Welcome to another edition of Dark Match Dungeon, where we look back at the early and somewhat rare exploits of today’s wrestling stars. In case you’re new to the column, here’s how it works.
- I find a video online
- I post it here
- I point out the fun stuff
- WWE makes a video with the same general idea because bloggers like myself must occasionally be reminded that we are scum
Last week, we looked at the returning Brock Lesnar, so I figured we’d look at another recent return today. Triple H came back to Raw last night after a grueling SIX WEEKS of absence, and we’ll be diving into his early career in this edition. Those of you who know your comprehensive history of The Game know that even before there was Hunter Hearst Helmsley, there was a young WCW competitor named Terra Ryzing.
Yes, they really settled on that. Take a look.
What To Look For:
- TERROR RISIN’, the super-literal first draft of Terra Ryzing. From Greenwich, Connecticut at a weight of 255 pounds, he is NOUN VERB.
- The WCW Saturday Night set, which reminds me a lot of the now-defunct Florida Championship Wrestling warehouse.
- Keith Cole’s hair, which suggests that he went to a barber and said “Make me look like a white Hiroyoshi Tenzan.”
- The Indian deathlock, one of Triple H’s old finishers.
After a little bit of digging, I found out that the date of this match was February 12, 1994. Triple H would spend about a year in WCW, eventually using the very-close-to-real-life ring name Jean-Paul Levesque. Interesting fact: He was in a tag team with William Regal during that time. I like to think that the reason NXT is so good is that Regal and Trips have been meticulously planning it since they came up with the idea in a WCW locker room sometime in the summer of ’94.
