Did he manage to draw a dime in WCW? - Mike Graham
Vložit
- čas přidán 22. 03. 2024
- Mike Graham is a man best known for his shoot interviews where he takes credit for kicking Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn and Malenko out of WCW. He also hates Jeff Jarrett and Booker T and talks a lot of trash about people. His catchphrase which he used as a way of insult was: “never drew a dime”, which is hilarious. But Mike Graham was not just a WCW backstage employee. Most of his wresting career was in the 80s but in the early 90s WCW used him in their cruiserweight division. So we’ve watched back his entire run to see if he could draw any dimes! Spoiler there is a surprisingly good match against Stone Cold Steve Austin in here!
- Komedie
I’m never going to forget the time Mike Graham called Perry Saturn a “midget”, despite the fact that Saturn is two inches taller than Graham.
I won't even tell you what he said about moppy.
Calling Saturn that also sounds like he was implying that Perry Saturn, a friggen Army Ranger, wasn't tough. Saturn was probably one of the toughest guys in the business.
I think midget is more of a style call out, even though that makes no sense. Since Saturn and Benoit were both strong style with some flying
When compared to the main event scene at the time they were midgets. They had Hogan, Nash, Hall, Giant, Sid all massive guys compared to the Revolution/Radicalz.
If you think about it, there are some reasons why he hates all four radicals, and they're all idiots
The real reason Stone Cold wore knee braces the rest of his career was because of that match with Mike Graham
yeah he cripled his legs wth those moves
Long term storytelling right there.
Radicals leave.
“I did it! I saved WCW!”
Folds one year later.
saturn said it best when he said Mike Graham n Kevin Sullivan are fukn liars.
WCW folds one year later, *and* Eddie ends up being one of the most beloved wrestlers during his time in WWF/WWE
@@thejohnkaufman Yeah what a jackoff.
@@thejohnkaufmanAnd the biggest "midget" of all Rey Mysterio winds up being one of the leading merch-sellers in the history of WWE throughout the 2000s and well into the 2010s just behind John Cena.
@@thejohnkaufman And the worst drawing WWWF/WWF/WWE champion of all time! Wow, so beloved!
Finally! Marky made 6,000 videos. Always drew a dime.
And always on time.
@@joeyzapata6786and if you don’t agree with that you’ll get a disease called Lyme. 😅
Without ever committing a crime
A golden opportunity was lost to say *DIME DALLAS PAGE*
I would watch his shoot interviews on the early days of CZcams he was so funny with the bitterness
They really inspired me
It appears that he didn't understand how important a decent midcard is to a wrestling program.
The main guys get the tickets, the mid are keeps them entertained.
Don’t forget often the main stars started out as midcard.
He understood it fine, like he said Benoit is a mid card guy not a main event guy.
He did though
The Four Worsemen: George Gulas (the playboy), Eric Watts (the enforcer), Greg Gagne & Mike Graham (The Nepo Express)🐴🐴🐴🐴 And of course Garret Bischoff as Manager!
David Flair should be in this group.
Greg and mike could at least go in the ring George tho was the absolute shits dude couldn’t even throw a punch
@@jeff-ds2pr and David Sammartino
Wes Briscoe as surprise team mate.
George had the worst work punches Dutch Mantell said. They looked weak as hell, but stung like a bitch. Basically the complete opposite of what you are trying to achieve in the ring in front of an audience.@@SlaytonRider
" she dyed 6000 wigs and never drew a dime" Mike Graham probably
It’s time for Keith Lee to be on ring of the hawk😂
Not a single person when he was in WCW said I'm going to go see this show because Mike Graham is on it
Are you saying he never drew a dime.
@@tonyclifton2230 To be fair, Graham never said he drew a dime. He just critiqued others and said they didn't draw a dime. He was very outspoken, and I would say with some of the shoot interviews he did, didn't care what everyone thought lol
@@LordLOC your right he never went into his own drawing ability. I am sure he had a high opinion of himself in that regard.
@@LordLOC He buried everyone he could. Buried Jarrett on a WWE DVD then tried getting a job at TNA. He was rejected and committed suicide.
@@MarcantonioStanga Yes, he buried everyone basically. He isn't the only one who ever did that, or will do that - that's for sure. As for the suicide, I've seen people make fun of him for taking his own life, calling him weak and what not. Which is disgusting. Suicide isn't something to joke about, ever. Period. Regardless of how good or liked a person was, taking one's life (or attempting to) is a sign of serious mental issues that need to be addressed before anything can happen.
But this is the internet, no one gives a crap about anyone else anymore basically, and everyone makes fun of everyone else for the stupidest smallest crap these days.
Alexandria York is the godmother of data based sports analytics.
Widely acknowledged
Alexandra
@@TL2354 her too I guess?
Mike Graham really was given everything in terms of a wrestling career. It's not shocking he was so bitter with guys who organically got over with the audience
Learned early it hard to draw dimes when your dad doesn't own the company 😊
Unless you're Bret which is also weird because people say he could only really draw outside the US but he had great matches prior to being world champion and he made Kevin Nash look good if you didn't look good with Bret that was on you
Graham and Jeff Jarrett are both soulmates in that regard.
Nonsense he had artbooks filled with drawn dimes.
If Mike was still alive, he could be a great heel manager. Just have him ramble on how no one else could draw a dime, and how he was the toughest guy ever. He could just be himself (a know it all nobody and all around jerk) and draw incredible heat.
It is WILD how graham complained about people being too small when he was 5 foot 8. He was shorter than the Rascalz. Legit sounds like bitterness that the industry that made him feel tiny was elevating smaller dudes and he wasnt a part ofnit
If he was 5 foot 8 that would make him ever slightly taller than the Rascalz but it’s irrelevant. I think he was jealous of their money because he felt he was similar to them (he wasn’t)
He was already out of the game by that point, it was his job to report on how the show was doing with the audience and where things could improve. Vince and Bischoff had already trained the audience to see giants like Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash as the top guys by that point so the territory days of skill over presentation were over, the casuals didn't care for the technical masterpieces the Radicalz put on because the booking was non-existent so the live viewership did dip when they were on.
Mike was 5’8” only when standing on a step stool…
@@amirpourghoureiyan1637Casuals didn't care about The Radicalz....until they actually watched the show and popped like crazy for all of their matches even if they didn't expect to at first. It's a well known FACT that the backbone of WCW in the 1990s was their cruiserweight division and the mid-card guys like Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Raven, DDP, Dean Malenko, the Luchadores etc. Tons of people tuned in to watch them and found them a very welcome reprieve from the seemingly endless barrage of nWo Hollywood Hogan promos and lumbering mastodons like Nash & Sid & The Giant etc.
Not to mention how Rey Mysterio went on to be one of the all time top merch-sellers of WWE and might still be to this day, and Eddie did great there too cuz you STILL see "I'm Your Papi" and "LwO" shirts.
Graham was full of shit. And if he knew what he was talking about, then WCW wouldn't have died.
@@amirpourghoureiyan1637exactly
I guess Mike Graham was a classic case of "all bark, no bite".
Did you really guess that?
As much as I found Mike's passing very sad, I think it's funny that he blamed ratings drops on booker t and luchadores seeing how the business went after 2001
the luchadores n the high flyers were the backbone of WCW. those dudes put on some amazing fukn matches.
WCW fans loved the cruiserweights and Booker T
He was talking about the minute by minute breakdowns of the shows and that segments featuring these guys had a drop in viewership.
The collapse in overall viewership in WCW between Spring 1999 and its final cancellation in 2001 is another story.
Mike could have been huge if they give him a good finisher. He could hit his opponents with a roll of dimes in his fist while yelling "You never drew a dime!" and knock them out cold.
That’s exactly how I’d book him too
Mike Grahams tattoo artist never drew a dime.
When you see Mike and those tattoos...It was like what if Ned Flander's long lost ruffian brother showed up for a SImpson's episode.
Hate to speak ill of the Dead, but Mike Graham was a Territory Has-Been and you can tell Ole anderson was still Booking here
Not familiar with the territory days but I genuinely didn't know he was big in the territories
@@anthonykaruri6430 He wasn't. He was a blatant nepo baby whose only defining trait was having the last name Graham in Florida.
@@ethanbell6762 oooh, thanks for the clarification
@@anthonykaruri6430 No problem. But yeah, he was as big a star as David Flair, but flair was under no delusions
Still the best lines in those shoots. Shaking the head, little Tennessee brain, funny as hell.
I guess he didn't draw enough dimes to buy more ring gear.
HBK may be the Showstopper but Mike Graham is the Shuvstopper. Homie was legitimately a good hand but was a complete mark for himself and believed his own hype. Everyone used to put him over to get in good with Eddie when he ran Florida, and Porno Perm never let it go. I don’t know anyone from all the years I wrestled who ever had a single good thing to say about Mike, and that’s really saying something.
I don’t want to speak ill of the departed, so I will finish by saying that I genuinely hope he has found the peace he couldn’t find in life. RIP.
What?
I’m glad he gave Steve Austin the rub.
lmfao how generous of the legendary mike graham!
Steve drew dimes 😂😂😂
To be fair to Mike Graham he never saw himself as a main eventer and knew his place. Which is why I take no real issue to his opinions.
True
Hes shorter than eric bischoff! 😂😂😂
In my mind Mike Graham ran around backstage with a pencil and a sheet of paper asking wrestlers to draw a dime
Broke 6 thousand guitars and never drew a dime 😂😂😂🎸 the double J burial was hilarious
The sarcastic hyping up of Graham was hilarious :)
I can't figure out how a middle-aged businessman in his undies wasn't world champ
Well now we know why Austin wears those knee braces lol thanks to Graham 😂
Them deathlocks are no joke lol
Guy competed in the cruiserweight division while looking like a 48 year old man. Thats funny 😆
Poor guy he was only 40
@@Markyd123 He drew a lot for wcw behind the scenes
All stuff aside I love his never drew a dime shoot vid, and I’m just so sad that he felt so helpless to take his own life.
I wish his family nothing but the best.
R.I.P Mike.
He was actually a decent in ring performer. He displayed some nice mat wrestling skills.
He did seem like a grumpy old man. In the late 70’s early 80’s he was a very good mid carder. Never a big main event in Florida. He had good build and watching him with Kearn, Sullivan,or Blair in tag matches, which was his forte, were entertaining. Tragic family story. RIP
As an old school technical wrestler........Graham is talented. Without an outlandish personality, it wouldn't go far in the 90's. It would be interesting to see how Mike's style would mesh with someone like Dean Malenko. Two very good technical wrestlers can have a very cool mid-card match.
Mike Graham talked nothing but shit on Dean Malenko. Malenko was one of the "vanilla midgets" he relentlessly shat on and tried to hold down in WCW.
Ricky Morton getting a play drawn up by his coach in his corner during matches is such good old wrestling
Mike Graham really hated legs.
And the gym apparently
He was a power lifter and lifted with his tag partner Kevin Sullivan. So 5'8" and 230lbs.
I know that you were joking about Austin, but during his time in WCW he was a no-nonsense technical wrestler. Hell, Austin had some technical work early in WWF, then went to his brawling style after taking that piledriver from Owen Hart.
"Owen 3:16 says 'I broke your fucking neck!'" - Owen Hart (paraphrasing)
He's right about slapnuts but the four most talented wrestlers in the company not drawing money is a problem with creative, not the talent.
Not really, Eddie and Benoit were mid carders who were never going to draw. Malenko and Saturn were even less than that.
@@jonathancurran5366 if Eddie and Benoit were never going to draw, why were the huge draws in WWE?
@robertlowrie8446 Eddie was the lowest drawing WWE champion ever back in 2004, Benoit was also not a draw as WHC. Both went back to the mid card after. They're what Graham said they were great high wire acts but not the Lion tamer in the proverbial three ring circus of pro wrestling.
Also, the label of Midgets seemed to get to them, causing steroid abuse and heart problems for both men.
@@robertlowrie8446 Eddie was the lowest drawing WWE champion of all time back in 2004.
No he wasn't. Diesel in 1995 was
@@jonathancurran5366
The short answer is no. He didn't
He beat Stone Cold, therefore he's better than Stone Cold. You can't argue with results!
@stonetic2515 is he really?
@@stonetic2515Austin beat himself...
@@geilorno, I’m pretty sure that was Debra.
@@Shadrach92😂 I'll burn for laughing at this
Jesus look at the roster he worked with. Those level of heels could get herpes over with the crowd.
Mike Graham, never drew a dime. 2nd generational mechanic.
Graham was an incredible baby face. He & his klick were mega stars in FLA. like, literal celebrities. They were the reason many of the 80s NYC guys wanted to get into rasslin.
So he was a local celebrity before cable TV in 70s.... so a literal no one then
He was a bum
@@northleedspoppa what’re you talking about…??
@@northleedspoppa weekly reminder that territory wrestlers usually made equivalent money and drew similar crowds to WWE and WCW wrestlers, at least until the territories started to die.
@@hiddenleafguy4576 that's simply untrue
I'm not sure what you gain from an obvious silly lie?
That Dark Side of the Ring episode about the Graham family was very tragic and eye-opening. It made me want to get become more active in suicide prevention within my own family and neighborhood.
He wasn't a bad wrestler at all, but not as good as he was in his own mind. I caught the tail end of his career and he was good, won't take that from him.
You can see why he clearly worked in the 80s. Hell, if he started today he'd probably do pretty well.
He would’ve been over in today’s world.. I mean look at Gunther.
@@TheLoveHateRelationshipOfLife Gunther is like 8 inches taller than Mike.
I agree with Mike about double j 60000 guitars didn't draw a dime hahaha
This dude is just a mid card face and im being very generous. He worked with some AMAZING heels and maybe he gives himself credit for that but anybody else knows its, Morton, Eaton, Steve Williams, AA etc carrying this bum around
This is what happens with guys like Mike. The son of a pro wrestling LEGEND (Eddie Graham, the kayfabe brother of Dr. Jerry Graham & "Superstar" Billy Graham) who ran The NWA's Florida territory as the owner & promoter of Championship Wrestling From Florida aka CWF where many legends broke-through into superstardom[*] he naturally got a guaranteed push since his daddy ran the territory (though to Eddie's credit he wasn't as horrific with pushing his son to the world championship unreservedly as others were like Verne Gange with Greg Gange in The American Wrestling Association aka AWA and Nick Gulas with George Gulas in NWA Mid-America[**] and so-on) and he also grew up to be totally convinced that he knew everything there was to know about pro wrestling and what worked and what didn't because he was the son of the big-time old-school wrestling legend and promoter of the big Florida territory. And granted that probably teaches you a lot....but what worked in pro wrestling back in the 1950s & 1960s & 1970s & even the 1980s & 1st-half of the 1990s was *NOT* going to work anymore in the 2nd-half of the 1990s and beyond and he hadn't a fucking clue.
Severely outdated mind for the biz, yet *WAY* too up his own ass to realize it and instead kept doubling-down in the most arrogant way imaginable, talking shit on guys whose success in pro wrestling eclipsed his own literally hundreds of times over.
([*]Dusty Rhodes broke big there after ending his original heel tag-team run with Dick Murdoch and turning face; Hulk Hogan broke into the business in Florida and Eddie Graham had his top trainer & business partner Hiro Matsuda train him; Kevin Sullivan's first big run was down there, Gordon Solie was an announcer/commentator there often, etc etc.)
([**]Which was the original Memphis territory of the NWA, his insistence on pushing his notoriously talentless son George to the moon is what ultimately led to NWA Mid-America withering & dying while Jerry Jarrett split-up his partnership with Gulas and formed The Continental Wrestling Association aka CWA with Jerry "The King" Lawler which quickly usurped NWA Mid-America as the "Memphis Territory" of the NWA.)
"They never drew a dime!"
Meanwhile, me: Who the fuck is Mike Graham???
that was the 1st words out of my mouth when i watched his shoot interviews on kayfabe commentaries gives a long list of noteworthy talent WCW had in the 90's. guys that were legit over with fans n did draw massive numbers something mike himself couldn't do n that fact ate him up.
He was definitely an 80's throwback with his WCW look. He had Jobber written all over him. I'm sure people respected his ability but he walked in his father's shadow.
To me wrestlers are like restaurants - you have some that are successful at a local/regional level but fail when they try expanding and then you have the chain restaurants who may not be as successful in that region as the local place but still make money and can make money anywhere. That's Graham and Jarrett/Austin. Graham was successful in his territory, whether that was because he had talent or his family name is open to debate, but nationally wasn't going to set the world on fire. Jarrett was a national wrestler, he maybe wasn't as successful each place he went as Graham was in his territory but Jarrett was successful everywhere (let's face it, people wanted to see him get his ass kicked everywhere). And then there is Austin, that rare one who was always good and just needed the opportunity to show the world what he could do, once he did things exploded. Graham kept thinking how successful he could have been in someone's spot but was seeing it through the lens of his territory and how he was there, not what a national audience would have thought of him.
Very entertaining, the sound bytes for the grades 😅
He was a 'decent' draw (at BEST) during PARTS/PERIODS of his time in the CWF (Florida). Which was the territory/promotion he spent MOST of his career in. That's really about it for ol' Mike.
I’m a bit of a wrestling nerd, but I’d not heard of Mike Graham until the infamous meme. I just read about his death aged 61. He seems to have had quite a tragic family life. Apart from the melancholy circumstances, and the amusing “dime” interview for which he is mocked into immortality, it should be noted that he was an excellent wrestler whose skills were possibly ignored because he didn’t fit the post-territory marketing agenda. I’d be embittered in his shoes.
Not a dime
Not a dime
Not a dime
I'm gonna hear that in my nightmares
Genuinely interested if all the 'Rascalz' comments are just TNA fans on autocorrect or just confusion! Enjoyed this a lot man, someone a bit different being featured. Your videos always make us smile, laugh and go back and watch.
WCW
Gone but never forgotten
Let’s see Matanza Cueto in Lucha Underground.
That’ll be a fun one.
I was not expecting that dark turn at the end when you said he shot himself
It's really heartbreaking he took his own life can't imagine the pain his family went; Even more sad four generations and his five immediate male relatives also commit sucide including his Great Uncle, Grandfather, Father and his Son. I can see how that could be terrible for anyones mental health.
The Dark Side of The Ring episode on his dad and him was quite heartbreaking. But it's nice that his sister has managed to persevere through it all.
I just watched the Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Grahams...
@@cygnia Damm, the Grahams's curse sounds somethinv related to the Von Erich's curse
RIP Mike, had too many demons to deal with - he kept WCW going with Kevin and Dusty while Bischoff ran wild with Ted's money. Hope he's at peace now with his son Steven and his Dad, the legendary Eddie Graham.
What did he do to keep it going? I don't know too much about wcw
@@uberhaxorzskelletor He agented a lot of matches and supported a lot of guys that were being messed with by the top earners. Stevie Ray spoke highly of him when asked about his WCW days.
@@amirpourghoureiyan1637 that makes sense. Anytime I watch WCW and Bischoff is present it genuinely feels like he couldn't care less about the product except if it makes him feel cool and big.
Nice revisionist history there. WCW was losing money like mad from the late 80s to early 90s, Eric didn't start running things until 1994, and the company finally started making money about a year later, and was killing WWF by 1996, all under Bischoff.
Mike is a coward
So its true. The ned flanders of wcw never drew a didley dime for the company.
Devils advocate Graham never claimed he drew a dime he just gave his opinion on who he thought didn’t .
If he'd put any emphasis on his look during this time, he'd be viewed differently.
I was getting ready to comment the same thing. Even so he still grew up in a very successful territory so he had a pretty good idea of what worked and what didn't
Reminds me of Disco Inferno when he talks abouy guys today not being over😂😂
Mike is a coward.
@@mrcold8966yeah...ok.😅😂
Lady Blossom was Steve Austin's wife at the time. Also came up with the Stone Cold name inadvertently.
Why does Tommy Rich and Sgt Buddy look like discount Sycho Sid and Big Boss Man
If you bought them on wish😂
i noticed that😅 like WTF!🤣😆
Mike Graham never drew a dime
It's Stunning Steve
Mike's shoot interviews are pretty damn entertaining though
They are to me to
I'm so glad I discovered this channel
He never said he drew a dime himself though. It was his job to review analytics and report. His shoot was absolutely hilarious in delivery.
Im not exactly sure what inspired this complete extended roasting of Mike Graham, but im happy about it 😂
“Lukewarm Steve Austin”😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I want 20 minutes and 42 seconds of my life back
Most of us here never drew a dime and we still talk
RIP Mike Graham
Barry Windham was a bigger draw than Booker T was blasphemous 😂
Windham was average. Booker T. was above average, there is no comparison.
Windham in his prime probably drew more dimes than Booker T did. Booker T is excellent but unfortunately was the top guy for WCW when they weren’t drawing doodles. Windham was super over in the 80s.
Few things scream "mid-life crisis" like getting flame tattoos when you're 50.
Whoever gave make those tattoos had a terrible sense of humor.
Ring of the Hawk: Goldberg in Japan needs to happen
Didn't know that Terry Taylor qualified as a cruiserweight
He was right about Double J, I mean the guy formed a faction called planet jarrett for pete sake 😂
Graham is one hell of a leg wrestling master class mat tactical genius
The funny thing is: I'm 35 years old (will be 36 in June), I've watched wrestling since I was literally 3 years old, I've watched both WCW and WWF/WWE and guess what!? (Crowd: WHAT?) I didn't know who Mike Graham was until I watched this video! 😂😂😂
I wonder what Mike Graham thought of the gifted Glen Gilberti
Its the Radicalz not the rascals 😂
lol
there actually is a group called the Rascalz n they wrestled for Impact! for awhile, but yes not to get confused by the Radicalz less they weren't referring to the Radicalz.
I love his famous quote.. use it as much as possible😂
Talking about his career drew a dime
This guy was a good cog in the corporate structure of WCW
Every time I heard Mike Graham mentioned I just thought of the DJ who used to be on Talksport.
3:54 is that Terri Runnles? Also someone tell Mike Graham, Rowdy Roddy Piper said stay the hell out his locker and he can keep the trunks! Lol jk
Yeah, When she was Alexandria York
She was head of the York Foundation There she met and married Dustin Rhodes aka Runnels Then she joined Dustin in WWF as Marlene to Dustin s Golddust
@@JohnnieCochran-qp3lwi didn't even know she was in WCW god Mrs. Runnels looked different.
For a lot of the newer fans commenting here that don't have full perspective on Graham's wrestling career, he and Ric Flair had some great matches in the early 80s, Graham beat him at least a couple of times in non-title situations (here's one from Miami Beach Convention Center: czcams.com/video/aeDbSthl5Oo/video.html). He'd also been a champion powerlifter in the early 70s and had great tag team runs with Steve Keirn and a young Kevin Sullivan in the 70s as well. Graham also revived Florida after Crockett had taken it over in '87, he and Keirn brought it back in '88 as Florida Championship Wrestling, which eventually became the Professional Wrestling Federation. Pretty solid array of talent there that included himself, Al Perez, Terry Funk, Scott Hall, Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes and the Nasty Boys, among others. It's also where Diamond Dallas Page got his first full extended break in the business as color commentator alongside Gordon Solie beginning in '89.
To be fair once Turner brought JCP and made it WCW very few people drew any money as for the most part they were operating at a loss so few could be considered big enough draws with the exception of when Hulk Hogan came in and when they were red hot during the monday night wars. Before and after thise two periods they were struggling to get decent attendances or ppv buyrates. So he isn't totally incorrect.
Mike Graham is Perc Angle against Stonecold
Not someone i'll bad mouth as that family makes the Von Erichs look lucky. He was bitter that JJ made a better go of it than he did despite both having the same advantages of monstrous Nepotism. He could wrestle but was a charisma vacuum and thats a recipe for the J.O.B Squad.
Markyd123 please do Bruiser Brody run in WCCW/WCWA for Ring of the Hawk please it will be an A or a B
I gotta see Kung Funaki do the J-O-B on ROH
Mike "I criticize everyone but I suck" Graham
Little fella sure did hate everything. RIP lil’ Mikey
He looks younger in those interviews than he did in his WCW run.
I feel like some wrestlers should make a career out of teaching people how to do a single move perfectly. Mike Graham should made a career out of teaching people how to do drop Toe-Holds. He has the nicest looking one I've ever seen.
Yes like Orton should teach how to do a quick scoop slam just effortless