| rajah.com Mailbag -By Kayfabe and Rajah |
Alright, I have re-opened the Mailbag section with the help of two individuals, Kayfabe and Grandpa. Hopefully, it will work out better this time, as the above individuals will handle the great BULK of the emails.
Here are the steps to take if you like your question answered in the Mailbag section:
1. Please check to see that your question(s) have not been answered on any other sections of the page. Take great note of the FAQ Part I and FAQ Part II as well as the mailbag archives at the bottom of the page. .
2. Send a legibly written question or comment to mailbag@rajah.com. Please limit yourself to only one question per person per email. This allows us to update the mailbag more frequently.
3. ALL email sent there may potentially be included in the Mailbag. If you do not want your response posted, do NOT send it there!
4. If a name is included, I will post it along with the email. If you do not want your name published, do NOT write it!
5. Remember, it is impossible that every email I receive get posted on this page. Only the best and most popular questions/comments will likely make it on.
6. Also remember, that questions will be answered by either Kayfabe or Rajah, so any personal remarks should be addressed accordingly. The following color scheme will be used:Rajah - GREEN
Kayfabe - YELLOW
From: MerLuv
Hey Raj,
I was on the PTC website the other day reading their "play by Play" of last weeks Smackdown! and it said
"In a recap clip, the Acolytes throw Kai through an overhead lamp onto a pool table. They then toss Tai into a juke box and Bradshaw topples a pinball machine onto a prone Kai. "
Just goes to show you that the PTC really doesn't know or watch anything about the WWF or Smackdown!
Hey, does all this remind anyone of the old Simpsons episode where Marge wouldn't let Bart and Lisa watch Itchy & Scratchy and then watched the episodes herself to take notes, and forced Roger Meyers Jr. into making the show more suitable for children? Just asking.
Yeah, you would think if they're watching the shows to look for points to support their views, they'd at least be able to keep up with the names of the wrestlers.
From: Earl
Hey Rajah, great site. In mailbag 27 somebody asked whether Nailz would ever
be back in the WWF. I just wanted to pass along that in addition to the
sexual harassment lawsuit, Nailz testified against Vince in the steriod
trial. Nailz was on the stand and was asked if he hated Vince McMahon. He
said yes. So it's probably pretty safe to say he won't be back.
Yep, as a matter of fact, he's the only one that testified against Vince. He'll never be back in the WWF.
From: Aree
Dearest Kayfabe,
When I wrote the profile for the British Bulldog I included a comment on the problems between Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid. Quite a few people have emailed me wanting to know more about their issues, but I'm unsure of the details. I'm sure a wonderfully informed person like your good self would know all about it.
I've also figured out why we columnists so enjoy adding a "mailbag" flavor to out columns - it's mailbag envy.
Sincerely,
Aree
P.S. Are you sure you don't want to jump into a closet with me?
As for your question, in 1990 Davey Boy and Dynamite had a severe falling out and reportedly haven't spoken to each other since. In 1987, during a match with Don "The Rock" Muraco, Dynamite tore two lumbar discs in his back, something which was supposed to sideline him for months. The problem is, he was a co-holder of the Tag Team Titles with Davey Boy at the time, and he came back from the injury in just a few weeks to drop the gold to the Hart Foundation. He ended up further aggravating the discs, and took a more reasonable amount of time off. He did manage to wrestle at Wrestlemania III, the biggest wrestling show of all time, teaming up with Davey Boy and Tito Santana to go against The Hart Foundation and "Dangerous" Danny Davis, in a match which inexplicably saw Dynamite do most of the bumping. Following Wrestlemania, he took more time off, and returned with Davey Boy again. The British Bulldogs, as they were known, wrestled for the WWF through the end of 1988, when they left the company to spend time in both Stampede Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 1990, Davey Boy decided to return to the WWF, but Dynamite, whose body was rapidly deteriorating wanted no part of the WWF. The Bulldogs had a major argument and falling out, and split for good. By 1991, Dynamite was forced to retire at the age of 32. He made a brief comeback in 1996, but by 1997 his back was completely gone, and he has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. Meanwhile, Davey Boy saw tremendous success upon his return to the WWF in 1990, and by 1992, he had become Intercontinental Champion. Through the rest of the decade, he enjoyed a ton of success, teaming with Owen Hart to win the Tag Team Titles, and becoming the first ever European Champion. Meanwhile, Dynamite who was the more skilled worker of the two, was at home, unable to do what he loved.
Recently, Dynamite was asked if he had any advice for Davey Boy. Here's what he said:
"Of course I do: keep on doing what you're doing."
"In the 1980s, he was a fine athlete, very agile in the ring. Later on in life, when he started wearing jeans and walked to the ring like a zombie, winding the finger up at the people . . . At that point, I said Davey Boy Smith is on drugs. And as it turned out, I was right: Vince McMahon paid for him to go into rehab for three months. But he didn't last three months: he came back at Insurrextion, looking worse than ever."
For more on Dynamite, you can order his autobiography through his website, www.dynamitekid.com.
So now that we're through with all that, I have a question. Humor me for a moment. Dynamite and Davey hate each other, and both of them hate Bret, but are cool with Owen. Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, two friends, have Stampede roots with Stu, and Dyanmite is Benoit's idol, but Benoit also likes Bret, whom Dynamite can't stand. The Rock, and Mick Foley, two friends, are both cool with Owen and Bret, as is their buddy the Undertaker. But their close friend, Steve Austin, always had it in for Owen, and I'm not sure was on Bret's good side. Triple H, who owes Foley his life, was very friendly with Owen, as Mick was, but Hunter, like X-Pac, Nash and Hall, is buddies with Shawn Michaels, who has had more than his share of run-in's with Bret Hart, though Bret recently said in an interview that he misses Shawn's friendship and is sorry how it went downhill over the years. Yet, Bret seems to get along alright with Nash and Hall at least somehwat alright, and once said X-Pac is the future of the WWF, though that was before Survivor Series. Jim Ross, the right hand man of Bret's arch-rival, Vince, was friends with Owen, but he's also very close with Austin, so explain that one. Jeff Jarrett, who doesn't like Austin or JR was extremely close with Owen, though he's also good friends with the Road Dogg, who is good friends with X-Pac, who is good friends with Shawn, who Owen's brother thinks helped ruin his life.
Jerry Lawler was close with Owen and the whole Hart family- he had to be in order for Bret to let him get away with saying all those things about Stu on TV during their angle, but his friend, JR, seems to be more of a Shawn guy than a Bret guy. Lawler's son, Brian Christopher has not been heard from on the matter, but his tag team partner Scott Taylor idolzed Owen for years. Scotty's friend D'Lo Brown can relate to Marty Jannetty because both men's careers were never the same after unfortunately paralyzing other wrestlers, which takes us back to Owen, who nearly did the same thing to Austin. Austin is included in the group that Michaels alienated in 1999 by saying Triple H is the only Champion worthy of the belt since HBK himself held it. This also puts the Undertaker on his bad side, though he seems to have been more of a Bret guy, not a Shawn guy, anyway, as did the other Champions Michaels shafted including The Rock, Foley, and Austin, who Michaels put over as Champion in the first place. Kane Yankem, the Undertaker's brother, but also Lawler's dentist has declined comment, but because of both affiliations, we can safely say he's a Bret guy, not a Shawn guy. Meanwhile, Jannetty, Shawn's former tag team partner who does not like him at all, became good friends with Al Snow when they were teamed as the "New Rockers" in 1996. Snow is good friends with Foley depending on which day of the week it is, and Foley seems to be more of a Bret guy than a Shawn guy despite his friendship with Triple H, who is a cliquester. Not to mention that Foley's good friend, Steve Austin did not like Owen, though Mick did, leading me to believe that in this tangled web of mayhem, the only conclusion I can draw is that one Steve Austin is on the same page as one Marty Jannetty, and due to their tenderness for the alcohol, they'd sure as hell be able to have a hell of a good time in a bar somewhere between Texas and Georgia, as long as Austin is buying, with Jake Roberts there to no doubt tag along for a free drink.
At least that's what I got from it. It's a small world after all, isn't it folks?
Jim Niedhart seems to be the only one in that family didn't alienate the rest of the family or the entire business.
And, of course, of everyone I mentioned above, Vince McMahon was at one time or another, their boss.
Aree, you know I'm very particular about my closet habits; we'll talk later.
From: XxZLCxX
I was watching some old tapes and There was a tag team called the Blade
Runners. I know the one wrestler was Sting and the other was called "rock"
but i could swear that he also had a different identity later in his career.
Can you help me out with that? thanks.
Do you really expect me to answer another question after that ridiculous clusterf*ck above? Well, OK. The Bladerunners consisted of Sting and The Ultimate Warrior, whom I don't believe is either a Bret guy or a Shawn guy, though, given his feelings for Vince, just might be a Bret guy.
From: ANi_MaL
As a WWF fan living in England, i would like to ask you if the English ppv's
(InsurreXion, Rebellion to name two) are actually shown live in the USA. I
am asking this because they are not particularly good and don't even come
close to the American ppv's (like Backlash and Fully Loaded) Thanx.
Nope, they're UK only PPV's. We don't get them here in America.
From: Jeff
Hey, your site is amazing, I go to it everyday. Anyways my question is that
one of my friends keeps talking about a former wrestler in the WWF named
Tugboat or something like that. He keeps telling me that he was the best
wrestler ever. The funny thing is that I have been watching the WWF for a
long time and I can't seem to remember if there ever was a wrestler named
Tugboat in the WWF. I remember Ricky STEAMBOAT but no Tugboat. So please
could you tell me if my friend is right. If he his right could you give me
some background on the character Tugboat and if he still wrestles and perhaps
a picture of him, thanks a lot.
In 1990, he came to the WWF as a friend of Hulk Hogan's. Earthquake butt-splashed him, thus putting him out of action for quite some time. This helped to piss of Hogan during his feud with Quake. When the "Tugster" returned in 1991, he turned heel and actually joined Earthquake, to form the Natural Disasters. In 1992 they enjoyed a reign as Tag Team Champions, but by 1993, he was on his way out of the WWF.
He then went to WCW where the following went down. And I do mean down.
Tugboat aka Typhoon aka Fred Ottman aka The Shockmaster aka Unemployed was in the WWF from about mid-1990 to early 1993. You're friend is telling you he's the best wrestler ever in a context that people might try to convince you that, say, Viscera, or Nailz, or Zeus was the best wrestler ever. They're either joking around or are wasted beyond belief. Fred Ottman is a decent big man wrestler, but nothing more than that. Despite his size, he was forever a midcarder.
From: Luke
What's the history with The Demoltion? I've heard their was 4 members in all. I also
heard Ax was fired from the wwf but it was his gimmick and he's sueing them? Also why was
the gimmick stopped? The last time I remember seeing them was Wrestlemania 7.
There actually were four members in all, but only two that stand out, and three of any significance. Ax (Bill Eadie) and Smash (Randy Culley) made up the team when they started in 1987, but after only a few matches, Culley was replaced by Barry "Kick your stinkin' teeth in" Darsow. Together, Ax and Smash enjoyed three reigns as WWF Tag Team Champions from 1988-1990. Towards the end of the run, in 1990, then, in 1990, Ax began to experience some health problems and could no longer wrestle on a full time basis. Demolition turned heel, and Crush was brought in as the teams' third member. Only two Demolition members were allowed at ringside for their matches, but often times teams would be forced to guess which two would be wrestling. On occasion, one would hide under the ring and switch in and out to gain an illegal three on two advantage, but soon after Crush's debut, the team began to slide down the ranks. At Wrestlemania VII in 1991, they got squashed. By then Ax was gone from the WWF. Smash was repackaged as Repo Man, and the next year Crush debuted as... Crush. Tha Hawaiian good guy, Crush, that is.
From: Kamehamehameha
I just thought I'd ask this. I talked to someone who claimed to be X-Pac and
he was very knowledgeable about the WWF and even gave me some Raw spoilers
and KOTR. His screen name was Xpac187666 and I was just wondering if you knew
if he really is X-Pac or not
Nope, not him. Always use common sense in these matters.
From: Steve
If you wanna talk about how much better Christian is than Edge in so many
mailbags, why not talk about how much better D-von is than Buh Buh Ray. Buh
Buh Ray is fat and steals all of D-vons moves. when you think of the 3-D, you
think of Buh Buh. When you think of tables, you think of Buh Buh. It seems
that D-von, had 2 sig. moves: the flying headbutt and the big elbow off the
ropes. And now Buh Buh stole the flying headbull by doing the stupid
"Wasssaaaaaaaaaaaaap" think from the bud commercials. If they break them up,
its obvious that D-von would be the heel and that pisses me off. D-von is in
much better shape and is simply a better wrestler.
If ever there were a team with two equals, it's a team like the Dudley Boyz. They're a complete tag team, and I don't really prefer either one over the other.
From: Ianski
Hi guys,
As a recent convert to WWF I've noticed that almost every time Mick Foley is interviewed/profiled, he makes some derogatory crack
about Al Snow. What's the deal there - is it a "work" ?
Foley and Snow have liked cracking on each other for years. The glory days of the insult wars are long over, but they continue to throw an occasional line each others' way every now and again. They're really friends, and like to rib each other. Though Snow did take offense to some of Foley's jokes, and at one point had some serious words for Foley regarding his "un-retirement" at Wrestlemania, I believe the two have since patched things up and are back to their friendly jokes once again.
From: Ajay
hey raj!
One of my favorite wrestlers is rikishi and i've noticed that before every match he taps his nose twice and then slaps his side. I
was wondering if there is any signifcance behind this. I think he is signalling to one of his 5 kids.
Thanx a lot,
To me, the more interesting thing with Rikishi is that he still sometimes does the "Headshrinker Head No-Sell" where he'll pop right up after a shot to the head, making it seem as though the move had no effect because his skull is too thick. I guess some things never change.
How come no one says hi to me? Anyway, yes, I do believe I heard or read somewhere that the significance of that is that it's a gesture towards his children to let them know he's thinking of them. Kinda like when Jeff Hornacek would rub his face before a free throw.
From: Zac
Hey, Just wondered if anyone else has noticed the new tatoo the Undertaker has on
his neck(on adam's apple), any idea what the initials stand for? Thanks for the great site.
I believe you're referring to the tatoo which says "Sara", which is the name of the Undertaker's new wife.
Send ALL Mailbag-related email to mailbag@rajah.com.