It doesn’t take that long I’ve went through every episode and pay per view of both wcw, WWF, and Ecw starting at 93 and has taken me a year to get to the beginning of 98
These videos need more views. This guy is literally chronicling and critiquing each Monday night war show. He deserves more support. A record of this is easily obtained by WWE network, but an actual die hard wrestling fans outlook on it isn't. Keep that motivation up!
@@WrestlingBios no man, thank you. Seriously. The countless hours and passion. It means a lot. I have enjoyed many dinners watching your channel. Thank you, good sir.
50k for a show that (while awesome) is only going to be of interest to hardcore old-school wrestling fans and has about a million episodes is pretty damn good. I'd say cheers to both the creator and the fans for keeping this great stuff alive 👍
Flair intentionally left the Macho Man nameplate on the belt to remind Macho that the belt used to belong to him and piss him off as part of the storyline
Dear Wrestling Bios. 10 years old around the time of this wrestling era. I didn't have a lot of friends. I was getting picked on at school and life at home wasn't easy either. My dad had a heavy drinking problem and my parents fought constantly. Wrestling on Monday nights was my escape from the tough world. These wrestlers were my idols. Especially Bret, Razor and X Pac. Now I am a dad. My son loves watching these matches. We re-inact matches. He loves Ric Flair. Last night I showed him how to "lock up." Anyway just want to say thank you for uploading and reliving these very precious programs for/with me. ❤️
@@aaront.akabiggs631 those matches put Austin over. People said when McMahon watched the strap match at beware of dog (with the lights off) McMahon just sat and enjoyed the whole thing
Being a fan of Cactus Jack since 1992, I was intrigued when I saw Foley debut as Mankind and I immediately enjoyed the character after he destroyed Bob Holly.
👍 Absolutely. I just found these like 2 days ago and i can't stop watching them, i don't want to catch up so i don't need to wait for more every week LoL. There are 47episodes so far, i Am excited to see this carry through to the end\buy-out.👍
I didn't know Foley before he came to the WWF, but as a 7-year-old who had just gotten into wrestling in early 1996, I found the Mankind character to be extremely disturbing and effective. The Mankind character was also, in retrospect, a really smart way to introduce Foley into the WWF. His kayfabe imperviousness to pain allowed him to incorporate hardcore wrestling into matches, but at the same time, his character didn't revolve around that (which wouldn't have been viable in the WWF in 1996). Btw - coincidentally, there were two wrestlers who scared me as a little kid, and they were Mankind and The Giant (both of whom were in the first segment of this week).
I was a little older at this time but my thoughts were very similar to yours. I remember thinking how eerie this Mankind was and I couldn't believe how he destroyed the Undertaker who seemed larger than life. Great stuff.
This was exactly my fascination with Foley when he debuted. Here was this monster who couldn't be hurt, with a philosophical handle and a mask loosely obscuring a deformed physique. It was utterly fascinating, and ran counter to everything I associated with pro wrestling at the time. Eventually Foley became my all-time favorite. As a kid, I dealt with some pretty difficult health problems. I used to think, if Foley can deal with that pain, I can deal with mine. I always wanted to tell him that.
I love the running gag of you absolutely hating Ed "asshole man" Leslie whenever he shows up. Not that I blame you, whenever he shows up on these episodes I audibly groan.
I'm not sure which Nitro it was, but I remember checking out WCW on Bravo or w/e it was on in the UK, and Booty Man being on and deciding I'd rather not bother with WCW. WWF wasn't even on terrestrial TV (we didn't have Sky) but I chose to have NO wrestling rather than Booty Man.
The Wildman Marc Mero was a very talented wrestler. I never got to watch his matches in WCW cuz I was a hardcore WWE fan at the time. Looking at the highlights of his debut match reminded me of why I liked him so much. It's a shame that backstage politics were more focused on Sable's assets than her talented husband I could see him being WWE Champ.
@ the one who woke up, I agree. Marc Mero should have gotten a bigger push in the WWE. I thought he was good enough to be champ as well. Even if he would have had a short run as champion, he was good enough. Mero had one of the best natural tans by the way for 1996. The tricky part would have been booking Marc with the right talent based on the storyline/angle. Him and Steve Austin had really good matches. From bell to bell, both were fast paced with their offense. In fact, Marc Mero was actually on Steve Austin's podcast. The fact that sable got a bigger push (she didn't make as much as him though) than Mero says a lot.....In my opinion she got a bigger push anyway.
Was pleased my favorite wrestler Cactus Jack joined the WWF as I've been a fan since his 1990 NWA run and was sort of disappointed with his new gimmick.. But I wasn't by the end of the show. Great first night in my opinion
I was fairly young when Mankind debuted, but i’m from about 45 minutes from Philly, and i had been to the ecw arena as a youngster and seen Cactus Jack wrestle in ecw live and on the late night tv shows. My older brother had to tell me that Mankind was Cactus Jack, he was a favorite of ours and so we were willing to give Mankind a chance, but my brother was a bit worried about the character when it debuted.
Stewart Mcrae yeah, he clearly doesn’t understand that i said “Mankind’s debut” and not “Mick Foley’s” debut for a reason. I’ve seen his match with some other jobber against the Bulldogs from 86 on the network. Back when he was young and in pretty decent shape. We both went wild when Mankind came back out at the end and beat down Taker. We both liked Taker a lot, but he knew (i just kind of followed his lead because i was 5 at the time) that it meant Mick was going to get a push. My father and Mick had a conversation after one of the shows during his anti-hardcore gimmick and we were the only ones still cheering for him. My father told him “i thought that ‘Cane Dewey’ sign was disgusting and we’re still behind you 100%, the fans here can be so bloodthirsty, you’re doing great work right now pissing them off!” And Mick and he laughed a bit and had some further conversation that I don’t remember as vividly as i remember that one part. But Mick was AWESOME to us and always high fived us at the arena whenever we were there and close enough to the guardrail to reach him. He made a lifelong fan in me from his interactions with my brother father and i at the ecw arena.
@@Thor-Orion It’s cool that you got to have some interactions with him I had just turned seven when he debuted in WWF and have always been a fan I have never met him but hear that he is always cool with his fans sadly most of the wrestlers I have met have been assholes the only ones that were nice was Alexa Bliss Chyna and Marc mero
I loved Cactus Jack before he debuted with the WWE but the promo packages that lead up to his debut as Mankind in the WWE had me captivated. I watched Raw every week leading up to Mania mostly for the Mankind promos. I knew from the very beginning it would be something special. Easily one of the most memorable and intriguing aspects about the 96 pro wrestling landscape.
Hi. New sub here after i recently found your channel. I've binge watched your backlog so i'm going to need you to make 2 or 3 of these a day thanks! On a serious note. Reliving the war popping up in my notifications is one of the things i look forward to each week. As someone who ''channel hopped'' Raw and Nitro during this period, not only is your show informative and interesting. It is very nostalgic. The wrestling stories were sometimes sketchy or inappropriate, but life was simpler as a whole and it's nice to escape this crazy year with you for a short while each week. Keep up the good work and thankyou...
I was 17 at this point in my life, but I distinctly remember feeling similar to how I felt 4 years earlier when Papa Shango debuted. A quiet, disturbing, unique performance that moved viewers.
I hated Mankind when he first debuted and thought that Cactus Jack was significantly better. Quite frankly the gimmick was up there with Mantaur and Man Mountain Rock . The difference though was Mick Foley was so god damn talented. So in the end, he made the gimmick work
Yeah when Mankind debuted I was started to get at the age where it was too chartoonish. He would do the high pitched squeel thing. But he is such a great actor and so charismatic and with the crazy bumps he took. The head shots by the rock or the choke slam through the cell ceiling. Anyone else who had that gimmick would need a lot of personality lol. That's for everyone in wrestling though. Mankind or Undertaker or Kane etc. I was only 7 or 8 when undertaker came out. But by the time Mankind and Kane and them were popping up I was 12-13 and kinda rolling my eyes at it. But their Amazing charisma and such kept me into it
I loved Cactus Jack from WCW, I loved Mankind because he was unusual character. I knew his abilities. I still remember his matches with Abdullah The Bucher! Cactus Jack, turned the hardcore match into an art form. His ability to utilize weapons that were not traditionally found under the ring as much as conventional weapons made Foley stand out from the crowd.
Every time I see Isaac Yankem I have so much respect for Glenn Jacobs. Just for the fact that he stuck around with that gimmick shows his dedication. And it paid off.
@@peteli4194 It is not a tragedy because it was all her fault...RIP to poor Chris Candido he loved her and supported her all his life...but a bitch is always a bitch...
I've been binging these to catch up the past few weeks and this series is great. Love seeing all the little bits of the MNW that not a lot of Wrestling Channels talk about
Funny during my childhood I remember bits and pieces of wrestling from 93 onward but this very episode I remember both shows very well this is the night I started tuning in every week thank you for taking me back to my childhood awesome channel!
From what i remember ric flair in storyline kept macho mans name on.the belt to remind himself and Randy everyday that flair took everything from.him ( Elizabeth his title and his money)
i like how you pointed out that fans sign, hilarious signs need to be pointed out like that. I was a cactus fan and I actually loved mankinds wwe gimmick freaked me out as a kid he was a believable character
Mankind debut resonated well with WWF's presentation, and more importantly at the time: Vince's vision. A lot of people have said it was cartoonish at the time, and honestly it was. However, Foley rocked the gimmick and really turned into something that was truly great. Think about it. This dude went super hard and got 4 different gimmicks over; which included himself at the main event of Wrestlemania no less.
Just want to say thank you for all the effort you put in to these videos, it's truly incredible! I loved wrestling as kid and missed out on the mid 90s until I started watching it again in 2000, so having this is class.
I will never forget mankind's debut he legitimately scared me attacking the undertaker but at the same time piqued my curiosity to see someone put down the undertakewr without help
14:07 "Double A and Arsehole Man." I usually struggle to sleep so I watch a bit of youtube in bed before nodding off. I find stuff funny and entertaining but I very rarely audibly laugh at stuff but "arsehole man" got a loud chuckle from me which probably woke up my flatmates. Since you cover this stuff in such an informative and fair way when you throw shade it makes for a good punchline.
It took a few weeks to get used to Mankind but there's no denying he made a sudden impact due to McMahon selling his new gimmick. He would become an integral piece to The Attitude Era.
Mankind is what brought me back to wrestling. I had followed Hogan from WWF to WCW bit had tired of his song and dance. I was quickly losing until I saw the brutality of Mankind. This opened the floodgates to his work in ECW and who keep me hooked until the nWo/ Austin Era would officially start.
On an unrelated note : I scored a new personal best in NES Tetris (lvl 19 Start - 749k!) whilst wearing my Wrestling Bios t-shirt. 👍 Good luck shirt? Could be. Could be. 👍
I saw the Mankind debut as it aired as a kid, and I was instantly hooked by the character. I had no knowledge of Foley from elsewhere at the time, so this was my first exposure to him and when he started fueding with Undertaker (my favorite at the time, and at most other times) I was super invested right away because of his debut matches/segments
Not gonna lie, i truly do love this channel and this series of the Monday night wars but i also love Brian Zane's Classic PPV reviews!!! I can't decide which is my number one!!! You guys both cover such amazing pro wrestling content. I give a point to both of you so this makes it a tie in the Neilsen tv ratings for this week 😂😂😂 I will say Wrestling Bios has the advantage tho because you have an episode out every week! I think Zane only does his PPV reviews once a month or every couple weeks or whatever. But props to you both! You are both my two ABSOLUTE FAVORITE channels on RU-vid, seriously!! Mad respect yo! 🤘🤘🤘
As average as the roster was at the time I always remember Wrestlemania 12 fondly. The main even was my favourite for years even though some people called it long and boring but I thought it was well done and seeing as they had to carry nearly half the show it was good for what it had to deliver. I also always thought Kevin Nash had is best matches in the last several months before he went to WCW starting with his match at Survivor Series against Bret Hart and his matches with the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels on his way out showed he could put on good matches with the right opponent. Watching the tag match on Nitro between the four teams it is unreal how good the tag team division should have been in WCW at the time but other than a few instances it was average at best and all but disappeared by the time the nWo turned up.
That Wrestlemania was the first and only one I ever went to. So many memories rewatching it as I quite young so it was great seeing the recap and how the storylines continued after. Sadly you just don't see that anymore.
I'm loving this because this is finally getting into episodes of Raw and Nitro I was actually watching live back in the day. I loved Shawn in this era. To be honest he's still one of the best talents ever, personality issues notwithstanding
