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FEB 2020 WRESTLING DISCUSSION


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18 hours ago, supremebve said:

If you could take one wrestler, dead or alive, from any era, in their prime and drop them into today's WWE, who would you choose and why?

Somebody I hate, I guess, because I certainly wouldn't want to condemn one of my faves to today's WWE. 

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9 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

1. Josh Barnett is a bit out there.

2. Hawk worked a ton in Japan.

3. Hawk had a rep as being a tough guy.

4. Coming out to "Iron Man" and Barnett being the age where that would have had a big impact on him growing up.

I get that, the addition of Hawk to his list was odd because Josh is a Catch guy who has a list full of mostly other guys with Catch backgrounds or who worked shoot style at some point.

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5 hours ago, Wyld Samurai said:

I gotta go with Randy Savage. 

His mic work could talk you into any building in any era. He brought the intensity and unpredictability needed to keep you guessing. Might be the ultimate in making you sympathetic to the cause whether he was a face or heel. His elbow drop is still iconic and would be just as massively over today. 

Randy Savage just might be the greatest performer in history.

Randy Savage, to me, is absolutely the greatest pro-wrestler of all time, the greatest EXAMPLE of a pro-wrestler for those very reasons but let's not forget, he was only listed at 6'1, that's not some gigantic man but he always came off as an imposing and intense dude. He could look totally natural in there against either Hulk Hogan or Jushin Liger. Even his life story of a switch in sports to his awful treatment of Elizabeth to his seemingly redemptive final years and sudden tragic end. Macho Man is definitely the ultimate pro-wrestler. 

 

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13 hours ago, clintthecrippler said:

I think I missed how the conversation over wrestlers from generations past faring in the modern product, but the one I keep thinking about lately is how Bob Backlund circa 1978-1982 would fare in 2020.

I think athletic freak/strongman grappler Bob Backlund would be a major cult draw in today's indie scene, seeing him grapple with folks like Thatcher and participating on shows like Bloodsport and WxW Ambition, and being strong enough to pull off strongman spots against folks like Walter and Jeff Cobb, and being the guy that grounds flippy dudes and forces them to adapt to him, I think he would be a buzzworthy guy now. Maybe not a draw/main eventer in modern WWE, but maybe as a hired gun assassin in AEW, or the designated shooter in an NJPW stable, and definitely someone that would shine at BOLA weekend and other indie showcase type events, etc.

Hell, the dude still seems like he's in good enough shape that I could see him pulling off a 10-minute exhibition-style grapping-oriented match at Bloodsport in 2020 Barnett booked him.

EDIT: ah shit, I now saw the original post saying "today's WWE" but fuck it I'll still be fantasy booking 1981 Bob Backlund on Bloodsport 2020. 

He'd be Cesaro.

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7 hours ago, SorceressKnight said:

Given the nature- it could be better or worse than possible with timing.

Molly would be VERY good in 2020 (she'd likely project as Bayley if Bayley could cut a promo), but Trish would look far worse in 2020 than she was (there's no doubt in my mind- Trish would end up the same as Alexa Bliss in this era, for every benefit and weakness.)

First of all I want to thank @supremebvefor the initial question as this has been a wonderful discussion worthy of its own thread.

And I'll preface this by saying there is a slight Greek bias with the following. But as far as Trish goes she would thrive in today's environment. Not just for looks and marketability but she had the motivation to make herself as good as possible. She could have coasted on her looks and time in T&A. But she's stated previously how much she wanted to improve and if you put her in today's WWE it would work out very well for her.

And since her last match was mentioned considering the fact it's been years since she wrestled and did great imagine if she was doing that regularly today. 

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Remember Foley had a match with Austin in the fall of 96 on Raw, they were suplexing on the ramp way. It was a crazy brawl. It was when they were experimenting with heel vs heel matches. It was Similar to the type of match Austin would work after he got injured and had to change his style. I agree Foley played a bigger role in WWE getting more edger from a an inning standpoint. That match with Shawn at IYH didn't start getting the love it gets till after the Attitude era. 

I wish Savage never left WWF because he probably would've been at least Simi regular in the ring by the time the Monday night wars started heating up and I don't think he would've been pressured to get so gassed up like he did being around Hogan in WCW. He and Foley would've had some classics. He would've fit better in the ring with guys like Austin and Hunter, basically when the roster was phasing out the sideshows and giants that could work. The only downside is I don't think DDP would have gotten over like he did without the Savage feud.

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59 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

First of all I want to thank @supremebvefor the initial question as this has been a wonderful discussion worthy of its own thread.

And I'll preface this by saying there is a slight Greek bias with the following. But as far as Trish goes she would thrive in today's environment. Not just for looks and marketability but she had the motivation to make herself as good as possible. She could have coasted on her looks and time in T&A. But she's stated previously how much she wanted to improve and if you put her in today's WWE it would work out very well for her.

And since her last match was mentioned considering the fact it's been years since she wrestled and did great imagine if she was doing that regularly today. 

I'll preface this by saying there is a slight Toronto bias but Agreed. Trish had (and has) that thing that would make her stand out in any era and that's the drive. It was a herculean task to get over as a serious wrestler at the time she did, in the modern environment she'd be right at home, although whether they'd let her do anything more than what Mandy Rose is doing is another matter.

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11 minutes ago, Ryan said:

On the plus side, this happened in Rev Pro yesterday. Hopefully, it was good.

No Disqualification Match
LA Park vs Eddie Kingston

I saw people posting gifs during the match, including Eddie doing the Strut followed by the wanker sign. 

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9 hours ago, Wyld Samurai said:

I gotta go with Randy Savage. 

His mic work could talk you into any building in any era. He brought the intensity and unpredictability needed to keep you guessing. Might be the ultimate in making you sympathetic to the cause whether he was a face or heel. His elbow drop is still iconic and would be just as massively over today. 

Randy Savage just might be the greatest performer in history.

He's actually my favorite wrestler ever, but man, having someone write for Savage (or Foley) would actually really bum me out. Those guys shouldn't ever, ever, EVER have to follow a script written by D-List reality show writers and tinkered with by someone who is twenty years past his creative peak. 

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I agree 100% with Mick Foley. What he brings to the table is not a couple crazy bumps in every match, but his determination to make any spot on the card, any opponent and/or and angle look great. He had  creativity and drive AND lack of ego, with a unique gimmick, that worked to get him over. Also, his interviews, promos and asides were polished gems...

 - RAF

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Using the benefits of "would Trish have been better in this era?" and it's likely story, it leads to one of the possible hot takes to add to the 2020 mix as well: Hogan.

Yes, Hogan's a little controversial now to say the least- and it's not just "WWE in the common era needs someone larger-than life who could be a crossover star", but even just workrate wise. We saw many, many times in wrestling that Hogan was the Uncle Miltie of pro wrestling- he'd pull out just enough to win. His workrate was always "do just enough to make the fans go home happy with his match", and a lot of the bad matches he had could be seen as "not Hogan's fault that for a long time, enough to make the fans go home happy was 'I was in the same room as Hulk Hogan!' 

His work in Japan or even his work in 2000 WCW or 2002 WWE (ESPECIALLY since those times were past his prime) make it pretty clear that in 2020 WWE where he wouldn't be able to coast on just being Hulk Hogan, he'd probably be very good in the ring.

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I think the important part about Mick is the lack of ego.  He will make your pretty boys look like the belong.  He will make your monsters look monstrous.  He will make your super heroes look like monster slayers.

If he wins, it will be like he won a god damned war, if he lost it will be like he lost a god damned war. 

He is probably the most versatile promo ever to pick up the mic in terms of being able to get across both super serious and super silly and make you believe in them.

 

The person I would pluck from their prime and drop into modern WWE, but not in the ring, as the # 2 creative guy, would be Mike Quackenbush.  I think more than anyone, his ideas combined with Vince's desire to be a TV show that happens to have wrestling, would result in actually getting that to work properly.  long term long form story telling, building to natural peaks and valleys and escalations without getting to far into the Dog Food, a grounded comic book style WWE universe would be awesome

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7 hours ago, Edwin said:

I get that, the addition of Hawk to his list was odd because Josh is a Catch guy who has a list full of mostly other guys with Catch backgrounds or who worked shoot style at some point.

Not everyone of my favorite songs is in the same genre of music. I'm not holding someone making a random list to stay within the boundaries of the criteria he created.

Edited by Elsalvajeloco
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Hawk does stiff clotheslines and says WELLLLLLLLL in a really cool way, so I have no problem with him making it on anyone's top-ten list.

Hell, Terry Funk expressed that were he in power, he would push him as a top babyface, IIRC, so he's got his fans. 

Edited by Smelly McUgly
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3 minutes ago, Smelly McUgly said:

Hawk does stiff clotheslines and says WELLLLLLLLL in a really cool way, so I have no problem with him making it on anyone's top-ten list.

Hell, Terry Funk expressed that were he in power, he would push him as a top babyface, IIRC, so he's got his fans. 

Now if Josh had said end of his career/life Adrian Adonis, then I would have been thrown off.

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21 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

There is the six man where he tagged with the Steiners in ECW in 1995 (against Scorpio, Jack, and Malenko IIRC) where he fucked up a Hurricanrana during a triple team spot. He was moving SO FUCKING FAST he didn't give the crowd a one single solitary chance to say YOU FUCKED UP. I never seen something like that. He was working for the other five guys in the match.

 

In some random TV match when he had the WWF belt, Eddie changed the call on a spot IN MID-AIR and it went smooth as silk. He was as at home in a wrestling ring as anyone I ever saw.

Edited by LP Steve
Typo
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Eddie's one of those dudes that you could drop into any wrestling company anywhere and he'd be great and adapt. You could drop him into 1988 Nigeria and have him wrestle Power Uti and he'd work that match perfectly. 

Actually, as classic World of Sport is maybe my favorite wrestling style anywhere, I would love to drop young Eddie in 1979 Surrey, UK or wherever and watch him wrestle as a young lion. Or into 1979 Surrey, UK as a surly older vet who takes shortcuts and slaps a young Davey Boy Smith for trying to get cute with his moves. 

Fuck yeah. 

I don't know if Mick Foley would translate to any company across time as much as I love him. That sort of distinction is reserved for the elite of the elite. 

I remember when NXT was hot, Samoa Joe had that match with Finn Balor where he started bleeding and stalked Balor around the ring and threw him into a security dude and someone here said that it was an example of how Joe could get over at any time and in any era, and maybe he could; I'm not sure there's a style that he couldn't do effectively and he can work face or heel super-effectively, too. But there are few guys I'd put on that list off the top of my head: Regal, Bryan, Eddie, Flair, Austin, probably Joe, Liger. 

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