WWF Smackdown Returned Live in Houston (1 Viewer)

[Daryl Furkalo]

Well, in a bold move, Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWF returned to television this evening, live in Houston. Of course I don't know how many of us will have seen it, since WSBK UPN38 Boston didn't show it, but subbed in WCBS New York. For us in Canada, Smackdown was on The Score. Overall, the show was good, and I am glad they decided to do it.

So, was I only the one tonight to see it?
I am sure the WWF is gonna be ripped apart in the media for being on, but I was definitely in need of something to occupy my brain for two hours. For Canadians, the score will be rebroadcasting it later tonight if you missed it and want to watch.
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Regards,
Daryl

 

[Richard_T]

I think it was a good move. I think they are showing that we have to move on and though we are all mourning the losses, we must still live on and show that everyone, Canadian, American or whatever will not be beaten by these bastards. Be proud of the freedom we all have. I think it WAS a bold move but it was one that had to be made by someone or some organization. Way to go Vince! Pretty good show by the way.

 

[Reginald Trent]

Even though he said all the right things, I thought Vince McMahon's opening comments seemed contrived. They just didn't seem genuine coming from him to me. But I also thought the show was nice. I found the individual comments particularly interesting.
[Edited last by Reginald Trent on September 13, 2001 at 10:42 PM]

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Lillian has an incredible voice. I am kind of sad that the NFL has postponed this weekends games, but I can't see how the Jets, Giants or Skins could possibly attempt to play football now. I think it will be a struggle for them for a very long time to really get emotionally involved and focused on football.
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Regards,
Daryl

 

[brentl]

It was a great move.
The world is still in mourning over recent events, but life must go on.
The world will never be the same.
Brent L

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I was thinking about WWF programming just the other day, and how Vince and company would react to it.
If anybody was going to do this, Vince was. He's got the balls to be the first to break the silence and attempt to put life back together agian.
Of course, the difference between wrestling & other sports (yes, I consider wrestling to be a sport) is that a far bit of role-playing is involved. As a result, I was curious as to whether the wrestlers would be in the frame of mind to actually get in character and perform acrobatically. In wrestling, you must concentrate on what you're doing, as one wrong move could cause serious injury to your opponent.
I didn't get a chance to catch Smackdown tonight, but I'd be interested in hearing how the WWF opened the show, and how they handled the situation in general.
How was the show structured? What happened?
Moe.

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Well, the show started with Vince coming to the ring to let everyone know why the WWF was doing what it was doing, and then members of the WWF and Alliance came out and Lillian Garcia sang the national anthem.
Before and after commercial breaks, there were short "interviews" with individual wrestlers, reminded me of the Owen Hart tribute show after his in-ring accident. Go to www.wwf.com if you want to see what most of the wrestlers had to say. It seemed to me that most of the wrestlers really weren't into their characters like they normally are, but The Rock had a great confrontation with Sean Stasiak.
As far as advancing WWF storylines, there was very, very little of that.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

You know, I thought the best part of the show was that NO ONE was really in character (except for the bit with the Rock), and that they just wrestled. Some great technical stuff there, I REALLY enjoyed the show. Kudos to Vince&crew
Jeff Kleist

 

[ChrisR]

For those of you that have not seen Smackdown! this past week, it will be shown on TNN saturday night instead of Excess.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

Cold water thrower here.
I caught a bit of it while I was changing channels and I was nauseated. It is far too soon.

 

[Carl Johnson]

I wouldn't put it past Vince to bring back the Iron Sheik to kick Kurt Angles' ass just to get some free publicity........

 

[Tom-G]

I was disappointed that Vince McMahon decided to air "Smackdown!" when just about everything else in the entertainment world was put on hold.
I'm sure a lot of the wrestlers, if not all, were very sincere in their comments, but I can't help but think that this was a lot of shameless self promotion. Jim Ross kept saying "we will not let terrorists rule our lives" but it was more of a pat on the back and a "look how great we are" attiude that all seemed inappropriate to me.
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[teapot2001]

Didn't Broadway shows in New York return on Thursday?
~T

 

[Tom-G]

I don't know, but if they did, I feel the same way as I do about Smackdown!.
I won't be boycotting wrestling because of this, I simply feel that it was borderline bad taste to go on with the show while the country is mourning.
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[Reginald Trent]

I can't say it was wrong to go on with the show but...I did feel Vince McMahon's opening comments were just disingenuous window dressing to cover up his huckster hype.