Your wrestling HOT TAKES

[Goodear]

I get that but I think Bigelow also suffered from being in WWF in his first run especially being the land of the giants.  I mean look at this...

Like he seems tiny compared to OMG but Gang's MASSIVE which most people didn't realize. Bigelow always had to stand next to Gang, Hogan or Andre and he's "dwarfed" at 6'4". It's just not fair which is why they tried to highlight he was so agile. As the wrestling size norm dropped, Bam Bam got more effective until he was one the bigger guys on any roster. WWF in 1987 was terrible for him.  Gear wise, you'd think he'd change from the black and flames at some point in the next 15 years if he hated it, but that clearly wasn't the case.

[AxB]

Once you get flames tattooed on your head, you're pretty committed to the look, I'd say.

[Technico Support]

@GoodearI assume he stayed in the WWF gear because that's what he wore when he became nationally known and didn't want to change up the branding.  But really good point about Bigelow being big but not 1987 WWF Big.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Technico Support

[Gordi the BJW fan]

25 minutes ago, Goodear said:

 

... Like he seems tiny compared to OMG but Gang's MASSIVE which most people didn't realize. 

 

I think that "Most people don't realise that One Man Gang is massive" just might  be the hottest take we've had in this thread so far  

Edited May 7, 2021 by El Gran Gordi

[Technico Support]

6 minutes ago, El Gran Gordi said:

I think that "Most people don't realise that One Man Gang is massive" just might  be the hottest take we've had in this thread so far  

As @Goodearsaid, that's just 80s WWF for you.  Someday I'll start a "guys you didn't realize were massive when you were watching wrestling in the 80s" thread.

[Goodear]

Allow me to clarify. I'm sure people conceptualize that OMG is big, obviously. But I don't think people really internalized the idea that he's 6'9".

Quote

As @Goodearsaid, that's just 80s WWF for you.  Someday I'll start a "guys you didn't realize were massive when you were watching wrestling in the 80s" thread.

I used to think of Mr. Perfect as an average sized dude. Hennig was 6'3" and jaaaaaaaaacked.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Goodear

[Technico Support]

1 hour ago, Goodear said:

Allow me to clarify. I'm sure people conceptualize that OMG is big, obviously. But I don't think people really internalized the idea that he's 6'9".

I used to think of Mr. Perfect as an average sized dude. Hennig was 6'3" and jaaaaaaaaacked.

Dude, Bret Hart walked past us on the way back to the locker room in the late 80s and we were all freaked the fuck out at how big he was.  In the 80s, anything under (kayfabed weight) 235 was a light heavyweight and if you were billed at 200 (rookie Jeff Jarrett in the Apter mags) you were a joke.  I can't recall anyone anywhere being billed as under 200.

[Loki]

3 hours ago, Goodear said:

Allow me to clarify. I'm sure people conceptualize that OMG is big, obviously. But I don't think people really internalized the idea that he's 6'9".

This. I always knew OMG was big and assumed he was close in size to Bigelow. But after the picture you posted; OMG is quite OMG worthy.

[Curt McGirt]

The "Randy Savage was small" talking point in his Biography made me just wonder how. As in how much cocaine can you consume to make you think the four inches height between Randy Savage and Terry Bollea makes one look small. 

[supremebve]

4 hours ago, Technico Support said:

As @Goodearsaid, that's just 80s WWF for you.  Someday I'll start a "guys you didn't realize were massive when you were watching wrestling in the 80s" thread.

The 90s version has to be the Billy Gunn Memorial thread right?  

I think the Bam Bam Bigelow gear point is valid, but I'm really not sure what he could have worn that would have made sense.  How do you make something that makes that body look good?  At least his gear was distinctive and memorable...that might be the best you can get.  

 

[odessasteps]

There was a PWI article once about the Midnight Rockers that talked how "small" they were for wrestlers, but if you bumped into them in a bar, you'd apologize quickly. 

[Infinit]

Imagine Adam Cole on an 80s WWF roster...he would look like Max Mini lol

[HumanChessgame]

5 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Dude, Bret Hart walked past us on the way back to the locker room in the late 80s and we were all freaked the fuck out at how big he was.  In the 80s, anything under (kayfabed weight) 235 was a light heavyweight and if you were billed at 200 (rookie Jeff Jarrett in the Apter mags) you were a joke.  I can't recall anyone anywhere being billed as under 200.

I remember reading through the PWI 500 throughout the late 90s and being really surprised when I saw wrestlers with billed weights under 200.

[AxB]

When Austin Aries started his career, he was told All Wrestlers are at least 200 pounds, so they started billing him at 203. He was actually like 140 then, like Adam Cole is now.

[supremebve]

8 minutes ago, AxB said:

When Austin Aries started his career, he was told All Wrestlers are at least 200 pounds, so they started billing him at 203. He was actually like 140 then, like Adam Cole is now.

Dude, I know it is piling on, but every time they try to pass him off as 215 or whatever they claim I laugh my ass off.  He's legitimately tiny.  

With that said, the strangest size thing they are trying to pass off right now is claiming that Roman Reigns, who is a large man, is the same size as Drew McIntyre, who projects as massive on television.  

[Shartnado]

4 hours ago, supremebve said:

Dude, I know it is piling on, but every time they try to pass him off as 215 or whatever they claim I laugh my ass off.  He's legitimately tiny.  

With that said, the strangest size thing they are trying to pass off right now is claiming that Roman Reigns, who is a large man, is the same size as Drew McIntyre, who projects as massive on television.  

Especially since they've had matches against each other and you can clearly see they are not "the same size". It's hard for me to estimate HOW much they differ in weight, but clearly Drew is the larger individual of the two.

[Shartnado]

5 hours ago, HumanChessgame said:

I remember reading through the PWI 500 throughout the late 90s and being really surprised when I saw wrestlers with billed weights under 200.

Hearing it told out loud by a ring announcer for the first time was really shocking, too. Also, Rey Mysterio Jr. was billed at 140 in PWI 500 in '95, shows up in WWF in 2002, billed at 202 (but obviously legit bigger than he had ever been before).

[Raziel]

7 hours ago, Shartnado said:

Especially since they've had matches against each other and you can clearly see they are not "the same size". It's hard for me to estimate HOW much they differ in weight, but clearly Drew is the larger individual of the two.

It's only 2 inches, which isn't a lot when they're both significantly taller that half the roster. 

[Shartnado]

45 minutes ago, Raziel said:

It's only 2 inches, which isn't a lot when they're both significantly taller that half the roster. 

Ok, so height wise they are two inches apart (if their actual heights can be sonewhat verified). I wonder how that would translate into difference in their (legit) weight? Roman has gained back the mass he lost during his battle with leukemia, but it would seem that Drew packs more mass, although their builds are different, so it's a bit tricky to tell. Knowing how Drew looked when he started out, I'd guess Roman is naturally heavier individual of the two.

[Raziel]

They're both billed at 265.  Builds are different, but I would've guessed Drew was more in the 280 range.

[zendragon]

Back when HHH was doing Harley Race cosplay as "touring NWA champion" Jeff Jarrett was doing the same thing in TNA and doing it better. I remember Jeff having a really good match against Wildcat Chris Harris back in the weekly ppv days that was as good a version of "Flair vs regional top babyface" as your going to see.

[For Great Justice]

1 hour ago, zendragon said:

Back when HHH was doing Harley Race cosplay as "touring NWA champion" Jeff Jarrett was doing the same thing in TNA and doing it better. I remember Jeff having a really good match against Wildcat Chris Harris back in the weekly ppv days that was as good a version of "Flair vs regional top babyface" as your going to see.

Jarrett vs. Jay Lethal from that era is Jarrett's best match that I've seen

[cwoy2j]

20 hours ago, Raziel said:

They're both billed at 265.  Builds are different, but I would've guessed Drew was more in the 280 range.

The billed weight thing is so weird sometimes. In his book, Hardcore Holly talked about how Vince went through a phase where they wanted to bill everyone at their real weights. So Rey went from like 190 down to 160. But for whatever reason, they kept billing Christian at 230 and Holly at 225. Holly said his weight was more or less accurate but you'd have to be blind to look at him and look at Christian and think that Christian was heavier than he was.

[twiztor]

the other weird thing about billed weight is who cares? unless you making it a part of the wrestler's gimmick (i.e. "the 500lb Monster") then who even pays attention to it? 

if there were even loosely disconnected weight divisions then you could run storylines off it. but it's not. just come up with a system (actual + 20% or something) and be done with it.

[Matt D]

The only weight that matters is "303 pounds."