Well folks, it looks like if you want a column written on a timely basis, you gotta do it yourself. First off, I respect and commend all of my columnists because I know that it takes a lot of time and effort to put forth some good writing. With this in mind, I have decided that it would be rather fun to take a peek at some of my “ancient” writings from a long time ago when the site was still small. This should be a fun look at opinions from a few years ago as compared to today, in the year 2001. Some of you will be happy to see me return to a bi-weekly column and some of you will probably be indifferent. Then there are a few of you who haven’t even seen me in this type of arena so…here goes!
A LONG time ago (June 23rd of 1997 to be exact), I wrote an article about the tag teams of the WWF and who was rumored to be coming and going and the like. Here is the text of that article:
“The Nation of Domination has probably the most potential out of any group in pro- wrestling today. They are a bunch of black guys who are pissed off! Would you get in the way of a pissed off black guy who looked like Ahmed Johnson or Faarooq Asaad? I wouldn’t! I don’t care if I am a legend like Flair, a bad ass like Nash, or a star like Sting. I would not face the Nation unless I really had to.
I see this angle going on for a while and an eventual feud with the Hart Foundation. Now all we need is the Demolition stable to reform itself and we will have ourselves a gang bang! I do have one question regarding the new Demolition, WHERE ARE THEY!!! I want to see them now!
During my many trips throughout the internet, I have read many news reports and newsletters that put the Godwinns down. I just watched my tape of Shotgun Saturday Night (6/21) and I must say that a heel Godwinns minus Hillbilly Jim and those farm animals is much better than the lighthearted pig farmers that we used to see. I never knew that Henry could match wits with someone who gives, arguably, the best interviews in all of professional wrestling! I was surprised when Henry and Hawk just sat there and put each other down over and over again. I must say it was Classic! Now I know what you people are thinking, Godwinns = a waste of time. You probably think that they shouldn’t even be in the same ring as the LOD, but give them a chance. Don’t look at them as the Godwinns that we used to know, look at them as two big farm boys who are pissed off and want a title!”
So, there goes that, huh!?! The Nation of Domination did have a great future ahead of them however it was at the wrong time in wrestling history. A group of ethnic wrestlers such as the Nation of Domination aligning themselves against a power group such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior during the late 1980’s would have been a wild storyline and it could have contained extremely above average matches with guys like the three stated above as well as Ron Simmons, Butch Reed, Kamala, and others like Bad News Brown and Koko B. Ware. However, in retrospect I think that everyone out there reading this will agree to the conclusion that the Nation of Domination did serve two very important purposes in the WWF. The first of these is that it put the spotlight on Faarooq (somewhat) and got him out of that stupid gladiator gimmick that the pre-Vince Russo/Shane McMahon writing team had planned. The second major purpose that the Nation served was to bring The Rock fame and notoriety as the “ruler” of the Nation (watch the tapes of RAW from April 1998, the announcers tell the listeners at home that Rocky wishes to be referred to as the ruler of the Nation because the term leader is below him). With this cocky attitude, a legend was born and we as fans have the Nation of Domination to thank.
Continuing with the 1997 article, I state that there was supposed to be a reformation of Demolition. This was a HOT internet rumor back about four years ago and everyone seemed to have the inside scoop. However, the reformation was a little more rugged than what anyone would have thought. Axe, the older member of Demolition (Bill Eadie) has the exclusive rights to the Demolition characters and storylines. The WWF was extremely close to signing a deal with Eadie to use this legendary name and façade, but the one thing holding back the deal was the fact that Axe wanted to be an active member of the new Demolition team. With Smash off pursuing other ventures the WWF ultimately felt that it would be wrong to have Axe wrestle without his long-time partner and so the deal fell through the loops. Another major problem revolved around the fact that many felt the WWF shouldn’t put an older wrestler in the ring with the new younger generation of wrestlers entering their rings. All in all, the return of Demolition never came to be, per say…
What the WWF did give their fans was a group known as the Disciples of Apocalypse. This group, referred to as DOA, was comprised of former Demolition member Crush, and three men fresh out of the ECW in Brian Lee and the Harris Brothers. All three ECW members had had previous stints in the WWF, but this was to be their coup-de-gras in the promotion. The WWF originally wanted Brian Lee and Crush to reform Demolition, but as per the reasons stated above, this was not to be. And with this new gang in the WWF known as DOA, wrestling fans had a short-lived group that never made it past the 1997 Survivor Series where team leader, Crush, left the WWF due to his disgust with Vince McMahon and his treatment of Bret Hart.
The final paragraph in my 1997 diatribe revolves around a fact that I still believe in to this day; the WWF had a great heel tag team in the Godwinns. It is beyond my knowledge why the WWF would tear apart this team, however I think it all stemmed around the fact that Henry Godwinn ruined his neck taking the Doomsday Device from the Legion of Doom. Before this tragic accident, I was appalled at the push (or lack thereof) that the WWF had given the farm boys. Here the WWF had a team with size and strength when the promotion was in need of heel tag teams. After all was said and done after Henry’s surgery, he was out of wrestling (save for a short stint as Southern Justice with Phineas under the guise of Tennessee Lee). As for Phineas Godwinn, he went on to be – well let’s just be glad that there is no more Naked Mideon and that he is back to being just plain Mideon!
In coming weeks, I hope to look over more of my past articles and the past articles of other writers from the site as well as to write some more original ones dealing with current events. Look for them at The Balrog’s Lair!
Bye!!!
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