Welcome to The Armpit wrestling quiz for the week of November 7, 2016. Sorry we missed last week, but work was hectic and from now on things should be more consistent.
Halloween last week made me nostalgic for the old WCW Halloween Havoc PPVs, for those of us old enough to remember them. If you have the WWE Network, it’s worth checking out the shows from 1989 (Flair & Sting vs Funk & Muta), 1991 (good undercard, but horrible main event with Abdullah the Butcher getting electrocuted), 1993 (Cactus Jack vs Vader in a near ***** match), and 1997 (Eddy vs Rey Jr in another near ***** match). The other years ranged from average to awful, but all are fun in hindsight and some have quite a few memorable moments (Jake Roberts vs Sting ‘Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal’ in ’92, Flair’s “retirement” match with Hogan in ’94, The Giant falling off the roof in ’95, Roddy Piper’s WCW debut in ’96, etc).
We now conclude our theme for the last few weeks, with the final installment of “Women’s Wrestling – Part 3.”
We’re putting the finishing touches on an e-book that will feature a collection of all our quizzes from the past. Once it’s complete, a free copy of this e-book will be awarded as the prize for winners of this weekly quiz. The e-book features over 120 quizzes that were written from 2005 to 2010, and currently clocks in at over 300 pages. It will be sold on The Armpit website, but will be free for future winners of this quiz.
Congratulations to last week’s winner: Barry A. Noland, who has a photography website at http://www.barryanoland.com. Also want to make mention of a plug from the prior week’s winner (Ryan Khamram) that we weren’t able to include in time, which is The Wrestling Is Real to Us Facebook page at m.facebook.com/WWEIsRealToUs/
Last week’s answers:
1) Jim Cornette did color commentary on the LPWA Super Ladies Showdown in 1992. I may be the only person on Earth with an original, PPV version of that show on videotape. This was just as Cornette was getting his Smoky Mountain Wrestling territory off the ground.
2) Madusa was a member of Paul E. “Heyman” Dangerously’s “Dangerous Alliance.” When it comes to pure talent, that was among the best wrestling stables ever: Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Rick Rude, Larry Zbysko, Paul Heyman, and Madusa.
3) Madusa, of course, is famous for throwing the WWF women’s belt in the trash can when she debuted on WCW Monday Nitro.
4) Of the women we listed, Woman (Nancy Benoit) was NOT part of the WWF’s Attitude era. In hindsight, it’s notable how high the death rate is among women from that era. Woman, Elizabeth, Sherri Martel, Luna Vachon, and Chyna are sadly no longer with us.
5) Lita started with WWF as the manager of Esse Rios.
6) Jeff Jarrett lost the IC Title to Chyna, in exchange for a hefty payday, in his final match with the WWF at No Mercy 1999.
This week’s questions:
1. As WCW Monday Nitro grew in ratings dominance, the company hired cheerleaders for the show’s open and commercial breaks. They were beauty queens, so naturally several ended up in real-life relationships with pro wrestlers. Which of the following pairings was NOT a real-life couple?
a) Chae dated Kevin Nash
b) Jazz married Buff Bagwell
c) Kimberly married Diamond Dallas Page
d) Storm (Sharmell Sullivan aka Paisley) married Booker T
e) Whisper married Shawn Michaels
f) Skye (Stacy Keibler) dated David Flair and Andrew “Test” Martin
2. Whereas women in WWE were called Divas, in TNA they were called Knockouts. Before there was a Knockouts division, there was only “Miss TNA” in the early days of the company when they were called NWA TNA and ran exclusively on PPV every Wednesday night. Since very few of you watch TNA nowadays, we’ll make this relatively easy. Which Knockout was very recently inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame this year?
a) Cheerleader Melissa
b) Gail Kim
c) SoCal Val
d) Angelina Love
e) Awesome Kong
f) Mickie James
g) Traci Brooks
3. A classic example of the Attitude Era and the risqué programming in WWF in 1999 when one of the Divas had a “nip slip” on live PPV. It was done on purpose, as she confirmed on Jim Ross’s podcast last week. Which WWF Diva briefly bared her breasts on that year’s Armageddon PPV?
a) Terri Runnels
b) Sable
c) Ivory
d) Sunny
e) Chyna
f) Stacy “The Kat” Carter/Lawler
4. After WCW went out of business, one of their women who became a star with WWE was the beautiful Torrie Wilson. She showed a lot of potential in WCW as more than just a pretty face, and WWE quickly put her and her father Al in a long storyline in 2002. In that storyline, Al Wilson began a romantic relationship with whom?
a) Stacy Keibler
b) Trish Stratus
c) Dawn Marie
d) Stephanie McMahon
e) Linda McMahon
f) Sable
g) Nidia
5. Ten years ago, WWE still never saw women as much more than eye candy. Proof of this was their annual Diva Search, which usually resulted in horrible television segments with attractive, yet poorly trained models, actresses, and athletes the company would recruit. Which of these women did NOT ever win the Diva Search contest?
a) Christy Hemme
b) Layla El
c) Sasha Banks
d) Ashley Massaro
e) Eve Torres
6. WWE finally decided to change direction and really push the Divas as athletes, which was the impetus behind the Women’s Revolution movement that began last year. While it was the success of Ronda Rousey in UFC that opened up the McMahons’ eyes that women could be legit draws, there was one match that could be traced to really jumpstarting the transition from women being just T&A to being taken seriously as real athletes. That match was at NXT Takeover in 2014, pitting Charlotte against Natalya for the vacant NXT Women’s title, and they tore the house down. What was notable about that match?
a) Ric Flair and Bret Hart were in their respective corners
b) Charlotte was wrestling with a legit lower back injury
c) The match was held inside a steel cage
d) The match headlined the show as the main event
e) Lita was the special guest referee
Please email your answers to Quiz@armpit-wrestling.com. We will randomly generate a number to determine the winner. For example, if the number is 25 and you’re the 25th person to email us with correct answers, you win. Winners receive a free copy of our brand new e-book “The Armpit Wrestling Quiz Archives: Voume 1.” It features 128 quizzes we’ve written over the years and clocks in at 420 pages. We’ll also announce your name here next week, along with anything you’d like to promote (assuming it’s not X-rated or illegal). It could be your name, blog, Twitter handle, or anything else you’d like us to mention.
Answers will be posted next week. Have fun and good luck.
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