Monday, February 27, 2012

Old School Profile - Mr Fuji

The old school profile of the week has been MIA for a little so we had to come back strong. Our legend for this week is one Mr. Fuji.

During the Rock n Wrestling Era of the WWF one of the biggest stars was Mr Fuji. He was the legendary manager of tag teams like the Orient Express and Demolition. What you may not know is that Fuji was a very accomplished in ring performer back in the day.

Fuji a Japanese American from Hawaii who started his career in 1965 in the state of Hawaii. He won his first championship, the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship, with Curtis Iaukea on January 7, 1966. He then went on to have a successful run in the Portland territory.

Fuji and Tanaka
In 1972 Fuji made his way to WWWF ran by Vince McMahon Sr. He continued on with tag team wrestling teaming with Professor Toru Tanaka. They were managed by the legendary Grand Wizard. Tanaka was the muscle while Fuji provided the brains and was a great ring psychologist. This around the time when he started being called "The Devious One". He also around this time started using the now famed salt to his opponents eyes.

Their run was successful and he and Tanaka quickly captured the tag team titles. They had a 11 month run with the belts. They lost the belts to Tony Garea and Haystacks Calhoun in 1973. Fuji and Tanaka had a feud with Garea and Calhoun where they won back and lost the titles again. After that Fuji and his partner left the WWWF and in 1975 appeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1975.

The 2 quickly found success and went after tag team gold. They would feud with longtime opponent Tony Garea and Dean Ho. They also had issues with Jerry Brisco and Bob Backlund. The team toured various territories in the NWA and back to the WWWF until 1981.

Classic Fuji and Mr Saito teaming together..

Fuji returned to WWWF in 1981, which had been renamed the WWF in March 1979. Now he began tagging with the legendary Mr. Saito, and were managed by Captain Lou Albano. The team went on to have feuds with their favorite rival Tony Garea who now teaming with Rick Martel. They also had problems with the Strongbows in 1981 and faced them for the tag team belts. After their feud Saito left the WWF in 1982 and Fuji went on as a solo competitor until 1985.

Fuji The Manager
In 1985 The Devious One took on the role he most noted for in WWE history. The position as a manager. One of the most successful heels during the classic 1980s and 90s. Although Bobby Heenan has the reputation of getting his clients to the gold, Fuji is no stranger to championships himself.

He started off his managerial career guiding George "The Animal" Steele. After being under tutelage Fuji Steele became a baby face. His next client Don Muraco would form a better relationship and led both to new heights. Muraco whose career was kind of quiet at the time went on to co-headline 3 consecutive cards at Madison Square Garden against World Champion Hulk Hogan, ending with a bloody steel cage match on June 21 in which Hogan was victorious. Don also went on to win the first ever WWF King of The Ring Tournament in July of 1985.

During this time Fuji had a chance to show the was not only a great manager but was an entertainer with acting capability. He and Muraco starred in Fuji Vice. A short series and a take off the famous TV show Miami Vice.
Inside the ring Muraco had an on going issue with WWE Hall of Famer Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

After Muraco started aligning himself with Adrian Adonis and Cowboy Bob Orton, Fuji moved on to one of the most successful partnerships of his career. He began go lead the team of Ax and Smash, better known as Demolition. With a Road Warriors like gimmick Demolition went on to be one of the most dominant teams in the history of the WWF.

<>Feuding with big time face teams of their era like British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees and The Hart Foundation. Ax and Smash went on to become 3 time tag team champions and hold the record for the longest tag team title reign and most combined days as champions.

The Devious One also guided the career of the Powers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian) and The Oriental Express.

In 1992 Fuji was able to translate his tag team success to a singles competitor. He was able to strike gold with the late great Yokozuna.
Billed as a Japanese Sumo wrestler and became one of the most dominant big men of his era. He went on to win the 1993 Royal Rumble. The 93 Rumble started the tradition of the winner getting a Wrestlemania title shot. Yokozuna went to face Bret Hart at Wrestlemania IX where Yokozuna captured his 1st WWF title. Where Fuji was very influential in his win after using his patented salt to eyes on the champion.

Fuji went on to manage Yokozuna until 1996. He retired from the wrestling business in 1997 and resides in Tennessee.



Cold Slither Podcast 9.5 The Tutelage

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Chris Brown vs CM Punk Thing

Just in case you missed it there is a small twitter feud going on between pop singer Chris Brown and WWF superstar CM Punk. Basically to get you caught up after last Sunday's WWF Elimination Chamber a twitter exchange started between Chris and Punk. The 1st shot was fired by Straight Edged Superstar.
Not to be out done Brown sent out this quip and then deleted it. "@CMpunk needs more followers. He's such a leader! Not to mention the roids hes on has made it utterly impossible for him to pleasure a women."

Now both parties have hurled accusations at each other that they are both individually sensitive about. Chris hate for people to talk about how he beat down his ex girlfriend and always finds a way to make situations worse when he responds too them.

Punks Video Response


Punk being a professional wrestler has had to deal with people throwing the steroids accusations at him. In fact Punk's entire career he has maintained that he is Straight Edged. Which means the he does not use alcohol or any other type of drugs. This has been verified by almost ever person in the wrestling business that has encountered him.

Ever since then it has been on and popping. Which has also caused members of the Chris Brown #teambreezy crew and wrestling fans to go at each other on twitter. Even Hall of Fame wrestling The Iron Sheik has been involved in the spat by going after Chris Brown and his followers.
Full disclosure I am not a Chris Brown fan and hate the entire existence of #TeamBreezy. I think that they are mindless fans that make excuses for a dude because he can dance. Am I judging them "yes" and what? That doesn't make me wrong. Brown is a whiner and cries all the time and does not take responsibility for his own actions. The saddest thing is that he has such a huge following of young men and women who will think this is the way to behave.

I am a huge wrestling fan and think that Punk is one of the great performers of the last decade. He has the potential to take wrestling to new heights.

I have had mixed feelings about the entire situation. I am pleased that many people in the wrestling world have spoken out against Brown and most notably speaking out against violence against women. That being said this has become a media circus and now I am afraid that people are about to start seeing dollar signs.

Every major news organization from the Huffington Post, The Chicago Tribune and NY Daily News. Not to be out done the WWE themselves have put up a big write up on their site. There was also mention of it on the live Smackdown broadcast. What I hope deep donw in my heart that this does not become some kind of work. This should never become an angle in the business and I definitely in the WWF if they put any money in the pocket of Chris Brown. It would send message they don't take violence against women seriously.


Latest Ring Time Podcast

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Where Did They Go Wrong With CM Punk

The biggest star of 2011 in the wrestling business was easily CM Punk. As were moving into 2012 it appears that there is not break out superstar so far and Punk has seem to lost his momentum. A lot of wrestling fans have sent me tweets and emails asking is the character getting stale. I am not ready to give a definitive yes but its getting there. The emotional investment of the fans are not there as much as it was in the beginning.

Let me begin by saying that this is in no way CM Punk's fault. He has performed and delivered in everything that he has been asked to do. This is more of a critique of the promotion and how they handled things. I am going to play fantasy Creative and give my opinion of the situation.


Where Did They Go Wrong
The first big mistake appears to be that the WWF brought CM Punk back way too early. On of the biggest parts of the angle was the speculation of whether he was really gone or not. It started out good with him showing up at different places with the belt, like the Cubs game and Comic Con. With modern technology and the new social age that we are in there were plenty of ways to keep Punk relevant and not have him keep showing up directly on WWE programming.

A different angle could have been actually letting him defend the belt in Ring of Honor. The exposure would have been greatly beneficial to both promotions. There could have been youtube videos of Punk defending the title in other places also. We could have an angle where the WWF took him to court and were fighting in litigation to get the title back.

The Triple H and Kevin Nash angle did not do Punk any favors either. The idea of Punk fighting against the system actually was a good idea but we all knew that Kevin Nash could not carrying his part of the feud.
The match against Triple H happened way too early in the process. We should just now be getting to the point that would have led to a Wrestlemania showdown. Hunter should still be the Raw GM and have the Johnny Ace heel status. Maybe him actually working with captain stiff would have helped Punk get over even more.


Jericho Can Lead the Revival
The Chris Jericho feud should be great for CM Punk. Wrestlemania is a huge stage and will have a lot eyes but the conflict does not need to end there. Jericho is probably the only guy on the roster that can match CM on the microphone word for word. Both are incredibly creative and could craft a great story going forward. They are both excellent in the ring and draw in can draw in the casual fans and old schoolers. We will then truly find out who "The Best In The World".

Monday, February 13, 2012

Don't Expect TNA to Be WCW Anytime Soon

One common comparison I have seen from wrestling fans is the one of comparing the current TNA product to WCW. Now while there are some similarities these are two completely different companies working in different eras of wrestling.

At this point its down right unfair to TNA to compare them to a company that was around forever. Not mention the WCW had one major advantage over TNA in that WCW was owned by the same people who owned their television network. Not that I don't think that Spike TV is committed to wrestling because they have wanted to be in the business for a long time but its not like owning the company.

It also didn't hurt that Ted Turner was the long time owner of the promotion. I am not sure how Dixie Carter feels about competing with McMahon but its documented that Turner wanted to take it to Vince. I am also not sure how invested the Carter family is invested in TNA but Turner was not afraid to take a loss during WCW's lean years because his cable empire and ownership of two Atlanta sports teams could sustain the loss.

Now don't get me wrong I am not saying that Impact Wrestling can not get there but ask your these questions. How long does it take to build a Ric Flair? Where can you find a Dusty Rhodes? Does TNA have the next Sting on their roster?

These are some of the elements that you will need to become the next WCW and actually compete directly with the WWE. Its going to be hard and it is going to take some time and patience.





Latest Ring Time Podcast

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Love and Wrestling

The world of professional wrestling is no stranger to love and relationships. In honor of the worlds love holiday Valentines Day the Ring Time Pro Wrestling staff decided to share some of our favorite couples in the history of wrestling. Some are real life couples and some were together just on screen but here are favorite wrestling love birds.


Macho Man and Elizabeth
The standard for wrestling couples was set by Macho Man Randy Savage and the lovely Miss Elizabeth. Throughout the 1980's and into the 90's they were the love story in the WWF. Together they also experienced a lot of success with Savage winning the Intercontinental and WWF titles during their time together.



Eddie and Chyna
This couple was suggested by Keshia on the last episode of the podcast. Although strictly an on screen couple Eddie Guerrero and Chyna spiced up the WWF screens. Latino Heat and his Mamacita gave the fans loads of entertainment.



Edge and Lita
Easily the most controversial couple on this list is Edge and Lita. Their real life and story line life both found ways to enrage WWF fans. From their controversial beginning and feud with Matt Hardy to the live sex show on Raw you never knew what to expect from Edge and Lita. Like the other partnerships it was also very successful for Edge who went on to have a few WWF title runs during their relationship.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Taking The Special out of a Speciality Match

The WWF is gearing up for their annual Elimination Chamber PPV in 2 weeks. There the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships will be defended in 2 chamber matches in the same night.

There was a time in the history of wrestling where there had only been a handful of TLC matches, Elimination Chambers or Hell In A Cell matches. Now there have been too many to count over the last few years. This to me takes the Special out of the Specialty matches. Part of the excitement for the fans was the unpredictability of when these matches would occur.

Of course a big part of the issue is that there are way too many PPV's on the schedule and they have to fill the time. For the fans it takes away that element of surprise that you might get to see something that does not happen on a regular basis.

Hell In A Cell Promo 2000
There was a time when you could threaten a heel champion with the prospect of entering one of these dangerous matches. How worried can the bad guy champion feel if he knows that the match is on the schedule. It also does not present the prospect of him some how finding a way to sneak out of such match. Maybe the wrestling world will create a new match that doesn't have a PPV that will get us excited one day soon.


Latest Ring Time Podcast

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Weekly DVD Selection - Legends of Wrestling The Soul of Wrestling

The first DVD selection of Black History Month is not an actual DVD. I have provided a youtube link and you can also find it on WWE 24/7 on demand if its still available to you.

My choice is from the Legends of Wrestling round table series The Soul of Wrestling. This episode moderated by Jim Ross features Tony Atlas, Bill Watts, Dusty Rhodes and Teddy Long. These gentlemen get together and discuss the contributions and history of African Americans in professional wrestling.





Royal Rumble Wrasslecast
http://coldslitherpodcast.com/2012/01/30/csp-wrasslecast-royalrumble25/

Ric Flair and The 4 Horsemen

Ric Flair and The 4 Horsemen