and family on the loss.
-A Davey Richards Best-Of DVD release entitled “Davey Richards: The American Wolf” is now available through Ring of Honor’s store. It is a two-disc set with sixteen matches from mostly out-of-print DVDs. Here is the DVD cover and match listing:
Disc 1:
1. Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave…Destiny 6/3/06 (ROH debut)
2. Davey Richards vs. Jack Evans…Glory By Honor V Night 2…9/16/06
3. Davey Richards vs. Naomichi Marufuji…Final Battle 2007…12/30/07
4. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries (Final Fall- World Tag Team Title Ultimate Endurance)…Without Remorse 1/26/08
5. Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi…Bedlam In Beantown 4/11/08
6. Davey Richards vs. KENTA…Supercard of Honor IV 4/3/09
7. Davey Richards vs. Kevin Steen (Anything Goes Match)…Never Say Die 5/8/09
8. Davey Richards & Chris Hero vs. Kevin Steen & Lance Storm…Death Before Dishonor VII Night 1 7/24/09
9. Davey Richards vs. Claudio Castagnoli…Final Countdown Tour: Dayton 9/18/09
10. Davey Richards vs. Bryan Danielson…Final Countdown Tour: Boston 9/25/09
Disc 2:
11. Davey Richards vs. Austin Aries…Aries Vs. Richards…11/13/09
12. Davey Richards vs. El Generico…8th Anniversary Show…2/13/10
13. Davey Richards vs. Kenny Omega…Epic Encounter III 3/20/10
14. Davey Richards vs. Kenny King…The Big Bang! 4/3/10
15. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong…Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2 4/24/10
16. Davey Richards vs. Tyler Black…Death Before Dishonor VIII 6/19/10
-Steve Corino continues to masterfully explain and play out his recovery angle through letters sent to ROH and posted on their website. You can check out what he wrote about the initially booked bout against Generico here.
-Tickets for the Ring of Honor Wrestlemania weekend shows on Friday March 30th, and Saturday March 31st, 2012 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, FL go on sale Friday, September 9th at 10AM EST exclusively through the Ticketmaster website.
-ROH is once again running a contest to win free DVDs, this time copies of Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter One and Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter Two. You can enter through this link and send a twitter message to enter the contest giveaway.
-Added to the SBG Television tapings in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday October 1st are The Young Bucks, the team of Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander, TJ Perkins, Tommaso Ciampa (with The Embassy) and Steve Corino. Already scheduled include Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini), Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, Jay and Mark Briscoe, The All Night Express, Michael Elgin and “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett.
That’s obviously a more varied roster than on the first tapings, and the additions of The Bucks and TJ Perkins to the undercard will help the mid-card depth. Not to mention, but I think Coleman & Alexander (C&C Wrestling Factory) are going to impress with their in-ring efforts and win over plenty of fans with their talent and charisma. The loss of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli is going to hurt somewhat, but ROH is at least starting to address the roster depth issues. They do need one or two more legit “main event” players though, because the triangle of Edwards-Richards-Strong cannot sustain forever. If Kevin Steen is eventually added back to the roster he could really help out that top-card situation, but he also needs to be used with Corino, Generico and Jacobs as that program continues. However, I can see him easily making his way towards main-event status in 2012 and would be a great candidate to usurp the ROH World Title from Richards at some point in the future.
At the beginning of the year, “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett vowed that within one year that he would become the Ring of Honor World Champion. So let’s see how he’s done so far, eh?
Days Left to Reach Goal: 110
Tick, tick, tick, tick…time is running out on the so-called “Year of The Prodigy”. Or maybe he’s going by a lunar calendar. Or the Jewish calendar (which would give him far less time). Or the Chinese calendar (which would give him slightly more time).
Twitter me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.
-Friend to the Column of Honor Matt Waters has advanced to the final five of Dragon Gate USA’s video competition, where the winner receives a $150 cash prize. You can check out his video here and then vote for him (or any of the other four options, though I endorse Matt obviously) through this link. Good luck to all the participants.
-Speaking of Matt, I’m on the air with him and Chris GST over at Pro Wrestling Ponderings previewing the Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor IX iPPV among other topics, plus Jerome Cusson has an interview with Michael Elgin! Check it out at the following link.
-You can check out my participation in this week’s 411Mania Fact or Fiction alongside a returning alumni in Andy Clark. Great fun to be had discussing HHH vs. CM Punk, Kurt Angle’s arrest and more.
-Check out TJ Hawke’s interview with Kyle O’Reilly through his blog at Mania Weekend …though TJ…it’s kind of not Mania weekend anymore and hasn’t been for a while…ah, oh well. Read it anyway!
Two for one this week for your moment of QI (Quite Interesting):
As you can tell, one feature ended this week and a new one began. Next time around an old feature returns to The Column. Plus, a full preview of Death Before Dishonor IX on internet Pay Per View. Thanks for reading and for the feedback.
BROOKLYN!
DAH EM BAH SEE FOR-EVAH!
–Ari–
