elizium Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 3 minutes ago, Brandon-E said: What does Marc Mero's WWE run look like if Sable had never gotten into wrestling? A lot shorter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon-E Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, elizium said: A lot shorter... With no Sable does Sunny become the Attitude Era's top female instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizium Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 3 minutes ago, Brandon-E said: With no Sable does Sunny become the Attitude Era's top female instead? She probably should have been anyway, but she was super unreliable and likely would have never started wrestling like Sable did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 17 minutes ago, elizium said: A lot shorter... I don't know about shorter- supposedly Marc Mero was hated by the back because he was the first wrestler to get a guaranteed contract from WWF (which, if that's the case, means "WWE would be forced to keep him that length of time, Sable or no Sable.") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 They really tried to recreate Savage and Liz at Mania 4 with him winning that IC title tournament. He lost it pretty much straight after and was an after thought ever since. Did he ever win any of his programs? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 1 hour ago, elizium said: A lot shorter... The knee injury in 97 did him in more than Sable. I wince everytime I watch his old matches and his knee folds under him on that tope con giro. Dude had no control over his legs when he landed. With or without Sable, that was a torn ACL waiting to happen and eventually it did. It sucks because I actually liked the Wildman look at the time. The problem was he didn't have great mic skills to go along with the look and his cool looking moves...well there were actual luchadores on the other show doing that shit every week by then and with more diversity. I don't put all the weight on Sable overshadowing him. That's what comes with having a sexy valet in the mid to late 90s. She helped him get over and then she got over (through softcore porn for horny teenagers watching wrestling at the time). If anything the fact she couldn't do anything beyond being sexy and raunchy limited what they could do with Mero, a guy who left WCW partly because he didn't want to do an angle with Kimberly Page. In the end, that would fuck him over (along with the injury) because his own wife wasn't that talented. So he went from a shiny new toy who gets his first appearance and angle on a Wrestlemania card to just a guy months later by the end of 1996. Now if the question posed was what happens if you replace Sable with Sunny as his valet and mouthpiece (pun not intended given who I'm talking about) and this dumbass doesn't do spots where his legs go catawampus, I would definitely say he has a better career outlook. Sunny would have gotten insanely over regardless, but she could play more than a damsel in distress which was the only thing Rena Mero could do before she got over and start powerbombing her husband. Sunny getting over wouldn't come at the expense of Mero if you make him a real wildman heel that only Sunny could control instead of someone doing goofy looks and gestures between highspots. Once his momentum as a face starts to die down, you have him turn heel and get in a nasty blood feud with someone he was tagging with months prior. Don't let him speak that much and make Sunny into the biggest c u next Tuesday ever on the promos antagonizing the fans and whoever his opponent is. I'm not saying he would be Tully Blanchard, but that act would get over. Certainly, it would get more over than the boxer gimmick post-injury. Say what you will about Triple H, but the fucker got it right with adding Chyna pre boob job and plastic surgery. That gimmick needed a shot in the arm (pun not intended again). The Wildman thing could have worked IMO under the premise I laid out. Otherwise, he was just a dude once you get past the presentation of his entrance and the three or four highspots that weren't as innovative by 96/97. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldcupfever Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 On 8/10/2019 at 6:37 PM, RolandTHTG said: Yep, imagine the rock and wrestling war with Punk Rocker Backlund instead of Piper. I want Backlund seconded by Black Flag. And possibly a special guest appearance on a live performance of Rise Above. This would have changed the Rock 'n' Wrestling thing considerably. Does the Hogan and Lauper alignment make as much sense with Backlund tapping into the "sound of the young generation"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister TV Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 I never heard of the “Punk Rock” gimmick for heel Backlund just that Vince wanted him to dye his hair black. If Backlund stuck around until the fall of 84 and was game for a heel turn having him be Bobby Heenan’s first signing would have been perfect. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 (edited) On 8/10/2019 at 7:37 PM, RolandTHTG said: Yep, imagine the rock and wrestling war with Punk Rocker Backlund instead of Piper. I want Backlund seconded by Black Flag. And possibly a special guest appearance on a live performance of Rise Above. Imagine a reality where Henry Rollins was involved with the WWF and was part of Wrestlemania. Send Backlund on tour with Black Flag, so he and Henry can beat the shit out of skinheads together. Edited August 12, 2019 by Nice Guy Eddie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 2 hours ago, worldcupfever said: This would have changed the Rock 'n' Wrestling thing considerably. Does the Hogan and Lauper alignment make as much sense with Backlund tapping into the "sound of the young generation"? Hogan and Lauper are celebrated by the MTV commercial darlings like Cyndi Lauper. Backlund was never a commercial darling like Hogan and went and found guys who didn't get MTV airtime. Society's 24 inch pythons of control? RISE ABOVE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 All these plans about punk rock Bob Backlund waxing poetic, as if Backlund as a punk rocker wouldn't be disappointing. Seriously, search your feelings. Big guys, with Mohawks, who dressed punkish, and used moves like the Pit Stop while punching. The Nasty Boys are what a punk rocker would be like in 1980s/90s wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 5 hours ago, happjack said: I never heard of the “Punk Rock” gimmick for heel Backlund just that Vince wanted him to dye his hair black. If Backlund stuck around until the fall of 84 and was game for a heel turn having him be Bobby Heenan’s first signing would have been perfect. This. How in the hell 'they wanted Backlund to dye his hair and start acting like a heel' turned into PUNK ROCK BOB is beyond me. As for Mero's run, it's hard to envision how the Wildman character transitions into the Attitude era. He was over and deserved his guaranteed contract and it was so obvious him and Sable were supposed to be Macho n Liz II. The knee injury did him in more than anything, like @Elsalvajeloco said. By the time he came back the whole WWF had shifted on its axle and he was forced to do the boxing gimmick to account for not being able to be a high flier. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 As much as I love punk rock, and as much as I love Heel Backlund, that would be like oil and water. Bobby was pretty much his heel persona in real life. You can't beat that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Would it have required that much tweaking to what came about with the insane heel promos in the mid 90s? Him riffing on Joe Strummer politics of that era, joining up with the Iron Sheik and protesting US foreign policy in the middle East for oil interests could have been a fun attempt at expanding into the Watts territory during the oil issues of the time. I mean sure they'd have just paired him with Mad Maxine and confused punk with greaser, but fuck it, this is now a greater opportunity missed than Sheik Tugboat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 14 hours ago, CreativeControl said: This. How in the hell 'they wanted Backlund to dye his hair and start acting like a heel' turned into PUNK ROCK BOB is beyond me. IIRC, Backlund himself said the endgame for 'dye his hair and turn heel' was to repackage him into a punk rocker, and that's why he left WWF the first time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Backlund probably didn't even know what a punk rocker actually was at that point. Assuming he does now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 1 hour ago, SorceressKnight said: IIRC, Backlund himself said the endgame for 'dye his hair and turn heel' was to repackage him into a punk rocker, and that's why he left WWF the first time. Wonder if they'd considered him as sort of the prototype for what became the Honky Tonk Man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Knowing Bob he probably thought they meant the old meaning of the term 'punk' and were going to dress him up like Goldust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 minute ago, Curt McGirt said: Knowing Bob he probably thought they meant the old meaning of the term 'punk' and were going to dress him up like Goldust Now, imagine Backlund doing a New York Dolls gimmick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatling Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 So on the 6:05 Superpodcast Harley Race tribute episode, it's mentioned that after Larry Hennig came back from his broken leg in March of 1968 Harley wanted to keep their tag team but take it on the road but Larry wanted to stay in the AWA. How does the NWA change in the 1970's if Race and Hennig team until the end of 1970 and make stops in Australia, JCP, Georgia, Florida and elsewhere in that two and a half year time? Harley would have only had about two and a half years as a singles act in this scenario instead of the five years he actually had when he got the belt from Dory Jr. in 1973, so he's probably not established enough to be that transitional champ right? Who would get that spot to move the title from Funk to Brisco? Buddy Colt? Dusty? Bob Roop? Is there any chance by late '73 or early '74 Harley looks around and thinks his best chance to be a World Champion is to go back and buy in to the AWA? If that happens, do we get NWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel instead for a short run or two? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 I don’t think this made the cut in the pod I just did with Semp, but I think, if he hadn’t bought Knoxville, Ron Fuller was prob being groomed as a possible champ. Pushed by Eddie in Florida, pushed by Sam and Pat O’Connor in STL, sent to work an MSG show for Vince. Legit sports background and would have likely been backed by his father, grandfather and the Fields. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatling Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Fuller was actually my first thought for who could have had that 1973 two month run with the belt, but that was year Ron broke in so that was unlikely. He bought Knoxville in 1974 so there wasn't a big window there, but maybe by 1977 when Harley had his second run Ron would have been in a position to let Robert book and taken a year with the belt? Would Bobby Shane have been an option in 1973 at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 34 minutes ago, gatling said: Fuller was actually my first thought for who could have had that 1973 two month run with the belt, but that was year Ron broke in so that was unlikely. He bought Knoxville in 1974 so there wasn't a big window there, but maybe by 1977 when Harley had his second run Ron would have been in a position to let Robert book and taken a year with the belt? Would Bobby Shane have been an option in 1973 at all? Going by the podcast, Ron broke in full time in 1970. He had a few months in Georgia (when it was run by Buddy and Ray Gunkel) and then he went to Florida and Robert went to Tennessee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister TV Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 14 hours ago, SorceressKnight said: IIRC, Backlund himself said the endgame for 'dye his hair and turn heel' was to repackage him into a punk rocker, and that's why he left WWF the first time. Where did Backlund say this? I can see Vince spitballing ideas and saying something like "hey we can make you a punk rocker" without having any clue on what a punk rocker even was with Backlund only knowing about Punk Rock from that episode of Quincy. Or Vince just wanted to be done with Backlund and suggested the hair dye and punk rock stuff to get him to quit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatling Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 10 hours ago, odessasteps said: Going by the podcast, Ron broke in full time in 1970. He had a few months in Georgia (when it was run by Buddy and Ray Gunkel) and then he went to Florida and Robert went to Tennessee. That's what I get for going by Wikipedia I guess, should have checked cagematch I suppose. If that's the case, then yes I think Ron Fuller would have been a great choice in 1973 for that transitional role if Harley wasn't in position for that. I wonder if Ron had that short run if he'd want to take a longer run with the belt or stay home to run his territory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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