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Yeah, but 98% of shoots were in the wild days of regional promoters.Originally posted by caldonna:
Paul Boesch was the announcer/promoter for the Houston office. He had a helluva company for a while. He's responsible for putting together the "Dynamic Duo," Tully Blanchard and Gino Hernandez.
An interesting story about Paul: he came thisclose to double-crossing Lou Thesz out of the NWA World Title. Thesz was a real hardcase when it came to holding out for his standard fee from the promoters. He'd count the house and had an idea of what he should be paid. If the promoter didn't fork it over, then Lou would refuse to work for him in the future. Back then, the NWA title meant something, and Thesz was always box office, so the promoter would pay.
Sigel had his fill, so he paid Boesch to shoot on Lou and steal the title. During their match in Houston, Paul backed up Thesz in a corner and copped a Sunday on him. He almost knocked Thesz out, but Lou was smart enough to duck between the ropes and stall until he regained his senses. That's when the fun began.
Thesz was known as a "Hooker," a wrestler who knew moves that could seriously injure a man. One of the reasons he was NWA champion was because none of the promoters trusted each other, so they wanted a man who could protect himself. He took Boesch down and nailed him to the cross. He pinned Boesch in under five minutes. The second fall was even shorter.
The irony is that Thesz and Boesch became great friends later in life.
So, if any of you wondered if there were any shoots in wrestling, now you know that they do sometimes happen.
Cg
Originally posted by Esoteric2112:
Yeah, but 98% of shoots were in the wild days of regional promoters.Originally posted by caldonna:
Paul Boesch was the announcer/promoter for the Houston office. He had a helluva company for a while. He's responsible for putting together the "Dynamic Duo," Tully Blanchard and Gino Hernandez.
An interesting story about Paul: he came thisclose to double-crossing Lou Thesz out of the NWA World Title. Thesz was a real hardcase when it came to holding out for his standard fee from the promoters. He'd count the house and had an idea of what he should be paid. If the promoter didn't fork it over, then Lou would refuse to work for him in the future. Back then, the NWA title meant something, and Thesz was always box office, so the promoter would pay.
Sigel had his fill, so he paid Boesch to shoot on Lou and steal the title. During their match in Houston, Paul backed up Thesz in a corner and copped a Sunday on him. He almost knocked Thesz out, but Lou was smart enough to duck between the ropes and stall until he regained his senses. That's when the fun began.
Thesz was known as a "Hooker," a wrestler who knew moves that could seriously injure a man. One of the reasons he was NWA champion was because none of the promoters trusted each other, so they wanted a man who could protect himself. He took Boesch down and nailed him to the cross. He pinned Boesch in under five minutes. The second fall was even shorter.
The irony is that Thesz and Boesch became great friends later in life.
So, if any of you wondered if there were any shoots in wrestling, now you know that they do sometimes happen.
Cg
I can't remember a single shoot in all the time I worked for WWE.
Well, unless you count Michaels/Hart.
Mike
Originally posted by GDforHC:
Did Hart shoot on HBK?
All before my time. I did meet Terry with Mick Foley one night. But only had about 5 minutes to listen to them talk.Originally posted by amahorn:
Wow, not one mention of Dory Funk Sr., Dory Funk Jr., and Terry Funk. Dory Funk Sr. was the World Heavy Weight Champion in Amarillo, TX, during the the mid 1960's. Kicked the Von Erich's (the bad guy's) ass on many times.
That whole affair was messy. It has been so long, I called it a shoot because it was unscripted.Originally posted by caldonna:
Originally posted by GDforHC:
Did Hart shoot on HBK?
No, but there is the famous Montreal Screwjob where Michaels was the beneficiary of McMahon screwing Hart out of the WWE title.
Orndorff whipped the hell out of Vader. Paul was the road agent for WCW at the time, and he wanted Vader to go out and reshoot a promo that he'd botched. Vader didn't want to, so Orndorff told him to "get your fat ass in the ring."
Leon was one mean bully, so he gets nose to nose with Orndorff and says, "Say it to my face, old man." Orndorff slapped him, and Vader swung. Ordorff took him down and went Nolan Ryan on him. Vader was in no shape to do a promo after that.
Today, the toughest bastard in the business, among active wrestlers in the US, would probably be Alberto Del Rio. He's a former NCAA wrestler at Arizona State, was a member of the Mexican Olympic team, and has a winning record in MMA. After him, it would be Kurt Angle. Booker T is a tough dude, too. Ron Simmons could scare your nuts into your abdominal cavity.
Cg
Totally agree. I finally saw "The Wrestler" last weekend. My question is is the sado-masochistic stuff performed in small venues in the movie really a subset in the real wrestling world?Originally posted by jpj927:
I too would also love to hear more stories caldonna. This is a very enjoyable thread because of your insight.