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Post by CM Tusk on Sept 13, 2022 14:55:35 GMT -5
I’m on the infamous 97 RAW in which Austin throws the belt into the river just a week after giving it to Rocky. So my question I guess is, did wrestling “purists” get bent out of shape about this as it made the Intercontinental championship look like it meant nothing to Austin? I don’t believe up until this point that the belt was ever looked at as having lost its prestige. So what are your thoughts on it? Personally I love it.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 13, 2022 15:22:05 GMT -5
I enjoyed the segment.It showcased his anti authority character to a tee
Also looking back its amazing the turn around Rock had with joining the Nation.Instant star in doing so with this feud here being the ticket to the top.Good stuff all around
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Post by MKSavage on Sept 13, 2022 16:26:11 GMT -5
No, I don't think it hurt its credibility, I think it played well into Austin's anti-authority persona. The thing that hurt the IC title's credibility was when they brought in the oval title (which looked like one of Honky Tonk Man's jumpsuit belts, not a title) and the title changing hands so many times to people who weren't top level stars.
Interesting note: On the Austin/Rock rivalry show, Kevin Nash says they never found the title that Austin threw in the river.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 13, 2022 16:34:40 GMT -5
No, I don't think it hurt its credibility, I think it played well into Austin's anti-authority persona. The thing that hurt the IC title's credibility was when they brought in the oval title (which looked like one of Honky Tonk Man's jumpsuit belts, not a title) and the title changing hands so many times to people who weren't top level stars. Interesting note: On the Austin/Rock rivalry show, Kevin Nash says they never found the title that Austin threw in the river. 99 started the downfall in my book. It bounced around from Shamrock to Val Venis to Road Dogg to Goldust to Godfather in a very short span. |
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Post by Grenouille on Sept 13, 2022 18:52:39 GMT -5
No, I don't think it hurt its credibility, I think it played well into Austin's anti-authority persona. The thing that hurt the IC title's credibility was when they brought in the oval title (which looked like one of Honky Tonk Man's jumpsuit belts, not a title) and the title changing hands so many times to people who weren't top level stars. Interesting note: On the Austin/Rock rivalry show, Kevin Nash says they never found the title that Austin threw in the river. It happened just down the road from me in New Hampshire. Anybody got some scuba gear? |
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Post by MKSavage on Sept 13, 2022 18:59:21 GMT -5
No, I don't think it hurt its credibility, I think it played well into Austin's anti-authority persona. The thing that hurt the IC title's credibility was when they brought in the oval title (which looked like one of Honky Tonk Man's jumpsuit belts, not a title) and the title changing hands so many times to people who weren't top level stars. Interesting note: On the Austin/Rock rivalry show, Kevin Nash says they never found the title that Austin threw in the river. 99 started the downfall in my book. It bounced around from Shamrock to Val Venis to Road Dogg to Goldust to Godfather in a very short span. Yeah, although the Monday Night Wars were fun to watch while it was happening, both companies really did a lot of hot-shotting, they treated every Raw and Nitro like they were PPVs. Every show seemed to have some kind of swerve or title change, diminishing storylines and belts. Unfortunately, that mentality continues today, if shows don't feel like a PPV, fans say "this show sucked @$$". It really has hurt storytelling for feuds. Plus, title belts mean nothing anymore. They have PPVs now where the IC or US title aren't even defended, that is such a shame. Back in the day, the IC title was almost on par with the World Title, now it's just an afterthought. |
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Sept 13, 2022 20:20:12 GMT -5
Dick Slater did the same thing in Mid South to the TV title many years before.
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Post by hbkjason on Sept 13, 2022 23:36:53 GMT -5
I remember this segment very well, I was watching this with my young cousin at the time and this was right around when he started to become a huge fan and Austin was his hero. This was hilarious, not many people can pull off being a badass and funny like Stone Cold Steve Austin could.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Sept 14, 2022 10:18:49 GMT -5
Everyone was an Austin fan at the time. So nobody cared, we cheered everything he did.
I don't think the "wrestling purists" thing started until the mid 2000s when ROH fans had to applaud every move that was happening in the ring between wrestlers and forgot that wrestling is also about entertainment not just wrestling.
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Post by K5 on Sept 14, 2022 22:52:23 GMT -5
Everyone was an Austin fan at the time. So nobody cared, we cheered everything he did. I don't think the "wrestling purists" thing started until the mid 2000s when ROH fans had to applaud every move that was happening in the ring between wrestlers and forgot that wrestling is also about entertainment not just wrestling. I’d argue wrestling purism first started with Malenko vs Eddie in ECW. it’s the first smark crowd I can remember. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Sept 14, 2022 23:46:11 GMT -5
Everyone was an Austin fan at the time. So nobody cared, we cheered everything he did. I don't think the "wrestling purists" thing started until the mid 2000s when ROH fans had to applaud every move that was happening in the ring between wrestlers and forgot that wrestling is also about entertainment not just wrestling. I’d argue wrestling purism first started with Malenko vs Eddie in ECW. it’s the first smark crowd I can remember.
Yeah, that's fair to say actually. I just felt that ROH fans made it even worse than ever in the mid 2000s.
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Post by CM Tusk on Sept 15, 2022 0:42:30 GMT -5
When I say “purists” I don’t mean the “PRO WRESTLING IS DIFFERENT THAN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT!” crowd of even people obsessed with work rate. I more so mean in the way that Bruno viewed Austin and the Attitude Era. Like fans of old school pro wrestling seeing a younger guy chucking a belt that has a fairly prestigious history to it and claiming the belt meant nothing to himself. Obviously everyone that was watching at the time loved Austin’s gimmick, but there are definitely people that watched in the 70s and 80s that dropped off that probably hated it.
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Post by K5 on Sept 15, 2022 2:32:09 GMT -5
I think wwf fan and wrestling purist are kinda oxymorons. old school wrestling fans weren’t big on the wwf’s sports entertainment style of wrestling.
the answer is no, this had no effect. unlike Douglas throwing down the NWA title.
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Post by JokerFC on Sept 15, 2022 6:03:12 GMT -5
It had zero effect...as stated above it suited Austin to a tee.
But on the flip side? The Rock's anxiety about the strap & it's placement in the story actually rejuvenated it because the Rock had a GREAT heel reign & feuds with Shamrock/HHH.
99 did incredible damage to it.
Jarrett was a great IC champ, then H
Jericho, Angle, Benoit etc got it back over as a meaningful station.
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Post by Scott! on Sept 15, 2022 15:02:36 GMT -5
I think the way it played out, it just brought more attention the title considered the "2nd title". Austin at that point could've pissed on the belt and it would have been cheered, but how important it was to the Rock/Austin story it just made it even bigger.
Rock and Austin were the perfect pairing for me in wrestling, everything they did was gold and just worked bigger and better than anyone else had they been doing the same thing.
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rob29
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Oct 26, 2012 16:40:46 GMT -5
Posts: 386
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Post by rob29 on Nov 28, 2022 18:28:13 GMT -5
late 1999, going into early 2000, was when WWE became slightly sucky, I hated all that 2000 nonsense with the radicalz, hardcore and crash holly, e.t.c.
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Post by jason88cubs on Nov 28, 2022 18:55:58 GMT -5
When I say “purists” I don’t mean the “PRO WRESTLING IS DIFFERENT THAN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT!” crowd of even people obsessed with work rate. I more so mean in the way that Bruno viewed Austin and the Attitude Era. Like fans of old school pro wrestling seeing a younger guy chucking a belt that has a fairly prestigious history to it and claiming the belt meant nothing to himself. Obviously everyone that was watching at the time loved Austin’s gimmick, but there are definitely people that watched in the 70s and 80s that dropped off that probably hated it. I could see people getting upset over it. They could see it as a huge sign of disrespect and they would instantly view Austin as a heel, a big time heel
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