RIPPA Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 For our purposes this is just Del Wilkes and we will ignore the whole squabble with Tom Brandi http://youtu.be/xmQyD1xTu90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Vic's interviews with the guy: More thoughts to come later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool arrow Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 So, the Patriot. It's weird, with all these kids on the board now. I remember pretty distinctly coming home from elementary school in 1991-2 and watching Global on ESPN. I remember being pissed off when it was interrupted by the MLB Expansion draft. I remember being awed by Cactus Jack and the Cartel and I remember The Patriot getting blinded by the Dark Patriot. He's probably the key Top Babyface (see, Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Sting, Luger, etc) of my first fandom. It was probably because his finisher was a dynamic top rope move. That was a hell of a lot more exciting to me at 9 or 10 than Hogan and Warrior. And he had a mask! There was something really earnest and honest about him that came through. You could just tell the guy loved wrestling in a way that Hogan or Sting or Luger didn't. And that's basically it. I wasn't watching WCW when he was there. I didn't catch his WWF run. He retired shortly thereafter. I kind of like him and Bagwell as a team. He has a pretty good shoot because the Baba stuff is really interesting. I imagine he's got some pretty good japan matches I haven't seen too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 It was probably because his finisher was a dynamic top rope move. That explains so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Let me deflect. No, it's true. As a 9 year old, my favorite wrestlers were the Rockers, Brian Pillman, and a year or two later, I was probably super excited for Max Moon to debut. Guys that I talk up now like Eadie or Haku or 90-91 Slaughter are not wrestlers I had any time for as a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 But how did Del sell the Patriot Missile after delivering it? Did the mask prevent being able to deduce his facial expressions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Let me deflect more. I think the mask is pretty necessary, if only because of his heavy accent. He's probably got the heaviest accent of any wrestler ever. I know what he sounds like and it's still offputting to hear him in an interview in WCW. I was watching a WCW SN from right before Superbrawl 1995 the other day and it was set up really well. There'd be a match and immediately thereafter, you'd get an interview with Mean Gene to set up the PPV. WWE should just do Smackdown like this now. It let everyone talk and get over their programs. Well, the main event was a pretty okay Stars and Stripes vs Harlem Heat match that's mainly notable for how big Booker T's bumps were, and it was set up by Sherri slapping Bagwell, so Bagwell got to talk first. Heat had the belts and were going up against the Nasties at the PPV. He said what he had to say and then it was time for Patriot to speak and I had to do a triple take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool arrow Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmuw1e9suTw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS81177 Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I was just wondering the other day how successful he would have been in the WWF had he not gotten hurt. He got a pretty big early push feuding with Bret, though I think they were starting to cool him off a bit when he was injured. I always liked him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tystates Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Too bad about the gimmick going to Tom Brandi. The Patriot was good wherever he went. I made a two-disk set of him in All Japan. I'll stop posting the match lists in these threads if you guys want me to. THE PATRIOT IN ALL JAPAN Volume 1Running Time: 1:59 5/17/92 Patriot, Johnny Smith vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue5/24/92 Patriot vs. Steve Williams5/31/92 Patriot, Johnny Smith vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada6/14/92 Patriot vs. Kenta Kobashi7/12/92 Patriot, Richard Slinger vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada7/26/92 Patriot, Billy Black vs. Giant Baba, Akira Taue7/28/92 Patriot vs. Stan Hansen8/2/92 Patriot, Sonny Beach vs. Stan Hansen, Johnny Ace8/16/92 Patriot, Kenta Kobashi vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Kamala II9/13/92 Patriot, Jackie Fulton vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue9/20/92 Patriot, Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams, Terry Gordy10/4/92 Patriot, Johnny Smith, Dory Funk Jr. vs. Giant Baba, Jun Akiyama, Masa Fuchi10/21/92 Patriot, Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams, Dan Spivey11/22/92 Patriot, Eagle vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada12/6/92 Patriot, Eagle vs. Stan Hansen, Johnny Ace12/13/92 Patriot, Eagle vs. Steve Williams, Terry Gordy Volume 2Running Time: 1:55 2/19/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Steve Williams, Terry Gordy2/25/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi5/14/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Steve Williams, Terry Gordy5/20/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Doug Furnas, Dan Kroffat8/20/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Steve Williams, Tracy Smothers8/23/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue8/31/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Jun Akiyama, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi9/3/93 Patriot vs. Kenta Kobashi9/29/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Dory Funk Jr., Takao Omori11/13/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Steve Williams, Bubba Rogers11/17/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Stan Hansen, Giant Baba12/1/93 Patriot, Eagle vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi2/20/94 Patriot, Johnny Ace vs. Stan Hansen, John Nord2/27/94 Patriot, Eagle vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS81177 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Eagle was George Hines, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool arrow Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Yes, aka Jackie Fulton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 At a point where I was way more into guys like Mankind and whatever oddball wrestler when I was a kid, Del Wilkes seemed super authentic and cool to me in WWF back then. He wasn't top of my list by any means but the dude was just good at pulling the gimmick off, even if he didn't do anything cool at all aside from having a neat mask and talking well (the accent helped). Bret kicking his ass helped put the anti-American gimmick over perfect and I honestly would have loved to see them go a couple rounds with each other, but alas, that wasn't in the cards. I can't believe I just wrote that much about the Patriot. Wow. (his Global stuff isn't bad either btw) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 He is a great guy and a really good wrestler to boot. I always loved how he treated other countries with respect. The Eagle/Patriot vs Misawa/Kawada match is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 I will tolerate no bad talk about Del Wilkes. Met him when he worked the Patriot gimmick at Ground Xero Wrestling in Prince George, VA. Really nice dude and willing to talk about just about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 He was pushed pretty strongly when he had is cup of coffee in the WWF wasn't he? Or was that just by extension of the fact he was fueding with Bret? Literally the only exposure I've ever had to the guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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