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Title: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 22, 2010, 07:14:44 PM
I'll use this thread to add Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame entries from the Pro Wrestling Fame or Shame game thread. But also feel free to use it to discuss and talk pro wrestling too. Wrestlemania is upcoming and TNA is set to go head to head against WWE on Mondays so it's an interesting time. I'm a huge fan of old-time wrestling too so I'm open to any kind of respectable discussion (Honestly most of the wrestling boards I've posted on have tended to focus on anything but the respectable) about dem days gone by.

Singles

Hall of Fame

01. Ric Flair
02. Hulk Hogan
03. The Undertaker
04. Terry Funk
05. Gorgeous George
06. Mick Foley
07. Rowdy Roddy Piper
08. Rob Van Dam
09. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
10. Sting
11. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
12. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
13. The Rock
14. Bruno Sammartino
15. Tommy Dreamer
16. Shawn Michaels
17. Kurt Angle
18. Chris Jericho
19. Raven
20. Andre the Giant
21. Tazz
22. William Regal
23. Eddie Guerrero
24. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
25. Booker T.
26. Big Van Vader
27. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
28. Scott Hall/Razor Ramon
29. Bob Backlund
30. Bret "The Hitman" Hart
31. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
32. Sabu
33. Rey Myterio Jr.
34. Magnificent Muraco
35. Triple H
36. Diamond Dallas Page
37. Killer Kowalski
38. "The Franchise" Shane Douglas
39. "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith
40. Samoa Joe
41. "Ravishing" Rick Rude
42. Ultimo Dragon
43. C.M. Punk
44. John Cena
45. 2 Cold Scorpio
46. Ivan Koloff
47. "Exotic" Adrian Street
48. Ron Simmons/Farooq
49. Big Bossman/Big Bubba Rogers/Ray Traylor
50. Ken Shamrock

Hall of Shame

01. Lex Luger
02. Doink the Clown
03. The Sandman
04. Hillbilly Jim
05. The Patriot
06. Goldberg
07. Abdullah the Butcher
08. Owen Hart
09. Sgt. Slaughter
10. Brock Lesnar
11. Jeff Jarrett
12. The Iron Sheik
13. Jesse "The Body" Ventura
14. George "The Animal" Steele
15. Kane
16. Jerry "The King" Lawler
17. Ox Baker
18. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
19. Lance Storm
20. The Brooklyn Brawler/Steve Lombardi
21. Dean Malenko
22. A.J. Styles
23. King Kong Bundy
24. Bam Bam Bigelow
25. The Honky Tonk Man
26. Ronnie Garvin
27. Yoshihiro Tajiri
28. Ernie Ladd
29. Barry Darsow/The Repo Man/The Blacktop Bully
30. Steve Corino
31. "Sycho" Sid Vicious
32. "Flyin'" "Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman
33. "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich
34. Stevie Richards
35. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
36. Pedro Morales
37. The Ultimate Warrior
38. Boris Zukhov
39. "Polish Power" Ivan Putski
40. TAKA Michinoku
41. Disco Inferno/Glenn Gilberti
42. Goldust/Dustin Rhodes/Dustin Runnels/Black Reign
43. Mil Mascaras
44. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner
45. Kevin Nash/Diesel
46. Tony Atlas
47. Magnum T.A.
48. Gangrel/Vampire Warrior
49. "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr.
50. Steve Blackman
51. The One Man Gang/Akeem, the African Dream

Tag Teams

Hall of Fame

01. The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley)
02. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid)
03. The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan)
04. DeGeneration X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H)
05. The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal)
06. Edge & Christian
07. Demolition (Ax & Smash)
08. The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn)
09. The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hitman" Hart & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart)
10. The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay Briscoe)
11. Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon
12. The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus)
13. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson (The Horsemen/The Brain Busters)
14. Rick & Scott Steiner (The Steiner Brothers)
15. The Brothers of Destruction (Kane & The Undertaker)
16. The F.B.I. (Full Blooded Italians) (Little Guido, Tracey Smothers & Tony Mamaluke, numerous other members)
17. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton)
18. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene & Ole Anderson)
19. The Pitbulls (I & II)
20. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
21. Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons)
22. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli)
23. The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika)
24. The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere)
25. The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall)
26. Jack & Jerry Brisco
27. Nick Bockwinkel & Ray "The Crippler" Stevens
28. Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge)
29. The Rock & Sock Connection (The Rock & Mick Foley)
30. Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck
31. Professor Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji
32. The Russians (Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff & Krusher Kruschev)
33. The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy, Johnny & Jerry Valiant)
34. The Gangstas (Mustafa Saed & New Jack)
35. Deuce and Domino
36. The Impact Players (Lance Storm & Justin Credible)
37. The Blue World Order (Big Stevie Cool [Stevie Richards], Da Blue Guy [The Blue Meanie] and Hollywood Nova)
38. The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff
39. Billy and Chuck (Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo)
40. The Midnight Express ("Beautiful" Bobby Eaton & "Sweet" Stan Lane)
41. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques & Raymond Rougeau)
42. The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (Tracey Smothers and Steve Armstrong)
43. The North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis and d**k Murdoch)
44. 3 Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal)
45. The Midnight Rockers/The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels)
46. The Headshrinkers/The Samoan Swat Team/The New Wild Samoans (Samu, Fatu, The Samoan Savage, Sionne, Kokina, Alofa/Ruopa)
47. The Von Erichs (Fritz, Kerry, Kevin, David, Mike, Lance & Chris Von Erich)
48. The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash)

Hall of Shame

01. The Killer Bees (Jumping Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair)
02. Harlem Heat (Booker T. & Stevie Ray)
03. The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy)
04. Pretty Wonderful ("Pretty" Paul Roma & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff)
05. The Moondogs (King, Rex & Spot)
06. Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez
07. The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher)
08. APA/The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Farooq)
09. The Machines (Big, Super & Giant Machine)
10. Danny Doring & Amish Roadkill
11. The Hollywood Blonds (Stunning Steve Austin & Flyin' Brian Pillman)
12. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs)
13. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael "P.S." Hayes, Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy, Buddy "Jack" Roberts & Jimmy "Jam" Garvin)
14. The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre)
15. The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)
16. Strike Force (Tito Santana & Rick Martel)
17. The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and the Warlord)
18. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers)
19. Too Cool (Rikishi Phatu, Grandmaster Sexay & Scotty2Hotty)
20. The Bushwhackers/The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams)
21. The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham)
22. The World's Greatest Tag Team/Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas)
23. The Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake)
24. Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka)
25. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
26. The Hollys (Hardcore Holly, Crash Holly & Molly Holly)
27. Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon
28. The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko)
29. T & A (Test and Albert)
30. Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy
31. Lex Luger & Sting
32. The Executioners (Killer Kowalski & Big John Studd under masks, later joined by Nikolai Volkoff)
33. The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn & Stan Lane)
34. Paul London and Brian Kendrick
35. The Invaders
36. The Yukon Lumberjacks (Yukon Eric and Yukon Pierre)
37. Jung Dragons (Kaz Hayashi, Yang and Jamie-San)
38. The Long Riders/The Super Destroyers ("Wild" Bill and Scott "Hog" Irwin)
39. 3 Count (Shane Helms, Shannon Moore and Evan Karagias)
40. "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers
41. The East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura)
42. Da Baldies (Tony DeVito, Angel, Vito LoGrasso, P.N. News, Vic Grimes, Rod Price & Redd Dogg)
43. The New Breed (Chris Champion and Sean Royal)
44. The Top Guns (Ricky Rice and John Paul/Ricky Rice and Derrick Dukes)
45. The Mongols (Geeto, Beepo and Bolo Mongol)
46. The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip & Pvt. Todd Champion)
47. Well Dunn/The Southern Rockers (Timothy Well and Steven Dunn/Rex King and Steve Doll)
48. PG-13 (J.C. Ice [Jamie Dundee] & Wolfie D.)
49. The Blade Runners (Flash & Rock, better known later as Sting & The Ultimate Warrior)

Managers/Valets

Hall of Fame

01. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
02. The Grand Wizard
03. Captain Lou Albano
04. Classy Freddie Blassie
05. Sensational Sherri Martel
06. Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle III
07. Mr. Fuji
08. James J. Dillon
09. Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart
10. "Precious" Paul Ellering
11. Sir Oliver Humperdink
12. Bill Alfonso
13. Francince, The Queen of Extreme
14. Dawn Marie
15. "Wild" Red Berry
16. "The Sinister Minister" James Mitchell
17. General Skandor Akbar
18. Luna Vachon
19. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie/General Adnan
20. Abu Wizal
21. Harley Race
22. J.R. Foley
23. Rico (Constantino)
24. Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman
25. Queen Sharmell/Paisley
26. Jacqueline (Moore)
27. Ivory
28. Diamond Dallas Page
29. Kevin Sullivan
30. Prince Nana
31. Lita
32. The Dirty White Girl (Kim Anthony)
33. Madusa Miceli
34. Armando Estrada
35. Vickie Guerrero
36. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
37. SoCal Val
38. Baby Doll
39. "Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney
40. Velvet Sky/Talia Madison
41. Elektra
42. James Dudley
43. Daffney/Lucy/Shark Girl/Shannon/The Governor
44. Maria (Kanellis)
45. Julius Smokes

Hall of Shame

01. Miss Elizabeth
02. Sunny/Tammy Lynn Sycth
03. Jim Cornette
04. Paul E. Dangerously/Paul Heyman
05. Gary Hart
06. Colonel Robert Parker/Tennessee Lee
07. Harvey Wippleman/Downtown Bruno
08. The Doctor of Style, Slick
09. Precious (Patty Garvin)
10. Frenchy Martin
11. Terri Runnels/Marlena/Alexandra York
12. Missy Hyatt
13. "Luscious" Johnny V
14. Debra (Marshall/McMicheal)
15. Torrie Wilson
16. Stacy Keibler
17. Arnold Skaaland
18. Jason Knight
19. Chyna
20. Ronnie P. Gossett
21. "Coach" John Tolos
22. Sable
23. The Genius (Lanny Poffo)
24. Shaniqua (Linda Miles)
25. Major Gunns (Tylene Buck)
26. Miss Jackie (Gayda)
27. Jeannie Clark/Lady Blossom
28. Sylvia
29. Cyndi Lauper
30. Tarzan Tyler
31. Sonny Onoo
32. Hector Guerrero
33. Toni Adams
34. Traci Brooks
35. Sapphire
36. Afa the Wild Samoan
37. Joy Giovanni
38. Amy Weber
39. Bill Dundee/Sir William
40. Goldy Locks
41. Gorgeous George (valet)
42. Alicia Fox
43. Spice (of the Nitro Girls)
44. Dutch Mantel/Uncle Zebekiah
45. Tygress
46. Kimona Wanalaya/Leah Meow

Hosts/Announcers

Hall of Fame

01. Rowdy Roddy Piper
02. Jesse "The Body" Ventura
03. Jim Ross
04. Joey Styles
05. Vince K. McMahon
06. Mike Tenay
07. Gorilla Monsoon
08. Ron Trongard
09. Bob Caudle
10. Tazz
11. "Mean" Gene Okerlund
12. Bill Mercer
13. Gordon Solie
14. Matt Striker
15. Lance Russell
16. Jerry "The King" Lawler
17. Terry Funk
18. Eric Gargiulo
19. Paul Heyman
20. Cyrus (Don Callis)
21. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
22. Larry Matysik
23. Al Snow
24. Dave Prazak
25. John House
26. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
27. Billy Red Lyons
28. Josh Matthews
29. Jim Cornette
30. Scott Hudson
31. Dusty Rhodes
32. Kal Rudman
33. Todd Grisham
34. Mick Foley
35. Ernest "The Cat" Miller
36. Raven/Johnny Polo
37. J.B.L.
38. C.M. Punk
39. Bill DeMott
40. "Bulldog" Bob Brown
41. Michael Hayes/Dok Hendrik
42. Carlito
43. Chris Jericho

Hall of Shame

01. Tony Schiavone
02. Brother Love
03. Lord Alfred Hayes
04. Ed Whalen
05. Craig DeGeorge
06. Michael Cole
07. Lee Marshall
08. Kevin Kelly
09. Hector Guerrero
10. Sean Mooney
11. Larry Zbyszko
12. Jonathan Coachman
13. Eric Bischoff
14. Marc Lowrance
15. Marc Lloyd
16. David Crockett
17. George "Crybaby" Cannon
18. Mike Adamle
19. Joel Gertner
19. Bruno Sammartino
20. Mark Madden
21. Larry Nelson
22. Randy Savage
23. David McClane
24. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
25. Donna Gagne
26. Lord James Blears
27. "Adorable" Adrian Adonis
28. Corey Maclin
29. Joe Pedicino
30. Todd Pettengill
31. Steve Romero
32. Ivory
33. M.V.P.
34. Stan Lane
35. Steve "Mongo" McMichael
36. Charlie Minh
37. Lita
38. Mike Hogewood
39. Angelo Mosca
40. Jeremy Borash
41. Marc Lloyd
42. Raymond Rougeau
43. Jack Reynolds


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on March 22, 2010, 09:24:01 PM
Luger to me as stated before was overrated.  He was subpar on the mic and his wrestling ability was a bit boring.  Sure he had the look but immensely lacked the charisma/in-ring style.   Plus his tour on the Lex Express was seriously corny. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuDG_FFgN0E
Its like the poor man's version of Hulk Hogan's Real American.  Try to sit through it all without pausing, its painful. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Joe the Destroyer on March 23, 2010, 02:46:20 AM
God, babyface Lex from '93-'94 was just cheesy.  And why him?  Sure, Hogan was gone and they needed to put someone else in his shoes, but Lex Luger?  Really? 

Sure, they needed someone other than Bret Hart to face Yokozuna at Summerslam 1993, but there were other guys who were way over with the crowd at the time that had been working their asses off.  Mr. Perfect and Tatanka seem to come to mind.  Say what you will about Tatanka, but back when he was still riding the whole "undefeated" thing, he was getting good pop.   I just think it's an insult to all those guys who worked that hard to try to get to top status to have someone like Lex just come on in and take their glory.  It's no wonder so many guys left WWF after about 1993. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 23, 2010, 04:09:09 PM
Your criticisms are valid guys. But the biggest problem I had with Luger was his lack of motivation. Even when he was being carried to solid matches in the NWA by its many talented veterans, it's like he never cared as much as he should and never put the effort into the work, especially interviews, he should have. I read years later that Luger was never really a fan of pro wrestling and only did it for the money and I think it showed through in his work. Batista is probably his closest equivalent these days.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on March 23, 2010, 04:17:38 PM
Is it me or did Luger just and an odd look to him from the neck up?


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 23, 2010, 06:02:33 PM
And Luger's old nemesis, who even carried Luger to some surprisingly good bouts, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair enters the Hall of Fame. Flair obviously patterned himself after Buddy Rogers, the original Nature Boy, but also added elements uniquely his own while seeming to oft times add elements from many of his most valued allies and enemies (a chop similar to Wahoo McDaniel's, a figure four similar to Greg Valentine's). He had great matches with a virtual who's who of the wrestling world including Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, Big Van Vader, Barry Windham, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Wahoo McDaniel, Greg Valentine, Roddy Piper, Blackjack Mulligan, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Undertaker, Edge, Randy Orton, Triple H and so so many others. From the late 70s to the early 90s, very few could match Flair in terms of in-ring performance and sometimes it seemed he could have a good match with a broomstick. And even past his prime in the 2000s, he battled Edge in a brutal TLC match, and had a match for the ages against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24, which was supposed to end his career on an high note.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on March 23, 2010, 06:07:53 PM
What made Flair even better than his wins in the ring was he wasn't afraid to get beaten on to push someone forward.  He was one hell of a seller which sadly doesn't exist much today. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 24, 2010, 08:31:27 AM
Your criticisms are valid guys. But the biggest problem I had with Luger was his lack of motivation. Even when he was being carried to solid matches in the NWA by its many talented veterans, it's like he never cared as much as he should and never put the effort into the work, especially interviews, he should have. I read years later that Luger was never really a fan of pro wrestling and only did it for the money and I think it showed through in his work. Batista is probably his closest equivalent these days.
Goldberg was one of those guys too.  He only got into wrestling after an injury forced him out of football.

However, I think there was a period of time when he was on top where he actually had the motivation to make himself improve (his hot run from '97-'99.)  By the end of WCW I think he lost some of that and was strictly about money, but I think that had more to do with backstage politics than anything else. 

And I give him credit too, cause he was a big supporter of kids cancer causes, often times bringing sick kids on the road and taking them backstage to see everyone, helping them feel better.  Luger didn't have any motivation.

Flair is one of my top three wrestlers, period.  The other two being Mick Foley and Kurt Angle.  Undertaker is a close 4th.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 28, 2010, 10:07:13 AM
What made Flair even better than his wins in the ring was he wasn't afraid to get beaten on to push someone forward.  He was one hell of a seller which sadly doesn't exist much today. 
Same could be said for Terry Funk.

Look at his entire ECW run.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 28, 2010, 12:43:34 PM
Doink the Clown joins the Hall of Shame. A character created by the WWF in its gimmick laden early to mid-90s, a time that really lent itself to a rogue outfit like ECW to break away from the gimmick heavy WWF and WCW of the time. Doink was initially an evil clown character played by veteran wrestler Matt Borne, who had been a mainstay in World Class and USWA in the 80s and early 90s and did have a bout in WWF as Matt Borne at Wrestlemania 1 vs. Ricky Steamboat. The main feud of heel Doink was against then fan favorite Kona Crush, the so-called "Hawaaiin" where he did a double switch with another Doink at Wrestlemania IX. Eventually he would become a somewhat corny fan favorite who came out to the ring with midget veteran Tiger Jackson who was now playing Dink the Clown. The pair had their most notable feud against Bam Bam Bigelow and then manager Luna Vachon. Doink also had three midget clowns team up with him at a Survivor Series to take on Jerry Lawler and three midget kings. Doink was also played by veteran enhancement talent such as Dusty Wolfe (who I'm chatted with on another site in the past and even asked about playing the character), Steve Lombardi the Brooklyn Brawler, John Maloof and Ray Apollo at different points in time. He still pops up on the independent scene from time to time played sometimes by Wolfe, sometimes by others. He won the following awards:

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1994)
Worst Feud of the Year (1994) vs. Jerry Lawler
Worst Worked Match of the Year (1994) with Dink, Pink and Wink vs. Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy at Survivor Series


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Psycho Circus on March 28, 2010, 01:12:30 PM
Doink the Clown joins the Hall of Shame.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  :buggedout: :bluesad:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on March 28, 2010, 05:28:43 PM
Sorry Circus and all Doink fans, I never dug him.  As everyone has been saying, the evil clown thing rocked. Then it got to be too silly.  You had Dink who was the midget version of Doink accompany him to the ring. Keep in mind this isn't a knock on the wrestler himself, however the gimmick totally killed the focus on his in-ring abilitiy. A buddy of mine was at a live event and I think he said he tried to kick Dink because he hated him so much.  I did like his finisher, The Whoopie Cushion...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnaj7Cqyqpg


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 28, 2010, 06:35:42 PM
Sorry Circus and all Doink fans, I never dug him.  As everyone has been saying, the evil clown thing rocked. Then it got to be too silly.  You had Dink who was the midget version of Doink accompany him to the ring. Keep in mind this isn't a knock on the wrestler himself, however the gimmick totally killed the focus on his in-ring abilitiy. A buddy of mine was at a live event and I think he said he tried to kick Dink because he hated him so much.  I did like his finisher, The Whoopie Cushion...
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnaj7Cqyqpg[/url]

Doink rocked. 

Cheesy, yes.  But I liked him. :teddyr:

Oddly, I also liked Bob Holly.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 31, 2010, 12:43:57 PM
Disturbingly enough, Dusty Wolfe once informed me that Doink's make-up was based on that worn by serial killer John Wayne Gacy.  :buggedout:

The evil Doink had a coolness factor to him that the babyface Doink just did not.

Also now joining the Hall of Fame is Hulk Hogan. This pretty much goes without saying. Hulkamania in the 1980s made pro wrestling more widely popular than it had ever been before and to this day when people think of professional wrestling, the name and face that comes to most minds is that of Hulk Hogan.  

As a youngster, I liked Hogan when he was in the AWA, which is really where Hulkamania started but there Nick Bockwinkel always managed to find some underhanded means to hang on to his AWA World Title. Then when the Iron Sheik upset "All-American" Bob Backlund for the WWF World Title in late 1983, Hogan was brought in as a challenger in 1984 and quickly disposed of the Sheik winning his first WWF World Title and Hulkamania thereafter exploded. Honestly after a while, I kind of got a bit sick of Hogan's domination and soon started cheering the heels against him but even as I hated Hogan, he still got me watching him. He still keep me entertained and I had to eventually admit I liked watching Hogan wrestle, even though he was never a great in-ring performer. But Hulk Hogan always had that "It" factor, that natural charisma that very few are born with. He will likely always be remembered by many wrestling fans as the greatest wrestling entertainer of his era and he probably was too. He went on to win numerous more World Championships in both WWF/WWE and WCW and even as an heel in WCW with the NWO in the late 1990s, he was still stealing the show.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on March 31, 2010, 05:42:51 PM
Hogan simply knew how to put on a show with hardly a bit of wrestling talent.   He was the perfect thing for cold war 80s wrestling.  Granted I too got sick of his domination of the sport which undoubtedly is due to his giant ego backstage.  However, you simply can't take away his legacy in the sport as Jase already described.  His heel turn was honestly the most shocking and epic heel turns of all time. And...he made that thing work oddly making him popular once again.

I recall seeing him live during the height of his 80s popularity.  I recall him coming out, looking up at where I was sitting and pointing at us.  I swear, this is still one of the coolest images I have stored in my memory. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 31, 2010, 07:03:50 PM
People may talk about ego, but Hogan rightfully deserves to be in any sort of wrestling 'hall of fame' so to speak. 

A lot of people my age probably wouldn't even be watching wrestling if it wasn't for Hogan.  He was the superhero type we all had as a kid in the '80s, and with him, Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior and Ric Flair, were the guys who drew us in.

I never got to see him live though. :bluesad:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 01, 2010, 04:58:46 PM
The Undertaker enters the Hall of Fame. I think of all wrestling gimmick guys, he's one the most deserving to go into a pro wrestling Hall of Fame. The gimmick has always worked and gotten over with the fans and Undertaker has more often than not played it up to the hilt. He's surprisingly convincing in his role and seems to truly know how to play up the theatrics associated with his most successful character. Undertaker started off in the late 1980s Memphis, USWA and World Class Wrestling under many different guises and names sometimes wrestling under a mask and called himself stuff like The Master of Pain and The Punisher. He would move to WCW shortly thereafter and would be given the lame name "Mean" Mark. Well "Mean" Mark's true talents may not have been recognized or given a chance to shine in WCW but when he arrived in the WWF in the early 1990s as Kane the Undertaker, the gimmick went over like gold. He started off as a successful, practically unbeatable heel monster battling the likes of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage and would eventually turn into a huge crowd favourite given his constant success and the fact he never seemed to back down from any fight. He would go on to win numerous WWF World and World Tag Team Titles defeating a virtual who's who of the wrestling world including Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Sid Vicious, Bret Hart, Batista, C.M. Punk just to name a few. He of course has the 18-0 undefeated streak at Wrestlemania, a feat that is not likely to be ever again be matched by any other wrestling performer. At Wrestlemania he's defeated numerous top stars such as Jimmy Snuka, Jake Roberts, Ric Flair, Triple H, Big Bossman, King Kong Bundy, Giant Gonzales, Albert, Big Show, Mark Henry, Kane, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Diesel Kevin Nash and Edge.  His had feuds with numerous monsters of the ring including Kamala, Bundy, Gonzales, Big Show and many more and fought in great matches with the likes of the Rock, Austin, Flair, Hogan, Bret Hart, Ken Shamrock, HBK, HHH and numerous others. He totally belongs in a pro wrestling Hall of Fame.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 05, 2010, 09:03:40 PM
The Sandman joins the Hall of Shame. Technically the Sandman contributed very much to a major change in professional wrestling in the mid-1990s as ECW became popular and rules in the ring began to get fazed out more and more. Personally I've never truly cared for the hardcore style of pro wrestling although I have to admit it has led to some entertaining bloody in ring brawls. But it's mostly a style employed by wrestlers who truthfully cannot really wrestle. They make up for a lack of in-ring skills by using and being hit with weapons. Sandman's favourite weapon in wrestling has long been the Singapore cane and he's used that weapon probably far more effectively than any other grappler. Thing is I'm not really sure that's in and of itself a major achievement. Yet Sandman was a major influence without any doubt IMO on one "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He was certainly smoking and drinking on his way to the ring years before Austin was doing beer baths. It's also interesting to note that Sandman's success outside of ECW was very limited although he did win the WCW Hardcore Title as Hardcore Hak and did compete surprisingly long for WWE. Sandman also should be given a nod for his disturbing psychological feud with Raven in ECW over his son and ex. Sandman is a multi-time ECW Champion.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on April 05, 2010, 09:41:11 PM
The Undertaker has a look that fit the gimmick.  Though the gimmick got silly at times (especially with the urn power source) I was usually able to look past how goofy it got.  I was more of a fan of his when he was a heel, especially when he first came out and attacked the Ultimate Warrior.  I should also add he also had great agility for a big man in the ring. 

The Sandman, I respect his endeavors to promote his brand of wrestling.  And yes, Stone Cold was a latecomer to Sandman's antics in the ring.  I kind of grew away from his style of wrestling after awhile.  One can only see so many chair and cane shots before the antics grow less shocking. Hence, why I was voting against him.   I did see him wrestle live at an ECW (pre WWE buyout) event in Worcester MA.  He was fighting an opponant in the crowd right next to me.  Fun times. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 10, 2010, 08:04:52 PM
The Sandman joins the Hall of Shame. Technically the Sandman contributed very much to a major change in professional wrestling in the mid-1990s as ECW became popular and rules in the ring began to get fazed out more and more. Personally I've never truly cared for the hardcore style of pro wrestling although I have to admit it has led to some entertaining bloody in ring brawls. But it's mostly a style employed by wrestlers who truthfully cannot really wrestle. They make up for a lack of in-ring skills by using and being hit with weapons. Sandman's favourite weapon in wrestling has long been the Singapore cane and he's used that weapon probably far more effectively than any other grappler. Thing is I'm not really sure that's in and of itself a major achievement. Yet Sandman was a major influence without any doubt IMO on one "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He was certainly smoking and drinking on his way to the ring years before Austin was doing beer baths. It's also interesting to note that Sandman's success outside of ECW was very limited although he did win the WCW Hardcore Title as Hardcore Hak and did compete surprisingly long for WWE. Sandman also should be given a nod for his disturbing psychological feud with Raven in ECW over his son and ex. Sandman is a multi-time ECW Champion.
ECW and it's violence didn't endear itself to everybody.  But I think for all his limitations as an in ring competitor (he certainly couldn't go hold for hold with a guy like Dean Malenko, for example) his character, as stated, helped paved the way for some other characters that became more popular (Stone Cold, a couple others.). 

ECW, for all it's hardcore antics, helped both WCW and WWE change the way they did business, for sure.  They were promoting directly to the 18-34 demographic at a time when WWE was feeding us Papa Shango and Ultimate Warrior and WCW was giving us Sting (great wrestler) and "Arachniman" Brad Armstrong.  And, despite ECW's reliance on the "hardcore" style, it did offer great WRESTLING as well, bringing in guys like Malenko, Guerrero, Benoit, Too Cold Scorpio, Perry Saturn, Rey Mysterio, Psychosis, Ron "Faarooq" Simmons, and Konnan, amongst others, who could actually do straight WRESTLING matches.  Also utilizing some legends like Terry Funk and Jimmy Snuka early on, as well as Dusty Rhodes at the end of it's run.  Yeah, everyone remembers the violence, but forgets guys like Tajiri, CW Anderson, Steve Corino, Simon Diamond and Mikey Whipwreck, who could do the blood and guts as well as technical masterpieces.  It was a niche promotion that I would've loved to have seen last longer, but unfortunately, it didn't.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 15, 2010, 09:08:51 PM
Hillbilly Jim joins the Hall of Shame. Hillbilly Jim started out in the WWF as a "fan" in the audience who would be seen week after week until finally he would eventually get involved in the ring hoping to defend and be trained by his favourite the Hulkster Hulk Hogan after rejecting offers from then heel "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. We soon thereafter learned that Jim practiced "Rasslin'" at home and would thereafter become a WWF mainstay during the mid to late 1980s. He was just a jovial, good natured country boy that the vast majority of fans took an instant liking to. He was also quite a big man, weighing in at over 300 pounds and being well over 6 foot tall (6'7"), he was an imposing big man in country overalls. He would go on to have feuds with many stars most notably the likes of Piper, King Kong Bundy and the Magnificent Muraco. He would even get into a feud with Mr. Fuji that unfortunately resulted in a gimmick tuxedo match where the goal was the rip off each other's clothes  :buggedout:. Hillbilly was so popular with WWF Fans that the WWF eventually brought in more Hillbilly "family" members including Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke and Cousin Junoir, none of whom had the lasting power or memorableness of Hillbilly Jim. Hillbilly's biggest matches were probably his Wrestlemania III match where he teamed with two midgets Little Beaver and The Haiti Kid against King Kong Bundy and two midgets Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo which saw Bundy attack poor Little Beaver; his match at Survivor Series 1988 where he was on Hulk Hogan's team and an appearance in the Wrestlemania II battle royal. Hillbilly Jim would return to wrestling in the late 1990s as the manager of Henry O. and Phineas I. Godwinn, a team who would win the WWF Tag Team Titles. Hillbilly Jim still acts as something of a goodwill ambassador and is still employed in some fashion by WWE (video department I think) and something still makes special guest appearances at special WWE Events.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 16, 2010, 10:04:55 PM
Terry Funk enters the Hall of Fame. Funk is a former NWA World Champion from back in the time and era that truly meant something. He is from the famous Funk family and is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and the brother of fellow former NWA World Champion Dory Funk Jr.. The Funks are the only brothers to have both held that honour. Funk of course was always a great brawler throughout his entire career but back in his NWA Championship days, he could go hold for hold with anyone too. Funk has been in numerous feuds over the years most resulting in wild, bloody brawls in and out of the ring.  The Funk brothers were also a great tag team who appeared all over the world and are perhaps best remembered for their feuds with the Briscoes and Sheik & Abdullah the Butcher. Some of Funk's greatest foes in his singles feuds have included Dusty Rhodes, Junkyard Dog, Ric Flair (who he had a very memorable feud with in 1989 culminating in a terrific "I Quit" Match), Jerry Lawler, Cactus Jack and many many more. Funk has competed in some of the most brutal hardcore and death matches in wrestling history but was doing so long before they became popular. ECW fans will certainly remember Funk as a middle aged and crazy grappler who was always willing to put his body on the line to entertain the fans whether battling Sabu or The Sandman or whoever else dared get in the ring with him. Terry Funk always seemed to give 110 percent in the ring and the fans loved and respected him for that (even when they booed him).


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 18, 2010, 09:05:30 AM
Terry Funk enters the Hall of Fame. ECW fans will certainly remember Funk as a middle aged and crazy grappler who was always willing to put his body on the line to entertain the fans whether battling Sabu or The Sandman or whoever else dared get in the ring with him. Terry Funk always seemed to give 110 percent in the ring and the fans loved and respected him for that (even when they booed him).
That was my introduction to Funk.  I kinda respect him for being willing to go and do moonsaults off ladders at 55 years old with two tremendously bad knees in an effort to help 'put over' guys like Sandman, Raven and Sabu.  And it worked.  Like them or not, Funk did indeed help put em on the map.

And he's crazy popular in Japan. :teddyr:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on April 18, 2010, 03:30:45 PM
Funk is a great role model for all young wrestlers.  As Happy said, he's put his body through hell mostly to help the younger guys get over.  You'd never see that from the likes of several egomanaics out there in the ring. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 21, 2010, 04:38:48 PM
Gorgeous George joins the Hall of Fame. George Wagner was a somewhat successful wrestler who saw his potential come to full realization when he started calling himself Gorgeous George donning fancy robes, being accompanied to the ring by a valet, adding "Pomp and Circumstance", putting fancy pins in and bleaching his blond hair, taking on effeminate qualities and generally acting as he was better than everyone else. George started making grand entrances and pro wrestling was changed forever. George was a Television media sensation, the man people loved to hate, the man they wanted to see get his, get brought down a peg or two, but were also fascinated enough with to tune in to see what he might wear, what he might say, what he might do every week. Gorgeous George was and still is one of professional wrestling's most charismatic  and flamboyant heels ever. He was actually quite capable in the ring too sometimes using underhanded means to gain quite a prominent win record. "The Toast of the Coast", "The Human Orchid", "The Sensation of the Nation" is well remembered for bouts with the likes of Lou Thesz, Whipper Watson, Bruno Sammartino, The Destroyer and so many more. He is often remembered for putting his blond locks on the line in Hair matches ultimately losing his hair twice.

The Patriot joins the Hall of Shame. In terms of physique few could match Del Wilkes, although it almost certainly was achieved in large part due to the use of steroids. He had all the look you'd assume a wrestler would need to be a major star and the masked Patriot gimmick seemed a natural fit for him. It was certainly a step up from the cheesy police Trooper gimmick Wilkes started out with in the AWA where Wilkes' first appeared as the AWA was practically on its deathbed. There he would win an AWA tag team title with D. J. Peterson. He would go on to greater success in Global, where he was their headline Champion, and later WCW, where he won several WCW tag team titles with Marcus Alexander Bagwell feuding mainly with Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma. After stints in Japan, eventually the Patriot would arrive in the WWF in the mid-90s and get himself into an heated feud with Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation. Sadly for all Wilkes' looks and his adequate, but certainly not great, ring skills, he just seemed to lack that essential something to make fans care about him. In fact, I'd bet a lot of people don't even remember him being involved at that time given the interest was more in grapplers like Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. Even Psycho Sid and Vader seemed to interest fans more than the Patriot ever did and technically he pretty much lost his patriotic feud against Bret Hart in a series of flag matches. Patriot was more like a wrestler from another era, like someone you'd expect to have been a top star in the 70s and 80s, yet lacked the charisma to truly ever be a top headliner as evidenced perhaps by the failure of Global Wrestling.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 21, 2010, 08:53:49 PM

The Patriot joins the Hall of Shame.   Even Psycho Sid and Vader seemed to interest fans more than the Patriot ever did 
Well, in all fairness to Vader, he was pretty damn entertaining.  Not so much Psycho Sid.

Although, I prefer say, '93 Vader to '97 Vader.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on April 22, 2010, 11:36:33 AM

The Patriot joins the Hall of Shame.   Even Psycho Sid and Vader seemed to interest fans more than the Patriot ever did  
Well, in all fairness to Vader, he was pretty damn entertaining.  Not so much Psycho Sid.

Although, I prefer say, '93 Vader to '97 Vader.
Vader was a monster back in the day and he was agile.  He did say in an interview he learned a lot of his scratch from Bam Bam Bigelow.  However, Vader in WWE was a joke and horribly misused.

Quote
Gorgeous George joins the Hall of Fame. George Wagner was a somewhat successful wrestler who saw his potential come to full realization when he started calling himself Gorgeous George donning fancy robes, being accompanied to the ring by a valet, adding "Pomp and Circumstance", putting fancy pins in and bleaching his blond hair, taking on effeminate qualities and generally acting as he was better than everyone else. George started making grand entrances and pro wrestling was changed forever. George was a Television media sensation, the man people loved to hate, the man they wanted to see get his, get brought down a peg or two, but were also fascinated enough with to tune in to see what he might wear, what he might say, what he might do every week. Gorgeous George was and still is one of professional wrestling's most charismatic  and flamboyant heels ever. He was actually quite capable in the ring too sometimes using underhanded means to gain quite a prominent win record. "The Toast of the Coast", "The Human Orchid", "The Sensation of the Nation" is well remembered for bouts with the likes of Lou Thesz, Whipper Watson, Bruno Sammartino, The Destroyer and so many more. He is often remembered for putting his blond locks on the line in Hair matches ultimately losing his hair twice.

My father used to tell me about Gorgeous George when I was growing up.  Since then I've watched a lot of his matches.  His theatrics were pure genius and were gauranteed to garnish heat on him.  For what fans put Goldust through was probably nothing compared to the stuff GG took on back in the day.  He was the original flamboyant heel people loved to hate.  Many modern wrestlers owe their gimmicks in some way to him. And non-pro wrestlers as well...from wikipedia...

Quote
Muhammad Ali and James Brown acknowledged that their own approach to flamboyant self-promotion was influenced by George. A 19-year old Ali met a 46-year old George at a Las Vegas radio station. During George's radio interview, the wrestler's promo caught the attention of the future heavyweight champion. If George lost to Classy Freddie Blassie, George exclaimed, "I'll crawl across the ring and cut my hair off! But that's not gonna happen because I'm the greatest wrestler in the world!" Ali recalled, "I saw 15,000 people comin' to see this man get beat. And his talking did it. I said, 'This is a gooood idea!'" In the locker room afterward, the seasoned wrestler gave the future legend some invaluable advice: "A lot of people will pay to see someone shut your mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing and always be outrageous."



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 22, 2010, 08:58:24 PM

The Patriot joins the Hall of Shame.   Even Psycho Sid and Vader seemed to interest fans more than the Patriot ever did  
Well, in all fairness to Vader, he was pretty damn entertaining.  Not so much Psycho Sid.

Although, I prefer say, '93 Vader to '97 Vader.
Vader was a monster back in the day and he was agile.  He did say in an interview he learned a lot of his scratch from Bam Bam Bigelow.  However, Vader in WWE was a joke and horribly misused.

Quote
Gorgeous George joins the Hall of Fame. George Wagner was a somewhat successful wrestler who saw his potential come to full realization when he started calling himself Gorgeous George donning fancy robes, being accompanied to the ring by a valet, adding "Pomp and Circumstance", putting fancy pins in and bleaching his blond hair, taking on effeminate qualities and generally acting as he was better than everyone else. George started making grand entrances and pro wrestling was changed forever. George was a Television media sensation, the man people loved to hate, the man they wanted to see get his, get brought down a peg or two, but were also fascinated enough with to tune in to see what he might wear, what he might say, what he might do every week. Gorgeous George was and still is one of professional wrestling's most charismatic  and flamboyant heels ever. He was actually quite capable in the ring too sometimes using underhanded means to gain quite a prominent win record. "The Toast of the Coast", "The Human Orchid", "The Sensation of the Nation" is well remembered for bouts with the likes of Lou Thesz, Whipper Watson, Bruno Sammartino, The Destroyer and so many more. He is often remembered for putting his blond locks on the line in Hair matches ultimately losing his hair twice.

My father used to tell me about Gorgeous George when I was growing up.  Since then I've watched a lot of his matches.  His theatrics were pure genius and were gauranteed to garnish heat on him.  For what fans put Goldust through was probably nothing compared to the stuff GG took on back in the day.  He was the original flamboyant heel people loved to hate.  Many modern wrestlers owe their gimmicks in some way to him. And non-pro wrestlers as well...from wikipedia...

Quote
Muhammad Ali and James Brown acknowledged that their own approach to flamboyant self-promotion was influenced by George. A 19-year old Ali met a 46-year old George at a Las Vegas radio station. During George's radio interview, the wrestler's promo caught the attention of the future heavyweight champion. If George lost to Classy Freddie Blassie, George exclaimed, "I'll crawl across the ring and cut my hair off! But that's not gonna happen because I'm the greatest wrestler in the world!" Ali recalled, "I saw 15,000 people comin' to see this man get beat. And his talking did it. I said, 'This is a gooood idea!'" In the locker room afterward, the seasoned wrestler gave the future legend some invaluable advice: "A lot of people will pay to see someone shut your mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing and always be outrageous."


Vader was horribly, horribly misused in WWE.  Which is two things: disappointing, but not shocking.  For a big man he was able to move (somewhat), had a fan following and a stiff style.  If utilized properly, he could've had decent feuds with a few people, but I suppose it wasn't meant to be.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 23, 2010, 12:16:35 PM
Actually Vader was misused I'd argue before he came to WWF by WCW. He never truly recovered from Hogan's no-selling his power bomb finisher and losing matches to the likes of a much past his prime Hacksaw Duggan before coming to WWF. The way Vader was used in WCW in 92-93 though and Japan before that was awesome.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 23, 2010, 08:34:40 PM
The way Vader was used in WCW in 92-93 though and Japan before that was awesome.
That's about the time I was a fan of his.  I liked his little feud with Cactus Jack, and the stuff I've seen of him in Japan was great.  Some things never work out the way they should though. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 27, 2010, 10:43:20 PM
Goldberg joins the Hall of Shame. In WCW in the late 1990s, fans were craving something new and exciting as since the mid-90s, WCW was largely dominated by established veterans such as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan (although Hogan revived career interest by turning heel)), Sting, Lex Luger, Roddy Piper and Randy Savage.  Former Pro Football Player turned Jewish Wrestling Monster Goldberg seemed to fit the bill. Goldberg soon amassed an enormous amount of wins using his spear and "jackhammer" finishers and started his famous streak which would catapult his popularity and see his stock rise considerably as WCW seemed to be focusing more on wrestling as "sport". Goldberg would soon go on to win the WCW United States from Raven and eventually the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from the one and only Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Goldberg's won-loss streak reached 173-0 until finally it was ended by Kevin Nash and a cattle prod weilding run-in by Scott Hall. Goldberg's career never seemed to fully recover from the loss or subsequent heel turns. Goldberg would go on to win another WCW United States Title from Sid Vicious, a WCW Tag Team Title with Bret Hart. After a stint in Japan, Goldberg would eventually turn up in WWE in 2003 and would eventually upend Triple H for a somewhat short-lived World Title reign. But it was evident by 2004 that Goldberg was no longer the popular grappler he was in WCW in the late 1990s, a popularity that even rivaled Stone Cold Steve Austin at that time. Fans grew tired of Goldberg as was evidenced by his lackluster Wrestlemania XX match with Brock Lesnar where fans seemed to care far more about guest referee Steve Austin than the departing Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg (ironically both would eventually end up participating in MMA), both of whom it seems fans learned were in it for the money and the celebrity and not for the love of the wrestling business. Goldberg never did recover from the streak ending as wrestling's writers seemed clueless as to what to do with him afterwards.

Mick Foley joins the Hall of Fame. Being inspired by Jimmy Snuka's leap off the cage on to Magnificent Muraco, Mick Foley decided to get involved in pro wrestling and sought out training which he eventually got from Dominic DeNucci's wrestling school. During this time, Foley worked in squash matches as Jack Foley on WWF Tapings where he typically got destroyed.  After several years in the independents, Foley eventually ended up in Memphis' CWA as Cactus Jack - a part of the Stud Stable winning the CWA Tag Titles with Gorgeous Gary Young. Foley would move to World Class Championship Wrestling as part of General Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. army under the name Cactus Jack Manson. After a brief stint in Alabama's Continental Wrestling, Cactus Jack showed up briefly in WCW for the first time jobbing to legendary masked wrestler Mil Mascaras. Following that Foley would move as Cactus Jack to compete for Herb Abrams' short-lived UWF and often was a standout there competing with the likes of Magnificent Muraco, Brian Blair and teaming often with Cowboy Bob Orton Jr.. After leaving UWF, Foley ended up in Tri-State Wrestling where they featured a more violent brawling style well suited to Foley/Cactus Jack. Cactus's reputation grew and he was eventually brought back into WCW. He did much better this time feuding with the likes of Sting, Big Van Vader and Paul Orndorff. Eventually he would win WCW Tag Team Titles with Kevin Sullivan and have a memorable feud with the Nasty Boys. After leaving WCW in 1994, Foley would end up in ECW where his Cactus Jack legend would grow even larger. He would win two ECW Tag Titles with underdog Mikey Whipwreck. The legend grew even more after Cactus competed in and won one of Japan's IWA King of the Death Match tournaments. Following this Foley returned to ECW and did his brilliant anti-hardcore promos and played up the idea of being a WWF supporter which when you think about it is a lot wiser that getting your body pulverized night after night in hardcore and death matches. Foley of course was soon heading to the WWF under the guise of Mankind, a brilliantly twisted psycho who seemed to like both giving and enduring pain. He would go on to have successful feuds with the Undertaker and would challenge Shawn Michaels in a great match for the WWF Title at Mind Games in 1996. Foley would go on to have quite a storied WWF career feuding also quite a bit with Triple H, the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Foley would eventually be a constant main event WWF headliner from 1997-1999 although he also added a third identity in Dude Love, a party loving wrestler who just wanted to spread the love, the identity which also tended to see him get beat up the least. Foley would win the WWF Tag Team Titles 8 Times with 5 different partners including The Rock (3 times), Kane (twice), Al Snow, Chainsaw Charlie Terry Funk and Steve Austin. Foley also held the WWF Hardcore Title and would win the WWF Heavyweight Title 3 times, a title hardly anyone ever expected him to win at one time and interestingly enough, it might very well have been Foley's title win that began to turn the tide in the WCW-WWF Monday Night Wars as Eric Bischoff's downplaying and ridiculing Foley's win had the unexpected result of getting many WCW viewers to switch over to Raw to catch Foley's title victory (Raw was taped at the time). After sporadic stints in WWE over the last decade, Foley eventually moved to TNA in 2008 shockingly winning the TNA World Championship at one point despite wrestling only sporadically nowadays.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 28, 2010, 08:55:49 AM
I remember Goldberg showing up in WWE and their writers having NO clue what to do with him, as he was wearing a blonde wig in a comedy bit.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 03, 2010, 11:18:37 PM
Abdullah the Butcher joins the Hall of Shame. In pro wrestling, Abdullah is generally recognized as a cult legend. One of the forefathers of the later more popular Hardcore style of the 1990s but Abby, "The Madman from the Sudan" (he's actually from Ontario) was doing wild brawls, throwing chairs (sometimes even into the audience sending everyone scurrying for cover!), flipping tables gnashing and biting foreheads and scrapping plastic, and sometimes real?!, forks and knives across his opponents' foreheads whenever the referee wasn't looking decades before. In fact, he started back in 1958! In terms of in-ring ability, Abby was very limited but could in his younger days move surprisingly well and could deliver a rather devastating running elbowdrop and could also deliver brutal chops and a dropkick! He is legend for his wild brawls and bloody feuds with Bruiser Brody, Dusty Rhodes, sometimes ally the Sheik, Carlos Colon, the Funks, Maniac Mark Lewin, Dino Bravo and many more. He competed all over the globe but arguably had his best success in Canada (Stampede & Canadian International), Japan and Puerto Rico (WWC). His most high profile run was in WCW in the 90s when he feuded with Sting and Cactus Jack but this was a somewhat toned down more PC acceptable past his prime Abby by this point. You could argue he was more a cult icon who blazed brightly for short periods wherever he went until he sort of wore out his welcome and moved on to new pastures at least in the U.S. whereas his international popularity seemed to remain more consistent.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 05, 2010, 11:12:11 PM
Rowdy Roddy Piper joins the Hall of Fame. There are a few in wrestling who are true groundbreakers, trailblazers - those who take the sport/show to new territory. Piper was arguably as responsible for WWF's mid-80s boom as much as was Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon. As the top heel in the WWF and main foil for Hulk Hogan, Piper dominated the spotlight and was just a brilliant heel, absolutely one of the best at getting fans to care - to either hate him or later on love him. He was truly one of a kind in pro wrestling. His Piper's Pit host segment was the best of its kind ever in wrestling. No show since has come close to creating the same level of contoversy and excitement. Piper wasn't afraid of being political incorrect and often played up racial stereotypes to get the fans booing and hating him. It worked quite well. Piper's feud with Hogan was probably his most significant and one of his most memorable but he also had brutal battles and feuds with Greg Valentine (Here Piper was babyface in NWA before coming to WWF and feuded with Valentine after Valentine brutally attacked him and hurt his ear leading to their infamous bloody dog collar match at Starrcade '83. Piper of course would two years later factor significantly into WWF's major event for decades to come- the first Wrestlemania.) and Jimmy Snuka (after bashing him in the head with a coconut on Piper's Pit) in particular. Piper would of course turn face in a major way in 1987 feuding with Adrian Adonis, Cowboy Bob Orton (his former right hand bodyguard) and Magnificent Muraco after The Flower Shop had replaced his Piper's Pit show. He briefly tangled with old ally Paul Orndorff and Harley Race too and would reluctantly team with old rival Hogan. Adonis would lose an hair match to Piper at Wrestlemania III after which Piper briefly retired to pursue a movie career, his most notable films being They Live and Hell Comes to Frogtown. In 1990 Piper would return to the WWF doing some commentating work before returning to the ring to feud with Rick Rude and Ric Flair eventually upending the Mountie for a WWF Intercontinental Title reign, the only WWF title he would win in the 90s, a title he would eventually lose to Bret Hart in a great match at Wrestlemania 8. In the late 90s despite a bad hip, Piper would once more return to wrestling this time in WCW and would resume his old feud with Hulk Hogan, who was now Hollywood Hogan - a kind of reversal of their traditional roles as Piper was now the babyface . Piper would also resume his feud with Flair and would upend Bret Hart for the United States title gaining a measure of revenge for Hart's I-C defeat of him years earlier. A way past his prime Piper would continue to sporadically appear in TNA and WWE eventually even winning a tag title with Ric Flair in WWE and even managing to insert himself into some main events on occasion. Actually he may still pop up from time to time in wrestling to this day. One thing is for certain, when Piper is around no one is certain just what he might say or do and that's long been the norm for the Rowdy one and I don't think many fans would have had it any other way then or now.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 06, 2010, 06:16:01 AM
Rowdy Roddy Piper joins the Hall of Fame. There are a few in wrestling who are true groundbreakers, trailblazers - those who take the sport/show to new territory. Piper was arguably as responsible for WWF's mid-80s boom as much as was Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon. As the top heel in the WWF and main foil for Hulk Hogan, Piper dominated the spotlight and was just a brilliant heel, absolutely one of the best at getting fans to care - to either hate him or later on love him. He was truly one of a kind in pro wrestling. His Piper's Pit host segment was the best of its kind ever in wrestling. No show since has come close to creating the same level of contoversy and excitement. Piper wasn't afraid of being political incorrect and often played up racial stereotypes to get the fans booing and hating him. It worked quite well. Piper's feud with Hogan was probably his most significant and one of his most memorable but he also had brutal battles and feuds with Greg Valentine (Here Piper was babyface in NWA before coming to WWF and feuded with Valentine after Valentine brutally attacked him and hurt his ear leading to their infamous bloody dog collar match at Starrcade '83. Piper of course would two years later factor significantly into WWF's major event for decades to come- the first Wrestlemania.) and Jimmy Snuka (after bashing him in the head with a coconut on Piper's Pit) in particular. Piper would of course turn face in a major way in 1987 feuding with Adrian Adonis, Cowboy Bob Orton (his former right hand bodyguard) and Magnificent Muraco after The Flower Shop had replaced his Piper's Pit show. He briefly tangled with old ally Paul Orndorff and Harley Race too and would reluctantly team with old rival Hogan. Adonis would lose an hair match to Piper at Wrestlemania III after which Piper briefly retired to pursue a movie career, his most notable films being They Live and Hell Comes to Frogtown. In 1990 Piper would return to the WWF doing some commentating work before returning to the ring to feud with Rick Rude and Ric Flair eventually upending the Mountie for a WWF Intercontinental Title reign, the only WWF title he would win in the 90s, a title he would eventually lose to Bret Hart in a great match at Wrestlemania 8. In the late 90s despite a bad hip, Piper would once more return to wrestling this time in WCW and would resume his old feud with Hulk Hogan, who was now Hollywood Hogan - a kind of reversal of their traditional roles as Piper was now the babyface . Piper would also resume his feud with Flair and would upend Bret Hart for the United States title gaining a measure of revenge for Hart's I-C defeat of him years earlier. A way past his prime Piper would continue to sporadically appear in TNA and WWE eventually even winning a tag title with Ric Flair in WWE and even managing to insert himself into some main events on occasion. Actually he may still pop up from time to time in wrestling to this day. One thing is for certain, when Piper is around no one is certain just what he might say or do and that's long been the norm for the Rowdy one and I don't think many fans would have had it any other way then or now.
Late '80s, every kid had a Hogan lunchbox when they went to school.  Me:I had a Piper one.  Why? Cause he was the man.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on May 06, 2010, 10:56:27 AM
My father was a fan of Rowdy Roddy which made me a fan too.  Piper used to wear a shirt with a panther's face on it.  I actually had one similar as a kid.  


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 07, 2010, 11:36:07 PM
The Killer Bees join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. Truthfully I always thought Jumping Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair were a pretty solid tag team and they certainly did have some great matches particularly against the Hart Foundation. Brunzell of course had been in a very successful AWA tag team with Greg Gagne called the High Flyers while Blair had toiled away as a singles star for many years. Together Blair and Brunzell were fast, quick, tough and talented but they just lacked that something extra to put them on top. They were also one of the first tag teams to do the masked switch, unusual in that they were almost always a face team. At one point, they did turn heel on Hogan but not many will even remember that. After a short but not altogether memorable WWF run through the mid to late 80s,  the Killer Bees would later reunite around 1990 in Herb Abrams UWF. Truthfully Brunzell would never again reach the heights of success he enjoyed in the AWA and Blair never really ever became even a serious mid-carder on his own.


Bobby "The Brain" Heenan joins the Manager/Valet Hall of Fame. The Brain was certainly an all-time great when it came to managing getting the fans to hate him with a passion while hiding behind his many Heenan family members, who were also hated by association (and sometimes loved when they turned on Heenan). Heenan and AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel fitted together like a glove, just a fine manager-wrestler pairing although Nick could talk for himself too. Heenan was always a master on the microphone as a manager and could easily rile up a crowd of humanoids....er wrestling fans. In many cases, the fans would come hoping to see Heenan get his and often supported the fan favorites who tangled with Heenan and his family. Heenan's main rival was arguably Hulk Hogan and their feud essentially went on for years with Heenan bringing in wrestler after wrestler to take out Hogan whether initially to protect his champ Bockwinkel or to lead one of his men to victory over WWF champ Hogan. He lured Andre the Giant into his camp in a shocker. Heenan managed many others over the years including the Blackjacks, Bobby Duncum, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, Paul Orndorff, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Haku, Hercules and many many others. Heenan wasn't afraid to often mix it up in the ring and often ended up a bloody mess in the 70s while in the 80s he ended up in comical weasel suit matches with Buck Zumhofe in AWA and the Ultimate Warrior in WWF. Heenan was also instrumental in Ric Flair's early 1990s WWF success and was very obviously in his corner while doing commentary helping Flair to get over in his new promotion like he might not have otherwise. Heenan as a color commentator proved a most fascinating and entertaining viewing experience more often than not too.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 08, 2010, 12:17:33 AM
The Dudley Boyz join the Tag Team Hall of Fame. When it comes to winning tag team titles, no team can outdo the Dudleys. They've won more tag titles than any other tag team in history as far as I know. Everywhere they've went they've won tag titles bearing the names ECW, WWF, WWE, WCW (although it was under WWE at the time), NWA (although under TNA at the time), Japan and TNA. The Dudleys in ECW were absolute masters at getting heat from the crowd...the fans seemed to want to lynch them and the Dudleys just upped things more and more stirring the fans almost into a frenzy at times. They took hardcore wrestling to new heights of popularity and chants of "We Want Tables" to this day still get shouted and it was arguably the Dudleys who started the whole trend. Their WWF battles with The Hardys and Edge & Christian are the stuff of legend and their TLC matches against those teams are still remembered as some of the best, most brutally entertaining matches of all time. The Dudleys tangled with a virtual whos who of wrestling tag teams over the years and singles wrestlers too. In fact, WWE even tried splitting them up (unsuccessfully) at one point but some wrestlers just work better in tag teams. The Dudleys were and still are masters of tag team psychology and actually have more knowledge in ring than many might give them credit for initially. Now as Team 3D, they still produce heated tag team battles and rivalries and are arguably legends by this point and deservedly so in their case.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 08, 2010, 09:09:00 AM
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan joins the Manager/Valet Hall of Fame. The Brain was certainly an all-time great when it came to managing getting the fans to hate him with a passion while hiding behind his many Heenan family members, who were also hated by association (and sometimes loved when they turned on Heenan). Heenan and AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel fitted together like a glove, just a fine manager-wrestler pairing although Nick could talk for himself too. Heenan was always a master on the microphone as a manager and could easily rile up a crowd of humanoids....er wrestling fans. In many cases, the fans would come hoping to see Heenan get his and often supported the fan favorites who tangled with Heenan and his family. Heenan's main rival was arguably Hulk Hogan and their feud essentially went on for years with Heenan bringing in wrestler after wrestler to take out Hogan whether initially to protect his champ Bockwinkel or to lead one of his men to victory over WWF champ Hogan. He lured Andre the Giant into his camp in a shocker. Heenan managed many others over the years including the Blackjacks, Bobby Duncum, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, Paul Orndorff, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Haku, Hercules and many many others. Heenan wasn't afraid to often mix it up in the ring and often ended up a bloody mess in the 70s while in the 80s he ended up in comical weasel suit matches with Buck Zumhofe in AWA and the Ultimate Warrior in WWF. Heenan was also instrumental in Ric Flair's early 1990s WWF success and was very obviously in his corner while doing commentary helping Flair to get over in his new promotion like he might not have otherwise. Heenan as a color commentator proved a most fascinating and entertaining viewing experience more often than not too.
Heenan's one of my all time favorites.  He was a great manager, but in my opinion an even better announcer.  I've been watching old Prime Time Wrestling episodes on WWE Classics On Demand, and sometimes the highlights for me are just the banter between him and Gorilla calling matches.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 08, 2010, 09:11:50 AM
Dudley Boyz are great at what they do.  While they may not be "Technically" good like a Malenko or Jericho, for the hardcore stuff they do, they're certainly better than people give em credit for.  And, for as "legendary" as they are, they certainly don't seem to carry that "I'm a legend" attitude and refuse to work with/put over younger stars.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 08, 2010, 03:48:37 PM
I recall the details of the Killer Bees mini-heel turn against Hogan...they were bought off by "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase during a lumberjack match. The turn was all but forgotten about shortly thereater and I think it was only shortly after this, Blair was gone from the WWF and Brunzell eventually became an enhancement talent.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 08, 2010, 06:48:12 PM
I recall the details of the Killer Bees mini-heel turn against Hogan...they were bought off by "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase during a lumberjack match. The turn was all but forgotten about shortly thereater and I think it was only shortly after this, Blair was gone from the WWF and Brunzell eventually became an enhancement talent.
I really don't remember much about the Bees except for two things: a match with the Hart Foundation that's on some dvd, and an interview Iron Sheik (who's all 'whacked' now, and goes on belligerent tangents), calling out Blair and Brunzell as "those two fruity guys, Hogan's b***h boys, The Flying Killer Bees or what have you, Blair is a bit*h."

Dude went off on em. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 11, 2010, 12:57:28 PM
Miss Elizabeth joins the Hall of Shame. In the WWF, Miss Elizabeth was actually a bit of a groundbreaker, being the first female manager (as far as I'm aware) in that federation. She wasn't the first in wrestling as Gorgeous George, The Elephant Boy and Buddy Rogers had female valets way back. Jimmy Garvin had Sunshine and Precious in the 1980s too who proceeded her. Elizabeth was born in Frankfurt, KY on November 19, 1960. She eventually became a wrestling fan as her father's TV station played host to International Championship Wrestling, an organization run by Angelo Poffo. Eventually Elizabeth would meet and fall in love with Randy Poffo, Angelo's son who is better known as Randy "Macho Man" Savage. There Elizabeth would play host and announcer on ICW's TV show. When Savage would go to the WWF in the mid-1980s and annouced he was searching for a manager, fans were stunned when he annouced Miss Elizabeth "The First Lady of Wrestling" as his manager. She and Savage actually were a surprisingly good fit with heelish Savage acting extremely jealous and overprotective (which we would eventually learn was true in reality too) and often using Elizabeth as a human shield to prevent attack or a distraction to allow sneak attacks from behind. Elizabeth would manage Macho Man during his Intercontinental Title reign in the 80s. George "The Animal" Steele would become infatuated with Elizabeth and Savage would use her as distraction to defeat Steele at Wrestlemania II.

When Savage would later turn babyface to feud with Honky Tonk Man and The Hart Foundation, the feud heated up when Honky threatened to hit Elizabeth with his guitar. Savage, as a fan favorite now and with Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan in his corner, would defeat "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase for the vacant WWF Title in a tournament at Wrestlemania IV. Hogan & Savage would team up as the MegaPowers and battle the Megabucks Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant at Summerslam '88 where Elizabeth's red bikini proved a difference making distraction in the match. In Febraury of 1989 however, the Megapowers would split apart when Hogan would attend to an injured Elizabeth during a bout with Twin Towers Bossman & Akeem and leave Savage alone. After the match, Savage's jealousy boiled over and he attacked Hogan leading to a Wrestlemania V match between the two. Eventually Savage would join forces with Sensational Sherri and Elizabeth would fade from the scene although she did manage Hogan in a number of matches against Savage, who now had Sherri as manager. She would also be in the corner of Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire at Wrestlemania VI when they faced Savage & Sherri. At Wrestlemania VII, Savage would lose a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior and Sherri would assault a beaten and battered Savage after the match until Elizabeth emerged from the crowd and saved Savage from further assault. Savage & Elizabeth would shortly thereafter get "married" at Summerslam 1991 where Jake Roberts and Undertaker would interrupt the proceedings and eventually Savage would get attacked and bitten by a snake on TV! Savage & Elizabeth then worked to get Savage reinstated so he could feud with Roberts. By Wrestlemania VIII, Ric Flair claimed to have scandalous pictures of Elizabeth and claimed an affair with her leading to a feud with Savage and Savage winning another WWF Title at Wrestlemania VIII, a title he would eventually lose back to Flair later that year. For most of her WWF run, Elizabeth would be greatly loved for her grace and charm and always keeping her dignity despite her involvement with wrestling.

Elizabeth & Savage would divorce in real life and Elizabeth would disappear from the wrestling scene until 1996 when she suddenly reappeared in the corner of Hogan & Savage now in WCW. In a shocking move, she turned on Savage and joined with Ric Flair & the Four Horsemen. Eventually Elizabeth was forced to join the NWO as manager and once more teamed up with Randy Savage, this time against Diamond Dallas Page & Kimberly. Eventually she would manage fellow NWO members Kevin Nash & Lex Luger. Eventually she would go on to manage then real life boyfriend Lex Luger and would unfortunately be found dead in Luger's condo at age 42, the result of a drug overdose. :bluesad:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 15, 2010, 05:31:58 PM
Rob Van Dam joins the Singles Hall of Fame. RVD is nothing if not popular as shown once again by his support in this online game. He's had a cult following going back to the 1990s when he truly started stealing the show in ECW with his many awe-inspiring acrobatic aerial moves, arguably perhaps a bit even before then. In the 2000s move to WWF/WWE, he seemed poised to become their top star at one point often stealing the show from the likes of Steve Austin and Kurt Angle yet it took many more years for RVD to finally reach the top in WWE, so long it really took away a lot of his original appeal. Anyways Rob Van Dam, after being trained by the Original Sheik, started off in the USWA in 1990 and in South Atlantic Pro Wrestling. Eventually in 1992, he would move to WCW as Robbie V and essentially be little more than a jobber as he paid his dues. After WCW, he would wrestle in small independent U.S. promotions and in All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 1996, he would arrive in ECW where he would receive his first major babyface push as a stoner fan favorite but soon thereafter turned heel getting embroiled in a feud of respect with Sabu and eventually taking Bill Alfonso as his manager. Surprisingly enough Sabu would become RVD's tag team partner after he became entangled in a feud with Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon. Eventually the pair would defeat the Eliminators for the ECW tag team titles. After getting involved in a WWF vs. ECW feud in 1997 actually siding with the WWF Invaders, RVD & Sabu continued their winning ways with RVD upending Bam Bam Bigelow for the ECW Television Title, starting his lengthy reign with that title and RVD & Sabu winning the tag team titles again, this time from Lance Storm & Chris Candido. Following this the pair would get into a feud with the Dudley Boyz who would defeat them for the tag titles. After this loss, RVD concentrated on his Television title which he successfully defended against all comers including Spike Dudley, Lance Storm, Balls Mahoney, 2 Cold Scorpio, Jerry Lynn and Rhino holding on to the title for nearly 2 years before an injury finally forced him to vacate it.

In 2001, RVD moved to the WWF and joined the ECW/WCW Alliance during the Invasion angle of that year. RVD was arguably the most popular of all the Alliance members which even came to include Stone Cold Steve Austin at this time and seemed poised for a World Title run. Instead he got the WWF Hardcore title and a feud with Jeff Hardy although he did contend for the WWF World title in matches with Austin & Kurt Angle. After his attempts at the top championship faded away, RVD pursued the Intercontinental Title and defeated William Regal at Wrestlemania X8 and shortly thereafter became embroiled in an entertaining feud with Eddie Guerrero over the Intercontinental Title. He came close to defeating Undertaker for the World title around the same time but was eventually screwed out of that title win by Ric Flair. RVD would go on to win the European championship from Jeff Hardy and would unify the Intercontinental and European titles. Later, after trading the I-C title back and forth with Chris Benoit, he would defeat Tommy Dreamer to also unify the Hardcore title with the I-C and European titles.

After this feat was accomplished, RVD started pursuing Triple H's World Title only to be screwed by Flair once again and eventually dropped the I-C title to Chris Jericho too. After this, RVD would actually team up with Kane to win the Tag Team titles from Lance Storm and Chief Morley. After dropping the titles to La Resistance, Kane & RVD would begin a feud after Kane was unmasked. Next RVD would win the I-C title for a fourth time from Christian in a ladder match, a title he would lose to Chris Jericho again and regain from him again a fifth time. RVD would next lose the I-C title to an up and coming Randy Orton. Then RVD would team up with Booker T. to defeat Ric Flair & Batista for the Tag titles, gaining a measure of revenge for RVD until they eventually dropped the titles back to Evolution again. RVD was traded to Smackdown and would win the Smackdown tag team titles with Rey Mysterio from Kenzo Suzuki & Rene Dupree before dropping the titles to the Basham Brothers due to an injury to RVD's leg. While being injured during the first ECW One Night Stand in 2005, RVD stood up for ECW and criticized the way WWE had used him. In 2006, he would return and would eventually win the Money in the Bank match. After trading the I-C belt back (RVD's 6th) and forth with Shelton Benjamin, RVD would go on to shock the world by upsetting John Cena, thanks in large part to interference from Edge, for his WWE Heavyweight Title at 2006's ECW One Night Stand. The night after, he would be declared ECW Champion as well by Paul Heyman holding both titles at the same time. RVD would go on to lose the WWE title to Edge in a Triple Threat match with John Cena and the ECW title to the Big Show after Paul Heyman turned on him. In reality, all this was because RVD essentially blew his opportunity when he and Sabu were arrested for drug possession and WWE suspended him for 30 days.

RVD's days as a successful championship wrestler in WWE virtually ended after that although he still got involved in feuds with the New Breed and Randy Orton. After some brief appearances on the independent scenes and some one shot WWE appearances between 2007-2010, RVD finally returned in a big way in TNA in 2010 upending A.J. Styles for the TNA World Championship just recently.

Owen Hart joins the Singles Hall of Shame. The biggest shame of all here is that Owen Hart died so tragically so young and all for a silly Blue Blazer one shot gimmick appearance. Owen of course was the youngest of the famous sons of Stu Hart, most of whom got involved in wrestling at some level or another. Owen was arguably the second most successful of all Stu's sons. Owen, like most of the young Harts, started off in his father's Stampede wrestling and soon proved a sensational high-flying success teaming with Ben Bassard to win Stampede's tag titles, feuding with the likes of Johnny Smith & the Dynamite Kid and eventually winning the North American title from the huge 350 pound Makhan Singh and winning Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year for 1987. Hart would eventually branch out and grow as a wrestler by travelling to New Japan Pro Wrestling and winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title from Hiroshi Hase.

In 1988, Owen finally arrived in the WWF under a mask calling himself the Blue Angel and later the Blue Blazer, a way to keep himself from being recognized as Bret's brother so early in his young career. In 1989, Hart would again leave WWF hoping to continue to improve and would return to competition in Stampede and overseas, eventually dropping the Blue Blazer mask in a match with El Canek. In 1991, Hart briefly made a WCW tryout run teaming with Ricky Morton but instead signed with WWF and formed a new tag team with Jim Neidhart called the New Foundation. When that fizzled, he teamed with Koko B. Ware in a tag team called High Energy which also soon fizzled out.

In 1993 during the height of the Bret Hart-Jerry Lawler feud, Owen came to USWA to defend his brother's honor and captured the USWA title from Papa Shango. By Survivor Series 1993, all the Hart brothers were united for a match against Shawn Michaels and 3 mystery Knights after Lawler couldn't make the match. During the match, a misunderstanding took place between Owen and Bret although the two decided to team up shortly after and had a short run as a team even wrestling the Steiners and challenging the Quebecers for the Tag Team Titles. However during this match, Bret injured his knee and a frustrated Owen blew a gasket and turned against his own brother kicking him in the knee in a shocking turn of events starting off their long feud and rivalry. Owen even upset Bret in a bout at Wrestlemania X before winning that year's King of the Ring tournament and declaring himself the King of Harts and reuniting with Jim Neidhart, this time against Bret. The two Harts would feud throughout 1994, having a steel cage match at Summerslam. Finally Owen would cost Bret his WWF World title at Survivor Series in a submission throw in the towel  match with Bob Backlund.

While eventually coming up short in the feud with Bret, Owen rebounded by winning the tag team titles with Yokozuna at Wrestlemania XI before finally dropping the titles to Shawn Michaels & Diesel later that year. After joining Jim Cornette's stable in 1996, Owen would eventually team with the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith and Vader. Owen's team with Bulldog would be arguably his best ever and they would win the tag titles from the Smoking Gunns in Sept. 1996. However the team would begin to unravel especially after Bulldog and Owen battled fiercely over the newly created European title in a match eventually won by Bulldog. Just when it appeared an intense feud might start, a recently turned heel Bret Hart appeared and asked the two men to join him along with Jim Neidhart & Brian Pillman in a new and improved Hart Foundation stable. While in this stable, Owen would go on to defeat Rocky Maivia for the Intercontinental Title while he & European champ Bulldog still held the tag team gold as well. Eventually the unlikely duos of Steve Austin & Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin & Dude Love would upend and keep the tag team titles away from Owen & Bulldog. Owen & Steve Austin would start a feud over the Intercontinental title that would eventually lead to Austin's serious neck injury after being piledriven by Hart although Austin still won the title. After the injury the title was held up for a tournament which Owen, thanks in part to Austin, won. Owen 3:16: I Just Broke Your Neck! Austin wanted Owen in the ring again and would defeat him once again for the I-C title at Survivor Series, the same night of the Montreal Screwjob that would change the face of wrestling arguably forever and would especially impact Owen's career at that point.

Owen would continue in WWF as the Lone Hart and the Black Hart, an unlikely fan favorite feuding with D-X and eventually trading the European title back and forth with Triple H. In a shocking move, Hart would join the Nation of Domination now lead by Rocky Maivia and would become a key player on that stable as they feuded with D-X. After the Nation faded away, Hart would team up with Jeff Jarrett and the pair managed by Debra would win the WWF Tag Team titles. Unfortunately Hart was also involved in a silly return of the Blue Blazer gimmick at the same time that would eventually result in his death as he was to be lowered by an harness from up in the rafters but something with horribly wrong and Owen fell to his untimely death at the Over the Edge PPV in 1999. The next night on Raw, wrestlers paid an emotional tribute to Owen and most came out of character to say their fond farewells. One could only wonder at how far Owen's career might have possibly gone.

Harlem Heat joins the Tag Team Hall of Shame.  The tag team of real-life brothers Booker T. and Stevie Ray started in WWA as the Huffman Brothers before moving to Global Wrestling as The Ebony Experience but it was really in WCW as Harlem Heat where they would achieve their greatest success winning a record 10 WCW Tag Team Championships while with the company.

In the GWF, the Ebony Experience three times won the Global Tag Team titles defeating Gorgeous Gary Young & Steve Dane, The Blackbirds tandem of Iceman King Parsons & Action Jackson and finally the Bad Breed Ian & Axl Rotten.

In 1993, Harlem Heat burst on the scene in WCW and were initially managed by Col. Robert Parker under the names Kole & Kane. When Sherri Martel begin managing them in 1994 however, they revived their old names of Booker T. & Stevie Ray and began to have a great deal more success upending Stars N Stripes Patriot & Marcus Alexander Bagwell for their first WCW Tag Team title. Following this they had a tremendous feud with the Nasty Boys and traded the titles with them. After regaining them, they got into a feud with Col. Parker's Stud Stable of Dirty Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck and eventually traded the titles with them as Sherri & Col. Parker also started a bizarre onscreen romance that saw Parker eventually switch sides. Unfortunately for Harlem Heat, their third WCW Tag Team Title reign would only last one day as they lost the titles to The American Males Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs but they would get them back just nine short days later. They then traded the belts with Sting & Lex Luger and the Steiners and finally Public Enemy all in 1996 before finally losing their seventh Tag Team Title to the NWO Outsiders Kevin Nash & Scott Hall.

After this, they would fire Parker and feud with his Amazing French Canadians, the former Quebecers, a feud they'd win. In 1997, they would also feud with Public Enemy, the Steiners and finally the NWO. Eventually they would fire Sherri and replace her with Jacqueline. After a feud with the Faces of Fear, Stevie Ray would be injured, Jacqueline would leave for the WWF and Booker T. would pursue his singles career. After Stevie returned, he shocked many by joining the NWO. It took until 1999 but Booker finally convinced Stevie to leave the NWO and the two reformed their tag team defeating Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon for their 8th Tag title, Barry & Kendall Windham for their 9th and won their 10th when the Tag Titles were vacated in a Triple Threat match with Hugh Morrus & Brian Knobs and The Filthy Animals Konnan & Kidman. In 2000, Stevie would shock everyone when he turned on his brother over the involvement of a female valet named Midnight and would join forces with Big T (formerly Ahmed Johnson) to form a new team called Harlem Heat 2000 started a forgettable feud that saw Booker eventually team with Kidman to defeat Harlem Heat 2000.

While Harlem Heat were certainly a fine tag team and could mix it up with the best of the best, truthfully they seemed to win and drop tag team titles in rapid succession. Their inability to hold on to the titles for any length of time suggest they weren't the dominant tag team one might initially think looking at their record. They also seemed to get sidetracked way too much with managers and valets although their pairing with Sherri Martel seemed to be their best and most successful.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 16, 2010, 10:55:49 AM
RVD- A personal favorite of mine.  While I readily admit he wasn't a "Great" worker, he made the most of his abilities and almost always put on a fun match, regardless.  Tremendously mis-used by WWE.

Owen Hart- Would've loved to have seen where his career would've gone.  Dunno if he'd have been a World Champ, but he was one of those guys that seemed to be happy just winning a tag belt or Intercontinental belt, and seemed to belong to the Flair/Bret Hart style of wrestling: making your opponent look good regardless of how you're branded on the company's plans.

Harlem Heat- I personally like them, they worked well together.  However, and this may have been more with the 'creative department', but they were given crap storylines.  Booker T was the one obviously carrying the team, and I'm glad to see he got a decent singles run, notably his series of bouts with Benoit in WCW, and winning multiple titles in WWE.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 16, 2010, 01:02:47 PM
RVD was tremendously misused. It was largely this misuse that lead many to start to see him as a less valuable performer than perhaps he was. He was super-over with the fans in 2001 and should have won the world title at that time IMO but because he was a little reckless in and out of the ring, it never happened. When it finally did happen five long years later, it was really too late and of course RVD proved WWE's fears founded with the drug (weed) possession. TNA seems a bit more lenient in that regard so RVD may fare better there.

Owen could very well be right up there with Edge if he was still around although I suspect his career would have perhaps looked a bit more like Christian's in reality. Then again, you never know...he could have been rewarded for being so willing to help build others with a World title at some point.

Harlem Heat were a good team (they had great matches with Faces of Fear, Nasty Boys, Outsiders & Steiners in particular) but they did seem to get sidetracked way too much with horrible WCW storylines.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 16, 2010, 02:55:03 PM
The British Bulldogs join the Tag Team Hall of Fame. Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid were a pair of cousins who decided to team up in the 1980s in England. At first the two would come to feud in England, Japan and Stampede but when that was settled, they created their very successful high-flying, hard-hitting tandem. Later they moved their team to New Japan Pro Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling. Dynamite Kid had a long career in Stampede and competed very successfully overseas for several years before young Davey came on the scene. Dynamite was more experienced plus a true innovator of fast-paced hard-hitting moves very similar to the Japanese style. Davey was young, fresh, full of power and could move incredibly well for a man his size. The pairing with Dynamite was a natural and a tag team truly unique and groundbreaking was born. There was never a tag team quite like the Bulldogs who moved so fluidly and fast paced together, who could hit singles and double team moves so effectively and with so hard-hitting a punch and impact all at once. The Bulldogs moved to All-Japan Pro Wrestling in 1984 and to the WWF in 1985 also when Vince McMahon bought out Stampede Wrestling leading to their long and intense feud/rivalry with the Hart Foundation of Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart.

Following an 85 feud with the Harts, the Bulldogs started pursuing the Dream Team of Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine, managed by Johnny V, for the WWF Tag Team Titles, a championship they would win at Wrestlemania 2 in 1986 with their manager Capt. Lou Albano and Ozzy Osbourne in their corner. The Bulldogs thereafter were dominant champions and held off both the Dream Team and former champions The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff until Dynamite Kid seriously injured his back, likely from all the high impact suplexes he delivered over his many years in the ring forcing the Bulldogs to drop the Tag titles to the Hart Foundation, who won along with some help from crooked referee Danny Davis in January 1987. When Dynamite returned, they feuded with Danny Davis & the Hart Foundation and even teamed with Tito Santana in a match against Davis & the Harts at Wrestlemania III. Shortly after this, the Bulldogs would start bringing a bulldog named Mathilda to the ring with them and this would lead to a feud with the Islanders after Bobby Heenan made off with Mathilda. The Bulldogs would compete on the winning team in a 10 team Survivor Series match at Survivor Series 1987 although the final survivors in the match would be the Killer Bees and the Young Stallions. The British Bulldogs thereafter teamed with Koko B. Ware to get some revenge on Bobby Heenan & the Islanders at Wrestlemania IV.

Demolition would successfully defend the belts against the Bulldogs in April 1988 and again at Wrestlefest '88. Legitimate backstage heat would develop between the Bulldogs and the Rougeaus and the two teams would battle to a draw at Summerslam '88. The last Bulldogs WWF appearance would be Survivor Series '88 where the Bulldogs competed on the Powers of Pain winning team but both Bulldogs and Rougeaus were soon gone from the match and the Bulldogs shortly thereafter were gone back to Stampede Wrestling in December 1988, while also competing a bit in All Japan, quickly winning the Stampede tag titles twice and battled the Cuban Commandoes and Karachi Vice's Makhan & Vulkan Singh (Gary Albright) who eventually upended them due to interference from Smith's "cousin" Johnny Smith. After this, a violent feud erupted between Dynamite and Davey with Dynamite eventually teaming with Johnny Smith, forming a new team called the British Bruisers and Davey teaming up with a young Chris Benoit. The Bulldogs also battled the Rock 'n' Roll Express around this time in a special match but the Bulldogs were never truly the same after Dynamite's back injuries and too quick returns to the ring. Davey Boy Smith would go on to have a successful singles career as the British Bulldog while a bitter Dynamite Kid would hate Davey for trademarking the Bulldog name, although he continued the Bruisers tag team for a little while after that, and is today in a wheelchair from all the toil and abuse he put on his body in his wrestling wars.

The Grand Wizard joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. One of the infamous Three Wisemen of the East wrestling managers who spent a long and lengthy career in the WWWF in the 1970s (along with Albano & Blassie) and WWF in the early 1980s, the Grand Wizard seemed a perfect match for many of those he managed. When you first looked at him, he seemed pretty odd what with being a man of small stature dressed in flamboyant sequin jackets, wraparound sunglasses and wearing a jewelled and feathered turban on his head. Still he was usually the voice of many tough, top wrestlers, some of whom weren't so great behind a microphone but the Wizard could converse with the best of 'em and quickly have you believing in the toughness and capabilities of his charges and of course also in his own inherent brilliance. Ernie Roth of course started his career under several other names and identities most notably as Abdullah Faroux, the manager of the infamous and widely hated Original Sheik.

Moving to the WWWF, the Grand Wizard of Wrestling was born and he lead Stan "The Man" Stasiak to an upset WWWF World Title victory over Pedro Morales although Stasiak would lose the title to Bruno Sammartino just nine days later. The Wizard however then came to guide another man, a man who fit with him seemingly like a glove - "Superstar" Billy Graham. Graham of course would eventually defeat Sammartino for the WWWF World Title in 1977. When Bob Backlund would upset Graham for the title in 1978, the Wizard would lead a charge of different men to try and win back the championship including the likes of the Magnificent Muraco, Greg Valentine, Buddy Rose and Ken Patera amongst others against Backlund. Although he would never again manage a world champion, the Wizard did successfully manage several Intercontinental champions including Pat Patterson, Ken Patera and the Magnificent Muraco. The Wizard also managed the likes of Crazy Luke Graham, Killer Kowalski, Sgt. Slaughter, Ernie Ladd, Ox Baker, Cowboy Bob Orton, Tiger Jeet Singh, The Iron Sheik, Greg Valentine, Ivan Koloff, The Masked Superstar, Professor Toru Tanaka, Mr. Fuji, Bobby Duncum, Johnny Barend, Magnificent Maurice, Blackjack Mulligan, Pampero Firpo and Jimmy Valiant taking many of them to World Title opportunities.

Sunny joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Sunny is perhaps best remembered for being one of the most beautiful ladies involved with WWF wrestling in the 1990s. Her photos at that time were an hot, highly downloaded commodity for many young male fans and WWF quickly discovered fans wanted to see more of Sunny and quickly found ways to exploit her beauty and charm. Sunny of course started out in Smokey Moutain Wrestling as Tammy Fytch, a variation on her real name Tammy Lynn Sytch which she would also use later on. There she managed Brian Lee to the SMW Title, then she joined forces with Chris Candido and lead him & Lee to the SMW Tag Team Titles. In 1994, she fired Lee and lead Candido to the SMW Title in a title tournament.

In 1994, along with Candido, she would debut as Sunny and Skip, a pair that would insult fans and brag about their fitness. In 1995, Sunny would bring in Zip (formerly Tom Prichard) to team with Skip and they would finally win the WWF Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania XII by defeating the Godwinns who they when thereafter feud with. Phineas Godwinn would become infatuated with Sunny and she would use this to her advantage to manipulate and eventually humiliate him when after seemingly joining the Godwinns as they won the WWF Tag Team Titles back from the BodyDonnas, she would then turn against the Godwinns and join forces with the newly heel Smoking Gunns as a cowgirl sort of girl. The BodyDonnas would bring in a crossdresser manager named Cloudy to feud with Sunny and the Gunns but with little success. Sunny would get her Smoking Gunns World and Intercontinental Title opportunities against Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson but after they failed to make good on those opportunties and they lost the tag titles, Sunny fired the Gunns. She would then manage Farooq as he attempted to win the Intercontinental Title in a tournament after injuring and taking out champion Ahmed Johnson. Farooq would eventually fall short losing to Marc Mero, managed by Sable and Sunny and Farooq would go their separate ways thereafter.

Sunny was the host of Livewire briefly and make scant annoucing appearances after that. She would make a brief stop in ECW managing Triple Threat before returning to WWF in 2000 to manage LOD 2000 briefly leading them to a battle royal tag team win at Wrestlemania XIV. Sunny would eventually fade from the scene and be little more than eye candy on WWF programming.

As Tammy Sytch, she would return to ECW to manage Chris Candido leading to an eventual feud with Lance Storm & Dawn Marie. Sunny & Candido would split with Triple Threat and Shane Douglas shortly before leaving ECW for WCW. However the pair's drug problems were weighing heavy on them. There Tammy would manage Candido to the WCW Cruiserweight Title and Tammy would feud with Paisley and then Daphne, who was managing Crowbar. A drug issue would eventually see them dropped from WCW. After a brief run in XPW and then USA Pro Wrestling leading Candido to the XPW and USA Pro Titles, Tammy essentially retired after Candido's untimely death although she, now hopefully clean, has made a few special appearances in WWE since that time.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 16, 2010, 08:55:17 PM
RVD was tremendously misused. It was largely this misuse that lead many to start to see him as a less valuable performer than perhaps he was. He was super-over with the fans in 2001 and should have won the world title at that time IMO but because he was a little reckless in and out of the ring, it never happened. When it finally did happen five long years later, it was really too late and of course RVD proved WWE's fears founded with the drug (weed) possession. TNA seems a bit more lenient in that regard so RVD may fare better there.

Owen could very well be right up there with Edge if he was still around although I suspect his career would have perhaps looked a bit more like Christian's in reality. Then again, you never know...he could have been rewarded for being so willing to help build others with a World title at some point.

Harlem Heat were a good team (they had great matches with Faces of Fear, Nasty Boys, Outsiders & Steiners in particular) but they did seem to get sidetracked way too much with horrible WCW storylines.
I'm guessing at some point, had Owen not passed, he would've held the belt around 2003/2004.  WWE SmackDown was riding a wave of momentum, featuring great techincal matches with the likes of Edge, Lance Storm, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, Rey Mysterio and Brock Lesnar.  Probably would've had the belt at some point then.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 24, 2010, 04:54:57 PM
The Hardy Boyz join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. Personally I didn't think them too bad as a team. I did find them kind of entertaining although I do have to admit Matt has a certain blandness to him and Jeff is just a freaky daredevil type, the bad boy "artist" type who makes teenage girls swoon, and who seems to take as many risks in his own personal lifestyle as he does in the ring. Out of the teams on the list, I'm not terribly surprised they ended up in the Hall of Shame though. While immensely popular, they just seem to lack something intangible- I'm not sure what- that they just don't entertain me unless matched up with tag teams who are actually superior to them in many ways...teams like the Dudleys, Edge & Christian, MNM. They also seemed to be at their most popular when paired up with Lita. The Hardys won 6 WWF/WWE Tag Team Championships and one WCW Tag title when that was under WWE ownership.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 24, 2010, 09:29:57 PM
The Hardy Boyz join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. Personally I didn't think them too bad as a team. I did find them kind of entertaining although I do have to admit Matt has a certain blandness to him and Jeff is just a freaky daredevil type, the bad boy "artist" type who makes teenage girls swoon, and who seems to take as many risks in his own personal lifestyle as he does in the ring. Out of the teams on the list, I'm not terribly surprised they ended up in the Hall of Shame though. While immensely popular, they just seem to lack something intangible- I'm not sure what- that they just don't entertain me unless matched up with tag teams who are actually superior to them in many ways...teams like the Dudleys, Edge & Christian, MNM. They also seemed to be at their most popular when paired up with Lita. The Hardys won 6 WWF/WWE Tag Team Championships and one WCW Tag title when that was under WWE ownership.
Dudleys don't get enough credit, nor do Edge and Christian.  Dudleys often get frowned upon as one of those "ECW/Blood and guts hardcore guys" and that's it.  They deserve more. 
Edge and Christian got looked down upon as a stupid "Pretty boy/Bill and Ted wannabe" type, but looking back in retrospect, they were quite more, epsecially if you consider their considerable singles success afterwards.

I was never big on the Hardys.  WWF/WWE was HUGE back when I was in high school, and all the teen girls were swooning over the Hardys, cause they were young, good looking guys.  EVERY guy and legit wrestling fan liked teams like The Dudleys better.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 29, 2010, 01:37:26 PM
Sgt. Slaughter joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Now personally I felt he was a great gimmick wrestler who really made said gimmick work well and he seemed to work very hard to get over with fans and put on a good show night after night. I'll never forget how popular he was when he turned babyface to feud with the Iron Sheik. At that time, his popularity rivaled Hogan's.

Slaughter actually started off as a drill instructor style heel and met with moderate success in NWA winning a tag team championship in the NWA with Don Kernodle and holding the NWA's United States title. In the AWA, Slaughter actually at one point worked under a mask as Super Destroyer Mark II. His move to the WWF in the early 80s saw him continue his heelish drill instructor ways as he feuded with a now babyface Pat Patterson resulting in the two having a bloody Alley Street Fight before he later challenged Bob Backlund, while being managed by the Grand Wizard, for the WWF title.

Eventually a pairing with the Anti-American Iron Sheik would ignite a feud between Slaughter and the Sheik as Slaughter embraced his American patriotism. Slaughter at the height of his popularity would leave the WWF over some dispute with Vince McMahon, presumably involving his G.I. Joe action figure, a figure not licensed by WWF. Slaughter would thereafter return to the AWA continuing his patriot role feuding with foreign menaces like Kamala, Boris Zukhov, Col. DeBeers and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie not to mention having memorable feuds with top heels Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko. In the AWA, Slaughter would win the America's title and come very close to capturing both the AWA and NWA world titles but would ultimately come up short.

In 1990, he shockingly returned to the WWF and turned heel Iraqi sympathizer igniting a wave of hatred towards him. He would ride this wave to capture his only WWF World title defeating the Ultimate Warrior with a bit of help from an interfering Randy Savage. Slaughter was extremely hated during this time and it seemed a stretch but eventually an effort was made to return him to his patriot face character but fans didn't take to him in quite the same way after that as he teamed with Hacksaw Duggan against the Nasty Boys. After a run as WWF Commissioner in 1997-1998 that saw him feud unsuccessfully with DX and become a Mr. McMahon lackey, Slaughter eventually started to appear less and less making only occasional surprise guest appearances such as in the Wrestlemania X-7 Gimmick Battle Royal, challenging Chris Masters in a Masterlock challenge, Diva Search appearances, joining fellow veterans to battle the Spirit Squad in a Survivor Series 2006 match,  teaming with Jimmy Snuka to battle Deuce and Domino at 2007's Night of Champions, challenging "Legend Killer" Randy Orton and other sporadic guest spots. Slaughter was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

Captain Lou Albano joins the Managers Hall of Fame. After a somewhat lackluster career as a professional wrestler that saw his biggest success come in a WWWF tag team title win with Tony Altimore, Albano proved a natural as a bombastic, over the top heel manager who played only by his own rules and no one else's. He was an expert at getting fans riled up, making the people want to see him get beat up and teasing that possibly happening to help draw fans to the arenas. One of the three infamous Wisemen of the East, Albano would become renown as a tag team expert. "The Guiding Light" as he was nicknamed led 15 tag teams to WWWF/WWF tag team gold and four others to singles gold. Captain Lou started off managing several heels who threatened WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino including Crusher Verdu and Ivan Koloff, who Albano was managing when he shockingly upset Sammartino ending Sammartino's legendary 7+ year reign. Albano would also guide Pat Patterson, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and The Magnificent Muraco to WWF Intercontinental Title reigns. But where Albano was king was as a tag team guiding light often adopting the gear and mannerisms of his many successful tandems. Albano managed all of the following to WWWF/WWF tag team title reigns: The Mongols, The Yukon Lumberjacks, The Executioners, The Valiant Brothers, The Wild Samoans, The Moondogs, Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito, The U.S. Express, The British Bulldogs, The Headshrinkers. He also managed the Machines and was hugely instrumental in the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling movement managing the Fabulous Moolah against Cyndi Lauper's Wendi Richter not to mention appearing in numerous Lauper music videos.

Jim Cornette joins the Managers Hall of Shame. Cornette actually got his start in wrestling as a ringside photographer. After a brief run an an inept rich boy manager for Sherri Martel, Crusher Bloomfield and Dutch Mantell in Memphis, eventually Cornette would come into his own under the gimmick of a rich Mama's boy who was given the Midnight Express ("Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton) to manage. The pairing would prove a natural as Cornette became the mouth and brains behind the much quieter Southern tandem who generally let their talking be done in the ring while Cornette's loud mouth was a constant distraction outside the ring. Cornette's tennis racket would become instrumental as a weapon of choice for the Midnights to use to win their matches not that they couldn't have won on their own abilities. Cornette would lead the Midnights to a NWA World Tag Team title reign in February 1986 defeating the Rock'n' Roll Express and igniting a feud that would last for decades between the two teams. Eventually "Loverboy" Dennis would be replaced by "Sweet" Stan Lane and the team would go on to win a pair of United States Tag Team titles, most notably feuding with the Fantastics, and eventually another NWA World Tag Team title upsetting Horsemen Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson before dropping the titles to a newly heel Road Warriors in 1988. Cornette was often seconded by a huge bodyguard Big Bubba Rogers (Big Bossman) who he occassionally managed in matches as well. The Midnights also memorably lost a pair of Starrcade scaffold matches to the Road Warriors in 1986, in which Cornette injured his knees in a botched landing, and the Rock 'n' Roll Express in 1987. The Midnights with Jim Cornette would also feud with the Original Midnights of Condrey & Ravishing Randy Rose, managed by Paul E. Dangerously in 1988. Cornette would actually get in the ring to battle Dangerously at this time and seemingly had more success than he did some years prior when he tangled with Baby Doll in the ring.

In 1993 Cornette joined Mr. Fuji as co-manager for WWF Champion Yokozuna. In 1996, he returned as the manager of Camp Cornette including Vader, The British Bulldog and Owen Hart. Bulldog & Hart would win the tag team titles but Cornette failed to lead Vader to a WWF Title win over Shawn Michaels. In 1997, Cornette mainly appeared doing a number of worked shoots about the wrestling industry. In 1998, he led a forgettable NWA invasion stable including Jeff Jarrett, Barry Windham and the Rock 'n' Roll Express. Later he would unveil Bombastic Bob Holly and Bodacious Bart Gunn as his latest Midnight Express creating a collective yawn in the audience. After this, Cornette had brief and forgettable stays in OVW and TNA. Cornette also briefly managed the Briscoe Brothers to ROH Tag Team gold in ROH and is currently working for ROH these days.

The Fabulous Kangaroos join the Tag Team Hall of Fame. The Kangaroos were one of the first teams to truly have that tag team dynamic. They dressed alike in bush hats, the both carried boomerangs to the ring (which they sometimes used in their matches), they were both from "Down Under" (Australia), they had a manager (Wild Red Berry) and their entrance music was "Waltzing Matilda". And they were even more importantly one of the first teams to combine double team boomerang style moves in the ring. It’s a privilege to see footage of this classic duo. These men were absolute masters at what they did. They really seemed to make rulebreaking an art form, nearly provoking riots in some MSG battle with Rocca & Perez, and actually were quite capable in a fan favorite role as well. The Kangaroos won numerous tag team titles wherever they went including Winnepeg, the Northeast U.S. Tag Titles 3 times (precursor to the WWWF Tag Titles), Florida, Japan, Ohio, Vancouver, Detroit, New Mexico, Texas and Los Angeles back when the territories were at their heights. Costello & Heffernan were IMO the best and most entertaining version of the Kangaroos but there were many other versions including Al Costello & Ray St. Clair in Detroit (Won Detroit NWA Tag Titles), Costello & Bulldog Don Kent (won titles in ESA, IWA, NWA-Mid America, WWA and WWC), Don Kent and Bruno Bekkar (WWC) and finally Don Kent & Johnny Heffernan (Florida Tag Titles 4 times, WWC tag titles). At different points in time, the Kangaroos were also managed by "Crybaby" George Cannon and Dudley Clement. The Kangaroos are famed for their battles with the Bastiens, the Millers, Perez & Rocca, Johnny Valentine and a variety of partners including Buddy Rogers and Cowboy Bob Ellis.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 29, 2010, 09:18:36 PM
Sgt. Slaughter joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Now personally I felt he was a great gimmick wrestler who really made said gimmick work well and he seemed to work very hard to get over with fans and put on a good show night after night. I'll never forget how popular he was when he turned babyface to feud with the Iron Sheik. At that time, his popularity rivaled Hogan's.

Slaughter actually started off as a drill instructor style heel and met with moderate success in NWA winning a tag team championship in the NWA with Don Kernodle and holding the NWA's United States title. In the AWA, Slaughter actually at one point worked under a mask as Super Destroyer Mark II. His move to the WWF in the early 80s saw him continue his heelish drill instructor ways as he feuded with a now babyface Pat Patterson resulting in the two having a bloody Alley Street Fight before he later challenged Bob Backlund, while being managed by the Grand Wizard, for the WWF title.

Eventually a pairing with the Anti-American Iron Sheik would ignite a feud between Slaughter and the Sheik as Slaughter embraced his American patriotism. Slaughter at the height of his popularity would leave the WWF over some dispute with Vince McMahon, presumably involving his G.I. Joe action figure, a figure not licensed by WWF. Slaughter would thereafter return to the AWA continuing his patriot role feuding with foreign menaces like Kamala, Boris Zukhov, Col. DeBeers and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie not to mention having memorable feuds with top heels Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko. In the AWA, Slaughter would win the America's title and come very close to capturing both the AWA and NWA world titles but would ultimately come up short.

 

Jim Cornette joins the Managers Hall of Shame. Cornette actually got his start in wrestling as a ringside photographer. After a brief run an an inept rich boy manager for Sherri Martel, Crusher Bloomfield and Dutch Mantell in Memphis, eventually Cornette would come into his own under the gimmick of a rich Mama's boy who was given the Midnight Express ("Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton) to manage. The pairing would prove a natural as Cornette became the mouth and brains behind the much quieter Southern tandem who generally let their talking be done in the ring while Cornette's loud mouth was a constant distraction outside the ring. Cornette's tennis racket would become instrumental as a weapon of choice for the Midnights to use to win their matches not that they couldn't have won on their own abilities. Cornette would lead the Midnights to a NWA World Tag Team title reign in February 1986 defeating the Rock'n' Roll Express and igniting a feud that would last for decades between the two teams. Eventually "Loverboy" Dennis would be replaced by "Sweet" Stan Lane and the team would go on to win a pair of United States Tag Team titles, most notably feuding with the Fantastics, and eventually another NWA World Tag Team title upsetting Horsemen Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson before dropping the titles to a newly heel Road Warriors in 1988. Cornette was often seconded by a huge bodyguard Big Bubba Rogers (Big Bossman) who he occassionally managed in matches as well. The Midnights also memorably lost a pair of Starrcade scaffold matches to the Road Warriors in 1986, in which Cornette injured his knees in a botched landing, and the Rock 'n' Roll Express in 1987. The Midnights with Jim Cornette would also feud with the Original Midnights of Condrey & Ravishing Randy Rose, managed by Paul E. Dangerously in 1988. Cornette would actually get in the ring to battle Dangerously at this time and seemingly had more success than he did some years prior when he tangled with Baby Doll in the ring.

In 1993 Cornette joined Mr. Fuji as co-manager for WWF Champion Yokozuna. In 1996, he returned as the manager of Camp Cornette including Vader, The British Bulldog and Owen Hart. Bulldog & Hart would win the tag team titles but Cornette failed to lead Vader to a WWF Title win over Shawn Michaels. In 1997, Cornette mainly appeared doing a number of worked shoots about the wrestling industry. In 1998, he led a forgettable NWA invasion stable including Jeff Jarrett, Barry Windham and the Rock 'n' Roll Express. Later he would unveil Bombastic Bob Holly and Bodacious Bart Gunn as his latest Midnight Express creating a collective yawn in the audience. After this, Cornette had brief and forgettable stays in OVW and TNA. Cornette also briefly managed the Briscoe Brothers to ROH Tag Team gold in ROH and is currently working for ROH these days.


Always found Cornette to be a tad boring.  I dunno.

I liked Sarge to a degree.  He played his role well, but compared to some other wrestlers of the time (Savage, Hogan, Piper, Million Dollar Man), I never appreciated him as much.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 30, 2010, 01:59:17 PM
Brock Lesnar joins the Singles Hall of Shame. On the surface, Lesnar should have had it all in pro wrestling and in many respects he did achieve far more than anyone expected very, very quickly. Perhaps too quickly in fact. Lesnar, unlike most wrestlers before him, never seemed to fully pay his dues - he was just handed the world in wrestling only for him to betray those who handed it all to him in some respects as he never seemed fully and truly committed to professional wrestling and instead dreamed of football and MMA.

In wrestling, Lesnar debuted in OVW where he held the OVW tag team titles on 3 occasions with Shelton Benjamin. He would be called up to WWE in 2001, and with Paul Heyman as his manager, he would soon be hailed as "The Next Big Thing" as he attacked and destroyed opponent after opponent. In 2002, Lesnar won the King of the Ring tournament and after a short victorious feud with Hulk Hogan, he would upset The Rock for his first WWE Undisputed Championship reign. Lesnar at age 25 became the youngest WWE Champion in history. Lesnar would go on to successfully defend his title against the challenge of the Undertaker and would also fend off Edge. Eventually the Big Show would hand Lesnar his first WWE Title loss and his first WWE defeat as Heyman betrayed Lesnar and joined forces with the Big Show during the match turning Lesnar babyface for the first time. Lesnar would soon thereafter wind up in a feud with new WWE Champion Kurt Angle and would defeat him for the title at Wrestlemania XIX despite a botched shooting star press attempt that saw Lesnar suffer a concussion.

Lesnar would successfully fend off challenges from the Big Show and John Cena but would eventually drop the title back to Angle in a Triple threat match that also involved Big Show. This lead to a Summerslam match between Angle and Lesnar that saw Lesnar turn heel but Angle successfully defended his title. However in an Iron Man rematch on WWE Smackdown, Lesnar pulled out all the stops, and made much use of a chair, to defeat Angle and win his third WWE Title. Lesnar thereafter successfully fended off challenges from the Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit and Hardcore Holly.  Also at the Royal Rumble 2004, Lesnar attacked Goldberg. Goldberg would get some revenge at No Way Out 2004 proving a distraction that allowed Eddie Guerrero to upset Lesnar for the WWE title.  This lead to the infamous Goldberg-Brock Lesnar match at Wrestlemania XX where fans weren't at all pleased with either wrestler as both men were on their way out of wrestling and the fans cheered special referee Steve Austin much more than either Lesnar, who was heading off for a potential football career, or Goldberg, who was headed into MMA. The fans loudly cheered with Austin stunned both men after Goldberg defeated Lesnar in the bout.

Lesnar next surfaced in New Japan Pro Wrestling, after a failed attempt at a football career, where he would win the IWGP Heavyweight Title in a three way bout with Masahiro Chono and Kazuyuki Fujita. Lesnar successfully defended said title against  Shinsuke Nakamura, Akebono and Giant Bernard (formerely A-Train) before he was stripped off the title due to "visa issues". Actually WWE had put a number of court injuctions in to stop Lesnar from competing in New Japan as WWE still held rights to Lesnar's name and holds. On June 29, 2007, Lesnar defended his "disputed" IWGP championship against TNA Champion Kurt Angle, a match Angle won and then made claim to the IWGP title as well. Lesnar had also signed a no compete clause with WWE upon his departure in 2004 that was supposed to keep him from competing for rivals until 2010. However a court settlement was reached in 2006 and Lesnar eventually moved into the world of MMA where he's had great success in UFC.

Paul E. Dangerously joins the Managers Hall of Shame. Dangerously's early career path in professional wrestling is very similar to that of his long-time rival Jim Cornette. He too started off as a photographer. Eventually he would be drawn into the world of wrestling as a ringside manager, portraying an Ivy League New York yuppie who also called a mobile phone, which would often be used a foreign object in matches. After a brief stint in the Northeast, Dangerously won move to Florida where he teamed up with Kevin Sullivan and Sir Oliver Humperdinck. Shortly after he moved to Memphis and his most high profile feud as he managed Tommy Rich and Austin Idol against beloved Memphis hero Jerry "The King" Lawler, a feud that would see Idol and Rich humilate Lawler by shaving his head and injuring him on the turnposts. Dangerously also had a brief run in Continental as an associate of Eddie Gilbert and his Hotstuff Inc.. Eventually Dangerously, along with his newest charges the Original Midnight Express of "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and "Ravishing" Randy Rose would move to the AWA along with Idol and another new charge in new arrival "Adorable" Adrian Adonis. Lawler would continue his feud with Dangerously there as Dangerously would lead his Original Midnights to an AWA Tag Team Title reign by defeating Lawler and Bill Dundee before eventually dropping the titles to a newly returned to AWA Midnight Rockers of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty.

Dangerously and the Original Midnights would later move to the NWA in 1988 to feud with Jim Cornette and his version of the Midnight Express along with Jack Victory and Mean Mark (later he would become The Undertaker). After losing said feud and several matches to Cornette, Dangerously moved into an annouce position alongside Jim Ross which would eventually see him feud with Missy Hyatt. In 1991, he would return in managing with The Dangerous Alliance, a powerful group of talented wrestlers that included "Ravishing" Rick Rude, TV champion "Stunning" Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbsyzko along with lady wrestler Madusa as Dangerously's back-up and bodyguard. Under Dangerously's group, Rude would capture the United States title and Anderson & Eaton the WCW Tag Titles. The Dangerous Alliance would remain a dominate force throughout 1992 feuding with Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes and the Steiners. Eventually after the group disbanded in 92, Dangerously would leave WCW.

Dangerously would move to ECW in 1993 managing Sabu, 911, Taz and the Dark Patriot. Behind the scenes, Dangerously (Paul Heyman) joined forces with Tod Gordon to help the company advance to a new level as head booker and head of creative. Eventually Heyman would become sole owner of ECW and the whole operation would essentially be run by him behind the scenes as the company presented a new cutting edge, more adult oriented no rules, no holds barred style product. It achieved a lot of popularity but eventually would fold because Heyman could not compete with salaries offered elsewhere. Heyman would move on to WWE as an annoucer in 2001 replacing a recently departed Jerry Lawler and eventually joined the ECW/WCW Alliance during the Invasion angle. After that fizzled out, he became manager of Brock Lesnar in 2002 and then the Big Show after betraying Lesnar before moving into a GM role on Smackdown in 2003-2004. In 2004, Heyman moved on to managing the Dudley Boyz and Heidenreich. With the revival of ECW in 2006, Heyman went on to briefly manage Rob Van Dam before betraying him to once again manage the Big Show. He also briefly managed Nathan Jones and Matt Morgan in WWE.  Heyman left wrestling in 2006 in dispute over the way WWE was running ECW at the time.  


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 30, 2010, 09:03:10 PM
I quite liked Lesnar, and felt he was great in what he contributed.  A lot of wrestling fans felt betrayed he was leaving, but from what I read about his life, he seems the kinda guy that strives to be the best at what he does, going back to his amateur career in college.  Then he was handed the world in WWE and got bored.  I don't blame him for moving on.  Should've dangled that carrot in front of him for a while.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 31, 2010, 06:51:18 PM
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat joins the Singles Hall of Fame. After a long battle in the game, the Dragon battled back from the brink of defeat to win the day rather like a lot of his epic matches and feuds if you really think about it. Steamboat was initially billed as the son of old-time wrestler Sam Steamboat. Actually there's no relation and of the two, Ricky is by far now the more widely remembered. In his 1976 debut in the AWA, he wrestled though as Sam Steamboat Jr.. He would move from there to Florida to Georgia and would finally start to come into his stride in the NWA territories. Initially in Mid-Atlantic, he was billed as a soft-spoken protege of Wahoo McDaniel who pulled off a stunning upset over young TV champion Ric Flair. Steamboat would go on to hold three more United States titles, 6 NWA World Tag Team Titles (5 with Jay Youngblood and 1 with Paul Jones), another TV title and several more championships in Mid-Atlantic including the Mid-Atlantic versions of the tag and heavyweight titles. During this era from 1977-1985, Steamboat would feud with Flair, team and then feud with Paul Jones, feud as a team with Youngblood against Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle and Jack & Jerry Brisco, have an emotional feud against Wahoo and finally battle Tully Blanchard over the TV title.

In 1985, Steamboat moved to the WWF and first embraced "The Dragon" Martial Arts gimmick, a sort of wrestling version of Bruce Lee. Steamboat would go on to defeat Matt Borne at the first Wrestlemania before feuding with the Magnificent Muraco and his manager Mr. Fuji. Steamboat would defeat Hercules at Wrestlemania II. Shortly thereafter he was attacked by Jake "The Snake" Roberts starting a feud between the two seeing them tangle in a pair of "Snake Pit" matches. Eventually Steamboat would bring a komodo dragon to the ring to counteract Roberts' snake. Following this Steamboat would receive a shot at Randy Savage's Intercontinental title in a bout that would see Savage injure Steamboat's larynx with a ring bell starting one of wrestling's most bitter feuds. After a struggle to return from injury, Steamboat finally gained a measure of revenge by defeating Savage in an epic match at Wrestlemania III, still widely considered by many to be one of Wrestlemania's best matches ever. Shortly thereafter Steamboat would shockingly drop the I-C title to the Honky Tonk Man. Actually this was a type of punishment for requesting time off to see the birth of his son just as his I-C Title reign was supposed to be taking off. Steamboat would go on to defeat Rick Rude at the first Royal Rumble before losing to Greg Valentine in the Wrestlemania IV World Title tournament's first round. He then annouced his retirement from wrestling.

Steamboat would next resurface in the NWA in 1989 and would have what would arguably be the greatest year of his entire career. Steamboat initially returned as a surprise partner for Eddie Gilbert in a bout against Ric Flair and Barry Windham in January. By February, Steamboat was set to face Flair for the NWA World Title at Chi-Town Rumble '89 where he would defeat Flair for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Steamboat would go on to successfully defend the title against All-Japan's Tiger Mask II and in rematches with Flair, most notably a controversial win in an epic, grueling 50+ minute match at Clash of the Champions VI. This would set-up an eventual rematch between the two to settle the feud and decide the rivalry. Flair would regain the title in that match and turn babyface shortly thereafter shaking Steamboat's hand and being attacked by ringside judge Terry Funk. Steamboat went on to briefly feud with U.S. Champion Lex Luger before returning to the WWF in 1991.

Steamboat's second WWF run had basically reduced him to a fire-breathing gimmick and ignored all his celebrated history. Not surprisingly, his second run there proved forgettable and short-lived, his most high profile match being a Summerslam '91 six-man tag with British Bulldog & Kerry Von Erich against Warlord, Hercules & Paul Roma.

Steamboat once again returned to WCW in November 1991 in big fashion teaming with Dustin Rhodes to defeat the Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) to win NWA Tag gold. After dropping the titles to Anderson & Bobby Eaton, Steamboat would go on to feud with the Dangerous Alliance and primarily U.S. Champ Rick Rude. While Steamboat would fail to get the title away from Rude at SuperBrawl II, he gained a measure of revenge by winning a non-title Iron Man Challenge at Beach Blast 92. Steamboat would later go on to defeat "Stunning" Steve Austin for yet another TV title, this time under the WCW banner. Steamboat would eventually lose said title to Scott Steiner but would team with Shane Douglas to win another WCW Tag title by defeating Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes. Eventually the Hollywood Blondes (Steve Austin & Brian Pillman) would upend Douglas & Steamboat for the titles. Steamboat would go on to win yet another TV title at a Clash of the Champions, this time defeating "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Eventually Lord Steven Regal would defeat Steamboat for the title and the two would battle to a draw in a memorable rematch. Steamboat would thereafter once again challenge Ric Flair for the WCW World Title coming very close to victory on a number of occasions, even seeing the title briefly held up following Spring Stampede 1994 but ultimately Flair, with a bit of help from U.S. champion "Stunning" Steve Austin would hold on to the title. Steamboat thereafter would set his sights on Austin and would defeat Austin for the United States title on a Clash of the Champions after failing to do so at Bash at the Beach 1994. However in that match, Steamboat seriously injured his back and had to retire from wrestling. Following this, Steamboat started to take on a behind the scenes role and made occasional guest appearances for TNA and ROH. In ROH, he had a series of confrontations with C.M. Punk that eventually encouraged Punk to become the better man he could be turning him babyface in the process after a long heel run. Now Steamboat works for WWE behind the scenes as a road agent and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 which saw him also briefly return to the ring in surprisingly impressive fashion against Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania XXV and Backlash 2009. Steamboat also teamed with his son, now an aspiring wrestler, in Puerto Rico in 2009.

Pretty Wonderful joins the Tag Team Hall of Shame. "Pretty" Paul Roma and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff formed a surprisingly successful tandem in WCW in the early 1990s (1993-1994). Roma was certainly no stranger to tag teams having previously teamed with Jimmy Powers, Hercules and Arn Anderson before forming his arguably most successful pairing with Orndorff. Roma joined forced with Orndorff after turning on his former Horsemen partners and Erik Watts. Mostly Orndorff & Roma would feud with the Stars N' Stripes team of Marcus Alexander Bagwell and the Patriot. They would win their first WCW Tag Team Title by defeating Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan whom they had attacked and "injured" on a previous occasion. Next they successfully fended off the challenge of the Nasty Boys before finally dropping the titles to Bagwell & Patriot. At Halloween Havoc 1994, Pretty Wonderful would regain the Tag Titles with Roma nailed Bagwell with a tag belt. At Clash of the Champions XXIX, Pretty Wonderful put their titles on the line in one final shot for Bagwell & Patriot with Patriot's mask also on the line. Patriot & Bagwell would regain the titles in a controversial double pin situation. Shortly thereafter Roma would return to being enhancement talent before being fired less than 3 months later while Orndorff would continue his singles career until the end of 95 when injury cut his career short.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 05, 2010, 11:59:38 PM
Sting joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Sting (Steve Borden) and fellow trainee under Rick Bassman & Red Bastien Jim Hellwig (would go to be the Ultimate Warrior) started off as a young powerhouse tag team named Powerteam USA. When that failed to go over, they turned heel and became The Blade Runners Sting & Rock in CWA & UWF patterning themselves, makeup and all off of characters in the film (makeup patterned after Daryl Hannah's character for example). After failing to really gain much success, Rock left for World Class where he became the Dingo Warrior while Sting continued on in the UWF joining Hotstuff & Hyatt Inc. forming a successful stable with "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner. He & Gilbert would win two UWF tag team titles and Sting would also win one with Rick Steiner. After the team split, Sting eventually turned face after Gilbert turned on him and helped Terry Taylor win a match against him. Shortly thereafter he would team up with "Gentleman" Chris Adams to feud with Taylor & Gilbert before the UWF would be purchased and merged with the NWA in late 1987.

Sting would go on to be a promising bright young star in the NWA and first gained real notice when he battled NWA World heavyweight champion Ric Flair to a 45 minute draw at the first ever Clash of the Champions aired on TBS live. Actually Sting seemed to battle to draws, DDQs or his opponents would intentionally get themselves DQed to retain their titles in big matches constantly throughout 87 and 88 with the Stinger coming to the near brink of convincing victory time and time again. It helped build him into a huge fan favourite people wanted to see win that big match for the NWA World Title or any title for that matter. Sting would finally capture that title in the form of the NWA Television Title which he won from Mike Rotundo. Sting would go on to successfully defend the title against a variety of challengers, even defeating the Iron Sheik at one point, before finally losing the title to the Great Muta in controversial fashion. This would eventually set up a feud that would see Sting team with old rival Ric Flair against Muta & Terry Funk. Sting would even join a fan friendly version of the Four Horsemen at this time. It wouldn't last however when Sting would be named # 1 contender for Flair's World Title. Inevitably the Horsemen attacked and injured Sting (Borden actually did have a legit knee injury at the time). Sting would eventually return from injury after inspiring long time friend/tag partner Lex Luger, whom he won the Crockett Cup Tag Tournament with in 1988, to challenge Flair for the title. Luger would come up short but Sting sure wouldn't when he finally got his opportunity at the Great American Bash 1990. There Sting would win his first NWA World Title. Sting would go on to defend the World Title in a much more cartoonish NWA in 1990 that saw his main challengers be Sid Vicious and Ric Flair from a newly reformed Four Horsemen and even saw Flair (and actually others too) masquerade under a mask as the Black Scorpion not to mention Horseman Barry Windham dressing up like Sting to try and help Vicious win the World Title. Eventually shortly after being unmasked the Black Scorpion, Flair would regain the World Title from Sting in a rematch from Starrcade 1990.

In 1991, with WCW having seceded from the NWA, Sting would go on to feud with Nikita Koloff and team with Lex Luger, most notably having a terrific match vs. the Steiners. Sting would go on to defeat Steve Austin in a tournament to crown a new United States champion. Sting would go on to feud with the Dangerous Alliance and a newly turned heel WCW World Champion Lex Luger who now saw Sting, and rightfully so, as a threat. Sting would go on to defeat Luger for the WCW World Title in 1992. Eventually after successfully winning his feud with the Dangerous Alliance, Sting would go on to face an imposing new threat in the massive 450 pound Big Van Vader who would defeat Sting for the WCW World Title injuring him in the process. When Sting returned he successfully fended off challenges from Cactus Jack, Abdullah the Butcher and Jake Roberts. Eventually Sting would gain a measure of revenge regaining the WCW World Title in England from Vader but it was short-lived as Vader regained the title six days later in Ireland. Sting would go on to team with Davey Boy Smith against Sid Vicious and Vader and feuding with Ravishing Rick Rude. Sting would win the WCW International World Title around this time in a match with Vader after Rude was injured in a match with Sting in Japan. Ric Flair, newly returned to WCW and having defeated Vader for the WCW World Title at Starrcade '93 would turn heel and go on to defeat Sting to unify the International Title and the WCW World Title. Sting shortly thereafter would team up with Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage throughout the rest of 94 and 95 as they faced challenges from the Dungeon of Doom and the Three Faces of Fear. Sting would win another U.S. Title at this time from Meng. In late 95, Sting would go on to have a personal war with Flair and yet another reformed Four Horsemen this time teaming Chris Benoit & Brian Pillman with Arn Anderson & Flair. Lex Luger would eventually get involved as well and eventually would team with Sting to win the WCW Tag Titles from Harlem Heat. After the NWO formed in 1996 and Sting was labeled a traitor due to an Impostor Sting posing as him as part of the NWO, Sting would take on his now more familiar Crow-like persona watching the NWO from the rafters, as they assaulted wrestler after wrestler in brutal gang attacks, just waiting for a chance to strike armed only with a baseball bat. After an incredibly long build-up, Sting and Hollywood Hogan was the match to watch at Starrcade'97. Unfortunately the match proved a disappointment as Sting rather unconvincingly defeated Hogan for the WCW World Title after Bret Hart came out and restarted the match despite Hogan clearly having gotten a successful 3 count victory. Shortly after this, the title would be held up although Sting would shortly thereafter win it again this time from Randy Savage only to lose it back to Savage again a few months later. Sting would go on to become a member of a new fan friendly NWO Wolfpac team that included Kevin Nash, Konnan & Lex Luger. While in this stable, Sting would win yet another WCW Tag title. In 1999, Sting defeated Diamond Dallas Page to win another WCW World Title only to lose the title back to Page again in a 4-way match later that same night. With WCW at death`s door and running out of ideas, they foolishly turned Sting heel to feud with Goldberg and to defeat Hogan for yet another WCW World Title. After a surprisingly memorable feud with Vampiro, Sting would go on to have forgettable feuds with Lex Luger, Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett in a very poor WCW in 2000.

After WCW`s death in 2001, Sting would next resurface in Australia`s WWA in 2002-2003 winning the WWA Title from Lex Luger and making brief appearances in TNA throughout 2003-2005. In 2006, he would officially return to TNA. After a long chase of Jeff Jarrett, and getting sidetracked by a feud with Christian Cage, Sting finally defeated Jarrett for the NWA World Title at Bound For Glory 2006. Sting would go on to feud and team with Abyss, feud with Cage some more, feud briefly with Christopher Daniels and feud with a new arrival in Kurt Angle eventually defeating him at Bound For Glory 2007 for the TNA World Title. In 2008, Sting would shockingly turn heel and form the Main Event Mafia group with Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, Booker T. and Scott Steiner as they feuded with TNA old time regulars like Samoa Joe, A.J. Style and Daniels. Sting would turn heel to defeat Joe for another TNA World Title at Bound For Glory 2008. Eventually Sting would drop the title to A.J. Styles and fail to regain it. Recently Sting shockingly returned to TNA and once more turned heel joining Team Flair with Styles & Flair to attack Hogan & Abyss. Sting would also brutally attack a new arrival to TNA Rob Van Dam with a baseball bat. Now Sting is poised as a top contender to RVD`s TNA World Title.

I`ll update Jarrett (Shame), Blassie Fame) & D-X (Fame) later.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on June 06, 2010, 08:26:46 AM
For all the successes that WCW had, I'd say Sting is one of the few stars that people associate with the company.  You'd say WCW and people would think Flair and Sting.  In fact, as a kid, I was more a WWF/WWE fan, and ECW fan.  But Sting was one of the FEW wrestlers that had me tune into WCW.  I always wondered what he'd do in WWE, especially back in the late '90s boom.  Hell, even after WWE acquired it, I wanted to see a few matchups, including Sting/HBK, Sting/HHH, Sting/Undertaker, and Sting/Stone Cold.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 06, 2010, 01:32:06 PM
Jeff Jarrett joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Jarrett was up against some stiff competition above as otherwise I think he might just have had a shot at the other Hall. Still many have long argued that Jarrett should have never rose above mid-card status, which was all was thought he could achieve in WWF. However when given a shot in WCW and TNA, Jarrett did work very hard to rise to the occasion and definitely had some great matches as WCW and even moreso NWA World Champion (in TNA).

Jarrett is the son of long-time CWA Nashville, TN area promoter Jerry Jarrett. It would be here Jarrett would first gain recognition. In CWA, Jarrett would win CWA International Tag Titles with Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka and would also team with Billy Joe Travis to win the AWA Southern Tag Titles. In World Class, Jarrett would win the Light Heavyweight Title, the World Class Tag Titles 3 times with 3 different partners (Kerry Von Erich, Mil Mascaras & Matt Borne). Jarrett would also team with Borne to win 2 USWA Tag Team Titles. This came after Jerry Jarrett purchased WCCW and merged it with the CWA to become the USWA, Jarrett would become one of its top stars having memorable wars with Jerry Lawler, Billy Joe Travis (whom he would later borrow from gimmick-wise a lot I'd argue), the Moondogs and others. He would win the USWA Southern Title 10 times and the USWA Tag Titles 14 different times (mainly teaming with Lawler & Robert Fuller but also in teams with Brian Christopher & Jeff Gaylord). Jarrett would also win the USWA Title on 1 occasion and  the USWA Unified World Title on 3 occasions. Jarrett would eventually send out challenges to WWF stars and would eventually get a chance to take on some WWF stars when WWF started sending some of their younger stars to USWA to get some seasoning in the early 90s.

He'd get even more of a chance in 1993 when he'd move to the WWF himself as "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, under a gimmick persona of a country music star wannabe (similar to the gimmick that had been done by Travis in USWA). Jarrett would be very flashy at this time, and started using his trusty guitar to help him win matches (also rather similar to Honky Tonk Man) and it gained him enough attention he eventually got a shot at the Intercontinental title held by Razor Ramon defeating him for the title at the 1995 Royal Rumble. Jarrett then challenged Diesel for the WWF World Title but came up short in that challenge. Jarrett, after being joined by the Roadie, lost and regained the I-C Title two more times (after the title was held up in a match with Bob Holly and a loss and regaining of the title from Razor Ramon) making him a 3 time I-C Champion. On July 1995, Jarrett lost the I-C Title to Shawn Michaels. After a brief feud with Ahmed Johnson in 1996 that Jarrett lost, he left the WWF in early 1996. Shortly thereafter the Roadie claimed he actually had sung Jarrett's song "With My Baby Tonight" that Jarrett had performed in WWF.

In 1996, Jarrett moved to WCW under a 1 year contract and ended up getting involved in the rivalry between the Four Horsemen and the NWO. Jarrett would eventually side with the Horsemen and even became an Horseman after winning a match with Chris Benoit. Shortly thereafter he would defeat Dean Malenko for the United States Title. However he would eventually wind up in an inner Horseman feud with fellow Horseman Steve "Mongo" McMicheal over McMicheal's wife Debra, a feud that would see Mongo upset Jarrett for the U.S. Title and shortly thereafter Jarrett elected to return to the WWF.

Jarrett returned to the WWF in 1997 and after a brief unsuccessful feud with Undertaker, defeated Barry Windham for the vacant NWA North American Title. Jarrett joined an NWA Invasion stable under Jim Cornette but the whole thing proved so forgettable Jarrett eventually returned to his more familiar Double J gimmick employing Tennessee Lee as his manager and Southern Justice (The Godwinns) as his bodyguards. Eventually the trio would abandon the country music gimmick and become a stable feuding with D-X. Jarrett would lose an Hair vs. Hair match to X-Pac around this time resulting in his long locks being cut short. Eventually Jarrett & the Godwinns would lose the feud to D-X and split. Following a brief forgettable feud with Al Snow, Jarrett would team up with Owen Hart and rehire Debra as the team's manager. Together they won the WWF Tag Team Titles from Ken Shamrock and Big Bossman. After losing the titles to Kane & X-Pac and Owen's tragic accidental fall, Jarrett would go on to defeat the Godfather for yet another Intercontinental Title (which was originally scheduled to go to Owen) in memory and in tribute to his fallen partner. Jarrett would go to win and lose the I-C Title twice more holding it 6 times in total, once even defeating D-Lo Brown (with a bit of help from Debra) for a merged European-Intercontinental title reign. Eventually Jarrett would give the Euopean Title to Mark Henry. He would then go on to have an Andy Kaufman-esque "men are better than women" feud with Chyna over the I-C Title dropping it to her on his way out of WWF in 1999.

Jarrett next resurfaced in WCW, there claiming he was "the Chosen One" (perhaps a reference to his friendship with Vince Russo?) and with the help of Creative Control (The Harris Brothers), he came close to winning the vacant WCW World Title. However Dustin Rhodes interference cost him leading to a brief feud with Rhodes that Jarrett won. Shortly thereafter he set out after Chris Benoit's United States Title, a title he finally won as he reformed a brand new NWO 2000 team consisting of himself, Bret Hart, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall. Jarrett went on to challenge Sid Vicious for the WCW World Title but confusing WCW Commissioner-NWO innner conflicts storylines hampered any success Jarrett might have achieved.

In April 2000, Russo & Eric Bischoff decided to "reboot" WCW and declared all the titles vacant leading to a feud between the established WCW veterans the Millionaires Club and the New Blood. Jarrett joined the New Blood and defeated Diamond Dallas Page for the now vacant WCW World Title. Page would shortly thereafter regain the title only to lose it in an embarrassing tag team match that saw David Arquette win the WCW World Title in a tag match with DDP vs. Jarrett & Bischoff when Arquette pinned Bischoff. Jarrett would later regain the WCW World Title in a 3-way match with Arquette and DDP when Arquette turned on Page. Jarrett would go on to feud with Ric Flair losing and regaining the WCW World Title 2 more times. Jarrett would eventually enter into a controversial feud with Hulk Hogan that would see Jarrett immediately lay down to be pinned by Hogan with Vince Russo coming out to point out that Hogan had refused to job and setting up Jarrett-Booker T. in an official WCW World Title match later that night, a match Booker won. Jarrett would not be signed when WWE purchased WCW and Vince McMahon even declared on the air that Jarrett would be "G Double O Double N Double E" after that last Nitro Raw "crossover" show.

Next Jarrett in 2002 would compete in Australia and Europe for the WWA winning the WWA title only to be later stripped of the title. In 2003, while in his first NWA World Title reign, Jarrett returned to WWA to defeat Sting to unify the NWA and WWA World Titles.

With his father Jerry Jarrett, Jeff would help form TNA. Initially in 2004, TNA ran a weekly PPV format. After a long chase for the title and getting sidetracked by feuds with Scott Hall, Brian Lawler and B.G. James (formerly Roadie), Jarrett finally defeated Ron "The Truth" Killings (R-Truth) for the NWA World Title in November 2002. Jarrett would go on to feud with Vince Russo and his SEX (Sports Entertainment Extreme) group and also with Raven. Eventually Jarrett would drop the NWA World Title to A.J. Styles in a 3-way match that also included Raven. Jarrett would eventually regain the title from Styles on October 2003 but would also turn heel in the process. Styles however would regain the title from Jarrett on Apirl 2004 inside a steel cage. Shortly thereafter Jarrett would help Killings defeat Styles for the NWA Title and would regain it himself in a five-man King of the Mountain match held on June 2004. Jarrett however would continue to be plagued by Styles who would again defeat him for the title on May 2005. Jarrett would win his fourth NWA World Title from Raven and form an alliance with America's Most Wanted and Gail Kim. Jarrett would go on to briefly lose and regain the NWA World Title from Rhino before finally losing it to Christian Cage in February 2006.

Shortly after this, Jarrett would enter into a feud with Sting and would go on to once more regain the NWA World Title (for the 6th time) in another King of the Mountain match. After a long climb and getting sidetracked with feuds with Christian Cage and an unwanted partnership with Samoa Joe against Jarrett and Scott Steiner, Sting finally defeated Jarrett for the NWA World Title at Bound For Glory 2006.

Following his wife's illness, Jarrett left TNA to be with his wife. Jarrett briefly returned in 2007 to align himself with Samoa Joe against A.J. Styles. Eventually he would turn face and briefly feud with Robert Roode, a feud that Roode would essentially win before Jarrett left once again. In 2008, Jarrett once more returned to aid Samoa Joe in his wars for the TNA World Title against Christian Cage, Kurt Angle and Booker T. Meanwhile Sting would begin aiding Booker and would eventually form the Main Event Mafia. Jarrett would finally return at Bound For Glory 2008 to successfully defeat Kurt Angle leading to a long, personal war between the two. Jarrett would next end up in another personal war with Eric Young while also getting involved in the politics surrounding Mick Foley's TNA World Title run. With Hulk Hogan coming to TNA in 2010, Jarrett has surprisingly been high in Hogan's graces so far even becoming a member of Team Hogan and has recently entered into yet another feud with the now heelish Sting.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 06, 2010, 04:41:29 PM
Classy Freddie Blassie joins the Managers Hall of Fame. "Listen up, You pencil neck geeks!!!" You better believe Blassie is in the Hall of Fame. What else should we expect from such a fine, refined classy individual as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate" Freddie Blassie?

Not that Blassie was always quite so classy. In fact, Blassie started wrestling at carnival sideshows sometimes even competing in shoot matches. After serving in the navy during World War II, Blassie returned to wrestling as Sailor Fred Blassie but that gimmick failed to get over. However he bleached his hair, sharpened his teeth into fangs and moved to the Georgia territory where he became a full fledged heel for the first time and even earned the nickname "The Vampire" for biting his opponents. While there he captured the Georgia Southern Heavyweight Title.

He later moved to the WWA and California. Here Blassie would become one of wrestling's truly most hated men (even having to be escorted to the ring by police guards) as he feuded with men like The Destroyer, Edouard Carpentier, Lou Thesz and Lord James Blears. He defeated Carpentier for the WWA Title in 1961 and successfully defended it against NWA World Champion Lou Thesz. While wrestling Blears, Blassie actually had acid thrown on his back by an enraged fan. Blassie would win another WWA Title from Japan legend Rikidozan (in matches so brutal and bloody wrestling lore and legend has it several people watching in Japan were so terrified they had heart attacks) only to lose it to the Destroyer. He'd get it back again. In 1963, he lost the WWA Title to Bearcat Wright, one of the first African American to hold such a major title. Once more he'd regain the title only to lose it to Dick the Bruiser before heading to the WWWF.

In 1964, Blassie arrived in the WWWF to challenge Bruno Sammartino and feud with Bobo Brazil. Blassie ultimately failed to upend Bruno and also later Pedro Morales when he made a brief return in 1971 managed by Capt. Lou Albano.

He returned to the WWA in 1968 and somehow became a fan favourite when fans suddenly started cheering his wild and outrageous in-ring antics leading to feuds with the Sheik, "The Golden Greek" John Tolos and Rocky Johnson. In 1974, Blassie retired from wrestling as an active competitor due to a California law that prevented anyone over 55 from wrestling. Blassie thereafter became "Classy" Freddie Blassie, one of wrestling's most colorful managers as one of the notorious Three Wise Men of the East along with The Grand Wizard and Capt. Lou Albano.

Blassie would manage a wide variety of wrestlers most often foreign menaces or over the top wild men style characters. Amongst the wrestlers he managed were Waldo Von Erich, Mr. Fuji, Prof. Toru Tanaka, George "The Animal" Steele, Spiros Arion, Baron Von Raschke, Stan Hansen, The Wolfman, Ivan Koloff, Baron Scicluna, Skandor Akbar, Louis Cyr, Bad News Allen, Mr. Saito, Tiger Chung Lee, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, Crusher Jerry Blackwell, a young heel Hulk Hogan, Victor Rivera, Swede Hanson, Killer Khan, Blackjack Mulligan, "Crippler" Ray Stevens, Dick Murdoch, Kamala, King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, Hercules, Jesse Ventura, Adrian Adonis, Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik. Blassie even managed Muhammed Ali when he faced Antonio Inoki in a wrestler vs. boxer match in Japan. Blassie of course would be well known for managing the Iron Sheik to his WWF World Title upset win over Bob Backlund and managing Sheik and Volkoff to a WWF Tag Team Title win over the U.S. Express managed by Capt. Lou Albano.

Of course Blassie would be well remembered in the entertainment media for his many projects outside of wrestling and guest appearances on late night talk shows often frightening Regis Philbin. He appeared with Andy Kaufman in My Breakfast with Blassie (1983) and in the film When Nature Calls (1985) as a psychiatrist. In also appeared in Body Slam (1986) and made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in 1983. He even appeared in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1962 as himself.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 06, 2010, 05:29:46 PM
DeGeneration X joins the Tag Team Hall of Fame. Initially D-X started out as an alliance formed between fellow heels Triple H, seconded by Chyna, and Shawn Michaels. They would add Rick Rude as "Insurance Policy" basically to run outside the ring interference for them as they battled the Undertaker, Ken Shamrock and feuded with Bret Hart, the British Bulldog and other members of the Hart Foundation not to mention humilating, embarrassing and infuriating WWF authority figures like Vince McMahon and WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. When Bret left following the Montreal screwjob, it left Owen to basically battle D-X on his own. Eventually Shawn would be WWF World Champion while Triple H was European Champion, a title Michaels laid down to give to Triple H. Triple H would trade said championship with Owen Hart in early 1998 while HBK would get more immersed in his upcoming Wrestlemania XIV match with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Of course HBK would retire from WWF following his loss to Austin until 2002 due to a back injury.

Following HBK's departure, HHH asserted leadership over a new D-X group consisting of X-Pac, the New Age Outlaws and Chyna. While initially heels, they proved so popular, they eventually became fan favourites and had memorable feuds with the Nation lead by the Rock and later Vince McMahon's Corporation. in 1998, D-X would feud with former leader Shawn Michaels who was now WWF Commissioner and eventually also part of the Corporation. Eventually though HBK would be lured back into D-X only for D-X to turn on him and declare "What goes around comes around". Eventually though members of D-X were lured into the Corporation including Chyna and Triple H leaving the group reduced to X-Pac and the Outlaws. Around this time, X-Pac would team with Kane to win the WWF Tag Titles and Kane would also become associated with the group. However Billy Gunn would become frustrated with X-Pac and Kane holding what he considered to be his tag team championships and turned on the group reducing them to just X-Pac and Road Dogg.

In late 1999 however the group reformed against the now top faces of The Rock and Stone Cold and also feuded with Kane who the group turned against and X-Pac even stole Kane's "girlfriend" Tori who became a member of D-X. When Triple H married Stephanie McMahon, she was also become associated with the group. At this time, the group basically backed up WWF World Champion Triple H in 2000. However Billy Gunn eventually left the group and Road Dogg & X-Pac became a team once more. However X-Pac & Road Dogg never really succeeded and the team eventually fell apart eventually leaving Triple H as a solo star. They would briefly reunite to battle the newly arriving Radicalz but this would be short-lived.

In 2002, Shawn Michaels suggesting reforming D-X to Triple H and the pair initially came out to their old entrance only for Triple H to turn on Micheals once more more fully establishing himself as a top heel and also leading to a long feud between Triple H and the newly returned HBK.

In 2006, HBK and HHH suddenly started to find themselves the common enemy of Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and the Spirit Squad and soon reunited as DeGeneration X to fend off the multiple man attacks. They started performing numerous practical jokes on the McMahons and WWE GM Jonathan Coachman at this time. D-X sent the Spirit Squad packing, defeated the McMahons even when they enlisted help from the Big Show and soon entered into a feud with the diabolical Rated RKO pairing of Edge and Randy Orton. Rated RKO held off the challenge of D-X at Cyber Sunday but fell victim to D-X's team (with the Hardys and C.M. Punk) at Survivor Series getting beat 5-0. Next D-X challenged Rated RKO for the World Tag Team Titles at New Year's Revolution but failed to capture them when Triple H suffered a legit quadriceps tear. In 2008, when Triple H was drafted to Raw, D-X had several "one night only" reunion matches successfully defeating Umaga and Snitsky, Lance Cade & Chris Jericho and The Miz & John Morrison. In 2009, when Triple H was drafted back to Raw, they would once again reunite as a team but only after HBK took a long hiatus after losing to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXV. Triple H finally succeeded in luring Michaels back to help him in his feud with Randy Orton and his Legacy faction. Following a series of matches against Legacy that eventually saw D-X come out on top, D-X eventually defeated The Big Show and Chris Jericho for the WWE Unified World Tag Team Titles at TLC, their first and only WWE Tag Team Titles (at least for the team of HBK & HHH - The New Age Outlaws won many tag team titles prior to this while a part of D-X). Eventually D-X, with Micheals getting sidetracked with his vendetta with the Undertaker, would lose the tag titles to The Miz and the Big Show. Now that HBK has retired, the team is once more disbanded.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 12, 2010, 05:20:27 PM
The Road Warriors join the Tag Team Hall of Fame. Like futuristic members of a movie gang brought to life, Hawk and Animal were two face painted, leather and spike wearing street warriors, and coming to the ring to the tune of Black Sabbath "Iron Man", they looked like they could do battle in the streets as well as in the ring. Along with their manager, the shrewd and cunning former wrestler "Precious" Paul Ellering, the Warriors cut a swath of destruction over the tag team ranks in Georgia and then the AWA where they captured their first World Tag Team Championship defeating legends The Crusher and Baron Von Raschke to breathe fresh life into an aging AWA. Originally a part of the Legion of Doom stable managed by Ellering which also once included Jake Roberts, King Kong Bundy, The Spoiler, Matt Borne, Arn Anderson, The Iron Sheik and The Original Sheik in Georgia, eventually it was just Hawk and Animal who would be known by that name: The Legion of Doom (a name borrowed from The Super Friends cartoon believe it or not): The Road Warriors. Only 6 months after forming, the Road Warriors captured the Georgia National Tag Team Titles.

In 1984, the Warriors and Ellering moved to the AWA where they would capture the aforementioned AWA Tag Team championships on August 25, 1984. The Warriors pretty much squashed and destroyed most teams put in their path, a force of destruction the likes of which hadn't been seen in the AWA since perhaps the heyday of Bruiser & Crusher and the Vachons. While heel AWA Tag champs, the Warriors would go on to face their toughest challenges in the form of the Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn & Stan Lane) and the Fabulous Freebirds 3-man team (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts). Eventually the Warriors dominance in most matches began to gain them fans and notoriety and they would eventually become favourites battling the likes of Ivan and Nikita Koloff (during a time of AWA-NWA cross promotion in the mid-80s) and the Long Riders. The Warriors would finally lose the AWA Tag Team titles in a huge upset loss to the unlikely team of "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal (not William Regal) & "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin thanks to a lot of outside interference from the Freebirds on Sept. 1985.  The Warriors would prove so popular during this era that they would win Pro Wrestling Illustrated Tag Team of the Year awards three years straight from 1983-1985 and again in 1988. "We Dine on Danger and Snack on Death"

In 1985, the Road Warriors first travelled to Japan and competed in tours of All-Japan making a huge splash and getting over tremendously with fans while defeating monstrous teams such as Killer Khan & Animal Hamaguchi. When the Warriors were in between contracts with either of the big 3 American federations, they made plenty of trips overseas to Japan, enough to capture the NWA International Tag Team championships from Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta in March 1987 holding them 15 months before finally dropping them to Yoshiaki Yatsu & Jumbo Tsuruta.

In 1986, the Road Warriors made their first significant impact in the NWA, winning the first ever Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament defeating Magnum T.A. and Ronnie Garvin in the finals. They'd go on to feud with the NWA Tag Team champs the Koloffs and later the Midnight Express (Condrey & Eaton, managed by Jim Cornette) defeating the Express at Starrcade '86 in a scaffold match. In 1987, the Warriors would team up with the Superpowers Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (winners of the 2nd Crockett Cup) to battle the Four Horsemen in a series of bloody War Games steel cage matches that still get talked about to this day. The Warriors came out victorious in said matches. While immersed in this feud, the Warriors came to pursue NWA World Tag Team Champions Horsemen Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson, managed by J.J. Dillon. The Horsemen managed to barely hold on to their tag titles at Starrcade '87 thanks to a questionable DQ decision. During this period, the Warriors & Dusty Rhodes did win two NWA Six-Man championships before the Warriors became embroiled in a memorable feud with the Powers of Pain (Warlord & Barbarian), the first team that could arguably rival them in terms of size and sheer power. The Warriors would eventually come out on top in that feud as the Powers of Pain made the move to the WWF. In 1988, the Road Warriors made a shocking change, betraying and attacking Sting during a six-man match, attacking and injuring Dusty Rhodes and telling the fans to "Go to Hell!". This would lead to the Warriors finally winning that elusive NWA World Tag Team championship, this time from a face version of the Midnight Express (Stan Lane & Bobby Eaton, managed by Jim Cornette) in October 1988. The Warriors would briefly feud with Sting and Dusty Rhodes, even with Animal once defeating Rhodes to choose a new six-man championship partner in Genichiro Tenryu, but ultimately the fans still cheered the Warriors regardless and eventually they were shortly once more fan favourites. Ultimately they were upset by the Varsity Club of Steve Williams and Mike Rotundo and some crooked refereeing from Teddy Long for the NWA World Tag Titles on April 1989. The Road Warriors would go on to feud with the Varsity Club, the Skyscrapers (managed by Teddy Long) & the Samoan Swat Team. The Warriors last NWA hurrah would be winning the Night of the Iron Man Tag Team Tournament portion at Starrcade' 89 over the likes of Doom, the Steiners and the SST. They'd go to defeat the Skyscrapers before eventually leaving the NWA in 1990.

The Warriors finally made the move to the WWF in 1990. The Warriors came in an soon made short work of their supposed WWF imitators Demolition, who had added a new member in Crush as Ax was starting to have health issues. During this feud the Warriors would team with Ultimate Warrior & Kerry Von Erich and would pretty much dominant the entire feud with Demolition. The Warriors would also help the Hart Foundation defeat Demolition for the tag team titles, belts that would eventually move to the Nasty Boys, the Road Warriors eventual target in their WWF World Tag Team Title hunt. The Warriors would defeat the Nasty Boys, managed by Jimmy Hart at Summerslam 1991 becoming the first and only team in history to win World Tag Team Titles in the AWA, NWA and WWF not to mention Japan. Hawk and Animal would lose the titles to Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & IRS) in February 1992 after a damaging war with the Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon). LOD would briefly return at Summerslam 1992 along with Paul Ellering and a dummy named Rocco to defeat Money Inc. but Hawk disgusted by the dummy gimmick would soon be gone again as would Animal thanks to a back injury. Hawk would move on to compete in Japan with Kensuke Sasaki as his new partner in a successful pairing named the Hell Raisers. This pairing would win the IWGP Tag Team Titles on 2 occassions in the early-mid 90s.  Animal would return from injury in 1996 and reform his team with Hawk.

After a brief forgettable WCW stint in 1996 which saw them battle the Steiners, Harlem Heat and challenge Sting & Lex Luger, then champions but they didn't win the tag team titles here, they made their return to the WWF in 1997 in a surprise appearance on a February 1997 Raw that also served as an ECW invasion show. On this episode, the Warriors made short work of the Headbangers after a double countout in their match. Next the Warriors found themselves embroiled in a feud with the Hart Foundation stable which saw them team up with Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock & Goldust. In October 1997, the Warriors defeated the Godwinns to become 2-time WWF World Tag Team champions only to lose the titles around a month later in shocking fashion to a new upstart team called the New Age Outlaws. After several failed attempts to revitalize the Warriors including pairing them with Sunny as LOD 2000, pairing them up with Darren Drozdov and setting them up to feud with Ellering and D.O.A. (the Harris Brothers) and also setting up a realistic team tension due to Hawk's real-life substance abuse problems throughout 1998 and 1999, it all faltered and failed miserably. The Warriors briefly feuded with McMahon's Stooges and Shane McMahon and unsuccessfully challenged Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett in 1999 before leaving the WWF behind. Animal would go on to briefly compete in WCW on his own in 1999 while the team would reunite for several independent appearances in the early 2000s including a few in TNA. The Road Warriors made their last appearance on May 12, 2003 in a losing effort against WWE World Tag Team champions Kane & Rob Van Dam.  Hawk would pass away in 2003 but Animal would return to the WWE in 2005 to team with Heidenreich as a new version of the L.O.D. and together they would win one WWE Tag Team Championship from MNM who they would eventually drop the titles back to again. In 2007, Animal would travel to Japan to team with Kensuke Sasaki to form the Hell Warriors and would go on to win the UWA Tag Team Titles in 2008.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 12, 2010, 07:01:53 PM
"Macho Man" Randy Savage joins the Singles Hall of Fame. "Ooooh Yeah!!! Macho Madness can't be stopped! Dig It?" The colorful and flamboyant Randy Savage, also known as the Macho Man, joins the Hall of Fame. Who can ever forget his ring entrance? Pomp and Circumstance piping through the arena, and suddenly appeared Macho Man in a colorful ring garb, perhaps a bright gold or red robe, a bandanna or headband, dark sunglasses, even a cowboy hat later in his career. Most often he was accompanied by Miss Elizabeth, his one time real life wife although he was also managed by Sensational Sherri and accompanied by a female valet named Gorgeous George and Madusa in his later WCW years. His unforgettable deep, raspy voice and his guttural deep down "OOoooohhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhh!"s

Macho Man is actually a second generation grappler, the son of Angelo Poffo and the brother of Leaping Lanny Poffo. Savage first wrestled in 1973 under a mask as The Spider Friend while he worked as a minor league baseball outfielder. Savage would adopt the name Randy Savage at the suggestion of Ole Anderson who said it well described his wrestling style. Savage quit baseball and became a full time wrestler in the Midwest. Eventually he would also work in Michigan, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and even the Eastern Maritimes. Eventually though Savage and his brother would become key players in his father's own rival promotion International Championship Wrestling in the Mid-American states.  When ICW went under, Savage & Poffo mainly started competing in Memphis. There Savage feuded with Jerry "The King' Lawler over the Southern Heavyweight Title and the brothers battled with the Rock 'n' Roll Express. Briefly in late 1984, Savage would turn face and team with Lawler to battle Jimmy Hart's  First Family stable only to eventually betray Lawler and feud with him over the Southern title yet again culminating in a Loser Leaves Town Match Savage lost.

Savage next turned up in the WWF in 1985 where a bidding war for his services started between all the managers. Savage shocked everyone when he announced Miss Elizabeth, his real-life wife, as his manager. Savage competed in his first ever WWF PPV The Wrestling Classic competing in a 16 man tournament and defeating Ivan Putski, Ricky Steamboat & The Dynamite Kid before finally losing by countout to Junkyard Dog in the finals. In late 1985, Savage started to pursue Tito Santana and his Intercontinental Title, a championship he would capture in February 1986 with a little help from a steel rod he'd hidden in his tights. Savage would go on to have great success as an heel I-C champion even scoring countout wins over Hulk Hogan at MSG, not to mention having memorable feuds with Bruno Sammartino and George "The Animal" Steele who became infatuated with Miss Elizabeth. Savage successfully fended off Steele at Wrestlemania 2 and held off the challenge of Jake Roberts. In late 1986 and early 1987, Savage would have perhaps his most heated heel rivalry with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat after injuring Steamboat's larynx with a ring bell. The feud culminated in a show stealing I-C Title match at Wrestlemania III that saw Ricky Steamboat, with a little help from George "The Animal" Steele, successfully defeat Savage for the title.

Randy Savage would go on to win a King of the Ring tournament in late 1987 and would soon become more embraced by the fans when he became the target of the Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation. Savage would eventually become a major threat and challenger to Honky's I-C title but during a match on October 1987 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Honky & the Harts attacked Savage only for Miss Elizabeth to recruit Hulk Hogan to come to his rescue. Shortly thereafter the Megapowers team of Hogan & Savage was born. Savage would go on to compete in a 14 man tournament for the vacant WWF World Title at Wrestlemania IV, a tournament he would win with a little help from Hogan for his first WWF World Heavyweight Title. During the tournament, he defeated Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang and finally Ted DiBiase. Savage would go on to successfully defend the title for a year against imposing challengers like Andre the Giant, One Man Gang, Bad News Brown and Ted DiBiase. Savage & Hogan would also team to defeat the Megabucks team of Andre & DiBiase at Summerslam '88. However tension and jealousy soon started to arise in the Megapowers, especially after Hogan took on Miss Elizabeth as a manager too. After Hogan eliminated Savage at the 1989 Royal Rumble and seemingly left Savage on his own at the February 1989 Main Event match vs. The Twin Towers to tend to an injured Elizabeth, Savage exploded and turned on Hogan. At Wrestlemania V, the feud would come to an head as Hogan would defeat Savage and regain his previously held WWF World Title. Savage and Hogan would continue to feud and Savage would ultimately hire Sensational Sherri as his new manager. Savage would go on to team with Zeus at Summerslam '89 against Hogan and new partner Brutus Beefcake.

Next Savage would become Macho King after defeating Hacksaw Duggan for the crown on September 1989 while Sherri would become his Queen. Savage would begin bringing a sceptre to the ring with him which he would sometimes use as a weapon in his matches. The Savage-Hogan feud finally ended in a February 1990 Main Event special show which saw Hogan defeat Savage with Buster Douglas as guest referee and Douglas KO Savage after the match. Next Savage & Sherri would become embroiled in a feud with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire before going to challenge the Ultimate Warrior for the WWF World Title in late 1990. When Warrior refused to face him, Savage helped Sgt. Slaughter defeat Warrior at Royal Rumble 1991 setting up a career threatening match for Savage-Warrior at Wrestlemania VII. Warrior would defeat Savage in this match despite Savage hitting his trademark elbowsmash five consecutive times (and if I had any doubt as to wrestling's predetermined-ness beforehand I certainly didn't after this). After the match, Sherri turned on a beaten Savage and attacked him with Miss Elizabeth coming to the Macho Man's rescue.

Savage would continue in WWF as a color commentator for quite some time during 1991 while also getting "married" to Miss Elizabeth at Summerslam 1991. During the wedding, Savage became the target of a newly heel Jake "The Snake" Roberts who even hid a snake amongst Elizabeth's wedding presents. Every week, Roberts would continue berating Savage while Savage tried to getting his retirement revoked. On an October 1991 show, Roberts goaded Savage into the ring and eventually attacked him with a live cobra that actually did bite Savage on live TV (although it was defanged Roberts had trouble getting the cobra to release its bite). Finally due to fan pressure and Savage's lobbying, he was finally reinstated in late 1991 and a match was made with Roberts for Tuesday in Texas. Savage and Roberts would continue to have a brutal feud for several months that would eventually be won by Savage when Undertaker, formerly Roberts ally, unexpectedly began to take Savage's side.

Next Savage would get involved in a feud with "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who had won the vacant WWF World Title at Royal Rumble 1992 spreading rumors he once had an affair with Miss Elizabeth. Savage would go on to defend his wife's honor and win his 2nd WWF World Title from Flair at Wrestlemania VIII, a big turn around from retirement the previous year. During Savage's second WWF World Title reign, Savage & Elizabeth divorced for real behind the scenes although this was never mentioned on camera. Savage would go to successfully defend the title against a returning Ultimate Warrior in 1992, although he actually lost their match by countout, and also would team up with Warrior in mid-92. In September, Razor Ramon would help Ric Flair defeat Randy Savage for the WWF World Title initiating a machismo feud between the two, a feud eventually won surprisingly enough by Ramon. Eventually Savage would have to choose a new partner to face Ramon & Flair at Survivor Series and shocked many when Mr. Perfect, Flair's long-time WWF consultant, eventually accepted the partnership. In 1993 with the debut of Monday Night Raw, Savage returned to his previous color commentator role but occasionally still competed in ring having his last rather forgettable feud with Crush. He also challenged Yokozuna and Bret Hart for the WWF World Title around this era but came up short.

Next Savage would turn up in WCW in 1994 joining old rival Hulk Hogan and teaming with Sting against the monster heel tandems of The Faces of Fear and the Dungeon of Doom led by Kevin Sullivan. By mid-1995, Savage and Ric Flair had resumed their old heated rivalry. Savage would eventually win his first WCW World Title by winning the World War 3 1995 Battle Royal only to lose the title to Flair a month later at Starrcade'95. Savage won win a second WCW World Title from Flair on the January 22, 1996 airing of Monday Nitro. Flair however would once again regain the WCW World Title from Savage, this time in a steel cage match at Superbrawl VI and thanks to the help of Miss Elizabeth, who unexpectedly betrayed the Macho Man. Flair & Savage continued their feud till mid '96 when Savage would be at the center of another significant event, the formation of the NWO as Hulk Hogan shockingly turned heel and joined Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to defeat Savage, Sting & Lex Luger. Savage would go to feud with Hogan and the NWO but would come up short largely thanks to the numbers game.

In 1997, Savage himself decided to join the NWO, helping Hogan defeat Roddy Piper at Superbrawl VII and reuniting with Elizabeth to feud with Diamond Dallas Page and Kimberly. They had a long feud and rivalry that last about 8 months, a feud Page ultimately seemed to get the best of. Next Savage feuded with Lex Luger and basically came out on the losing end of said feud. Savage next got a chance at Sting's WCW World Title at Spring Stampede 1998 and with help from Kevin Nash and despite objections from Hogan, he won his third WCW World Title. Savage and Hogan would go on have a match over the title that would see interference from Kevin Nash in Savage's favor but also from Bret Hart in Hogan's favor resulting in Hogan eventually regaining the WCW World Title from Savage. Savage would thereafter become a full fledged babyface once again and would team with Nash, Konnan, Luger & Sting to form the NWO Wolfpac to feud with NWO Black & White led by Hogan.

Savage shortly thereafter left WCW for nearly a year to recover from knee surgery. When he returned in 1999, he sported a brand new look, having his hair slicked back, having gotten more jacked up and now accompanied by a young valet named Gorgeous George. Eventually Madusa and Miss Madness would join with Savage as a trio of valets and together they would be known as Team Madness. At the 1999 Great American Bash, Savage teamed with Sid Vicious vs. Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page in a tag team match where whoever scored the pinfall would win the WCW World Title. Savage won the match and his fourth WCW World Title on this night. The very next night however Kevin Nash attacked Savage allowing Hollywood Hulk Hogan to defeat him for the World championship. Savage lost all of his WWF/WCW World Title to either Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan.  Following the breakup of Team Madness, Savage would go to have a forgettable feud with Dennis Rodman and briefly joined the Millionaires Club in 2000 on his way out of WCW.

In 2004, Savage would return to wrestling in TNA challenging Jeff Jarrett. He would team up with Jeff Hardy and A.J. Styles to defeat Jarrett, Hall and Nash at Turning Point 2004 but ultimately would leave TNA in February 2005 apparently due to health concerns.

Savage had considerable success outside of wrestling being a longtime spokesman for Slim Jim and even appearing in the 2002 Spider-Man film. He's definitely one of those wrestlers most recognizable even to non-wrestling fans.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on June 12, 2010, 08:10:40 PM
Macho definitely deserves to be recognized into a hall, for sure.  Sadly, the Hall most well known to mainstream fans, the WWE Hall of Fame, looks like it WON'T be inducting him anytime soon.

Which is sad really, as I'd say he was a vital part of the WWF Rock and Wrestling Connection in the mid '80s, as much as Hogan, Piper, Cindy Lauper and Mr. T. 

And, unlike Hogan, could have decent matches. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 12, 2010, 08:38:52 PM
The Moondogs join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. Wild and unruly looking, the Moondogs kind of look like crazed hillbilly mountain men. Sporting long mangy white hair and white beards, cutoff blue jeans, big round stomachs and hairy bodies and bringing out big ham-bones to the ring to chew on and use as weapons in matches. The Moondogs are generally known for their wild brawling nature and weren't afraid to bite, maul and chew on their opponents. The Moondogs greatest success came when they led by manager Captain Lou Albano captured the WWF Tag Team Titles from Rick Martel and Tony Garea on March 17,1981 with more than a bit of help from a bone they brought to the ring with them. This team featured Moondogs King (actually Sailor White) and Rex. However White would eventually be banned from entry to the United States due to a criminal past and he would be replaced by Spot while the Moondogs were still tag champs. Eventually the Moondogs would drop the titles back to Garea and Martel later that same year (July 21, 1981). The Moondogs would go on to have memorable feuds with the British Bulldogs and the Wild Samoans in the WWF in the mid-80s but never again reached their previous level of success without any manager to guide them. Eventually the Moondogs would be little more than jobbers in the WWF although Moondog Rex did get to challenge Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Title at one point in a losing effort. Rex & Spot however would go on to have considerable success in Memphis (AWA Southern Tag Titles) and Puerto Rico (1 time WWC World Tag Team champs, 2 times WWC North American Tag Champs, 1 time WWC Carribean Tag champs). In 1983, Rex & Spot had a memorable feud with the Fabulous Ones in Memphis. In the mid-80s, the Moondogs were the team that Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff were battling when Orndorff's jealousy boiled over eventually leading to Orndorff's heel turn on Hogan. In the late 80s, Rex & Spot moved to the USWA in Memphis where they'd seen previous success before, even once being managed by Jimmy Hart there. Rex & Spot would win 3 USWA Tag Titles before ultimately Rex would be replaced by a new Moondog named Spike who would win the tag titles with Spot 3 times in USWA as well. Spot also teamed with two other Moondogs, one named Cujo and one named Rover to win 1 more USWA Tag title with each while with Cujo under the name Splat he would win yet 4 more USWA Tag titles. Cujo & Spike would eventually become a new version of the Moondogs and win 2 more USWA Tag Team titles. Jeff Jarrett & Jerry Lawler would have a wild, bloody feud with Moondogs Spot and Cujo in 1992 that would win Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Feud of the Year for 1992. In many ways, the Moondogs in Memphis were forerunners to the later Hardcore style with their wild brawling matches full of weapon use.

Gary Hart joins the Managers Hall of Shame. Gary Hart to me always seemed like a brainy intellectual heel manager who didn't like to get his own hands dirty and liked to manipulate his men and their opponents without getting physically involved preferring to use his mind instead. After a stint as a wrestler in the early 60s, Hart became a manager by the late 60s calling himself "Playboy" Gary Hart. Hart is perhaps best known today for his successful behind the scenes booking helping contributing to the rise and success of World Class Championship Wrestling in the early 1980s. But Hart was also a wrestling manager. Mostly Hart managed a stable of wildmen and foreign heels including the likes of One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Gorgeous Gino Hernandez, Gentleman Chris Adams, Nord the Barbarian, Abdullah the Butcher, Al Perez, Jeep Swenson. Hart though is perhaps best remembered as the manager for the Great Kabuki during his World Class and NWA eras although his association with Adams and Hernandez was very successful too. In World Class, Hart also feuded with fellow managers General Skandor Akbar and Percy Pringle. In ICW, Hart also managed Bruiser Brody, Mark Lewin and Kevin Sullivan.  When World Class folded in the late 80s, Hart moved to the NWA Jim Crockett Promotions where he managed Al Perez and Larry Zbyszko in a forgettable 1988 stint. He'd have a more memorable 1989 stint though as the manager of the Great Muta and later J-Tex Corporation with Terry Funk, Dick Slater, Buzz Sawyer and the Dragon Master. Together they feuded with Ric Flair, Sting, Ole and Arn Anderson, a version of the Four Horsemen. Hart's lack of involvement in matches may have made him less memorable than a lot of other managers but he seemed a real natural fit for the foreign heel especially the Great Kabuki and the Great Muta and his pairing with Adams & Hernandez.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 14, 2010, 05:23:27 PM
The Iron Sheik joins the Singles Hall of Shame. I'll say for the Sheik, I always personally found him highly entertaining (especially his Iran #1 , U.S.A puth puth - he spits). He was a great foreign heel during the early 1980s who the fans really did loathe especially after attacking and injuring Bob Backlund to win the WWF World Title. And then Hulk Hogan came on to the scene and Hulkamania was born and the rest is history. Sheik definitely played a part in all of that. That said unfortunately Sheik has become much more remembered these days for the 1987 drug scandal and his wild over the top antics and rants/ravings against other wrestlers outside the ring such as for his appearances on the Howard Stern radio show and for the times he usually pops up in special comedy style appearances on modern era wrestling shows.

The Sheik was indeed born in Tehran, Iran. Sheik attempted to become part of the Iranian Olympic team during the 1968 trials for Graeco Roman wrestling but failed to get past the trials despite later being billed as an Olympic competitor in professional wrestling. He did however move to the United States and did help U.S. Olympic wrestling teams including acting as assistant coach for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. In 1971 he was the  Amateur Athletic Union Greco-Roman wrestling champion.

Sheik was first trained in Verne Gagne's training camp under head trainer Billy Robinson. Sheik of course had his own legit background and would himself help to train others. Eventually at the suggestion of others, Sheik would eventually adopt his Iranian gimmick, patterned somewhat after the original Sheik, but also Sheik would add the Persian clubs, which he would use to swing around his head and would use to challenge other wrestlers (this would play a key element in his eventual WWF World Title win over Bob Backlund). First he choose the name The Great Hussein Arab and under this name captured the (Vancouver) NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles, the Canadian Heavyweight Title (Toronto) twice, the NWA National TV title, NWA Mid-Atlantic title and the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Titles.

In 1979, the Sheik made his first WWF run challenging Bob Backlund for the WWF World Title but came up short. Thereafter he briefly feuded with Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino before leaving for the NWA territories again in 1980. In the NWA he had memorable battles and wars with Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, Ronnie Garvin and Tommy Rich.

He first adopted the Iron Sheik nickname in the NWA territories and would take it with him when he returned to the WWF in 1983 where he, managed by Freddie Blassie, challenged Bob Backlund yet again this time taking the WWF World Title on December 23, 1983 after injuring Backlund in a previous encounter with his Persian clubs. While WWF World Champion, Sheik successfully defended the title against Tito Santana, Bob Backlund, Chief Jay Strongbow and Pat Patterson before dropping the title to a newly arrived Hulk Hogan, who took the injured Backlund's place in said match.  After losing the title to Hogan, the Sheik next major feud would be against Sgt. Slaughter who took major offense to Sheik's looking down on the USA. Their bitter feud and rivalry would last for many years but here it would be Slaughter circa 1984 who would get the best of it by winning a Boot Camp match. Shortly after this, the Sheik would form a foreign heels Tag Team with Nikolai Volkoff along with manager Blassie. Together with a bit of help from Blassie's cane, they would capture the WWF World Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania I from the U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo) managed by Capt. Lou Albano. They would eventually lose said titles back to the U.S. Express again around 3 months later in June but would continue teaming for quite some time battling the likes of the British Bulldogs & the Killer Bees.

Sheik however would be involved in a drug scandal in 1987 when he and Hacksaw Duggan were pulled over with Duggan high from marijuana while Sheik was high on cocaine. This plus the fact the two were supposed to be feuding and such breaking of kayfabe was a major no no in the 80s led to eventually Sheik more or less getting the boot from the WWF and Duggan getting a lengthy suspension.

Sheik next showed up in World Class in 1987 and thereafter briefly competed in the AWA in 1987 and 1988 reigniting his old feud with Sgt. Slaughter and finding new allies in Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie and Colonel DeBeers. Sheik also competed in Puerto Rico's WWC around this time also feuding with Tony Atlas. In 1989, he had a brief short-lived stint in the NWA where he challenged Sting for the NWA World Television Title in a losing effort. By this time, Sheik had really ballooned up in weight and was now carrying around a much too ample midsection. Sheik would briefly return to the WWF in 1991-1992 as Col. Mustafa actually teaming with old rival Sgt. Slaughter as a pair of Iraqi sympathizers managed by General Adnan (formerly Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie). Together they would feud with Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior until Slaughter eventually turned face again leaving Sheik & Adnan on their own briefly before they again departed the WWF. Sheik would go to compete for many more years as an attraction on the independent circuit but really Sheik's best years were long behind him and pretty much had been since the late 1980s. He's of course best known today for his wild outlandish out of the ring behaviour and his many rants and ravings not to mention his long time drug issues.

Tony Schiavone joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame.  Schiavone started out as a sports broadcaster for college women's basketball (for his university James Madison in Virginia), high school football and basketball games. Thereafter he would call minor league baseball for New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles farm teams most notably the Charlotte Os, which was actually partly owned by Jim Crockett Jr..

Schiavone first got his start in wrestling around the time he was working for the Charlotte Os around 1985 where he first began announcing alongside David Crockett and conducted many backstage interviews with the wrestlers. Schiavone actually when paired with someone competent, like say Bob Caudle, wasn't so bad I personally felt around this time.

In 1989, he would move to the WWF but in my opinion, his work took a downturn in terms of quality while he was there perhaps because WWF was becoming much more a circus like environment around this time what with the Red Rooster Terry Taylor gimmick, Mathilda, Damien and Frankie as the pets for The British Bulldogs, Jake Roberts and Koko B. Ware, Honky and his guitar and many more crazy happenings. Schiavone would leave the WWF again in 1990. Upon his return to WCW, again when working with more competent announcers like Jim Ross and Bob Caudle, I personally felt he was fine.

With the debut though of Monday Nitro, Shiavone became WCW's lead announcer. Initially Schiavone was paired with Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay and at first Steve "Mongo" McMicheal. It soon would become apparent I'm sure to many listening that Schiavone just wasn't in the league of many of his predecessors in the NWA/WCW such as Jim Ross, Bob Caudle and Gordon Solie. Heck some might argue he wasn't even as good as his supporting player Mike Tenay. Schiavone it seemed used his political clout and pull in WCW to maintain his job standing apparently going so far as to hide finishes and angles from his play by play partners so he alone would have knowledge of what surprises were to come. After a while, Schiavone seemed to get quite monotonous saying the same things repeatedly and claiming every show of Nitro or even Thunder, which he also was lead announcer for, was the "greatest ever". Of course, the most infamous mistake made by Schiavone was his comments made about a taped Raw where Mick Foley, after years and years of struggling and toiling, finally won his first WWF World Title to which Schiavone said "That'll really put the butts in the seats" causing numerous Nitro home viewers to switch the channels to Raw. Schiavone later claimed to be simply acting upon orders from Eric Bischoff. Schiavone also announced on WCW Worldwide, WCW Saturday Night and worked also with Dusty Rhodes, Larry Zbyszko and Mark Madden. When WWF bought WCW in 2001, Schiavone pretty much put the wrestling business behind him aside from one worked shoot appearance in TNA in 2003 where he blasted Mike Tenay and Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer). Nowadays, Schiavone is a morning sports news anchor.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on June 14, 2010, 10:00:00 PM
Sadly, in Sheik's case, I only really know him from his later years appearing on shows like Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony, doing bizarre comedy bits for money.

In Schiavone's case, I quite liked Tenay and the other announcers better.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 17, 2010, 07:43:56 PM
Sheik was always entertaining in a funny sort of way yet he had a certain legit toughness to him in his prime that you kind of believed he could back up what he claimed in the ring, at least until he got that huge pot belly. Sheik also went on to win the Wrestlemania X-7 Gimmick Battle Royal despite being barely able to move at the time and has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Austin got his start in the Texas area after being trained by "Gentleman" Chris Adams competing in World Class, TWF and USWA under the name Steve Williams. There he would mainly come to feud with Adams over Adams' ex-wife Jeannie Clarke in a feud that also included Adams' second wife Toni Adams. They would have many grudge bouts and mixed tag matches. When Austin moved to WCW in 1991, he'd first take Clarke with him as manager Lady Blossom. Very early after debuting, Austin would defeat "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton for the WCW World Television Title. Later that year, he would join the Dangerous Alliance. He'd finally drop the TV title nearly a year later to Barry Windham in April 1992 only to regain it again about a month later. Austin would hold on to the TV title in impressive fashion for most of 1992 before finally losing it to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in September of '92. Not long after, the Dangerous Alliance disbanded and Austin started to concentrate on tag teams. He would replace Terry Gordy in his team with Steve "Dr. Death" Williams at Halloween Havoc 1992 battling to a draw with Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes. Eventually Austin would find an even more suitable tag team partner in Brian Pillman. Together they would form a colorful and flamboyant duo called the Hollywood Blonds. The Blonds would win the WCW Tag Title in March 1993 from Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas. The Blonds would hold the Tag Titles for five months until Pillman got injured and would be replaced in a title defense by Lord Steven Regal who with Austin would lose the tag titles to Four Horsemen Arn Anderson & Paul Roma. Shortly thereafter Austin joined Col. Parker's Stud Stable and would eventually betray and feud with Pillman. At Starrcade '93, Austin would defeat Dustin Rhodes in a best 2 out of 3 Falls match to win the WCW United States Title, a championship he'd hold on to until August 24, 1994 when he'd lose the title to Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat however would get injured and would be unable to defend the title so it would be returned to Austin due to a forfeit. However Steamboat's replacement in that match, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, would go on to beat Austin for the title in just 35 seconds. Duggan would also defeat Austin in a rematch at Halloween Havoc 1994. Finally Austin would score a countout win over Duggan in a tournament for a vacant United States title but would later lose a quarterfinal match to Randy Savage. Shortly thereafter in 1995 while recovering from a bicep injury, he'd be mailed his release from WCW by Eric Bischoff.

Next he'd turn up in the renegade ECW promotion run by old manager Paul E. Dangerously. While there, Austin did numerous entertaining vignette and interviews where he first started developing his Stone Cold character and ran down and rightly made fun of a poorly run WCW. While in ECW, Austin mainly battled the Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck, then  ECW Champion. Whipwreck would defeat Austin at November to Remember 1995 while Sandman would defeat Whipwreck & Austin in a triple threat match for the ECW title at December to Dismember 1995.

In 1995-1996, Austin debuted in the WWF as the Ringmaster, a masterful ring technician managed by Ted DiBiase who adopted DiBiase's Million Dollar Dream and also wore the Million Dollar championship belt. He's soon end up in a memorable feud with Savio Vega who he defeated at Wrestlemania XII but would lose a return Carribean Strap match to Vega at In Your House: Beware of Dog which would see Austin lose DiBiase as his manager. It turned out to be a good thing as it gave Austin a chance to reinvent himself as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. It would be at King of the Ring 1996 however where Stone Cold would first make his mark winning the King of the Ring tournament and adopting his "Austin 3:16" catchphrase. Austin would go on to memorably feud with Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation. He'd lose to Bret Hart in a submission match at Wrestlemania XIII but his refusal to quit would earn him respect and the fans admiration. Austin & Shawn Michaels would defeat Owen Hart & British Bulldog for the WWF Tag Titles and later he'd teamed with Dude Love to win it a second time. Later despite a botched piledriver that injured his neck at Summerslam 1997, Austin would defeat Owen Hart for the Intercontinental title. The injury however would cause Austin to relinquish the title. However he'd regain it again at Survivor Series 1997, yet once again from Owen Hart. Austin would soon find himself in yet another feud over the I-C title in late 1997, this time with the Rock. Austin would go to finally win his first WWF World Title from Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XIV, after winning a shot at 1998's Royal Rumble, and soon thereafter started a war with Vince McMahon who sent Mick Foley, the Undertaker and Kane after Austin hoping to take him down. Kane would succeed for one day in a First Blood match at King of the Ring 1998 only to lose the title back to Austin the next night on Raw. Eventually both Kane & Undertaker would defeat Austin for the title and it would be held up leading to the Rock winning it in a tournament at Survivor Series 1998. Austin after a war with Vince McMahon for the championship opportunity finally defeated the Rock for the WWF World Title at Wrestlemania XV. Austin would successfully fend off the Rock but would lose the title to the Undertaker at Over the Edge 1999. Austin would regain the title at Fully Loaded 1999 in a First Blood match with Undertaker but would drop it to Mankind at Summerslam 1999 in a triple threat match with Mankind and Triple H. Austin would go on to battle the Rock & Triple H over the title until he was run down by a car due to a mysterious stranger. In actuality, Austin badly needed neck surgery from the earlier piledriver neck injury suffered in his Summerslam match with Owen Hart. Austin would return to feud with Rikishi, eventually revealed as the mystery driver and Triple H who claimed to be behind the whole plot. Austin would go on to win the Royal Rumble in 2001 which would entitle him to a world title match vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania X-7. During the match, Austin unexpectedly turned heel and joined forces with Vince McMahon to defeat the now beloved Rock. He'd go on to join force with Triple H as the Two Man Power Trip and the pair would soon dominate with Austin World champ, Triple H I-C champ and the pair Tag champs. Eventually they'd lose the tag titles to Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho in a match that would see Triple H seriously injure his quad. In mid-2001, with Austin seemingly lacking direction, he'd unexpectedly join the WCW/ECW Alliance betraying his WWF brethren. Around the time, Austin would come to feud with Kurt Angle and trade the WWF World Title back and forth with him. Austin would go to lose the WWF World Title to Chris Jericho at Vengeance who unified the WWF World Title that night by also defeating the Rock for the WWF version of the WCW World Title. Austin would thereafter briefly feud with Booker T., then the nWo's Scott Hall in forgettable feuds. Austin was on his way out of WWE with injuries catching up with him and would refuse to lose to Brock Lesnar on his way out. Austin would lose to the newly heel Rock at Wresltemania XiX which would be his last WWE match. Austin since then has made brief return appearances as a special referee or enforcer but most of these appearance would prove forgettable although he did memorably get to stun Lesnar and Goldberg at Wrestlemania XX. Austin was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. Perhaps this was only due to this old-time team not being well -known to today's fans or it could be because they were up against some great competition here too. Anyways the Amazing Rocca was an incredibly popular acrobatic fan favourite in his 50s-60s heyday and Perez was his more solid, ground based all around solid wrestling performer partner who was also very popular with the fans. They were definitely ethnic favourites with Perez being Puerto Rican and Rocca being Argentine. Rocca was a former soccer player and extremely flexible. He had lightning dropkicks and commanded many leg locks and holds. In 1957, Perez & Rocca would first win the NWA Capitol World Tag Team Titles. They were tremendously popular and were a large reason for a number of Madison Square Garden sellouts. They'd hold on to the belts for five years and would never really be defeated for them. They'd also win the NWA United States Tag Team Titles (Northeast Version) which would be the real forerunner to the WWF/WWWF/WWE World Tag Team titles. Rocca & Perez would have terrific matches with many teams but perhaps most memorable were their wars with The Grahams and The Fabulous Kangaroos.

Rowdy Roddy Piper joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. No doubt this is due to his Piper's Pit segments where Piper always stirred up controversy and wasn't afraid about any political correctness restrictions in his era. His unforgettable interview segments featured many memorable moments especially as Piper interviewed and attacked Frankie Williams and Jimmy Snuka, shaved the head of Haiti Kid and mocked the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Ivan Putski and even Andre the Giant. His color commentary stint later on in the 1990s would prove less memorable but you just never knew what Piper might say which always made things interesting and Piper someone who always commanded our attention as wrestling fans.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on June 17, 2010, 07:56:17 PM
Sheik was always entertaining in a funny sort of way yet he had a certain legit toughness to him in his prime that you kind of believed he could back up what he claimed in the ring, at least until he got that huge pot belly. Sheik also went on to win the Wrestlemania X-7 Gimmick Battle Royal despite being barely able to move at the time and has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.


Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. Perhaps this was only due to this old-time team not being well -known to today's fans or it could be because they were up against some great competition here too. Anyways the Amazing Rocca was an incredibly popular acrobatic fan favourite in his 50s-60s heyday and Perez was his more solid, ground based all around solid wrestling performer partner who was also very popular with the fans. They were definitely ethnic favourites with Perez being Puerto Rican and Rocca being Argentine. Rocca was a former soccer player and extremely flexible. He had lightning dropkicks and commanded many leg locks and holds. In 1957, Perez & Rocca would first win the NWA Capitol World Tag Team Titles. They were tremendously popular and were a large reason for a number of Madison Square Garden sellouts. They'd hold on to the belts for five years and would never really be defeated for them. They'd also win the NWA United States Tag Team Titles (Northeast Version) which would be the real forerunner to the WWF/WWWF/WWE World Tag Team titles. Rocca & Perez would have terrific matches with many teams but perhaps most memorable were their wars with The Grahams and The Fabulous Kangaroos.

Rowdy Roddy Piper joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. No doubt this is due to his Piper's Pit segments where Piper always stirred up controversy and wasn't afraid about any political correctness restrictions in his era. His unforgettable interview segments featured many memorable moments especially as Piper interviewed and attacked Frankie Williams and Jimmy Snuka, shaved the head of Haiti Kid and mocked the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Ivan Putski and even Andre the Giant. His color commentary stint later on in the 1990s would prove less memorable but you just never knew what Piper might say which always made things interesting and Piper someone who always commanded our attention as wrestling fans.
I read somewhere (not sure if true), that Sheik was on Iran's (I believe), Olympic team at one point, either for Greco-Roman wrestling, or some sort of power-lifting style sport.  Not sure which.  I've seen matches he's had, but, like I said, being a bit younger only know him as the older, bitter, comic character.

As for Rocca/Perez: definitely before my time.  I'm not knocking them, but I'm not entirely familiar with all their matches.  I subscribe to WWE's Classics On Demand network, which showcases a bunch of matches from varying companies dating back to the mid-'50s.  I've seen matches they've been involved in, and were a decent team, but as I'm not as overly familiar with most wrestling pre-1987 or so (which is when I started watching it), I'm more familiar with anything from the mid '80s onward.  Which is why I sometimes don't vote for older guys.  Bruno comes into play: I voted for him once or twice.  He is a huge part of wrestling's history, but WWE's channel doesn't showcase him due to bad blood between him and Vince.  I saw a few matches on some show ESPN shows.  Not bad at all.

Stone Cold is a great choice for the hall.  Such an entertaining character, and not a bad wrestler at all, although injuries prevented him from having great matcher later on.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 18, 2010, 09:09:53 PM
Sensational Sherri Martel joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Sherri started out as a young fan with a dream about being a future wrestler. Eventually after a failed marriage and some time as a stripper, she'd seek out training from Butch Moore in Memphis where she briefly competed as Sherri Martine. Martel however knew she needed even more training and would eventually seek out the Fabulous Moolah joining her school. Moolah changed her name to Sherri Martel and sent her to Japan for further training in 1981. Martel however would be eventually kicked out by Moolah because of her love of partying and clubbing. Martel would return to the U.S. and Tennessee where she would manage a tag team called the Heavenly Bodies (Pat Rose & Tom Prichard).

In 1985, Larry Zbyszko would help get her into the AWA where she would go on to capture three AWA Women's championships while also managing "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers to an AWA World Tag Team title reign. Martel was a very vital part of said team's success acting as a shapely distraction outside the ring and getting her men into advantageous positions in their matches. Eventually the Midnight Rockers Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) would get embroiled in a bloody and bitter feud and rivalry with Rose & Somers and would defeat them for the AWA Tag Team titles in January 1987.

In 1987, Jesse Ventura helped her get into the WWF and she would go on to defeat the Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women's championship in her debut match! She'd rename herself Sensational Sherri and would retain the Women's title for 15 months before losing it to Rockin' Robin in what most considered a major upset. In 1989, when the WWF phased out women's wrestling for a period of time, she'd go on to manage Randy "Macho Man" Savage after he broke up with Elizabeth and feuded with Hulk Hogan. She and Savage feuded with Elizabeth and Hogan. Brutus Beefcake would also join forces with Hogan while Zeus would team up with Savage leading to Beefcake eventually cutting Sherr's hair. Around this time, Sherri started wearing outlandish and over the top make-up leading to fans to dub the once very beautiful Sherri "Scary" Sherri. The next year 1990, Savage & Sherri would feud with Dusty Rhodes and his female manager Sapphire. Sherri would later be redubbed Queen Sherri after Savage would defeat Hacksaw Duggan for the crown and right to be called King. However when Savage lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior, Sherri suddenly finding herself without a job suddenly flipped out and attacked Savage only for Miss Elizabeth to make the save and chuck Sherri out of the ring.

Sherri would go on to manage "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase but would prove surprisingly forgettable in that role. She would however be much better remembered for her time managing her "Boy Toy" & former AWA enemy Shawn Michaels, even singing his entrance theme when she first started managing him. Michaels would go on to win the WWF Intercontinental title during this time. Eventually though as he was trying to fend off a returning Marty Jannetty, who'd be flung through a plate glass window when he'd turned on Jannetty some time back to end the Rockers tag team, he would use Sherri as a human shield leading Sherri to eventually turn on HBK and help Jannetty. However when Jannetty left WWF, the storyline came to an adrupt end.

Sherri would next turn up in ECW managing Shane Douglas briefly before heading to WCW as Sensous Sherri managing Ric Flair in his feuds with Sting and Hulk Hogan. She'd even help Flair defeat Hogan with brass knuckles in a match as Bash at the Beach. Martel however would eventually go on to have her most memorable WCW run as manager of Harlem Heat who she managed to 7 WCW World tag team titles while also having a brief romance with fellow manager Colonel Robert Parker. She'd go on to win the Apocalypse Wrestling Federation Heavyweight title, a belt usually held by men in 1999, a belt she'd eventually lose to Missy Hyatt. In October 1999, she'd manage George Steele vs. Greg Valentine on an Heroes of Wrestling PPV. In 2005, she'd make an unexpected WWE appearance during the growing rivalry between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels leading to their Wrestlemania 21 match as Angle would make Martel tap out to his anklelock submission. She would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 but would make her last on screen appearence in TNA as a potential manager for Bobby Roode.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 20, 2010, 12:25:56 PM
Jesse "The Body" Ventura joins the Singles Hall of Shame. While Jesse is widely remembered these days for his political success (being former governor of Minnesota) and being long-time color commentator mostly in WWF but also briefly in WCW, certainly one of the best and most entertaining in that field, his in-ring wrestling career outside of tag teams wasn't quite so impressive in major feds like the AWA and WWF. After serving as a Navy UDT during the Vietnam war (but later admitted he never saw action in the war), Ventura returned to Minnesota and went from time as a weightlifter/wrestler in college, a short time as bodyguard for The Rolling Stones to a career in professional wrestling where he developed a beach bodybuilder bully character with more than a bit of "Superstar" Billy Graham thrown into the mix.

Ventura debuted in Central States in 1975 where he captured the NWA Central States tag titles with Tank Patton and went on to compete in the Pacific Northwest battling/feuding with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka over the Pacific Northwest title capturing said title twice, once from each. He also captured the Pacific Northwest Tag Team titles five times, twice with partner Bull Ramos and twice with partner "Playboy" Buddy Rose and one time with Jerry Oates. Ventura also held the NWA Hawaii Tag Team titles with Steve Strong and twice won the AWA Southern title. In 1979, he returned to his hometown of Minnesota and the AWA where he started teaming with with Adrian Adonis as the East-West Connection. This would be Ventura's most successful pairing with Adonis doing most of the in-ring work and Ventura helping to keep the team in the spotlight with his colorful talk and interview skills. Ventura & Adonis would capture the AWA World Tag Team titles on a forfeit when Verne Gagne, one half of the tag champs with Mad Dog Vachon, failed to show up for a title defense. The East-West Connection would hold on to the titles for around a year finally dropping them to the popular High Flyers tandem of Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne.

Not long after this, Ventura & Adonis moved to the WWF but failed to capture the WWF World Tag Team titles although Adonis would later capture it in a team with Dick Murdoch. The team split and both received WWF World Title shots at Bob Backlund but neither man could defeat Backlund. Ventura was on a path to challenge Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Title when he was forced to retire due to blood clots in his lungs. However it's very doubtful Ventura would have defeated Hogan. Ventura went on to have success after his early retirement from the ring in practically every field in which he ventured but his gift of gab made him especially suited for his work as a wrestling color commentator not to mention his political career. Ventura has made numerous special appearances since moving away from wrestling, including appearances as a special referee/enforcer and an appearance as a guest host on Raw where he helped put Sheamus, a newcomer, in position to defeat John Cena for the WWE Title. Ventura was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. Ventura also had some limited success in acting mostly in action films such as Predator, The Running Man and Demolition Man. He starred in the horrible Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe and also had supporting roles in Thunderground, Repossessed, Ricochet, The Master of Disguise and Batman & Robin. He also appeared in an episode of The X-Files as a man in black. He's also the host of a show called Conspiracy Theory.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 21, 2010, 01:53:21 PM
The Rock joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Dwayne Johnson as the Rock was a third generation wrestler with his father being Rocky Johnson and his grandfather, his mother's father, being "High Chief" Peter Maivia. The Rock is part of a rather large family of Samoan wrestlers that also inlcudes the Wild Samoans and their many offspring. After playing college football and a short stint with the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL, Johnson choose to pursue a career in wrestling. His father reluctantly agreed to train him but warned he wouldn't take it easy on him. Johnson would go on to have several tryouts with the WWF in 1996 and would impress enough to warrant a run in Jerry Lawler's USWA where as Flex Kavana, Johnson won the USWA Tag Titles with Bart Sawyer twice in the summer of 1996. Later in 1996, he would debut in the WWF as Rocky Maivia, portrayed as an hard-working blue chipper with a solid wrestling family background. He would go on to be a survivor in his Survivor Series 1996 debut and shortly thereafter would win his first major title upsetting Triple H for the WWF Intercontinental title on Raw in February 1997 and would successfully defend the title against the Sultan at Wrestlemania 13. The fans though soon grew weary of Rocky's blue chipper character and the way he so easily got ahold of the I-C title and began to turn on him chanting stuff like "Die, Rocky, Die!" and "Rocky Sucks".

Rocky would drop the title to Owen Hart on an April Raw and shortly thereafter turned heel joining Farooq's Nation of Domination and starting calling himself the Rock. He also chided the fans for the way they turned on him and quickly became a charismatic bully eventually even usurping Farooq's leadership role in The Nation which under the Rock would include D-Lo Brown, The Godfather, Mark Henry and eventually Owen Hart. The Rock next set his sights on Steve Austin's Intercontinental title only to be defeated by Austin at In Your House: D-Generation X only for Austin to forfeit the title to the Rock the following night in a rematch ordered by Mr. McMahon. Rock would continue feuding with Austin and then Ken Shamrock throughout the rest of 1997 and the beginning of 1998 before feuding briefly with Farooq over the Rock's usurping his former position. The Rock would then go on to have perhaps his most memorable feud feuding with Triple H and DeGeneration X with the Nation battling DX while the Rock battled Triple H. Eventually Triple H would wrest the I-C title away from the Rock, who then focused on pursuing the WWF World Title, eventually disbanding and defeating former members of his own Nation who stood in his way. The Rock's popularity skyrocketed as he started a campaign apparently against Mr. McMahon and declared himself "The People's Champion".

This however was all a swerve and secretly the Rock had joined forces with Mr. McMahon to become McMahon's hand-picked Corporate champion at Survivor Series 1998 (the Rock was then also the youngest and first African American WWF World champion), with McMahon turning on Mankind during the match and helping the Rock win the WWF World Title in a parody of the previous year's Montreal screwjob. The Rock and Mankind, who suddenly was turned face as he stood up to Rock and the McMahons, battled over the WWF World Title for the next few months with Mankind (Mick Foley) finally winning his first WWF World Title from the Rock on the Jan. 1999 edition of Raw but the Rock regained the WWF World Title in an "I Quit" Match at the 1999 Royal Rumble. Mankind however would again defeat the Rock for the WWF World Title in an Empty Arena rematch during the Superbowl Halftime show. The Rock would regain the WWF World Title for the third time from Mankind defeating him in a ladder match on February 15, 1999 ending their brutal war which saw Rock nail Mankind repeatedly with numerous chair shots in many matches. The Rock however would lose his WWF World Title to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XV.

Shortly thereafter the Rock would turn face to feud with Undertaker, Triple H and what was now the Corporate Ministry. The Rock also feuded with Billy Gunn around this time while teaming with Mankind to form "The Rock 'n' Sock Connection" defeating The Undertaker and Big Show and going on to win the WWF Tag Team titles three times. The Rock would go on to challenge Triple H in a Four Way Elimination match at Wrestlemania 16 but failed to win after being betrayed by Mr. McMahon. The Rock continued his pursuit of Triple H defeating him at Backlash 2000 for his fourth WWF World Title. Later at Judgment Day 2000, the Rock battled Triple H in an Iron Man with special referee Shawn Michaels and lost the title after the Undertaker interfered and the Rock was DQed. The Rock would go on to win his fifth WWF World Title in a six-man tag team match at King of the Ring that would see him team successfully with Kane & Undertaker to defeat Triple H & the McMahons. Rock successfully fended off challenges by Chris Benoit, Triple H, Kane, Undertaker & Shane McMahon but would eventually lose the title to Kurt Angle at No Mercy 2000. Rock would go to briefly feud with cousin Rikishi while also teaming with Undertaker to win the WWF World Tag Team titles from Edge & Christian, titles Edge & Christian would eventually win back. The Rock continued his pursuit of Angle's title and finally defeated him at No Way Out 2001 winning his sixth WWF World Title. The Rock went into Wrestlemania X-7 as arguably the most beloved fan favourite in the company to defend against fellow fan favourite "Stone Cold" Steve Austin who shockingly turned heel and joined forced with Mr. McMahon to defeat the Rock for the WWF World Title. The Rock would shortly thereafter be taken out by the Two Man Power Trip tandem of Steve Austin & Triple H. During this time, Rock would go on to perform in the film The Mummy Returns

The Rock returned in July 2001 and took the WWF's side in its war with the ECW/WCW Alliance. The Rock would defeat Booker T. for the WWF version of the WCW World Title at Summerslam 2001 only to lose said title to Chris Jericho, who he also held the tag titles with, at No Mercy 2001. Rock regained the WCW World Title from Jericho on a November 5th edition of Raw. The Rock, with the help of an hidden WWF mole in Kurt Angle, would go on to defeat Steve Austin during the Winner Takes All Survivor Series match during which the WWF retained rights to the company name. Chris Jericho would go on to defeat the Rock for the WCW World title at Vengeance unifying it and the WWF World Title. The Rock pursued Jericho for the Undispusted WWF World Title but failed to capture it from him. Thereafter he feuded with the Undertaker and Hollywood Hulk Hogan, defeating Hogan in a match of legends at Wrestlemania X8. Only July 2002, Rock won his seventh and final WWF World Title defeating Kurt Angle & Undertaker in a Triple Threat match at Vengeance 2002. The Rock successfully fended off the challenge of Brock Lesnar & Triple H at WWE Global Warning but would lose the title to Lesnar at Summerslam 2002 making Lesnar now the youngest man to hold the WWE championship. The Rock would then leave WWE for six months.

The Rock returned as an heel in January 2003 criticizing Hulk Hogan and defeating him with a lot of help at No Way Out 2003. Next the Rock moved to Raw and targeted The Hurricane before again battling with a returning "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, whom the Rock would defeat at Wrestlemania XIX. The Rock then briefly feuded with and lost to Goldberg at Backlash. The Rock soon found himself again fan favourite though after getting involved in a one night war with Chris Jericho and Christian. The Rock briefly went on to reunite with Mick Foley as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection in a losing effort against Evolution Randy Orton, Batista and Ric Flair at Wrestlemania XX. So far, this stands as the Rock's last match as he's moved on to have a successful movie career. Since then, the Rock has made only brief guest and/or cameo appearances on select WWE events or shows. The Rock did induct his father Rocky Johnson and grandfather Peter Maivia into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

The Rock was definitely one of the most charismatic performers of his era. If he'd stayed involved in professional wrestling, I have no doubt he'd still be on or near the top of the heap to this day.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on June 21, 2010, 09:58:37 PM
I think The Rock would still be near the top of the card, but with the WWE's generic overhaul to be more "kid friendly/PG", he'd have a hell of a time trying to do some of the promos he used to get away with.  Look what happened to DX: they went from rebellious punks to being clowns having fun with midgets.

He wasn't the best in-ring competitor, but was pretty decent.  Heard rumblings of him wanting to do a short 3-month style return, as he'll have some time off later this year.  I doubt it at this point as he's a full-fledged movie star, but it'd be a lot of fun to see.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 22, 2010, 01:37:47 PM
Brother Love joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Prior to playing the Brother Love character, Bruce Prichard (brother of wrestler Dr. Tom Prichard/Zip) had worked as a ring announcer in Bill Watts' UWF. After a brief stint as an announcer in the WWF, Prichard developed and worked the Brother Love character, a smarmy red-faced pudgy fellow in a white suit who looked like a cross between Boss Hogg and an annoying TV evangelist promising to spread the message of "love" often saying "I looooooooooooovvvvvvvvveeeeeee youuuuuu!" in the most annoying fashion possible. Introduced by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in 1988, he went on to host "The Brother Love Show" where he would often have harsh words for the fan friendly good guys while singing the praises of fellow heels such as his main benefactor "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and his good friend Bobby Heenan. Many wrestling feuds started on the Brother Love show when a villainous wrestler would often attack a fan favorite from behind including Big Bossman attacking Hogan & feuding with him in 88-89 and Earthquake attacking Hogan and feuding with him in 1990. Also the feud between Rick Martel and Jake "The Snake" Roberts escalated there in 1990-1991. In November 1990, Brother Love became manager of an impressive newcomer named Kane the Undertaker who would eventually be better known as The Undertaker. Brother Love managed 'Taker until February 1991 when he sold Undertaker's contract to Paul Bearer. Brother Love would also be humiliated by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in a special Piper's Pit at Wrestlemania V that saw Piper de-kilt Love. A year later Sgt. Slaughter, during his heel turn, bestowed a medal upon Love calling him "the Greatest American".

Following a beating from the Ultimate Warrior, Love disappeared from the WWF airwaves. For a while in 1992-1993, Prichard managed Barry Horowitz in the GWF (Global Wrestling Federation under his own name.  After short WWF stints as the Wizard and a satire of Dusty Rhodes named Reo Rodgers, heelish characters on WWF All-American Wrestling, Prichard went on to work behind the scenes occasionally reprising the Brother Love character.

Brother Love returned to WWF on Raw in November 1995 on a Brother Love Show that saw Ted DiBiase introduce the Ringmaster but would disappear again in Jan. 1996. In Jan. 1997, he showed up again this time on Shotgun Saturday Night helping the Flying Nuns (aka: The Sisters of Love/eventually the Headbangers) defeat the Godwinns. The gimmick with Love would be scrapped in favor of the Headbangers one. Love would disappear again until 2001 when he took part in the Wrestlemania X-7 Gimmick Battle Royal. In Feb. 2003, he made a special appearance on Smackdown trying to convince the Undertaker, his former charge, to forgive the Big Show only to be tombstone piledriven for his efforts. At Vengeance 2003, Love appeared in a Bar Room Brawl lasting all the way to the end before being knocked out by Bradshaw. "The Brother Love Show" returned in Summer 2003 on Smackdown brand house shows that saw Love & McMahon attempt to humiliate Zach Gowen only to eventually get their comeuppance in the end. In Dec. 2008, Prichard was released by WWE after 22 years with the company.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 25, 2010, 03:28:47 PM
Edge & Christian join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Real-life best friends Adam Copeland and William Jason Reso, who dreamed of becoming famous wrestlers in their youth, would grow up to accomplish not only that but achieved a lot of their success together - as a tag team. There have been very few tag teams who had it all - every element needed to mesh into a coherent whole but this team arguably had it all. They had the charisma (with their "5 second poses", the fun and goofiness which made them so widely appealing to fans even when fans were supposed to hate them), they had the tag team chemistry (very few teams in history have combined team moves that flow so well and so cohesively), could fight in practically any kind of street fight/hardcore match (often delivering devastating "con-chair-tos") and they could deliver in the ring too.

After completing training under Ron Hutchinson, they began teaming up under several names including High Impact, Suicide Blondes, Revolution X, Hard Impact and the Canadian Rockers. In 1997, they were part of a faction of independent wrestlers called Thug Life. In 1998, as Sexton Hardcastle (Edge) & Christian Cage, they won the Insane Championship Wrestling Streetfight Tag titles twice and the Southern States Tag Team titles. In mid-1998, Edge moved to Raw as a mysterious loner character who began feuding with Gangrel. Suddenly Edge would be haunted by a mysterious lookalike who turned out to be Edge storyline "brother" Christian, who along with Gangrel, would convince Edge to join them as The Brood. For a brief period, the Brood joined the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness but would eventually be kicked out when Christian revealed Stephanie McMahon's whereabouts to Ken Shamrock. After a short Ministry-Brood feud, Gangrel turned on Edge and wanted Christian to do the same but Christian refused and he & Edge were suddenly fan favorites. Around this period, they also started their long-lasting feud/rivalry with Matt & Jeff Hardy.

In 1999, Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz (who were suddenly the New Brood managed by Gangrel) became the focus in a series of matches called the Terri Invitational Tournament, a best of five series of matches the winner of which would acquire the services of Terri Runnels as manager along with $100,000. After the series was all tied up, the Hardy Boyz won the rubber ladder match despite Gangrel being dejected for trying to interfere.

In 2000, Edge & Christian began to form the personas that would ultimately get them over with fans and which they are probably still best remembered for as a tag team - a type of teen idol/surfer heel tag teams who dressed in outlandish colorful attire and claimed they "reeked of awesomeness". You could just tell Edge & Christian were having so much fun and despite their being heels who often made fun of whatever hometown city they were in, they eventually started to become more and more popular amongst a growing number of fans. At Wrestlemania 16, Edge & Christian defeated the Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz in a triangle ladder match for their first WWF World Tag Team title and fended off challenges from Hardys, Dudleys and DeGeneration X before dropping the titles to Too Cool (Scotty2Hotty and Brian Christopher). They regained the titles from Too Cool at King of the Ring 2000 defeating not only Too Cool but also T & A (Test & Albert) and the Hardys in a Four Corners Elimination match. They successfully defended their titles against the Dudleys and Hardys in the first ever TLC match at Summerslam 2000 and after the match celebrated by mocking their opponents in hilarious fashion.

Edge & Christian would go on to lose the titles to the Hardys at Unforgiven 2000 and fail to regain them in a ladder match which meant they could no longer challenge for the titles. Suddenly a classic masked team from yesteryear, a pair of jobbers named Los Conquistadores, seemed to be back on the scene or were they? This pair of masked men seemed a lot more like Edge & Christian than the classic Hispanic jobbers from yesteryear. Under the masks, they went on to defeat the Hardys at No Mercy 2000 only for the Hardys to turn the tables on them, themselves wearing Los Conquistadores masks to defeat Edge & Christian and regain the titles in October 2000.

Shortly thereafter, Edge & Christian started teaming with Kurt Angle & Rhyno. Edge & Christian went on to win their fourth WWF World Tag Team titles in a Four Corners match at Armageddon 2000 defeating Right To Censor, Dudley Boyz & Road Dogg/K-Kwik. A week later, they lost the titles to the Rock & the Undertaker only to shortly thereafter regain them. At Royal Rumble 2001, they lost the titles to the Dudley Boyz. In March, Edge & Christian would help the Hardys defeat the Dudleys for the titles and then would defeat the Hardys for them only to lose the titles back to the Dudleys again later the same night they beat the Hardys. All of this led to TLC II at Wrestlemania X-7 that would see Edge & Christian win yet again taking home their seventh WWF World tag team championship with more than a bit of help from buddy Rhyno. In April though, they would lose the titles to the Brothers of Destruction: Undertaker & Kane.

Eventually the faction of Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle & Rhyno would begin to split apart as all four men making it into the semifinals of the 2001 King of the Ring tournament, which Edge would eventually win. Shortly thereafter Edge & Christian split up and even feuded over the Intercontinental title with Christian eventually joining the ECW/WCW Alliance and hitting Edge with a one-man con-chair-to. Edge & Christian would reunite briefly on October 13, 2002 on Smackdown defeating Los Guerreros and again on November 15, 2004 losing to Chris Benoit & Shelton Benjami. Briefly with both men as heels in 2004-2005, Edge & Christian, along with problem solver Tyson Tomko would form three man pairings for matches against fellow rivals but were never quite the same Edge & Christian team as before. Lately there have been hints of a possible new feud brewing between the two...or could a new secret alliance be in the works?



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 01, 2010, 02:47:03 PM
George "The Animal" Steele joins the Hall of Shame. Now personally I felt his gimmick was great and he had me surprisingly convinced in my youth he was a genuine "madman". He legit made me believe. In fact Steele in his real life as Jim Myers achieved a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree from Central Michigan University. He was a star football player until knee problems cut that career short. He would become a teacher, amateur wrestling coach and football coach at Madison High School in Madison Heights, Michigan.

Hoping to supplement his income in 1967, he began moonlighting as a masked professional wrestler known as The Student. Eventually he would drop the mask and adopt the name George Steele to battle Bruno Sammartino in the World Wide Wrestling Federation. He was sold as an amateur expert and the nephew of Ray Steele as well as a scholar despite his odd appearance. After losing a feud to Chief Jay Strongbow and losing to Edouard Carpentier, he took a brief hiatus from the WWWF to reinvent himself as his now more well-known wildman character, wrestling like a crazed Animal hence his nickname, ripping out turnbuckles and using the stuffing to rake his opponents' eyes. Steele also would sway wildly in the ring and seemed rather apish in his movements sticking out his unusually green tongue (thanks to green Clorets), many viewers seemed to fully believe he might be the Missing Link. Surprisingly Steele would be a main event attraction with this gimmick and would have a long lasting feud with Bruno Sammartino even challenging him for the WWWF World title.

Steele had a very lengthy career in the WWWF/WWF and would eventually become a beloved babyface Animal following an incident on Saturday Night's Main Event when he was abandoned by his partners Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik along with Manager Freddie Blassie while they battled the U.S. Express and Ricky Steamboat. Manager Captain Lou Albano took Steele under his wing  and tried his best to reform the Animal. His next most famous feud would come against "Macho Man" Randy Savage (about 20 years after his debut) as Steele would become smitten with Savage's manager Miss Elizabeth and not liking the way Savage treated her, Steele would go on to unsuccessfully challenge for Savage's Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania 2. Steele however would gain a measure of revenge a year later on Savage being in Ricky Steamboat's corner and playing a key factor in Steamboat's defeat of Savage for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania III. In 1988, Steele started bringing a popular stuffed toy he called "Mine" to the ring with him. It was all furry and like George had a green tongue. In 1989, Crohn's Disease forced Steele to finally retire after a lenghty career. He never won any titles in the WWWF/WWF but did win a NWA Detroit Tag Team title with Frankie Lane before heading to the WWWF. He also held the Georgia GWA Heavyweight title once. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995.

Steele may be best known on this site for his portrayal of Tor Johnson in Tim Burton Ed Wood (1994).


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 02, 2010, 11:31:50 PM
 

Steele may be best known on this site for his portrayal of Tor Johnson in Tim Burton Ed Wood (1994).

That's where I'd first seen him, actually.  I had watched wrestling in the '80s, but hadn't known him so much until my uncle showed me some old tapes he had from the '80s and '70s.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 04, 2010, 05:05:14 PM
Bruno Sammartino joins the Singles Hall of Fame. "The Living Legend" held the WWWF World Title longer than anyone else in wrestling history. His two WWWF World title reigns lasted over 11 years. He is reputed to have headlined at Madison Square Garden 211 times, more than any other wrestler in history, with 187 sellouts. He had a strong ethnic appeal as "the Italian Superman".

Born in Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, Italy in 1935, Sammartino was the youngest of seven brothers and sisters. As a child, he struggled to survive in hiding from German soldiers with his mother having to sneak into German occupied territory on occasion for supplies. She was once captured and once shot in the shoulder during said trips. Sammartino when he came down with rheumatic fever would again be saved by his mother thanks to leeches and blankets. In 1950, he moved to Pittsburgh to live with his father. Sammartino's experiences in Europe made him of slight frame and that combined with his tenuous grasp of English made him the target of bullies. Soon Sammartino started weight training and would eventually train with wrestlers. Soon he would become known in Pittsburgh for Strongman stunts. While working in construction in 1956, Sammartino wrestled an orangutan at a carnival only to lose by disqualification when he punched the ape in the stomach.

Sammartino debuted in professional wrestling in December 1959 in Pittsburgh and was a huge hit with fans at the studio wrestling there. Eventually he'd move on to compete in the WWWF and again would prove a huge hit and would headline Madison Square Garden within six months after his debut starting in tag team matches teaming with the also extremely popular Antonino Rocca. Sammartino next made a major impression when he lifted the huge Haystacks Calhoun, all 640 pounds of him, in a match.

After some controversy and friction with Vince McMahon Sr., Sammartino bounced around from New York to San Franscisco and then to Toronto where under promoter Frank Tunney Sammartino would win his first major title, an International tag team title with Whipper Billy Watson. While in Toronto, Bruno defeated Buddy Rogers in a NWA World title match but refused to accept the title because Rogers could no longer continue after Bruno accidentally headbutted him in the groin. He also wrestled NWA World champion Lou Thesz losing once and battling him to a draw another time.

Sammartino would eventually be lured back by McMahon Sr. would wanted a popular wrestler to usurp Buddy Rogers who was having an hard time drawing in New York. Sammartino won the WWWF World Heavyweight championship on May 17, 1963 defeating Rogers in just 48 seconds. Sammartino would go on to have the longest reign of any WWWF/WWF/WWE World champion, a reign totalling seven years, eight months, and one day. In 1965, Sammartino was so popular he would even be picked by the rival National Wrestling Alliance to challenge for the NWA World title but Bruno refused as he was already so busy. In MSG, Sammartino headlined against an whos who of villainous challengers - Killer Kowalski, Johnny Barend, Gorilla Monsoon, Dr. Bill Miller, Dr. Jerry Graham, Tarzan Tyler, The Sheik, Freddie Blassie, Bill Watts, Curtis Iaukea, Professor Toru Tanaka, George "The Animal" Steele, Gene Kiniski, Giant Baba, Bull Ramos, Hans Mortier, Waldo Von Erich, The Crusher, Johnny Valentine and even more.

Bruno defended his title all over the world including in Spain, Australia, Mexico and Japan. He was even honored with a private audience with the Pope at this time.

On January 18, 1971, Bruno finally lost the WWWF World title before a stunned and shocked audience at MSG to "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. Three weeks later the title was moved to fellow ethic fave (Puerto Rican) Pedro Morales who was popular in New York but proved less popular elsewhere.

In 1972, Bruno returned to California and competing  in and winning a memorable 22 man battle royal that would eventually be voted match of the year for 1972, the only time a battle royal ever won such an award.

Later in 1972, Bruno was again lured back by McMahon Sr. this time to actually challenge fellow fan favourite Pedro Morales in an unexpected dream match. The two battled to a 75 minute draw at Shea Stadium in a show that narrowly missed breaking the outdoor attendance record for a wrestling show at that time.

On December 10, 1973, Bruno would win his second WWWF World title defeating Stan "The Man" Stasiak. He'd go on to successfully defend the title against challenges from the likes of John Tolos, Bruiser Brody, Ken Patera, Spiros Arion, Baron Von Raschke, Spiros Arion, Bugsy McGraw, Freddie Blassie, Ivan Koloff, Superstar Billy Graham, Angelo Mosca, Don Leo Jonathan, Ernie Ladd and Nikolai Volkoff. His second reign lasted three years, four months, and twenty days. On April 26, 1976, Sammartino would suffer a neck injury at the hands of Stan Hansen but went on to defeat Hansen by countout in a subsequent revenge match. Sammartino's second world title reign would end at the hands of Superstar Billy Graham on April 30, 1977 when Graham pinned Sammartino with his feet illegally on the ropes.

Following the loss, Bruno went on to compete around the world wrestling NWA World champion Harley Race to a draw, plus defeating the likes of Blackjack Mulligan, Lord Alfred Hayes and Crippler Ray Stevens. Eventually he'd team up with Dick the Bruiser to win the WWA tag team titles from the Valiant Brothers. Bruno though entered into probably his most memorable and emotional feud with Larry Zbsyzko, a former student who turned on him during an on-air demonstration. The feud came to an head on August 9, 1980 at Showdown at Shea which saw Bruno defeat Zbyszko in a brutal steel cage match.

Bruno would eventually be lured back into wrestling when his son David wanted to get a start in WWF. Bruno would go on to team with David against Paul Orndorff and Bobby Heenan and Brutus Beefcake & Johnny Valiant. Eventually David realized though that he was being used to lure his dad back to wrestling as Bruno was still a huge draw in the Northeast. During this period in 1985-1986, Sammartino would have memorable feuds with Randy Savage and Rowdy Roddy Piper. Bruno eventually moved away from in-ring action to concentrate and commentary, which to be honest he wasn't nowhere near as talented at as he was at wrestling. Sammartino did challenge Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental title, although DQs and countout wins kept the title in Honky's hands. Then Sammartino battled Hercules for a while but his last WWF match would be teaming with Hulk Hogan to defeat One Man Gang and King Kong Bundy. Sammartino would end his WWF stint in March 1988. In 1989-1990, he'd moe to Herb Abrams UWF as a commentator but that federation would prove short-lived.

Bruno might be critical of today's wrestling but was a proud champion who nearly always set a good example and rarely resorted to dirty tactics unless they were done to him first and then it was fighting fire with fire and few could fight fire as well as Bruno who I personally consider one of wrestling's best ever brawlers...a champion through and through.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 05, 2010, 08:03:53 PM
Colonel Robert Parker joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Following a lenghty successful career throughout the Alabama and Tennessee regions as Robert Fuller, Fuller would move to WCW and assume the role of manager Col. Robert Parker. While wrestling as Fuller, he was constantly head of a stable of grapplers he called the Stud Stable. That would be a name he would bring with him again to use in WCW for the stable of grapplers he at one time managed. Fuller moved to WCW as Parker, a take-off name on Col. Tom Parker of Elvis Presley fame. First Parker managed Sid Vicious whom he teamed up with Vader, who was managed by Harley Race forming a team called "The Masters of the Powerbomb" as they feuded with Sting and the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith.

Following the split of this team, Parker would start managing "Stunning" Steve Austin in 1994 before reforming a new Stud Stable with longtime tag team partner Jimmy Golden now playing the role of Bunkhouse Buck and teaming him up with the likes of Meng, "Dirty" Dick Slater, Terry Funk and "Double A" Arn Anderson.

The group would feud heavily with Dustin and Dusty Rhodes. In 1995, Parker would begin to woo fellow manager Sherri Martel despite the protests of his own Stud Stable and Sherri's charges Harlem Heat. Eventually Parker would leave the Stud Stable and join forces with Sherri managing Harlem Heat until Harlem Heat eventually fired Parker in 1996. Parker then recruited The Amazing French Canadians (Formerly the Quebecers in WWF) to unsuccessfully feud with Harlem Heat. In 1998, Parker left WCW and resurfaced as Tennessee Lee, manager of Jeff Jarrett in WWF but that would prove short-lived. Parker had rather limited success as a manager despite some seeming classic pairings with Austin and Jarrett.


Kane, the longtime WWF/WWE storyline even larger younger "brother" of the Undertaker, joins the Hall of Shame. Kane has been certainly been saddled with some of the worst on-air wrestling storylines in history moving from mysterious masked mystery wrestler with omnious past (which was actually kind of cool) to scarred psychotic freak (which has become something of a tired cliche by this point). Perhaps worst of them all was the infamous "Katie Vick" storyline where Kane's supposed dead ex-girlfriend , actually a mannequin, gets humped by Triple H.

Before moving to the WWF, Glenn Jacobs started out as Unabomb in Smoky Moutain Wrestling debuting in 1992. There he would win the SMW Tag Team titles. He also worked in the USWA as Doomsday and there won the USWA Heavyweight title. He also had a brief forgettable WCW stint as Bruiser Mastino. Jacobs first debuted in the WWF in 1995 as the wrestling dentist Issac Yankem D.D.S., an associate of Jerry "The King" Lawler and someone who the King brought in to battle Bret "The Hitman" Hart during their bitter feud. Jacobs actually continued under this silly gimmick until late 1996 when he would again find himself put into a ridiculous gimmick playing the "fake" Diesel introduced as a replacement by Jim Ross for Kevin Nash in October 1996. This understandably proved short-lived as fans were far less that thrilled with a new fake Diesel and Razor Ramon and it probably caused many to tune into WCW to catch the real Scott Hall and Kevin Nash instead.

In mid-1997, Paul Bearer began tormenting the Undertaker than a new challenger was on the horizon. This new challenger proved to be Kane, yet again Jacobs re-invented this time as the Undertaker's long-lost "brother". This new gimmick, a masked red monster with ties to the Undertaker finally did get over and Kane became an attraction fans wanted to see, especially to see him go one on one vs. the similarly built but actually a bit smaller Undertaker. Kane began wrestling a style very similar to that of Undertaker which arguably is even more impressive given Kane's massive frame. The feud would culminate in a match at Wrestlemania XIV at which the Undertaker would defeat his half-"brother". Later more details of Kane and the Undertaker's pasts would come to light as we'd learn that as children, Undertaker supposedly burned down their parents funeral home accidentally and Kane ended up in a mental asylum afterwards. Eventually we learned that Paul Bearer is in fact Kane's "father". Kane as a character was portrayed as psychologically unstable, schizophrenic, quick to anger and violence.

Kane would go on to upset "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for his first and only WWF World Title win in a First Blood match at King of the Ring 1998 but would lose the title back to Austin on Raw the very next night. Following this, Bearer teamed Kane with Mankind and together they twice won WWF tag team title gold. After spending more time feuding with the Undertaker and eventually joining and being booted out of the Corporation, Kane began teaming with X-Pac in 1999 and eventually acquired a new girlfriend in Tori. Kane and X-Pac would go on to win WWF tag gold twice as well and X-Pac helped Kane seemingly come out of his shell on national TV having him speak for the first time saying the DX slogan "Suck It". Eventually though X-Pac would betray Kane to rejoin his DX brethen and would even steal Tori away from him creating a long feud that last into 2000. Kane would next form an unlikely team with his brother only to wind up feuding with him yet again and nearly lost his mask to Taker at this time.

Kane eventually did finally team up with Undertaker, once more becoming a face, in early 2001 and would go on to have a truly impressive Royal Rumble showing eliminating 11 men during the match, a record he still holds. Kane would go on to win the WWF Hardcore title at Wrestlemania X-7 and would team with his brother to battle the Austin-Triple H two man power trip eventually defeating Triple H for the Intercontinental title at Judgment Day 2001. Kane and Undertaker as a team would prove successful flag bearers for the WWF during the Invasion angle winning both the WWF and WCW tag team championships and feuding with and getting the best of Diamond Dallas Page & Chris Kanyon and Kronik.

In 2002, Kane and the Hurricane would win the World tag team titles from Lance Storm and Christian until finally losing them later on to Chris Jericho and Christian. Kane however would get a measure of revenge defeating Jericho for yet another Intercontinental title only to lose hos title to Triple H in a World vs.  Intercontinental Unification match. Next Kane and Rob Van Dam would win the World tag team titles only to eventually lose them to La Resistance. Triple H would eventually go on to win a match in which Kane was forced to unmask if he lost. Kane did and went berserk attacking former allies such as RVD and pretty much everyone else in his path including setting Jim Ross on fire and tombstone piledriving Linda McMahon. Kane would go on to become a monster again and would eventually find himself once again an opponent of the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XX who again defeated him. Next Kane would get involved in an unlikely storyline relationship with Lita even going so far as to "marry" her eventually leading to the storyline with Gene Snitsky causing Lita to miscarry Kane's demon love child. Since this Kane has been plagued with bad storyline after bad storyline be it Katie Vick or twin imposters. He did go on to win an ECW title in 2008 and lately has been a bit revitalized by a new storyline searching for the attackers responsible for putting his "brother" Undertaker in a comatose state.




Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 05, 2010, 09:02:05 PM
I thought Kane was kinda cool for the first few years.  Relatively good for a big man, had a decent storyline.

Then it all got muddled up and they changed it completely, pulled off his mask, etc.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Rev. Powell on July 05, 2010, 10:33:05 PM
I don't follow wrestling but I'm curious: Jase, are you writing these entries as you go?  If so, do you realize you've already just about created an entire Encyclopedia of Wrestling? Surely you're cutting and pasting from Wikipedia or something?


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 05, 2010, 10:54:39 PM
Yes Rev., Wikipedia is a main source of research for these but to be honest with some of the older talents, I probably could write lenghty entries right off the top of my head as I was a huge wrestling fanatic throughout my youth and watched numerous numerous hours of classic wrestling on VHS video too. Honestly I still watch it to this day although it's much more a guilty pleasure now than in my youth and I strongly miss those old innocent kayfabe days when they played it up as if wrestling was a real sport I miss rasslin' being the main focus and not the entertainment aspect. I probably could well write a book on it if I really wanted to...it's only since the late 1990s when titles started changing so frequently that things get more than a bit muddled up in the head but there are great online resources about wrestling history, some arguably much better than Wikipedia too not to mention Pro Wrestling Illustrated yearly Almanacs which I own a copy of from every year dating back quite some time.

I have been a regular on wrestling message boards in the past and have written bios for certain grapplers off the top of my head there in times past particularly for dream tournaments we'd sometimes have.

Happy, with regards to Kane, I agree. I liked the mysterious, quiet masked man far more than the psychotic freak he is now. But bad storylines after bad storylines (Katie Vick, Lita pregancy, Imposter Kane, May 11) really took a lot of the punch out of the character. Sure some here are familar with Kane from the film See No Evil


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 06, 2010, 10:40:53 AM


Happy, with regards to Kane, I agree. I liked the mysterious, quiet masked man far more than the psychotic freak he is now. But bad storylines after bad storylines (Katie Vick, Lita pregancy, Imposter Kane, May 11) really took a lot of the punch out of the character. Sure some here are familar with Kane from the film See No Evil
Once the mask came off, all went to hell.  I hate what they've done with him.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Rev. Powell on July 06, 2010, 11:14:58 AM
Yes Rev., Wikipedia is a main source of research for these but to be honest with some of the older talents, I probably could write lenghty entries right off the top of my head as I was a huge wrestling fanatic throughout my youth and watched numerous numerous hours of classic wrestling on VHS video too. Honestly I still watch it to this day although it's much more a guilty pleasure now than in my youth and I strongly miss those old innocent kayfabe days when they played it up as if wrestling was a real sport I miss rasslin' being the main focus and not the entertainment aspect. I probably could well write a book on it if I really wanted to...it's only since the late 1990s when titles started changing so frequently that things get more than a bit muddled up in the head but there are great online resources about wrestling history, some arguably much better than Wikipedia too not to mention Pro Wrestling Illustrated yearly Almanacs which I own a copy of from every year dating back quite some time.

I have been a regular on wrestling message boards in the past and have written bios for certain grapplers off the top of my head there in times past particularly for dream tournaments we'd sometimes have.


You ought to keep these writeups in a file somewhere.  You have the beginnings of a book here. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 10, 2010, 02:29:27 PM
Paul Bearer joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. William Alvin "Bill" Moody, born April 10, 1954, started out in the wrestling business in his teen years as a photographer. After finishing high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and while serving for 4 years, wrestled occasionally during his off duty hours for Gulf Coast independent promotions. In 1978, he adopted the gimmick of Percy Pringle III, a wealthy man who had inherited his family's fortunes which he now parlayed into acquiring the best wrestling talents, which he used in southeastern independents. Following the birth of his oldest son, Moody cut back on his involvement in wrestling to obtain a degree in mortuary science and ear certification as a funeral director and embalmer.

He would return to wrestling full time in 1984 as manager Percy Pringle III managing stars in Floirda, World Class and eventually the USWA. Amongst his most notable charges were Ravishing Rick Rude, who won the WCCW Heavyweight title under him, , the Missing Link, a young Stunning Steve Austin and the Texas champion - The Punisher (who would later gain fame as the Undertaker). He also briefly managed a young Lex Luger, The Dingo Warrior (who would later become the Ultimate Warrior) and Eric Embry.

In 1990, at the suggestion of Rick Rude, Moody would be brought into the WWF by Vince McMahon and because of his past as a funeral director/embalmer would eventually be given the gimmick of Paul Bearer, seemingly the perfect manager to guide the Undertaker aiding him via the use of his mystical urn and taking his hat and coat as Undertaker wrestled. Bearer would manager solely the Undertaker for five years, even managing him to a WWF World Title, and even had his own talk show segment called "The Funeral Parlor", on one episode of which Undertaker locked the Ultimate Warrior inside a casket.

At Summerslam 1996, Bearer shockingly turned on the Undertaker aiding his long-time nemesis Mankind and also enlisted The Executioner and Vader into his war with the Undertaker. Eventually in 1997 using a long kept hidden dark secret, Bearer blackmailed Undertaker into once more being his protege but eventually the secret would come out. Storyline wise, Bearer had an affair with the Undertaker's mother resulting in his half-brother Kane. Eventually Bearer would reveal Undertaker's masked long-lost brother Kane who would attack his brother the Undertaker during an Hell in the Cell match vs. Shawn Michaels at Bad Blood 1997. Eventually an intense feud evolved between Kane and the Undertaker with Bearer managing Kane & Mankind, who together would win WWF tag team gold. Kane himself would eventually win the WWF World title in a First Blood match at WWF King of the Ring 1998 only to lose it back to Steve Austin the very next night on Raw.

Towards the end of 1998, Bearer would eventually betray his "son" Kane to once more manage the Undertaker and together the two would eventually form the nightmarish Ministry of Darkness that ran rampant in WWF in 1999 commanding a group that also included Viscera, Mideon, The Acolytes and briefly the Brood too. In late September 1999, Bearer and Undertaker would briefly disappear from the scene following an injury to the Undertaker. In early 2000, Bearer briefly returned as a face to manage Kane before retiring to become a behind the scenes road agent, stage manager and talent scout until his contract with WWE ran out in 2002. He would move briefly to TNA under his old identity as Percy Pringle but that stay would prove rather forgettable. In October 2003, he signed a new contract with WWE but his health problems would prevent him from taking an active role until Wrestlemania XX when he returned as a face manager for the Undertaker in yet another match vs. Kane. In spring of 2004, Bearer would be kidnapped by The Dudley Boyz and Paul Heyman during their feud with the Undertaker. At Great American Bash 2004, Heyman threatened Undertaker that if he didn't throw the match he would throw a switch that would bury Bearer in cement inside a glass crypt. After defeating the Dudleys, the Undertaker himself threw the switch effectively terminating Bearer's last run in the WWE. Bearer would eventually sign a promotional contract with WWE allowing them to continue marketing his personality and allowing him to make sporadic guest appearances including one special appearance at a January 2007 Smackdown live event show where he joined the Brothers of Destruction Kane & the Undertaker in his Paul Bearer garb at ringside in their corner.

Other wrestlers managed by Percy Pringle/Paul Bearer include Logan McDonald, The Assassin, Blackjack Mulligan, Buzz Sawyer, The Spoiler Don Jardine, The Great Kabuki, Jack Victory, New Jack, Koko B. Ware, Maniac Matt Borne and Sugar Bear Harris. He won the PWI Manager of the Year Award in 1998.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 11, 2010, 01:53:21 PM
Tommy Dreamer joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Here we have yet another wrestler the fans have come to embrace and appreciate for all his hard work and effort over the years, a wrestler who gave his all many times over to entertain the fans and asked for very little reward in return. He is often referred to as "the heart and soul" of the original ECW, being normally tied up in many of the company's most entertaining angles although rarely wearing the ECW World title capturing it just once during his stay in the original ECW, and then for only about 30 minutes, he was also involved in a lot of the behind the scenes booking. Mostly Dreamer seemed to be about helping develop other talent and it was a trait he'd carry with him into the WWE's watered down version of ECW where he was mostly used as an enhancement talent to put over new stars but despite this, his hard work would again be rewarded, this time by WWE, with an ECW title reign there during the end of his stay with WWE.

Dreamer was trained by Johnny Rodz and first debuted as T.D. Madison in International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW) winning its tag team titles alongside G.Q. Madison three times in 1991. He'd change his name to Tommy Dreamer, the "Dreamer" part being a tribute to Dusty Rhodes, in 1992 and move to New England's CWA (Century Wrestling Alliance) winning its first Heavyweight title in a tournament final over Tony Atlas in November 1992. He would hold the title for four months before dropping it to The Iron Sheik. He'd also start wrestling in Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992, wearing green suspenders and playing the part of a pretty boy wrestler, a character soundly booed by fans at the time even despite his kicking out of Jimmy Snuka's Superfly splash.

However as ECW became Extreme Championship Wrestling, a new style of booking done by Paul Heyman led to Tommy Dreamer vs. The Sandman in a Singapore Cane match. It was in this match Dreamer first earned the respect of the fans as despite losing, he took his ten lashes with the Singapore cane and asked for another. When Dreamer later accidentally "blinded" Sandman in a match, he began coming to his aid but it would eventually be revealed to have been a ploy by Sandman all along as he revealed he faked the blindness and unexpectedly attacked Dreamer yet again.

Perhaps Dreamer's most memorable and brutally emotional feud would arguably come against Raven in 1995, portrayed as childhood rivals the two would eventually come to feud over the beautiful Beulah McGillicutty. Raven dominated the entire feud for around two years with Dreamer finally winning in Raven's last ECW match - a loser leaves town match. By the end of the feud, Dreamer had both McGillicutty and had won his respect. During his feud with Raven, Raven also brought in hired help to take on Dreamer including boydguard "Prime Time" Brian Lee and Raven's Nest followers including Stevie Richards, Tony Stetson, Johnny Hotbody, the Pitbulls, Luna Vachon, the Vampire Warrior, The Dudleys, Cactus Jack, Kimona Wanalaya (who replaced Beulah when she left for Dreamer in 1996), the Bruise Brothers - Ron & Don Harris, Super Nova and even more.

Following Raven's departure for WCW in 1997, Dreamer started feuding with an invading Jerry "The King" Lawler in a feud symbolic of new school ECW vs. old-school Memphis & WWF. Dreamer stood up for his home ECW promotion.

In 1998, Dreamer began feuding with the Dudleys leading to the Dudleys eventually taking out Beulah, kayfabe breaking her neck. This would led to a 1999 challenge during the Dudleys last night with ECW to Dreamer, now managed by Francine, for a tag title match depsite Dreamer not having a partner. Shockingly Raven would appear on the scene and team with Dreamer to win the ECW Tag Team titles that night. Not suprisingly, this team didn't last very long with Raven eventually selecting Mike Awesome as his new partner. Dreamer would also reluctantly become ECW World champion in 2000, defeating Tazz, who by then had signed with WWF, only to lose the title 30 minutes later to Justin Credible. Dreamer himself didn't want to win titles but wanted to help build other stars so it was only when guys were leaving ECW he reluctantly won the titles he did. While he was in ECW, Dreamer also won tag team titles with Johnny Gunn and Masato Tanaka. Dreamer stayed with ECW till the bitter end in 2001.

After briefly competing in independents such as Jersey All-Pro and Combat Zone Wrestling, Dreamer would sign with the WWF and would take part in the ECW/WCW Invasion joining the ECW/WCW Alliance. When the angle ended in November, Dreamer would be sent to the farm territory Heartland Wrestling Association. He would be brought back to WWE in 2002 in April on the Raw brand. Following a short-lived and ill-conceived just a regular guy gimmick that saw him eating food off the floor and using his toothbrush to brush his dog's teeth, thankfully "The Innovator of Violence" old-style ECW gimmick returned and Dreamer went on to win 14 WWE Hardcore titles. Dreamer would be the final Hardcore champion when the title would be unified with the Intercontinental title following a title unification match vs. Rob Van Dam. Following this, Dreamer would yet again feud with Raven eventually defeating him in a loser leaves Raw match.

By 2003 and 2004, Dreamer would be used less and less by WWE and would eventually take on more of a behind the scenes role while WWE allowed him to take independent bookings and work as a color commentator for their development territories Ohio Valley Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling. Eventually he even took on a series of office jobs in WWE.

In 2005, Dreamer was a major part of the ECW One Night Stand Reunion show taking part heavily in the promotion leading up to the event and even teaming with the Sandman vs. The Dudleys on a Raw main event. Eventually at the One Night Stand show, Dreamer and his mentor Terry Funk would team up to face a newly heel Mick Foley now teaming up with Edge and Lita. Beulah would return at the PPV to join Dreamer and Funk vs. Foley, Edge and Lita with Foley & Edge eventually winning out.

In 2006, ECW would be relaunched by WWE and Dreamer would be one of its major stars and old ties to the classic ECW. Early on, he and the Sandman teamed up to feud with Mike Knox and Test. Following a brief forgettable feud with Daivari, a new feud began to emerge - that of the New Breed (Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker and Kevin Thorn) vs. the ECW Originals (Dreamer, Sandman, Rob Van Dam & Sabu). The Originals would win the showdown between the two teams at Wrestlemania 23 but lost an extreme rules rematch on ECW.

In 2007, Dreamer came to join the ECW's brand Elimination chase to name a new # 1 contender for the ECW title and despite making it all the way to the finals and seemingly winning over Elijah Burke at the end, ECW GM Armando Estrada surprised Dreamer by annoucing the winner must now take on the monsterous 500 pounder Big Daddy V who ultimately defeated Dreamer to become # 1 contender.

In 2008, Dreamer began to mentor enhancement talent Colin Delaney and the pair even upset the WWE tag team champions The Miz and John Morrison in a match but failed to ultimately win WWE tag team gold. Dreamer also lost an ECW title match to Chavo Guerrero Jr. shortly thereafter. Dreamer would also win a 24 man battle royal to earn yet another shot but yet again fell short and even lost an Extreme Rules match to Mike Knox and the 100th episode ECW special. At One Night Stand 2008, he was a participant in a brutal multi-man Singapore Cane match but failed to win. At the Great American Bash 2008, Delaney shockingly and unexpectedly turned on Dreamer costing him his title chance against then ECW champion Mark Henry. Delaney hoped to then pair up with Henry only for Henry to turn on him too. Dreamer would go on to soundly defeat Delaney in an Extreme Rules match and began feuding with Jack Swagger with the two putting on a series of entertaining bouts with Swagger eventually coming out on top.

On January 13, 2009, Dreamer annouced if he couldn't win the ECW title before his contract ran out, he would no longer wrestle for ECW. Following this, Dreamer would have a long and extended losing streak that finally ended in late February when he defeated Flapjack Brown. Dreamer in April would be granted an ECW title match vs. then champion Christian but the match would go to a no contest following interference by Swagger. Dreamer would be granted a one day extension on his contract to challenge Christian for the ECW Title at Extreme Rules 2009 in an Hardcore Triple Threat match also featuring Jack Swagger. Dreamer would go on to pin Swagger in the match and finally capture the ECW Title, the only old school ECW World champion to accomplish this feat also in the WWE's version of ECW. Dreamer would successfully defend the title for a couple of months including matches against former champ Christian and a Championship Scramble match at the Bash 2008, Dreamer eventually dropped the title back to Christian at Night of Champions 2008. Christian successfully retained his title in a return Extreme Rules match vs. Dreamer. Following this, Dreamer briefly teamed with Christian, Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust in several pairings vs. William Regal and his alliance with Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekial Jackson. On a December 29, 2009 match vs. Zack Ryder, Dreamer lost a match that would see him retire if he lost. Following the match, Dreamer thanked the fans before leaving the ring with his two daughters. On January 4, 2010, Dreamer would officially be released by WWE.

In late January 2010, Dreamer debuted for Dragon Gate USA losing an hardcore match to Jon Moxley. Dreamer also competed in independents such as American Championship Entertainment and Universal Championship Wrestling where he defeated Shane Douglas for the UCW title on Feburary 20, 2010. He also competed for Maximum Pro Wrestling and Chikara. On June 23, 2010, Dreamer debuted in TNA appearing in the crowd with several old school ECW alumni including Raven, Stevie Richards and Rhino.

Mr. Fuji joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Following a lenghty and successful career in the ring that saw him capture WWWF/WWF tag team gold 3 times with Prof. Toru Tanaka and  twice with Mr. Saito, Mr. Fuji would go on to have an arguably even more successful career as a manager.

His managerial career began in 1985 with Fuji wearing a tuxedo and bowler hat to the ring as his most common garb. Like during his time in the ring, Fuji would often use ceremonial salt to blind his men's opponents, throwing it in their eyes while the referee was distracted elsewhere. Fuji first managed George "The Animal" Steele until Steele became a fan favourite. Next Fuji managed The Magnificent Muraco in a pairing that seemed a perfectly natural fit. Together they appeared in a memorable and hilarious Miami Vice parody segment called "Fuji Vice". The best feud for Muraco under Fuji would come vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat who the pair would attack leading to the Dragon seeking revenge on both men and even wrestling Fuji himself. Fuji also briefly managed Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart only to eventually sell the contract to Jimmy Hart who formed the Hart Foundation.

In 1987, he purchased the contract of Demolition from Johnny Valiant. While also managing the nightmarish Killer Khan and Sika, he successfully guided Demolition to their first and longest WWF tag team championship reign with a win over Strike Force at Wrestlemania IV, a record that still stands. Surprisingly Fuji would eventually turn on Demolition in favor of the Powers of Pain at Survivor Series 1988 perhaps believing the Powers could defeat the Demos. Fuji however would be proved wrong here as Demolition successfully defeated him and his Powers of Pain in an handicap match at Wrestlemania V. Eventually Fuji would sell the Barbarian's contract to Bobby Heenan and the Warlord's to Slick.

His next team would be The Orient Express of Akio Sato and Pat Tanaka who went on to feud with the Rockers. Eventually the Orient Express (who would eventually be changed to a team of the masked Kato and Pat Tanaka) would get involved in the feud between the Legion of Doom and Demolition which Fuji eventually returning as manager of Demolition. This though would prove short-lived as Demolition was eventually phased out. LOD soundly defeated both Demolition and the Orient Express in matches. In 1991, Fuji also began to sporadically manage the Berzerker.

In late 1992, Fuji now wearing a more traditional Japanese kimono introduced arguably his most successful and impressive charge in the form of the massive 600 pound Yokozuna. Under Fuji, Yokozuna would win the 1993 Royal Rumble and would go on to defeat Bret "The Hitman" Hart for his first WWF World title at Wrestlemania IX. Foolishly, Fuji would challenge Hulk Hogan following the match resulting in Hogan regaining the WWF World title from Yokozuna but Yoko would get his revenge at King of the Ring 1993 defeating Hogan for his second WWF World title. Later on, Fuji would be joined as co-manager by spokeman Jim Cornette whom Yokozuna would eventually take a disliking too firing him leading to a six man war pitting Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson and Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Camp Cornette's Big Van Vader, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog at Wrestlemania 12. Yoko would be accompanied by a now face Fuji during the match. Shortly thereafter, Fuji would leave WWF. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 15, 2010, 11:04:00 PM
I've updated the Halls here. Want/Plan to go into a bit more detail on these latest additions in the near future.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 16, 2010, 06:45:59 PM
Demolition (Ax & Smash) join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. "Here comes the Ax and here comes the Smasher!" From the moment I heard the theme music, saw the face paint, the leather and studs, the Mad Max style Lord Humongous masks and saw them ground and pound their opponents into the dust, I knew Demolition were something special. Often accused of being Road Warrior rip-offs, I personally feel Demolition forged their own unique and successful identity. Ax of course had a long successful career before nearing its end he decided to move from competition as the Masked Superstar to the Super Machine and eventually to Ax. Smash was a young upstart looking to make a name for himself and while he'd had some small success previously as a "Russian" ally of the Koloffs named Krusher Kruschev, his most successful persona ever would be Smash. Later runs as the Repo Man and Barry Dorsow, his real name, provided very little real success.

Initially though it would be a former Moondog Randy Colley (Moondog Rex) who would team with Bill Eadie/Ax under manager Johnny V. However Colley who was thought too recognizable as a former Moondog would be replaced by Darsow and the rest as they say is history. Demolition were soon cutting a swath through the top WWF babyface tandems bettering Ken Patera & Billy Jack Haynes and even "injuring" Haynes cousin Brady Boone. They'd go on to defeat the Killer Bees, Rougeaus, British Bulldogs, Islanders, Young Stallions and even the Can-Am Connection. They beat practically anyone who was anyone. Somewhere during this period, Mr. Fuji would purchase Demolition's contracts and he would lead them on to tag team gold at Wrestlemania IV where they defeated Strike Force to win their first WWF World Tag Team titles. To this day with this reign, Demolition still holds the record as the longest reigning WWF/WWE World Tag Team champions of all time. Demolition successfully fended off tough tag team challengers in an hot and very talented tag team division including wins over the Hart Foundation and the British Bulldogs.

In mid-1988, another face painted nightmarish team appeared on the scene - this was the Powers of Pain (The Warlord and the Barbarian), fresh off their losing feud to the Road Warriors in the NWA and who actually more resembled the Warriors than did Demolition) managed by Baron Von Raschke. Shockingly at Survivor Series 1988, perhaps believing the Powers of Pain on the verge of defeating Demolition, Mr. Fuji switched sides and betrayed Demolition joining forces with the Powers of Pain and helping them win Survivor Series 1988. At Royal Rumble 1989, Ax and Smash memorably briefly were forced to battle each other as # 1 and # 2 entrants. At Wrestlemania V, Demolition would get their revenge on Mr. Fuji and the Powers of Pain soundly defeating them in an handicap tag team title match.

Demolition would successfully hold the titles until a July 29, 1988 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event where they finally lost them to the Brain Busters Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson in a two out of three falls match with a bit of help from Andre the Giant. Then Demolition actually starting feuding with Andre and the Twin Towers teaming up with Hacksaw Duggan to defeat them at Summerslam 1989. In November, they'd also regain their WWF World tag team titles from the Brain Busters. However an even more massive challenge lay ahead of them - Bobby Heenan's newly assembled Colossal Connection of Andre the Giant and Haku who would defeat Demolition for the WWF World Tag team titles in December. At Wrestlemania VI, Demolition actually managed to defeat the Colossal Connection to win their third and last WWF World Tag Team titles and finally put an end to their long running feud vs. the Heenan Family.

In 1990, Demolition eventually reverted back to their more heelish roots and eventually added a third younger, bigger member in Crush but also because Eadie's health was starting to fail at the time. Eventually Smash and Crush would become the main active members of the team with Ax essentially serving as manager and outside interference whenever it was needed. At Summerslam 1990, Demolition lost their WWF World Tag Team titles to the Hart Foundation thanks to interference from the Legion of Doom - the Road Warriors. Next the feud everybody had long wanted to see came to fruitition and proved a huge disappointment as the LOD practically destroyed the Demos who were well past their glory days by this point and Smash & Crush never gelled together as a team the way Ax & Smash did. Demolition, yes Ax and Smash, has actually the last few years reunited in the independents capturing several tag team titles there.

Jerry "The King" Lawler joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Though honestly I suspect his placement here has more to do with him being up against some incredibly tough competition more than anything else. Actually Lawler is one of the best wrestling heels I ever watched perform in a wrestling ring. He was able to hold the audience in the palm of his hand and get the reaction he desired time and time again..just great at drawing heat from the fans in particular but could just as well play the babyface role, albeit a more tough, fight fire with fire Bruno style fan favourite. Lawler mostly dominated Memphis wrestling where he was often also involved in the booking behind the scenes so of course many say he likely used politics and his power to place himself on top but truthfully the King was hugely over in his home territory and definitely belonged on top there more often than not (He won the Memphis Southern title more than 50+ times). Has claimed victories over an whos who of wrestling history (Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ric Flair, etc.) but one has to note most of those came with him on his home ground. Had long lasting memorable feuds with Bill Dundee, Eddie Gilbert, the Moondogs, Paul E. Dangerously/Paul Heyman, comedian Andy Kaufman, Kerry Von Erich, Terry Funk, Tommy Rich and Austin Idol.

Lawler's most impressive title wins were his AWA World championship win over Curt Hennig in 1988 and his title unification win over Kerry Von Erich which also gave him the World Class Championship Wrestling Heavyweight title. Eventually Lawler would use this to claim the USWA title a World title (which he'd hold around 28 times) after the AWA stripped him of the title for lack of defenses in their actual territory. To WWF/WWE fans, he is mostly known for his annoucing work and his feud with Bret Hart, Doink the Clown and ECW but Lawler is also one of the greatest old-school brawlers/wrestling giants of yesteryear. You could argue Lawler was hardcore before there was hardcore. Lawler is from the old-school era and knows what that's all about even as he's a part of the modern wrestling scene as an annoucer.

Jesse "The Body" Ventura joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Jesse Ventura was the man to me as a kid. He was larger than life, a colorful, boastful blowhard with a big chin who dressed in colorful over-the top garb and seemed such a badass character, a real hero even as he told fans to "win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat". He truly had the gift of gab and whether providing color commentary for Vince McMahon on Superstars of Wrestling or providing it on numerous 80s WWF PPVs, Jesse almost always had something interesting and definitely something entertaining to add to the proceedings. I can't hardly recall my childhood without thinking of him and certainly not the wrestling I grew up watching.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 18, 2010, 01:26:37 PM
Harvey Wippleman joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Harvey actually started out in Memphis and Continental wrestling in the 1980s as Downtown Bruno, a smarmy little gruff voiced man with an overinflated ego. He normally managed monstrous big heels, which set off his smaller frame next to them even more, and set them after the area's top faces. Amongst those he managed in the Memphis and Continental areas were the Stud Stable of Robert Fuller (who was usually also seconded by Sylvia who eventually Bruno would feud with as well), Jimmy Golden, Dutch Mantel, Brian Lee, Cactus Jack and Brickhouse Brown; Ron & Don Harris, The Assassins, The Rock 'n' Roll RPMs, Badd Company, The Moondogs, "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert, Doug Gilbert, the Batten Twins, Tony Falk, Frankie Lancaster, Tony Anthony, Gary Young, Don Bass, Ray Candy, Jeff Gaylord, Phil Hickerson, Eli the Eliminator and many others - a virtual who's who of Memphis/Continental/USWA villains. Shockingly while in Continental wrestling, Bruno would capture the Southeast United States Junior Heavyweight Championship, a title he'd win in September 1988 and would hold until Continental closed in 1989, essentially a title he never loss.

 As I said earlier, he often managed monstrous heels (particularly as Harvey Wippleman in the WWF which was essentially Downtown Bruno under a geekier name) such as Lord Humongous/Sid Justice who he managed in both Continental under a mask and later when he turned heel on Hulk Hogan in the WWF, Big Bully Busick, The Warlord,  Sika, Giant Gonzales, Kamala, Adam Bomb, Mr. Hughes, Kwang. In the WWF, he also managed Well Dunn and the Brooklyn Brawler. Most of the monsters he managed in WWF, such as Kamala and Giant Gonzales, he unsuccessfully sent after the Undertaker. Arguably his most successfully pairing though was that as manager/"boyfriend" of Bertha Faye (formerly Rhonda Singh/Monster Ripper - a hugely successful in Japan lady wrestler), a huge lady grappler who liked to wear polka dots and captured the WWF Women's title in 1995 from Alundra Blayze. Eventually Wippleman would wind up feuding with ring announcer Howard Finkel resulting in several godawful and unwanted tuxedo matches. Wippleman would also disguise himself as a woman calling himself Harvina to become the only man to win the WWF Women's title defeating the Kat in a Lumberjill Snow Bunny match. He'd later lose the title to Jacqueline in under a minute. Since then, Wippleman has served behind the scenes for WWE as a road agent and sometimes still adopts his Downtown Bruno persona in Memphis wrestling.

The Headbangers join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. In the late 1990s, a new and bizarre tag team appeared on the scene. They were self-professed loud music loving headbangers who loved to as their names suggested Mosh and Thrash in the mosh pit. Mosh and Thrasher had long plied their trade as enhancement talent, talent used to put over others when Charles Warrington and Glen Ruth were finally paired up together and given an heavy metal headbanging makeover with both men wearing punk and heavy metal T-shirts, piercings, shaved heads, black eye makeup and skirts, which was a throwback to an earlier short-lived gimmick where they were managed by Brother Love as the Sisters of Love and the Flying Nuns on Shotgun Saturday Night. In 1997, they feuded with the Godwinns, Phil Lafon & Doug Furnas and the Road Warriors usually coming out on the losing end. But at Wrestlemania 13, they would win a 4-way elimination match for a shot at the WWF World Tag Team titles, titles they would eventually win in a match at In Your House 17 (Sept. 7, 1997) in a match for the then vacant titles vs. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith. They would lose the titles to the Godwinns less than a month later. Throughout 1998, they were frequent challengers to the New Age Outlaws but failed to regain the titles. On February 17, 1998, the Headbangers would upend the Rock 'n' Roll Express for the NWA World Tag Team titles but would lose the titles to the New Midnight Express of Bart Gunn and Bob Holly a little over a month later. They would then go on to feud with the Quebecers and the Oddities and became the first Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team champs on August 18, 1998. As a team, they also won tag teams titles in independents such as the Heartland Wrestling Association, Insane Championship Wrestling where they won the Streetfight tag titles, Main Event Championship Wrestling, New England Wrestling Federation and the Texas Wrestling Alliance.

In 1999, following injury the Headbangers were split up and repackaged with Mosh becoming Beaver Cleavage and eventually Chaz but eventually they would reunite when Thrasher would prove Chaz's manager Marianna had set him up to take a fall.  Following their reunion, they often began to dress up as their opponents including the Dudley Boyz and the Mean Street Posse. Eventually they turned heel and got even more bizarre dressing in drag and wearing breast cones to the ring. The Headbangers both entered the Hardcore battle royal at Wrestlemania 16 which saw Thrasher actually briefly win the WWF Hardcore title. They would continue to battle the likes of T & A and Too Cool until mid 2000 when they were once more split up, this time with Chaz teaming with D-Lo Brown as Lo Down and Glen Ruth being released by WWF. Chaz would be released too by mid-2001.

Personally I thought a lot of their gimmick was fantastic and they really should have played up more the headbanging aspect of the pair given that was in fact quite popular at the time, their fun-loving nature could have potentially made them quite popular as well but they just seemed to get more and more bizarre as time went on and were hampered by poor over the top WWF attitude era storylines which often saw them just haphazardly thrown into the mix.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 18, 2010, 08:31:11 PM
I liked The Headbangers quite a bit.  Thought that they weren't the most technically sound team, but worked well together, had chemistry.  Just wished they had better stories.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 23, 2010, 09:27:29 PM
The New Age Outlaws join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. In the late 1990s, two lower mid-carders who seemed to lack focus and direction would find it by joining up and becoming one of the most dominant tag teams in pro wrestling history. No one expected the surprise seemingly makeshift pairing of Road Dogg Jesse James and Bad Ass Billy Gunn to upset wrestling legends the Road Warriors for the WWF World Tag Team titles in November 1997 but that's exactly what the young upstart team did. They were new and different and played by their own set of rules, they were very much as their name implied - outlaws of a new age, a new era. Eventually they would be brought into and would become a major part of the mega-popular DeGeneration X stable also including Triple H, X-Pac and Chyna. Billy had won tag team titles before with "brother" Bart Gunn but had since been searching for an identity as a singles competitor but found himself ultimately unable to move above mid-card. Similarly Road Dogg struggled to get above mid-card status and saw the potential in Gunn while actually feuding with him just before the two would pair up. Together they would form arguably Billy Gunn's greatest pairing of the many successful teams he was a part of.

The Outlaws would eventually drop the titles in 1998 to Mick Foley and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) in a dumpster match but would regain the titles the very next night on Raw with help from DX eventually joining them officially following a steel cage match. Eventually Road Dogg began to deliver his long popular entrance delivery "Ooh you didn't know?" which would prove an hit with fans and which many versions of later DX would later borrow the ending "And if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you - Suck it!"

In the summer of 1998, they'd lose the titles to Kane and Mankind but would regain them at Summerslam when Kane didn't show up leaving Mankind in an handicap match. In late 1998, Corporation members Ken Shamrock and Big Bossman would capture the titles away from the Outlaws as DX was currently feuding with the Corporation. Following this, each man began to pursue singles gold once again and began to drift apart with Road Dogg capturing the Intercontinental title and the Hardcore title and Billy Gunn winning the Hardcore title twice and an Intercontinental title himself not to mention winning a King of the Ring tournament. Eventually though they'd find their way back together reuniting as a team in late 1999 winning their fifth and final WWF World tag team title from Mankind & the Rock on September 21, 1999 only to lose them back to the Rock and Sock Connection less than a month later. After spending time as a face and eventually heel version of DX in 2000, at No Way Out 2000, Gunn injured his arm and would be storyline written out of DX. After short pairings with X-Pac and eventually K-Kwik, Road Dogg would be released from his WWF contract in 2001. Gunn would continue to compete in WWF/WWE for three more years winning a tag team title twice in a quasi-gay pairing with Chuck Palumbo and also teaming up with Hardcore Holly before he was released in 2004.

Meanwhile Road Dogg had moved on to competing in TNA under the name B.G. James and was there teaming with Konnan and Ron Killings (Formerly K-Kwik) as 3LiveKru. Billy Gunn debuted in TNA in 2005 under several names including the Outlaw but eventually adopted the name Kip James. After briefly feuding with B.G. and 3LiveKru, Billy would eventually team up with his old buddy once again as the James Gang but the former New Age Outlaws were now well past their prime and the NWA and TNA tag team titles proved elusive although they won the Maryland Championship Wrestling tag team title in the independents. A name change to the Voodoo Kin Mafia where they criticized WWE and their old allies in DX and feuded with Christy Hemme proved rather forgettable and finally Kip turned on B.G. hitting him with a crutch on Feburary 21, 2008 ending the team.

APA/The Acolytes joins the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Very little good seemed to come out of the Corporate Ministry but well this dominant tag team of Bradshaw and Farooq certainly left their dominant mark and were initially put together as members of the Ministry of Darkness. This pair of powerhouse brawlers, although Farooq could execute mat fundamentals too, seemed like an unstoppable force the likes of which hadn't been seen in wrestling since the heyday of the Road Warriors. They'd win their first WWF World Tag Team titles as members of the Ministry from Kane and X-Pac on May 25, 1999 only to lose the titles in shocking fashion via an upset by the Hardy Boyz a little over a month later. The Acolytes however would gain their revenge about a month after that regaining the titles from the Hardys and their manager Michael Hayes when they pinned Hayes. Kane & X-Pac would gain a measure of revenge on them though defeating the Acolytes for the WWF World Tag Team titles on August 9, 1999. In 2000, the Acolytes now away from the Ministry influence redubbed themselves as guns/bodyguards for hire the Acolytes Protection Agency (and were hired to protect people like the Mean Street Posse and Crash Holly) becoming more of a comedy segment on most shows with them drinking beer in the back and playing cards and brawling and battling for money, fun and kicks. The tag team titles did remain elusive at this time for the APA but they would finally regain them from the Dudley Boyz on July 09, 2001 only to lose them about a month later to Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon on August 07, 2001. Eventually the brand split would see Bradshaw drafted to Raw and becoming a a successful Hardcore champion while Ron Simmons competed on Smackdown and would eventually be more known and perhaps sadly more remembered for saying "Damn!" comedy bit that for his WCW World titles or WWF World tag team titles. After a brief reunion in 2003, Bradshaw would eventually turn on Farooq and reinvent himself as JBL. Technically though the Acolytes total time as tag champs despite three reigns was less than 3 months.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 24, 2010, 05:33:24 PM
Shawn Michaels joins the Singles Hall of Fame. When I think truly great wrestling matches and performers who've delivered time and time again, inevitably I think of "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels who probably would be near the top of the list to watch the greatest matches of constantly if I could choose just one performer. Very few performers can rival the number of matches of the year Michaels has been in not to mention his numerous runner-up bouts.

Michaels got his start in Mid-South after being trained by Mexican legend Jose Lothario. Eventually he would move to Texas All-Star Wrestling and would form a tag team with Paul Diamond called the American Force and together they successfully held the TASW tag titles. He'd also compete in Central States wrestling where he'd win the Central States tag titles while teaming up with Marty Jannetty. After brief appearances in WCCW, Michaels eventually debuted in the AWA where he'd reform his tag team with Marty Jannetty and together they would adopt the Midnight Rockers moniker, obviously inspired by previous teams like The Rock 'n' Roll Express and the Midnight Express. The Midnight Rockers would soon find themselves not only tremendously popular especially with the young female fans but were soon in contention for the AWA World Tag Team titles held by "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Sommers, managed by Sherri Martel. Eventually the Rockers would upend Rose & Sommers for the titles but only after a series of hard fought, bloody mat classics between the two teams. In 1987, the Rockers would be signed by the WWF and would drop the tag titles to Boris Zukhov & Soldat Ustinov however would find their stay there short-lived as a bar incident landed them in Vince McMahon's bad graces and they were shortly thereafter back in the AWA again where they would win a second AWA World tag team title, this time from the Midnight Express of "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and "Ravishing" Randy Rose, managed by Paul E. Dangerously. Around this period, the Rockers also journeyed to Memphis wrestling where as heels for perhaps the first time, they defeated the Rock 'n' Roll Express but only after a controversial match which initially saw the titles held up. In Memphis, the Rockers would also capture a pair of Southern tag team titles. The Rockers would eventually drop the AWA World tag titles to Badd Company: Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond, managed by Diamond Dallas Page.

In July 1988, the Rockers would finally be brought back to the WWF where they'd prove popular favourites yet again. Of course women cheered them for their looks but also many fans cheered them on as underdogs the fans wanted to see pull off that big upset. In the WWF, the Rockers had great and memorable matches with the likes of the Rougeau Brothers, the Orient Express, Demolition, the Hart Foundation and even the Legion of Doom. They came close to capturing the WWF World tag team titles from the Hart Foundation in October 1990 but the decision would be eventually overturned supposedly because a turnbuckle pad fell off during the match. In reality, it was because Jim Neidhart resigned with the WWF instead of moving elsewhere. After failing to capturing the WWF World Tag Team titles, particularly after falling to the Legion of Doom, Michaels eventually and quite shockingly turned on Marty Jannetty throwing him head first through a plate glass window on Brutus Beefcake's Barber Shop interview segment, perhaps the most memorable thing to ever happen on said show.

After that, Jannetty briefly disappeared from the company and Shawn Michaels reinvented himself as "The Boy Toy" with Sensational Sherri as his infatuated manager. Michaels was now brash, cocky and arrogant and even began coming to the ring to his "Sexy Boy" music, initially sung by Sherri.  He started to pursue Intercontinental gold and while failing to capture it from Bret Hart, he would defeat the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith for the title on an October 27, 1992 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. He'd go on to challenge Bret "Hitman" Hart for the WWF World title at Survivor Series 1992 but would fall short despite a great match and a great effort. In early 1993, Marty Jannetty made a surprise return and began challenging Michaels for the Intercontinental title. As the feud progressed, Sherri would eventually wind up in the middle and would be blamed for Michaels loss of the title to Jannetty on a May 17, 1993 Raw. After dumping Sherri and hiring a new bodyguard named Diesel, Michaels would regain the title from Jannetty on June 6.

In September 1993, Michaels was stripped of his Intercontinental title as he was suspended from the WWF for undisclosed reasons (possibly steroids). After denying offers from WCW, Michaels would return to the WWF and also compete briefly in Memphis' USWA. He'd make his return at Survivor Series 1993 as a substitute for Jerry Lawler in a match with three Knights vs. the Hart Family. Michaels next set his sights on the new Intercontinental champion Razor Ramon and claimed he was still the champion himself as he had never lost the title. The controversy would come to an head at Wrestlemania X when both belts were suspended above the ring and Michaels and Ramon competed in an unforgettable ladder match that saw Ramon successfully defend his title. While recovering from injuries, Michaels began hosting his own interview segment called "The Heartbreak Hotel". In August 1994, Michaels and Diesel successfully teamed up to capture the tag team titles from the Headshrinkers Samu and Fatu. However Ramon would go on to defeat Diesel for another Intercontinental title when outside interference from Michaels backfired leading to tension between the two. They finally split apart following Survivor Series 1994 and Michaels would go on to win the 1995 Royal Rumble bringing his feud with Diesel to an head as he challenged him at Wrestlemania XI. Michaels also hired a new bodyguard named Psycho Sid (Vicious/Justice) to be in his corner. However when Michaels falled to capture the title, Sid turned on HBK leading to a face turn for HBK.

In May 1995, Michaels defeated Jeff Jarrett for another Intercontinental title reign and would fend off Razor Ramon's challenge in a return ladder match at Summerslam 1995. Behind the scenes, Michaels would become leader of the "Kliq", a group backstage who perhaps held too much sway at the time with Vince McMahon and used their clout to their advantage. In October 1995, HBK was legit attacked by several men outside a bar. This would eventually be exaggerated and played up into an angle where HBK would drop the I-C title to Dean Douglas via forfeit for being unable to compete and would "collapse" on screen during his televised Raw match vs. Owen Hart. This made Michaels extremely popular with fans many of whom truly believed Michaels had collapsed and that the whole thing wasn't scripted (actually it was). After briefly teasing possible retirement, HBK would win the 1996 Royal Rumble and riding a tremendous wave of popularity would go on to challenge fellow fan favourite Bret "Hitman" Hart for the WWF World title at Wrestlemania XII in an Iron Man match. The match would go to a draw but an overtime period would be added which Michaels would win finally capturing his first WWF World title. While champion, Michaels would hold off challenges from Mankind, Vader, British Bulldog and many others but would finally drop the title at Survivor Series 1996 to old rival Psycho Sid. He'd regain the WWF World title from Sid at the 1997 Royal Rumble. In February however, Michaels would vacate the title claiming he'd "lost his smile" and had a knee injury (which he did) although many felt he was unwilling to drop the title back to Bret Hart as was planned. Michaels would return a few months later following knee surgery and would team up with Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF World Tag team titles. The real life tension and feud was brewing and boiling over between Bret and Shawn backstage. At Summerslam 1997, Michaels officiated a title match between then WWF World champion the Undertaker and Bret Hart which Hart won after HBK accidentally hit Taker with a chair intended for Hart. At One Night Only 1997 in Birmingham, England, HBK defeated the popular British Bulldog for the European title much to the British fans' disgust. The chair hit to Undertaker led to a feud that culminated in the first ever Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 1997 , a brutal but terrific match which HBK won after Kane interfered attacking Undertaker.

After forming DeGeneration X with old buddy Triple H and Chyna along with Rick Rude to aid him in his feud with Bret Hart and his Hart Foundation, the more adult WWF attitude era started to come to full bloom with DeGeneration X performing shocking and offensive skits on TV weekly, all trying to get the goat of the more traditional Bret Hart. The feud would come to an head at Survivor Series 1997 when the infamous Montreal screwjob occurred with Vince McMahon calling for the bell as Bret Hart was in HBK's sharpshooter despite Hart's obviously not having tapped out. It was insurance by McMahon than Hart wouldn't take the WWF World title with him to WCW, which he'd join signed a deal with. HBK would begin his third WWF World title reign under these circumstances. In 1998, HBK though would acquire a career threatening back injury in a casket match vs. the Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1998 forcing Michaels to retire after losing the WWF World title in memorable fashion to Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIV.

Michaels would return in non-active roles over the next few years, first as WWF commissioner on November 28, 1998 replacing Sgt. Slaughter and eventually joining Vince McMahon's Corporation group as they feuded with the second version of DeGeneration X. In early 1999, HBK rejoined DX but had to take time off for back surgery. When he returned, DX were no more. He'd continue to play the Commissioner role up until 1999 before disappearing for a while. He'd return to officiate an Iron Man match between the Rock and Triple H in May 2000 and appeared briefly handing over the Commissioner role to Mick Foley one month later. Michaels believing his career was over began to focus on training new wrestlers and started a wrestling school but eventually turned it over to trainers he hired.

In 2002, Michaels returned first as a member of the WWE NWO but the group soon disbanded. Michaels next sought out Triple H hoping to get him to restart the DeGeneration X group with him. However after teasing a reunion, Triple H attacked HBK leading to an unsanctioned grudge match at Summerslam 2002. Michaels had returned and proved, even though he was smaller than before, he could go as well as he ever could. At Survivor Series 2002, Michaels won his fourth World title defeating Triple H in the first ever Elimination Chamber match. Michaels would lose the title back to Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon 2002. Next Chris Jericho targeted Shawn Michaels hoping to make a name at his expense. At Wrestlemania XIX, HBK defeated Jericho in a great match. By Wrestlemania XX, Michaels was still heavily in the mix still battling and continuing his long rivalry with Triple H leading to a Triple Threat match between HHH, HBK and Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania XX which Benoit would eventually win. Michaels feud though continued with Triple H with him losing an Hell in the Cell match to Triple H at Bad Blood 2004. Despite injury at Taboo Tuesday, HBK would be voted by fans to face Triple H in yet another World title match and Michaels would once again deliver a tremendous effort on the losing end.

Michaels next entered into a feud with Kurt Angle that saw the two finally collide at Wrestlemania 21 where Angle actually defeated HBK via submission thanks to his ankle lock. Next Michaels found himself the target of Muhammad Hassan and Daivari and eventually called upon help from the legendary Hulk Hogan to defeat the two. Eventually though Michaels would turn on Hogan during a match and superkick him challenging him to a match at Summerslam 2005 which Michaels lost pointing out after that Hogan refused to job. Next Michaels got embroiled in a feud with Vince McMahon for failing to accept accolades for the Montreal screwjob leading to a tasteless match which saw Michaels team with God to face the McMahons. Later the feud also involved McMahon hired guns the Spirit Squad and the Big Show. Eventually Shawn Michaels would gain a measure of revenge defeating Vince McMahon in a street fight at Wrestlemania 22 and reforming his original DX pairing with Triple H, who also turned fan favourite in the face of McMahon's machinations. Soon thereafter, DX would find themselves feuding with Rated RKO: Edge & Randy Orton. While right on the verge of defeating Rated RKO for the tag team titles, Triple H legit suffered a torn quadriceps and the DX reunion had to be put on hold. With Triple H out of action, Michaels teamed up with John Cena to defeat Rated RKO for the World tag team titles but Micheals soon had his eyes on another prize - John Cena's WWE championship. At Wrestlemania 23, Cena successfully defended the title against HBK. The next night on Raw, the pair dropped the tag team titles to the reunited Hardys. Michaels would also have a return match vs. John Cena on a live April Raw that would prove the best match of the year. Next Michaels continued the feud with Randy Orton started initially between DX and Rated RKO which saw Orton eventually injure Michaels following a punt to the head causing several "concussions". The storyline injury allowed Michaels to have needed knee surgery and he returned as the top contender for Orton's WWE championship but failed to capture it at Cyber Sunday and Survivor Series. Michaels helped make Orton a bonafide star with these matches.

Next HBK faced Ric Flair in a career threatening match at Wrestlemania XXIV, a match that once again proved the best, and definitely the most emotional, of the year. After this, he found himself the target of Batista who wasn't happy to see his old friend and ally go. Michaels defeated Batista by faking an injury and then hitting Sweet Chin Music. Chris Jericho would eventually point out HBK's discretion leading to tension between them. Batista would exact some revenge defeating HBK in a stretcher match at One Night Stand but the feud with Jericho would get even more fuel after Jericho slammed Michaels head through the television screen he used for his Highlight Reel show. A long and bitter feud developed between Jericho and HBK leading to a terrific series of grudge matches and eventually a world title ladder match between the two won by Jericho. Next HBK found himself in perhaps his worst ever storyline as an hired employee of JBL as he pursued the WWE championship. After eventually defeating JBL and winning his freedom, HBK next targeted the Undertaker and his Wrestlemania undefeated streak only to lose to Taker in what some call the greatest Wrestlemania match ever at Wrestlemania XXV. Michaels' obsession with defeating the Undertaker would continue throughout the next year and despite a reuniting of DX with Triple H and the pair finally winning WWE World tag team gold from Chris Jericho and Big Show, Michaels main focus remained on Undertaker to the point he put his career on the line vs. Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania 26 only to lose following yet another outstanding match.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 25, 2010, 12:58:09 PM
Lord Alfred Hayes joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Personally I always kind of liked his Lordship. I felt he brought a quaint sense of humor and a sense of British sensibility to the often cartoonish WWF. I honestly found him to often be quite funny. I guess many people though might have been put off by the goofiness of a lot of the more cartoony aspects of the 1980s and 1990s WWF and Lord Alfred Hayes was often a big part of that especially during his frequent appearances on Tuesday Night Titans as Vince McMahon's sidekick often involved in numerous silly slapstick sketches that often saw his refined Britishness get humiliated in some fashion or another, often with something dumped over him. Or perhaps it's because Hayes had such a distinguished career as an in-ring performer and manager and his WWF persona made you forget that he was in fact once a great wrestler.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 25, 2010, 01:25:18 PM
Lord Alfred Hayes joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Personally I always kind of liked his Lordship. I felt he brought a quaint sense of humor and a sense of British sensibility to the often cartoonish WWF. I honestly found him to often be quite funny. I guess many people though might have been put off by the goofiness of a lot of the more cartoony aspects of the 1980s and 1990s WWF and Lord Alfred Hayes was often a big part of that especially during his frequent appearances on Tuesday Night Titans as Vince McMahon's sidekick often involved in numerous silly slapstick sketches that often saw his refined Britishness get humiliated in some fashion or another, often with something dumped over him. Or perhaps it's because Hayes had such a distinguished career as an in-ring performer and manager and his WWF persona made you forget that he was in fact once a great wrestler.
He was funny, but for some reason I couldn't just get a great liking to him.  Maybe I was just a bigger fan of Ventura, McMahon, Monsoon and Heenan. :smile:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 26, 2010, 01:40:13 PM
Singles

Hall of Fame

01. Ric Flair
02. Hulk Hogan
03. The Undertaker
04. Terry Funk
05. Gorgeous George
06. Mick Foley
07. Rowdy Roddy Piper
08. Rob Van Dam
09. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
10. Sting
11. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
12. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
13. The Rock
14. Bruno Sammartino
15. Tommy Dreamer
16. Shawn Michaels

Hall of Shame

01. Lex Luger
02. Doink the Clown
03. The Sandman
04. Hillbilly Jim
05. The Patriot
06. Goldberg
07. Abdullah the Butcher
08. Owen Hart
09. Sgt. Slaughter
10. Brock Lesnar
11. Jeff Jarrett
12. The Iron Sheik
13. Jesse "The Body" Ventura
14. George "The Animal" Steele
15. Kane
16. Jerry "The King" Lawler
17. Ox Baker

Tag Teams

Hall of Fame

01. The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley)
02. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid)
03. The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan)
04. DeGeneration X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H)
05. The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal)
06. Edge & Christian
07. Demolition (Ax & Smash)
08. The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn)

Hall of Shame

01. The Killer Bees (Jumping Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair)
02. Harlem Heat (Booker T. & Stevie Ray)
03. The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy)
04. Pretty Wonderful ("Pretty" Paul Roma & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff)
05. The Moondogs (King, Rex & Spot)
06. Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez
07. The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher)
08. APA/The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Farooq)

Managers/Valets

Hall of Fame

01. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
02. The Grand Wizard
03. Captain Lou Albano
04. Classy Freddie Blassie
05. Sensational Sherri Martel
06. Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle III
07. Mr. Fuji
08. James J. Dillon

Hall of Shame

01. Miss Elizabeth
02. Sunny/Tammy Lynn Sycth
03. Jim Cornette
04. Paul E. Dangerously/Paul Heyman
05. Gary Hart
06. Colonel Robert Parker/Tennessee Lee
07. Harvey Wippleman/Downtown Bruno
08. The Doctor of Style, Slick

Hosts/Announcers

Hall of Fame

01. Rowdy Roddy Piper
02. Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Hall of Shame

01. Tony Schiavone
02. Brother Love
03. Lord Alfred Hayes

This is the updated lists for these games. However, if I have to copy and post this every time, these threads are going to get pretty long seems to me. The modify post time limit means I can no longer go back and edit the posts on the first page.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 26, 2010, 02:31:24 PM
Ox Baker joins the Singles Hall of Shame. With his huge hairy frame at 6'5 and over 300 pounds, bald head, big fuzzy mustache and pointed eyebrows plus mean looking beady eyes, Baker looked the part of evil villain (something he'd also use to eventually land parts in the movies too including parts in ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and BLOOD CIRCUS). He just had a great look. He was also capable on the microphone and the addition of his Heart Punch finisher (which was actually rumored to have killed men in the ring and two wrestlers - Alberto Torres and Ray Gunkel- did in fact die after receiving it - although this is disputable) added a cool element to what was in fact a very limited in-ring performer. Surprisingly Baker had considerable success despite this winning the WWA World title from Cowboy Bob Ellis and the WWC Title from Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico. He also held numerous tag team titles including the NWA Australian tag team titles (with King Kamata), AWA Midwest tag titles (with Rock Rogowski, the Claw and The Great Kusatsu on 3 separate occasions), NWA Florida tag titles with Superstar Billy Graham, NWA Mid-Atlantic tag titles with Carl Fergie, NWA Georgia tag titles with Skandor Akbar, NWA Americas tag titles with Enforcer Luciano and the Los Angeles version of the NWA World tag titles also with Enforcer Luciano, NWA Autra-Asian tag titles with Butcher Brannigan and the WWA World tag titles with Chuck O' Connor (AKA: Big John Studd). He'd also win significant singles titles including NWA Florida Southern heavyweight title, the IWA North American title, NWA American Heavyweight title, NWA Texas title, NWA Detroit U.S. title, NWA British Commonwealth title, NWF North American title, NWA Southeastern title, Stampede North American title and the WWC Puerto Rican title. Perhaps his most significant win though was over the Sheik for the Detroit version of the NWA U.S. title thanks to his patented heart punch. The Heart Punch is reputed to have defeated over 8000 men including the likes of Jimmy Snuka, Fritz Von Erich, David Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich, Verne Gagne, Ernie Ladd, Harley Race, Bulldog Brower, Mil Mascaras and even Hulk Hogan.

James J. Dillon joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. After a long in-ring career, Dillon successfully turned to managing. Today he's best remembered as the manager and brains behind the Four Horsemen. He successfully led several versions of the Horsemen including the original consisting of Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard (whom Dillon managed even before the Horsemen were officially formed), Arn & Ole Anderson. He also led the team of Flair, Blanchard, Arn Anderson & Lex Luger and the team of Flair, Blanchard, Arn Anderson & Barry Windham. He led the Horsemen to numerous titles including NWA World (Flair), Tag Team (Anderson & Blanchard), U.S. (Luger, Windham) and Television titles (Blanchard, Anderson). He wasn't afraid to get involved in matches and sometimes tangled with his team's adversaries in bloody warfare be it in a Texas Bullrope match vs. The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes) or actually taking part in a War Games match! He won Pro Wrestling Illustrated manager of the year awards in 1982, 1983, and 1988 (when the Horsemen held the NWA World, U.S. and World Tag titles all at once). He also successfully managed Bearcat Wright, the Mongolian Stomper and Abdullah the Butcher.

Slick joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. "The Doctor of Style" may have provided many humorous moments for viewers and even I have to admit to getting a kick out of "Jive Soul Bro" but it was very much a negative stereotype played to the hilt by the WWF. Slick, looking very much the part of shady street hustler crossed with pimp, debuted in the mid-1980s taking over many of the men under contract to "Classy" Freddie Blassie including the likes of Nikolai Volkoff, the Iron Sheik, "The Natural" Butch Reed and Hercules. He later managed the Big Boss Man, Akeem (a reinvented One Man Gang), Rick "The Model" Martel, The Warlord, Boris Zhukov, whom he teamed with Volkoff to form the Bolsheviks and Paul Roma, whom he teamed with Hercules to form Power & Glory. He did make history as the first African American wrestling manager in WWF history.

Slick, real name Ken Johnson, actually started out in Texas All-Star Wrestling managing Mad Maxx and Lord Humongous. He changed his name to Slick and moved to Central States Wrestling where he managed Art Crews, Bulldog Bob Brown, "Diamond" Timothy Flowers, Bobby Jaggers and Butch Reed. There he and his men mainly feuded with Rufus R. Jones until he and Reed lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Bruiser Brody leading to their move to the WWF.

In late 1991, after getting powerslammed on air by the British Bulldog, Slick took some time off and reinvented himself as the reformed Reverend Slick (Slick in fact is now an ordained minister in reality), denouncing his old ways and striving to be a better man and better example. He would appear on WWF programming offering an uplifting message but rarely mentioning God or Jesus. While in this role, he eventually lured Kamala away from the influence of Harvey Wippleman and Kim Chee who were mistreating the big man. Kamala successfully became a full fledged baby face with Slick as manager but had very limited success in this role. Slick won a Slammy Award in 1987 for Best Personal Hygiene.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 26, 2010, 03:15:26 PM
Thanks to Andrew, I've now gone back and updated the Halls on Page 1.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 27, 2010, 01:51:51 PM
Jim Ross joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Good Ole J.R. as he's come to be affectionately known to fans has become almost a comforting familiar voice after so many long years broadcasting and being the main play by play man in the WWF/WWE from the mid-90s until recent years. He's had his ups and downs with the company and has even been fired and taken off the air due to his physical appearance. Like me, Jim Ross has suffered through several bouts of Bell's Palsy, an horrible sickness that leaves one half of your face temporarily paralyzed. In some cases, people's faces return to normal (I myself still show some effects but not as much as Jim Ross). In others, they do not.

Jim Ross actually got his start in Mid-South wrestling under Bill Watts as a referee from 1974-1977. He would be brought back in 1982 as an announcer in Mid-South which would eventually become the Universal Wrestling Federation. Ross was fantastic as a wrestling play by play in those days when he wasn't hampered by someone always in his ear telling him what to say and what to push, sell to fans. He helped build up wrestlers like Ted DiBiase, the One Man Gang, Eddie Gilbert, Sting and many others into stars. When Jim Crockett Promotions purchased the UWF and merged it with the NWA in 1987, Ross would move there and would soon become their top play by play man. Ross was superb as an NWA announcer and worked tremendously well with practically whoever they paired him up with be it Jim Cornette, Terry Funk, Tony Schiavone and/or Bob Caudle calling some of the greatest matches of all-time including the 1989 series between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. When the NWA would turn into WCW, Ross remained for several more years until he and Eric Bischoff eventually came to rub each other the wrong way.

He moved to the WWF in 1992 originally working on Coliseum Home Video releases. Eventually he was moved up to working PPVs as a play by play man and also came to replace Gorilla Monsoon on WWF Wrestling Challenge.  Eventually however Vince McMahon resumed lead PPV play by play position and would also remain the main voice heard by WWF fans on TV play by play for some years more. Ross eventually assumed more of a role on Radio WWF broadcasts but would be fired in February 1994 after suffering his first Bell's Palsy attack. He shortly thereafter became play by play man for Smoky Mountain Wrestling as well as working for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, his second time there as an announcer. WWF rehired Ross in 1994 to replace Gorilla Monsoon after Vince McMahon had to leave the air to address legal issues. However when McMahon was acquitted of charges, Ross would be let go by WWF again and again he'd return to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The WWF rehired Ross yet again for Wrestlemania XI and thereafter Ross would go the primary WWF announcing team alongside Vince McMahon leading to an eventual angle that saw Ross turn heel briefly in late 1996 introducing a fake Diesel and Razor Ramon and also criticizing McMahon on air, criticisms he surely most of had for real. Ross would become the main voice of the WWF by Survivor Series 1997 as McMahon eventually assumed more of an air villainous persona. Ross however would again have to take a break from WWF due to an attack of Bell's Palsy following his mother's death in 1998.

They attempted to turn this into an angle where McMahon allegedly fired him due to his condition and Ross brought in "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as his personal enforcer and also attacked his replacement Michael Cole. The angle would quickly be scrapped and forgotten however when fans cheered Ross and booed Cole. Ross would resume his lead play by play position at Wrestlemania XV. Throughout the popular Monday Night Wars, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King' Lawler would remain the voice of Monday Night Raw and fans soon came to become familiar and happy with that pairing although Lawler would leave and be replaced by Paul Heyman due to issues with Stacy Carter and then return again. In 2005, Ross was involved in a storyline angle that saw him "fired" (kayfabe) by Linda McMahon. In fact, Ross had to leave for Colon surgery. While away, he was replaced by Joey Styles until Styles left Raw for the new brand ECW in 2006. In 2007, Ross was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Stone Cold Steve Austin, whom Ross had also helped build into a superstar during the Attitude Era. During the 2008 WWE Draft, Ross would be traded to WWE Smackdown after 12 years on Raw. Ross initially upset with the move decided to work hard to improve Smackdown and did a fine job there as lead play by play man where he remained until October 2009 when he suffered his third bout with Bell's Palsy. He has since recovered and still works with WWE behind the scenes.

Ross himself has also been involved in several storyline incidents on WWE and unfortunately seems to have been humiliated quite frequently be it being made to join Vince McMahon's Kiss My Ass Club, being set on fire by Kane, having his arm "broken" by Triple H although he does hold a win over Triple H thanks to Batista or publicly "fired" by the McMahons. Through it all though, the fans loved J.R. and still rooted for him and supported him and I'm sure many fans today would still like to see Jim Ross return as lead play by play man.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 28, 2010, 03:51:54 PM
Joey Styles joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. "Oh My God!" and "Catfight! Catfight!" are two of his more well-known catchphrases during his era announcing for ECW. Styles was the main voice of ECW throughout its entire existence often acting as both play by play man and color commentator as one of the few wrestling play by play men to ever fly solo as he did through a lot of his run on ECW Hardcore TV and also on  PPV, being the only man to ever call a PPV on his own. Later on he would be joined by Rick Rude on ECW Hardcore TV, Joel Gertner on ECW on TNN and Cyrus on PPVs but Styles' was the unmistakable voice of ECW, who showed both a good knowledge of wrestling history and a good sense of comic timing. Styles would sign with WWE in 2005 to commentate at One Night Stand alongside Mick Foley. He'd later move to WWE RAW in 2005 replacing Jim Ross when Ross had to leave briefly for colon surgery. Styles was visibly uneasy in the role of sports entertainment host with someone constantly shouting instructions in his ear, something he didn't have to deal with in ECW, and eventually did a worked shoot condemning sports entertainment and McMahon's WWE. This was done all on purpose though to set up his return to the new WWE take on ECW that was started in 2006. Styles would remain the voice of the new ECW alongside Tazz until April  2008 when he was moved to WWE.com (something that might have been a relief for Styles to get away from the WWE style of broadcasting) and was replaced by the horrendously awful Mike Adamle.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 28, 2010, 09:14:48 PM
Joey Styles joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame.
I think you mentioned your displeasure with him as a host/announcer.  I liked him a lot though.  Thought he did add a lot to the shows.  Glad he made it in. :teddyr:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: Mr. DS on July 29, 2010, 11:46:24 AM
Joey Styles joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame.
I think you mentioned your displeasure with him as a host/announcer.  I liked him a lot though.  Thought he did add a lot to the shows.  Glad he made it in. :teddyr:
Theres something about Joey Styles thats really likeable, I can't put my finger on it though.  I think its because he reminds me a lot of an 80s Vince McMahon's intensity on the play by play mic. 

Lord Alfred Hayes joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Personally I always kind of liked his Lordship. I felt he brought a quaint sense of humor and a sense of British sensibility to the often cartoonish WWF. I honestly found him to often be quite funny. I guess many people though might have been put off by the goofiness of a lot of the more cartoony aspects of the 1980s and 1990s WWF and Lord Alfred Hayes was often a big part of that especially during his frequent appearances on Tuesday Night Titans as Vince McMahon's sidekick often involved in numerous silly slapstick sketches that often saw his refined Britishness get humiliated in some fashion or another, often with something dumped over him. Or perhaps it's because Hayes had such a distinguished career as an in-ring performer and manager and his WWF persona made you forget that he was in fact once a great wrestler.
He was funny, but for some reason I couldn't just get a great liking to him.  Maybe I was just a bigger fan of Ventura, McMahon, Monsoon and Heenan. :smile:
His prude nature always made me laugh, especially when he cohosted TNT.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 29, 2010, 01:38:30 PM
I thought he was just fine in ECW albeit a bit overrated perhaps with how much internet fans seemed to rave on about him. Anyways I didn't feel he fit in as well with WWE style sports entertainment...really think he's better suited to the old-school style of wrestling announcing.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 29, 2010, 09:57:17 PM
I thought he was just fine in ECW albeit a bit overrated perhaps with how much internet fans seemed to rave on about him. Anyways I didn't feel he fit in as well with WWE style sports entertainment...really think he's better suited to the old-school style of wrestling announcing.
Tazz, Mick Foley and Styles commented that with the "WWE Style", it's harder, because while wearing the headset, you not only have to listen to your partner, but you also have 2 producers, a writer, and Vince McMahon barking at you, feeding you lines to say.  So you got like, 5/6 people yelling at you, while trying to watch the match, and fans are yelling in your ear.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 30, 2010, 05:03:54 PM
The Hart Foundation joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Honestly I'm hard pressed to think of any think that gelled as well with a combination of speed (Bret "The Hitman" Hart) and power (Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart). They to me are the prototype of a what a great tag team should be all about.

Initially Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart was a villainous heel lower mid-card grappler who initially was managed by Mr. Fuji who sold his contract to Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart. Bret Hart initially was a forgettable fan favourite who the WWF planned to give a lame cowboy gimmick. Bret turned that down and suggested the team with Neidhart. Bret added the shades and arrogant attitude that would become the Hart Foundation's trademark along with the bright hot pink and black tights. You just knew the guys had to be real tough just to pull off that look.

The Hart Foundation along with manager Jimmy Hart proved a very capable tag team and quickly rose through the ranks having fantastic matches with the British Bulldogs and the Killer Bees. At their first PPV as a team, the Hart Foundation were the last two men left in the ring along with eventual winner Andre the Giant in a 20 Man Invitational Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 2. After a lenghty feud with the Killer Bees, the Harts turned their attention towards the WWF World Tag Team champions - the British Bulldogs. On the February 7th, 1987 edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, the Hart Foundation finally defeated the Bulldogs along with a bit of help from crooked referee Danny Davis capturing their first WWF World Tag Team championship. Eventually Davis would join the Harts as a member under the name "Dangerous" Danny Davis. Soon the trio would gain the ire of Tito Santana after Davis hit Santana with Jimmy Hart's megaphone in a tag match between the Foundation and Santana, who was teamed with Dan Spivey.

This led to a Wrestlemania III match that saw The British Bulldogs team up with Tito Santana vs. The Hart Foundation and Davis in which Davis again used the megaphone, this time on Davey Boy Smith, to win the match for his team. The Harts held off the challenges of the Bulldogs amongst others but would eventually drop the titles to Tito Santana and his new partner Rick Martel, who had formed Strike Force, on an October 27, 1987 edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling.

Next Jimmy Hart signed former Hart rivals the Rougeau Brothers to contract and redubbed them The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers leading to tension within the Hart Foundation which meant the Harts began hearing cheers for the first time as did Bret himself a little bit previously due to a falling out with Bad News Brown after the end of a Wrestlemania IV battle royal. The Hart Foundation next pursued Demolition, who captured the titles at Wrestlemania IV, for the WWF World Tag Team titles but failed to win them at Summerslam and then later lost an October rematch on Saturday Night's Main Event thanks to outside interference from the Rougeaus. Naturally the Hart Foundation would come to feud with both the Rougeaus and former manager Jimmy Hart. At Royal Rumble 1989, the Harts gained a measure of revenge teaming up with Hacksaw Jim Duggan to defeat the Rougeaus and Dino Bravo in a best two out of three falls six-man tag team match. In late 1989, the Foundation split briefly but reunited in early 1990 and battled the Rockers at an April Saturday Night's Main Event that saw Demolition interfere. Demolition went on to feud with both teams thereafter but the Hart Foundation would ultimately defeat Demolition, with a bit of timely distraction help from the Legion of Doom, in a best two out of three falls match for their second WWF World Tag Team title reign at Summerslam 1990. The Harts would retain their championship in the face of numerous challengers including both the Rockers (who nearly defeated them) and the Legion of Doom but would finally lose the titles to the Nasty Boys, now managed by Jimmy Hart at Wrestlemania VII when the Nasties used Jimmy Hart's helmet as a weapon against Jim Neidhart. Following Wrestlemania VII, the original Hart Foundation broke up with both men pursuing singles careers.

In late 1991, a young Owen Hart would team up with the veteran Neidhart, also his brother in-law, to form the New Foundation who briefly teamed up to feud with the Beverly Brothers and the Nasty Boys. They had very little success but did win one PPV match at Royal Rumble 1992 over the Orient Express. Eventually Owen would be on his own as Neidhart would leave the WWF.

In 1994 Neidhart returned to team with a now heel Owen in a feud with former partner Bret. During this feud, Bret would team up with brother in-law Davey Boy Smith and a feud of brother in-laws started. Eventually Bret and Davey would pretty much win this feud.

In 1997, with Bret "The Hitman" Hart embroiled in a feud with the suddenly popular Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was known to attack from anywhere and also being part of federation full of large stables including DeGeneration X and The Nation of Domination, Bret would call upon former enemies and allies within his family to unite against a common American enemy. Eventually a stable including Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Owen Hart, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and "Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman was formed. This group was arguably the most successful stable since the 1988 glory days of the Four Horsemen with Bret as WWF World champion, Owen as Intercontinental champion, Davey Boy Smith as European champion and the team of Owen and Davey, who by that time had formed quite a quality tag team in their own right, as WWF World tag team champions. The Foundation would dissolve in late 1997 following the untimely death of Pillman and the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997 that saw Bret, Smith and Neidhart all move to WCW, who had no clue how to use any of them. Nowadays the spirit of the Hart Foundation lives on in new team the Hart Dynasty with David Hart Smith, the son of the British Bulldog, and Tyson Kidd, managed by Natalya Neidhart, the daughter of "The Anvil" Jim Neidhart - although the team honestly reminds me quite a bit of the British Bulldogs too.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 31, 2010, 04:10:08 PM
The Machines join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. In 1986, after Andre the Giant was "suspended" from the WWF for missing several matches against the Heenan Family (Andre was actually touring Japan and trying to deal with health issues particularly his back problems), a mysterious new tag team suddenly appeared on the scene. In vignettes, Giant and Super Machine (formerly the Masked Superstar) from the Orient, wearing masks very similar to the one worn by Japan's Super Strong Machine, along with manager Captain Lou Albano were set to invade the WWF and prove themselves the greatest tag team. Bobby Heenan cried foul proclaiming how obvious it was to everyone that Giant Machine was in fact Andre, even as WWF announcers foolishly tried to claim it might be Giant Baba (who looks nothing like Andre physically). Heenan set out to prove himself correct which would result in Andre's permanent suspension. One week later with Andre really still not well enough to compete, Big Machine (formerly Blackjack Mulligan) was brought in as Super Machine's partner. The pair teamed up to feud with Bobby Heenan and his family especially Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy who were all determined to be rid of their nemesis Andre.

Andre's role would eventually be reduced to being much more on the sidelines with Big and Super Machine battling Bundy & Studd although sometimes new Machines appeared in matches to take on Bundy, Studd & Bobby Heenan in six man matches. It was pretty obvious who most of them were: Animal Machine (George "The Animal" Steele"), Hulk Machine (Hulk Hogan), Piper Machine ("Rowdy" Roddy Piper),  Crusher Machine (The Crusher, who appeared at an house show in Minnesota). Eventually the feud would come to an end with Bundy & Studd getting the upper hand and the Machines "disappeared" from the scene. Actually Blackjack Mulligan continued with the WWF for a few more years as a fan favourite while Super Machine once more re-invented himself as Ax of Demolition. Eventually in late November 1986, Andre suspension would be mysteriously lifted...it would soon be revealed Heenan himself was behind the lift as he had recruited Andre to face Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Title at Wrestlemania III. The whole thing with the Machines was just a silly failed gimmick angle although Andre being recruited by Heenan was brilliant booking.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 02, 2010, 01:12:25 AM
Kurt Angle joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Angle, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, is generally considered the best all around pro wrestling performer perhaps of all time. Not only is Angle technically proficient but he brings a great pound and ground and submission game. Also Angle is able to entertain with the best of them and can deliver great interviews and play part in hilarious vignettes when the need be. Angle has had quick success wherever he's went. Actually has no only had success. He's dominated and dominated arguably like no other before him.

After initially toying with the idea of ECW in 1996 even providing guest commentary for a match between Taz and Little Guido at High Incident, Angle would be turned off by an angle in which Raven "crucified" the Sandman on the very same show. Later he'd initially turn down offers from the WWF but would ultimately sign with them in 1998 and would compete there for the next eight years. After getting some seasoning in Memphis' Power Pro Wrestling and picking up an heavyweight title reign there, Angle would move up to the WWF in 1999 and quickly impress remaining undefeated for several weeks before finally losing to a debuting Tazz at Royal Rumble 2000. Angle continued to play himself up as an American Hero and claimed he owed all his hard work paying off to his three Is -Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence. Angle would come off as arrogant and a showoff to fans quickly making him the heel. Angle would go on to win the European and Intercontinental titles in February 2000 in almost unprecented quick fashion. While he would drop both titles in a Triple Threat Two Falls match with Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania 16 (2000), he himself would never actually be pinned during the match. Next Angle formed an alliance with Edge & Christian to fend off Rikishi and Too Cool and would defeat Rikishi in the King of the Ring finals adding the crown to his list of accomplishments. After briefly feuding with Triple H over the affections of Stephanie McMahon, Angle finally defeated the Rock for his first WWF Championship at No Mercy 2000. He'd successully fend off challenges from the Undertaker and Triple H and even would win a six-man Hell in a Cell match before dropping the title back to the Rock at No Way Out 2001.

Following this, Angle would find himself embroiled in a feud of respect between technical masters with Chris Benoit. Angle would defeat Benoit at Wrestlemania X-7 but would lose a Ultimate Submission rematch at Backlash. Finally the two clashed in a Best Two Out of Three Falls Match at Judgment Day that saw Angle win with a bit of help from allies Edge & Christian.

Angle shortly thereafter would turn face to join the WWF side in the fight against the invasion forces of the ECW/WCW Alliance. Angle and Steve Austin would be involved in several hilarious behind the scenes vignettes during this time. Eventually Austin would shock fans by turning on Team WWF to join the Alliance and suddenly a face Angle was feuding with an heel Austin. During this time, Angle even at one point drove a milk truck to the ring and sprayed the Alliance with milk as Austin had once done to the Corporation with beer. During the Invasion angle, Angle also managed to win the WCW World title, the WCW United States title and the WWF Hardcore title eventually dropping them all to Alliance members. Finally he'd defeat Austin for his second WWF Championship reign at Unforgiven but would lose the title back to Austin when Commissioner William Regal turned heel and joined the Alliance and cost Angle the title during an October Raw. Not long after this Angle himself once again turned heel and also joined the Alliance. However we would learn during a Winner Takes All showdown between Team WWF and Team Alliance that this was all a ruse when Angle betrayed the Alliance helping the Rock defeat Austin at Survivor Series and shortly thereafter taking all the credit for "singlehandedly" destroying the Alliance helping him maintain his heel status.

After losing the United States title to Edge, the two engaged in a bitter and personal feud that saw Edge lead fans of chants of "You Suck" to Angle's theme music. It would come to an head in an Hair vs. Hair match that saw Angle shaved bald after losing. Next he briefly feuded with Hulk Hogan when Hogan removed his ridiculous wig and headgear get up he'd wear to hide his bald head. Angle would successfully make Hogan submit, a mighty rare achievement at King of the Ring. Angle would next go on to win a new Smackdown version of the WWE Tag Team titles with Chris Benoit at No Mercy 2002 but the team remained a pretty shaky alliance and eventually dropped the titles to Edge & Rey Mysterio. Angle would go on to win his third WWE Championship at Armageddon defeating the Big Show with the help of Brock Lesnar. Angle would thereafter acquire the services of manager Paul Heyman and would form Team Angle with the World`s Greatest Tag Team: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas. At Royal Rumble 2003, Angle successfully defeated Chris Benoit in a fantastic match while Lesnar won the Royal Rumble to earn a shot. Lesnar would go on to defeat Angle at Wrestlemania XIX despite a botched shooting star press attempt.

In April 2003, Angle underwent crucial neck surgery ultimately opting for a less conventional surgery than initially planned (which perhaps was a mistake in hindsight) so he could return in three months instead of a year. Angle returned in June and went on to defeat the Big Show and Lesnar in a WWE Title match at Vengeance 2003 earning his fourth WWE championship. Angle would successully fend off Lesnar at Summerslam but would drop the title back to him in controversial fashion (with Lesnar turning heel and using a steel chair) in an Iron Man match on Smackdown. Eddie Guerrero would ultimately upset Lesnar for the title at No Way Out 2004 and Angle would next target him. However Guerrero would successfully defeat him at Wrestlemania XX. With Angle`s neck problems returning, he would eventually be moved to playing a GM role on Smackdown, a role in which he aided JBL in defeating Guerrero for the WWE Title.

After being fired as GM in July 2004 by Vince McMahon, Angle returned to the ring in late 2004 challenging young wrestlers to last three minutes with him in his Kurt Angle Invitational during which he put his gold medals on the line. Eventually Eugene would score the upset and get the medals igniting a brief feud with Angle with Angle defeating Eugene at Summerslam 2005. Despite winning a challenge over Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 21 in a mat classic, Angle eventually seemed to get lost in the shuffle on Raw. In January 2006, he returned to Smackdown in grand fashion winning the then vacant World Heavyweight title in a Battle Royal last eliminating Mark Henry turning face in the process. Angle would impressively fend off challenges from both Mark Henry and the Undertaker but would lose the title at Wrestlemania 22 to Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match when Mysterio pinned the third participant Randy Orton. He`d next move to the new WWE branded ECW in the draft and would briefly feud with Randy Orton before finally getting released by WWE as he`d requestèd to deal with personal issues. He`d later say that WWE wouldn`t give him enough time off and expected him to work even at times he was severely hurt.

He`d debut in TNA in late 2006 and quickly impress scoring wins over the monster Abyss and the previously undefeated Samoa Joe. He`d go on to challenge former ally Christian Cage for the NWA World title at Against All Odds but would lose when Cage`s allies Tomko and Scott Steiner interfered. Angle got his revenge on Steiner in a brief feud before focusing again on Cage but would soon find himself up against Sting in the title hunt too. Just before Angle was set to wrestle Sting and Cage in a Triple Threat match for the Title at Sacrifice, the NWA withdrew recognition of the TNA claim to their World title. Angle would win the match in controversial fashion forcing Sting to submit just as he pinned Cage and claim to be the brand new TNA World champion. The title would be held up and put up for grabs in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary 2007, which would be won by Angle. Following the match, Angle refused to shake opponent Samoa Joe`s hand leading to an heel turn. Joe, a newly crowned X Division champion would team with Angle at Victory Road to win a match over TNA World tag team champions Team 3D in a match where whoever scored the pin got the other man`s title meaning Joe now himself held the Tag and X Division titles. Joe went on to challenge Angle to a Winner Takes All match at Hard Justice with his X Division and Tag titles on the line vs. Angle`s TNA World and IWGP title (which Angle had won in Japan from Brock Lesnar although his reign was only recognized by the Inoki Genome Federation), a match which Angle won thanks to interference by his estranged wife Karen Angle meaning Angle now held every title in TNA and the IWGP title, the first and only wrestler to accomplish such a feat. Angle would go on to drop the X Division title to Jay Lethal and the TNA World Tag Team ttiles to Team Pacman (Pacman Jones & the Truth) at No Surrender and would drop the TNA World title to Sting at Bound For Glory 2007. However he`d regain it from Sting on an October episode of Impact!.

Angle next would form the Angle Alliance with A.J. Styles and Tomko to fend off Samoa Joe`s teaming with Kevin Nash & Scott Hall and Christian`s Coalition. Angle would successfully defeat Cage in two encounters thanks to interference from his allies but would finally drop the TNA World Title to Samoa Joe at Lockdown. After suffering a neck injury that briefly put him out of action, Angle returned to now feud with former ally A.J. Styles accusing Styles of having an affair with estranged wife Karen. Styles denied the claims and eventually went on to defeat Angle in the feud winning a series of grudge matches and even scoring his gold medal in a ladder match thanks to a bit of help from Jeff Jarrett. Angle shortly thereafter began feuding with Jarrett, who with the help of Mick Foley, defeated Angle at Bound For Glory 2008. Next Angle formed a new stable of villains named the Main Event Mafia with Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T. and Scott Steiner. While the MEM dominated TNA in impressive fashion, Angle would come to feud with Sting over leadership of the group with Sting eventually winning it. However at Slammiversary, Angle would again win the title in a King of the Mountain match, this time thanks to interference from old enemy Samoa Joe, shortly thereafter announced as the newest member of the MEM after they all joined in attacking Sting making Angle their leader once more. Angle though would eventually lose his title in a five man match including Sting, Hernandez and Matt Morgan to A.J. Styles and the MEM would disband.

Next Angle would turn face and feud with newcomers Desmond Wolfe and Mr. Anderson, feuds in which he`d gain the upper hand although they sidetracked him from his pursuit of A.J. Styles TNA World title. Styles since has lost the title to Rob Van Dam but Angle once more seems poised to work his way back to the top moving steadliy through the contenders. I wouldn`t be at all surpised to see Angle add even more TNA and possibly even more WWE titles to his resume yet or he may yet even venture into the MMA world although that seems doubtful given his age and past injuries.

Ed Whalen joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Whalen was the voice of Stu Hart`s Calgary Stampede Wrestling serving as their main play by play man during that federation`s glory days from 1958-1983 and during its revival in 1985-1989. Whalen played his part as though he were broadcasting a real sport and was more than capable a lot of the time. He is remembered for his catch phrases ``It`s a Ring a Ding Dong Dandy`` and his sign-off ``In the mean time and in between time`.The only problem with Whalen was he`d sometimes seem to put himself over at the expense of the talent and often seems to want to get too involved on screen in the action almost as though he himself instead of the wrestlers was the star of the show. He was known to sometimes confront heels and get into heated arguments with them on air. Following his time in wrestling, he became the voice of Hockey`s Calgary Flames.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 09, 2010, 05:26:50 PM
Precious (Patty Garvin) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Now personally I really liked her and thought she did a fairly good job supporting her man (and real life husband) "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin helping primp his hair and spraying perfume and fragnance around to lessen the smells from the crowd. She functioned in a role in fact very similar to the one Gorgeous George's valets used to play. When Garvin was an heel, Precious was an effective distraction at ringside and threatened to sue any man who touched as she acted as Jimmy's "shield" of sorts. She was very hated as Jimmy's valet in her World Class, where she stole Jimmy away from fellow valet Sunshine, and Canadian International Wrestling days as well as her days in the AWA. However when Jimmy became a babyface in the NWA, Precious kind of faded more into the background in the face role basically only being used as a woman suffering unwanted advances from Ric Flair and later Kevin Sullivan with Jimmy coming to her defense.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 10, 2010, 01:03:37 PM
Craig DeGeorge joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. DeGeorge is perhaps best known in wrestling for his time spent in the WWF in the 1980s conducting backstage interviews at events like Wrestlemania IV and being a host of numerous WWF Home Video releases. With his bushy hair, he seemed to bring a youthful exuberance to the table but sadly didn't seem to really know a lot actually about the wrestling product itself. Another problem with DeGeorge was in WWF it was often obvious he was reading a script. He later moved on to be the lead play by play man in Herb Abrams' UWF where he actually tried quite hard but still had trouble coming up with interesting things to say. It didn't help him his color commentators were Bruno Sammartino, John Tolos and Captain Lou Albano - none of them seemed the right mix with DeGeorge and all the former wrestlers seemed to possess far more knowledge about wrestling than DeGeorge did. After the UWF folded, DeGeorge went on to work as a sports anchor and field reporter for WTVJ-NBC 6 in Miami, Florida. In 2001, he became a pre-game host and in-game reporter for the Florida Marlins on FSN Florida. On the same station in the winter, he'd act as a host for Florida Panthers hockey games. In 2006, he actually called a Pride PPV and did work with Vince McMahon's XFL.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 11, 2010, 11:34:54 PM
Danny Doring & Amish Roadkill join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. This unusual team featuring cool customer Danny Doring and rogue Amish madman Roadkill paired up in ECW. They were a team that well mixed speed and finesse (Doring) with power (Roadkill). Originally managed by Miss Congeniality (Lita) in late 1997, then Doring's girlfriend, they took on Electra when she left for the WWF in 1999 until Electra turned on them in 2000. Doring & Roadkill struggled in ECW in numerous lengthy feuds with other teams including Nova & Chris Chetti, the Impact Players, Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger, Joey Matthews and Christian York and even Tommy Dreamer & Raven. After a lot of struggling, they eventually proved themselves a capable, solid tandem and stayed together right up until ECW's end when they finally won the ECW World Tag team titles in late 2000. They'd later reappear at ECW One Night Stand 2005 and on an episode of Velocity in a losing effort to MNM.

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Snuka is a legend in wrestling having had fantastic feuds with Magnificent Muraco, Bob Backlund and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in particular. Snuka should have probably been a shoo-in for the other Hall here except he proved unreliable to promoters largely due to his struggles with drugs. If not for that, he had the potential to have been the most popular performer of his era as fans loved his high-flying moves especially his Superfly splash and quick athleticism and muscular physique. When he'd flash the "I Love You" hand signal to fans, they ate it up and loved him for it. Mick Foley mentioned Snuka's cage match with Muraco as being an inspiration for he himself to get into wrestling.  Snuka's demons cast a bit of a shadow over his status (he was even an homicide suspect in the death of a girlfriend in 1983) but he will forever be remembered as one of the greats regardless bringing a level of energy and high-flying aerial moves not often seen before him. Not to mention his daring dives off the top of steel cages in matches with Backlund (where he missed) and Muraco.

Coming from a successful background in bodybuilding, Snuka debuted in Hawaii in 1969. A young Snuka would next move to the Pacific Northwest region where he'd win the heavyweight title six times and the PNW Tag Team titles he'd also hold six times teaming with partner Dutch Savage. While there, Snuka would feud with Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Bull Ramos and others. He'd also compete in other NWA territories including Texas where he'd also win the heavyweight and tag team titles with Gino Hernandez. With a move to the Mid-Atlantic, he'd team with Paul Orndorff to win the NWA World Tag Team titles and the United States title which he'd take from Ricky Steamboat. In the NWA playing mainly an heel role, he'd also win NWA Georgia National tag team titles with Terry Gordy, another NWA Mid-Atlantic World tag team title with Ray Stevens, a NWA Canadian (Vancouver) tag team title with Don Leo Jonathan. In All-Japan in 1981, he'd win the All-Japan World's Strongest tag team league with Bruiser Brody as his partner. He'd also win the WWWA heavyweight title.

He debuted in WWF as an heel under manager Captain Lou Albano in 1982. After a failed bid to win the WWF World title from Bob Backlund with Snuka coming incredibly close, the fans started to cheer for Snuka. Eventually on an episode of Buddy Roger's Corner talk show, it would be revealed to Snuka that Albano was ripping him off leading to Albano's newest charge Ray Stevens attacking Snuka making him a face. Snuka with new manager Rogers would go on to feud with Stevens and Albano and would emerge an extremely popular fan favourite. He'd go on to have unforgettable feuds with Magnificent Muraco and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (after Piper nailed him in the head with a coconut) but Snuka's personal issues and struggles got in the way and he'd eventually disappear from the scene with Tonga Kid basically replacing him in his feud with Piper.

He'd next show up in the AWA following a stint in rehab where he'd team up with Greg Gagne to battle Bruiser Brody and Nord the Barbarian and then feud with pro-apartheid "South African" villain Colonel DeBeers. He'd return to the WWF in 1989 but basically was just used to help put over and advance rising young stars. In February 1992, he'd move to Eastern Championship Wrestling (the future ECW) and become the independent federation's first Heavyweight Champion. He'd stay with ECW until 1994 and thereafter would become semi-retired.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996 but he'd continue to work part-time in the independents and would even win more titles including the Tri-State Heavyweight title, USA New York title, USA Pro Heavyweight title and SXA United States of America title. He'd also make a few surprise in-ring appearances for WWE and even teamed with Ricky Steamboat and Roddy Piper in a handicap match vs. Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania XXV.

Vince McMahon joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Most young fans today might not know it but Vince McMahon Jr. got his start as a backstage interviewer in his father's wrestling organization - the World Wide Wrestling Federation. He'd go on to announce play by play for the shows, something at which he'd prove surprisingly capable. In the 1970s and 1980s, few wrestling announcers aside from maybe names like Jim Ross and Gordon Solie could rival McMahon in a play by play role and I still personally consider him one of the very best ever in that role. McMahon would continue in his announcing role particularly for Superstars of Wrestling until the late 1990s when his villainous Mr. McMahon character took off and proved a hit with fans.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 13, 2010, 01:11:50 PM
"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Jimmy Hart was originally brought into wrestling, following a successful music career with the Gentrys as a teenager, by high school friend Jerry "The King" Lawler as his manager. Eventually though the two would split and Hart would enter into a bitter longlasting feud/rivalry against Lawler sending numerous opponents in his stable Hart's First Family of Wrestling to try and take him down. It is without a doubt one of wrestling's most long-lasting feuds. Some notable members of the family included King Kong Bundy, Ravishing Rick Rude, Randy Savage, Jim Neidhart, Lanny Poffo, Ox Baker, Kamala, The Iron Sheik, Eddie Gilbert and Kevin Sullivan. In 1982, Hart gained national mainstream attention as he managed comedian Andy Kaufman during his feud with Lawler. In 1983 and 1984, Hart would lead Austin Idol, Eddie Gilbert and Masato Ito to the CWA/AWA International title.

In 1985, Hart entered the WWF at the recommendation of friend Hillbilly Jim. There he added his trademark megaphone which he would use to annoy opponents, encourage his men and when necessary it also became a weapon of choice for his men to use to gain an unfair advantage in matches. Hart's first acquisition in WWF was Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, then Intercontinental champion, and briefly he managed the Dream Team with Johnny Valiant until Valiant eventually assumed full control of the team. Hart next managed the dominant King Kong Bundy as he squashed S.D. Jones at Wrestlemania but Hart would later trade Bundy's contract to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan for the Missing Link and Adrian Adonis, who would adopt his "Adorable" persona under Hart. Hart would also begin managing Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart around this time. In 1986, Hart also managed the Funk family including Dory Jr. (as Hoss), Terry and kayfabe brother Jimmy Jack Funk. Around this time, Hart also helped form the Hart Foundation of Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart with him as manager. 1987 proved a very good year for Hart as his Hart Foundation would win the WWF World Tag Team titles, with help from new acquistion crooked referee turned wrestler Dangerous Danny Davis, in January and his Honky Tonk Man would win the Intercontinental title in June. In 1987, Hart also acted as manager for the Women's Tag Team champions The Glamour Girls Judy Martin & Lelani Kai as they feuded with the Japanese Jumping Bomb Angels. Not surprisingly Hart would win PWI manager of the year for 1987.

In 1988, Hart surprisingly turned on the Hart Foundation and joined up with the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers even going so far as to interfere in the Harts matches and cost them their shot at Demolition at Summerslam 1988. In 1989, Hart also added Dino Bravo and soon the Earthquake leading to eventual feuds with the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan. Hart continued to put together teams to try and take out his former Hart Foundation proteges including Rhythm & Blues consisting of Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine and eventually the Nasty Boys with whom he'd finally gain a measure of revenge as the Nasties would upset the Harts for the WWF World Tag Team titles at Wrestlemania VII thanks to a motocycle helmet worn by Jimmy Hart which became a weapon in the match. In 1991 however, the Nasties would lose the titles to the Legion of Doom. Now Hart formed a powerful new tag team of big men The Natural Disasters Earthquake & Typhoon. However the Disasters failed to win the titles under Hart so Hart eventually dumped them in favour of Money Inc. Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster who did finally win back the WWF World Tag Team titles but now the Disasters were soon embroiled in a feud with Hart & Money Inc. and the two teams traded the titles back and forth. In 1991, Hart also led the Mountie Jacques Rougeau to his first and only Intercontinental title. In late 1992, Money Inc. regained the tag team titles from the Natural Disasters and soon the Nasty Boys were upset with Hart for being overlooked at turned on him. In early 1993 however, Hart himself would turn on Money Inc. when they attacked Brutus Beefcake, who had finally returned from a nasty face injury in a parasailing accident. This led to Hart managing Beefcake and a returning Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania IX as they faced Money Inc.. Hogan would regain the WWF Heavyweight title later on the same show and Hart would thereafter act as his manager including his title loss to Yokozuna at King of the Ring 1993. Between the period of Hogan leaving the WWF and his move to WCW, he and Hart briefly toured Japan. Hart would also made occasional appearances on Hogan's TV Show Thunder in Paradise.

When Hogan finally debuted in WCW, Jimmy Hart came in as his manager including during his win over Ric Flair for his first WCW World title at Bash at the Beach 1994. Hart would win PWI Manager of the Year again in 1994. Hart managed Hogan until Halloween Havoc 1995 when he finally turned on Hogan to manage the newest arrival the Giant and also to manage the Dungeon of Doom. Around this time, he'd manage Ric Flair to a WCW World title win over Randy "Macho Man" Savage. After the demise of the Dungeon of Doom, Hart would manage a new version of his First Family including Brian Knobs, Jerry Flynn, the Barbarian and Hugh Morrus and the Faces of Fear Meng & the Barbarian before disappearing from the scene taking on a behind the scenes role with the booking committee.

In 2001, after WWF purchased WCW, Hart and some others tried to form an alternative federation called the XWF. Here he'd again start up his long-lasting rivalry with Jerry Lawler. Hart would next make appearances in TNA trying to hype a potential match between Hulk Hogan and Jeff Jarrett in 2003, managing the Naturals in 2005. Jimmy Hart was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006. Next Hart showed up at 2007's PMG Clash of the Legends. In 2008, he appeared at Jerry Lawler's 35th Anniversary Event and would appear as a color commentator for WWE farm territory Florida Championship Wrestling in 2008. In 2010, Hart made his return to TNA as the heel manager for the Nasty Boys as they attacked and feuded with Team 3D. The Nasties have since been released and Hart's future with TNA is currently unknown. Throughout his time in wrestling, Hart used his musical talents to help compose many theme songs for the wrestlers including Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Snuka, Brutus Beefcake, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, Crush, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Dusty Rhodes, The Legion of Doom, The Nasty Boys, Ted DiBiase, The Mountie, Hulk Hogan, NWO Wolfpac, 3 Count and Shawn Michaels.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 13, 2010, 10:40:11 PM
Vince McMahon- As stated, a great announcer.  I was kinda lucky enough, in as much as, I got to see him be both an announcer and then be the on-screen big heel as MR. McMahon, the evil boss running rampant. 

Jimmy Hart- I liked him.  For some of the wrestlers he managed, I mostly liked Hart rather than some of the talent. :teddyr:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 14, 2010, 08:21:48 PM
The Briscoe Brothers: Mark & Jay Briscoe joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This talented pair of real-life brothers could arguably be the very best tag team in all of wrestling today. Even though they've made little headway into getting into one of the top 2 recognized federations - WWE or TNA, the Briscoes have been a long dominant tag force on the independent scene where they've won tag titles almost everywhere they've competed. Their double team and combination moves are arguably like poetry in motion and they seem to be a class all their own when it comes to delivering devastating combination finishers. Watching the Briscoes is very exciting indeed. Expect fast-paced, high-flying action but also a team solid in the fundamentals of tag team competition. They are a record six-time Ring of Honor World Tag Team champions. They've also won tag titles in CZW, Full Impact Pro, NWA Wildside, Pro Wrestling NOAH (the Junior Heavyweight tag titles), Pro Wrestling Unplugged, Real Championship Wrestling, USA Pro/USA Extreme. They've had incredible matches with the Second City Saints (C.M. Punk & Colt Cabana), the Prophecy (Dan Maff & B.J. Whitmer), The SAT, the Havana Pitbulls, the Rottweilers, the H8 Club and more.

Chris Jericho joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Chris Jericho likes to boast these days that "he's the best in the world at what I do" and you know, it's really hard to argue with him on that. Jericho seems quite capable of delivering fantastic match after fantastic match night after night and with seemingly almost any type of opponent thrown his way. He makes young stars look good and breathes new life in stale stars by stirring up interest when he's in the ring with them.

Jericho, trained by the Hart Brothers in Calgary, went on to have great career success wherever he ventured learning and acquiring new skills and improving him constantly along the way. Initially he formed a tag team with fellow young upstart Lance Storm. This team was called Sudden Impact and had great success in Canada (tours of Northern Manitoba, Calgary's CNWA and CRMW) and Japan (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling). In 1992, Jericho travelled to Mexico's CMLL to further improve himself and get experience in even more wrestling styles. There he would win the NWA Middleweight title having an impressive 11-month reign as champion. In 1994, he travelled back to Japan to compete for WAR battling the likes of Gedo and Ultimo Dragon. In 1994, Jericho also reunited with former partner Lance Storm to form the exciting Thrillseekers tag team in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Jericho is particularly well remembered for a bloody tag team bout there that saw him continue despite losing lots of blood. In 1996, Jericho debuted in Extreme Championship wrestling  winning the ECW TV title. While there, he got to show off his skills and talent in bouts with the likes of Taz, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Cactus Jack, Shane Douglas, 2 Cold Scorpio and more drawing attention to himself as WCW came calling soon thereafter.

Jericho debuted in WCW in mid-1996. Within a year, he'd worked himself up the ranks of a very talented cruiserweight division to defeat Syxx for the Cruiserweight title on June 28, 1997. He'd shortly thereafter lose the title but would regain it again from Alex Wright on August 12, 1997. Jericho would eventually turn heel and would be well remembered for a run that saw him defeat and injure Rey Mysterio Jr. for the Cruiserweight title, defeat and unmask Juventud Guerrera, and he'd start adding his defeated opponent's personal items to his collection including Prince Iaukea's Hawaiian dress and Disco Inferno's headband along with Juvi's mask. Jericho then went on to have a Lengthy feud with Dean Malenko (who'd eventually defeat him for the Cruiserweight title), a brief feud with Lenny Lane and a feud with the returning Rey Mysterio Jr. over the Cruiserweight title with eventually became held-up when Malenko was suspended. Mysterio would win the title only to lose it back to Jericho the very next night on Nitro as controversy surrounded a bunch of the recent title changes. Eventually Juventud Guerrera would decisively defeat Jericho for the title with Malenko as special guest referee. Jericho next focused on the WCW World Television Title defeating Stevie Ray on August 10, 1998. Jericho shortly thereafter started challenging Goldberg and mocking him with sidekicks Ralphus and the Jerichoholic Ninja. Despite this, no match with Goldberg, which fans definitely wanted to see, ever materialized. In November, Jericho lost the TV title to Konnan. In early 1999, he then had a bizarre feud with Perry Saturn that saw him defeat Saturn in a loser must wear a dress match although Saturn would finally gain a measure of revenge by defeating Jericho in a Dog Collar match at Uncensored.

In mid-1999, Jericho signed with the WWF and debuted on August 9, 1999 having a memorable promo exchange with the Rock. Jericho would have a series of forgettable feuds with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Ken Shamrock before finally targeting Chyna and her Intercontinental title. Jericho would defeat Chyna for the title at Armageddon 1999. Eventually there would be a match between the two that ended in controversy resulting in them both being co-champions at one point until Jericho finally attained sole ownership at the 2000 Royal Rumble. Jericho's pairing with Chyna made him a face and he began a feud with Kurt Angle only to lose the Intercontinental title to him at No Way Out 2000. At Wrestlemania 2000, Jericho captured the European title from Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match that also included Chris Benoit. Jericho's reign however would be short lived when Chyna would betray him to him Eddie Guerrero capture the European title the very next night. On an April 17, 2000 edition of Raw, Jericho pinned Triple H to win the WWE Heavyweight title but the count was later ruled a fast count and the decision was reversed so the title reign was never officially recognized. Next Jericho feuded with Chris Benoit defeating him for the Intercontinental title but only holding it four days before losing it back to him again. Jericho then began a popular feud with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon where fans took delight in the insults Jericho aimed at Stephanie and the pranks Y2J pulled on Triple H such as helping Brooklyn Brawler get an upset win over him.  Finally their feud culminated in a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded that was narrowly won by Triple H.

At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Jericho again defeated Benoit for the Intercontinental title, this time in a ladder match. He'd successfully fend off William Regal at Wrestlemania X-7 but would lose the title to Triple H just 4 days later. Next Jericho teaming with Benoit defeated Triple H & Steve Austin, the Two Man Power Trip for the WWF World Tag Team titles. They'd lose the titles one month later to the Dudley Boyz. Jericho next found himself involved in the Invasion storyline on WWF's side despite his history with ECW and WCW. Eventually though this led to jealousy directed at the Rock whom Jericho would go on to defeat for the WCW World title at No Mercy. The very next night, the two would put aside their difference to win the WWF World Tag Team titles from the Dudley Boyz but when they lose the titles to Test and Booker T., their feud reignited. On a November 5th episode of Raw, the Rock defeated Jericho for the WCW World title and Jericho snapped attacking the Rock with a chair after the match making him a full fledged heel yet again. on December 9th at Vengeance, Jericho would defeat the Rock again for the WCW World title and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWE Heavyweight championship on the very same night to become the first ever WWF Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. Jericho next fended off challenges from both the Rock and Austin but was defeated by a returning Triple H at Wrestlemania X8. The Jericho-HHH feud continued up until Judgment Day when Triple H defeated Jericho in an Hell in a Cell match. Following a brief feud with Edge, Jericho was drafted back to Raw and defeated Rob Van Dam for the Intercontinental title and teamed with Christian to win the WWE World Tag Team titles from the Hurricane and Kane. Christian & Jericho though would eventually lose the titles in a four way elimination match in late 2002. Next Jericho targeted Shawn Michaels whom he wanted to challenge at Wrestlemania 19. However, Michaels would defeat Jericho when the match finally happened. Next Jericho targeted Goldberg who was now in WWE. He even hired Lance Storm to try and run down Goldberg with a limousine. However at Bad Blood, Goldberg would defeat Jericho. Jericho next briefly feuded with Kevin Nash and defeated him on Raw in an hair vs. hair match that saw Nash's hair only cut short. Next Jericho began a relationship with Trish Stratus while Christian began one with Lita. Eventually it would be revealed that the pair bet a Canadian dollar on who could get which girl to sleep with him first. This led to a match between Christian and Jericho at Wrestlemania XX which saw Stratus unexpectedly turn heel on Jericho to reveal she was now in a couple with Christian. Jericho gained a measure of revenge by defeating the pair in an handicap match at Backlash. Jericho would go on to win his seventh Intercontinental title from Christian at a ladder match during Judgment Day 2004 only to drop the title to Shelton Benjamin shortly thereafter at Taboo Tuesday 2004. In late 2004, the World Heavyweight title would be held up leading to it being put up for grabs in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution 2005 but the match was eventually won by the Game. At Wrestlemania 21, Jericho went on to compete in a match he suggested - the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match. The match however would be won by Edge. At the ECW One Night Stand PPV, Jason & Justin Credible helped Lance Storm defeat Jericho. Jericho next targeted WWE Champion John Cena but failed to win the title from him and was eventually forced to leave the WWE when he lost a "You're fired" match to Cena.

He would return in late 2007 targeting Randy Orton and his World title but would soon get sidetracked by a feud with JBL. On the March 10, 2008 edition of Raw, Jericho defeated Jeff Hardy for his record 8th Intercontinental title. About a month later, Jericho became once more a full-fledged heel after attacking Shawn Michaels and ramming his head into the Jeritron 6000. At Night of Champions, Kofi Kingston defeated Jericho for the Intercontinental title. Soon Jericho began coming to the ring in a suit and acting very self-righteous, a gimmick apparently inspired by Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men. Jericho soon found himself embroiled in a long, intense and personal war with Shawn Michaels and the two had many great matches in the best feud of the year. Jericho would eventually replace C.M. Punk in a World Championship Scramble match and would come out the new World heavyweight champion, a title he'd successfully defend against Michaels in a ladder match at No Mercy. At Cyber Sunday, Jericho would lose the title to Batista in a match referred by Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was voted in by fans to ref the match. Eight days later however, Jericho defeated Batista to regain the World Heavyweight title in a steel cage match. Jericho would retain the title fending off also the challenge of C.M. Punk until Survivor Series 2008 when he lost the title to a returning John Cena. Jericho would go on to win that year's Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year. Jericho next found himself involved in a rivalry with wrestling legends and Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler. This led to a match at Wrestlemania XXV pitting Jericho off in an elimination match vs. Legends Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat, a match Jericho eventually won although Steamboat was still impressive. Jericho would again defeat Steamboat at Backlash in another memorable encounter. Jericho would next be drafted to Smackdown and began an intense rivalry with Rey Mysterio Jr. eventually defeating him for a record breaking ninth Intercontinental title (breaking his own record in fact) at Extreme Rules 2009. Jericho however lost the title back to Mysterio at the Bash but would team with Edge to win the WWE Unified World tag team titles later that same night. When Edge was injured, Jericho was allowed to select a replacement partner and choose the Big Show. This duo proved very impressive holding on to the titles and fending off challengers the likes of Cryme Tyme, MVP and Mark Henry, the Legacy, Batista and Rey Mysterio finally losing the titles to DX: Triple H & Shawn Michaels. Fans seemed delighted to be rid off Jericho on Raw but he wouldn't be gone long. At No Way Out 2010,  Jericho defeated the Undertaker in an Elimination Chamber match with unlikely help from Shawn Michaels to win yet another World Heavyweight title, a title targeted by Edge at Wrestlemania XXVI. Jericho successfully fended off the challenge of Edge but was surprised by Money in the Bank winner Jack Swagger who upset an unexpectant and injured Jericho for the title on an episode of Smackdown. Jericho was then drafted back to Raw where he formed a team with the Miz to challenge the Hart Dynasty for the Unified Tag team titles but they were turned back. Now Jericho finds himself an unlikely teammate of John Cena as they face the invading Nexus  force, led by Jericho's student on NXT Wade Barrett, on Raw. Outside of wrestling, Jericho is known as the lead singer for the heavy metal band Fozzy and is a frequent contributor on VH1 sharing his music expertise. He also appeared in Android Apocalypse and the wrestling documentary Bloodstained Memoirs. He is also the son of former NHL player Ted Irvine.

Mike Tenay joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After a Lengthy stint in WCW as a sidekick to Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan where he was nicknamed "The Professor" and was well-known for his knowledge of wrestling holds and Mexican wrestling, Tenay would eventually debut as the lead play by play man for TNA. Tenay brings a level of excitement and interest to his play by play such that he truly seems to be a real fan of the product and wants to do a good job selling the talent. Sometimes one could argue he goes a bit overboard (here he on occasion reminds me of former partner Schiavone) but he's pretty solid and dependable for the most part.

Michael Cole joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Michael Cole is the current lead play by play announcer for WWE Raw. He assumed the position when Jim Ross was drafted/traded to WWE Smackdown in 2008. Prior to this, Cole was the main play by play man on Smackdown from 1999 to 2008. Originally a journalist working for CBS Radio, Cole's coverage of professional wrestling probably seems a lot less serious but also perhaps a lot less dangerous. Cole started out as a backstage interviewer for WWF in 1997 but later that year would join Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly during the first hour of Raw. Eventually though this would be phased out and it would be only Ross and Jerry Lawler on Raw. In 1999, Cole replaced Jim Ross to become lead play by play man when Ross was stricken with Bell's Palsy. The fans didn't take to Cole and began to boo him despite efforts to present the returning Ross as an heel. In 1999, Cole became the main voice of WWF Smackdown! alongside color commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler. When Lawler left in 2002, Tazz replaced Lawler and he and Cole seemed to mesh together surprisingly well. On June 2006, Tazz left for the newly revamped ECW and Cole began to work with JBL as his color commentator. JBL did a surprisingly good job and also seemed to mesh well with Cole. When JBL returned to in-ring action, he was briefly replaced by Jonathan Coachman who was in turn replaced by Mick Foley. None of these pairings seem to work too well. During the 2008 Draft, Cole was drafted to Raw and Ross was sent to Smackdown. Now Cole announces on Raw alongside Jerry Lawler but is not well-liked by the fans as he tends to have a bit of an annoying, grating personality, something he's actually started to play with a bit as an announcer on NXT where he started a feud of sorts with Daniel Bryan. Personally I feel Cole has been horrible on Raw and has actually become worse as an announcer than he ever was in his Smackdown days, especially when paired with the competent Tazz and JBL on color.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 14, 2010, 09:03:18 PM
I don't like Michael Cole at all.  I'm not entirely certain, but I kinda feel I'd prefer Jonathan Coachman, which is saying a lot. :buggedout:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 15, 2010, 08:14:34 PM
Raven joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Raven, a master of mind games and controlling others despite his seeming scruffy and confused appearance. Opponents soon learned what a mistake it was to underestimate Raven. Raven is perhaps best remembered for his run in ECW and his bitter, psychological feud with Tommy Dreamer. In a move to WCW where they imitated his Nest ECW followers with a Flock of followers, he seemed to get more lost in the shuffle but still managed to have fantastic matches with Perry Saturn, Chris Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page. He'd later return to ECW and move to the WWF in more forgettable stints. A return to TNA brought him back into the spotlight as feuds with A.J. Styles and Jeff Jarrett pushed him up the ladder and he eventually won the NWA title there.

Raven actually started under a completely different persona - that of arrogant bodybuilder turned pro Scotty the Body in Memphis's CWA (where he was used as a boy toy and manipulated by Missy Hyatt and Eddie Gilbert), Vancouver's All-Star Wrestling (for the first time as a face) and the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where he feuded with Steve Doll and won every title in the territory. Towards the end of his run there, he turned face to feud with the top guy in the area - The Grappler. Next he moved to the Global Wrestling Federation where he competed as Scott Anthony, eventually getting moved to a color commentary position for his witty and funny comments. In 1992, he moved to WCW to compete in the light heavyweight division under the name Scotty Flamingo. There he defeated Brian Pillman for the WCW Light Heavyweight title on June 20, 1992 at WCW Beach Blast. He'd lose the title less than a month later to Brad Armstrong. Following this, he'd go on to briefly align himself with the Diamond Exchange of Diamond Dallas Page and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). Aside from Pillman and Armstrong, he'd also feud with Johnny B. Badd. In 1993, he moved to the WWF as manager Johnny Polo managing the tag team The Quebecers and leading them to 3 WWF World Tag Team titles. He also occasionally worked as a color commentator for WWF at this time delivering silly and comedic lines and adding little sound effects to moves performed during matches.

In January 1995, Scott Levy had bulked up to 230 lbs and was no longer the same Scotty the Body. In ECW, he now debuted as the menacing Raven, who came across as a "depressed, sociopathic, nihilistic misanthrope with a grunge inspired wardrobe" (according to Wikipedia) who also happened to exhibit a certain hold over others who wanted to be follow and be like him. Raven eventually teamed with Stevie Richards and added female follower Beulah McGillicutty to the mix to feud with Tommy Dreamer, whom he claimed was an enemy since childhood. Raven always managed to defeat Dreamer which made Dreamer's never say die, never quit attitude all the more popular with fans. Raven also had a bitter psychological feud with Sandman going so far as to brainwash his wife and son into turning on the Sandman. Raven was a dominant force in 1995-1996 winning two ECW World titles and controlling his army of lackeys that included Richards, the Blue Meanie, Tony Stetson, Johnny Hotbody, the Pitbulls, Luna Vachon, Vampire Warrior, the Dudley Boyz, Cactus Jack, The Eliminators, The Heavenly Bodies, Kimona Wanalaya, Ron & Don Harris, Brian Lee, Super Nova, Miss Patricia, Lori Fullington (Sandman's ex-wife), Tyler Fullington (Sandman's 7 year old son), Chastity and Reggie Bennett. During his title reign, Raven would fend off a long list of talented challengers and even handed defeats to the likes of Steve Williams and Terry Gordy. Raven also won two ECW World Tag Team titles with Stevie Richards. Raven's 2 year long feud with Dreamer finally culminated at Wrestlepalooza 1997 when on June 6, 1997, Dreamer finally defeated Raven in a Loser Leaves Town match after which he moved to WCW.

In mid-1997, Raven moved to WCW and slowly started building up his flock of followers including Stevie Richards, Scotty Riggs, Perry Saturn, Kidman, Sick Boy and numerous other misfits who couldn't seem to find their place. Raven, with the help of his Flock, defeated Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States title but Raven lost it the next night to Bill Goldberg, who was on his major winning streak. Raven & Perry Saturn also won the WCW World Tag Team titles in 1999. However when Raven blamed the Flock for his U.S. title loss and other key losses and became more and more abusive towards them week after week, Saturn and others in the Flock began to dissent leading to a match which Saturn defeated Raven in order to disband the Flock. Without the Flock, Raven seemed lost in WCW but eventually formed a brief and short-lived team with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse in 1999 before asking for his release mid-year.

Raven returned to ECW in mid-1999 to reignite his old feud with Tommy Dreamer after winning the ECW World Tag Team titles from the Dudley Boyz and losing the titles, their team being reluctant given their history. Raven after feuding with Dreamer, and stealing away manager Francine, would win the ECW World Tag Team titles with Mike Awesome only to lose the titles to the Impact Players. Not long after this, Francine would leave him for Justin Credible and Raven would lose to Scotty Anton (formerly Scotty Riggs) on his way out of ECW.

He returned to the WWF in 2000 and began a short-lived team with Tazz to oppose Jerry "The King" Lawler. In December 2000, he defeated Steve Blackman to win the first of his record 27 WWF/WWE Hardcore titles (this was during the height of the 24/7 Hardcore rules). At Wrestlemania X-7, he competed in his only Wrestlemania match losing the Hardcore title to Kane in a triple threat match that also included the Big Show. During the Invasion storyline, he joined the ECW/WCW Alliance and was managed by Terri Runnels and feuded briefly in a silly feud with Perry Saturn after destroying Saturn's mop girlfriend?!. By the end of the year when the Invasion storyline ended, Raven disappeared for a while. In May 2002, he was drafted to Raw and won yet another Hardcore title before moving on to do color commentary work on WWE Sunday Night Heat and Excess. Eventually Raven would be forced off Raw to work mainly on Sunday Night Heat by losing a Loser Leaves Raw match to old adversary Tommy Dreamer. In early 2003, he was released by WWE.

Next Raven moved to TNA targeting Jeff Jarrett's NWA title yet Raven failed to win it from him or later from A.J. Styles. Next he became embroiled in a bitter feud with Shane Douglas that cost him his hair as Vampiro interfered to help Douglas. This led to a feud between Vampiro, James Mitchell and the Disciples of the New Church and Raven that Raven eventually got the best of taking each member out one by one and forming the Gathering of C.M. Punk and Julio Dinero to watch his back in TNA. Eventually though Mitchell would gain a measure of revenge by convincing the Gathering to betray Raven and join him but Raven brought in old ECW veterans Terry Funk, the Sandman & Sabu to defeat the Gathering & Mitchell in a series of matches. Raven would eventually go on to have a feud of respect with Sabu following this while also battling Abyss and Monty Brown in brutal bouts. Raven finally won the elusive NWA World title in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary 2005 where he defeated Styles, Monty Brown, Abyss and Sean Waltman in a five way match. Raven as champion looked better than he had in years and fended off challenges from Jarrett, Abyss and Rhino. On September 15, 2005, Raven lost the NWA World title back to Jarrett at a Border City Wrestling Event when America's Most Wanted turned heel and helped Jarrett win the title. This eventually led to a feud with Larry Zbyszko who was acting as Director of Authority at the time and a long hiatus for Raven from TNA when Sean Waltman was brought in by Zbyszko and defeated Raven in a match that forced him to leave TNA. Raven returned in April 2006 but looked pretty shabby likely due to a thyroid condition he's been struggling with. He did defeat Zbyszko in an hair match to gain a measure of revenge. Raven next became leader of the group Serotonin - Kazarian, Johnny Devine and Matt Bentley but the group never quite gelled that well. Eventually Kaz would rebel against Raven due to the way Raven abused the group. Kaz went on to defeat Raven. Raven had some bouts with Rellik and Abyss and turned on the X-Division with Team 3D and then faded from the scene as he was released by TNA.

Raven next showed up in Juggalo Championship Wrestling stealing the JCW Heavyweight title from Corporal Robinson and reigniting his feud with Sabu in 2008. Raven also won the CWA Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title in South Carolina. He also briefly won and held the Australian Heavyweight title which he traded with TNT. Raven also continued his feud with Larry Zbyszko in Virginia winning the VCW title.

In May 2009, Raven returned to TNA joining Dr. Stevie Richards and Daffney in attacking and tormenting Abyss. Recently he's been seen as part of an ECW faction in TNA. At Hardcore Justice, he once again battled Tommy Dreamer this time defeating him in a "Final Showdown" match refereed by Mick Foley. The Next night, the ECW faction were attacked by Ric Flair's Fortune stable.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 15, 2010, 09:27:49 PM
Always thought Raven was a little bit underrated as a performer.  But that's just me.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 16, 2010, 08:44:05 PM
Lance Storm joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Lance Storm is likely best remembered today for being a part of several key teams and factions in ECW, WCW and WWE. Storm was initially trained in the Hart Brothers wrestling school in Calgary. Along with Jericho he wrestled in Calgary and other parts of Canada forming a tag team called Sudden Impact. In CRMW, he won Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship 5 times, the CRMW International/North American title and the CRMW Tag Team titles twice with Jericho. Storm also travelled to Japan in Wrestling Association R to further develop his skills. In WAR, he won the WAR International Junior Tag Team titles with Yuji Yasuraoka and the WAR six-man tag titles with Kouki Kitahara and Nobutaka Araya. In Germany he won the CWA Catch Junior heavyweight title twice. In 1994, he reunited with Jericho in Smoky Mountain Wrestling to form The Thrillseekers. When Jericho was injured, Storm would go on to win the SMW Beat the Champ TV title.

Storm moved to ECW in 1996. There he formed an impressive team with Chris Candido and won the ECW World Tag Team titles. Later on, he'd pair up with Justin Credible and valet Dawn Marie to capture two more ECW World Tag Team titles as the Impact Players, his most memorable team in ECW. Storm always seemed a little out of place in ECW but with the Impact Players definitely left his mark there.

In 2000, he'd move to WCW where he'd have arguably the best and most successful run of his entire career. There he soon captured the United States title, the Cruiserweight title and the Hardcore title in short succession and then renamed them the Canadian Heavyweight title, the 100 kg and Under title, and the  Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title (put the initials together). Storm also tried to capture the World Heavyweight title but failed to defeat Booker T.. Eventually Storm passed the Cruiserweight title on to ally Elix Skipper and the Hardcore title to Carl Oullet. Storm formed a powerful and surprisingly successful Team Canada faction and went on to feud with General Rection (Hugh Morrus) and the Misfits in Action. Team Canada saw several surprising American betrayals to join the team including Major Gunns and even Hacksaw Jim Duggan at one point.

In 2001, Storm moved to the WWF and joined the ECW/WCW Alliance playing up more his ECW history than his WCW history as his ECW history was considerably longer. Storm did capture the WWF Intercontinental title from Albert around this time but lost it to Edge around a month later. Storm next formed a tag team with the Hurricane to challenge to feud with the Hardy Boyz. After the Invasion storyline ended, Storm joined the Un-Americans with Test, Christian and William Regal. Storm & Christian as the Un-Americans went on to capture the WWE Tag Team titles defeating Hulk Hogan & Edge but eventually they lost the titles about two months later to Kane & the Hurricane. Following the break-up of the Un-Americans, Lance Storm teamed with William Regal to win the World Tag Team titles from Booker T. & Goldust in early January but lost the titles at the Royal Rumble to the Dudley Boyz. However with help from Chief Morley, they regained the World Tag team titles the very next night on Raw. In late March 2003 with Regal suffering health problems, Morley stripped Storm & Regal of the titles and declared himself and Storm the new World Tag Team titles. They'd go on to lose the titles later that month to Kane & Rob Van Dam. Following this they did the "boring" angle with Storm that featured then authority figure Stone Cold Steve Austin which effectively led to Storm's demise in WWE as he became a dancing fan favorite after being mentored by Goldust and formed a forgettable fan favorite team with Val Venis, the former Morley. In April 2004, Storm decided to retire from in-ring action to work backstage in WWE and as a trainer in OVW. Storm would eventually return sporadically to the ring usually in ECW related matches. At ECW One Night Stand 2005, he defeated former partner Chris Jericho with help from the Impact Players. He also challenged Bryan Danielson for the ROH title in 2006 but failed to defeat the American Dragon. In 2010, he turned down an invitation to TNA Hardcore Justice.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 16, 2010, 10:33:38 PM
Lance Storm is vastly underrated.  Shame he's in the Hall of Shame. :bluesad:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 17, 2010, 06:50:55 PM
Actually I kind of agree with you on Storm. He never got a fair shake in WWE. It's kind of too bad WCW or ECW didn't last longer because I suspect he might well have eventually be used better in either one had they continued on longer. He was a very skilled ring technician and a great mat wrestler too but of course for WWE, he just wasn't "entertaining" enough. Suspect Daniel Bryan could run into similar problems in WWE.

The Hollywood Blonds: "Stunning" Steve Austin & "Flyin'" Brian Pillman join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually Austin & Pillman were a very good team but their competition here simply had much longer runs together as a team while the Blonds was rather short-lived at less than a year. Actually Pillman & Austin weren't the first team to use the name Hollywood Blonds - other teams that previously used the name were Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown (who were very successful in NWA and AWA territories under that name), Rip Rogers & Ted Oates (who had a run in the NWA Mid-Atlantic area) and Dusty Wolfe & Ken Timbs.

Towards the end of 1992, a recently turned heel Pillman was teaming with another recent heel Barry Windham. When bookers decided to push Windham as the NWA World champion, Pillman and Steve Austin were kind of thrown together by WCW as a replacement team. Despite this, Austin & Pillman started wearing similar trunks and jackets and adopted the name Hollywood Blonds essentially turning themselves into a full-fledged tandem. They soon found themselves battling Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas over the WCW and NWA World Tag Team titles. During matches, the team would do mock posing and posturing for some invisible movie camera Austin pretend winded. On March 27, 1993, Austin & Pillman cheated their way to the WCW and NWA World Tag Team titles defeating Steamboat & Douglas and then fended them off one way or another. When it looked like the former champions wouldn't get a shot anymore, they donned masks and assumed the identities Dos Hombres and managed to get a title shot by defeating the Blonds. However they failed to regain the titles from the Blonds in a steel cage match at Slamboree (actually Tom Zenk had replaced Douglas under one of the masks).

Next the Blonds found themselves tangling with a newly reformed Four Horsemen and in particular the tag team pairing of Arn Anderson and unlikely Horseman Paul Roma. At Clash of the Champions XXIII, the Blonds actually held off the challenge of Ric Flair & Arn Anderson in a Two Out of Three Falls Match since the Horsemen won the match by DQ which meant the titles didn't change hands. Flair went on to focus on battling Barry Windham. Soon thereafter Paul Roma was announced as the new fourth Horsemen and set to team with Anderson against the Blonds. The Blonds defeated Anderson & Roma at Beach Blast 1993. Pillman shortly thereafter injured his angle as was replaced in the Blonds Clash XXIV title defense by Lord Steven Regal. Regal & Austin lost the titles that night to Roma & Arn Anderson.

Shortly thereafter the team was split up with Austin vying for the United States title held by Dustin Rhodes. When Pillman finally returned, he was betrayed and turned on by Austin who then joined forces with Col. Robert Parker and had a brief forgettable feud with Pillman, a feud they'd continue in more interesting fashion in WWF.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 20, 2010, 03:01:04 PM
"Precious" Paul Ellering joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Of course most wrestling fans will best remember "Precious" Paul Ellering as the brains behind the brawn that was The Legion of Doom: The Road Warriors. Of course Ellering did add another dimension as being himself a former pro grappler (and former AWA Southern champion) who trained at Verne Gagne's infamously tough camp, his former weightlifting background and his knowledge of martial arts, he himself could physically interfere in his men's matches if need be and sometimes he himself could actually join them in bouts as he did during the War Games teaming with the Road Warriors and the Superpowers (Nikita Koloff & Dusty Rhodes) to battle the Four Horsemen and their manager James J. Dillon (himself a former pro grappler although Dillon later emplyed a masked man [actually Big Bubba Rogers] for War Games II). Ellering also faced Teddy Long in an hair vs. hair managers bout at Capitol Combat 1990. Ellering was known for his shrewdness in and out of the ring and was considered successful in business and later was known running the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska. Ellering was legit a very tough man. Ellering though was actually more than on-screen manager for Hawk & Animal. He was in fact their manager in real life too booking their matches, lining up their flights, setting up their hotel reservations and keeping track of their finances for them.

Originally the Legion of Doom was a stable of wrestlers, started in Georgia Championship Wrestling, and included more members than just Hawk & Animal. Ellering during this time also managed the likes of King Kong Bundy, Jake Roberts, The Spoiler, Arn Anderson, Matt Borne, The Iron Sheik and the Original Sheik. Ellering also managed at different points in time Jos Leduc, Abdullah the Butcher, "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer and Killer Karl Krupp. In an 1998 angle, he actually turned on the Road Warriors and managed the Disciples of Apocalypse (8-Ball and Skull - the Harris Brothers) against them but later admitted to having an hard time working against his long-time team and allies.

Frenchy Martin joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Martin, looking very much like a stereotypical snobby French painter, is best known for managing the newly heel Dino Bravo in the WWF from 1987-1989 and bringing a sign to the ring that read "USA is Not OK" which tended to illicit much booing from the American crowds. Bravo had some small success under Martin, defeating Don Muraco at Wrestlemania IV and Summerslam '88 - beating Hacksaw Duggan in a flag match - and finally beating Ron Garvin at Wrestlemania V but never really was taken too seriously as a real threat. After Bravo's match with Garvin at Wrestlemania V, Martin attacked Garvin resulting in Garvin's knocking him down and giving him the Garvin Stomp. Shortly thereafter Bravo dropped Martin and hired Jimmy Hart as his manager and Martin returned to working as enhancement talent, as he had done during his arrival in WWF in 1986-1987, until 1990 when he retired.

Before arriving in WWF, Martin competed throughout Canada and Puerto Rico under his real name Jean Gagné and also used the name Don Gagné. He had lots of success in Calgary Stampede in the late 70s winning the NWA International Tag Team titles (Calgary version) with Ripper Collins and winning the Stampede North American title twice. He also had quite a lot of success in Trans-Canada Wrestling winning the IW North American title. In Atlantic Grand Prix (Nova Scotia), he won the International Heavyweight title twice. He also the NWA Pacific International title under the name the Masked Cyclops and finally in the early 1980s, he teamed with Pierre Lefebvre to win the Canadian International Tag Team titles twice. In WWC in Puerto Rico, he won the WWC North American title three times and the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight title twice. He also won the WWC World Tag Team titles 4 times with 4 different partners and the WWC North American Tag Team titles 4 times with 4 different partners. Overall Martin's singles career seems far more successful than his managing one.

Before coming to the WWF, Martin also managed Jos Leduc and Abdullah the Butcher in Canada. At an International Wrestling 2000 show, he also managed Richard Charland in a match against King Kong Bundy.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 22, 2010, 06:30:51 PM
Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This pair of brothers were as mean and nasty as they came, biting opponents, attacking them when their backs were turned, breaking every rule in the book, brawling, gouging eyes, bloodying opponents, knocking down referees and whoever else dared get in their way. As a kid, I saw a Vachons tag team match on TV (it might well have been a replay from their glory days given their greatest success was before my time) that left me an astonished and frightened child. To me that day, they were like something from my worst nightmare brought to vivid life. They were very much like a pair of vicious mad dogs! In many ways, they were the trendsetters for later hardcore brawls.

Following a successful singles career that saw him capture 5 AWA World heavyweight titles in the 1960s, Vachon turned to teaming with his similar looking but much larger brother Butcher Vachon.  On August 30, 1969, the Vachons captured the AWA World Tag Team titles beating the legendary tandem of Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher. The following year the two teams battled in a famous Steel Cage rematch at Comiskey Park that saw the Vachons victorious yet again. The Vachons' wild and bloody brawls with the Bruiser & Crusher were a precursor for many later bloody style brawls such as those which featured the Sheik, Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody. They held a firm grasp on the tag team titles until May 1971 which they finally lost them to the team of Hercules Cortez and Red Bastien. Actually the Vachons had a long history of success as a tandem prior to this winning the AWA Midwest Tag Team titles and holding them briefly in January 1969, the NWA Southern (Mid-Atlantic) Tag Team titles in early 1961, the NWA World (Georgia) tag team titles in early 1967, the NWA Texas tag team titles in late 1960, the NWA Canadian (Calgary) tag team titles 3 times in 1959 and finally the NWA International (Calgary) tag team titles 3 times in 1959.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 22, 2010, 09:48:03 PM
I have to find footage of the Vachons.  I only know OF them, never saw them.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 24, 2010, 03:16:28 PM
Lee Marshall joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. I mainly remember Lee Marshall as the voice of the AWA in the late 1980s-1990. He had a big mustache and a deep voice and while he was far from great on play-by-play, he did bring a lot of energy to the table. He called matches alongside the likes of Verne Gagne, Eric Bischoff, Greg Gagne and Ray Stevens. He also did quite a few backstage interviews and host segments there. He later appeared in WCW as co-host of WCW Thunder and WCW Saturday Night but was surprisingly forgettable, his most memorable thing probably being his "Weasel" jokes directed at Bobby Heenan during his trademark "Road Reports" segment. He also played host a continuing Nitro parties segment on WCW Monday Nitro. Personally, I almost completely forgot he was in WCW. In 1986, Marshall was the ring announcer for the Los Angeles portion of Wrestlemania 2. He also acted as play by play man for the short-lived Women of Wrestling organization paired with owner David MacLane as his color commentator. At the WOW PPV, he was actually paired up again with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. He won the Wrestling Obsever Worst Television Announcer award in 1998. Today he's best known for being the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger, a position Marshall is contracted to continue until 2014.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 25, 2010, 01:02:47 PM
The Brooklyn Brawler joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Had he been an "Enhancement Guys" game, I'm sure he would be a shoo-in for an Hall of Fame section. Anyways, Steve Lombardi made a lenghty career of helping advance other stars' careers putting them over in surprising entertaining albeit one-sided matches on TV and in arenas week after week, even for some guys no doubt less talented than he was but for whatever reason, had the right look and mix of elements that the higher-ups felt said performer deserved a push. He was extrememly loyal to the WWF through his many years of service there. Finally in the late 1980s, Lombardi was rewarded with a bit of a push as he was re-invented as "The Brooklyn Brawler", a cigar chomping bad egg from the streets of New York and was now managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan during his feud with "The Red Rooster" Terry Taylor with Heenan claiming that he could make anyone, even Lombardi, a star.

In the 1990s, Lombardi participated in several masked gimmicks including spending some time as Doink the Clown and some time as Kim Chee, Kamala's masked handler. He also played the short-lived Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz character. In 1991, Brawler held his own in a feud with WWF newcomer Big Bully Busick. He competed in a couple of battle royals with WWF Intercontinental title shots on the line but was eliminated. In 1997, he won a battle royal that earned him a shot at Shawn Michaels' WWF World title but he was defeated by HBK. In 2000, with help from Chris Jericho, he scored a pinfall win over WWF World Champion Triple H in a non-title match. He also defeated Just Joe in a match on WWF Jakked.

On a 2004 Smackdown, Lombardi turned on his New York heritage (actually he's really from Detroit?!) and renamed himself the Boston Brawler which didn't go over well with Heidenreich. In 2006, the Brooklyn Brawler reappeared in ECW and lost to Kurt Angle and then to Vito on Smackdown! Lombardi has made few more recent appearances as Doink the Clown too. In the independents, Lombardi has won Border City Wrestling Can-Am heavyweight title and the BCW Can-Am Television title. He's also held the NWA Michigan heavyweight title. The Brawler was also managed by Harvey Wippleman at one point.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 25, 2010, 08:50:08 PM
For whatever reason I always liked Lombardi/Brawler.  I dunno.

For an 'enhancement talent' kinda guy, he's pretty good.  And oddly enough, lost to Rocky Johnson in the '80s, and lost to his son, a young Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shortly after Rock debuted in '96 or so.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 28, 2010, 05:54:26 PM
The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus) joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Perry Saturn, an imposing tattooed, compact built and muscular grappler capable of great mat and ground and pound wrestling teamed up with John Kronus, a daredevil high-flyer who went all out and wasn't afraid to get hardcore in matches. They first wrestled together in the USWA in 1993. They soon began pursuing tag team gold and came close when they made it to the finals of a tag team tournament for the vacant USWA Tag Team titles only to lose in the final to Eddie Gilbert, Saturn's mentor, and Brian Christopher. They'd gain a measure of revenge though a few weeks later when they would defeat Gilbert & Christopher for the USWA Tag Team titles on May 2, 1994. They held the belts for about 6 weeks before dropping the titles to PG-13 (Wolfie D and Jamie Dundee). Even after losing the titles, they continued on in the USWA until the end of 1994. In 1995, they competed in Japan's WAR federation and gained some valuable experience.

In 1995, Paul Heyman took note of them in Japan and signed them for ECW. Initially planning to job them to the Steiner Brothers, Heyman changed his mind once he realized what team was going to stick around the longest and the Eliminators instead defeated the Steiners. In ECW, they were presented as an unstoppable force of destruction not unlike the Road Warriors and Demolition. The Eliminators soon found themselves embroiled in a violent feud with The Pitbulls that eventually resulted in Francine, the Pitbulls manager, cutting Saturn's head. Soon he had his trademark bald head. On February 6, 1996, the Eliminators beat Mikey Whipwreck and Cactus Jack for their first ECW World Tag Team championship. After finally settling things with the Pitbulls and getting past them, the Eliminators soon found themselves the targets of the Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa Saed). After several inconclusive bouts, the Gangstas finally defeated the Eliminators, as well as the Bruise Brothers and the Samoan Gangsta Party. The Gangstas even though defeated in subsequent rematches managed to hold onto the titles until December 20, 1996 when the Eliminators finally regained the titles on an ECW house show. The feud continued into 1997 and soon involved a third team newly arrived on the scene - the Dudley Boyz. The Eliminators held off the challenge of Rob Van Dam and Sabu but would lose the titles to the Dudley Boyz at Hostile City Showdown on March 15, 1997. However the Eliminators regained the titles about a month later at ECW's 1st PPV Barely Legal on April 13, 1997.

At the end of May, during a three way dance between the Eliminators, the Dudleys and PG-13, Saturn tore his ACL when he landed on a crutch. Despite the injury to Saturn, the Eliminators held off the challenge of the Dudleys at Wrestlepalooza'97. Kronus then defended the title successfully in handicap matches fending off the F.B.I. until Saturn finally competed in a match on June 20, 1997 at an house show to drop the titles back to the Dudley Boyz. After intensive reconstructive surgery, Saturn was expected to be out for a year but he instead began rehabilitating after two months and returned in August although in a diminished capacity due to his knee problems. Saturn had become impatient with partner Kronus and his "lack of dedication and motivation" and refused to reform the Eliminators with him. Saturn eventually signed with WCW and left ECW behind. Kronus continued on without Saturn but never achieved the same level of success again whether in singles or in new teams, his most successful post-Eliminators probably being the Gangstanators when he teamed with New Jack.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 28, 2010, 06:33:10 PM
I loved The Eliminators.  Great team.  Underrated for what they did.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 30, 2010, 01:55:21 PM
Andre the Giant joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Billed as "The Eighth Wonder of the World" in wrestling circles, Andre did prove quite an attraction wherever he went. People wanted to see this unusually huge giant wrestler who seemed almost unbeatable, unstoppable. Billed at 7 foot 5 inches and weighing over 500 pounds throughout much of his career, Andre was actually closer to the 7 foot mark in terms of height and his best days as an in-ring performer were when he was under the 500 pound mark. Actually Andre's great size was the result of his suffering from acromegaly.

Initially discovered by Lord Alfred Hayes as a teenager, Andre moved from his small community in France to Paris to train under the legendary Eduaoard Carpentier. When Andre debuted, he was billed as Jean Ferre, the name of a legendary French lumberjack. Initially he wrestled in arenas and carnivals in Europe, Africa and New Zealand. In 1969, he competed in Japan's International Pro Wrestling under the name Monster Roussimoff and would become quite the attraction in Japan over the years. After Japan, he moved to Montreal, Canada where he finally gained newfound popularity in North America. After initially getting over well, after a while it seemed like there was no one left for Andre to beat so eventually a deal was worked out for Andre between the McMahons and other promoters where Andre would be given a travel-intense schedule so he'd never wear out his welcome wherever he went and he'd always have fresh opponents to face. This move arguably made Andre the Giant, billed as a friendly, kind-hearted French giant one of the most beloved men in wrestling history. Andre not only wrestled the best of the best in the WWF but also took on the best the NWA, the AWA, Mexico and Japan had to offer. In Mexico, he lost to local legend El Canek. In Japan, he lost to their legend Antonio Inoki. He also went on to time limit 60 minute draws in matches with the likes of Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel.

Perhaps his most bitter rivalry in the early 1980s was against Killer Khan, who was said to have broken Andre's angle (kayfabe) leading to an intense feud that saw Andre eventually extract a measure of revenge in a Mongolian Stretcher match. Another memorable 1980s feud Andre had was with Big John Studd over who was the "True Giant" of wrestling. The feud got really personal when Studd and Ken Patera, managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan eventually attacked Andre and cut his hair. After extracting some major revenge on Patera, Andre would defeat Studd in a bodyslam challenge at Wrestlemania and then attempt to throw the $15,000 in prize money he won out to the fans only for Heenan to eventually snatch it away. At Wrestlemania 2, Andre won a special battle royal that included both pro wrestlers and NFL football players. Following this, Andre continued his feud with Studd who was now teaming with King Kong Bundy. After being suspended for a supposed no-show (actually he was busy filming The Princess Bride playing Fezzik, another lovable giant), he donned a mask and became the Giant Machine teaming up with the Big & Super Machine. As that gimmick faded away, Andre eventually returned to the picture in stunning fashion as the newest protege of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and suddenly he wanted a World title match with longtime friend and partner Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III. This led to the famous Wrestlemania III showdown between Hogan and Andre which was the main draw for the 93,000 plus in the Pontiac Silverdome. Actually by this time, Andre's size and weight had ballooned so much he was in constant pain and actually limited as to what he could do in the ring. Still he managed to have a memorable match with Hogan and eventually helped put Hogan firmly on the map as the superstar of superstars as Hogan not only bodyslammed Andre but also pinned him which few had done before. Actually it was claimed by announcers at the time that Hogan was the first. Actually Hogan himself had previously slammed Andre as far back as 1980 when Hogan was a young heel and Andre was the beloved hero. Prior to this, Stan Hansen, Kamala, Harley Race and Don Leo Jonathan had slammed him. At the inaugural Survivor Series, the main event pitted Hulk Hogan's team against Andre the Giant's. In the end, Andre was the sole survivor of that match. On February 5, 1988, with the help of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and a crooked twin referee named Earl Hebner, Andre pinned Hogan for the WWF World title in controversial fashion when the 3 count was made despite Hogan's shoulder being up. In essence, Hebner helped screw Hogan (as he years later was help screw another WWF world champ in 1997). After the match, Andre would sell the World title to the Million Dollar Man leading to the title being held up and declared vacant and setting up a tournament for Wrestlemania IV. After getting seeded to the second round, Andre and Hogan battled to a double disqualification. Hogan would gain a measure of revenge defeating Andre in a steel cage match at WrestleFest'88 and in a tag team match with Randy Savage defeating Andre and DiBiase.

Next Andre found himself feuding with Jake "The Snake" Roberts after it became evident Andre had a major fear of snakes. Eventually this would cost Andre in the 1989 Royal Rumble match and Roberts would actually beat the Giant by DQ at Wrestlemania V. 1989 also saw the return of a newly face Big John Studd who now continued his old feud with the now heel Andre. Andre also had a memorable feud with Hacksaw Jim Duggan around this time. Following this, Andre was repeatedly squashed in matches against the Ultimate Warrior, designed to get the Warrior over as wrestling's new big star. In late December, Andre began teaming with Haku as the Colossal Connection and would defeat Demolition for the WWF World Tag Team titles on December 13, 1989. They held the titles until Wrestlemania VI when Demolition successfully regained them. Following the match, Bobby Heenan berated Andre for the loss leading to an angry giant lashing out at Heenan knocking him out which the fans loved. Finally Andre was a fan favorite again. Sadly Andre was no longer able to really compete at this point in time as he was in constant pain due to the weight and the acromegaly. Andre spent the rest of his wrestling career in Japan that mostly saw him compete in tag team bouts alongside Japanese legend Giant Baba. His final match was in December 1992. On January 23, 1993, Andre died from congestive heart failure. Andre was the first person inducted into the WWF/WWE Hall of Fame in 1993.

Andre will also be remembered for other things outside of wrestling. The tales of his drinking are the stuff of legend and no doubt are mainly the result of his large size meaning it took a lot to get him inebriated. He also of course well be remembered for his role of Fezzik in The Princess Bride and possibly some might well remember him as Bigfoot on The Six Million Dollar Man. He also played Dagoth in Conan the Destroyer, frequently appeared as a guest star on Micki and Maude. Mostly he was billed as a lovable, friendly, good-natured giant but no doubt his long life of being in the public spotlight mainly due to his freakish size must have been hard on him at times.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 31, 2010, 08:27:07 PM
The Nasty Boys join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs made for a colorful trash-talking pair of punk street fighters who were just plain rude and nasty wherever they went. In their 1980s heyday, their look was quite different and distinctive what with their sunglasses, chain-adorned trench coats, mullet-hawk haircuts, graffiti sprayed T-shirts - they looked like they might have just come from causing chaos at a local punk rock concert show.

The Nasty Boys were actually childhood friends who dreamed off becoming a wrestling tag team and achieved said dream. They got their start in the AWA where they truly stuck out like a sore thumb but had some memorable bouts and brawls there. While in the AWA, they had two reigns as AWA Southern Tag Team champions. In 1988, they moved to Florida wrestling and had great success there winning 5 NWA Florida tag team championships. In 1990, they debuted in WCW and challenged The Steiner Brothers for the United States titles but failed to defeat the Steiners despite delivering some intense brawling. In December 1990, the Nasty Boys alongside manager Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart debuted in the WWF. Here the Nasty Boys finally achieved their first world tag team championship- the WWF World Tag Team titles upsetting The Hart Foundation at Wrestlemania VII thanks to timely help from Jimmy Hart and his motorcycle helmet. Their title reign however would prove short-lived as The Legion of Doom: the Road Warriors would make short work of them at Summerslam '91 in a No-DQ, No-Countout match. In late 1992, the Nasty Boys would actually turn face after Money Inc. won the tag team titles and Jimmy Hart seemed to favor DiBiase & IRS. The Nasties however would fail to regain the WWF World Tag Team titles.

In 1993, the Nasty Boys returned to WCW now managed by Missy Hyatt and had perhaps the best run of their careers there. They captured the WCW World Tag Team titles and had memorable hardcore style brawls with the likes of Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne, Kevin Sullivan & Cactus Jack and Harlem Heat. They defeated Arn Anderson & Paul Roma, Marcus Alexander Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio and Harlem heat for their 3 WCW World Tag Team titles. They also feuded with the Blue Bloods. In 1996 after being offered membership in the NWO, the Nasties were surprise attacked by the NWO. In an subsequent match vs. Hall & Nash, Saggs suffered a legit and serious neck injury which effectively ended his career at that time. Brian Knobbs then started pursuing the WCW Hardcore title but failed to capture it. Finally many years later, Jerry Saggs finally returned and reunited with Knobs in the XWF winning the tag titles there. When XWF folded, they seemed to have retired but eventually starting showing up on Hogan Knows Best. Finally in 2007, they made a surprise appearance on WWE Smackdown tapings in Florida. In 2009, they appeared on Hogan's Australian Tour show. In 2010, they shockingly reappeared in TNA and began a feud with Team 3D which Team 3D eventually seemed to win but the Nasties, now well past their prime, held their own surprisingly well. The Nasties have garnered a reputation for being genuinely stiff with opponents on occasion and some of their matches have seemingly degenerated into quasi-shoots. The Nasty Boys were well just plain nasty but as good as they were, they always seemed to be overshadowed by other more talented well-rounded tag team performers. The Nasty Boys though could brawl and fight with the best of them and may well be one of the best brawling tag teams in history.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 31, 2010, 11:00:45 PM
I liked the Nasty Boys for what they were.  Nobody would mistake them for a great 'technical' style like Malenko or Hart, but Mick Foley did give them some credit and say some of his matches with the Boys left him reeling. :buggedout:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 01, 2010, 02:30:26 PM
Terri Runnels joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Runnels in the 1980s initially worked as a make-up artist for CNN but on the weekends she also did the make-up for the wrestlers of Jim Crockett Promotions (the NWA). In 1990, then-booker Ole Anderson asked her to become a wrestling manager and the character of Miss Alexandra York, a laptop carrying accountant who managed a group of finance themed wrestlers in the York Foundation, was created. The gimmick never really got over and the wrestlers York was paired up with fans have trouble buying as self-made men aside from perhaps a pre-I.R.S. Mike Rotunda's Michael Wallstreet(Terry Taylor, Ricky Morton, Tommy Rich). Despite this, Runnels was employed by WCW for six years. The York Foundation of Rich, Morton & Taylor did win the WCW Six-Man Tag titles.

In 1996, she debuted alongside real-life husband Dustin Rhodes as Marlena to his Goldust. She portrayed a cigar-smoking strumpet whose character was patterned somewhat after Marlene Dietrich. Marlena actually rarely got physically involved in matches but proved a shapely distraction at ringside, even flashing her breasts to gain her man an advantage on one occasion. Eventually a feud with Brian Pillman would occur that left some suspicion Marlena had cheated with Pillman. Unfortunately Pillman's untimely death occurred before the angle could be completed but nevertheless Goldust and Marlena split not long after that. In 1998, she re-emerged as the on-screen girlfriend for Val Venis, claiming at one point to be pregnant by him. He dumped her when she told him the news. Following this, she teamed up with Jacqueline to form P.M.S. - Pretty Mean Sisters and briefly managed D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry. However during a match Brown accidentally bumped Runnels who claimed to have a miscarriage only for Brown to find out she was never actually pregnant at all. P.M.S. then took on Meat as their client using him as reputed "love and sex slave".

In 1999, Terri Runnels finally got a bit more serious storyline offering to become the manager of the tag team that won the Terri Invitational Tournament between the Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian with the winning team getting both her as manager and $100, 000. The Hardy Boyz eventually won in a ladder match and Terri became their manager eventually becoming the first woman the Dudley Boyz powerbombed through a table around this time. Eventually Runnels would turn on the Hardys and join Edge & Christian as their manager. But Edge & Christian eventually just dumped her as manager. Runnels then started feuding with the Kat resulting in a catfight between the two at Wrestlemania 2000 which Runnels won. The feud finally culminated in a "Stink Face" match which the Kat won by performing the move first on Runnels at Summerslam 2000. Next Runnels became the on-screen girlfriend and manager for Perry Saturn of the Radicalz and managed him to a European title win. Eventually though Saturn according to storyline would bump his head and dump Runnels for "Moppy", his on-screen mop/girlfriend  :lookingup: . This led to Runnels managing Raven who took Moppy and fed it to a woodchipper. In late 2001, she briefly feuded with Trish Stratus. On May 27, 2002, she actually pinned a dazed Stevie Richards to win the WWE Hardcore title which was defended 24/7 only for Richards to pin her immediately after to regain it. In March 2004, Runnels requested and received her release from WWE so she could spend more time with her daughter. Post-wrestling, Runnels has done a lot of devoted charity work and has written several books, including an advice and photography book.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 02, 2010, 05:44:14 PM
Sir Oliver Humperdink joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. In his early days in Montreal he managed the Hollywood Blondes of Dale Roberts and Jerry Brown. Humperdink would eventually move to Florida in the early 1970s and would get involved in a feud between Mike Graham and Kevin Sullivan. He shortly thereafter managed the arriving Hollywood Blondes in that territory too. Sir Oliver Humperdink would go on to be one of the greatest managers in Florida and Central States Wrestling history feuding with the area's top faces/stars like Dusty Rhodes, Lex Luger, Barry Windham, Roddy Piper, Harley Race and Mike Graham and leading its top villains including his House of Humperdink of Kevin Sullivan, Lord Humongous, Hercules, Gene Anderson, Bruiser Brody, Jos Leduc,  Bad Leroy Brown, Greg Valentine, Paul Jones, Kareem Muhammed, Ivan Koloff and Matt Borne. He also managed the likes of Abdullah the Butcher, Superstar Billy Graham, Dick Slater, Ox Baker, The Great Muta, the Funks and the One Man Gang. During this period, Humperdink actually held the Florida and Central States TV titles as a wrestler (no doubt thanks to the help of his men)! Humperdink is likely better remembered today for his brief stints as a fan favourite manager to Bam Bam Bigelow in WWF and the NWA and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in 1987-1988. He later managed the Wild Samoans/Samoan Swat Team in WCW and was Big Daddy Dink along with the Fabulous Freebirds of Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes. Humperdink has stated in the past he felt uncomfortable in these roles as they were really a vast departure from his heelish persona in the territory days.

Kevin Kelly joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. After some time as a disc jockey, Kelly (real name Kevin Foote) debuted first as a ring announcer on the independent wrestling circuit in the Orlando, Florida based International Wrestling Federation in 1991. At the request of Billy Gunn, he received a tryout with WWF and was eventually hired in 1996.  In 1997, Kelly worked alongside Michael Cole and Jim Ross during the first hour of WWF Monday Night Raw. Eventually though this was eventually phased out and it became just Ross and Lawler as the play by play team. In 1999, he became a backstage interviewer for Raw and Smackdown! Kelly was involved in the controversial Pillman-Austin gun angle memoribly shouting "Pillman's got a gun!" In the late 90s, early 2000s, the Rock would make fun of Kelly calling him an hermaphrodite and nicknaming him "Hermie" and he felt Stone Cold Steve Austin's wrath too receiving a stunner at one point. Eventually Kelly became the host of Byte This! and began working as a WWF talent scout. Kelly also became involved with Creative and helped put together the McMahon-Helmsley Faction storyline. He also produced Confidential. In November 1999, Kelly debuted as an heel manager in the Delaware based East Coast Wrestling Association. There he formed several heel factions one of which would help him defeat Cheetah Master for the ECWA Heavyweight Title on April 7, 2001. He was stripped of the title less than a month later. In December 2005, Kelly was inducted into the ECWA Hall of Fame On March 21, 2003, Kelly was released by WWE. After this, Kelly worked on an Internet wrestling radio show and also worked with independents such as Major League Wrestling and Eastern Pro Wrestling. Kelly now works on Internet radio shows and is the voice of Ring of Honor on internet PPVs. Kelly wasn't so bad really but typically wasn't ever given much of a chance to really show what he could typically playing second fiddle to someone else more often than not.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 02, 2010, 09:05:18 PM
I liked Kevin Kelly and I'm sure I'm in the minority.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 05, 2010, 01:03:13 PM
Gorilla Monsoon joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After a lenghty in-ring career as the monstrous Gorilla Monsoon, a bearded giant billed from Manchuria, who had a very impressive in-ring career dominating most opponents and providing quite a challenge to top world champions such as Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales, teaming with Killer Kowalski to win the U.S. tag titles. In 1969, Monsoon would turn babyface following an attack by the notorious Sheik and would remain a popular fan favourite for many years after. He would go on to challenge Superstar Billy Graham for the WWF World title as a babyface. He also had a memorable encounter with Muhammad Ali whom he gave an airplane spin and slammed to the ground. After some years helping put over and build other talent, Monsoon retired from in-ring action and became a leading play by play announcer and was rewarded for his many years of loyal WWWF/WWF service by always maintaining some position with the company.

Growing up in the 1980s, Gorilla Monsoon was the voice of the WWF on Pay Per Views and often on Coliseum Home Video tape releases. He and Jesse "The Body" Ventura made for a memorable pairing at the early Wrestlemanias (the first six), early Summerslams, early Survivor Series, etc.. When Ventura left the WWF in 1990, Monsoon would soon be paired up with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, making a humorous and memorable pairing that would delight many young fans and leave them with fond memories. Monsoon was lead announcer for WWF All-Star Wrestling, WWF Wrestling Challenge, WWF All-American Wrestling  and WWF Prime-Time Wrestling. Sure Monsoon would rely a little too heavily on certain catch-phrases such as "This place has gone bananas!", "The Irresistible Force meeting the Immovable Object" and "History has been made here tonight" and also misused words such as "literally" - "They're literally hanging from the rafters here tonight" - "This place just literally exploded!". He also often referred to where blows were landed - "he just got it in the medulla oblongata" in his style too and made references to in-ring action in kayfabe terms and often mentioned his and Ventura's (and other commentators past) as in-ring performers saying stuff like "Boy am I glad I retired" after a devastating move was hit. Monsoon stepped down as lead play by play announcer for the WWF PPVs in 1993 with Wrestlemania IX making way for new arrival Jim Ross. Monsoon would remain with the WWF in a backstage role and would play the role of WWF President in 1995-1997 until health concerns forced him to relinquish the role. To me, Gorilla Monsoon and his announcing will forever be tied to fond memories of watching pro wrestling as a kid and I'm sure I'm not at all alone in that.

Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. In the mid-1980s, a powerful group was formed in the NWA - this would be the Four Horsemen of NWA World Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn & Ole Anderson managed by James J. Dillon. Initially Tully was the second man behind Flair also holding or being in contention for the United States, Television or National titles while the Andersons teamed up. However in 1987, when Ole was kicked out of the group in favor of new arrival Lex Luger, who would go on to win the United States title. Shortly after losing his TV title, Tully Blanchard along with Arn Anderson, the Enforcer of the Four Horsemen, would form a very successful tag team. Tully and Arn, a finely meshed unit of destruction in the ring, soon captured the NWA World Tag Team titles from the Rock 'n' Roll Express on September 29, 1987 and successfully retained the titles even in the face of the imposing challenge of the Road Warriors. However a new team of Lex Luger and Barry Windham, following Luger's defection from the Horsemen, would prove too much at Clash of the Champions I. However, less than a month later, Tully & Arn would regain their NWA World Tag Team titles defeating Windham & Luger when Windham shockingly turned on Luger and joined the Four Horsemen himself. Windham would go on to win the United States title, and with Flair as World champ and Blanchard & Anderson as NWA World tag champs, the Horsemen had more gold than ever! Tully & Arn held off many challengers including make-shift teams of Nikita Koloff & Sting, Sting & Lex Luger and Steve Williams paired with either Koloff or Sting. Soon they would be targeted by the United States tag team champions The Midnight Express of "Sweet" Stan Lane and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton who would upset them for the tag titles on September 10, 1988. But Blanchard and Anderson had given their notices in NWA by this time and were now headed to the WWF.

Blanchard & Anderson debuted in the WWF as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's Brain Busters in October 1988 and did indeed bust some heads there. They really didn't change their style much from the NWA aside from now pointing to their heads during matches to show they were smarter than everyone else and adding an illegal finishing spike piledriver to their arsenal. At their PPV debut, Survivor Series 1988, the Busters eliminated the Hart Foundation before getting double DQed along with the Rockers. The Busters and the Rockers would have a terrific series of matches as their feud intensified with the Busters narrowly coming out on top in the end. At Wrestlemania V, the Busters defeated former WWF World Tag Team champions Strike Force when Rick Martel just turned on Santana and walked out on him during the match. Now the Busters were in prime position to challenge WWF World Tag Team champions Demolition. The Busters won the first match on Saturday Night's Main Event on May 27, 1989 by DQ. In a best two out of three falls rematch on July 18, 1989, the Brain Busters defeated Demolition thanks in part to a bit of timely help from Andre the Giant. The Busters made history being the first team ever to have held both the WWF World and NWA World tag team titles in history. They also ended Demolition's record setting title reign that had lasted 478 days, a record that still stands. The Busters' reign however would prove a bit short-lived as less than 3 months later on October 2, 1989 (actually the match didn't air until November), Demolition would regain the WWF World Tag Team titles in controversial fashion as Blanchard, the illegal man in the ring, was pinned. Shortly thereafter the Busters began to fall apart and would go on to lose in their last big Saturday Night's Main Event bout vs. the Rockers in a best two out of three falls match as during the match Heenan would abandon them after they lost the first fall and fire them after they won the second fall leading to them losing the third fall. At Survivor Series 1989, Tully Blanchard was replaced in his match because he failed a drug test and Arn Anderson left shortly after and returned to the NWA who would not take back Blanchard because of the failed drug test effectively ending one of wrestling's most successful ever tag team tandems and arguably one of wrestling's best ever pairs when it came to double team and pair maneuvers. They really flowed well in the ring and truly seemed the proverbial well-oiled machine.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 06, 2010, 03:04:45 PM
Dean Malenko joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Malenko in actuality was one of best, most technically sound pro wrestlers in history earning the nickname "Man of a 1,000 Holds". Unfortunately Malenko was also far from colorful in the ring and on the microphone although sometimes he could show a surprisingly intense level of emotion. Malenko actually had great success everywhere he competed and gained a number of impressive titles notably dominating the cruiserweight and light heavyweight divisions.

Malenko is a second generation performer being the son of the Great Boris Malenko. His brother Joe Malenko was also a talented grappler whom Dean often teamed with in Japan and Mexico. Early in his career, Dean captured the Suncoast Pro Wrestling Southern title and the ICWA Light Heavyweight title on the independent scene.

In 1994, he'd move on to ECW where he became known as "The Shooter" where he impressed with his technical prowess and determination. On November 4, 1994, he defeated 2 Cold Scorpio for the ECW TV title. In early 1995, he formed a successful faction along with Shane Douglas and Chris Benoit called The Triple Threat. On February 25, 1995, he and Benoit defeated Sabu and the Tazmaniac to win the ECW Tag Team titles making Dean a double champion. A month later however he dropped the TV title back to 2 Cold Scorpio. On April 8, 1995, he and Benoit lost the tag titles to Public Enemy. In the summer of 1995, Malenko began to feud with Eddie Guerrero in a memorable series of matches that saw Malenko win a second ECW TV title only to lose it back to Guerrero a week later. Their matches together were so good they drew the attention of WCW who eventually signed both grapplers. During Malenko's last match with ECW, he and Guerrero had an outstanding best two out three falls match to say goodbye to their loyal ECW fans.

In late 1995, Malenko moved to WCW where he soon was nicknamed "The Iceman" for his cold and calculating demeanor. On may 26, 1996, Malenko defeated Shinjiro Otani for the WCW Cruiserweight title. He held the belt for two months successfully fending off challenges by Brad Armstrong, Disco Inferno and Rey Mysterio Jr. until Mysterio finally defeated him on a July 8, 1996 edition of WCW Monday Nitro. He however regained the title from Mysterio at Halloween Havoc 1996 and successfully fended off Psychosis before losing the title to Ultimo Dragon at Starrcade 1996. Malenko regained the title for a third time from Dragon on a January 22, 1997 Clash of the Champions show. He'd hold on to the title for about a month before losing it to the NWO's Syxx at SuperBrawl VII.

At Uncensored 1997, he'd defeat old rival Eddie Guerrero for the WCW United States title. Following this title win, he'd become a fan favourite and would start feuding with the Four Horsemen including former partner Chris Benoit. He successful fended off challenges from Benoit and Jeff Jarrett. However Jarrett would defeat him for the title on a June 9, 1997 edition of WCW Monday Nitro after Eddie Guerrero interfered turning heel.

In 1998, Malenko again began to seek the WCW Cruiserweight title. He failed to regain it in a match with Eddie Guerrero at Starrcade 1997. In mid-1998 after several failed attempts to regain the title, he'd end up in a bitter feud/rivalry against Chris Jericho. Malenko eventually won a battle royal for a title shot dressed as the masked Ciclope and defeated Jericho for his fourth WCW Cruiserweight title but would shortly thereafter be stripped off the title for not winning the shot as himself. The title would be declared vacant and Jericho would defeat Malenko for the vacant title at the Great American Bash 1998 with a DQ win. Malenko then helped Rey Mysterio Jr. defeat Jericho for the Cruiserweight title but the title would eventually be returned to Jericho due to Malenko's interference and he'd eventually be "fired" in the continuing storyline. Finally Malenko would get a measure of revenge as with him as special guest referee at Road Wild 1998, Jericho lost the title to Juventud Guerrera.

In September 1998, Malenko was chosen as the fourth member of the latest incarnation of the Four Horsemen and formed a very successful tag team with Chris Benoit, whom he'd teamed with in ECW. Feuding with the NWO, the West Texas Rednecks, they eventually captured the WCW World Tag Team titles from the Rednecks at Uncensored 1999. Two weeks later however, the lost the belts to the Filthy Animals Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman. When the Horsemen finally disbanded in mid-1999 due to Flair's abuse of power, Malenko joined Shane Douglas's Revolution faction. The faction would feud with David Flair, Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon, the Filthy Animals, the Varsity Club, West Texas Rednecks and the First Family. Malenko however failed to defeat David Flair for the United States title and lost his final match in WCW, a "catch as catch can" match vs. Billy Kidman.

After being given his release by WCW, Malenko and fellow grapplers Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn and Eddie Guerrero all joined forces in the WWF as the Radicalz. On the March 13, 2000 edition of Raw, Malenko defeated Essa Rios for his first WWF Light Heavyweight title reign. Soon thereafter he found himself feuding with Scotty2Hotty who defeated him for the title on April 17, 2000. He'd regain the title from Scotty on a April 27, 2000 edition of WWF Smackdown!

Later that year as the Radicalz drifted apart, Malenko entered into a feud with Eddie Guerrero & Perry Saturn over Guerrero's new relationship with Chyna and the losses he & Saturn suffered as a tag team. At Judgement Day 2000, Guerrero successfully defended his WWF European title against both Malenko & Saturn. Eventually though the Radicalz reformed and Malenko began a "Double Ho Seven" parody gimmick of James Bond where he was a swinging ladies man accepting the Godfather's hos and pursuing Lita and feuding with the Hardy Boyz. Eventually he put his Light Heavyweight title on the line against Lita in a match where he'd win a date with her if he won. He won that match but the date didn't go exactly as he'd hoped. Later however Lita would gain some revenge defeating him a match with more than a bit of help from Matt Hardy. He also began feuding with other divas including Jacqueline and Ivory who were disgusted by his lecherous ways. A title feud with Crash Holly began when Crash interfered in a two on one handicap match against Jacqueline & Ivory costing him the match. After holding the Light Heavyweight title for almost a year, Malenko finally lost it on an episode of Sunday Night Heat to Crash Holly. Malenko then reformed his tag team with Perry Saturn before eventually disappearing from TV and settling into retirement. Nowadays he works in a backstage role as a road agent but has made scattered special WWE appearances on occasion.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 12, 2010, 12:15:22 PM
Malenko was a great performer.  Big fan.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 12, 2010, 02:08:10 PM
The Fabulous Freebirds join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually the Freebirds were super over in World Class Championship Wrestling in their heyday drawing enormous heat while feuding with Kerry, Kevin, David and Mike Von Erich. But they also started hearing some cheers too as the Freebirds kind of made it seem cool to be bad and were perhaps one of the first cases of heels getting a surprisingly high number of cheers from the audience. They were the first team to come to the ring to rock 'n' roll music ("Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd and later "Badstreet U.S.A." performed by Hayes himself). They are perhaps most recognized to people on this board for their appearance at the beginning of Highlander.

The Fabulous Freebirds originally consisting of Michael "P.S." Hayes and Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy competed in Georgia Championship Wrestling and NWA Mid-America Wrestling. Eventually they added Buddy "Jack" Roberts to the group to form a then very unusual three-man gang type team with the special "Freebird" rule that any two men on the team could defend the tag gold they'd accumulated on any given night with usually the third man out on the floor. During this time, the Freebirds won 3 NWA National Tag Team titles, 2 NWA Mid-America Tag Team titles and one NWA Georgia Tag Team championship. Most often it would be Hayes and Gordy in the ring with Roberts on the floor during this period. Soon they moved on to World Class and began their infamous feud with the Von Erichs which one night featured Michael Hayes dressed as Santa Claus delivering a beatdown on Kerry Von Erich. There the Freebirds captured NWA American Tag Team titles, the WCCW Six-Man Tag Titles 6 times (albeit one of these had Iceman Parson as a replacement for Hayes). While in World Class, Terry Gordy also captured NWA American Heavyweight title and the NWA Knuckles Championship (Texas Version) while Buddy Roberts captured the WCCW Television title. While paired up with Gordy & Roberts, Parson also captured the WCWA Texas title. At one point, Gordy & Roberts began feuding with Hayes and added new members to their version of The Freebirds including Parsons and the Angel of Death. Eventually Parsons would form an off-shoot group called The Blackbirds.

In between their two WCCW stints, the Freebirds had a brief short-lived run in the WWF with Cyndi Lauper's manager David Wolff as their manager during the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Their stay there would be short-lived however when the WWF wanted to split up the team. Soon they moved to the AWA where they mostly feuded with the Road Warriors in a red-hot feud eventually costing the Warriors their AWA tag team titles in a match with Freebird ally and future Freebird "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal.

After WCCW, the Freebirds moved to Bill Watts' UWF promotion where they dominated. There they captured the Mid-South tag team titles twice and eventually would dominate the whole federation with Terry Gordy becoming the UWF Heavyweight champion and Roberts winning the UWF Television title with Hayes acting as a kind of manager for the two.

However when the UWF would be bought out by Jim Crockett in 1987, the Freebirds soon split off into separate directions with Hayes continuing on in the NWA briefly forming a tag team with Jimmy Garvin before moving back to World Class and competing on the independent scene while Terry Gordy travelled to Japan to compete and Roberts finished out the end of his career mostly in World Class putting together the Samoan Swat Team to feud with Hayes and new partner Steve Cox whom Hayes twice won WCCW tag gold with. Later Hayes and Steven Dane would form a team together.

In 1989, a new version of the Freebirds was formed in WCW featuring Hayes and new partner Jimmy "Jam" Garvin. Just prior to this Hayes had a brief reign as NWA United States champion defeating Lex Luger with more than a bit of help from Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy. Luger would shortly regain the title however. Hayes and Garvin would go on to have much success in WCW winning the WCW United States Tag Team titles twice and the WCW World Tag Team titles twice. During their time in WCW, Garvin & Hayes were briefly joined by Gordy but eventually the team would be changed considerably adding Sir Oliver Humperdink as "road manager" under the guise of Big Daddy Dink and also Diamond Dallas Page as manager. They were also briefly managed/accompanied by Little Richard Marley, a reinvented former enhancement guy Rocky King. Another third member would be added in the masked Fantasia/Badstreet (Brad Armstrong) who together with Hayes & Garvin would win the WCW Six-Man Tag titles. The group finished out their time as a team in the Global Wrestling Federation with the team of Hayes, Garvin & Gordy. During this time, Gordy & Garvin actually captured the GWF Tag Team titles.

Tazz joins the Singles Hall of Fame. After a long career of competing on the independent circuit as the bizarre and crazy Tazmaniac, Tazz decided to reinvent himself, shortening his name to Taz and taking on a more serious, almost MMA style approach to his matches. He would become the top man in ECW and remains one of their most impressive champions (There he captured the ECW World title twice, the ECW World Television title twice, the ECW World Tag Team titles three times and the FTW title, which he invented, twice). It would be ECW where Taz would cement his legend despite a long stint in the WWF/WWE where he mainly worked as an announcer after injuries forced him to the sidelines.

Early in his career, Tazz wrestled under the name Kid Krush. However it would be as the crazy face-painted almost lunatic like Tazmaniac that he would first taste title success winning the IWCCW Light Heavyweight title in 1991. On October 1993, he debuted as part of a tag team named The Tazmaniacs (with partner Jack Dick). However the team shortly broke up and he soon paired up instead with Kevin Sullivan with whom he won two ECW World Tag Team titles. The Tazmaniac also become a double champion for one night when he briefly captured the ECW World Television title on March 1994.  Soon Tazmaniac starting teaming with new partners eventually settling on Sabu whom he won another ECW World Tag Team title with. However Sabu would eventually be fired and Tazz would get put out of competition due to a serious neck injury.

Upon returning, the Tazmaniac was reinvented as the more serious Taz, managed by former referee Bill Alfonso. Taz now wore a black singlet and focusing on a more intense MMA inspired offense that included many suplexes eventually earning Taz the nickname "The Human Suplex Machine". He also added his MMA inspired Tazmission submission hold, a chokehold that forced his opponents to tap out. After feuding with 2 Cold Scorpion, Jason and former UFC veteran Paul Varelans, Taz focused on feuding with old partner Sabu eventually defeating him at ECW's first PPV Barely Legal with his Tazmisson. However during the match Alfonso turned on Taz and joined forces with Sabu and Rob Van Dam. Two months later, Taz defeated Shane Douglas for his second reign as ECW World Television champion before eventually dropping the title to Bam Bam Bigelow.

Following his TV title loss, Taz was elevated to main event status and began pursuing the ECW World Heavyweight title. However Douglas was injured at the time which led to Taz declaring himself the FTW Champion of the World using an old Television title painted orange which he eventually passed on to Sabu. When Douglas finally returned, Taz defeated him for the ECW World title. Taz held the ECW World title for nine months before being signed by the WWF and he dropped the title in a three way dance to Mike Awesome at Anarchy Rulz. During his last match in ECW, he put over rising star Rob Van Dam.

Tazz debuted in the WWF at the 2000 Royal Rumble impressively defeating the previously undefeated Kurt Angle. Just a few months into his WWF stint though, Tazz would be brought back to ECW as per a special agreement to defeat Mike Awesome for the ECW World title as Awesome had just signed a contract with WCW and was not allowed to take the ECW World title with him. Tazz held the ECW World title this second time, even displaying it on WWF programming including during a loss to WWF Champion Triple H, for ten days eventually dropping it to Tommy Dreamer who quickly passed it on to Justin Credible. After losing his ECW World title, Tazz began to pursue the WWF Intercontinental title but failed to capture it before moving on to a feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler eventually teaming with the returning Raven. During the Invasion angle, he became the voice of the ECW/WCW Alliance and eventually became a color commentator. He briefly worked as both wrestler and commentator teaming with Spike Dudley to win the WWF World Tag Team titles and holding the WWF Hardcore title three times.

Eventually he would turn to commentating full time first working on WWF Sunday Night Heat but eventually replacing a departed Jerry "The King" Lawler on WWF/WWE Smackdown! for several years before joining Joey Styles on commentary for WWE's relaunched ECW in 2006. In 2008 after walking out on the terrible Mike Adamle on ECW, he returned to WWE Smackdown! where he replaced a departing Mick Foley. After his WWE contract expired in April 2009, Tazz signed a deal with TNA where he works now as color commentator only briefly having an heel run as an adviser to Samoa Joe when he was a member of the Main Event Mafia.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 13, 2010, 01:44:41 PM
Ron Trongard joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Trongard is best remembered today as the main voice of the AWA in the early to mid-1980s. He added a sense of professionalism, class and believability to his presentation in that kayfabe era of wrestling. Growing up watching the AWA in the 1980s, I saw him call matches featuring such great talents as Nick Bockwinkel, Hulk Hogan, The Road Warriors, Verne Gagne, Curt Hennig and numerous others. He always seemed to be excited and very much into the action, adding very much to the presentation and helping put over the in-ring talent although sometimes perhaps his choice of words rung a little inappropriate such as when he one time referred to Scott Hall as "an hunk of man". His most recognizable catch phrase was "From coast to coast, continent to continent, and border to border". In the AWA, his main broadcasting partner was Lord James Blears and later Lee Marshall. Trongard briefly called matches in the WWF in the late 1980s alongside Superstar Billy Graham, Lord Alfred Hayes and Sean Mooney before retiring from wrestling in 1989.

Before wrestling, Trongard spent many years as a sports broadcaster in Minnesota calling basketball for the Minnesota Muskies and the Minnesota Lakers. He also called University of Minnesota basketball and football games. In 1968, he broadcasted Minnesota Pipers basketball games, produced Minnesota Vikings football and Minnesota North Stars hockey broadcasts where he did player and coach interviews. He was also the public address announcer for the Minnesota Fighting Saints WHA Hockey team and the Minnesota Kicks soccer team.Trongard also spent many years as a radio sports broadcaster and was an important part of the community in southern Minnesota until he died after a long battle with liver cancer in 2005.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 15, 2010, 06:01:29 PM
Hector Guerrero joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. After a long career as  professional wrestling star and a member of the famed Guerrero family, Guerrero has become a color commentator for TNA, specifically during Spanish telecasts. Guerrero's biggest in-ring success I'd argue was forming a successful tag team with his brother Chavo Guerrero Sr.. Aside from that, he performed under silly gimmicks including a Lazer tag inspired masked wrestler named Lazer-Tron. As Lazer-Tron, Guerrero won the NWA Jr. Heavyweight title and teamed mainly with "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant during his feud with Paul Jones and his men and the New Breed. While teaming with Manny Fernandez, he'd eventually be betrayed and dumped and replaced by Rick Rude. In the AWA in the late 1980s, he teamed with Dr. D to win the AWA World Tag Team titles. In 1990, he debuted as arguably the most ridiculous gimmick in history - the Gobbledly Gooker! He'd later briefly compete in ECW in the mid-1990s and later in WCW in the late 90s memorably tangling with his younger brother Eddie. He debuted in TNA in 2007 as a color commentator for the Spanish announce team and would soon thereafter become the leader/adviser/mentor for the tag team of LAX (Homicide and Hernandez). When LAX starting falling apart, Guerrero returned to color commentating.

Bill Alfonso joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. After a lengthy career as a referee in multiple federations (NWA, Florida, WWF, WCW), Bill Alfonso would turn to managing in ECW after a stint as a "troubleshooting" referee introduced by Shane Douglas who would end up feuding with Tod Gordon. In ECW he, with annoying whistle he'd frequently blow during matches around his neck, successfully lead the revamped Taz (the former Tazmaniac) to new heights of success during a long winning streak that lasted over a year. However during Taz's feud with Sabu, Alfonso shocked many by switching sides to become the manager of Sabu. Eventually "Mr. Monday Night" Rob Van Dam would add him as manager as well teaming with Sabu. He lead RVD to his record breaking longest ECW World Television title reign. In 1997, he won PWI's Manager of the Year award. He is also well remembered for his brutal match vs. Beulah McGillicutty that saw him shed a bucketload of blood. He recently appeared managing Sabu & RVD in TNA.

The Quebecers of Jacques and Pierre join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. The team was formed in the WWF in mid-1993 following Jacques Rougeau's stint as The Mountie with Pierre basically becoming a second unofficial "Mountie" as Vince McMahon had legal problems using the Mountie gimmick. They added the theme music "We're Not the Mounties". They were managed by Johnny Polo (the future Raven) and had a surprising amount of success in the WWF using "Province of Quebec" rules where you could win titles on a DQ to defeat the Steiner Brothers for their first of three WWF World Tag Team title reigns.  Somehow they fended off the challenge of the Steiners but fell victim to the unlikely team of The 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty who upset them on January 10, 1994. However the Quebecers quickly regained their titles a week later. The Quebecers next fended off the challenge of Owen & Bret Hart, who were on shaky ground as a tag team and eventually split during a match vs. The Quebecers at Royal Rumble 1994. Next they fended off the challenge of Men on a Mission at Wrestlemania X but lost the title unexpectedly to M.O.M. on a London house show on a U.K. tour only to regain the titles two days later in Sheffield. Finally the Quebecers, who looked surprisingly strong in the WWF lost to the newly face Headshrinkers managed by Captain Lou Albano and Afa. Following the loss, the Quebecers would split up and actually feud with Jacques defeating Pierre during a retirement show in Montreal. Jacques didn't stay retired for long however as he and Pierre reunited in WCW as The Amazing French Canadians in 1996. The tandem never had the same level of success in WCW they'd previously enjoyed in the WWF here being on the losing side of a feud managed by Colonel Robert Parker vs. Harlem Heat managed by Sensational Sherri, and losing to Arn Anderson & Steve McMichael and finally losing to old rivals the Steiner Brothers at Clash of the Champions XXXIV, finally giving the Steiners a measure of revenge. They'd shortly return to the WWF again in 1998 but were quickly jobbed out to the Godwinns and eventually faded from the WWF scene. They'd make another brief WCW appearance as members o Lance Storm's Team Canada faction but would soon disappear from the scene after that.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 17, 2010, 08:03:35 PM
Missy Hyatt joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Missy Hyatt was definitely eye candy at ringside, a definite distraction for her men's opponents at least in her heyday in the 1980s. It actually seemed a lot sadder and more desperate in the 90s and beyond. She could certainly draw a lot of heat and I'm sure some would argue she took away too much attention perhaps from her talent as fans loved to hate her in her early days. Later she'd actually become the poster girl of choice as a fan favorite in her late 80s, early 90s period spent in WCW.

Missy Hyatt actually started out in World Class Championship Wrestling as the manager of her then boyfriend "Hollywood" John Tatum. She'd soon wind-up in a feud with Sunshine and some of wrestling first catfights got their start. Their feud culminated in a mud-pit match at Texas Stadium in 1986. She move on to the UWF/Mid-South shortly thereafter and would become the manager of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and his group that included a young Sting and Rick Steiner. Eventually the group was named "Hyatt and Hot Stuff International" (the team would dominate UWF and have an hold over the TV and Tag Team titles) as Hyatt would soon have a real-life affair with Gilbert causing problems and a nasty split with Tatum. Hyatt and Gilbert were married in 1988. Missy was briefly offered an interview show entitled "Missy's Manor" in the WWF in 1987, meant as a "Piper's Pit" replacement, but the show proved so terrible it was soon scrapped and Missy was offered a Federette role instead which she considered beneath her so she returned to the UWF.

While Jim Crockett Promotions purchased the UWF in late 1987, Gilbert & Hyatt soon moved to the NWA soon to become WCW. Missy worked both as a commentator and a manager for Gilbert and the Steiners leading her men in a team now named "The First Family" and now referring to herself as "The First Lady of Wrestling". She'd eventually become a commentator working WCW Main Event and soon ended up feuding with Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) where she typically used her feminine wiles to best, embarrass and upset Dangerously. In 1993, Hyatt returned to managing guiding the Nasty Boys to WCW World Tag Team gold. She also briefly managed the Barbarian. She'd eventually file a sexual harassment lawsuit against WCW when she found blown -ups picture of her popping out of her top on WCW office walls the next day after it happened. She'd be released by Eric Bischoff shortly thereafter.

In 1996, Hyatt moved to ECW and was part of a sexual harassment lawsuit angle where she kissed Stevie Richards against his will. She became the manager of the Sandman during his feud with Raven and had many catfights with Sandman's ex-wife Lori, who was now aligned with Raven. Rumor has it Paul Varelans agreed to job to Taz because he was promised oral sex from Missy but Missy reportedly blew him off after the loss saying she has no time for jobbers. Missy actually continues to work on the independent scene scaring many with her blatant oversexed sexuality (at her current age and state, she's certainly nowhere near the catch she once was). Missy has won the !BANG Women's title twice and has held the AWF heavyweight title (a title usually held by men).


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 17, 2010, 09:52:56 PM
Wasn't Missy with Jason Hervey of The Wonder Years for a while?

And she doesn't 'get with jobbers'? The hell? But she goes with the older brother from The Wonder Years? :question:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 19, 2010, 03:10:50 PM
Yes, Missy did date Hervey at one point. Nowadays Missy comes across as something like pro wrestling's version of Mae West  :buggedout:

A.J. Styles joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Styles is actually a very talented wrestler and the first who's held practically every major title in TNA and dominated in both the X Division and World Heavyweight division in the past. He by all rights should have a very bright future ahead of him although his current alignment with Ric Flair just doesn't feel quite right. In time though, I suspect Styles will return to his fan favourite roots and will likely come to dominate again.

His high-flying and technical abilities can match just about anybody else's in the business. He's had "phenomenal" performances in the ring and fantastic matches with the likes of Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Raven, Abyss, Sting, Jerry Lynn and numerous others.

He debuted in 1998 in NWA Wildside under a mask as Mr. Olympia. There he won the NWA Wildside TV title and eventually would capture it twice more under his new ring name A.J. Styles. A dying WCW signed A.J. Styles and Air Paris, his old rival in NWA Wildside, to contracts and paired them up in a tag team called "Air Raid". They competed in a tournament to crown new WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team champions but lost in the first round to eventual winners Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo. When WCW was purchased by WWF in 2001, that left Styles without a job. He returned to NWA Wildside and captured its Heavyweight title and competed in several matches that aired on WWF Jakked. WWF offered Styles a developmental deal but he turned it down as it would have meant moving which would have interfered with his wife's college plans. Styles also toured Australia for the short-lived WWA and captured the WWA International Cruiserweight title which he would later vacate.

In 2002, Styles signed a contract with NWA-TNA which would limit his involvement with NWA Wildside but he would also compete in ROH from 2002-2004. In ROH, Styles captured the ROH Tag Team titles with Amazing Red and also held the ROH Pure wrestling championship. Styles would defeat Low-Ki, Jerry Lynn and Psicosis in a double elimination match to be crowned the first ever NWA X-Division champion. Shortly thereafter, he and Lynn won the NWA World Tag Team titles. However a rivalry and growing tension was building between Lynn and Styles. Styles would go on to lose the X-Division title to Low-Ki in a 3 way match also involving Lynn. Lynn and Styles would go on to fight Jeff Jarrett and Ron Killings to a no-contest which saw the tag titles get held up. Lynn and Styles' rivalry continued with them competing in three matches on one PPV show with Lynn beating Styles in a Falls Count Anywhere match, Styles beating Lynn in a No DQ match and both men battling to a draw during a 10 minute Iron Man match. Lynn shortly thereafter would defeat Low-Ki for the X Division title in a ladder match also involving Styles. A couple of months later, Styles would recapture the X Division title from Syxx-Pac only to lose it back to Lynn a few weeks later. In 2003, while a member of the S.E.X. faction lead by Vince Russo, Styles began to pursue the NWA World Heavyweight title and would eventually face Jarrett for the title but later refused the interference of S.E.X. members in the match refusing the win the title that way making him once again a fan favourite. Styles shortly thereafter would form a new tag team with D-Lo Brown from whom Styles would learn the frog splash. Styles and Brown would eventually amicably disband as both men wanted to pursue the NWA World title. Styles would go on to successfully win it in a three way match with Raven and Jeff Jarrett with help from Vince Russo becoming TNA's first Triple Crown Champion and an heel yet again on June 11, 2003. As an heel champion, he'd successfully defend the title against Brown and several other challengers before finally losing it back to Jarrett in October in a match that saw Jarrett turn heel and Styles turn face yet again. Styles continued to pursue the NWA World title and even participated in a special attraction November 12th tag match that saw Styles team with Sting to defeat Jarrett and Lex Luger. Styles would however be unsuccessful in his next title match vs. Jarrett due to outside interference from Kid Kash. Styles would next become embroiled in a feud with Abyss despite winning the NWA World tag team titles with him. Eventually the feud would lead to Abyss succeeding Styles as Number One contender. On April 21, 2004, the scheduled opponent for Jeff Jarrett in a title match Chris Harris would be attacked by Raven leading to Styles getting the title match and capturing his second NWA World Heavyweight title in a steel cage match. He then successfully fended off challenges from Harris, Raven and Ron Killings and on May 19, 2004 defended against all 3 men only for interference from Jarrett to allow Killings to  defeat him for the title.

Next Styles returned to the X Division and on June 9, 2004 defeated Frankie Kazarian to become a three time X Division champ. He'd go on to feud with Kid Kash and Dallas as well as defending the title against challengers Kazarian and Mr. Aguila. A title defense against Jeff Hardy would see interference from Kash. Eventually Styles would lose the title to both Michael Shane and Kazarian in an Ultimate X match that saw both men become co-champions. Styles continued his feud with Kash eventually defeating him in a tables match. Next he focused on new X Division champ Petey Williams. After a long pursuit, Styles finally captured the title for the fourth time in an Ultimate X match that also included Williams and Chris Sabin. Next Christopher Daniels accused Styles of ducking him and soon became a top rival for the X Division title battling Styles to several draws in terrific bouts. Eventually Daniels would defeat Styles for the X Division title in an Ultimate X match in controversial fashion as Daniels was the first man seen with the title despite Styles having retrieved it while the ref was knocked out. Next Styles began feuding with Abyss and eventually defeated him in a steel cage match to become number one contender for the NWA World title. He'd go on to defeat Jarrett for his third NWA World Heavyweight title at Hard Justice 2005. However he'd lose the title to Raven at Slammiversary 2005 in a King of the Mountain match. Next Styles began pursuing the X Division title again and would capture it for the fifth time in a three way match against Samoa Joe and Daniels, a match of the year candidate.

Samoa Joe would eventually capture the X Division title from Styles and then drop it to and regain it from Daniels. Shortly thereafter Styles and Daniels formed a tag team to pursue the NWA World Tag Team championships held by America's Most Wanted Chris Harris and James Storm. After failing in a couple of attempts, Styles and Daniels finally captured the tag titles from America's Most Wanted at Slammiversary 2006. Soon they found themselves the targets of LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) who defeated them in a Border Brawl on an episode of Impact! for the tag titles. At No Surrender, Daniels & Styles would regain the tag titles for a second time in an Ultimate X match but they'd lose them back to LAX again in a Six Sides of Steel match at Bound For Glory 2006. On the November 2nd edition of Impact!, Styles would defeat Chris Sabin to begin his sixth reign as NWA X Division champion. A couple of weeks later, Styles would drop the X Division title to Daniels in a 3 way dance with Daniels and Sabin. Next Styles briefly feuded with Christian Cage in a losing effort before turning on Daniels and becoming an heel again and began a feud with Rhino in which he came out on the losing end. He next joined a team with Cage and Tomko. While teaming with Tomko, they captured the NWA World Tag Team titles from Team Pacman (Ron Killings and Pacman Jones). They successfully fended off challengers LAX and the Steiner Brothers. Eventually the pair would betray Cage and team up with Kurt Angle. Eventually though Angle's wife Karen would come between the group as Angle began to suspect Styles of having an affair with Karen. Tomko & Styles dropped the tag titles to Kaz and Super Eric. Eventually and understandably, Styles would quite the Angle Alliance and Angle would join forces with Team 3D to deliver beatdowns to Styles. The Styles-Angle bitter feud dragged on with both men trading wins. Eventually the night after Hard Justice, Styles defeated Angle for his gold medal and in a subsequent ladder rematch thus ending the feud. Later on, he was asked to give Kurt back his gold medal in an effort to mend things by Jeff Jarrett.

Next Styles found himself a target of the newly formed Main Event Mafia of Angle, Booker T., Sting, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner. Styles would team with Samoa Joe to try and fend off the group but freqeuntly suffered losses and beatdowns due to the numbers game. Eventually they'd form the TNA Frontline that included many young wrestlers yet the beatdowns continued. Eventually with the help of the Mafia, Angle would take Styles out following a tables match (kayfabe). Upon his return, Styles targeted Booker T. and his new Legends title. At Destination X 2009, Styles defeated Booker for the Legends title becoming TNA's first Grand Slam champion. At a King of the Mountain match for the NWA World title, Styles would be unsuccessful when Joe surprisingly turned heel and joined the Mafia helping Angle win the match. Styles would go on to lose the Legends title to Kevin Nash at Victory Road 2009. Styles would go on to win the TNA World Heavyweight title in a five man match at No Surrender against Sting, Matt Morgan, Hernandez and defending champ Angle. One month later at Bound For Glory 2009, he successfully defended his title against Sting. Next he'd fend off challenges from old adversaries Samoa Joe and Daniels and then would fend off the challenge of Desmond Wolfe. At Genesis 2010, Styles turned heel during a Last Chance match vs. Kurt Angle and used outside interference from new ally Ric Flair to win the match. This would lead to Hulk Hogan joining forces with Abyss to battle Flair & Styles. Eventually Desmond Wolfe would join forces with Styles & Flair and Jeff Hardy would come to the aid of Hogan and Abyss. Styles fended off challenges from Abyss and D'Angelo Dinero to become TNA longest reigning World champ but would eventually drop the title to Rob Van Dam. Since then Styles has become part of Ric Flair's Fortune group also including Wolfe, Kazarian, James Storm and Robert Roode. While in the group, Styles defeated Rob Terry for the Global title, formerly the Legends title, and renamed it the Television title. Since then Fortune has also added Doug Williams and Matt Morgan to he group as they feud with the new EV 2.0 of former ECW wrestlers with Styles defeating Tommy Dreamer in a non-title "I Quit" match.

William Regal joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Regal is certainly a fantastic wrestler who can deliver in the ring in any fashion asked of him. He can perform a great down and out mat classic, a brawl or even a comedy skit.

Regal is a British wrestler who actually started out on the carnival circuit taking on any and all comers. He'd eventually compete professionally across the U.K. teaming sometimes with famed British wrestler Robbie Brookside. Following a forgettable face run in 1992, he debuted in WCW as "Lord" Steven Regal claiming he was a descendant of William the Conqueror, an aristocratic snob of a wrestler who acted like actually touching the other wrestlers was something beneath him and contemptable. He was quite good in the role and fans quickly took a disliking to him. Bill Dundee, as Sir William, became his manager in WCW. Under the Lord Steven Regal guise, he captured the WCW World Television title four times. He briefly teamed with Jean-Paul Levesque before he'd move on to the WWF as Triple H and then formed an unlikely team with Bobby Eaton called the Blue Bloods where he tried to turn the Alabama born Eaton into a refined and dignified man. Eventually the team would also be joined by a third member "Squire" Dave Taylor. They came very close to winning the WCW World Tag Team titles but always feel short.

Regal while competing in WCW had a memorable match vs. Antonio Inoki at a Clash of the Champions in 1994, challenged Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Heavyweight title and had a memorable bout vs. Bill Goldberg where he gave Goldberg more trouble that most. Also most memorable was Regal's matches against Ric Flair and Fit Findley. Regal moved to WWF in 1998 but this run proved rather forgettable as Regal was using a real man's man lumberjack style gimmick that really didn't fit him well at all. Battling drug problems, Regal would be released in 1999 and would return to WCW. There he reformed a new Blue Blood faction including Fit Findley and Dave Taylor. They'd briefly feud with Jimmy Hart's First Family and the Filthy Animals but both feuds proved forgettable. In 2000, Regal would face Hacksaw Duggan in a Career vs. Career match that would see Duggan win and Regal again released by WCW.

He returned to the WWF in 2000 where he debuted as Steven William Regal, a throwback to his old classic WCW gimmick of Lord Steven Regal. Regal had much more success in this role capturing the WWF European title. Eventually he'd become WWF Commissioner and have a memorable run in the role with Tajiri as an unlikely sidekick. Eventually during the ECW/WCW Invasion angle, he turn on the WWF and join the Alliance. He'd later pay for this by becoming the first man into Vince McMahon's "Kiss My Ass" club so he could keep his job.

In 2002 at the Royal Rumble, Regal would defeat Edge for the Intercontinental title. He'd drop the title to Rob Van Dam at Wrestlemania X8 but would shortly thereafter win the European title from Diamond Dallas Page. During the brand split, he was drafted to Raw and lost the European title to Spike Dudley only to regain it two weeks later becoming a four time European champ. He'd eventually drop the title to Jeff Hardy but would go on to win the WWF Hardcore title on five occasions. Eventually he'd join forces with Test, Lance Storm and Christian as The Un-Americans. Storm & Regal would win the WWF World Tag Team titles from Booker T. and Goldust thanks to Regal's brass knucks he'd frequently use to win his matches. They'd drop the titles to the Dudleys at the Royal Rumble but quickly regained the titles with the aid of Chief Morley. Eventually due to an heart condition, Regal would vacate the titles and Storm & Morley would become tag champs. Upon his return to WWE, Eric Bischoff charged Regal with the care of "mentally challenged" nephew Eugene. While initially reluctant, Regal and Eugene would eventually become close friends and allies making Regal a fan favourite. Regal & Eugene would upset La Resistance for the WWF World Tag Team titles on a November 15, 2004 edition of Raw. Regal & Eugene would lose the titles back to La Resistance following an injury to Eugene. Regal next would team with old ally Tajiri to win another WWF World tag team title reign from La Resistance on an episode of Raw broadcast from Japan. Eventually Regal & Tajiri would lose the tag team titles in a Tag Team Turmoil match at Backlash 2005 to Hurricane & Rosey. Regal would next invade the ECW One Night Stand show as a member of Bischoff's Anti-ECW faction effectively ending his team with the pro-ECW Tajiri. Regal would be drafted to Smackdown! in 2005 and would have a memorable WWE Velocity match against Chris Benoit. Next after refusing to team with Scotty2Hotty and briefly feuding with him, Regal formed a partnership with the debuting Paul Burchill. This would eventually lead to Burchill's unfortunate pirate gimmick and to Regal being forced to dress like a "buxom wench". Regal's next memorable moment came when during a tour of England he unexpectedly turned face for one night only to challenge JBL for the U.S. title. After Booker T. won the King of the Ring tournament, William Regal joined his faction playing the role of a town crier at one point. The group also included Findley. Eventually pursuit of the U.S. title would come between Regal and Findley leading to the two having some terrific matches (as they'd done in the past in WCW over the Television title). Regal would eventually leave the King's Court following a loss to Chris Benoit. Next Regal focused on teaming with Dave Taylor but despite coming close, the pair failed to capture the WWE tag team titles from Paul London and Brian Kendrick or later Deuce and Domino. During June 2007, Regal was drafted back to the Raw brand.

Regal soon became the General Manager of Raw. In September, Regal was attacked by WWE Champion John Cena in retaliation for rewarding Randy Orton with a title shot after he kicked Cena's father in the head. This put Regal to the sidelines for nearly a month. He returned alongside Vince McMahon. However when forced to wrestle Hornswoggle, Regal began to show signs of a face turn refusing to use brass knucks on the midget and later interfering in a match between Triple H and Ric Flair allowing Flair to escape retirement and effectively taking Triple H out of the Royal Rumble match. Understandably Triple H didn't take too kindly to this and defeated Regal in a First Blood match on Raw Roulette. The following week, during an European tour, he turned face for one week only to teach Randy Orton some respect. The following week, Regal won a King of the Ring tournament where he defeated Hornswoggle, Finlay and C.M. Punk all by submission. Regal's coronation ceremony was interrupted by Mr. Kennedy and Regal lost a Loser Gets Fired match the following week as in reality Regal had failed a Wellness drug policy test and was suspended for sixty days. Regal returned as a free agent during a July 28, 2008 Raw where he was defeated by then World Champion C.M. Punk. Regal next had a short-lived feud with Jamie Noble over potential love interest Layla who eventually sided with winner Regal calling him a "Real man". On a November 3rd, edition of Raw, Regal won a battle royal for a championship match against Santino Marella and squashed him the following week for the Intercontinental title. Next he found himself feuding with number one contender to the I-C title C.M. Punk who finally defeated him after several weeks of trying. Regal failed to regain the title or to capture the U.S. title when given an opportunity at Extreme Rules. Regal was drafted to ECW in June 2009 where he formed a group with Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekial Jackson called The Ruthless Roundtable designed to help Regal win the ECW Title from Christian. Finally Kozlov was ousted as a weak link in the group and Regal helped Jackson win the ECW title during the last episode of ECW on ScyFy.

Regal next turned up on NXT mentoring Skip Sheffield. On one episode, he defeated Daniel Bryan. In February, Regal signed with the Raw brand where he's mostly used these days to put over or build new talents like Evan Bourne and Yoshi Tatsu. Regal briefly reformed his tag team with Kozlov on Raw to challenge the Hart Dynasty but fell short of winning the World Tag team titles. Soon Kozlov dumped Regal in favour of Santino Marella. Recently Regal has begun feuding with Goldust.

Bob Caudle joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Caudle was a likable, agreeable fellow who appeared on many 1980s-1990s NWA/WCW broadcasts often offering color commentary to matches. Caudle actually started for the NWA as far back as the 1950s when he was the voice of NWA Atlantic Coast Wrestling. He is remembered for his trademark "Hello wrestling fans!" greeting and for the ending "Fans, that's all the time we have for now, see you next week and so long for now..." sign-off. Caudle continued to host the show into the 1970s when it was renamed NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Bob had many sidekicks over the years including David Crockett and Johnny Weaver. In 1986, the show's name was changed to NWA Pro Wrestling. In 1988, Jim Ross joined and worked surprisingly well alongside Caudle. He worked several Clash of the Champions shows and some PPV events before leaving in late 1991. Following WCW, Caudle joined South Atlantic Pr Wrestling as lead announcer. The promotion attempted to bring back the spirit of old Mid-Atlantic wrestling but was short-lived. Caudle would go to work for Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, at one point briefly joined by Jim Ross when he left the WWF. The promotion was shut down by Cornette in 1995. Caudle continued to make special appearances at NWA and independent shows. Caudle's voice is likely instantly familiar to old-school NWA fans.

Caudle worked as a weatherman and anchorman for Raleigh, North Carolina as well as being a wrestling announcer for many years during his career. Caudle hosted the syndicated All-Star Wrestling, Wide World Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW World Wide Wrestling after JCP was pruchased by Ted Turner. Aside from Crockett, Ross and Weaver, Caudle also worked alongside Bill Ward, Gordon Solie, Les Thatcher, Tony Schiavone and Dutch Mantel.

Caudle, an avowed Republican, contributed to the campaigns of Senator Jesse Helms. He became a legislative assistant for Helms in 1980 working in Helms' Raleigh office. He remained in that position until 1996. Caudle and Helms worked together for WRAL before Helms ran for the senate. He's remained close friends with Helms.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 19, 2010, 07:53:17 PM
I gotta give Styles some credit.  He turned down a WWE contract and went his own way.  Don't know how well that'll look in the future if TNA ever goes out of business.  I'm sure he'd be content to go back to the indies, but eh.  Hell of a wrestler though.

Regal is a great competitor, and I loved seeing him live twice last year.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 24, 2010, 07:09:02 PM
Rick & Scott Steiner join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The Steiner Brothers were definitely one of those special tag teams that helped changed and revolutionize tag team wrestling. They added numerous double-team and specialty team moves adding a ground and pound style mixed with high-flying suplexes and quick action. After accompanying his brother Rick to the ring for many matches in late 1988, the two brothers started teaming up in May 1989 under Missy Hyatt as part of her First Family group in the NWA. Eventually Rick would become smitten with "fan" Robin Green who turned out to be the devious Woman in disguise. Eventually the Steiners would earn a shot at the Freebirds for a tag team title match at September 19, 1989's Clash of the Champions but Green would betray the team and reveal her true colors as Woman. She'd then go on to manage a new masked team named Doom against them and who successfully defeated the Steiners at Halloween Havoc 1989. Undaunted however the Steiners would defeat the Freebirds for the NWA World Tag Team titles. They'd hold them until May 1990 when Doom would defeat them for the belts. On August 1990, the Steiners defeated the Midnight Express for the NWA United States tag team titles. Upon winning the WCW World Tag Team titles in 1991, they'd vacate the U.S. tag titles. The Steiners also captured the IWGP tag team titles in March 1991 and were certainly one of wrestling's most decorated tag teams by that point also winning the Pat O' Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament in 1990. By 1992, WCW seemed determined to turn Scott into a singles star giving him an high profile bout with Ric Flair that ended in a draw and Scott also capturing the WCW World Television title from Ricky Steamboat on September 29, 1992.

The Steiners jumped to the WWF in November 1992. They quickly worked their way up the rankings defeating the Beverly Brothers and the Headshrinkers. Soon they were targeting Money Inc. for the WWF World Tag Team titles. They finally defeated Money Inc. for the titles on a June 14, 1993 TV taping only to drop the titles back to them again just two days later. The Steiners however then defeated them again just three days later to begin their second WWF World Tag Team title reign. The Steiners successfully fended off the Heavenly Bodies but then were upset by the Quebecers under special Province of Quebec rules that allowed the Quebecers to win the titles on a DQ which they did when Scott got caught holding an hockey stick. Scott gained a measure of revenge defeating Pierre on Raw the next week. The Steiners were also part of the All-American Survivor Series team with Lex Luger and the Undertaker who defeated the Foreign Fanatics of Crush, Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga and Quebecer Jacques at the 1993 Survivor Series. The Steiners kept pursuing the tag titles but failed to regain them and were used surprisingly sparingly after Royal Rumble 1994. In 1995, the Steiners debuted in ECW where they were actually used to build up new teams like the Eliminators although they did score some wins over Raven & Stevie Richards, Chris Benoit and 2 Cold Scorpio, Dudley Dudley and Vampire Warrior.

In 1996, they returned to WCW where they were soon entangled in dream matches against the Road Warriors and Sting & Lex Luger - then WCW World Tag champs. They'd finally capture another WCW World Tag Team title on July 24, 1996 from Harlem Heat. However Harlem Heat quickly regained the titles. Eventually after the Outsiders of the NWO captured the tag titles, the Steiners would become embroiled in a long war with them. Eventually they'd capture the WCW World Tag Team titles from them but Scott was changing into an arrogant, steroid-fueled freak. Sure enough, Scott eventually turned on Rick and joined the NWO even helping Hall and Nash regain the WCW World Tag Team titles in the process. This seemed the end of the Steiners as a tag team, ending arguably one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history. However in 2006, the pair reunited in the independents (United Wrestling Federation) defeating Matt Bentley and Frankie Kazarian and shortly thereafter Team 3D. Eventually they captured the NWA Mid-Atlantic tag titles on December 9, 2006. The brothers would also reunite in TNA in 2007 and were set to face Team 3D for the TNA World Tag titles at Slammiversary 2007 however an injury to Scott's trachea would put him out of action. Team 3D turned into arrogant heels who mocked Scott's injury but the Steiners gained their revenge costing Team 3D their tag titles and defeating them at Hard Justice and Bound For Glory until Rick was released by TNA.

Francine joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. The Queen of Extreme in ECW certainly was never afraid to back down from any challenge and certainly was never afraid to get into the action to insure the her success and that of her men. She initially debuted as the "girlfriend"/manager of Stevie Richards much to the dismay of partner Raven and his manager Beulah McGillicutty. Eventually the influence o Raven turned Richards against Francine and she started to manage the Pitbulls tag team, adopting a leather clad dominatrix persona similar to the Pitbulls who left Raven's Nest and under Francine defeated Raven & Richards for the ECW World Tag Team titles on September 16, 1995. She also teamed with the Pitbulls to defeat the Eliminators & Richards in a six person tag match after Richards was superbombed by the Pitbulls. She also guided Pitbull II to an upset win over Shane Douglas for the ECW Television title after Douglas made the mistake of insulting her. Shockingly on July 13, 1996, Francine turned on the Pitbulls in order to manage Shane Douglas. Referred to as his "head cheerleader" she twice helped him win the ECW World Heavyweight title. She also helped guide fellow Triple Threat members Chris Candido and Bam Bam Bigelow. Eventually though she would be injured by Bigelow who turned on his partners. In November 1998, she led Douglas to defeat Bigelow for the ECW Television title. She remained Douglas' manager until he finally left ECW in 1999. She then turned to managing Tommy Dreamer eventually betraying Dreamer for Raven and then Raven for Justin Credible.

After ECW, Francine briefly competed in TNA brawling with Elektra, battling "Miss TNA" Taylor Vaughn who she defeated by DQ in one bout and finally had a match with Jasmine St. Claire that saw both women stripped to their underwear before St. Claire was DQed due to outside interference from the Blue Meanie. She made appearances in Major League Wrestling as Michael Shane's manager and was later involved with Women's Extreme Wrestling and Hottest Ladies of Wrestling in 2005. She also appeared in Delaware Championship Wrestling where she feuded with Talia Madison and Noel Harlow. On June 10, 2005, she appeared on an ECW reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming where she again managed Shane Douglas. Two days later she made a surprise appearance at ECW One Night Stand for the WWE interfering in the tag match between Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman and the Dudley Boyz attacking Dreamer who was then rescued by wife Beulah McGillicutty. Francine eventually signed a contract to appear in the new WWE version of ECW. There she typically competed in bikini contests but did manage Ball Mahoney during his feud with Kevin Thorn who was managed by Ariel as well as briefly managing the FBI. She had a catfight with Ariel but would be released just weeks later in October 2006. She retired not long after but has made appearance in WEW managing Amber O' Neill.

Sean Mooney joins the Host/Announcers Hall of Shame. Mooney was one of those WWF style guys who had the looks and enthusiasm but really didn't seem to understand or even really like pro wrestling an it typically showed. Mooney debuted on a May 18, 1988 edition of WWF Wrestling Challenge replacing Craig DeGeorge whom one could easily mix him up with they were so similar not to mention Todd Pettengill, who eventually replaced him. Mostly Mooney worked backstage as an interviewer talking to the wrestlers before their matches and being involved in numerous comedy style skits on Coliseum Home Video releases most of which were horrendously bad yet surprisingly entertaining in some bizarre fashion. He worked in WWF from 1988 until 1993 and was involved as in a backstage role Summerslam '88 until Survivor Series '92. He was involved in the first few Monday Night Raws but would be released after Wrestlemania IX in 1993. In the WWF, Mooney also played identical twin sister "Betty Mooney" on WWF Prime Time Wrestling sharing hosting duties with Sensational Sherri amongst others and twin brother "Ian Mooney" on WWF Spotlight. There have been reports of him possibly being considered for a new announcing role in WWE.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 26, 2010, 02:12:36 PM
The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. After finishing his feud with Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 1991, Earthquake seemed set to engage in a rehash feud from 1990 with old adversary Tugboat. However when the two squared off in a six man tag match that saw Earthquake team with the Nasty Boys and Tugboat team with the Bushwhackers, people were shocked when Tugboat turned on his partners and joined forces with Earthquake in laying them to waste. Tugboat soon changed his name to Typhoon and also betrayed and turned on Hulk Hogan around this time. Typhoon & Earthquake managed by Jimmy Hart made a formidable tag team with both men in or around the 400+ pound range. They soon squashed the Bushwhackers in a subsequent Summerslam match. Next they targeted the legendary Andre the Giant although the Legion of Doom would come to his rescue igniting a feud between the LOD and the Natural Disasters.

When LOD defeated the Nasty Boys for the WWF World Tag Team titles later that night at Summerslam '91, the Disasters were immediately in top contention. The Disasters joined forces with I.R.S at the Survivor Series PPV in a losing effort against the LOD and Big Bossman. At the 1992 Royal Rumble, the Disasters defeated the LOD by countout which means they won the match but not the belts. In February Jimmy Hart led another team, namely Money Inc. (I.R.S. and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase), to the WWF World Tag Team titles with a win over the LOD. This action of getting Money Inc. a title shot the Disasters felt should have been theirs infuriated the pair of giants and they soon turned on manager Jimmy Hart hearing cheers from the fans for the first time as a team. During April 1992, the Disasters won capture the SWS Tag Team titles during a tour of Japan from George and Shunji Takano but would lose them the very next night to King Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu. At Wrestlemania VIII, the Disasters would defeat Money Inc. but again it would be by countout which meant the titles still eluded them. The Disasters did not let this setback stop them however and they continued to pursue the titles finally defeating Money Inc. for the WWF World Tag Team titles on July 20, 1992.

As champions, the Disasters had to fend off challenges from the LOD, the Beverly Brothers, the Nasty Boys and Money Inc. who would finally, managed by Hart, defeat the Disasters to regain the WWF World Tag Team titles in October 1992. Around this time, Hart actually also managed to turn the Nasty Boys against him too with his continued favoritism shown towards Money Inc. - Suddenly the focus shifted to the Nasty Boys who became top contenders to the WWF World Tag Team titles after winning a Survivor Series 1992 match while paired up with the Natural Disasters who were eliminated by Money Inc. during the same bout. In 1993, at the Royal Rumble there were hints of dissension and a future feud between Earthquake and Typhoon as Earthquake immediately went after his tag team partner and made sure he was eliminated. Still a full blown feud never materialized as Earthquake soon left the WWF shortly thereafter and Typhoon left a bit later that same year. Of course Earthquake would go on to re-invent himself in WCW as The Avalanche and later the Shark while Typhoon made an unintentionally hilarious bumbling debut as the Shockmaster. Eventually both men returned to WWF with Earthquake briefly challenging Yokozuna in a sumo challenge and later reinvented himself as the smaller Golga, a member of the Oddities, and Typhoon having a forgettable mid-card run.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 26, 2010, 08:39:00 PM
I liked the Disasters as a kid, but in retrospect, they weren't too spectacular.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 30, 2010, 05:31:51 PM
Eddie Guerrero joins the Singles Hall of Fame. "Latino Heat" as he was affectionately called by his many fans managed to eventually charm and win over a large number of fans despite a lengthy career as an heel. He had the charisma to actually make "lying, cheating and stealing" somehow seem cool and fun during his most popularly remembered WWE run. Eddie of course was a member of the famous Guerrero wrestling family, the son of famed Mexican wrestler Gory Guerrero. Eddie was the youngest son to get into wrestling following also into the footsteps of his brothers Chavo, Mando and Hector Guerrero. Chavo's son Chavo Jr., actually closer to Eddie's age, would also become a successful wrestler and was a frequent tag team partner of his Uncle Eddie. Eddie was arguably the greatest and most accomplished Guerrero of them all. Eddie however was plagued by substance abuse problems battling both alcoholism and pain killers. He seemed to eventually rise above and chose life over death but sadly it might have been too late as Eddie died much too young and really just when his career should have been reaching new heights.

Eddie started out in his native Mexico competing in EMLL and the WWA in Mexico. He'd later move to AAA in Mexico where he'd team with El Hijo Del Santo, a pairing of sons patterned after their famous fathers previous partnership. When Guerrero turned on El Hijo Del Santo to team up with Art Barr as The Pair of Terror, it made him a hated heel on a previously unknown level as they became arguably the most hated tag team in Mexican history. Guerrero would first get national attention appearing on AAA's PPV When Worlds Collide. After being noticed by Paul Heyman, he was brought to ECW. Guerrero also had a stint in New Japan Pro Wrestling as the masked Black Tiger. Upon his debut in ECW, Guerrero won the ECW World Television title from 2 Cold Scorpio. The battles and terrific matches that soon followed with Dean Malenko would eventually get both noticed by WCW which would sign both men in 1995. In ECW, Guerrero lost and regained the TV title from Malenko before finally losing it back to 2 Cold Scorpio in August 1995. After Eddie dropped the title, he and Malenko had their last match in ECW, a best two out three falls wrestling classic that ended in a draw with fans chanting "Please Don't Go" as the locker room emptied and both men were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers.

Eddie, who'd briefly appeared in WCW back in 1992, returned there in late 1995. In 1996, he'd start feuding with the Four Horsemen after Arn turned on him during a tag match. After that, he got involved in a feud with Diamond Dallas Page finally defeating DDP in a tournament final for the vacant United States title at Starrcade' 96. Eddie successfully fended off challenges from Scott Norton, Syxx and Chris Jericho but would lose the title to old rival Dean Malenko. Following this, Eddie started pursuing Chris Jericho's WCW Cruiserweight title and eventually defeated him at Fall Brawl 1997. At Halloween Havoc 97, he lost the title to Rey Mysterio Jr. in a Mask vs. Title match. On a November edition of WCW Monday Nitro, Eddie regained the WCW Cruiserweight title from Mysterio.  Guerrero successfully defended the title against Mysterio at World War 3 1997 but lost the title on a December 29th, 1997 episode of WCW Monday Nitro to Ultimo Dragon. In 1998, while feuding with Booker T., Eddie actually shifted the focus to his nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr. whom he started a "tough love" feud with. Eventually Eddie won a match that make Chavo his "slave". Actually the feud was the first time Chavo really got noticed in WCW and he even got a major win over his Uncle Eddie at the 1998 Great American Bash. Chavo's behaviour would get crazier and crazier around this time to the point Eddie actually started coming to his nephew's aid on occasion.

As Eddie started having off-screen troubles and frustrations with Eric Bischoff as he and many of his fellow wrestlers were going unnoticed by WCW, Eddie would eventually form a group patterned after the NWO which featured Bischoff and his buddies. Guerrero's group was the LWO or Latino World Order. The LWO included practically every Latino wrestler in WCW except Rey Mysterio and mainly the focus was on the group trying to get Mysterio to join. Mysterio refused and aligned himself with Billy Kidman against the LWO. Unfortunately however Eddie was involved in a serious car accident on New Year's Day 1999 that effectively ended the LWO angle.

After returning arguably much too early in summer 1999, Eddie was a founding member of a new stable in WCW called the Filthy Animals with Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. Eventually the group grew to include Juventud Guerrera, Billy Kidman and even Disco Inferno. The group feuded with the Dead Pool of Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse getting convincing wins over them. Next they feuded with Shane Douglas's Revolution group of Shane Douglas, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit. The Revolution seemed to gain the edge in the feud however Guerrero would ask for and be given his release from WCW on January 19, 2000. After this he'd join up in WWF with former Revolultion members Benoit, Saturn and Malenko as the Radicalz. Eddie first got noticed in WWF by pursuing the affections of Chyna in March 2000. Chyna initially rejected his advances but eventually aligned with him following Wrestlemania 2000 claiming she could not resist his "Latino Heat". Guerrero won his first WWF title, the European championship, from Chris Jericho with the aid of Chyna. Soon Chyna and Eddie were feuding with newcomers Essa Rios and Lita. However eventually Guerrero would face his toughest challenge from former Radicalz allies Saturn and Malenko. Eventually Saturn would defeat him for the European title. Chyna and Eddie's partnership began to unravel when Eddie defeated her in a King of the Ring qualifying match and later "accidentally" pinned her to win her WWF Intercontinental title for himself.

Following Eddie's heel turn, he joined a newly reformed Radicalz who feuded with the reformed DeGeneration X, a team that included Chyna. Guerrero would eventually be defeated by Billy Gunn with help from Chyna for the Intercontinental title. The Radicalz, following Benoit leaving the group to pursue a singles career, next started feuding with the Hardy Boyz and Lita, a feud that saw the Hardys come out on top. Guerrero next focused on the WWF European title held by Test and defeated him for his second European title at Wrestlemania X-Seven with help from Saturn & Malenko. Guerrero would eventually turn face and team with the Hardys but would develop a pain killer addiction. This combined with a drunk driving incident lead to his WWF release in 2001. He moved to the independent circuit in 2001 competing in Ring of Honor, the Australian WWA where he won their version of the Cruiserweight title. He also won the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight title in a match with C.M. Punk and Rey Mysterio. He lost the title back to Punk one day later.

Eddie finally returned to the WWF, now WWE, in 2002 where he immediately ignited a feud with Rob Van Dam defeating him for the WWF Intercontinental title but eventually lost the title back to RVD in a ladder match. Still the feud between frog splash masters was quite entertaining. Guerrero next formed a new partnership with old ally Chris Benoit and briefly feuded with Ric Flair actually losing to Flair at King of the Ring. Next he lost to the Rock when he challenged him to a World title match. Next when Guerrero was traded to Smackdown!, he started feuding with Edge and eventually formed a new tag team with his nephew Chavo Jr. called Los Guerreros. The team would adopt the motto of "We Lie! We Cheat! We Steal!" and it would surprisingly wind up proving quite popular. Los Guerreros had tremendous tag bouts against Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit and Edge & Rey Mysterio and eventually won the WWE Tag Team titles in a triple threat match. They'd be upended by Team Angle members Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas who managed to hold them off as challengers in repeated rematches. Finally when Chavo tore his biceps, Eddie had to find a replacement partner. He choose Tajiri. Eddie & Tajiri surprisingly enough defeated Team Angle in a ladder match to win the WWE Tag Team titles. Finally Team Angle defeated Eddie & Tajiri for the WWE Tag Team titles in July and Eddie blamed Tajiri turning on him and slamming him through the windshield of a Low Rider truck.

 In July 2003, Eddie competed in a United States title tournament finally defeating Chris Benoit in the tournament final with help from Rhyno who had turned on Benoit. Eddie actually turned face by engaging in a rivalry with then heel John Cena defeating Cena in a parking lot brawl with help from his returning nephew Chavo. Los Guerreros reformed and again captured the WWE Tag Team titles from Benjamin & Haas making Eddie a double champion. Next Eddie ended up feuding with the Big Show and even gave him laxatives at one point and at another sprayed him with sewage. The Big Show however defeated Eddie for the United States title at No Mercy. Just four days later, Los Guerreros lost the tag titles to the Basham Brothers. Frustrated by their inability to regain the tag titles from the Bashams, Chavo eventually turned on his Uncle Eddie. Eddie finally defeated Chavo at the Royal Rumble to settle their feud. After Chris Benoit defected to Raw after winning the 2004 Royal Rumble, Eddie Guerrero won a 15 man version on Smackdown! to earn a shot at the WWE Champion. Soon he was feuding with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar eventually upsetting Lesnar for the WWE Championship at No Way Out 2004. He successfully defended his title against Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania XX and he and Benoit, won just won the World Heavyweight title celebrated in the ring together at the end of Wrestlemania XX. Soon he was targeted by John Bradshaw Layfield. JBL defeated Guerrero for his WWE Championship in a Texas Bullrope match at the 2004 Great American Bash. When Guerrero battled JBL in a steel cage match on Smackdown! and seemed on the brunt of regaining his WWE Championship, interference from Kurt Angle would cost Eddie the match reigniting Guerrero's feud with Angle. Soon Eddie would form a partnership with Big Show while Angle formed a partnership with Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns. At Survivor Series, Guerrero's team (Eddie, Big Show, John Cena & RVD) defeated Angle's team. After failing to regain the WWE title from JBL, Eddie formed a brief tag team wth Booker T. but they failed to capture the tag titles. At No Way Out, Eddie would team with longtime rival Rey Mysterio Jr. to defeat the Basham Brothers for the WWE Tag Team titles. At the suggestion of Chavo, Eddie actually chose to wrestle his tag team partner Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania 21. After losing the match to Mysterio, the tension between Eddie and Rey started to gradually grow eventually leading to the pair losing their tag titles to the debuting MNM on Smackdown!. Eddie started to abandon Rey in several matches and eventually flat out attacked him becoming a full fledged heel eventually leading to Eddie and Rey battling over Rey's son Dominick (in what was a questionable storyline). Finally after defeating Rey in a steel cage match, Eddie emerged as number one contender to Batista's World Heavyweight title. Guerrero then attempted to forge a partnership with Batista who was understandably hesitant. Finally at No Mercy, Batista defeated Guerrero in a World title match when Eddie actually choose not to cheat when he had the chance. Following the match, the two grapplers shared a mutual respect and shook hands and became friends. Eddie wrestled his final match on a November 11th edition of WWE Smackdown defeating Mr. Kennedy for a place on the Smackdown! team but unfortunately died before he could compete in the match.

WWE held two tribute shows in Guerrero's honor - the November 14th, 2005 Raw and November 18th, 2005 Smackdown! Eddie was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006. Even years after his death, it wasn't uncommon to see fans chant "Eddie! Eddie!" in tribute to their fallen hero.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 30, 2010, 08:00:07 PM
Eddie was a personal favorite of mine.  I was really quite sad when he died, which is highly unusual for me.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 01, 2010, 05:20:25 PM
King Kong Bundy joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Mostly I remember Bundy as being the bigger than life monster wrestler who actually took out Hulk Hogan prior to Wrestlemania 2. The bald-headed nearly 500 pound Bundy joined together with Magnificent Muraco and Mr. Fuji to attack Hogan after his bout with Muraco with Bundy repeatedly splashing Hogan and injuring his ribs. Hogan would however get his revenge in a WWF World title steel cage match at Wrestlemania 2 soundly defeating Bundy and even getting his hands on manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to boot. Prior to this, I recall Bundy squishing numerous opponents in matches most notably S. D. Jones at Wrestlemania whom Bundy defeated in a record nine second squash. Of course I also recall Bundy teaming up with Big John Studd to feud with Andre the Giant and later the Machines. When Andre turned heel in 1987, Bundy would actually team with Andre and be on his winning team at Survivor Series 1987. Bundy was undeniably entertaining, a real monster in the ring. Bundy is also remembered for shockingly attacking, bodyslamming and elbowsmashing midget wrestler Little Beaver during Wrestlemania III showing just how big a bully he really was. I loved when he'd destroy his opponents and then demand the referee actually count the pin to five to show his dominance.

Bundy actually started out in an enhancement role believe it or not under the name Chris Canyon, even jobbing to WWF stars in those days. Bundy got his first big break in WCCW where he first appeared as a fan favourite and friend of the Von Erichs named Big Daddy Bundy. Eventually Bundy would turn on the Von Erichs and add manager Gary Hart redubbing himself King Kong Bundy. Bundy would also lose his hair in a grudge match against the Von Erichs actually adding to his distinctive look. Bundy was Fritz Von Erich's 1982 opponent during his retirement match in WCCW. Bundy started travelling to several territories taking his monster heel and five count gimmick with him competing in Mid-South, the AWA Southern territories, and Georgia where he was actually a member of Paul Ellering's Legion of Doom stable. Bundy of course would have his most notable WWF run in the mid-1980s eventually leaving the WWF in late 1987 after losing his feud to Hulk Hogan. In September 1994, Bundy made a surprise return to the WWF as a member of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation and feuded with the Undertaker losing a match to 'Taker at Wrestlemania XI. He'd again leave WWF in November 1995. Bundy competed for several more years on the independent circuit making use of his memorable cartoonish monster heel gimmick. Outside of wrestling, Bundy will likely be remembered for his many guest appearances on "Married: With Children" where he was said to be an extended member of the Bundy family. He also starred in the movie Moving which might will be remembered by many on this site.

Tazz joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Tazz of course has worked as a color commentator for the WWF/WWE (most notably on Smackdown!, Sunday Night Heat and their version of ECW) and TNA. Tazz is one of the best in the business currently. He was so good in fact he almost made the horrendous Michael Cole seem passable and soon replaced Don West in TNA. Tazz's commentary sometimes could well prove the most entertaining thing on any given show.

"Luscious" Johnny V joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Johnny V, formerly known as Johnny Valiant, one of the famed Valiant Brothers, turned to managing late in his career. He had rather limited success in the role but did prove a surprisingly good match managing The Dream Team of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake to the WWF World Tag Team titles giving his men his lit cigar to use as a weapon. Prior to this, Valiant actually managed Hulk Hogan in the AWA. When the Dream Team dumped Beefcake in favor of Dino Bravo, Beefcake took a measure of revenge on Valiant cutting and ruining his former manager's hair. He also briefly managed Demolition before turning them over to Mr. Fuji. In the AWA, he also managed the Destruction Crew of Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos to the AWA World Tag Team titles in 1989. He also contibuted some color commentary in WWF most notably on Coliseum Home Videos. His commentary was usually rather terrible but Johnny V was always a memorable character.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 02, 2010, 10:04:49 PM
The Brothers of Destruction of Kane & The Undertaker join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. These two grapplers, at least in their most famous gimmicks, have been tied together throughout their careers Kane debuting in 1997 as The Undertaker's long lost brother (kayfabe). Initially Kane feuded with the Undertaker apparently holding on to some long unknown grudge. Eventually it was revealed (kayfabe again) that The Undertaker was responsible for burning down his parents home scarring and burning Kane and leading to him desperately wanting to take out his pent up aggression towards his older brother. Initially the Undertaker refused to wrestle Kane saying he would not battle his own flesh and blood. Surprisingly Kane would after attempting to embarrass and attack Undertaker on numerous previous occasions would come to his "brother's" rescue when he was attacked by DeGeneration X.  They briefly paired up first around this time however this partnership would be short-lived as Kane would betray his brother during a 1998 casket match against Shawn Michaels at the 1998 Royal Rumble costing Undertaker his WWF World title match. Following the match, Kane and manager Paul Bearer locked Undertaker in a casket and seemingly set it ablaze. Finally the Undertaker agreed to fight Kane and the match would take place at Wrestlemania XIV with Undertaker coming out on top. Undertaker next defeated Kane in an Inferno match when he set Kane on fire. On a June 1, 1998 Raw they battled over the number one's contendership with Kane gaining the victory thanks to help from Mankind. At the 1998 King of the Ring, Kane would defeat WWF World Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWF World title in a First Blood match in which the Undertaker interfered. A stipulation in the match was that if Kane lost, he vowed to set himself on fire. Undertaker later revealed he interfered to stop his "brother" from doing so. Kane lost the WWF title back to Austin the very next night on Raw but he and Undertaker would briefly team up again. However this would ignite a war between Stone Cold and the Undertaker while Kane would go on to team with Mankind to win the WWF World Tag Team titles. Eventually Kane would wind up breaking up Mankind and also getting involved in Undertaker's feud with Austin this time siding with his "brother" and they were first dubbed "The Brothers of Destruction" eventually leading to a Triple Threat match in which both Kane and Undertaker pinned Austin leading to the WWF World title being held up. Mr. McMahon determined to get the title off of Austin set up a match between Kane and Undertaker for the vacant title with Austin as guest referee. Undertaker turned heel during the match and sided with Paul Bearer but Austin eventually attacked both men the match ending in a no-contest. During a Buried Alive match between Undertaker and Austin, Kane interfered helping Austin win the match. Eventually in 1999, the two went their separate ways with Undertaker leading his evil Ministry of Darkness while Kane joined the Corporation. Around this time, they'd face each other in another Inferno match with Undertaker again getting the win. Kane would go on to team with X-Pac to twice win the WWF World Tag Team titles now in a face role while Undertaker eventually tried to recruit his younger "brother" yet again but Kane rejected the offer and choose to stay partners with X-Pac. The Undertaker then started teaming with the Big Show and feuded with Kane & X-Pac over the tag titles with Taker & Show winning them twice as well. During Fall 1999 Undertaker would be injured and Kane would go on his own way. In summer 2000, Undertaker would return and team with Kane to challenge Edge & Christian for the tag titles but would be disqualified during the match. By August however Kane and Undertaker were feuding with one another yet again. This time the feud culminated with a match at Summerslam 2000 in which Undertaker unmasked Kane and he fled the ring ending the match in a no-contest.

At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Kane & Undertaker were impressive eliminating numerous men. By February they were teaming together again beating Rikishi and Haku in a First Blood match. They got a tag title shot at No Way Out 2001 in a tables triple threat match with the Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian and were on the verge of winning until Rikishi and Haku interfered and attacked them. At Wrestlemania x-7, Kane beat Raven and the Big Show to win the WWF Hardcore title while Undertaker defeated Triple H. Taker and Kane began feuding with Triple H who surprisingly teamed up with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the Two Man Power Trip. On an April 2001 edition o Smackdown!, Kane and Undertaker defeated Edge & Christian in a no-DQ match to win their first WWF World Tag Team titles together despite interference from Austin and Triple H. At Backlash 2001, all major titles were on the line as Kane & Undertaker faced Triple H & Austin. In the match, Triple H used a sledgehammer to get the win over Kane making him and Austin Tag Team champs as well as Intercontinental (Triple H) and World (Austin) champs. The Undertaker starting pursuing Austin while Kane pursued Triple H. Kane defeated Triple H  in a chain match for the Intercontinental title at Judgment Day 2001. Triple H and his sledgehammer however helped Austin fend off the Undertaker's challenge for his World title. Diamond Dallas Page next involved himself in a feud with Undertaker while then pursuing then-wife Sara.  Undertaker & Kane defeated Chuck Palumbo and Sean O' Haire for the WCW World Tag Team titles (now in WWF) around this time. At Summerslam 2001, Kane & Undertaker next defeated Chris Kanyon & Diamond Dallas Page to win the WWF World Tag Team titles as well becoming the first ever Unified World Tag Team champions. The Brothers of Destruction next feuded with Kronik who eventually cost them their WWF World tag titles in a match against the Dudley Boyz. They successfully defended their WCW Tag titles against Kronik before losing them to Booker T. and Test. The Brothers of Destruction represented the WWF throughout the Invasion storyline and battled the ECW/WCW Alliance right up to Survivor Series 2001 when the WWF finally won the war. After this however the Undertaker turned heel and the two didn't team again for some time.

After making brief appearances together at 2002's Draft, No Mercy 2002 and teaming up unofficially at Royal Rumble 2003, Undertaker would betray Kane during the match. Kane would finally gain a measure of revenge at Survivor Series 2003 when he interfered in a Buried Alive Match between Undertaker and Mr. McMahon helping McMahon win. This would lead to the two feuding yet again with the Undertaker defeating Kane at Wrestlemania XX and returning once more to his "Deadman" character. During 2005 on the house show circuit the two would actually team up once again to battle rivals Gene Snitsky and Heidenreich. During October 2006, the return of the Brothers of Destruction was announced as the two "brothers" teamed up once more this time to take on rivals Mr. Kennedy and MVP. Later they'd team up to defeat King Booker and Finlay. They'd part ways again with Undertaker becoming World champion at Wrestlemania 23.

In October 2007, the Brothers of Destruction would be reunited yet again this time defeating MVP and Matt Hardy. They wouldn't team again until February 2008 when they defeated Big Daddy V and Mark Henry. At Wrestlemania XXIV Undertaker would win the World title and Kane would win the ECW title. They would be matched against one another and would reluctantly battle until being attacked by La Familia (Edge, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Chavo Guerrero). On April 2008, they made a special ECW appearance battling then champions The Miz and John Morrison. On a late April edition of Raw the Brothers of Destruction teamed with John Cena and Triple H in a losing effort against JBL, Edge, Randy Orton & Chavo Guerrero. On a November 2009 edition of Smackdown The Brothers of Destruction would battled then Unified tag team champs Chris Jericho and the Big Show the match ending in a no-contest. Most recently Kane was revealed as the man who assaulted the Undertaker and left him in a vegetative state leading to their current feud over the World Heavyweight championship currently held by Kane that also recently saw the return of Paul Bearer on Undertaker's side.

When on the same page as a tag team, I doubt there has ever been a more dominant tag team of two seemingly unstoppable forces in the entire history of pro wrestling.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 05, 2010, 10:11:45 PM
Strike Force of Tito Santana & Rick Martel join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually Santana & Martel were a very good tag team in many respects. Having previously successfully tagged and delivered spectacular matches against the High Flyers of Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell in the AWA, Martel and Santana would reunite their tag team in mid-1987 after Tom Zenk left the WWF and ended his Can-Am Connection partnership with Martel. The tag team was formed when Santana, doing commentary in the Spanish language booth, came to Martel's rescue when he was attacked by the Islanders (Haku & Tama). The pair were played up as good looking young guys and even came to the ring to a theme called "Girls in Cars". After successfully feuding with the Islanders, Strike Force earned themselves a title match against then WWF World Tag Team champions The Hart Foundation. In late 1987, they would defeat the Hart Foundation for their first and only WWF World Tag Team title reign successfully defending their titles until Wrestlemania IV in March 1988 when they lost their titles to the upstart power pounding monsters Demolition (Ax & Smash) managed by the devious Mr. Fuji. Fuji would distract Santana during the match and Santana's temper getting the better of him would fall for the distraction allowing Demolition to use Fuji's cane against Martel and get the win. Shortly thereafter Martel would be kayfabe injured by Demolition and would take an extended leave of absence (actually it was to tend to his ill wife). Santana brought in the Powers of Pain as mercenaries to get revenge on Demolition. In early 1989, Martel returned to the WWF and reformed his tag team with Santana but something just wasn't quite right. At Wrestlemania V, while Strike Force battled The Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson), Santana mistakenly hit his partner with a flying forearm smash leading to Martel just abandoning Santana to the wolves as the Brain Busters double-teamed and made short work of Santana on his own. It soon became clear Martel blamed Santana for the team's ills (and in fact he may have had a valid argument given Santana's temper) and considered himself superior. The two would have a long-lasting feud that basically continued over the next two years with both men getting wins and neither man truly dominating. 

My reasoning for voting them in the Shame category is simply because their team was too short-lived and really wasn't very dominant even when on-top. They actually did provide quite a few quality matches as a team.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 05, 2010, 11:02:12 PM
Debra joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Let's face it, the main reason for Debra's success soon became evident to anyone who watched her for very long - it was no doubt largely due to her looks and in particular her particularly well-endowed chest. She also had a shapely, good-looking older woman look that was kind of unique and different but definitely appealed to a lot of fans, particularly male fans. She started her managing career in WCW managing then husband Steve "Mongo" McMichael who would eventually become a member of the famed "Four Horsemen" group along with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit. In WCW, she played up her beauty queen background and dubbed herself "The Queen of WCW". Debra would later betray her husband for Jeff Jarrett turning on him and helping Jeff Jarrett win the United States title. She also briefly managed Goldberg and Alex Wright while in WCW. After divorcing Mongo, she moved to the WWF in 1998.

She debuted in WWF as Jarrett's manager again first presented in a very professional look wearing business suits. Eventually as the Attitude era continued on, Debra's outfits would get shorter and shorter and skimpier and skimpier and eventually she would be portrayed more as Jarrett's girlfriend than his business manager. Eventually Debra would use her ample assets to distract Jarrett's opponents and lead to him getting wins. Her willingness to remove her blouse eventually lead to Road Dogg and shortly thereafter Jerry Lawler first referring to her assets as "puppies", something Lawler would come to love to say. Debra used her assets to help Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart win the WWF World Tag Team titles from Ken Shamrock and the Big Bossman. Next as Debra feuded with newcomer Ivory, her men defeated Ivory's men Mark Henry & D-Lo Brown. In March 1999, Hart & Jarrett lose their tag titles to Kane & X-Pac. There were more plans for Jarrett & Hart's tag team but sadly Hart died before they could ever be fully realized. Next Debra & Jarrett lost a mixed tag team match to Val Venis & Nicole Bass. On May 10, 1999, Debra won the WWF Women's Title in an Evening Gown match after she had her gown forcibly removed by Sable. Usually the winner is the woman left dressed but Commissioner Shawn Michaels decreed the winner of this match was the woman who had her clothes removed decreeing Debra the new champion. Debra lost her Women's title shortly thereafter to Ivory thanks to outside interference from Nicole Bass on June 14, 1999. At Summerslam 1999, with help from Debra and Mark Henry, Jarrett defeated D-Lo Brown to win both the European and Intercontinental titles. Jarrett shortly thereafter rewarded Henry by just giving him the European title while he assigned Debra an assistant named Miss Kitty (The Kat). Following much mistreatment from Jarrett who had adopted a very sexist attitude leading into his feud with Chyna, Debra turned on Jarrett at Unforgiven 1999 and helped Chyna defeat him for the WWF Intercontinental title. However the referee would reverse the decision due to Debra's interference. Debra appeared only sporadically following this taking part in a Survivor Series 1999 8 woman sudden death match teamed with the Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young and Tori. Debra then stayed off TV for quite a while as new husband "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was recovering from neck surgery. She appeared as a guest announcer for Backlash 2000 and later than Fall as a Lieutenant Commissioner to Mick Foley. Eventually her marriage to Austin became incorporated to storylines on Raw and she more or less became his manager teaming with Austin to defeat Matt Hardy & Lita. She appeared sporadically during this period making mostly brief background appearances alongside Austin. She and Austin would later divorce following domestic abuse allegations.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 07, 2010, 11:14:16 PM
The F.B.I. joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The Full-Blooded Italians started as a comedy tag team in ECW made up of mostly obviously non-Italian wrestlers. The team in its original incarnation included African American wrestler J.T. Smith teamed with Italian wrestler Big Val Puccio. Eventually southern Americans Tommy Rich and Tracey Smothers were added to the group along with Italian Little Guido. Oirginally they played up Italian stereotypes making references to the mafia and using hand gestures. Eventually the group would added Sal E. Graziano as manager and become more serious with Little Guido & Tracey Smothers capturing the ECW World Tag Team titles and the JAPW Tag Team titles. Later the pairing of Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke would also capture the ECW World Tag Team titles.

Several years later Nunzio, formerly Little Guido in ECW, would start a new group in WWE that included Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli and Chuck Palumbo. While having relatively little success in WWE, they did battle teams such as Los Guerreros, Chris Benoit & Rhyno and The Acolytes. Just as the group seemed to gaining popularity in WWE, they were broken up with Palumbo sent to Raw. Later that year in 2004, Palumbo and Stamboli would be released. In 2005, Vito debuted as Nunzio's new F.B.I. partner but Nunzio abandoned him after the crossdressing gimmick was revealed. At ECW One Night Stand in 2005, a lot of the original F.B.I. reunited to appear including Little Guido, Tracey Smothers, Tony Mamaluke, Big Guido and J.T. Smith. In 2006, when WWE launched a new ECW brand, The F.B.I. team of Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke briefly reunited again along with new manager Trinity. The team was basically jobbed out in WWE despite having great potential and Mamaluke left in early 2007. In the Italy based Nu-Wrestling Evolution Johnny Stamboli and Chuck Palumbo continued their F.B.I. team and became extremely popular in the Italian promotion. In 2008, Little Guido and Tracey Smothers formed yet another F.B.I. team partnership in Jersey All-Pro Wrestling. In their first match there, they defeated L.A.X. to win the tag titles but lost them less than a month later. On the August 8, 2010 TNA Hardcore Justice show, The F.B.I. of Tony Mamaluke, Little Guido and Tracey Smothers accompanied by Sal E. Graziano defeated Kid Kash, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger in a six-man match. On an August 26, 2010 edition of TNA Impact! Guido & Mamaluke were squashed by Beer Money Inc..


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 10, 2010, 04:36:53 PM
Dawn Marie joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Dawn Marie initially got her start on the independent circuit when after jokingly suggesting she'd be interested in a career in wrestling while signing modeling posters for talent agent and pro wrestling promoter Jonathan Gold, Gold took her seriously and called her back saying she was scheduled to appear on a wrestling show in New Jersey. Despite some initial trepidation, she went to the show and managed Tony Atlas in a match with Jimmy Snuka. Dawn Marie would go on to make her pro debut in January 1995 and on the independent circuit would meet future fiancee Simon Diamond. She also met Buddy Landell and Devon Storm who would eventually help train her. She spent four years on the northeastern indy circuit working promotions like Maryland Championship Wrestling and Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation.

In 1998, Dawn Marie was approached by ECW through Buh Buh Ray Dudley who had some interest in her working there primarily in an angle with Lance Storm. She debuted on August 28, 1998 as Lance Storm's manager while he feuded with Chris Candido and his manager Tammy Lynn Sytch. Initially the plan was for Dawn Marie to only have a three week role with the company but the chemistry between Storm and Dawn was so good promoter Paul Heyman decided to keep her around in the role of Storm's manager. Dawn Marie was portrayed as in love with Storm but seemed more clumsy in her execution than glamorous. During the feud with Candido and Sytch, Dawn Marie would be nicknamed "Tammy Lynn Bytch" just to spite Candido and Sytch. When the feud ended, she changed the name to Dawn Marie Bytch which was eventually shortened to just Dawn Marie. She'd go on to lead the tag team of Storm and Justin Credible who were known as the Impact Players to the ECW World Tag Team titles on 2 occasions. Dawn Marie stayed with Storm until he left for WCW in May 2000. She too had been offered a contract by WCW to go along with Storm but turned it down choosing to stay in ECW with fiancee Simon Diamond not to mention she still had two years left on her ECW contract. After Storm left, she'd briefly do some color commentary but eventually came to manage to her fiancee Diamond and his partner Johnny Swinger.

After ECW folded, Dawn Marie managed Diamond on the independent circuit. She also got some further in-ring training from Diamond and Mikey Whipwreck. In April 2002, she began negotiating with WWE. She debuted in WWE on a May 30, 2002 episode of Smackdown! as Vince McMahon's legal assistant. Initially she briefly feuded with Stacy Keibler over McMahon's affections until Vince named daughter Stephanie the GM of Smackdown! with Keibler going to Raw shortly thereafter. Dawn Marie's most high profile storyline was her feud with Torrie Wilson which eventually involved Dawn Marie "marrying" Torrie's dad Al when Torrie refused to have a lesbian affair with her. Eventually in the storyline (kayfabe), Al supposedly died from rigorous sex with Dawn leading to Torrie defeating Dawn at No Mercy 2002 and at Royal Rumble 2003. Later they had another feud which placed Torrie Wilson's career on the line. Torrie would win that one too. Next Dawn Marie ended up in a feud with Miss Jackie after it was suspected Jackie's fiancee Charlie Haas had an affair with Dawn Marie. This led to a match between the two at Armageddon with Haas as special guest referee. Dawn Marie won the match but afterwards Haas admitted to the affair and dumped both women. Her last WWE appearance was at ECW One Night Stand 2005 managing Lance Storm in his match against Chris Jericho. She would be released from her WWE contract on July 6, 2005 after it was learned she was pregnant. In early November 2005, she appeared at an ECW Reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming holding the key for a main event steel cage match between Jerry Lynn and P.J. Polaco. The match was won by Polaco (formerly Justin Credible) after Dawn Marie, Jason Knight and Lance Storm,  his former Impact Players partners, interfered on his behalf. In July 2009, Dawn Marie signed with Dragon Gate USA as a "Live Event Hostess" basically playing a ring announcer role.

Dawn Marie starred in the 1999 independent film The Vampire Carmilla in which she appeared topless. Despite her long relationship with Simon Diamond, the two would never actually get married. Dawn Marie did marry a man named Matt in June 2005 and in December gave birth to their first child. In January 2006, she filed a wrongful dismissal claim against WWE for terminating her contract just because she was pregnant. The case was reportedly settled in 2007. Dawn Marie also founded the charity "Wrestler's Rescue" on September 14, 2008 to raise awareness and help raise money to meet the health needs of retired professional wrestlers.

Larry Zbyszko joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Zbyszko's notoriously hard to spell name was actually chosen in tribute to a legendary Polish wrestler and former NWA World champion named Stanislaus Zbyszko from the 1920s. Zbyszko had a long successful wrestling career starting out in the early 1970s as the protege of the legendary Bruno Sammartino. Zbyszko would go on to win the WWWF World Tag Team titles with Tony Garea and feuded with the likes of Bugsy McGraw, Abdullah the Butcher and Superstar Billy Graham. But what he is initially most famous for arguably even to this day was his unexpected heel turn on mentor Bruno Sammartino attacking him with a wooden chair and their subsequent heated and bloody feud. The turn made Zbyszko absolutely reviled by fans and he had to endure attacks on his car or taxis he was travelling in by fans not to mention being assaulted with an iron pole following a match and being stabbed in the buttock after another one. The feud finally came to an head in a brutal steel cage match during 1980's Showdown at Shea that saw Sammartino defeat Zbsyzko.

After feuding with Bruno's son David Sammartino on the independent circuit, Zbyszko moved to the NWA and Georgia Championship Wrestling and started to lay claim to having retired Bruno as Bruno retired for a time in 1981. While in Georgia, Zbyszko feuded with Tim Woods and Paul Orndorff and bought the NWA National Heavyweight title from Killer Tim Brooks for $25, 000 only to be understandably stripped of the title for acquiring it in such a manner less than a month later. Then he'd go on to win the tournament for the vacant title defeating Mr. Wrestling II in the finals. In 1984, Zbsyzko moved to the AWA where he was initially awarded the newly created AWA America's championship which was used to engage him in a Lengthy feud with Sgt. Slaughter. Zbyszko constantly drew the fans' ire in his bouts with Slaughter and later this would become his routine in the AWA for constantly stalling and delaying any contact during his matches. In 1986, Zbyszko feuded with now fan favourite Nick Bockwinkel but failed to get the upper hand against him. He'd also have memorable feuds with Ray Stevens and boxer/referee Scott LeDoux. On May 2, 1987, Zbyszko would help Curt Hennig defeat Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight championship. As Bockwinkel retired not long after this, Zbyszko started to lay claim to having retired both Bockwinkel and Sammartino.

In 1987, he moved to Jim Crockett Promotions NWA with new manager Baby Doll and soon starting feuding with Barry Windham eventually defeating him for the newly created Western States Heritage Championship. After Baby Doll left, she was replaced by manager Gary Hart who paired Zbyszko up with Al Perez. The NWA at that point which eventually moved to new ownership seemed to have no idea what to do with either Zbyszko or Perez so in 1989, Zbyszko decided to return to the AWA.

On February 7, 1989, Zbyszko won an 18 man battle royal for the then vacant AWA World Heavyweight title last eliminating Tom Zenk. Zbyszko would go on to feud with Zenk, Wahoo McDaniel and Sgt. Slaughter but held on to his title throughout this. He'd also fend off challenges from Greg Gagne and David Sammartino. On February 10, 1990, he'd lose the AWA World title to an unlikely choice in Mr. Saito who defeated him at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Zbyszko regained the title from Saito on April 8, 1990 and went on to successfully defend it against the likes of The Trooper, Brad Rheingans, Nikita Koloff and Harley Race amongst others. AWA was in serious decline by this time however and Zbyszko choose to go to WCW in December 1990 and was thereafter stripped of his AWA World title. The AWA would declare bankruptcy and go out of business in 1991.

Initially Zbsyzko teamed with Terry Taylor in WCW but found an even better and more suitable partner in Arn Anderson. Together as the Enforcers, they defeated Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmeier for the then vacant WCW World Tag Team titles in a tournament final match at Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl. Leading up to Halloween Havoc '91, the Enforcers feuded with Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham eventually attacking and injuring Windham's hand. At Clash of the Champions XVII, Windham was replaced by Ricky Steamboat who along with Dustin Rhodes defeated the Enforcers for the WCW World Tag Team titles. In December 1991, the Enforcers joined Paul E. Dangerously Dangerous Alliance. When a mistake by Zbyszko was seen as the reason for his Dangerous Alliance's team loss in a WarGames match, the Dangerous Alliance turned on Zbyszko leading to brief feuds with Steve Austin and Bobby Eaton before Zbyszko retired to become a color commentator.

At this time, Zbsyzko started calling himself "The Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko obviously mocking his old rival "The Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino, himself a former color commentator. Zbyszko initially provided commentary on the weekend WCW Pro Wrestling show alongside Dusty Rhodes and Chris Cruise. In 1994, Lord Steven Regal began tormenting Zbyszko eventually leading to him making a surprise return to the ring and defeating Regal for the WCW World Television title on May 2, 1994, a title Regal would regain on June 23, 1994. In 1996, Zbyszko was promoted to join the WCW Monday Nitro announce team alongside Tony Schiavone for the first hour. In 1997, NWO member Scott Hall began to torment him and try and get him to have a match with him with Zbyszko decided against at the time. At Starrcade 1997, Zbyszko actually faced Eric Bischoff in a match for control of WCW Monday Nitro with Bret Hart as special referee. Zbyszko won the match ensuring WCW maintained control of Nitro. Zbyszko continued to feud with Hall and eventually had a match with him at Souled Out 1998, a match he won by DQ when Dusty Rhodes betrayed him and joined the NWO. Zbyszko returned to announcing full-time in 1999 after losing a retirement match to Curt Hennig. He returned to the ring again in January 2000 as a member of the Old Age Outlaws alongside Terry Funk, Arn Anderson and Paul Orndorff who were then feuding with a revived NWO but returned to commentary again in February until WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001.

As an announcer, Zbyszko wasn't so bad really but often seemed a little too self-absorbed and self-interested as he seemed to stop and restart his in-ring career whenever the mood struck him. Instead of helping to build new stars with his commentary, sometimes he was a little too interested in promoting himself and his own past reputation. Although to be fair Zbsyzko could still go in the ring, he really should have stepped aside for the most part once he had assumed a mostly commentary position.

Zbyszko would actually go on to compete in-ring more on the independent scene from 2001-2005 competing in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, feuding with Chris Harris in the Tennessee based USA Championship Wrestling promotion where he defeated Harris for the USA North American Heavyweight title but lost it back to Harris less than a month later. On August 27, 2005 at WrestleReunion in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Zbyszko faced Diamond Dallas Page in a match that stipulated if Zbyszko won he'd receive five minutes alone in the ring with sixty-nine year old Bruno Sammartino. Page eventually nailed Zbyszko with his Diamond Cutter but then choose to pull the prone Zbyszko on top of him for the pin leading to Bruno throttling the prone Zbyszko for five minutes!

In January 2003, Zbyszko moved to TNA and sparked a brief feud of respect with A.J. Styles eventually winning the right to be Styles manager when Styles couldn't pin him twice in under ten minutes. The angle however would shortly be scrapped and Zbyszko would again disappear for a while. He'd next return in August 2003 losing a match to Kid Kash after interference from Abyss. On June 2004, Zbyszko finally made a more significant return assisting Ron "The Truth" Killings in his feud with Jeff Jarrett. Following this Zbyszko would be given a Championship Committee role. Eventually this would be phased out but Zbyszko would be made "Director of Authority"  in June 2005. Eventually this would lead to a feud with Raven who felt slighted he was never given a NWA world championship rematch against Jarrett after Jarrett and America's Most Wanted teamed up to get the title away from him. Eventually Zbyszko started bringing in people to make Raven's life hell including P.J. Polaco, The Diamonds in the Rough, Chris Kanyon and Sean Waltman. Following a loss to Waltman with much interference from Zbyszko, Raven was fired. On April 2006, Zbyszko was placed on probation due to his unfair actions towards Raven and Raven was reinstated. At TNA Victory Road 2006, Raven finally got his revenge on Zbyszko defeating him in an hair vs. hair match. After losing a match to Eric Young at Bound For Glory 2006, Zbyszko was fired by TNA a week later. Zbyszko once again returned to the independent circuit and was awarded the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight championship as he'd never lost his AWA World title in the ring. On April 18, 2008, he'd lose this new AWA World title to Brian Logan in a 3 way match that also included Ricky Landell. However when Logan left to join the rogue American Wrestling Affiliates, the AWA Superstars of Wrestling began recognizing Zbyszko as champion again, this time he'd drop the title to Ricky Landell. Zbyszko still makes sporadic in-ring appearances to this day.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 11, 2010, 07:50:35 PM
"Mean" Gene Okerlund joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. "Mean" Gene was a colorful outspoken backstage interviewer and the seeming perfect host for events around and involving pro wrestling. Okerlund got his start in the AWA where he started as a fill-in ring announcer and interviewer for the ailing Marty O' Neil. By the end of the decade, Okerlund had left his radio background behind to take O'Neil's place in the AWA. Okerlund was one of the main voices of the AWA until 1983 especially featured in a backstage and ring interview role but he sometimes did some announcing too.

Okerlund left with several other key AWA figures who went to the WWF at the end of 1983, early 1984 including Hulk Hogan and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Okerlund would stay with the WWF for nine years and usually played host on numerous Coliseum Home Video releases, was the WWF's top interviewer and played host to shows like Tuesday Night Titans and All-American Wrestling. Okerlund actually tied it up in the ring for one special match in which he teamed with Hulk Hogan to defeat George "The Animal" Steele and Mr. Fuji with Hogan actually helping "Mean" Gene pin Fuji! At the first Wrestlemania, Okerlund sang "The Star-Spangled Banner". In 1985, he made a special guest appearance on The A-Team along with Hulk Hogan, Heenan, Ricky Steamboat, The British Bulldogs, Corporal Kirschner and Big John Studd. As "Mean Gene", Okerlund always seemed a goofy, fun character even performing "Tutti Frutti" on one occasion. With his bald head and black mustache, Okerlund never seemed imposing but gave great and believable facial reactions to the shenanigans of the wrestlers.

After Summerslam 1993, Okerlund left the WWF for rival WCW. There he continued his role as interviewer and backstage personality but in the WCW seemed to develop a little more shady personality designed to score and shill dough from fans who wanted scoops from his phone hotline. He only left WCW for a few months in Fall 1996. After that, he remained with WCW until it was sold in 2001. Vince Russo also gave Okerlund a bit of a "dirty old man" gimmick where he seemed to dwell on the breasts of the women he interviewed and would lust after announcer/interviewer Pamela Paulshock. While in WCW and despite a neck injury, Okerlund wrestled in two matches in WCW. In one he teamed with Buff Bagwell to defeat Chris Kanyon and Mark Madden and in another he defeated Madden one on one.

"Mean" Gene made his WWF/WWE return in 2001 helping to announce the Gimmick Battle Royal at Wrestlemania X-7 alongside Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. He would go on to host the show WWE Confidential for two years. Prior to his WWF return, Gene also helped to host several AWA classics specials and another Wrestling Classics show. "Mean Gene" would also go on to host "WWE Madison Square Garden Classics" for MSG Network and host the WWE On Demand Hall of Fame section. Okerlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan. In June 2008, Okerlund began hosting WWE Vintage Collection which is a perfect fit for him and he does a fantastic job on it.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 11, 2010, 08:34:50 PM
"Mean" Gene is one reason I loved wrestling as a kid.  He may not have been much of a play by play guy, but his interview segments were always entertaining and oftentimes added much to a wrestler's character.  He's not the only reason I liked it, but he definitely added a lot.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 12, 2010, 09:00:21 PM
Bam Bam Bigelow joins the Singles Hall of Shame. After neing trained in Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory, Bam Bam Bigelow seemed a natural for big success in wrestling. He had a very unique look given his bald head covered with a massive bright red flame tattoo, a background as a bounty hunter, and was a surprisingly agile 400+ pound big man who could move and work better than most inside the squared circle. During his earliest days in wrestling he wrestled as Crusher Yurkof in World Class where he captured the WCWA Television title. Following this he wrestled in Continental Wrestling in Tennessee as Bam Bam Bigelow teaming up with Jerry "The King" Lawler during his heated 1987 feud with Tommy Rich and Austin Idol managed by Paul E. Dangerously. While there he captured the AWA Southern Heavyweight title. In May 1987, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation and first debuted on TV with all the heel managers vying to secure his services. He surprised everyone by announcing Sir Oliver Humperdink as his manager with the two remaining fan favourites. Bam Bam would prove quite popular in his early WWF days given his unique look and his remarkable agility for a man so big. First Bigelow got past Nikolai Volkoff and jilted manager Slick. Next he was chosen for Hulk Hogan's Survivor Series 1987 team and was the last man eliminated during said match giving a very impressive performance eliminating King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang before finally being eliminated and defeated by Andre the Giant. Bigelow continuing wrestling in the WWF for a year despite a knee injury and lost by countout to the One Man Gang in the first round of the Wrestlemania IV WWF World title tournament. He'd end his first WWF stint shortly after this.

Bigelow next turned up in Jim Crockett Promotions NWA in 1988 alongside manager Humperdink and was soon gunning for Barry Windham's United States title. The two had a great match at Starrcade' 88 but Windham eventually defeated Bam Bam by countout. Bigelow however had made a commitment to New Japan Pro Wrestling where he teamed with Big Van Vader to win the IWGP Tag Team titles. In 1992, he left New Japan and performed for several other Japanese promotions. He captured the WAR Six-Man Tag Team titles with Hiromichi Fuyuki and Youji Anjoh at this time. Bigelow also had several independent special match-ups with Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy billed as the Battle of the Bam Bams. Bigelow also had a short run in Herb Abrams UWF where he was a top contender to "Dr. Death" Steve Williams' UWF Heavyweight title.

In late 1992, Bigelow returned to the WWF this time as an heel which actually seemed a much more natural fit for him. At the 1993 Royal Rumble he defeated the Big Bossman. He'd next have a standout performance at the 1993 King of the Ring making it all the way to the finals where he lost to Bret "The Hitman" Hart in a great bout. Shortly thereafter Luna Vachon became Bam Bam's "love interest" and manager. He'd shortly thereater go on to feud with Tatanka and Doink the Clown. Bigelow lost to Tatanka at Royal Rumble 1994 but teamed with Luna to defeat Doink and his midget partner Dink at Wrestlemania X. In mid-1994, he was added to Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation stable where he often teamed with Irwin R. Schyster and the newly heel Tatanka. At Survivor Series 1994, Bigelow and fellow Million Dollar Corporation member King Kong Bundy survived their match against Lex Luger's Guts and Glory team. Next Bigelow and Tatanka were upset in a tournament final for the then vacant WWF World Tag Team titles by Bob Holly and The 1-2-3 Kid leading to him being made fun of by New York Giants All-Pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor leading to an high-profile feud between the wrestler and the football player that would become the co-main event of Wrestlemania XI where he actually lost to Taylor! Despite this, Bigelow soon was turned face and made a buddy to then WWF World champion Diesel. At the 1995 King of the Ring, he teamed with Diesel to defeat former Million Dollar Corporation partners Tatanka and Sycho Sid. Surprisingly as a babyface, Bigelow seemed to quickly fall out of the limelight and left the WWF again following his Survivor Series 1995 match against Goldust.

With rumors swirling that Bigelow had backstage problems with the WWF's Kliq, he left the WWF and started making appearances in ECW. In early 1996 he feuded with Taz. Bigelow also faced and defeated Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy while there with some help from The Eliminators. On November 17, 1996, Bigelow competed in a "U-Japan" MMA event where he was quickly defeated in the first round by Kimo Leopoldo. Bigelow returned to ECW in 1997 eventually joining a reformed Triple Threat faction alongside Chris Candido and Shane Douglas. Bigelow would prove a dominant force in ECW around this time throwing Spike Dudley out of the ring and into the ringside audience and slamming Taz straight through the ring. He turned on Douglas and defeated him for the ECW World Heavyweight title in October 1997 under the guidance of "Ravishing" Rick Rude but lost the title back to Douglas in a classic bout at 1997's November To Remember. He continued his feud with Douglas eventually enlisting Taz to help him. Bigelow however would betray Taz and rejoin the Triple Threat with Douglas and Candido with the pair dumping prospect Lance Storm. At March 1998, he defeated Taz at Living Dangerously 1998 to win the ECW World Television title. After successfully fending off the challenge of the Sandman, Bigelow was finally defeated by Rob Van Dam who had help from Sabu. Bigelow continued with the Triple Threat and feuded with Taz until leaving ECW for WCW at the end of 1998.

On November 16, 1998, Bigelow debuted in WCW. Initially he was used as an upstart challenger for WCW World Heavyweight champion Goldberg. After losing to Goldberg, Bigelow was shifted to WCW's Hardcore division along with former ECW stars Raven and Hardcore Hak (formerly Sandman). He won the WCW Hardcore title once. Next he was put into a stable alongside Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon called the Jersey Triad. Together the trio would capture the WCW World Tag Team titles twice. After the Triad disbanded, Bigelow feuded with Mike Awesome who defeated him in an Ambulance match at Starrcade 2000. Bigelow remained with WCW until it was purchased by the WWF losing his last match on Nitro to Shawn Stasiak. Bigelow would compete briefly on the independent circuit from 2002 to 2006 capturing the NWA Northeast Heavyweight title, the USA Heavyweight title and the USA Pro/UXW Heavyweight championship twice.

Bigelow was a great worker and performed numerous great matches with a wide variety of opponents. He wasn't afraid to help make smaller men look good and always wowed fans with his quick agility and ability to deliver drop-kicks and other moves few men his size could perform as effectively. As a youngster and teenager, he freqeuntly wowed me and I have to admit to having been a big fan. Bigelow died young at age 45. An autopsy revealed Bigelow's death was due to multiple drugs found in his system including toxic levels of cocaine and an anti-anxiety drug. Bigelow had also been suffering from an heart problem.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 14, 2010, 11:41:29 PM
Jake "The Snake" Roberts joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Personally I sincerely believe Roberts might have been one of the very best, if not the best, talkers in the history of the wrestling business. He was shrewd, cunning, unpredictable and very snake-like in his interviews rather like the snakes he'd bring out to the squared circle along with him. Roberts was also an extremely good worker and while he never really reached the top of the wrestling card, he nevertheless provided many many entertaining and memorable bouts and boy could he ever give a great, memorable and sometimes chilling interview. He was a master of mind games and in-ring psychology and had a certain dark charm and charisma. His DDT finisher usually put the finishing touch on his opponents in the ring and set them up to be slithered over by one of his boa constrictor pet snakes usually Damien but later there was also Lucifer.

Roberts was the son of professional wrestler "Grizzly" Smith with whom he's had a long estranged relationship. Roberts began his career in Louisiana in 1974 making a name for himself first in Mid-South (where he won the Mid-South Louisiana title, Mid-South North America title twice and Mid-South Television title), Mid-Atlantic and Georgia Championship Wrestling. While in Georgia in 1983, Roberts became a member of Paul Ellering's Legion of Doom faction and starting feuding with Ron Garvin over the NWA World Television title, a feud that lasted until 1984. Roberts would win the Georgia version of the NWA World Television title twice and would also hold the NWA National Television title. Later in 1984, Roberts moved to World Class Championship Wrestling teaming up with Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez as they feuded with the Von Erichs. During this time, Roberts won the WCCW Television title and the Six-Man Tag Team titles alongside Adams and Hernandez. In 1985, Roberts made his return to Mid-South Wrestling finishing up his last run there in 1986 after a feud with Dick Slater.

In 1986, he moved to the WWF and proceeded quickly into a feud with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat after brutally DDTing Steamboat on to the floor outside the ring and then placing the snake Damien over Steamboat's prone body and even placed the snake's head in his mouth. Steamboat suffered a concussion from the incident and was knocked out cold. This lead to an intense feud between the two that thrilled fans with Steamboat eventually enlisting a komodo dragon (actually a small alligator) in his fight with Roberts and Damien. Steamboat dominated the matches during the feud which came to a conclusion in a Snake Pit No-DQ match at the Big Event in Toronto and a rematch on "Saturday Night's Main Event" where the initial attack by Roberts occurred. Both men nowadays speak highly of this feud and each shows tremendous respect for the other. Shortly after the feud ended, Roberts started hosting a talk show segment called "The Snake Pit" slightly patterned after "Piper's Pit". Roberts actually wrestled a rare heel vs. heel match against Randy Savage in November 1986 for Savage's Intercontinental title. Vince McMahon expected the crowd to cheer Savage in the match but instead the crowd cheered Roberts who no doubt won many fans over with his talent on the microphone and in the ring. The match ended in a DDQ. The WWF were hoping to get a feud between Roberts and Hogan going around this time but when Roberts attacked Hogan with the DDT on the "Snake Pit", the fans didn't chant for Hogan but chanted "DDT!DDT!" leading to them eventually scrapping those plans and eventually no doubt lead to their decision to turn Roberts babyface.

The face turn came after the Honky Tonk Man attacked Roberts with his guitar on "The Snake Pit". The shot actually caused a legit injury to Robert's neck at the time leading to Roberts eventually supporting replacement Ken Patera in a bout against Honky. This feud led to Roberts, managed by Alice Cooper, at Wrestlemania III challenging the Honky Tonk Man, a match Honky would win through dubious means. Followinbg Wrestlemania and Honky winning the Intercontinental title, Roberts unsuccessfully challenged Honky Tonk several times mainly because Roberts was still too injured it was felt to carry the championship at that time. Roberts had perhaps his most personal and heated feud with "Ravishing" Rick Rude in 1988 after Rude started to act suggestively towards Roberts real-life then wife Cheryl. Next Roberts had a memorable feud with Andre the Giant where he used Andre's fear of snakes against him and used it to eliminate him from a Royal Rumble match and to get a DQ win over him at Wrestlemania V although Andre did win the majority of the matches between the two. Next Roberts moved into a feud with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase over DiBiase's Million Dollar championship. At one point, Roberts stole the unsanctioned belt and placed it into his snake bag daring DiBiase and/or his henchman Virgil to reach in and take it. The feud culminated in a match for the Million Dollar Belt at Wrestlemania VI that DiBiase ultimately won by countout to regain the title but Roberts still got some good licks in on both DiBiase and Virgil. Roberts next had a surprisingly forgettable feud with Bad News Brown before feuding with Rick "The Model" Martel after Martel sprayed his "Arrogance" cologne in Roberts' eyes (kayfabe). This lead to a bizarre and unusual match at Wrestlemania VII with both men blindfolded by wearing black hoods over their heads, a match Roberts ultimately used the help of the fans to score a DDT and victory over Martel.

Roberts next feud was against Earthquake after he (kayfabe) squashed Damien with a pair of Earthquake splashes on national television. In reality Damien was never actually in the bag but Earthquake later claimed he used Damien to make Quakeburgers on television building up the heat in the feud even further. Shortly thereafter Roberts revealed a new larger python snake named Lucifer as his newest pet.

In late summer 1991, Roberts began to show signs of an heel turn when the Ultimate Warrior came to him for advice about the Dark Side in his feud with the Undertaker. Eventually it was revealed Roberts was actually in cahoots with the Undertaker and manager Paul Bearer all along and Roberts began to proclaim "Never trust a snake!". A feud was planned but then Ultimate Warrior was fired by the WWF before it could ever materialize so instead of Warrior, the feud was changed to Randy "Macho Man" Savage whom Roberts offended by crashing his post Summerslam 1991 wedding reception to Miss Elizabeth and giving Elizabeth a present that contained a live snake. Savage, then forced into retirement following a stipulation loss to Warrior at Wrestlemania VII began to be taunted and tormented constantly by Roberts on national television eventually leading to a taping of WWF Superstars of Wrestling where Roberts goaded Savage into the ring only to brutally attack him eventually getting a live King cobra to bite Savage's arm. The snake was devenomized but Roberts had a hard time getting the snake to release its bite during the shocking segment. Savage would shortly thereafter be reinstated and a brutal, intense feud with Roberts would soon follow. Savage and Roberts would both get their brutal licks in and Savage would initially dominate and just as it looked like Roberts might turn the tide of momentum, he was surprise attacked by another man - the Undertaker. The Undertaker would go on to dominate his feud with Roberts and defeat him at Wrestlemania VIII eventually leading to Roberts leaving the WWF.

Roberts next showed up in WCW where he quickly aligned himself with the Barbarian and Cactus Jack to feud with Sting, Ron Simmons and Nikita Koloff. Roberts eventually ended up in a feud with Sting even scoring a win over him at one point. The feud culminated at Halloween Havoc 1992 in a Spin the Wheel, Make a Deal match which turned out to be a Coal Miner's Glove Match, perhaps the worst option on the non-gimmicked wheel. Sting defeated Roberts and Roberts left WCW shortly thereafter.

Roberts next showed up in AAA in Mexico where he started a heated feud with Konnan that eventually lead to him losing an Hair vs. Hair Match to Konnan. In 1996, Roberts returned to the WWF this time as a reformed Bible-preaching babyface. To go along with this gimmick, Roberts revealed a new snake named Revelations. This at the time actually mirrored Roberts actual life as he had become a Christian trying to spread the word. The most memorable element of this run however ultimately proved to be his loss in the 1996 King of the Ring finals to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin after getting injured in a previous bout with Vader. Following the match, Austin mocked Roberts and uttered his arguably most famous catchphrase "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass". Roberts also had a rather personal feud against Jerry "The King" Lawler. The WWF at this point had plans for Roberts to retire and take on a backstage role with the company but Roberts still wanted to perform leading to him eventually relapsing into alcohol and drug abuse. He was fired in February 1997. Not long after his wife Cheryl filed for divorce.

In the summer of 1997, Roberts made a surprise debut in ECW helping Jerry Lawler defeat Tommy Dreamer but getting in his licks at old rival Lawler too. Roberts was featured throughout the film Beyond the Mat and was portrayed mainly in a negative light which greatly and understandably upset Roberts who believed the film was going to be about those battling drug problems. In 2001, Roberts went to Great Britain to compete and despite winning some championships there, Roberts unfortunately will most likely be remembered for those occasions he showed up to compete in no fit condition to be in the ring. In 2005 prior to Wrestlemania, he made a special WWE appearance and was RKOed by "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton (who ultimately has developed a gimmick rather similar to Roberts).

Roberts had a troubled life but when he was at his best and his focus was in the right place, very few could deliver better in the ring and definitely even less were ever better behind the microphone.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 15, 2010, 08:37:27 AM
Jake Roberts biggest enemy in the wrestling business was his own addictions.  I think if he were able to be clean for longer stretches of time he'd have been more than a 'mid-card' kinda guy, so to speak.  He's his own enemy.  In '98/'99 guys his age like Savage, Piper and Hogan were on top of the world during the 'Monday Night War/Attitude' era.  He's addicted and wrestling for $200 at some small show in a gym in Iowa. :bluesad:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 15, 2010, 05:57:09 PM
Jake Roberts biggest enemy in the wrestling business was his own addictions.  I think if he were able to be clean for longer stretches of time he'd have been more than a 'mid-card' kinda guy, so to speak.  He's his own enemy.  In '98/'99 guys his age like Savage, Piper and Hogan were on top of the world during the 'Monday Night War/Attitude' era.  He's addicted and wrestling for $200 at some small show in a gym in Iowa. :bluesad:

I agree with those sentiments and yes it's very sad.

Jonathan Coachman joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. "Coach" will likely be best remembered for his heelish role on WWE Raw be it as a general manager or an announcer who seemed to favor heels. Some no doubt remember him also being constantly ridiculed by the Rock or thoroughly humiliated by DX. Coach was another of those announcers who to me seemed more than a bit too self-preoccupied and self-interested especially given that he actually spent some time competing in-ring or took an active role in on-screen storylines. Coachman started out as an interviewer talking to wrestlers backstage and in ring interviews segments. The most memorable of these for Coachman would definitely be with the Rock, who seemingly too great delight in making Coach look like a fool. For a long time too, Coach played lackey to Raw GM Eric Bischoff. At one point, he would become involved in Bischoff`s feud with Eugene and would even be forced to wear a dress. He would also host the 2004 and 2005 Diva Searchs. Eventually Coach would come to announce on WWE Heat alongside Al Snow and the two would start a rivalry of sorts with Raw announcers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler even at one point winning the right to announce the main show. In 2004, Coach would get his first in-ring victory over Tajiri albeit with a lot of help from Garrison (Lance) Cade. During an October 2005 angle involving the McMahons firing Jim Ross, Coach became lead announcer on Raw. This was to eventually lead to a match between Coach and Steve Austin with Ross`career on the line but Austin balked when the storyline revealed a plan for Coach to underhandedly gain a victory in the match. Eventually Austin was replaced in the angle by Batista and Coach hired backups Goldust and Vader to be his support in the match which turned out to be a streetfight. Batista won the match but no other mention of Ross was made at that time.

Eventually Coach would be replaced by newcomer and former ECW announcer Joey Styles as lead announcer although Coach and Jerry Lawler still both stayed on to provide color commentary Coach playing the heel role. In January 2006, Coach with the help of the Spirit Squad would defeat Jerry Lawler to get into the Royal Rumble match where he would quickly be eliminated by the Big Show. On an April 24 edition of Raw after Coach hosted a bikini contest, Viscera would come down and perform his Viscagra on Coachman (basically riding him). Following this, Coachman would seemingly quit in protest as to how he was being treated. By May it was revealed Coachman was given a new position as Executive Assistant to Mr. McMahon to help the McMahons run Raw and he even acted as GM when the McMahons were not around. During this time, Coach would aid the McMahons in their feud with DX and also ran afoul of John Cena. On June 18, 2007, Coachman was named Interim General Manager following the kayfabe limo explosion death of Mr. McMahon. During an August 6, 2007 Raw William Regal won the right via a battle royal win to become the new General Manager of Raw leading to Coach suddenly being reduced to being Regal`s assistant with Coach again acting as Interim GM when Regal was injured. On a December 3rd, 2007 edition of Raw, Coach was defeated by Hornswoggle who had hired the APA to help him in the match. Coach became Michael Cole`s broadcasting partner on Smackdown! in early 2008 but was shortly thereafter replaced by Mick Foley. In 2008, Coach left the WWE behind to begin a new career with ESPN where he acts as a sports anchor on Sportcenter and ESPNNews.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 17, 2010, 06:19:44 PM
The Powers of Pain of The Barbarian and The Warlord join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Mostly the Powers of Pain are remembered for their hard-hitting, high impact feuds with the Road Warriors in Jim Crockett Promotions NWA and their feud with Demolition in the WWF that followed shortly thereafter. In both cases, the Powers of Pain it was argued was on the losing side although one could argue they had done significant damage to the Road Warriors and that things were never fully and adequately settled between those two teams. Initially formed in the NWA, the team was put together by manager Paul Jones who paired up his man Konga the Barbarian with new charge the Warlord. The two had an imposing look which was very similar to The Road Warriors of Hawk and Animal who would soon prove their targets. During a weightlifting competition, the Powers of Pain would strike and injure Road Warrior Animal's eye. This would ignite a feud between the two with most fans siding with the original war painted duo - the Road Warriors. During the feud, the Warriors frequently teamed with Dusty Rhodes in six-man bouts against The Powers of Pain and Ivan Koloff. While The POP and Koloff would capture the NWA Six-Man Tag Team titles from Rhodes and the Warriors, eventually the POP would leave the NWA for the WWF and it was argued the Road Warriors along with Rhodes chased them out of the NWA although actually they actually still held the Six-Man titles at the time.

Next the Powers of Pain debuted in the WWF brought in as a pair of apparently hired mercenaries to take down Demolition by Tito Santana, who'd just seen his partner Rick Martel fall at the hands of Demolition and Mr. Fuji. Early on the POP in the WWF were managed by Baron Von Raschke but eventually this was phased out and the POP seemed to be on their own - that is until Survivor Series 1988 when a startling turn of events happened. Mr. Fuji actually turned on his own charges Demolition in favor of the seemingly bigger and more muscular POP despite Demolition having the upper hand in most encounters between the two. With Fuji's help, the POP won the 1988 Tag Team Survivor Series match and were sole survivors on their team finally eliminating the Conquistadors. Now they were all set, as heels lead by Mr. Fuji, to take on Demolition, all of sudden turned face, for the WWF World Tag Team titles. At Wrestlemania V though, Demolition also really wanted to get their hands on the treacherous Mr. Fuji who had betrayed them so they agreed to a 3 on 2 Handicap match. Demolition would eventually win the match by beating Fuji himself and the POP would not long after break up and pursue singles stardom. Upon their return to the independent scene, they would reform their tag team and win the WWA Tag Team titles and later would appear in WCW under masks as the Super Assassins.

The Honky Tonk Man joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Wayne Ferris, the cousin of Jerry "The King" Lawler had a long career on the independent circuit, including some notable successes in Calgary, Memphis and Puerto Rico, before entering the WWF as the Elvis impersonating Honky Tonk Man. Initially meant to be a fan favorite, the fans were quick to boo Honky leading to a rather quick heel turn and Honky becoming paired up with manager Jimmy Hart who acted as his "Colonel". Honky first gained notice by knocking guys over the head with the guitar he brought out to the ring with him most notably Jake "The Snake" Roberts with whom he soon entered into a heated personal rivalry and feud, one that Honky would eventually win essentially because Roberts was legit injured by the guitar shot. But what Honky is likely best remembered for is shocking the world by upsetting Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat for the WWF Intercontinental title in June 1987. Honky, by using Hart, his guitar, a valet named Peggy Sue and many other methods managed to constantly get himself disqualified in title defense after title defense helping him hold on to the title time after time and frustrating fans who were very much hoping to see the rather annoying and arrogant Honky get his. But Honky kept fending off challenger after challenger including Roberts, Steamboat, Hacksaw Duggan, Billy Jack Haynes, Bruno Sammartino, George "The Animal" Steele and Don Muraco. Honky's next major feud would be against "Macho Man" Randy Savage after Honky dared to put his hands on Miss Elizabeth after she tried to protect Randy from getting hit with the guitar. Honky and the Hart Foundation though did a number on Macho Man until Elizabeth went and got help from Hulk Hogan leading to the eventual formation of the Mega-Powers. Savage got in some licks at Honky as did Roberts and Steamboat but Honky managed to cling on to his title nevertheless. He also fended off the challenge of Brutus Beefcake before finally getting destroyed by the Ultimate Warrior at Summerslam '88 in a defeat the fans had long been clamboring to see.

Honky definitely drew great heat throughout his time on top as Intercontinental champion, so much so he became and still holds the record as the longest reigning Intercontinental champion in history but Honky eventually might have become so annoying that his heat might have I'd argue eventually become very negative not to mention the damage one could argue he was doing to the legacy of the prestigious Intercontinental title. Honky's career post I-C title was never quite as impressive ever again and he usually lost more than he won his share of feuds, the most notable of which was with Dusty Rhodes. He later formed a tag team called Rhythm and Blues with Greg Valentine, who actually dyed his hair black but they too proved rather unsuccessful. After their breakup, Honky faded from the wrestling scene but still remains rather outspoken behind the scenes. He had a brief late 90s stints as a heel color commentator, a manager for Billy Gunn and a forgettable WCW run. More recently, he has made occasional guest appearances since most notably as an opponent for Santino Marella at one point and is still known to sporadically compete independently.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 19, 2010, 08:08:12 PM
Booker T. joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Booker started out in a successful tag team with his brother Stevie Ray who went by the names The Ebony Experience and later Harlem Heat in WCW. They won tag titles practically everywhere they competed and were actually quite dominant in 90s WCW winning 10 Tag Team title reigns. In 1997 while Stevie Ray was injured, Booker got his first taste of singles success capturing the WCW World Television title from Disco Inferno. Booker thereafter moved into feuds over the TV title with Perry Saturn and Rick Martel. In the spring of 1998 after interference from Chris Benoit caused Booker to lose his title to Fit Finlay, the two engaged in a Best of 7 series with the winner to get a title bout with Finlay. The matches were excellent and are still remembered fondly by fans to this day. Eventually after interference from both Bret Hart and Stevie Ray, Booker emerged the winner and regained the TV title from Finlay. Eventually Booker would injure his knee during a match with Bret Hart and Stevie Ray would defend the title in his place eventually losing it. Upon his return from injury, Booker once again captured the TV title, this time from Scott Steiner who however defeated Booker in a tournament final for the vacant United States title. Booker would lose the TV title one month later to Rick Steiner.

After this Harlem Heat would reunite once again with Booker finally convincing Stevie Ray to leave the NWO - before this, they had captured 7 WCW World Tag Team titles, together again in 1999-2000, they'd add three more to the list. Eventually Stevie Ray would turn on Booker and female valet Midnight to form Harlem Heat 2000 with Big T (Tony Norris, formerly Ahmed Johnson). Booker would team up with Billy Kidman to defeat Harlem Heat 2000 at Uncensored 2000. For a brief period of time in these confusing WCW days, Booker joined General Rection's Misfits In Action faction changing his name to G.I. Bro, an old gimmick he'd worked in the past. Eventually he'd return to being Booker T..

During the summer of 2000, Booker was suddenly elevated to main event status following Vince Russo firing Hulk Hogan. Booker would get a WCW World Title bout with Jeff Jarrett and win the title becoming the second African American to hold the title (Ron Simmons was the first). In August, he briefly lost the title to Kevin Nash but regained it at Fall Brawl 2000 only to lose it in controversial fashion to Vince Russo in a steel cage match. After the title was vacated by Russo, Booker won it for the third time by defeating Jarrett yet again. Booker next entered into a feud with Scott Steiner who defeated him for the title at WCW Mayhem. Steiner went on to have a surprisingly lengthy title reign as Booker was out with injury. Upon his return, Booker defeated Rick Steiner for the United States title and finally on the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro, he defeated Steiner to regain the WCW World title for the fourth time. Booker won a total of 23 titles in WCW and was their most decorated wrestler in the history of WCW. When Booker signed with WWE, he was still recognized as WCW World and United States champion.

During the Invasion era, Booker would become one of the leaders of the ECW/WCW Alliance eventually turning heel in the process. While in WWE, Booker gave his United States title to Chris Kanyon and went on to lose his WCW World title to Kurt Angle although he would regain it for a fifth time and started referring to himself as a "five-time" WCW World Champion. Booker held on to the WCW World title until Summerslam 2001 when he lost it to the Rock. He next started teaming with Test to win the WCW World Tag Team titles and together the pair would also capture the WWE World Tag Team titles. At Survivor Series 2001, the Alliance was defeated and forced to disband. Following this Booker remained an heel and joined forces with Vince McMahon along with the Big Bossman against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin eventually costing Austin a match for the Undisputed WWF World title at Vengeance. This led to Austin memorably getting revenge and attacking Booker in a grocery store.

Booker next feuded with Edge over who would star in a fictional Japanese shampoo commercial. When the Brand Extension was introduced, Booker was drafted to Raw and went on to win the WWE Hardcore title twice but lost it again in short fashion during the 24/7 rule days. After briefly joining the NWO in the WWE only to be kicked out by Shawn Michaels, Booker eventually formed a memorable tag team with Goldust turning Booker face. They'd battle the NWO and would challenge the Un-Americans and Christian & Chris Jericho for the tag titles but failed to win them. Finally Goldust & Booker did win the WWE World Tag Team titles at Armageddon 2002 in an elimination match against Christian & Jericho, the Un-Americans and the Dudley Boyz. They'd lose the titles three weeks later to the Un-Americans. After failing to regain the titles, the two decided to go their separate ways and Booker was now at the heights of his popularity and all set to challenge for the World Heavyweight title. Unfortunately for Booker, at Wrestlemania XIX, he'd lose to World champion Triple H.

Following this he teamed with Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels to feud with Triple H, Ric Flair & Chris Jericho. Triple H would eventually get the upper hand here too and Booker now set his sights on the Intercontinental title eventually defeating Christian to win said championship. About a month later due to an ailing back injury, Booker again dropped the title back to Christian. At Survivor Series 2003, Booker returned as a member of Steve Austin's Team in a battle against a team representing Eric Bischoff with control of Raw on the line. Booker's team lost the match. Booker next feuded with Mark Henry who eliminated him at Survivor Series and defeated him at Armageddon 2003. In February 2004, Booker teamed up with Rob Van Dam to win the WWF World Tag Team titles from Evolution members Batista and Ric Flair. They held the titles for a month and successfully defended them at Wrestlemania XX but eventually lost them back to Flair & Bastista. In March along with the Dudley Boyz, he was traded to Smackdown! for Triple H. Booker again turned heel and feuded with Undertaker but had little success. Next Booker set his sights on the United States title held by John Cena eventually capturing it after Cena was stripped of the title by then Smackdown GM Kurt Angle. Due to the controversy, Cena and Booker entered into a Best of Five series for the title which was eventually won by Cena.

In late 2004, Booker again turned face to pursue JBL's WWE Heavyweight title alongside other contenders Eddie Guerrero and Undertaker but JBL managed to fend off all these challengers although Booker did come close to defeating JBL for the title. He thereafter briefly teamed with Eddie Guerrero and had a forgettable feud with Heidenreich. Booker won a Battle Royal Dark match at Wrestlemania 21 and started to pursue the WWE title again eventually running afoul of Kurt Angle. The feud between the two took an unusual turn when Angle started to show an unusual interest in Booker's wife Sharmell. The feud saw Angle sink to new lows as he tried to take advantage of Sharmell but Booker eventually got his revenge and won the feud.

Shortly thereafter Booker started to pursue the United States title again now held by Chris Benoit. Eventually Booker would capture the U.S. title thanks to help from Sharmell. Eventually during a rematch, a confusing conclusion involving two referees led to the U.S. title being put up for grabs in a Best of 7 series between the two men. Booker got injured during the series however and selected Randy Orton as his replacement. Orton eventually won the series and the U.S. title back for Booker all while having some great bouts with Benoit. Benoit would eventually defeat Booker to regain the U.S. title though.

Booker next feuded with the Boogeyman who used his scare and frightening tactics to defeat Booker and terrorize Sharmell. Booker went on to win the 2006 King of the Ring tournament and reinvented himself as King Booker alongside Queen Sharmell enlisting a stable of wrestlers called the King's Court to help him including William Regal and Finlay. King Booker feuded with Bobby Lashley which intensified after Booker and his cohorts forced Lashley to kiss his feet. Lashley defeated Booker in bouts for the United States title. King Booker however would go on to win a # 1 Contenders Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight title and would go on to defeat Rey Mysterio Jr. to win the World Heavyweight title at the Great American Bash thanks to timely help from Chavo Guerrero Jr.. Booker next fended off challenges from Batista and went on to win a Champion of Champions match at Cyber Sunday defeating WWE Champion John Cena and ECW Champion the Big Show. Booker however would lose the World title to Batista at Survivor Series. Booker next teamed with Finlay to battle Batista and John Cena. Booker next feuded briefly with Kane to whom he lost. He qualified for the Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania 23 but lost when Matt Hardy threatened his wife's safety. A brief feud with Hardy followed during which Sharmell actually slapped Booker to show her disappointment in him when he lost to Hardy. Next he was taken out of action by the Undertaker as he was injured. Booker was drafted back to Raw in June and entered into a King's feud with Jerry "the King" Lawler defeating Lawler and setting him up to battle the returning Triple H to whom he lost. Not long after this, Booker would be suspended by WWE for violating its Wellness policy which he denied. He and Sharmell requested their release from WWE and were granted it.

Booker debuted in WCW about a month later being Sting's surprise partner in a match with Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash. Sharmell too debuted coming to their aid when Angle's wife Karen interfered. Booker next entered into a feud with Christian Cage and Robert Roode teaming with Kaz to defeat the pair. Eventually the feud was more between Booker & Sharmell and Roode and his manager Ms. Brooks with Booker and Sharmell typically getting the upper hand. In 2008, Booker would again turn heel to pursue the TNA World title first turning on Christian and Rhino and later pursuing Samoa Joe's TNA World title. Eventually Booker would become a member of the Main Event Mafia faction and would introduce a brand new title with himself as the first champion - the TNA Legends Championship, a belt he'd eventually lose to A.J. Styles. Booker teamed with Scott Steiner in the Mafia to win the TNA World Tag Team titles from Beer Money Inc. and successfully fended off challenges from Team 3D before losing the titles in a multi-team match to the British Invasion. Booker made a special one night return to challenge Rob Van Dam for the TNA World title in a losing effort. Booker has recently started competing in Mexico.

"Wild" Red Berry joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. "Wild" Red Berry is most remembered as one of wrestling's earliest and most successful managers leading the Fabulous Kangaroos of Al Costello and Roy Heffernan. He also managed Gorilla Monsoon and Hans "The Great" Mortimer. He would often dress in Australian garb and carry the Kangaroos boomerangs and would sometimes help them use them in their bouts. He was usually seen at ringside wearing a warm-up jacket that read "I Am Right". Before managing, Berry had been a successful wrestler winning the NWA World Light Heavyweight title nine times as well as titles in Central States, Texas, Arkansas and Los Angeles.

The Rock 'n' Roll Express join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson riding a wave of rock 'n' roll popularity were quickly beloved by fans, especially female teenybopper fans. The two were fast and quick, two good looking, mullet wearing young guys who embraced the rocker/party image. They were agile and great at double teaming but also showed a surprising level of toughness able to withstand brutal beatdowns, especially Morton, and still pull out wins. They were very successful and went on to win four NWA World Tag Team titles while in Jim Crockett Promotions. Their matches with the Midnight Express have become the stuff of legend. They later moved to the AWA and even feuded with their imitators the Midnight Rockers there in a great series of matches. Even when well past their prime, they still had great matches with the Heavenly Bodies in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. Throughout all the years, they've rarely split apart and actually team together sometimes even today?! During all their years together, only briefly did Morton turn on Gibson to join the York Foundation in early 1990s WCW but they reformed their team not too long after in SMW.

After initial successes in Memphis where they were first paired together in 1983 and where their gimmick first took off where they battled Randy Savage & Lanny Poffo, the Galaxians and the Bruise Brothers, they moved to Mid-South not long after where they soon were feuding with Mid-South Tag Team champs The Midnight Express, a feud and rivalry that would go on for years carrying over into the NWA and beyond. They'd win their first NWA World Tag Team title over the Russians Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khrushchev. They'd lose and regain the titles from the Russians before losing them to "Ravishing" Rick Rude and "Ragin Bull" Manny Fernandez lead by Paul Jones. After Rude left for the WWF, the Express defeated Fernandez and replacement Ivan Koloff to win their fourth tag title before losing them to the Horsemen team of Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson following an attack by the Midnight Express. In 1988, they had their feud with the Midnight Rockers which mostly took place in Memphis. They returned to the NWA in 1989 but with teams like the Steiners and Road Warriors now on top, they were reduced to mid-card status although they still had great bouts with Ole & Arn Anderson and the Midnight Express. The Rock 'n' Roll Express moved to SMW in the 90s and won the SMW Tag Team titles ten times battling against the likes of the Heavenly Bodies, Chris Candido & Brian Lee and the Gangstas. Late in their careers, they had brief but forgettable runs in WCW, WWF (where they were part of a short-lived NWA angle and even battled the New Midnight Express of Bob Holly & Bart Gunn). More recently they`ve had legends bouts against the Midnight Express at Reunion shows but most recently have been working in Booker T.`s PWA promotion where they won the Tag Team titles. Aside from the four NWA World Tag Team titles, the R`n`Rs have also won tag team titles in Mid-South (3 times), USWA (3 times), AWA Southern (2 times), CWA, Korean Pro- Wrestling Association, modern NWA and more.


Bill Mercer joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Mercer was the voice of WCCW arguably during the heights of its popularity in the early 1980s helping to introduce many innovations which forever changed the wrestling business including more backstage vignettes and the introduction of many more camera angles that followed the wrestling action or the movement of the wrestlers backstage. Mercer`s reactions and excitement to all the bizarre going-ons definitely added to things making the shows fun while also involving fans in the action. Prior to this, most wrestling was shot with the same static camera angles. Now fans were thrust much closer and further into the action. Mercer was actually an announcer from way back announcing wrestling as far back as the 1950s and 1960s during in-studio wrestling events. Outside of wrestling, Mercer is best remembered as a play by play radio announcer of baseball, football and basketball as well as wrestling. He was also a news reporter for KRLD and even covered the Kennedy assassination in 1963. He has been inducted in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, the University of North Texas Athletic Department Hall of Fame, the Texas Baseball Ex-Pro's Baseball Hall of Fame, was presented the Oklahoma Sports Museum, Guthrie, Oklahoma: The Bill Teegins Award and was inducted into the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Hall of Fame, April 2009.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 20, 2010, 08:42:01 PM
Torrie Wilson joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Wilson, a former fitness model turning pro wrestling valet and eventually in-ring performer mainly got attention solely for one reason - her looks. In many ways she looked the ideal American blonde bombshell with the perfect smile and a killer in-shape body. Before entering wrestling, Wilson won a Miss Galaxy 1998 competition. Not long after that in 1999 she was hired by WCW. Born in Boise, Idaho, Wilson also had a small town charm going for her and always seemed nice and surprisingly approachable for such a gorgeous woman. Initially Wilson was spotted when she attended a WCW event with her boyfriend. After going backstage, she was asked to escort Scott Steiner to the ring initially as a nWo girl. Kevin Nash wanted to do a storyline with her and she was soon involved in a storyline where she was hired by the nWo to seduce David Flair and turn him against his famous father "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. After David turned heel, Wilson would accompany him to the ring and at the 1999 Bash at the Beach with Wilson as his valet, David captured the WCW United States title from Dean Malenko.

Not too long after though, Wilson disappeared from TV for a while but upon her return, she started managing Billy Kidman and his teammates in the Filthy Animals. Wilson would most be involved in storylines where her boyfriend Kidman got jealous over her giving attention to others be it teammate Eddie Guerrero or later Horace Hogan while she and Kidman were a part of the New Blood faction. Wilson would eventually turn on Kidman giving him a low blow that allowed Hulk Hogan to defeat him at the Great American Bash.

Wilson then diappeared for a while but reappeared at July's Bash at the Beach 2000 and paired up with Shane Douglas leading to a feud between Kidman and Douglas. This led to a mixed tag team scaffold match at Fall Brawl 2000 where Wilson & Douglas defeated Kidman and Madusa. Wilson would be released by WCW in December 2000.

During the Invasion storyline in WWE, Torrie Wilson was brought in as a member of the ECW/WCW Alliance playing Vince McMahon's latest fling and teaming up with Stacy Keibler only to lose to Lita and Trish Stratus in a Bra and Panties match at Invasion 2001. The next night on Raw, Wilson defeated Stratus in a Paddle on a Pole match. Despite her lack of previous in-ring experience, Wilson soon was competing in many WWE Divas matches and actively interfered in matches along with Keibler and Ivory on the Alliance's behalf. Wilson finally turned fan favorite after beginning an unlikely on-screen romance with Tajiri leading to a feud between Keibler and Wilson when Wilson defected to the WWF side during the Invasion storyline. Wilson defeated Keibler in a lingerie match at No Mercy 2001.

After managing Tajiri for a long time, the two finally started to have some problems when Tajiri started to get jealous over the attention she got from other men and started forcing her to wear a geisha outfit and was visibly mistreating her during matches. Wilson finally got her revenge on Tajiri by getting on the announcers table and stripping off her clothes to distract Tajiri and cost him a match with the Hurricane. In 2003, she entered in a surprisingly high-profile feud with Dawn Marie that lasted nine months and saw Dawn proposition Torrie and kiss her, eventually marry Torrie's real-life father Al (storyline) in their underwear and in the storyline he was said to have died from rigorous sex with Dawn (storyline again). This lead to a couple of PPV matches where Torrie defeated Dawn Marie. In 2003, Torrie Wilson did her Playboy pictorial and this led to a storyline feud of jealousy with Nidia after she and Jamie Noble complained that Hugh Hefner choose Wilson over Nidia. This led to Wilson managing Billy Gunn as she battled Nidia and Jamie Noble. Not long after this, veteran Diva Sable made her return and challenged Wilson to a bikini contest which Wilson won and after which she kissed Sable on the lips. Eventually the two former Playboy girls appeared together in a pictorial. This led to another storyline jealousy feud with Miss Jackie and Stacy Keibler. This led to a Playboy Evening Gown Match at Wrestlemania XX in which Sable and Wilson defeated Keibler and Jackie. Later on, Wilson and Sable would have a brief feud with Sable beating Wilson at the Great American Bash. In November 2004, Wilson started feuding with Kenzo Suzuki's manager and wife Hiroko, who became jealous of Suzuki's eyes for Wilson, eventually defeating her in a kimono match.

In August 2005, Wilson and Candice Michelle moved to the Raw brand and attacked Ashley Massaro. Eventually Victoria joined the group to make them a powerful trio. Massaro finally got the upper hand over her adversaries when the returning Trish Stratus agreed to team with her. Stratus and Massaro defeated Wilson & Victoria at Unforgiven 2005. Massaro & Stratus then went on to defeat Michelle, Victoria and Wilson in a three on two Bra and Panties match. This led to Wilson leaving for a short period of time but upon her return she, Michelle and Victoria lost to Stratus, Massaro and newcomer Mickie James. It wasn't long after this that Michelle and Victoria turned on Wilson with Michelle being revealed as the latest Playboy girl leading to a Playboy Pillow Fight between Wilson and Michelle at Wrestlemania 22 that was won by Wilson. In 2006, Wilson made some special ECW appearances teaming with The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer to defeat Kelly Kelly, Mike Knox and Test. At the end of 2006, Wilson entered into an on-screen romance with Carlito that eventually led to Wilson managing Carlito and Ric Flair when the two briefly teamed up with Flair as Carlito's mentor until Carlito turned on Flair and also dumped Wilson. In 2007, Wilson was drafted back to Smackdown! On a September 28th edition of Smackdown!, she was attacked by newcomer Krissy Vaine but this was quickly dropped when Vaine just as quickly left the company. Wilson went on to defeat Victoria in what turned out to be her last match as she retired following injuries. At Wrestlemania XXV, Wilson made a brief return as part of the Invitational Divas Battle Royal and was eliminated by Beth Phoenix.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 26, 2010, 08:33:46 PM
Ronnie Garvin joins the Singles Hall of Shame. I'm sure most people nowadays remember Ronnie Garvin best for his WWF run and heated feud|rivalry with Greg ¨The Hammer¨ Valentine where he went by the named ¨Rugged¨ Ronnie Garvin, a feud in which the two used shinguards to add to|counter the effects of the figure four leglock. Prior to this, Garvin is perhaps best remembered for his brief 1987 run as NWA World Champion upsetting ¨Nature Boy¨ Ric Flair which no one expected at the time until he dropped the title back to Flair a few months later at Starrcade`87. I also remember Garvin for his tag team with ¨brother¨ ¨Gorgeous¨ Jimmy Garvin (actually his real life stepson) and their heated feuded with the Rougeaus in Montreal`s International Wrestling. Many have long considered Garvin to have been a most unlikely choice to unseat Flair in 1987 what with his Barney Rubble like looks and his cheesy knockout ¨Hands of Stone¨ finisher. Garvin is also remembered for his Garvin stomp where he`d move from stomping on one part of the body to another in succession from arm to leg to midsection, a move Randy Orton frequently uses nowadays.

Garvin started out wrestling in the NWA territories teaming with his other ¨brother¨ Terry Garvin. Together they won the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles twice, the NWA Macon tag team titles, the NWA Florida World tag team titles, the NWA Mid-America tag team titles twice, the NWA Southern tag team titles and the NWA Tennessee tag team titles. During this period, they were managed by a young Jimmy. Garvin also won regional tag team titles with Ole Anderson (NWA Florida tag team titles),  Roger Kirby (NWA Macon tag team titles), Jerry Oates (NWA National tag team titles), Tony Charles (NWA Southeastern tag team titles) and `Cowboy` Bob Orton (NWA Southeastern tag team titles twice). In the late 70s, after splitting from his team with Terry and Jimmy, Ronnie had quite a bit of singles success on the territory scene. In Angelo Poffo`s ICW promotion, he had memorable feuds with Randy Savage and Pez Whatley.  Garvin would capture the ICW Southeastern Heavyweight title twice. He`d also win the NWA National Heavyweight title, the NWA National Television title twice, the NWA World Television title twice (Georgia version), the NWA Southern Junoir Heavyweight title, the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight title five times. Garvin would come to feud heavily with Jake `The Snake` Roberts over the NWA World|Georgia Television title eventually coming out on top with the title.

It would be his stint in Jim Crockett Promotions NWA that would prove his most successful though. There he`d feud with Black Bart and Tully Blanchard before entering into a feud with NWA World Champion Ric Flair eventually stunning everyone by defeating Flair for the NWA World title in 1987. While with Crockett, Garvin would also win NWA United States tag team titles with Barry Windham and have a run as NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight champion. While with Crockett, Ronnie also reformed his team with ¨Gorgeous¨ Jimmy Garvin after the Midnight Express threw fire in Ronnie`s face and Jimmy came to his aid. The two had teamed previous to this in the early-mid 1980s in Montreal as heels who had an heated war with the Rougeau family. Following his feud with the Midnights, Ronnie entered into a feud against their bodyguard Big Bubba Rogers (AKA: Big Bossman). At the 1988 Great American Bash, he was surprisingly turned heel helping an heel Barry Windham defeat Dusty Rhodes. Despite being briefly managed as an heel by Gary Hart, Ronnie soon choose to leave the NWA.

He next turned up in the AWA still an heel as he entered into a feud with Greg Gagne over the newly created AWA International Television title with Garvin winning and losing the title back to Gagne. He also feuded with Carlos Colon over the WWC Universal title in Puerto Rico around this time. Garvin would win that title twice.

In 1989, he moved to the WWF with his ¨Rugged` Ronnie Garvin gimmick and entered into a memorable feud with Greg Valentine as I described above. The feud would culminate initially a retirement match that was won by Valentine. This would lead to Garvin spending some time as a referee who proved quite a thorn in Valentine`s side. Garvin so continued to torment Valentine that Valentine asked for him to be reinstated and their feud finally concluded with Garvin defeating Valentine in a Submission match at Royal Rumble 1990. Garvin shortly thereafter left the WWF and moved on to the independent circuit on a semi-retired basis.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 29, 2010, 11:24:45 PM
The Fantastics join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers first teamed as the Fantastics in Mid-South Wrestling, soon the pair of popular pretty boy fan favourites were heavily feuding with the Midnight Express. The two teams had great matches again and again and would continue their feud into World Class Championship Wrestling and later Jim Crockett Promotions NWA. Another memorable feud the handsome bow-tie wearing pretty boys who looked like they might well have had an alternate career as male strippers was with the ugly, brawling and brawny Sheepherders (later better known as the Bushwhackers), then notorious heels. Most of their bouts were bloodbaths but the matches were also quite good. In 1988, they finally had their first real major tag team title success capturing the NWA United States Tag Team titles twice in 1988. They had previously won the UWF tag team titles on two occasions and the WCCW American Tag Team titles and the WCWA tag team titles twice. In 1989, they left the NWA due to problems with booker Kevin Sullivan and Rogers went to Japan while Fulton teamed with his brother Jackie Fulton and headed to the AWA where the Fultons unsuccessfully pursued the Destruction Crew of Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom (later known as the Beverly Brothers). In the 90s, the Fantastics (Fultons) would capture the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team titles. Eventually Rogers would reform his team with Bobby Fulton but Bobby would also sometimes team with his brother too. The Fantastics had some success in Japan and the independent scene but never again attained the level of success they had enjoyed in the 1980s.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 30, 2010, 07:29:35 PM
Torrie was just, eh.  Hot, nice, got better towards the end but then left.

Ron Garvin I liked despite some of the knocks against him: the Hands of Stone and the Stomp, although, I suppose it worked in that 'old school' way.  I was younger when he had his run so I don't remember as much.  But I've seen some stuff I've never seen before on WWE Classics on Demand.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 04, 2010, 09:55:17 PM
"The Sinister Minister" James Mitchell joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Today Mitchell is likely best remembered for his time managing Abyss in TNA as "Father" James Mitchell. Mitchell also memorably managed the Disciples of the New Church and The Gathering in TNA. Prior to this, he's most likely remembered as the manager of the Unholy Alliance of Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri in ECW. Prior to this in WCW as James Vanderberg he managed Mortis (Chris Kanyon) and Wrath (Bryan Adams).

Mitchell is one of the best managers in the business today. He's got a great look and is a great guiding light to misguided big monsters like Abyss (whom would probably be better off with him as manager today). Mitchell should still have a bright future in managing ahead of him but unfortunately managers of his type seem to be getting phased out although certain wrestlers, especially monsters who have trouble communicating, could really use him as a manager. He seems a natural to possibly be paired up with the Undertaker or Kane in WWE at some point or to manage Abyss once more.

Mitchell started off in Smoky Mountain Wrestling where he mostly managed strange gimmick wrestlers under the name Daryl Van Horne. There he managed a man claiming to be a 4000 year old Mummy named Prince Kharis and also managed an evil Samurai named Kendo the Samurai (actually played by several grapplers under the mask including Tim Horner, Scott Antol and Brian Logan).

The managing of gimmick wrestlers continued in WCW as Mitchell, as James Vanderberg, was paired up with Mortis and Wrath who mostly feuded with Glacier and Ernest "The Cat" Miller. When the feud fizzled out despite Mortis and Wrath winning it ultimately, Mitchell was sent home for 2 years following a failed host segment on WCW Saturday Night.

In 2000, as the Sinister Minister, he managed the Unholy Alliance of Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri during their feud with the F.B.I.. Years later at ECW's One Night Stand, Mitchell would accompany Tajiri during his Triple Threat bout with Super Crazy and Little Guido.

In 2002, Mitchell debuted in TNA as the manager of the Disciples of the New Church, a tag team pairing of Slash and Brian Lee. The Disciples feuded extensively with America's Most Wanted and had some great bouts and even traded the NWA tag team titles at one point. Other members of Mitchell's Disciples included Shane Douglas, whom Mitchell managed during his bitter feud with Raven - which resulted in Raven getting his head shaved, Mike Awesome, Malice, Vampiro and replacement teammates for Slash in Kobain, Tempest and Sinn. Most of these guys were short-lived however compared to the core members Slash and Lee.

In 2003, Raven's former proteges The Gathering of C.M. Punk and Julio Dinero turned on Raven and joined forces with Mitchell but this alliance too would prove short-lived.

Mitchell would achieve arguably his greatest success next as the manager of Abyss in TNA in 2005. Mitchell led Abyss to victories over Lance Hoyt, Sabu and eventually the NWA Heavyweight Championship when Abyss defeated Sting by DQ. During Abyss's feud with Sting, Sting tried to break Mitchell's hold over Abyss as he tried to help the big man find his own path. When Abyss finally turned on Mitchell, Mitchell tried to get revenge by unleashing a new monster named Judas Mesias against Abyss. Mitchell also managed Rellik and Black Reign (Goldust) around this time but never again enjoyed the success he had managing Abyss. Honestly Abyss too has struggled quite a bit without Mitchell's guidance. TNA released Mitchell in 2008.

Some other notable wrestlers managed by Mitchell during his career include: Abdullah the Butcher, The Iron Sheik, Paul Orndorff, Brad Anderson, Peggy Lee Leather, Judy Martin, Jimmy Garvin, Jerry Lynn, Balls Mahoney, Moondog Spot, Rick Michaels, Raven and Christopher Daniels.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on November 04, 2010, 10:02:21 PM
Mitchell is vastly underappreciated and it kinda bothers me that we're seeing less and less of managers of his ilk entirely phased out.  There's some wrestlers out there who really should get a manager as they can't really 'talk' or anything like that.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 05, 2010, 10:53:15 PM
Eric Bischoff joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Bischoff no doubt today is best remembered for his role as the General Manager of Raw as well as his time running things in WCW President including playing an on-screen role with the nWo. Nowadays Bischoff along with Hulk Hogan is playing a major on-screen role in TNA. But Bischoff got his start as an host and announcer for Verne Gagne's AWA. Later he'd continue his announcing in WCW after being turned down by the WWF.

As an announcer and host, Bischoff left something to be desired always coming across like a smug, arrogant, weaselly used cars salesman with a constant phony smile. In the AWA, he never truly seemed like someone who was in reality a fan of the wrestling action unlike previous wrestling announcers. He continued as an announcer and interviewer in WCW but again never truly seemed genuine. Naturally this made him a surprisingly good fit for his eventual heel turn that saw him join and become a core member of the nWo. Bischoff would eventually win the WCW Hardcore title on one occasion surprisingly enough and would eventually compete in ring in WCW against Larry Zbyszko and later in WWE against his "nephew" Eugene. Technically Bischoff spent some time in what was in essence a managerial role alongside the nWo, the New Blood and later in WWE 3 Minute Warning, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. As an heel authority figure and manager, Bischoff was much much more effective and has had a lot of success in that role.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on November 05, 2010, 10:59:16 PM
Eric Bischoff

As an announcer and host, Bischoff left something to be desired always coming across like a smug, arrogant, weaselly used cars salesman with a constant phony smile. 
I'm pretty sure that's his ACTUAL personality, and not a put-on.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 07, 2010, 11:52:11 PM
Yeah no kidding eh?

Anyways, Big Van Vader joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Leon "Baby Bull" White, after playing football, including a stint with the L.A. Rams, made his wrestling debut in the AWA after being trained by Brad Rheingans. In the AWA, White helped mold his in-ring skills and even got an AWA World title shot at Stan Hansen at one point although he was still too young and green to win the title at that point. In 1987, White moved to Japan where he first started to truly make his mark in wrestling adopting a new masked persona as Big Van Vader, based on a character from Japanese folklore. Vader went on to shock Japanese audiences in New Japan Wrestling by defeating (an already worn down) Japanese legend named Antonio Inoki. Vader won his first IWGP Heavyweight title in a tournament. He eventually lost the title a month later to Russian Salman Hashimikov who dropped the title to Riki Choshu whom Vader then defeated to hold the IWGP Heavyweight title a second time. While still IWGP Heavyweight champ, Vader travelled to Europe and defeated Otto Wanz for the CWA World Heavyweight title (Europe's version of a World title). Next Vader travelled to Mexico where he defeated Mexican legend El Canek for the UWA World Heavyweight title and Vader became one of the first men who could claim world championships on three continents (Asia, Europe and North America). This gained him the attention of WCW who brought him in while he was still IWGP Heavyweight champ.

Vader destroyed Tom Zenk in his Great American Bash 1990 debut. In the early 90s, Vader continued to rack up title wins over seas and in total captured 3 IWGP Heavyweight titles, 3 CWA World Heavyweight titles, a CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight title and an IWGP Tag Team title reign with Bam Bam Bigelow as his partner. Vader finally signed full-time with WCW in 1992. Finally Vader began to focus on the WCW World Heavyweight title adding manager legend Harley Race, whom had won a record 8 NWA World titles. After a bit of a prolonged chase that saw Vader seriously injure Sting's ribs, Vader finally defeated Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight title at the 1992 Great American Bash but injured his knee which led to him dropping the title unexpectedly to Ron Simmons three weeks later. Vader also feuded with Nikita Koloff around this time eventually sending Koloff into retirement and breaking the back (legit) of enhancement worker Joe Thurman. Vader would go on to lose the finals of the King of Cable tournament to Sting but would defeat an injured Simmons shortly thereafter to win his second WCW World Heavyweight title. Vader held the title successfully for several months before losing it to Sting for about a week in March 1993 only to regain it for a third time. He went on to successfully fend off challenges from Dustin Rhodes, Davey Boy Smith and Sting.

In 1993, Vader went on to also compete in Japan's UWFI where he competed as Super Vader due to legal issues surrounding the Big Van Vader name with New Japan. He went on to refer to himself as just Vader in the U.S.. While in the UWFI, Vader would capture the UWFI World Heavyweight title in a tournament but eventually left the promotion (which was often billed as a shoot style promotion even though it was in actuality worked) in 1994 due to a financial dispute.

In April 1993, Vader would start a memorable feud with Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) breaking his nose and leaving his face with wounds that required 27 stitches. Later Vader would take Cactus out by powerbombing him on the concrete floor leading to a concussion and temporary loss of feeling in his left hand and leg. While Cactus was out injured, Vader feuded with Davey Boy Smith and fended of his challenges for the WCW World title. Later Vader would form a partnership with Sid Vicious known as  "The Masters of the Powerbomb" to feud with Sting & Davey Boy. Cactus returned in October to face Vader in a Texas Death match. Vader eventually defeated Cactus only when Race interfered and used a cattle prod on Cactus. Foley would go on to lose a part of his ear in a match with Vader in Munich, Germany when his head got caught in the ring ropes. The original plan was for Vader to face Sid Vicious at Starrcacde 1993 until Vicious was involved in a stabbing incident in England against Arn Anderson and was dismissed understandably from WCW. This led to Ric Flair being chosen as a replacement opponent and Flair would actually put his career on the line in the match. Flair would upset Vader and end Vader's third WCW World title reign. Flair and Vader continued to feud with Flair defeating Vader in a Thundercage rematch. Vader next feuded with the Boss (Formerly Big Bossman) defeating him at Spring Stampede 1994. He lost a match to Sting over the vacant WCW International World title but would go on to defeat Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the WCW United States title at Starrcade '94. In early 1995, he soon started targeting then WCW World Heavyweight champion Hulk Hogan. During most of the initial match-ups, a clear conclusion was never achieved as Ric Flair constantly interfered. Finally Hogan would go on to defeat Vader decisively in a steel cage match at Bash at the Beach 1995 and many say Hogan's no-selling of Vader's powerbomb led to him never again being taken as seriously as he'd been before. Vader did manage to defeat Flair and Arn Anderson in a 2 on 1 handicap match and seemed poised for a face turn and team with Hogan and Savage until he got into a backstage locker room brawl with Paul Orndorff ( a legit tough guy he probably should have never messed with) that led to his eventual dismissal from WCW. The Hogan no-selling and the Orndorff cleaning his clock incidents did Vader few favors. In 1996 Vader also made a brief return to New Japan only to lose this time to legend Antonio Inoki despite Inoki being over 50 years old at the time.

In early 1996, Vader made his WWF debut as "The Man They Call Vader", an entrant in the 1996 Royal Rumble. After eliminating many men and impressing in the match, he was eliminated by Shawn Michaels whom Vader returned to the ring and attacked afterwards. He went on to defeat Savio Vega but soon proved an out of control bully when he assaulted WWF President Gorilla Monsoon leading to him being suspended (actually Vader needed time off for shoulder surgery). Jim Cornette campaigned as manager for Vader's return leading to Yokozuna eventually leaving Camp Cornette and feuding with the returning Vader. At Wrestlemania XII, Vader teamed with Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith to defeat Yokozuna, Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson. Vader next targeted WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels and seemed poised to defeat HBK for the title but it was not to be as the crafty Michaels managed to defeat the big man at Summerslam 1996 in what actually seemed like an upset win. Vader next started feuding with the Undertaker. During their Royal Rumble 1997 match, Paul Bearer actually turned on Undertaker to side with Vader. Later both men competed in the Royal Rumble match that ended controversially as Steve Austin managed to re-enter the ring after being eliminated at eliminated Bret Hart, Undertaker and Vader. Later the four men would do battle over the then vacant WWF World Heavyweight title at In Your House 13: Final Four for the WWF Championship. Vader was eliminated in the match by the Undertaker. Next Bearer paired Vader with Mankind (Formerly Cactus Jack) to go after the WWF World Tag Team titles but the two men could not get along and frequently battled one another and thus didn't capture the tag titles. Somewhere around this time Vader was basically jobbed out to Sycho Sid (Vicious) to help establish Sid as a top star.

In mid-1997, Vader unexpectedly turned face when he objected to Bret Hart draping the Canadian flag over the Patriot. Vader suddenly was on the USA side in the feud between U.S. stars and Canada's Hart Foundation stable. At Survivor Series 1997, Vader's Team USA of himself, Marc Mero, Steve Blackman and Goldust lost to Team Canada (British Bullog, Jim Neidhart, Phil Lafon & Doug Furnas) when Goldust bailed on Vader in the match and Davey Boy Smith used a ring bell to take out Vader. Vader next feuded with Goldust for several months culminating in a match at Royal Rumble 1998 where Vader defeated Goldust but Goldust later than night eliminated him from the Royal Rumble match. Next Vader entered into a feud with Kane but was basically jobbed out to the big man and was basically used to put over guys until he finally left WWF in 1998.

He returned to Japan, this time signing with All-Japan Pro Wrestling. There he formed a team with old rival Stan Hansen and made it to the finals of 1998 Real World Tag League before losing to Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama. Vader would go on to become number one contender to All-Japan's most prized Triple Crown when he defeated Kobashi. Vader would win the then vacant Triple Crown by defeated Akira Taue. He won the 1999 Champion's Carnival. Vader went on to lose the Triple Crown to Mitsuhara Misawa on May 2, 1998 but regained it on October 31st. He next lost it to Kenta Kobashi. Vader then took some time off. When he returned, he joined Pro Wrestling NOAH and won the GHC Tag Team titles with 2 Cold Scorpio. That would be the last of his real success.

An out of shape and overweight Vader appeared in TNA in 2003 but didn't make much of an impression. He next appeared in WWE at a Taboo Tuesday event in the corner of Jonathan Coachman or his match with Batista and interfered on Coach's behalf only to receive a spinebuster for his trouble. Vader then returned to Japan for a few more years and briefly competed on the independent circuit before retiring. Vader might well be remembered by some for his appearances on "Boy Meets World" and "Baywatch". He actually also appeared in the 1995 film Fist of the North Star as Goliath.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 08, 2010, 01:14:43 AM
Too Cool joins the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Too Cool in the late 1990s WWF was originally a tag team named Too Much, an heel pairing of "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Scott "Too Hot" Taylor that mostly competed in the Light Heavyweight division and battled the likes of Taka Michinoku and Kaientai. They also aided Christopher's dad Jerry "The King" Lawler in his feud with Al Snow. In June 1999, Too Much reinvented themselves as Too Cool as Christopher changed his name to Grandmaster Sexay and Taylor changed his name to Scotty Too Hotty. They initially remained heels until late 1999 when they added Rikishi Phatu to the team and start doing a popular in-ring hip hop style dance performance together, made all the more entertaining because of Rikshi's unusual size and attire, the fans just loved. This would make all 3 men very popular.

At the 2000 Royal Rumble however Rikishi would eliminate both his partners yet all 3 men would remain friends nevertheless. Shortly thereafter Christopher had an injury leading to Scotty winning the WWF Light Heavyweight title. Too Cool would however reach the heights of their success later in 2000 when Scotty and Christopher upset Edge and Christian for the WWF World Tag Team titles on a May 29, 2000 episode of Raw. Rikishi would also taste success defeating Chris Benoit for the WWF Intercontinental title on June 20, 2000. In late 2000, Rikishi left the group after turning heel. In 2001, Too Cool themselves disbanded when Scotty was injured and Christopher was detained for trying to cross the U.S.-Canada border with illegal drugs in his possession.  Next Scotty formed a tag team with Albert named the Zoo Crew that lasted until 2002. In 2003, Rikishi would once again turn face and reunite with Scotty on the Smackdown brand in October 2003. Together they'd defeat the Basham Brothers for the WWE Tag Team titles on February 5, 2004. Around this time, Christopher would re-sign with WWE but would not long after be released again. Scotty & Rikishi held the titles for about 2 months until dropping them to Charlie Haas and Rico on April 22, 2004. Rikishi would be released not long after the loss while Scotty would continue on with WWE until 2007 mostly as an high level enhancement talent.

In 2007, Too Cool  (Taylor & Christopher) reunited on the independent circuit in the United Wrestling Federation to compete in their Rock 'n' Express Tag Team tournament. They'd defeat the Extreme Horsemen of C.W. Anderson and Steve Corino in the tournament's second round but would lose to the Steiners in the semifinals. They'd also do battle with the Naturals in a losing effort.

In 2009, Rikishi and Christopher reunited on Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania Australian tour but were unable to use the Too Cool name due to copyright issues. During the tour, they defeated Orlando Jordan and Umaga, an independent team named Rock of Love, Black Pearl and Vampire Warrior.

The Minnesota Wrecking Crew of Ole and Gene Anderson join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This tag team has long been remembered for the way they "wrecked" opponents targeting and constantly attacking specific body parts to wear down their opponents in-ring. It's a method later versions of the team would also adopt. Originally the Minnesota Wrecking Crew consisted on Gene and Lars Anderson (they weren't really related even though they pretended to be family) in 1965. They teamed together until 1969 when Lars left to live in Hawaii. Gene brought in replacement partner Alan Rogowski and renamed him Ole Anderson (another kayfabe brother). This version of the tandem would have the most success capturing the NWA World Tag Team titles 8 times in total. On occasion, Lars too would be brought back in as a member of the team. They dominated the NWA territories throughout the 1970s and are considered by many to be truly one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history. They defeated the best of the best including teams such as Greg Valentine and Ric Flair, Paul Jones and Wahoo McDaniel, Mr. Wrestling and Dino Bravo, Dusty Rhodes and Dick Slater, Paul Jones and the Masked Superstar and many more. Later after Gene retired, the team was disbanded until in 1985 Ole reformed the Crew with kayfabe nephew Arn Anderson and went on to win the NWA National Tag Team titles and were original members of the Four Horsemen as the Wrecking Crew. They disbanded in 1987 after Ole was booted out of the Horsemen but briefly reunited in 1990 as members of the Horsemen yet again until Ole finally retired. Ole managed a team named The Minnesota Wrecking Crew 2 in the NWA in 1990, actually the former AWA Destruction Crew of Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom under masks, in a losing effort against NWA World Tag Team champions the Steiners. In 2001, Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin named their team the Minnesota Stretching Crew in honor of the Andersons classic tandem.

Together Gene and Ole captured the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles 7 times, the NWA Columbus Tag Team titles 11 times, the NWA Macon Tag Team titles 1 time, the NWA Atlantic Coast tag team titles 3 times, the NWA Mid-Atlantic tag team titles twice and as mentioned the NWA World Tag Team titles an amazing 8 times. Lars & Ole also held the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles twice and the NWA World Tag Team titles once. Ole & Arn held just the NWA National tag team titles.

Stacy Keibler joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Keibler got her start in WCW winning a contest to find a new member of the Nitro Girls dance troupe. In November 1999, she defeated 300 other girls to win her spot in the dance troupe and $10,000. She went on to perform as Nitro Girl Skye in 2000 while also attending school full-time and cheering for the Baltimore Ravens. She eventually accepted a larger role in WCW and transformed herself into manager Miss Hancock, the manager for Standards and Practices tag team of Lenny Lane and Lodi, who were doing a gay tag team gimmick. Hancock became know for her business suits but even more so for dancing sensually on the announcers table. It was around this time Keibler added her trademark stepping/bending over the ropes giving fans a wow look at her legs and a brief glimpse of her underwear. At 5 foot 11 inches, Keibler was tall enough to actually step over the ropes and it definitely gave her a unique look unlike any of the other women at the time. Keibler dated and briefly managed David Flair leading to a match with Daffney who was on-screen involved with Flair at the time. During the Wedding Gown match, Keibler removed her own dress to lose. She next feuded with Kimberly Page but the feud was discarded when Page left the company. Next Keibler along with David Flair started feuding with Misfits in Action and had a mud wrestling match against Major Gunns at New Blood Rising. During the match she revealed herself to be pregnant as part of a new angle but later the angle which originally planned for Ric Flair or Vince Russo to be the father was scrapped and it was later revealed she faked the pregnancy, she broke up with David Flair and disappeared from TV for a while.

She next appeared in WWE during the Invasion storyline as a member of the WCW/ECW Alliance faction. Together with Torrie Wilson, she feuded with Trish Stratus and Lita but they were on the losing end of said feud. Later she started managed the Dudley Boyz and became known as the Duchess of Dudleyville. When Wilson turned face and started feuding with Keibler, Keibler eventually helped the Dudleys put Wilson through a table. Keibler though lost her matches against Wilson including a lingerie match. Later she would be dumped by the Dudleys too and also powerbombed through a table after accidentally costing them a match. Keibler next targeted Trish Stratus's Women's title but never did manage to defeat her.

In 2002, she was drafted to the Smackdown! brand and became Mr. McMahon's on-screen assistant and was as portraying his on-screen mistress until Stephanie McMahon became General Manager of Smackdown! Later Dawn Marie also became her rival for McMahon's affections. In mid-2002, she left Smackdown! and went back to Raw where she was turned faced after being attacked by Victoria. Keibler then started managing Scott Steiner and Test. Eventually Test would become jealous of Keibler also wanting to manage Steiner and would start verbally abusing Keibler eventually leading to a match between Steiner and Test that would see Steiner win Keibler as his manager. Test however petitioned for an InterGender rematch and eventually teamed with Chris Jericho to defeat Steiner and Keibler for Test to regain Keibler's services. Test would also eventually win Steiner's services when Keibler's interference in his match backfired. This led to Steiner also turning heel and both men abusing Keibler until General Manager Mick Foley finally released Keibler from her obligations by temporarily firing and rehiring both Test and Steiner.

Keibler would next become involved in a feud of jealousy teaming with Miss Jackie against Sable and Torrie Wilson when those women were chosen over them for Playboy magazine. They lost a Tag Team Evening Gown match at Wrestlemania XX to Sable & Wilson. Keibler also hosted the 2004 Raw Diva Search which led to several tag bouts against the likes of Gail Kim, Trish Stratus and Molly Holly as she teamed with Nidia and Victoria. She scored several upset victories at this time and was awarded a Women's title match but again failed to defeat Stratus. She also competed in the first ever Fulfill Your Fantasy Divas Battle Royal for the WWE Women's championship and was eliminated second last. Keibler next seemed to become involved with Randy Orton until he suddenly RKOed her in the ring to show how ruthless he was. Keibler finally joined forces with the superhero tandem of Rosey and the Hurricane as Super Stacy, even wearing a superheroine outfit. She was with them when they captured the WWF World tag team titles while also feuding with Victoria, now an heel again. Keibler was traded back to Smackdown! in 2006 where she briefly feuded with Jillian Hall leading to a match on WWE Velocity. This would be Keibler's last WWE match as she moved on to become an actress following her stint on "Dancing With the Stars".

Gordon Solie joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Solie is a true legend in terms of wrestling announcers. Most announcers themselves would refer to Solie as the greatest in the history of pro wrestling play by play. Solie mostly is remembered as the key voice of Florida and Georgia Wrestling as well as Continental Championship Wrestling. He later also worked with WCW. He called wrestling with a decided dedication and seriousness, always playing up the sport element of the performance and making you feel like you were watching a true sporting art-form being painted on canvas before your very eyes. He is known as the "Dean of Wrestling Announcers" and is without a doubt the most immediately recognizable voice from wrestling classic kayfabe era. He's also been called the "Walter Cronkite of Wrestling" and the "Howard Cosell of Wrestling". He's still remembered for his laconic, intelligent commentary adding wit and seriousness to the wrestling performance as well I'd argue as believability instead of the loud, bombastic style much more commonplace nowadays. He always referred to suplexes as "su-plays". He's also remembered for phrases such as "His face is becoming a crimson mask", "He'd fight a buzzsaw and give it the first two rounds", "They're going at it Hammer and Tongs" and "This is a Peir 6 Brawl". He's been inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the WWE Hall of Fame and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum as well as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Basically he's been inducted into pretty much every pro wrestling Hall of Fame.

Marc Lowrance joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Lowrance was a lead play by play announcer in WCCW and later the USWA. Actually I didn't dislike Lowrance. He just always seemed a little out of place, a little too much like he was searching for words.  He also seemed a bit too restrained with his most excited phrase typically being "Holy cow!" He actually started out as a ring announcer in WCCW replacing long-time announcer Boyd Pierce. Lowrance certainly possessed a loud, clear voice. Originally Lowrance was one of the original WCCW announcers when the show became syndicated in 1982 but he would be replaced by the more famous Bill Mercer while Lowrance began hosting the local weekly show. In 1987, Lowrance returned to hosting the syndicated shows and was paired with former wrestler Frank Dusek, then later Terrence Garvin and later again Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer). Lowrance did announce some famous matches including Kerry Von Erich defeating Ric Flair for the NWA World title on May 6, 1984, Gino Hernandez "blinding" Chris Adams. the infamous Christmas Day Massacre in 1987 and Eric Embry defeating P.Y. Chu-Hi to change World Class officially to USWA. While a commentator, Lowrance usually ended his shows with "Attend the Church of your choice tomorrow" which might well have been a foreshadowing as he's become an United Methodist minister.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 10, 2010, 12:30:11 AM
Yoshihiro Tajiri joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Tajiri was actually an highly entertaining cruiserweight who specialized in competing in the ECW extreme style. He was also surprisingly capable at entertaining comedy skits particularly when paired with WWF Commissioner William Regal. His nickname was "The Japanese Buzzsaw" for his rapid, high impact swift kicks to the body. He is also well known for his green mist and his illegal Tarantula hold in the ring ropes.

Following some training in ballet, Tajiri decided he wanted instead to try his hand at pro wrestling after watching many matches from Mexico. He enrolled in Animal Hamaguchi's school and debuted in IWA Japan in 1989. In the mid-90s, he decided to expand his repertoire and experience by travelling to Mexico to compete in CMLL. In 1997, he left the Mexican promotion and went to a Japanese Hardcore promotion named Big Japan Pro Wrestling. In July 1997, Tajiri made an appearance in the WWF as part of its fledging Light Heavyweight division taking on Taka Michinoku and Brian Chistopher before returning to Mexico.

While there, he was noticed by Paul Heyman who invited him to compete in ECW. His ECW debut in December 1998 was against Antifaz Del Norte whom he defeated. Around this time, Tajiri started to copy the Great Muta, an hero of his, by adding the green mist. While in ECW, Tajiri feuded with Super Crazy, Little Guido and Jerry Lynn. He would form an alliance with Steve Corino and Jack Victory. Later he teamed with Mikey Whipwreck as the Unholy Alliance managed by the Sinister Minister to win the ECW World Tag Team titles in a tournament for the then vacant titles. Tajiri also defeated Super Crazy for the ECW World Television title. Tajiri would stay with ECW right up till its end.

Following the closure of ECW, Tajiri would be signed by WWF/WWE in 2001 where he initially played a babyface and soon became the sidekick of WWF Commissioner William Regal. When Regal turned heel and joined the ECW/WCW Alliance, Tajiri opted to stay with the WWF side and remained face feuding with Regal. Soon he developed an on-screen unlikely relationship with Torrie Wilson and would go on to defeat Chris Kanyon for the WCW United States title around this time only to lose it to Rhyno shortly thereafter. During the brand split, Tajiri and Wilson were sent to Smackdown! and Tajiri eventually turned heel becoming jealous of and abusive towards Wilson. This would eventually lead to Wilson turning on Tajiri while he battled Maven. It wouldn't be long though until Tajiri would become a face again following an attack by Jamie Noble when Tajiri touched Noble's girlfriend Nidia. Tajiri would go on to capture the WWE Tag Team titles alongside Eddie Guerrero. Tajiri would once again turn heel when he targeted WWE Cruiserweight champion Rey Mysterio Jr. but would not be able to defeat him. Tajiri would go on to capture the WWE Cruiserweight title on 2 separate occasions in 2002 and 2003 and would be briefly paired up in a stable with Akio and Sakoda.

In 2004, Tajiri would be drafted to Raw where he quickly turned face again to feud with Eric Bischoff, Jonathan Coachman and Lance Cade. Later he feuded with the Evolution stable. Later in the year he formed a tag team with Rhyno that were unsuccessful in their challenge of World Tag Team champs La Resistance. On February 4, 2005, Tajiri teaming with old pal/former rival William Regal did successfully defeat La Resistance for the World Tag Team titles on a Raw aired from Japan. The pair would eventually lose the titles back to La Resistance. At ECW One Night Stand 2005, Tajiri lost a Three Way Dance to Super Crazy in a bout also involving Little Guido. Following this he formed a new tag team with Eugene. In December 2005, Tajiri left WWE to return to Japan to try and become a journalist and to spend more time with his family. Tajiri put over Gregory Helms on his way out and received a standing ovation for his efforts. He would return for one night at ECW One Night Stand 2006 to team with Super Crazy in a losing effort vs. the F.B.I..

In 2007, Tajiri begin wrestling in Japan again working for Hustle and All-Japan Pro Wrestling as TAJIRI. In 2007, he had a major feud with Triple Crown champion Minoru Suzuki but ultimately failed to defeat him for the titles even though he did steal them at one point. In 2008, Tajiri made some overseas cross promotion appearances for WWE. in 2009, he invaded New Japan Pro Wrestling and started a feud with IWGP Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi after attacking him and spraying the green mist in his face. Tajiri gave Tanahashi some problems but ultimately Tanahashi defeated him. Tajiri next started feuding with Yuji Nagata, whom ultimately also seemed to get the best of him in the end. In 2010, Tajiri returned to New Japan and suddenly became a face when he saved Hiroshi Tanahashi from rivals Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka, even helping Tanahashi shave Yano's head following an Hair vs. Hair match.

Tajiri has earned quite a number of championships including the BJW Junior Heavyweight title and the BJW Tag Team titles on 2 occasions while paired with Ryuji Yamakawa, the CZW World Heavyweight title, CMLL World Light Heavyweight title, the ECW World tag titles (with Whipwreck), ECW World Television title,  FCF Finnish Heavyweight championship, IWA Hardcore title, WWF World Tag Team titles (with Regal), WCW Cruiserweight title (in WWE), WCW United States title (in WWE), WWE Tag Team titles (with Eddie Guerrero), WWF/WWE Cruiserweight title 3 times in total and one WWF Light Heavyweight title reign.

The Pitbulls join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The team consisted of Pitbull # 1 (Gary Wolfe) and Pitbull # 2 (Anthony Durante), a pair of imposing muscle men wearing leather outfits who wrestled well kind of like Pitbulls. They actually briefly competed in the WWF and were used to put over the Brain Busters and the Hart Foundation. Before forming the Pitbulls in ECW, Pitbull # 1 Gary Wolfe won the ECW World Television title in 1994. In 1995, he reformed his tag team with Durante and the Pitbulls not long after defeated Raven and Stevie Richards for the ECW World Tag Team titles on September 16, 1995. The team were soon joined by Francine who dubbed herself the Beastmaster and reinvented her look to match theirs (now sporting a leather dominatrix look). About a month later, they lost the tag titles back to Raven and Richards. Shortly thereafter they moved into an intense feud with the Eliminators that saw Francine take more than her share of shots too. The feud culminated at Cyberslam 1996 in a three on three dog collar match which saw Francine team with the Pitbulls to defeat the Eliminators and Stevie Richards with Francine getting a measure of revenge against Richards when she got to pin Richards after the Pitbulls superbombed him. However after the match the Eliminators got their revenge hitting the Total Elimination on all 3 after the match. Pitbull # 2 would go on to win the ECW World Television title at the June 1 Fight the Power event but would lose it just 21 days later at Hardcore Heaven to Chris Jericho. On July 13, 1996, Francine turned on the Pitbulls to become Shane Douglas' manager leading to a feud between the Pitbulls and Douglas. The feud culminated at Barely Legal 1997 where Shane Douglas defeated Pitbull # 2 in a bout for the ECW World Television title.

After leaving ECW, the Pitbulls did well on the independent circuit. Pitbull # 2 had singles title runs as MEWF Heavyweight champion and JAPW Heavyweight champion. As a team, they won the NWA United States tag team titles in the New Jersey territory. They also won tag championships in APWF (Allied Powers Wrestling Federation), HRCW (High Risk Championship Wrestling) and the GWA Tag Team titles. Following the split of the team in 2002, Pitbull # 1 won the 3PW Heavyweight title 2 times and the 3PW Tag Team titles with Mike Kruel once in Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling. Pitbull # 2 also had previous success overseas in Europe's Catch Wrestling Association (Germany) winning the CWA World Tag Team titles twice with Larry Cameron.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 12, 2010, 11:56:56 PM
Arnold Skaaland joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. After a lenghty career in wrestling during which he held the WWF United States tag team titles with Spiros Arion and under the name Bobby Weaver challenged Buddy Rogers and Pat O' Connor for the NWA World Heavyweight title, Skaaland moved into a managerial role as well as being a shareholder in Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the parent company of WWWF. He was also a business partner of promoter Vince McMahon Sr.. Skaaland, also known as "The Golden Boy" during his wrestling career, may have been given the manager role as a reward perhaps for his involvement behind the scenes. Also at times, it still allowed for him to be used as a replacement wrestler. Skaaland mainly managed fellow fan favourites most notably Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund who both won the WWWF World Heavyweight title under his tutelage. Skaaland would win Pro Wrestling Illustrated Manager of the Year for 1978 and 1979 but honestly he rarely got involved in the in-ring action and mainly cheered on his men from ringside or behind the scenes. Skaaland is likely best remembered nowadays for throwing in the towel during Bob Backlund's match leading to him losing the WWF World title to the Iron Sheik who in turn would lose it to Hulk Hogan. Many years later when Backlund returned to the WWF in the 1990s, he would snap and turn heel and at one point would put former manager Skaaland into the Crossface Chickenwing as a form of revenge for Skaaland's having thrown in the towel on him which Skaaland did at the time to save Backlund from further injury from the Sheik's Camel Clutch finisher. Skaaland also managed Tony Parisi and Rick McGraw. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994 and won a Lifetime Achievement Slammy Award in 1997.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 21, 2010, 03:40:36 AM
Matt Striker joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Striker is best known these days for his color commentary work on ECW and then WWE Smackdown! and for hosting WWE NXT. Striker is an intelligent, well-spoken, articulate, well-educated man and it shows. He also really knows wrestling and has a great knowledge of its history not to mention a good knack of comedic timing adding something funny to the broadcasts when things get dull and something interesting to offer more oft than not. Striker has a master's degree in educational psychology. For a time, Striker worked as a substitute and eventually a full-time social studies teacher when not moonlighting in his vacation and sick time as a pro wrestler (Kind of like the basic plot of Learning the Ropes believe it or not albeit without a mask). After being trained by Johnny Rodz, Striker had a lot of success on the independent circuit winning 10 different titles in his first year. He impressed with his in-ring mat skills and also for his ability to impersonate other wrestlers. He first appeared in WWE as a challenger to Kurt Angle's Gold Medal Invitational under the name Matt Martel. After defeating him several times, Angle exposed Striker and his past with him getting basically removed from the teaching system for using his sick days in order to wrestle. Shortly thereafter Striker started using his heel teacher gimmick and started a segment called Matt Striker's Classroom which would lead to forgettable feuds with Lance Cade, Carlito and Eugene and would eventually see him ran afoul of legend Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Striker would make a bit more of an impact in ECW continuing his Classroom segments and feuding with the Sandman and Balls Mahoney before joining Vince McMahon's New Breed faction alongside Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Kevin Thorn. In the end, the New Breed would lose their feuds with the ECW Originals (Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Sabu and Rob Van Dam) and C.M. Punk. Striker next briefly feuded with the Boogeyman who spit worms into his mouth. Striker would gain a measure of revenge by guiding the monster Big Daddy V in attacking Boogeyman. Eventually Striker would become manager to Big Daddy V and briefly Mark Henry in ECW. When Big Daddy V faded from the scene, Striker was moved into a color commentator position when Mick Foley left Smackdown! leading to Tazz returning to Smackdown! and an open spot in ECW. Striker and his partner Todd Grisham would go on to become a surprisingly popular announcing team and would even pick up the 2008 Slammy Award for best announce team. When Grisham was eventually moved to Smackdown!, Striker continued on ECW alongside Josh Matthews before himself getting brought aboard the Smackdown! team and being paired up once more with Todd Grisham. Unfortunately recently they've also been joined by the ever-annoying Michael Cole. (Of possible interest to folks here, Striker actually worked as a child actor in the films Wise Guys and Child Savers).

The Bushwhackers join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Initially known as the brawling New Zealand wildmen The Sheepherders, Butch Miller and Luke Williams would eventually reinvent themselves in the WWF as the fun-loving, tongue-licking, crazy as heck but still loved by kids - the Bushwhackers. In their Sheepherder days, Williams and Miller were a much feared tag team for their bloody and wildly out of control brawls. They had bloody memorable wars against the Fabulous Ones, Fantastics and the Lightning Express in particular. The Sheepherders, initially known as the Kiwi Sheepherders first competed in 1964 for the NWA in New Zealand. They moved to North America in 1965 and initially competed in Canada's Calgary Stampede promotion. There they'd win the Stampede International Tag Team titles twice. They then moved to Puerto Rico's WWC under the name Los Pastores and won the WWC North American Tag Team titles defeating Puerto Rican legends Carlos Colon and Invader I before losing them to and regaining them from Los Medicos before finally dropping the titles to Jack and Jerry Brisco.

For a time, Miller moved to Australia to compete and Williams continued the Sheepherders team with new partner "Lord" Jonathan Boyd. This pair quickly became known for their violent, hard-hitting bouts and soon became embroiled in a feud between Robert Fuller in the NWA territory South Eastern Championship Wrestling. In December 1981, the Sheepherders would capture the vacant NWA Southeast tag team titles and feuding with Fuller & brother Ron Fuller and cousin Jimmy Golden. The Sheepherders would become hated heels after attacking Jimmy's father Billy Golden. Eventually after a long feud, Fuller & Golden would defeat the Sheepherders and run them out of the territory. The Sheepherders moved on to Memphis's Continental Wrestling Association who quickly started another brutal and memorable feud this time with Jacques Rougeau and Terry Taylor leading to a Coal Miner's Glove Match to settle the score in which Rougeau and Taylor finally redeemed themselves but Boyd and Williams still managed to get a victory over Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee later that same night.

Next they would start one of their most memorable feuds ever against the Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn) as the pretty boy more technical good guy Fabulous Ones battled the ugly, savage brawling brutality of the Sheepherders. Boyd and Williams would eventually defeat the Fabulous Ones for the AWA Southern Tag Team titles which only intensified their feud. They'd trade the belts back and forth four times with the Fabs finally coming out on top in the end. Boyd and Williams moved on to Southwest Championship Wrestling where they'd defeat the Grapplers for the Southwest tag team titles convincing the Grapplers' manager Don Carson to turn on them in favor of the Sheepherders. Their reign would prove short-lived as Boyd legit broke his leg in a car accident and Williams turned on replacement partner Bobby Jaggers. Williams would shortly thereafter be reunited with Butch Miller.

Miller & Williams would go to feud with the Fabulous Ones once again, this time in Southwest Championship Wrestling over the SWCW tag team titles held by the Fabs. The Sheepherders dethroned the Fabs in March 1984 and held the titles until they were retired in September 1984. Following this, Miller & Williams returned to Puerto Rico this time as the Sheepherders and would feud with Invader I and Invader III over the WWC North American Tag Team titles with them trading the titles back and forth twice.

While Miller & Williams were competing in Puerto Rico, Boyd formed another Kiwi Sheepherders team with Sheepherders flag bearer Rip Morgan in Memphis where Boyd and Morgan continued the feud with the Fabulous Ones defeating them for the AWA Southern Tag Team titles before the Fabs convincingly took them back in a series of brutal matches. Boyd & Morgan soon found themselves feuding with a new team of pretty boys in the Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) with the Fantastics eventually defeating them in a tournament final to crown new AWA Southern Tag Team champs and thereafter defeating Boyd & Morgan in a No DQ Loser Leaves Town match that caused the Fantastics to become more popular than ever before.

Williams & Miller returned to the U.S. and Bill Watt's UWF where they defeated Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams for the UWF Tag Team titles in March 1986 to to fall to new enemies The Fantastics a couple of weeks later. The Sheepherders competed in the first ever Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team tournament and impressed defeating Hector & Chavo Guerrero and the Rock 'n' Roll Express before having a wild brawl with the Fantastics ending in a DDQ and eliminating both teams. They continued their feud in the UWF at the Mid-South Superdome Show with the Fantastics defeating Miller & Williams in a New Zealand Boot Camp match. After failing to defeat the Fantastics, the Sheepherders returned to Puerto Rico and defeated the Rock 'n' Roll RPMs (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) for the WWC World Tag Team titles. Eventually they'd drop the titles back to the RPMs and would move to Florida where they rekindled their old feud with the Fabulous Ones with Williams and Miller defeating the Fabs for the NWA Florida United States Tag Team titles which in time the Fabs would regain.

Meanwhile Boyd & Morgan returned and impressed once again in CWA winning the Southern Tag Team titles once again in a tournament final over Jeff Jarrett and Billy Joe Travis. Travis & Jarrett regained the titles a week later and would go on to defeat Boyd & Morgan in a Loser Leaves Town match. Shortly thereafter, Miller & Williams entered the territory and defeated Badd Company (Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond) for the AWA/CWA International Tag Team titles but quickly lost the titles back to Badd Company. Shortly thereafter they once more became embroiled in a feud with the Fabulous Ones who dominated the feud this time and seemingly ran Miller & Williams out of the area.

The Sheepherders briefly competed in New Japan's IWGP before returning to Puerto Rico to feud with Chris and Mark Youngblood over the WWC World Tag Team titles with them trading the titles back and forth before the Herders returned to Florida where they challenged Florida Tag Team champs Mike Graham and former Fabulous One Steve Keirn eventually cheating their way to yet another tag title reign. They successfully fended off the challenge of Ronnie and Jimmy Garvin but eventually lost the titles back to Graham & Keirn. Following this, they returned to the UWF and defeated the Lightning Express (Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner) for the UWF Tag Team titles. The Sheepherders participated in the third Crockett Cup and defeated Cruel Connection and the Lightning Express but somehow still got eliminated by the Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and former Fabulous One Stan Lane) in the second round. They next seemed poised to battle old enemies the Fantastics over the NWA United States tag team titles although they lost to them as Clash of the Champions II but Miller & Williams signed with the WWF and soon were reinvented as the fan-friendly Bushwhackers and suddenly the violent Sheepherders became the comedic Bushwhackers.

Sure they were entertaining and the fans love their shtick including exaggerated arm movements, licking and loud shouts of "Eeeh!" but they never again were taken as seriously as they were in their Sheepherder days although I suspect the matches were less brutal and the injuries were probably less. Still the titles which the Sheepherders collected pretty much everywhere they went before this seemed rather elusive. The Bushwhackers mostly feuded with different heel teams whom the fans wanted to see get shown up such as the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Rhythm and Blues and the Orient Express. The Bushwhackers finally pursued WWF tag gold held by the Nasty Boys but fell short in their challenge. Eventually the Bushwhackers would fall victim to the newly formed heel Natural Disasters tag team and would be their first victims. The Bushwhackers then continued their traditional WWF role by feuding with and trying to show up the arrogant Beverly Brothers. At this point, the Bushwhackers added a nerdy manager named Jamison to counteract Beverly Brother manager The Genius. Ultimately (and perhaps thankfully when it came to Jamison), the Beverly Brothers pretty much won the feud. By 1993, the Bushwhackers were basically reduced to putting over other teams including the Headshrinkers, Well Dunn, the Blu Twins and the Body Donnas. Since leaving the WWF, the Bushwhackers have made special sporadic return appearances. In WWC, they took on old rivals Invaders I and III. On a Heroes of Wrestling show, they defeated the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. They also appeared in the Wrestlemania X-7 Gimmick Battle Royal and took on the Moondogs in a Legends of Memphis Reunion show.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on November 21, 2010, 10:26:11 AM
Matt Striker is a pretty decent announcer, much better than some guys in WWE nowadays. 



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 21, 2010, 06:44:37 PM
"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase joins the Singles Hall of Fame. DiBiase may be more remembered nowadays for his Million Dollar Man gimmick which saw him use his money to control, manipulate and humiliate others in public fashion but really DiBiase was a world class wrestler. DiBiase was without any doubt one of the truly most talented wrestlers to ever step between the ropes. He had all the skills necessary to be a top star, great wrestling skills, charisma, terrific mic skills, and in his past had worked well in both fan favourite and heel roles. As the Million Dollar Man, DiBiase reached new heights of fame while feuding with Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man' Savage over the WWF World Heavyweight title with him trying to purchase the title and eventually succeeding in doing so during the Twin Referee debacle Main Event match between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant where DiBiase employed evil twin referee Earl Hebner to screw over Hogan while posing as his brother Dave Hebner. Unfortunately for the Million Dollar Man, he would quickly be stripped of the championship which would eventually be won in a tournament by Randy Savage at Wrestlemania IV with Hogan helping Savage defeat DiBiase, who had employed Andre the Giant to be in his corner, in the tournament finals. Savage held off the challenge of DiBiase and the Megapowers of Hogan & Savage would go on to defeat Andre & DiBiase at Summerslam '88 thanks to a timely distraction from their manager Miss Elizabeth. When DiBiase couldn't buy the World title, he decided to create his own and invented the splendid looking, jewel encrested Million Dollar Championship.

DiBiase was the adopted son of Iron Mike DiBiase and the son of lady wrestler Helen Hild. His biological father was a backup country singer named Ted Wills. Iron Mike would die of an heart attack in the ring when Ted was just 15. He went to West Texas State University on a football scholarship but eventually dropped out to pursue a career in pro wrestling. After being trained by Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, DiBiase debuted in Mid-South Wrestling where he competed for four years before moving to the WWF in 1979 and was awarded the short-lived North American championship before losing it to Pat Patterson who later reinvented it into the Intercontinental championship. As a babyface, he was heel Hulk Hogan's first opponent at Madison Square Garden. In 1980, DiBiase returned to the NWA and Mid-South Wrestling. In Georgia, he teamed with and then feuded with Tommy "Wildfire" Rich eventually defeating Rich in a loser leaves town match that saw Rich don a mask and wrestle as Mister R. DiBiase would go on to have memorable feuds and angles in various territories against the likes of Dick Murdoch, Ric Flair, the Fabulous Freebirds, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the One Man Gang and Junkyard Dog (which would make him the most hated wrestler of the year in 1982) which eventually saw him turn heel and start wearing a loaded black glove during his bouts. When the UWF where DiBiase was wrestling in the mid-80s was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions, DiBiase opted to go to the WWF where he was promised a great gimmick that would be well-pushed despite him being a possible candidate for a future run with the NWA World Heavyweight championship.

From 1983 to 1987, DiBiase also competed in All-Japan Pro Wrestling where he won the NWA United National championship before losing it a couple of months later to Michael Hayes. DiBiase would be a replacement partner for Bruiser Brody chosen by Stan Hansen in Japan and they'd hold the PWF Tag Team titles and would be quite impressive winning the 1985 World's Strongest Tag League. They'd hold the titles until July 3, 1987 when they'd lose the belts to Jumbo Tsuruta and Tiger Mask ending their two year reign. DiBiase and Hansen would regain the titles but would be stripped of title recognition when DiBiase left for the WWF.

DiBiase had an impressive pre-WWF title history that included runs with the AJPW Unified World Tag Team titles with Stan Hansen, the NWA United National title, PWF World Tag Team champions twice with Stan Hansen, NWA Central States Heavyweight championship twice, the NWA National Heavyweight (Georgia) championship twice, the NWA National (Georgia) Tag Team titles twice once with Stan Frazier and once with Steve Olsonski, the Mid-South North American Heavyweight championship four times, Mid-South Tag Team champions four time once each with Matt Borne, Jerry Stubbs, Hercules Hernandez and Steve Williams, NWA North American (Tri-State) Heavyweight championship, the NWA United States (Tri-State) tag team titles with Dick Murdoch, the NWA Western States Tag Team titles with Tito Santana, NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship twice and the Texas All-Star Heavyweight championship.

DiBiase debuted in WWF and was introduced through a series of vignettes that showed off his vast wealth, introduced his manservant Virgil and usually ended with DiBiase's trademark evil laugh and repeating that "Everybody had a price". Later he'd demonstrate this philosophy in-ring where he'd offer fans $100 bills to perform humiliating tasks on national television such as kissing his feet (one such fan was actually a young Rob Van Dam?!). DiBiase would use a sleeperhold finisher dubbed the Million Dollar Dream and would stuff a $100 bill in his opponents mouth after the match. Next came DiBiase's biggest angle where he tried to buy the WWF World Heavyweight title from Hogan who of course refused. This led to the February 5, 1988 Main Event angle where DiBiase used an evil twin referee to help Andre the Giant defeat Hogan for the belt with Andre immediately selling the title to DiBiase shortly after but the title would be held up, stripped from DiBiase and Andre (although DiBiase did briefly make appearances as champion) and a tournament was held at Wrestlemania IV which saw Randy Savage defeat DiBiase in the finals with the help of Hogan. Savage won his feud over DiBiase for the title with the Megapowers also defeating the Megabucks at Summerslam '88. At the 1988 King of the Ring tournament, DiBiase would impress winning the tournament and defeating the likes of Brutus Beefcake, Ken Patera, Ron Bass and Savage. DiBiase next purchased Hercules' contract from Bobby Heenan and declared Hercules his slave leading Hercules to rebel, turn face and feud with DiBiase. At the 1989 Royal Rumble, DiBiase purchased the # 30 slot from Akeem but was still eliminated by Big John Studd who won the Rumble match. DiBiase eventually won his feud with Hercules, defeated the Blue Blazer and introduced his brand new Million Dollar championship. DiBiase briefly feuded with Brutus Beefcake with the two battling to a double countout at Wrestlemania V. Next DiBiase feuded with Jake "The Snake" Roberts eventually leaving Roberts with a neck injury after attacking him following a match against Virgil. DiBiase returned to challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWF World championship but again fell short. At Survivor Series 1989, DiBiase captained his Million Dollar Team of the Powers of Pain and Zeus in a losing effort against Hulk Hogan's Hulkamaniacs team of Jake Roberts and Demolition. DiBiase did manage to eliminate Roberts during the match with help from Virgil but was shortly thereafter eliminated by Hogan.

At Royal Rumble 1990, DiBiase broke previous records for lasting the longest time in-ring lasting 45 minutes before being eliminated by the Ultimate Warrior. He continued his feud with Roberts which saw Roberts at one point steal DiBiase's Million Dollar title. DiBiase would win their Wrestlemania VI match by countout but Roberts would still manage to take out Virgil.  DiBiase next feuded briefly with Big Bossman before moving on to a long feud with Dusty Rhodes over the services of Sapphire which DiBiase eventually acquired with his funds. DiBiase at one point would attack Dusty's son Dustin during Dusty's match against Randy Savage. They continued their feud until Survivor Series 1990 during which DiBiase led a team against one captained by Dusty. A mystery man on DiBiase's team was eventually revealed to be the debuting Undertaker. DiBiase would go on to become sole survivor in the match and even eliminated both members of the Hart Foundation. At Royal Rumble 1991, DiBiase and Virgil defeated Dusty and Dustin Rhodes in a tag team bout. After the match, DiBiase ordered Virgil to put the Million Dollar belt around his waist but Virgil finally fed up with the years of abuse lashed out nailing DiBiase with the belt igniting a new feud. At Wrestlemania VII, Virgil defeated DiBiase by countout thanks to a bit of help from Rowdy Roddy Piper. Sensational Sherri, who had lost her position as manager to Randy Savage earlier that night, would become DiBiase's valet. Virgil defeated DiBiase for the Million Dollar championship at Summerslam '91. DiBiase would finally regain the championship with the help of the Repo Man on November 11, 1991.

DiBiase next formed Money Inc. with Irwin R. Schyster (the former Mike Rotundo) and they went on to win the WWF World Tag Team titles three times, twice while being managed by Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart. They initially won the titles from the Legion of Doom, lost and regained the titles from the Natural Disasters. They'd fend off the challenges of the Nasty Boys and the Ultimate Maniacs (Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage who did defeat them by countout) as well as Hulk Hogan and a returning Brutus Beefcake whom Money Inc. had tried to attack the surgically repaired face of following his parasailing accident. This led to Jimmy Hart switching sides to manage Hogan and Beefcake being disgusted by Money Inc's actions. They'd next feud with the Steiner Brothers whom finally defeat them for the belts. Money Inc. would briefly regain the titles but lost them back to the Steiners just three days later. DiBiase next mocked Razor Ramon for losing to the 1-2-3 Kid only for he himself to suffer the same defeat. This led to Ramon defeating DiBiase at Summerslam 1993. Following this, DiBiase retired from pro wrestling and moved into a commentator and then managerial role.

He formed his Million Dollar Corporation stable which included such grapplers as I.R.S., Bam Bam Bigelow, Nikolai Volkoff, Kama, King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka. DiBiase also managed the Fake Undertaker played by Brian Lee leading up to a match between the real and fake Undertakers at Summerslam 1994. DiBiase also managed Bigelow during his losing Wrestlemania XI effort against Lawrence Taylor leading to DiBiase's declaring Bigelow an embarrassment. This turned Bigelow face and saw him feud with DiBiase's Corporation. Next DiBiase managed the debuting Ringmaster Steve Austin, giving him the Million Dollar title at one point. Eventually DiBiase would leave the WWF for WCW. In WCW, DiBiase became the fourth member of the nWo following Hall, Nash and Hogan. DiBiase played himself off as the finances of the group and was nicknamed Trillionaire Ted. Eventually DiBiase would turn on the nWo and would start managing the Steiner Brothers and briefly Ray Traylor against them until Scott Steiner turned heel and joined the group. DiBiase retired from involvement from wrestling after this although he has made sporadic special appearances as a WWE Legend in WWE. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

General Skandor Akbar joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Akbar is likely best remembered for managing many monster wrestlers in World Class Championship Wrestling, the UWF and GWF where he lead his Devastation Inc. stable. Akbar's name which translates to Alexander the Great was also more than capable of mixing it up in the ring and wasn't afraid to get in on the action. Akbar had a lenghty career as a wrestler from 1963-1977 eventually choosing the name Skandor Akbar, at the suggestion of Fritz Von Erich, because it sounded more Arabic and served him better in a heel role. Akbar has a brief run in 1970s WWWF with Freddie Blassie as his manager. As a grappler, Akbar held the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles with Ox Baker, the NWA Macon Tag Team titles twice once with Buddy Colt and once with Rocket Monroe. He also held the NWA Tri-State North American Heavyweight championship, the NWA United States Tri-State Tag Team titles with Danny Hodge, the NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight championship and the NWA Asutra-Asian Tag Team championships with George Gouliovos. Akbar became a manager thereafter and confidentally managed his stable of monsters and talented grapplers dubbed by him Devastation Inc.. Akbar was known for smoking cigars at ringside, harassing fans during his men's matches and occasionally throwing a timely fireball to try and help his men win their matches. Akbar's stable over the years included many impressive grapplers including Abdullah the Butcher, Al Perez, Big Bubba Rogers, Bill Irwin, Black Bart, Brickhouse Brown, Buddy Landell, Butch Reed, Cactus Jack, Chris Youngblood, Dan Spivey, Dick Murdoch, Dr. Death (Steve Williams), Eli the Eliminator, Eric Embry, Kamala, The Missing Link, Goldust, The Great Kabuki, Greg Valentine, Hercules Hernandez, Iceman Parsons, Jesse Barr, Johnny Hawk, John Tatum, Kendo Nagasaki, Killer Khan, Killer Tim Brooks, King Kong Bundy, Leroy Brown, Manny Fernandez, Mark Lewin, Maniac Matt Borne, Mike Davis, The Mongol, Moadib, Mr. Olympia, Nord the Barbarian, One Man Gang, The Punisher (Undertaker), Scott Irwin, Steve Austin, Super Black Ninja, Ted DiBiase and the Terminator. Akbar also briefly had a run as a face manager and managed Kevin Von Erich before eventually turning on him. He also later briefly managed Toni Adams in a face role. Amongst the most impressive were One Man Gang who reigned as UWF Heavyweight champion and Iceman Parson who held the World Class Heavyweight title.

Lance Russell joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Russell is best known as the voice of Memphis wrestling as is every bit as much a legend there as arguably is Jerry "The King" Lawler. Russell called matches in Memphis from 1959 to 1997. Russell was every bit as big a part of making the wrestling shows he appeared on entertaining as were the wrestlers themselves. His banter with the likes of Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Jimmy Hart and Dutch Mantell in particular have stood out over the years as the wrestlers/managers went through the many changes, twists and turns in their careers. Russell used the microphone to either commend babyfaces for their good actions or to chastise heels for their underhanded and dastardly actions. Really brutal attacks tended to get a lot of sympathy from Russell for the person being attacked with particular dismay in his voice and a call for locker room reinforcements to come help out while he looked at the attackers and their actions with a great amount of clear disgust. Russell would get up out of his commentating chair to actually conduct interviews with the wrestlers coming around his desk to stand shoulder to shoulder with the grapplers - his interviews with his terrific facial reactions sometimes being the highlight of the wrestling shows. The 1989 documentary I'm From Hollywood shows off Russell's play by play work as well as his interviews with Andy Kaufman during his feud with Lawler. Russell went to WCW in 1989 to call WCW World Wide Wrestling alongside Jim Ross. He left in 1992 and returned to Memphis calling matches alongside Dave Brown and Corey Maclin for six more years before going into semi-retirement. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter selected Russell as best television announcer from 1984 to 1987. He was placed into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.

Marc Lloyd joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Lloyd was a pretty forgettable interviewer on WWE Jakked, WWE Metal, WWE Smackdown! WWE Excess, WWE Velocity in 2002. Honestly I cannot even remember too much about him aside from a few funny interviews with the Rock. Just another in a long line of interchangeable WWE/WWF Backstage interviewers rather like Sean Mooney and Todd Pettengill.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 26, 2010, 02:05:51 AM
Ernie Ladd joins the Singles Hall of Shame. There's no doubt that "The Big Cat" is something of a legend making a more successful transition from pro football to pro wrestling than most and being one of the most successful black wrestlers of his era. Whether playing the role or heel or face, Ladd was always entertaining although I personally feel he did a bit better as an heel. Following a successful football career playing in the AFL mainly with the San Diego Chargers from 1961-1965. In 1966, he moved to the Houston Oilers for a season and then finished his career with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1968. He was a 4-time AFL All-Star, a part of the AFL championship Chargers team in 1963, an All-Pro from 63-65 and was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame. Ladd actually started wrestling in the off season while still playing football as far back as 1961 and was one of the first truly successful black heels particularly during the 1970s as he was frequently able to rile up the crowds with his colorful and arrogant demeanor and the way he used very politically incorrect nicknames to refer to his main rivals such as calling Wahoo McDaniel "The Drunken Indian" or calling Andre the Giant "The Big French Fry". He also insisted rival Mr. Wrestling II was in reality a masked criminal. Ladd riled up fans more when he started using a taped thumb against his opponents in matches claiming it was an old football injury. Ladd was also known for up and bailing out of the ring if he got in serious trouble repeatedly getting counted out. In the WWWF, Ladd was managed by the Grand Wizard. Ladd is remembered for feuding with other big men most notably Andre. For a part of his career, Ladd proclaimed himself to be a King arrogantly wearing a crown down to the ringside while in other territories he was simply known as "The Big Cat" and wore a cowboy hat down to ringside. Ladd had title matches against three WWWF World champions in Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales and Bob Backlund but failed to capture the title. He also unsuccessfully challenged for Mil Mascaras' IWA Heavyweight championship. After departing the WWWF, Ladd competed mainly in the Mid-South territory run by Bill Watts feuding with the likes of Paul Orndorff, Ray Candy and Junkyard Dog. He also briefly managed the Wild Samoans of Afa and Sika. In the 80s, he formed a successful tag team with Bad Leroy Brown but would retire in 1986. He actually did a bit of announcing for the WWF usually providing color commentary when paired with Gorilla Monsoon. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995. He was previously inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1994 and was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 1996.

Ladd won a number of impressive titles throughout his career including the NWA Central States tag team titles with Bruiser Brody, the NWA Florida Heavyweight championship, the NWA Southern Heavyweight championship (Florida version), the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles with Ole Anderson, the NWA American Heavyweight championship, the NWA Brass Knuckles championship (Texas version), the NWA Texas Heavyweight championship, the NWA Americas Heavyweight championship, Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight championship twice, Mid-South North American Heavyweight championship, Mid-South Tag Team titles twice with Bad Leroy Brown, NWA Arkansas Heavyweight championship, the NWA North American Heavyweight championship (Tri-State version) four times, the NWA United States tag team titles (Tri-State version) with The Assassin, the NWF Brass Knuckles championship, the NWF Heavyweight championship, the NWF North American Heavyweight championship twice, the WWA World Heavyweight championship, the WWA World tag team titles with Baron Von Raschke and the WWC North American Heavyweight championship.

Luna Vachon joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. The daughter of Paul "Butcher" Vachon and niece of Mad Dog Vachon, Luna really seemed to have wrestling in her blood. Despite her family (godfather Andre the Giant too) actually trying to dissuade her because they thought the wrestling lifestyle too difficult for a woman, Luna- real name Gertrude- Vachon persisted and eventually would go on to study under her aunt Vivian Vachon and the Fabulous Moolah. Luna became as part of Moolah's all-woman federation but eventually moved on to Florida Championship Wrestling in 1985. She initially played a soft-spoken reporter named Trudy Herd who was presenting Kendall Windham with an award when a melee ensued and she was knocked unconscious by Kevin Sullivan. The angle eventually saw her driven mad by Sullivan's treatment and influence as she eventually joined his satanic Army of Darkness stable. As part of her gimmick, she shaved one half of her head, covered her face in bodypaint and continuously sneered - Luna Vachon was born although years later Luna expressed some uneasiness about the Satanic gimmick. While in Florida, Luna wrestled Madusa Miceli starting a rivalry that would last for years. She formed a tag team with the Lock as the Daughters of Darkness, a part of Sullivan's army. The duo also provided background vocals for the thrash metal band Nasty Savage. Over the next three years, Luna made trips overseas to Japan with her father Butcher Vachon as her manager. She also took part in POWW (Powerful Women of Wrestling) and during an association with the AWA took part in a lingerie battle royal at Superclash III. In the early 1990s, she took over management of the Blackharts, a masked tag team that performed in Stampede wrestling and Herb Abrams UWF - the team consisted of Tom Nash, Luna's then husband, and partner David Heath, who would become Luna's future husband (he's better known as Gangrel and Vampire Warrior). The Blackharts used the names Apocalypse and Destruction and were an impressive tandem and Luna did quite well as their manager. She also managed them in Tri-State Wrestling and All-Japan Wrestling until the pair eventually broke up. Luna went on to work for Wild Women of Wrestling as a performer, commentator and booker.

In 1993, she'd move to the WWF. At Wrestlemania IX, she accompanied Shawn Michaels to the ring as he took on Tatanka who was accompanied by HBK's old manager Sensational Sherri. Luna attacked Sherri and started a brutal feud with her. Eventually Bam Bam Bigelow would get involved and would declare Luna his main squeeze (fans took to calling her Lunatic) and Luna started managing him. Initially plans were to have Luna & Bigelow take on Sherri & Tatanka at Summerslam but Luna legit injured her arm and Sherri left the WWF. Eventually this led to a rather silly feud with Doink the Clown and a laughable Survivor Series match pitting Bam Bam, Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers against four Doinks (actually Men on a Mission and the Bushwhackers in Doink makeup). Eventually Bam Bam's part-time tag team with Booger would see dissension between the two when Booger would also become infatuated with Luna. At Wrestlemania X, Bam Bam and Luna would finally get their revenge on Doink and his midget sidekick Dink beating them in a mixed tag team match. Trouble with Bam Bam came when his interference backfired in a ladies match and she sold his contract to Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. When Madusa under the name Alundra Blayze arrived in the WWF and revived the women's title division, Luna pursued the championship but failed to defeat her old rival. Luna next picked Japanese lady wrestler Bull Nakano, whom she managed, to defeat Blayze for the title which Nakano eventually did but Luna left the WWF shortly thereafter. Luna would however become the first woman to appear in a WWF video game namely WWF Raw.

Luna returned to the independent circuit in 1994 but eventually ended up joining ECW being brought in as Tommy Dreamer's new valet during his lengthy feud with Raven, whom Luna had actually shared an apartment with early in her career. Luna would become physically involved and even defeated Stevie Richards in a steel cage match. Her husband Vampire Warrior would even feud with her at this time as part of Raven's stable pretending to be jealous of all the time being spent with Dreamer. During this year, she would become only the second woman ranked in the PWI 500 list. In 1996-1997, she competed in the American Wrestling Federation and IWA Mid-South under the name Angel Baby. In 1997, Luna had a brief WCW run where she again clashed with old rival Madusa and interfered in Madusa's matches with then WCW Women's champion Akira Hokkuto. Luna would dominate the matches but Madusa always won in the end.

In late 1997, she returned to the WWF first managing the bizarre one Goldust who was re-inventing himself at the time as "The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust". They wore a number of bizarre costumes during this period including a dominatrix and a slave and a New Year's Baby and his Nurse. Initially they feuded with Vader. Things got very weird when Goldust dressed as a Christmas tree reciting poems in the ring was attacked by Santa Claus, actually Vader in disguise. Vader would eventually defeat Goldust at the Royal Rumble 1998. Goldust and Luna also took to imitating Goldust's opponents. At one point, Goldust and Luna dressed as Triple H and Chyna for a European title match against Owen Hart. Triple H thought it was a joke until Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter recognized Goldust as a legit replacement and declared Owen Hart's title victory to be valid.

Goldust and Luna would begin teaming with Marc Mero leading to an eventual feud between Goldust & Luna and Mero & his manager Sable as Luna and Sable eventually wound up fighting each other outside of the ring. The two couples battled at Wrestlemania XIV in a mixed tag match and Luna would go on to defeat Sable in an Evening Gown match at Unforgiven 1998. The Wrestlemania match which was designed to make Sable look good, despite her bad backstage attitude, was mainly successful because of Luna's hard efforts. In August 1998, Luna seemed to have patched things up with Sable as she was managing the Oddities stable and started a new feud with Mero's new valet Jacqueline and the two traded wins. When Sable was given a run with the reinstated women's championship which had eluded Luna, Luna under a mask as "The Spider Lady" attacked her and pursued the title and seemed poised to win it when an obsessed fan who turned out to be newcomer Tori interfered and cost her the Leather Strap match at Royal Rumble 1999. Luna also defeated Gillberg around this time. Luna was scheduled for another title shot at St. Valentine's Day Massacre until she was suspended for fighting with Sable backstage.

Luna returned six months later to challenge then women's champion Ivory eventually losing to Ivory in a Hardcore Rules match despite a previous non-title match victory. Luna around this time would also challenge WWF Intercontinental champion Jeff Jarrett and would actually defeat Jarrett by DQ thanks to Ivory's interference. Luna then returned to a managerial role this time managing husband Gangrel. At Survivor Series 1999, she joined forces with Ivory, Jacqueline and Terri Runnels in a losing effort against Tori, Debra, The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young when Moolah pinned Ivory. At Royal Rumble 2000, she participated in the Swin Suit contest but simply in protest of how the WWF had sexualized the women's division refusing to remove her gown at the event. Luna again would pursue the women''s championship held this time by Jacqueline but again would fall short. After the match, Gangrel would attack Jacqueline leading to a mixed tag between Gangrel & Luna and Jacqueline and Prince Albert which was won by Luna's team but Luna would soon see herself sent packing from the WWF following yet another backstage outburst.

Luna returned to the independent circuit where she continued to manage her husband Gangrel/Vampire Warrior in both the U.S. and overseas be it Puerto Rico, Australia, Germany and/or Britain. On June 9, 2007, Luna became the first Great Lakes Championship Wrestling's Ladies champion defeating Traci Brooks. On December 5, 2007, Luna announced her retirement and in her retirement match on December 7, 2007 she successfully defended her GLCW Ladies title against Brooks and retired as champion. Aside from this title, Luna held the AWF Women's championship in 1996, the Ladies Major League Wrestling Women's championship, the POWW tag team titles twice with Hot Rod Andie, the Sunshine Wrestling Federation Ladies championship, the USWA Women's championship in 1993, and the Wild Women of Wrestling Television championship.

Despite the character she played in the past, Luna would become a born again Christian in 2004. She had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2009, Luna was honored at the 44th aanual Cauliflower Alley Club reunion given the "Ladies Wrestling Award" in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Taken from Wikipedia:

"On the morning of August 27, 2010, she was found dead at her Florida home, when her mother called on her. According to the District Six Medical Examiner's Office in Florida, she died from a "accidental overdose of oxycodone and benzodiazepine". Investigators previously found crushed pill residue and snorting straws at multiple locations inside Luna's house. Luna became addicted to medication at some point and underwent rehabilition, paid for by WWE, which she completed in June 2009.

She was buried in a ceremony open to immediate family only, at the ranch formerly owned by her close friend and godfather Andre the Giant."



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 27, 2010, 11:24:37 PM
Jason Knight joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Knight spent time both competing as an in-ring performer as well as working as a manager/second at ringside. Knight debuted in 1984 and mainly competed on the independent circuit before being used as an enhancement talent by the WWF in 1993. He moved to Eastern Championship Wrestling in late 1993 teaming with Ian Rotten in a losing effort against Public Enemy. Knight would go on to defeat the Canadian Wolfman before leaving the promotion. When he returned, it was renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling and Knight would go on to defeat Mikey Whipwreck for the ECW World Television title at Hardcore Heaven 1994. Jason would successfully fend off challenges from Whipwreck, Rockin' Rebel, Hack Myers and J.T. Smith. On the same night Jason and Dean Malenko failed to win the ECW Tag Team titles from Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck, he would also lose his TV title to Too Cold Scorpio. Jason briefly continued his feud with Whipwreck before becoming the manager of the Eliminators tag team of Saturn and Kronus. Jason would fail in his feud with Whipwreck to defeat him for the ECW World Heavyweight title and would go on to be embarrassed by Konnan who defeated him in 14 seconds.

Jason moved on to a stint in Big Japan Pro Wrestling before returning to ECW in August 1997 unsuccessfully feuding with Chris Chetti and the Blue Meanie. Eventually Jason, nicknamed "The World's Sexiest Man", formed a tag team with Justin Credible to continue his feud with Whipwreck who enlisted Tommy Dreamer to help him in the feud. Whipwreck & Dreamer dominated the feud and soon Jason would be moved into the role of manager and second for the Impact Players tag team of Lance Storm and Justin Credible along with Dawn Marie. Credible & Jason would finally win a match together when they defeated Jerry Lynn and Prodigy but would lose their final match as a team in an handicap bout against the Sandman. Jason left ECW shortly after this before returning for one final match in 1999 when he lost to Jazz at Heat Wave.

In 2000, Jason returned to Jersey All-Pro Wrestling where he captured its Heavyweight championship by winning a 30-Man Battle Royal. Jason fended off challenges from Don Montoya and Ace Darling but would be stripped off the belt when he left the area. Knight went on to work for several independent promotions but typically lost more than he won in big matches. In 2005, Knight would appear on ECW Hardcore Homecoming and WWE's ECW One Night Stand before returning to the independents where Knight won the Defiant Pro Wrestling TV title on November 17, 2007. He held the title until February 10, 2008 when he lost it to William King.

As a manager, Jason always seemed more like an active wrestling second than a full-fledged manager and as a competitor, he sure seemed to lose more than he won although he did have that run with the ECW World Television title.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 05, 2010, 07:03:56 PM
The U.S. Express of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually Windham & Rotundo were quite a capable tag team tandem who managed to capture two WWF World Tag Team titles under manager Captain Lou Albano as well as having some success in Florida. They used their patriotism to make them a popular team coming to the ring to Bruce Sprinsteen's "Born in the USA" and battling the foreign heel tandem of Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik, managed by Freddie Classie with whom they traded the tag titles back and forth before they lost them to the Dream Team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine who used a lit cigar given them by their manager Johnny V to win. They initially defeated Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch to win the gold. After losing the titles to the Dream Team, Windham & Rotundo would briefly reteam in the AWA in the mid-1980s to defeat the Fabulous Ones at Wrestlerock '86. Upon Rotundo's return and Windham's leaving the WWF, Windham would be replaced briefly by Dan Spivey who then teamed with Rotundo but the team was never again as successful. After Windham & Rotundo split, Windham sought glory and singles gold in the NWA challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight title in some very close bouts and eventually capturing the NWA United States title. Rotundo as a singles star became the champion in Florida and would go on to win the NWA World Television title. Teaming with Steve Williams, he also captured NWA World Tag Team gold as part of the Varsity Club. Later Rotundo would reinvent himself as Michael Wall Street and eventually in the WWF became Irwin R. Schyster and achieved even more WWF World tag gold teaming with Ted DiBiase as part of Money Inc..

Steve Williams & Terry Gordy join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. "Dr. Death" and "Bamm Bamm" first achieved tag success together in Japan as The Miracle Violence Connection. Eventually when Bill Watts was brought in to run WCW, he would bring in his two former UWF World champions to battle with the Steiners in an impressive series of quality tag team matches over both the NWA and WCW World Tag Team titles. Williams and Gordy were quite an imposing powerhouse tag tandem that was legit tough and could wrestle and outwrestle the best the world had to offer. Together they captured tag team gold and dominated practically wherever they teamed. Their titles include All-Japan Pro Wrestling Unified World Tag Team titles which they won five times, WCW World Tag Team titles, the NWA World Tag Team titles which they won in a WCW tournament, and Williams and Gordy won the World's Strongest Tag League twice in 1990 and 1991. Eventually Williams and Gordy would leave WCW and fade from fame out of loyalty to Giant Baba and All-Japan Pro Wrestling after WCW forged a deal with rival company New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Scott Hall (also known as Razor Ramon) joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Throughout his career, Hall always seemed on the cusp of greatness but just seemed a little shy of winning that elusive World title becoming more of a secondary and tag team champion throughout his career. Had he not had so many issues with substance abuse and personal problems, it does seem likely Hall might well have added a World title or two to his title history. Hall started out in Florida wrestling where he feuded with Dusty Rhodes. Eventually the young Hall formed a masked tag team with workout partner Dan Spivey as American Starship wrestling under the name Starship Coyote while Spivey used the name Starrship Eagle. They wore furry boots, bright masks and did an Hulk Hogan style T-shirt ripping routine. While colorful, they really weren't used that much by the less gimmick oriented NWA although they did challenge Ole and Arn Anderson for the NWA National Tag Team titles at one point. They also challenged Marty Jannetty and Bulldog Bob Brown for the NWA Central States Tag titles but they never captured them. Eventually Spivey left Kansas but Hall stayed. Hall eventually earned respect of the crew he worked with there and was later brought into the AWA.

In the AWA, he was billed as "Magnum" Scott Hall due to his similar appearance to Tom Selleck's Magnum P.I. and Magnum T.A. in the NWA. Eventually the name would be changed to simply "Big" Scott Hall and he formed a tag team with a young Curt Hennig. Hall was told to imitate Hulk Hogan by promoter Verne Gagne and eventually he and Hennig became a very popular young tag team. They captured the AWA World Tag Team titles from "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal. As champions they fended off challenges from "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, Konga the Barbarian and Boris Zhukov and the Long Riders of Bill and Scott Irwin. Eventually they lost the AWA World Tag Team titles to Rose and Somers in controversial fashion by countout (which apparently allowed for title changes in the AWA) due to outside interference from Colonel DeBeers. This led to an Hall feud with DeBeers and eventually AWA World Title bouts with Rick Martel and Stan Hansen. Gagne apparently wanted to put the World title on Hall but Hall saw the AWA was dying and hated the cold Minnesota weather and soon moved back to the NWA in 1989. Hall was basically used to put over talent in the NWA until he was reinvented as the Diamond Studd in 1991. In 1991, Hall also defeated Miguel Perez Jr. for the WWC Carribean Heavyweight Championship which he lost a month later to Super Medic III.

As the Diamond Studd, Hall was reinvented as an arrogant "Ravishing" Rick Rude type suave heel managed by "Diamond" Dallas Page. He'd impress in WCW defeating Tom Zenk and Tommy Rich but soon found his push fade away as he was eventually jobbed to Ron Simmons and eventually even to Zenk himself. In 1992, he formed a short-lived tag team with Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash) and Scotty Flamingo (Raven) also part of Page's stable. Eventually he seemed poised to become part of the Dangerous Alliance but it never happened and he left WCW.

Hall signed with the WWF and was again reinvented this time as the suave but shady Cuban American bully from Miami who oozed machismo - "The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon. Ramon was based loosely on Tony Montana and Manny Ray from Scarface. Ramon impressed early on wearing his gold chains and flicking his toothpick while threatening ring attendants that if anything happened to his gold, "something's gonna happen to you". He was soon embroiled in a notable feud with WWF World champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage which Ramon would eventually gain the upper hand in even helping Ric Flair recapture the title from Savage. Eventually this led to Savage and the Ultimate Warrior teaming up to feud with Ramon and Flair but when Warrior left the WWF, he would be replaced by Flair's former manager and executive consultant "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. Bret Hart would go on to successfully defend the WWF World title against Ramon at Royal Rumble 1993. After failing to win the World title, Ramon started to build himself up in pursuit of the King of the Ring defeating Bob Backlund and Tito Santana before again falling to Hart. Eventually Ramon would be upset by the upstart 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) with the Kid eventually earning his respect while Ted DiBiase made fun of Ramon for losing. This eventually led to a Ramon face turn as he came to feud with DiBiase.

Ramon would go on to win a battle royal for the then vacant WWF Intercontinental title last eliminating Rick Martel. He would then successfully fend off challenges from Martel and I.R.S.. In 1994, former Intercontinental champion Shawn Michaels resurfaced and laid claim to the gold leading to a feud with Ramon and their famous ladder match which stole the show at Wrestlemania X, a match won by Ramon. Ramon continued to feud with Michaels and his bodyguard Diesel (Kevin Nash) with Diesel eventually upsetting Ramon for the Intercontinental title. Ramon went far in the 1994 King of the Ring defeating Kwang and Bam Bam Bigelow before finally losing to Owen Hart in the finals. At Summerslam 1994, Ramon went on to defeat Diesel and regain the Intercontinental title after Shawn Michaels' attempt at outside interference backfired. At Survivor Series 1994, Ramon's Bad Guys team defeated Shawn Michaels' Teamsters (who pretty much split up) with Ramon being the sole survivor. Ramon next entered into a feud with "Double J" Jeff Jarrett who would go on to defeat Ramon for the Intercontinental title at Royal Rumble 1995. On May 19, 1995, Ramon defeated Jarrett to regain the Intercontinental title for a then record third time but dropped it back to Jarrett three days later. When Ramon suffered a rib injury battling Jarrett in a ladder match, he was replaced in the King of the Ring tournament by Savio Vega whom Ramon seconded throughout the tournament which Vega eventually lost in the finals to Mabel. Ramon and Vega formed a brief tag team but lost to Men on a Mission and tag champs Owen Hart and Yokozuna. Ramon received an Intercontinental title ladder rematch with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam 1995 but lost. At In Your House 4, after Michaels was forced to forfeit the Intercontinental title to Dean Douglas, Razor Ramon received a title shot and captured the Intercontinental title for a record fourth time. Hall would also win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight championship in 1995 defeating Bill Dundee but eventually dropping the title to perennial USWA favourite Jerry "The King" Lawler. In early 1996, Ramon entered into a feud with the bizarre and controversial Goldust with Ramon losing the I-C title to Goldust thanks to help from a now heel 1-2-3 Kid. In 1996, Hall had become a member of the WWF's offstage Klique with HBK, Kevin Nash and Triple H leading to an MSG Incident where they broke kayfabe and embraced as Hall and Nash were now heading to WCW.

Hall first appeared in WCW in 1996 and suggested an "hostile takeover" hinting at a possible WWF Invasion. Eventually he was joined by Kevin Nash as the two "Outsiders" challenged WCW's best Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage to a 3 on 3 match against them and a mystery partner. The mystery partner was a true shock as it was revealed to be a newly heel Hulk Hogan who transformed himself into "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and now along with Hall & Nash, the nWo was born. Eventually the group added Syxx and the Giant. After defeating Sting & Luger, Hall and Nash went on to defeat Harlem Heat for the WCW World Tag Team titles. Together they successfully fended off challenges from the Nasty Boys, the Faces of Fear, the Steiner Brothers, Lex Luger and the Giant and the Four Horsemen. Eventually the Outsiders started using the Freebird rule to allow for Syxx to also defend the titles. Whenever they briefly lost the titles, newest nWo member Commissioner Eric Bischoff usually returned the titles to them. Eventually Hall & Nash would lose the WCW World Tag Team titles to the Steiners and Hall would focus briefly on singles wrestling feuding briefly with Lex Luger and going on to win the 60 Man Battle Royal at 1997's World War 3 earning a World title match. In January 1998, Hall and Nash defeated the Steiners for their second WCW World Tag Team title while Hall also continued feuding with WCW Broadcaster Larry Zbyszko whom he would actually lose to by DQ in a match at Souled Out. Hall and Nash would lose and regain the tag titles from the Steiners for a third time. At Uncensored, Hall finally got his World Heavyweight title match against Sting but lost the match despite interference from a newly heel and newly nWo Dusty Rhodes.

In 1998, while still tag champs with Nash, the nWo split into separate factions with Nash leading nWo Wolfpac while Hall remained in nWo Hollywood with Hall costing Hall & Nash the tag titles in a bout with Sting & The Giant. On the July 6, 1998 episode of Monday Nitro, Hall was handpicked by Hogan to wrestle United States champion Bill Goldberg but Hall lost and Goldberg went on to defeat Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight title. Hogan would blame Hall for the loss and he would soon be seen as the weak link in nWo Hollywood. Hall seemed poised for a face turn but when Nash came to his aid later, Hall viciously attacked him and in a swerve stayed with nWo Hollywood, he and the Giant eventually forming a tag team and capturing the WCW World Tag Team titles. Hall & the Giant  (with Hall replaced by Scott Steiner) eventually dropped the titles in an Halloween Havoc match against Rick Steiner & Buff Bagwell despite Bagwell turning on his partner.

Hall's in-ring character began to mimic his real life troubled persona as he began bringing alcohol to the ring with him and became more and more out of control. His on-screen character became closer to his real life problems with alcohol and drug abuse. Hall and Nash would finally face off at Halloween Havoc 1995 and after two jackknife powerbombs, Nash would leave the ring and lose the match by countout in what was portrayed as "an act of mercy". Hall was shortly after booted out of nWo Hollywood now led by Scott Steiner and Hall started calling himself the Lone Wolf. Hall eventually needed a partner to battle Steiner and Horace Hogan and eventually former Outsiders partner Kevin Nash came to his aid to defeat the pair. Later at Starrcade' 98, Hall in essence returned the favor using a stun gun on Goldberg causing him to lose the WCW World Heavyweight title to Kevin Nash ending Goldberg's undefeated streak. Hall feuded with Goldberg and was defeated when Goldberg used a stun gun on him.

At Superbrawl IX, Hall defeated "Rowdy" Roddy Piper for the WCW United States Heavyweight title but a foot injury eventually lead to him forfeiting the title. Hall, still battling substance abuse problems would not be seen on TV again until October 1999. On a November 8, 1998 edition of Nitro, Hall defeated Goldberg, Bret Hart and Sid Vicious in a Texas Tornado Ladder Match for his second United States title. Two weeks later at WCW Mayhem, he defeated Rick Steiner for the WCW World Television title to become a double champion and successfully defended both titles against Booker T. later the same night. Hall would go on to vacate the TV title after throwing it in the thrash on Nitro 8 days later and would be stripped off the U.S. title due to a knee injury with the title then awarded to Chris Benoit. Hall & Nash would reteam on the December 13, 1999 edition of Nitro to defeat Bret Hart & Bill Goldberg for their sixth WCW World Tag Team championship as a team but Hall's personal problems soon meant they would be stripped of that title. With the return of the nWo in December 1999, Hall joined up with Nash, Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner as nWo 2000.  In 2000, Hall got involved in a feud with WCW World Heavyweight champion Sid Vicious that soon also involved teammate Jeff Jarrett with Sid pinning Hall in a match between the three at Superbrawl 2000. This would be Hall's last match in WCW and the end of his stint there.

Hall briefly wrestled in ECW in non televised appearances before moving on to briefly compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he mostly teamed with former WCW/nWo alumni nWo Sting and Scott Norton. Mostly Hall lost in Japan and to the likes of the Great Muta and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Hall returned to the WWE in February 2002 as part of the newly repackaged nWo with Nash and Hogan in WWE. Mainly he aided Hogan early on in his feud with the Rock and himself briefly feuded with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin losing to him at Wrestlemania X-8. He would be drafted to Raw where he would feud with Bradshaw and come out on top and continue feuding with Austin. Hall affected by personal issues was in the process of asking for his leave from WWE but during an overseas tour, he was alleged to have relapsed into alcoholism when inappropriate actions during an alleged "plane ride from Hell" led to him being fired. Hall next turned up working sporadically in TNA between 2002 and 2005. He also teamed with Syxx-Pac there. In 2003, Hall made several appearances in Puerto Rico's IWA and he and Nash would reunite for one night in Ultimate Pro Wrestling to lose to Tom Howard and Christopher Daniels. They also had a reunion match in Japan where they lost to Naoya Ogawa and Shinya Hashimoto. In 2004, he signed a contract with TNA and reformed a team with Nash and Jeff Jarrett this time dubbed the Kings of Wrestling. They lost to Randy Savage, A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy at Turning Point in December 2004. Hall would go on to lose to Jeff Hardy in January 2005's Final Resolution ending his initial stint with TNA.

Hall next traveled to WWC in Puerto Rico as Razor Ramon to battle Carlito who defeated Hall when Apollo interfered. The next night, Hall defeated Carlito and then champion Apollo in a three way dance for the WWC Universal Heavyweight championship. He successfully fended off challenges from Eddie and Orlando Colon. Hall then went on to no-show several events due to personal issues.

He made a brief return to TNA to confront Nash and eventually the two embraced in the ring. Initially plans were made to team the Outsiders with Samoa Joe to battle the Angle Alliance but again Hall no-showed the match that was supposed to happen at Turning Point.

In August 2007, Hall debuted in Juggalo Championship Wrestling and lost to JCW Heavyweight champion Corporal Robinson. Eventually Hall, Corporal Robinson and Violent J (of the Insane Clown Posse) formed the jWo (Juggalo World Order) with Shaggy2Dope (Insane Clown Posse), Kevin Nash, Nosawa and 2 Tuff Tony eventually being revealed as further members of the group. The jWo would go on to invade TNA's Turning Point PPV by buying front row tickets and flashing their jWo jerseys. They also planned to invade WWE's 2009 Royal Rumble but couldn't due to filming commitments for Big Money Rustlas They also considered invading Ring of Honor and UFC. Hall would team with Nash in Great Lakes Championship Wrestling against the New Age Outlaws in what was supposed to be a battle of nWo and DX but Nash walked out on Hall during the match setting up a grudge feud that never happened. Hall and Nash were supposed to team with the ICP as the jWo at JCW's Bloodymania but Nash was replaced by Sid Justice as result of the Outsider split. Hall later defeated Sid in a match and wrestled him in several other independent promotions in 2009. In 2010, Hall made his return to TNA on the January 4, 2010 show on which Hulk Hogan made his debut. Hall, Nash and Sean Waltman started teaming together again this time as "The Band" eventually leading to Hall & Waltman turning on Nash and beating him down. This led to Nash teaming up with Eric Young against Hall & Waltman in a match that saw Nash turn on Young and help Hall and Waltman secure contracts with TNA. The Band went on to lose a six-man match to Jeff Hardy, Eric Young and Rob Van Dam, a St. Louis Street Fight to Team 3D. Eventually though Eric Young turned on Team 3D and joined the Band. Hall teamed with Nash and defeated Matt Morgan cashing in his Feast or Fired contract to win the TNA World Tag Team titles naming Young a third member of the group. Eventually The Band would be stripped off the tag team titles due to Hall's legal problems and Hall would be released from his contract with TNA that same day.

David Crockett joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Crockett worked as a color commentator in the NWA during the years it was run by his family's Jim Crockett Promotions. He was the son of Jim Crockett Sr. and the brother of Jim Crockett Jr.. He was typically paired in announcing duties alongside Tony Schiavone. From 1985 to 1988, he and Schiavone were the announcing team for NWA World Championship Wrestling. Crockett also worked with Bob Caudle in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. He also worked behind the scenes as an executive and later an executive producer. It was fairly obvious that while Crockett had a love for professional wrestling that he likely wouldn't have been a color commentator at all if not for family connections. Most people generally considered him awful and he was voted the Worst Television Announcer by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter from 1986 to 1988. Crockett is likely best remembered for his part in the Nikita Koloff/Ric Flair feud in 1985 when Koloff clotheslined Crockett and Ric Flair came to his aid. Crockett had earlier been on the airplane that crashed injuring Johnny Valentine and Ric Flair with Crockett being the least injured of the men on the plane.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on December 07, 2010, 11:30:26 AM
Scott Hall is a pretty decent in ring competitor with a huge fanbase.

Shame his personal problems get the best of him, really.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 10, 2010, 02:36:51 AM
Barry Darsow joins the Singles Hall of Shame. This guy's had more identities in wrestling than most. He was Krusher Krushchev, Demolition Smash, The Repo Man, The Blacktop Bully and "Mr. Hole-In-One" Barry Darsow. Darsow actually attended high school with several future wrestling stars in Minneapolis including Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Brady Boone, Tom Zenk, John Nord and Nikita Koloff. He'd later work as a bouncer alongside the future Road Warriors Hawk and Animal.

Darsow would debut in Hawaii, would briefly compete in New Zealand, return to Hawaii and then move to Georgia where he first adopted his "Krusher" Darsow gimmick playing a turncoat American and Soviet sympathizer. While in Georgia, he'd form a tag team with Nikolai Volkoff. Eventually the name would be changed to Krusher Krushchev and he'd go on to win the Mid-South Television title in a tournament final win over Terry Taylor. Eventually he'd drop the title back to Taylor. He'd move on to compete in Florida where he'd team with Jim Neidhart. Along with Neidhart, he'd win the Florida United States tag team titles from Hector Guerrero and Coco Samoa. They'd hold the titles for two months before dropping them to Mark and Jay Youngblood.

In December 1984, he'd move to Jim Crockett Promotions and would be awarded a third of the NWA World Tag Team titles along with partners Ivan and Nikita Koloff. While champions, the fearful Soviet threesome would dominate and feuded with the likes of the Rock 'n' Roll Express and the Road Warriors. The Rock 'n' Roll Express would eventually defeat Krushchev and Ivan to win the tag belts. At Starrcade 1985, Krushchev would win the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight championship beating Sam Houston. Krushchev would go on to severely injure his knee in a TV bout with Houston and would eventually drop the title to him. After six months, Krushchev returned and helped Nikita Koloff defeat Magnum T.A. in their famous Best of 7 Series for the NWA United States Heavyweight championship. Krusher and Ivan also targeted the newly created NWA United States Tag Team titles around this time and would eventually defeat the Kansas City Jayhawks, with help from Nikita, in a tournament final.

When Magnum T.A. had the car accident that ended his career, it unexpectedly led to Nikita Koloff turning face and teaming with Magnum's friend Dusty Rhodes briefly feuding with Krushchev and Ivan Koloff. Mainly though the Russians feuded with the Jayhawks. After they lost the U.S. Tag titles to Ron Garvin and Barry Windham, Darsow's contract with JCP ran out and he left the promotion.

Darsow next showed up in the WWF where he transformed himself into arguably his most successful identity of them all --- Demolition Smash when he replaced Randy Colley alongside Demolition Ax (Bill Eadie). Initially they were managed by Johnny V but they soon got traded to Mr. Fuji under whom they reached new heights of success feuding with Ken Patera and Billy Jack Haynes and Strike Force. At Wrestlemania IV, they defeated Strike Force for their first WWF World Tag Team championship thanks to some timely interference from Mr. Fuji. Demolition went on to become arguably the most dominant tag team in WWF wrestling history defeating practically every team thrown at them in an era where the WWF was filled with talented tag teams. Eventually they ended up feuding with the Powers of Pain but as it soon became evident that Demolition were in reality the more popular of the two teams, a double turn would happen at Survivor Series 1988 with Mr. Fuji turning on Demolition and helping the POP win the Survivor Series tag elimination match. Demolition however would win the feud ultimately defeating both the POP and exacting their revenge on turncoat Fuji at Wrestlemania V. Demolition's record breaking tag title reign finally came to an end at the hands of the Brain Busters managed by Bobby Heenan. Demolition would regain the titles a few months later but would go on to lose them to the imposing Colossal Connection of Andre the Giant and Haku. They'd eventually upset the seemingly invincible champs at Wrestlemania VI to win the WWF World Tag Team titles for the third time. Later in 1990, the team would be joined by Crush as Ax was having health issues and they moved back to being heels as they feuded with the Hart Foundation, to whom they'd drop the titles, and the Legion of Doom: the Road Warriors. LOD would thoroughly dominate the feud and the team of Smash and Crush just never proved as successful as Ax and Smash. Eventually Crush would leave the WWF and Smash would be reduced to basically putting over other talent.

In late 1991, he would once again recreate himself -- this time he became the Repo Man, a sneaky, clever heel who seemed to take unusual delight in repossessing the possessions of others. He wore a Lone Ranger style mask, brought a towrope to the ring with him and wore a costume with tire tracks on it. Really he looked like he might have been a villain from the campy 60s "Batman" TV series. He'd go on to help "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase regain the Million Dollar championship from Virgil leading to a feud with Virgil. Repo Man's most notable feud though was against The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith with him coming out on the losing end. He also had brief albeit forgettable feuds with former partner Crush and Randy Savage. Mostly at this point, he was a glorified enhancement talent given a ridiculous gimmick who was surprisingly entertaining at pulling off said gimmick.

In March 1993, Darsow would leave the WWF and would compete in the Independent Association of Wrestling winning IAW Tag Team titles with Paul Roma and holding said titles for several months before dropping them to Brian Costello and the Iron Sheik.

Darsow turned up in WCW in 1994 coming to ringside with a blowhorn and harassing the babyface wrestlers. He'd eventually wind up feuding with Dustin Rhodes. As the Blacktop Bully managed by Col. Robert Parker, Darsow had some surprisingly bloody and intense bouts with Rhodes. He'd move on to compete in independents like Pro Wrestling America, where he feuded with Wahoo McDaniel and Tom Zenk, and the AWF before he returned to WCW in 1997 and started competing under his own name before briefly adopting a heel golfer gimmick and the name Stewart Pain. Eventually the name would be dropped and he'd become simply "Mr. Hole-In-One" Barry Darsow or "Putting" Barry Darsow, pretty much a consistent presence on WCW Saturday Night feuding with the likes of Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Chris Adams and mostly working as an enhancement talent to build others. He stayed there until 1999.

Darsow returned to the independents in 2000 in the WXO where he feuded with Mike Enos. Eventually he'd reunite with fellow legendary Demolition member Ax on the independent circuit where they still sometimes compete together to this day. In fact, they are the current GLCW and USXW Tag Team champions. Darsow has also made special appearances in the WWF/WWE under his old Repo Man persona.

Jerry "The King" Lawler joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After a legendary career where he mostly dominated in Southern territories of the CWA, USWA, AWA Southern and WCCW (Lawler would also win the AWA World Heavyweight title), Lawler would finally join the WWF at the end of his career in the early 1990s where he'd go on to have feuds with the likes of Bret Hart, Jake Roberts and Doink the Clown but in the WWF/WWE, he'd eventually become more well-known for his color commentary alongside play by play man Jim Ross in the WWF during the heights of the WWF Monday Night Wars with WCW and even on to this modern era. Lawler has always tried his best to entertain fans and add insight whether playing a villainous or more heroic role. While at times, his commentary has seemed to get stale and his use of "Puppies" became well overdone, Lawler today is one of the most consistently entertaining elements on WWE Monday Night Raw and without him, I doubt Michael Cole would be tolerable at all.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 11, 2010, 03:20:03 PM
Doom joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The tandem of Butch Reed and Ron Simmons proved very impressive in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Initially brought in as a masked tandem under the management of Woman to get revenge on the Steiner Brothers in 1989, the would defeat the Steiners in their debut with a loaded mask and would go on to defeat other teams including Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich but their success would be short-lived as they would be dominated at Starrcade' 89's Night of the Iron Men tournament, Woman would drop them as a team and they'd lose a match to the Steiners which forced them to unmask.

Actually this turned out to be a blessing for Doom who prospered anew under the management of former referee turned heel manager Theodore Long. The hard-hitting Doom went on to shock the world defeating the Steiner Brothers at Capitol Combat 1990 to win the NWA/WCW World Tag Team titles. Doom dominated a talented tag team division included fending off the former champs the Steiners, The Rock 'n' Roll Express, Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk, The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys before entering into a feud with the arrogant Four Horsemen group who objected to sharing a dressing room with Doom thus turning Doom face. Doom went on to battle Ric Flair and Arn Anderson to a double countout at Halloween Havoc 1990 and battled Barry Windham and Arn Anderson to a no-contest at Starrcade 1990. Doom continued to hang on to their titles despite a non-title loss to Sting and Lex Luger.  Finally at WrestleWar 1991, miscommunication between Simmons and Reed lead to their downfall and cost them their tag team belts at the hands of Fabulous Freebirds Michael "P.S." Hayes and Jimmy "Jam" Garvin. Following the match, Reed attacked Simmons and ignited a feud between the two partners thus ending the Doom tag team. Reed, managed to Long, battled the now babyface Simmons in some intense, hard-hitting bouts. The feud ended in a "Thunder-Doom" cage bout at SuperBrawl I when Simmons pinned Reed. Reed left WCW shortly thereafter and Simmons became a singles star even going on to win the WCW World Heavyweight championship in 1992 with Long occasionally appearing as his manager. Years later in the WWE, when Teddy Long was to get "married" (storyline) both Reed and Simmons appeared at his bachelor party and as ushers at his wedding with their history as Doom being mentioned.

Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. According to his autobiography, Al-Kaissie was in fact born in Iraq and supposedly went to high school with Saddam Hussein. He had an amateur wrestling career in Iraq before moving to the United States to attend Oklahoma State University following which he began wrestling as a pro in Oklahoma under the name Adnan Kaissey. Kaissey changed his gimmick while competing in the Pacific Northwest and the WWWF in the 1960s and 1970s and became Billy White Wolf, a fan favourite "Native American" Indian. He went on to win the WWWF World Tag Team titles with Chief Jay Strongbow under this gimmick until he was attacked and injured by Ken Patera's swinging neckbreaker which forced White Wolf to need neck surgery and cost him the tag titles with Strongbow as the Indians were stripped of the titles shortly thereafter.

Al-Kaissie returned to Iraq to compete supposedly under the direction of Saddam Hussein and there he defeated Andre the Giant in the early 1970s in Bagdad, Iraq. When he returned to the U.S. in the late 70s, he again used an Indian gimmick claiming to be a master of the Indian Death match while feuding with Tor Kamata in Hawaii in the late 70s. Apparently Al-Kaissie also briefly tried to bring pro wrestling to Iraq but by this time, Hussein had assumed power and saw Al-Kaissie as a potential rival forcing Al-Kaissie to flee back to the United States.

In 1981, with tensions running high between the U.S. and the Middle East, he debuted in the AWA as Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie with the goal of winning the AWA World Heavyweight title from Nick Bockwinkel. He failed to defeat Bockwinkel although the two had some great and close bouts. As a manager, Al-Kaissie would have considerable success in the AWA. After failing to win the tag team titles himself paired up with "Sheik Ayatollah" Jerry Blackwell, he acquired Ken Patera's contract from Bobby Heenan and paired him up with Blackwell as a pair of unlikely Sheiks. Blackwell and Patera, managed by Al-Kaissie would capture the AWA World Tag Team titles from the High-Flyers tandem of Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell. Al-Kaissie remained in the AWA as the top heel manager from then on thereafter right up until 1991. He managed quite a collection of frightening and talented grapplers including Blackwell, Patera, Bruiser Brody, Nord the Barbarian, Boris Zhukov, Kokina Maximus, King Tonga, The Mongolian Stomper, Bobby Duncum, Mr. Saito, The Masked Superstar, Kamala, Abdullah the Butcher, Soldat Ustinov, Teijho Khan, Crazy Luke Graham and Superstar Billy Graham. He also managed Zhukov & Ustinov to the AWA World Tag Team titles. In 1991, he'd return to the WWF to manage newly heel Sgt. Slaughter, now an Iraqi sympathizer while Slaughter was WWF World Heavyweight champion. He also managed Colonel Mustafa (The Iron Sheik) who teamed with Slaughter and himself in a 1991 losing Summerslam effort against Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. In the AWF, he managed a Rat Pack stable that included Cowboy Bob Orton Jr., Mr. Hughes and Manny Fernandez.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 12, 2010, 02:59:12 PM
The Kings of Wrestling join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Mainly this team consists of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli but overall the faction has included several other wrestlers such as current members Sara Del Ray and Shane Hagadorn and former members Arik Cannon, Icarus, Gran Akuma, Chuck Taylor, Max Boyer, Mitch Ryder, Larry Sweeney and Shanyne Hawke.

The team started in 2005 when Chris Hero turned on Super Friends partner Mike Quackenbush and joined Castagnoli and Arik Cannon in Chikara. Cannon would leave the group by that same December but Hero and Castagnoli continued their tag team and in 2006, became the first ever Chikara Campeones de Parejas by winning the 2006 Tag World Grand Prix tournament defeating Milano Collection A.T. and Skayde in the finals. Hero & Castagnoli also had previous success in Combat Zone Wrestling winning the CZW Tag Team titles on September 10, 2005 from the Tough Crazy Bastards Tony Klein and Necro Butcher. During 2005, Hero began feuding in CZW with Eddie Kingston with Hero and Castagnoli teaming up with Super Dragon to take on Kingston and his BLKOUT stable. In February 2006, the Kings of Wrestling would lose their CZW Tag titles to Kingston and Joker. In later 2005, Hero would also begin a war with Ring of Honor.

Castagnoli, who was a member of the ROH roster, had claimed he would remain loyal to ROH despite his CZW team with Hero and during a feud between the two companies, Castagnoli would turn on ROH during its 100th Show helping CZW win a six-man match over ROH and uniting for the first time with Hero in ROH. In ROH, they started feuding and battling teams like B.J. Whitmer and Adam Pearce. Finally on July 15, 2006 at Death Before Dishonor 4 Team ROH (Samoa Joe, B.J. Whitmer, Adam Pearce, Ace Steel and Bryan Danielson -later replaced by Homicide) defeated Team CZW (Hero, Castagnoli, Necro Butcher, Nate Webb and Eddie Kingston) in a Cage of Death match to end the feud. On August 2006, the ROH Tag Team titles were stolen from Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Later Hero revealed that he and Castagnoli were the culprits and would be challenging for the titles. On September 16, 2006, they successfully defeated Aries and Strong to win the ROH Tag Team titles with their new KRS-ONE finisher after illegal smashing Aries in the ribs with an attache case. On October 14, 2006, the Kings of Wrestling defeated three other teams at the CZW show Last Team Standing to become two-time CZW Tag Team champions. This made the Kings of Wrestling the only Independent Triple Crown Tag Team champions in history (as they were tag champs in Chikara, CZW and ROH). They also attempted to win the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team titles but failed to dethrone tag champs Super Dragon and Davey Richards. In late 2006, with rumors of Castagnoli going to WWE, the Kings of Wrestling lost their CZW tag gold to Sabian and Robbie Minero, their Chikara  Campeonatos de Parejas to Team F.I.S.T. (Gran Akuma and Icarus) following which Hero turned on Castagnoli and threw him out of the stable and finally they lost their ROH Tag Team titles to Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels. On December 22, 2006, Larry Sweeney debuted in ROH helping the Kings of Wrestling defeat the Briscoe Brothers and afterwards Castagnoli revealed he wasn't going to WWE. In February 2007, Chikara held the first ever King of Trios tournament where the Kings of Wrestling stable was to include Hero and Team F.I.S.T. but Hero was replaced at the event by Chuck Taylor and the group lost in the semifinals. On April 22, Hero defeated Castagnoli in a match where if Castagnoli lost, he would have to rejoin Hero. At May 26's Chikara's Anniversario! event the two factions within the Kings of Wrestling faced each other with Team F.I.S.T. consisting of Icarus, Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor defeating Hero, Castagnoli and Larry Sweeney but following the match all six men united. In fact, they even added new members Mitch Ryder, Max Boyer and Shayne Hawke. At September's Cibernectico and Robin Chikara event the Kings faced Team Mucha Lucha in the annual torneo cibernectico match. The Kings won but were then forced to face each other as the match could have only one winner. In the end, Castagnoli won the match and his freedom from the Kings of Wrestling faction. On December 9, 2007, Castagnoli defeated Hero to end their first feud. Afterwards Hero left Chikara and disbanded the Kings while Team F.I.S.T. continued as a faction all their own.

In December 2009, the Kings reunited in ROH at Final Battle 2009, ROH's first live PPV attacking new ROH Tag Team champions the Briscoe Brothers. The Kings of Wrestling became a new stable in ROH adding Sara Del Ray (whom they dubbed "The Queen of Wrestling") and manager Shane Hagadorn. Hero & Castagnoli would again attack the Briscoes at ROH's 8th Anniversary Show also brawling with the Dark City Fight Club. In January 2010, the Kings entered Pro Wrestling NOAH's Global Tag League but lost all three matches there. They rebounded in a big way at ROH's April Big Bang! show defeating the Briscoes for the ROH Tag Team titles for their second reign. On August 15, 2010, Hero and Castagnoli defeated the Thomaselli Brothers, The Briscoe Brothers, and the Ring Rydas at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania IV to become new JCW Tag Team champions.

In July, ROH announced the Tag Wars with 12 tag team vying to determine which three teams would get to challenge the Kings of Wrestling in an Ultimate Endurance elimination match. On August 28, the Kings defeated The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis and Kory Chavis), The All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King) and the Briscoe Brothers to retain their ROH Tag Team belts in the Ultimate Endurance match and to win the Tag Wars tournament. In November, the Kings returned to NOAH and this time impressed during a three week tour going undefeated in tag team matches until the final night of the tour when they lost to GHC Tag Team champions Takuma Sano and Yoshihiro Takayama in a match for the GHC Tag belts.

The World's Greatest Tag Team, also previously known as Team Angle, join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas were two very talented wrestlers and a great tag team especially while teaming with Kurt Angle in Team Angle (they debuted as a gift from Paul Heyman for Kurt) yet somehow they just seemed to lack something, most likely charisma, especially without Angle in the lead. As part of Team Angle, they defeated Los Guerreros for the WWE Tag Team titles in February 2003 and successfully defended them against teams such as Chris Benoit & Rhyno and Los Guerreros before losing them to Eddie Guerrero and new partner Tajiri in a May 19 Ladder match at Judgment Day 2003. Following the loss, Haas and Benjamin split with Angle, whom they blamed for recent misfortunes and lack of leadership and changed their name to the Best Damn Tag Team Period and eventually the (Self-Proclaimed) World's Greatest Tag Team. They would regain the WWE Tag Team titles for a second time in early July and would successfully fend off challenges from Rey Mysterio Jr. and Billy Kidman and the APA. They'd finally lose their titles to Los Guerreros in September and would fail thereafter to regain them from either Los Guerreros or later tandems including Scotty2Hotty and Rikishi.

The team would split in 2004 when Benjamin would be drafted to Raw and would gain newfound singles success winning three Intercontinental titles over the next two years. Haas meanwhile would continue on Smackdown! where he'd win another WWE Tag Team title while paired up with Rico and valet Miss Jackie. Haas would eventually end up as a unsuccessful singles star and briefly teamed with Hardcore Holly before being released in 2005.

He would return to the WWE in 2006 and impress by defeating former partner Benjamin and Raw in April. By December, Haas and Benjamin had reformed their old tag team with Haas acting very strangely seemingly thinking himself black. This eventually led to a feud with Cryme Tyme, in which the WGTT usually came out on the losing end although they did end Cryme Tyme's undefeated streak on Raw. The WGTT also defeated the High Landers around this time. A feud with Ric Flair and Carlito followed which saw both teams trade back and forth wins until Carlito turned on Flair. This led to a World Tag Team title Ladder match against the Hardys at One Night Stand which the WGTT lost. Next they briefly feuded with newcomers Brian Kendrick and Paul London and eventually came out on top in said feud. Haas and Benjamin continued on as a team but had only sporadic success even battling makeshift teams like Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes and Hacksaw Duggan & Super Crazy. Finally the team would disband when Benjamin was traded to ECW. In 2009, when both grappler ended up on Smackdown! they had a brief reunion while Benjamin feuded with John Morrison that saw them lose to C.M. Punk and Morrison before Benjamin was traded back to ECW and both men got released in 2010.

They would reform their tag team in the independents and at ROH's Glory By Honor IX September 2010 event renaming themselves Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team losing a ROH Tag Team title match against the Kings of Wrestling. On American Wrestling Rampage tours, they recently lost two bouts to La Resistance in November although they got a win over Scott Steiner and Booker T.. Haas and Benjamin are superb wrestlers, a fine tag team yet they lack that certain something most likely a lack of focus and charisma, in fact they are downright dull in many respects. They are a team badly in need of guidance. Perhaps if paired again with Angle, or even better a quality manager, Haas and Benjamin could still have a fine future ahead of them as a tandem.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on December 12, 2010, 09:03:27 PM
Haas and Benjamin were a fine team and great addition to Smackdown at that time.  They featured a bit more technical wrestling at the time, so to see a roster with Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Haas, Benjamin, etc made a decent program.  Benjamin looked to be a bit of a breakout star in '04 or so, but they never really did anything much with him.  Shame.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 15, 2010, 02:51:43 AM
Bob Backlund joins the Singles Hall of Fame. The "All-American Boy" who grew up to become WWWF World Heavyweight champion, Backlund seemed to add a real legitimacy to the WWWF World title in the 70s and early 80s. He seemed to fit the mold of the typical NWA World Heavyweight champion in some respects, a great wrestler who nevertheless seemed beatable to fans (yet he retained his World title for over 5 years) so he got them watching to see if he'd lose the title yet impressed with win after win. In his initial run though, it would have been hard to imagine Backlund in the successful heel role he'd pull off decades later given how he always seemed a true good guy, who always followed the rules, did the right thing and won the right way. A great example, an All-American amateur wrestling who became a WWWF World champion wrestling hero.

In 1969, Backlund became an All-American in both football and wrestling while at Waldorf Junior College in Forest City, IA. Backlund would become an All-American in wrestling a second time and would go on to win the Division II NCAA in 1971. In 1972, he moved up to the heavyweight division and finished fifth at the NCAA Division II Nationals.

Backlund decided to turn Pro in 1973 and would be trained by Eddie Sharkey before making his debut in the AWA that year. Backlund was soon a very popular babyface due to his obvious clean cut persona and considerable in-ring technical skills. Backlund moved on to the NWA territories where he would win the NWA Western States Heavyweight championship from Terry Funk in Texas. He'd win the title three times before moving on to Georgia where he'd team with Jerry Brisco to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles from Mr. Fuji and Prof. Toru Tanaka. Backlund would leave Georgia in 1976 for Florida where he'd team up with Steve Keirn to defeat Bob Orton Jr. and Bob Roop for the NWA Florida Tag Team titles. While working in Florida, Backlund also worked in St. Louis where he defeated the legendary Harley Race for the NWA Missouri Heavyweight championship, a title he'd eventually lose to Jack Brisco.

In early 1977, Backlund signed with Vincent J. McMahon's WWWF where he was managed by "The Golden Boy" Arnold Skaaland. Backlund very quickly was given title shots in the WWWF and was clearly being groomed for the role he would soon play atop the promotion. On February 20, 1978, Backlund finally managed to gain a pinfall victory, something elusive, over WWWF World Heavyweight champion "Superstar" Billy Graham albeit in controversial fashion as Graham's leg was on the ropes during the pinfall which went unseen by the referee. Backlund would also win the WWF World Tag Team titles with Peter Maivia until Maivia turned on him. During one backstage interview, which was hardly Backlund's strong point at the time, Backlund showed a glimpse of his future self by going berserk during an interview about Maivia. While WWWF World champion, Backlund actually tangled with NWA World Heavyweight champion Harley Race battling Race to a 60-Minute Draw. Backlund would go on to tangle three more time with Race but no clear winner ever emerged. Backlund would also battle Ric Flair while he was NWA World champion but again a clear victor was not evident. Backlund also tangled with AWA World champion Nick Bockwinkel again without a clear winner. Backlund also had memorable battles with Japanese legend Antonio Inoki who would actually defeat Backlund for the WWWF World title in Japan although the title change was never officially recognized in the U.S. at the time. Backlund regained the title and successfully battled and fended off challenges from an who's who of talented grapplers including the Magnificent Muraco, Billy Robinson, Pat Patterson, Greg Valentine, Ray Stevens, Superstar Graham, Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, The Masked Superstar, Adrian Adonis, Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Victor Rivera, Spiros Arion, Larry Zbyszko, Jimmy Snuka, Mr. Fuji, Mr. Saito, Prof. Toru Tanaka, Swede Hanson, Ivan Koloff, Stan Stasiak, Ken Patera, Bobby Duncum, Big John Studd, Johnny Rodz, Blackjack Mulligan, Charlie Fulton, Iron Mike Sharpe, Killer Khan, Afa, Sika, Johnny Valiant, Jerry Valiant, The Moondogs, Lou Albano, Bob Orton Jr., Buddy Rose, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Peter Maivia, Ernie Ladd, Bulldog Brower, King Curtis, Killer Kowalski, George "The Animal" Steele, the Original Sheik and even more! On August 9, 1980, Backlund teamed with Pedro Morales to win the WWF World Tag Team titles from the Wild Samoans but they were forced to vacate the titles due to a rule at the time that did not allow for one man to hold two titles. At the end of 1980, Backlund had considerable tag team success in Japan teaming with Antonio Inoki to win the MSG Tag Team League Tournament with wins over Hulk Hogan and Stan Hansen along the way.

Aside from the controversy surrounding the recognized in Japan only title change with Inoki, there was also a storyline with Greg Valentine where Valentine was at one point accidentally rewarded the title by a confused referee. By 1983, fans seemed to be growing weary of Backlund and his thoroughly clean cut "Howdy Doody"  (as he was referred to by the Gran Wizard) image. He was criticized also for not facing fellow fan favourite wrestlers in title defenses. Also the WWF was taken over by the young Vincent Kennedy McMahon around the time and he soon wanted a more charismatic, popular muscular champion in one Hulk Hogan soon setting into motion the events where Backlund would be storyline injured by the Iron Sheik's Persian clubs leading to a stunning upset where Sheik defeated Backlund after manager Skaaland threw in the towel (which actually saved Backlund face considering he himself never actually gave up) after which the injured Backlund never ever received a return title match either against the Sheik or the man the Sheik soon lost the title to - Hulk Hogan. Backlund left the WWF in August 1984.

Backlund next showed up in Pro Wrestling USA, a joint promotion by the AWA and the NWA to combat the expansion of the more popular than ever WWF, where Backlund unsuccessfully challenged Rick Martel for the AWA World Heavyweight championship before disappearing from the scene. Many thought Backlund retired until he unexpectedly showed up in Herb Abrams' UWF in 1991 where he would feud with and defeat Ivan Koloff. Backlund also appeared in Japan's UWFI, a quasi-shoot wrestling promotion where he had memorable battles with Nobuhiko Takada. In 1992, Backlund returned to a vastly different WWF. Many fans didn't remember Backlund and he seemed truly out of place in the more gimmick laden WWF yet he still managed to impress in mid-card matches and especially at the 1993 Royal Rumble lasting over an hour in the match. At Wrestlemania IX, Backlund's first, he'd lose to Razor Ramon.  Eventually Backlund would receive a WWF World Heavyweight title match with WWF World champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart in a battle of Old vs. New generations. Hart would win the match and shockingly afterwards, Backlund would just snap, going completely crazy, attacking Hart and locking him in his Crossface Chicken Wing submission hold. Backlund soon claimed he should still be recognized as WWF World champion since he never actually lost to the Sheik and was soon attacking anyone who dared cross in the present or the past including Duke "The Dumpster" Droese and former manager Arnold Skaaland (whom Backlund attacked for throwing the towel in on him). At the 1994 Survivor Series, Bob Backlund would face Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight championship in a Threw in the Towel submission match, a match Backlund would ultimately win and gain his second WWF World Heavyweight title albeit with a lot of help from Owen Hart who manipulated his mother Helen into throwing in the towel on his then hated rival, his brother Bret. Unfortunately for Backlund though, his second title reign would only last three days as he lost the WWF World Heavyweight title to Diesel (Kevin Nash) in an 8 second squash only 3 nights later on an house show. Following this loss, Backlund trimmed down his work schedule tremendously but did work one more memorable match against Hart, an "I Quit" match at Wrestlemania XI, which he lost. Backlund did a brief but silly and forgettable angle where he was trying to run for U.S. President before moving into a managerial role for the Sultan alongside old adversary the Iron Sheik before leaving again for a few years. He'd briefly return in 2000 to manage Kurt Angle before Angle would eventually fire him for putting him in a Wrestlemania 2000 triple threat match that cost him both the Intercontinental and European title without him ever being pinned or defeated himself. Backlund briefly appeared in TNA in 2007 judging the finals of Kevin Nash's Paparazzi Challenge Series which Backlund eventually ruled a draw causing Nash to restart the match allowing Alex Shelley to defeat Austin Starr (Aries). Starr would blame Backlund for the loss and pie face Backlund leading Backlund to snap and lock him in the Crossface Chicken Wing. Backlund later defeated Alex Shelley at Slammiversary and would lose a tag team match partnered with Jerry Lynn to Shelley and Chris Sabin, managed by Nash, at Victory Road before Backlund again just seemingly disappeared from the scene. On the 15th Anniversary Raw show, Backlund participated in a special 15th Anniversary Battle Royal where he was quickly eliminated  by Skinner. Backlund also appeared in the 2007 Comedy film In the Land o Merry Misfits as well as being a guest on MTV's Singled Out.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 30, 2010, 02:21:00 AM
Chyna joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame.  After being trained by Killer Kowalski, Chyna went on to join then boyfriend/fellow trainee Triple H in the WWF as his hired bodyguard. Chyna, a muscular woman who initially more closely resembled a man proved quite the startling attraction as she became a new kind of oddity even being referred to in the WWF as “The Ninth Wonder of the World”. She initially debuted by attacking Marlena/Terri Runnels who was managing Goldust at the time whom Triple H was then feuding with. Chyna went on to have great success alongside Triple H and later Shawn Michaels as part of the initial DeGeneration X along with Rick Rude.  While a member of the successful D-X stable, Chyna started getting involved more and more in the in-ring action and eventually started wrestling with the men even getting entered into the Royal Rumble at one point.  Following her Royal Rumble appearance, Chyna surprised many by turning heel and joining Vince McMahon’s Corporation stable teaming with Kane. The stable eventually morphed into the Corporate Ministry with Chyna eventually betraying Kane and Triple H eventually joining the group with him and Chyna turning on their old D-X teammates with Chyna continuing to manage and accompany Triple H.

In 1999, Chyna began to concentrate more on her own in-ring singles career and began pursuing singles success competing with the men becoming the first woman to qualify for King of the Ring and also becoming number 1 contender for the World Heavyweight championship at one point. Chyna would start a long feud with Jeff Jarrett eventually defeating Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental title at No Mercy in a Good Housekeeping match and eventually winning Jarrett’s manager Miss Kitty as well. Chyna went on to feud with Chris Jericho over the title with Jericho defeating Chyna for the Intercontinental title at Armageddon. However a rematch between the two ended controversially with both participants pinning each other leading to them becoming Intercontinental co-champions. At the Royal Rumble, Jericho won a Triple Threat match over Chyna and Hardcore Holly to become sole champion but Chyna became his manager shortly thereafter. This would prove short-lived however when Chyna would betray Jericho to join forces with “Latino Heat” Eddie Guerrero. Originally an heel pairing, they proved so popular with fans they were quickly made fan favourites. Guerrero and Chyna went on to face Val Venis and Trish Stratus in an Intergender Tag Team match with the Intercontinental title on the line with Chyna eventually winning the title yet again. Eddie would later use some rather sneaky tactics to defeat Chyna for the title in a Triple Threat match also involving Kurt Angle. Surprisingly Chyna stayed with Guerrero for a while longer until he protested her Playboy photos and she caught him cavorting with the Godfather’s “Hos”. During her Playboy centerfold appearance, Chyna began a feud with Ivory and her Right To Censor group eventually defeating Ivory for the WWF Women’s Championship. Chyna went on to successfully defend the title against Lita but shortly thereafter vacated the title as she learned of Triple H’s affair with Stephanie McMahon for whom Triple H eventually left her. Not long after this, she was gone from the WWF.

Chyna, real name Joanie Laurer, next appeared in New Japan Pro Wrestling refereeing a match between the Steiners and Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kensuke Sasaki. Despite her WWF success, Chyna was always a rather limited in-ring performer who was well put over and protected by those she had performed with in the WWF so she had little real success in Japan. She lost to Masahiro Chono and performed her last in-ring match in Japan teaming with the Fake Great Muta in a losing effort against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenzo Suzuki.

Following wrestling, Chyna went on to make several lower end celebrity appearances including embarrassing ones on The Howard Stern Show, an MTV Music Awards Presenter,  an appearance on Fear Factor, the host of Robot Wars: Grand Champions, appearances on Hollywood Squares before making her debut in reality TV with The Surreal Life, a cameo on My Fair Brady and on The Surreal Life: Fair Games. In 2006, she appeared in the films Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy and Illegal Aliens. She also appeared on Cristina’s Court as a plaintiff. By far her most notorious movie though was her porno sex tape with X-Pac (Sean Waltman) entitled 1 Night in China. The former Chyna is still known for her constant battle with drugs and her substance abuse issues. As recently as September 2010, she was admitted to the hospital for overdosing on sleeping pills.

Steve Corino joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Corino had his greatest success in ECW and the NWA albeit when both were well past their heydays with Corino becoming ECW and later NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Corino is a fine wrestler and one who follows a real old-school mentality despite succeeding very well even in the most extreme and hardcore environments. Corino has held numerous independent titles and is a quality wrestler capable of putting on great matches night after night yet always seem to lack just a little something in regards to charisma that perhaps kept him out of the big leagues and definitely seems more like a territory wrestler from the 70-80s era of wrestling in many ways.

Abu Wizal joins the Manager/Valets Hall of Fame. Wizal was the heel manager of the Stampede Wrestling heel stable known as Karachi Vice including the likes of Makhan Singh (Norman/Bastion Booger), Vulkan Singh (Gary Albright), The Great Gama Singh, The Cuban Commandoes of Gerry Morrow and the Cuban Assassin, Johnny Smith, the Dynamite Kid, Lethal Larry Cameron, Don Muraco, Duke Myers, Kerry Brown, Beef Wellington, Stev DiSalvo, Bad News Allen, Jason the Terrible, Zodiac, Phil LaFleur and briefly even Harley Race. From 1987 to 1990, Wizal was basically the top heel manager in the Stampede promotion despite only being 5 foot 2. This page from the SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame covers him pretty well - http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/wizal.html (http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/wizal.html)


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 02, 2011, 02:12:04 AM
The Dream Team of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake managed by Luscious Johnny V joins the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually Valentine & Beefcake were a surprisingly successful tandem in their heyday and even captured the WWF World Tag Team titles from the U.S. Express of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo, managed by Captain Lou Albano, thanks to some timely interference allowing the heels to use Johnny V's lit cigar on Windham to illegally get the win. While Valentine was definitely the more talented of the pair, he meshed surprisingly well with the young Beefcake. They'd next be challenged by the ultra-talented British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid) now managed by Captain Lou. Initially they'd find underhanded ways to retain their titles again and again. The Dream Team would also successfully defend against the Killer Bees and both versions of the U.S. Express (Windham & Rotundo and Rotundo & replacement partner Dan Spivey). Finally at Wrestlemania 2 in 1986 in what was billed as the Bulldogs last shot, the Bulldogs, accompanied by Ozzy Osbourne in a special appearance, finally captured the gold. The Dream Team continued a while longer as unsuccessful challengers to the Bulldogs before moving down the card to feud with the New U.S. Express, the Killer Bees and finally the Rougeau Brothers. While feuding with the Rougeaus, manager Johnny V suddenly added the newly heel strongman Dino Bravo as the team third cornerman. At Wrestlemania 3, the team would have a falling out and finally Bravo & Valentine would bail on Beefcake kicking him out of the team. Bravo & Valentine's New Dream Team were actually less successful than the originals and did not even seem to mesh as well as a team. Beefcake would go on to reinvent himself as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and would team with the Rougeaus to feud with the New Dream Team and their manager Johnny V. The New Dream Team had some success against the Islanders and got some title shots against the Hart Foundation but failed to win the titles and quietly split apart after about a year together with Bravo and Valentine moving on to pursue singles careers.

Ronnie P. Gossett joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Gossett was a successful manager in Memphis wrestling, a man known for his large size, thick glasses and bald head. He would manage many successful wrestlers there including Jerry "The King" Lawler, the Master of Pain who would later become the Undertaker, Cowboy Bob Orton Jr., Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony and Jeff Jarrett. Gossett was talented on the microphone and could get around the ring surprisingly well for a big man. His manager character reflected his real life as a braggart and a gambler who knew how to weasel people out of their money using his name and reputation to trick many in the biz out of their hard earned dollars. In the end, he would be known as a con man but also a person who could work people as well in reality as he could as a manager.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 09, 2011, 05:29:31 PM
Bret “The Hitman” Hart joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Hart worked his way to the top by paying his dues and earning it the hard way, starting at the bottom and gradually moving up through the ranks. After some success in the amateur ranks in high school and college, Hart would eventually move on to compete in his father’s Calgary Stampede promotion eventually collecting every important title there more than once (5 NWA Calgary International Tag Team titles, 4 with brother Keith and one with Leo Burke, 3 Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championships, 6 Stampede North American Heavyweight Championships), his most notable matches coming after further training with Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada. These matches of particular note were against the Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask. When Stampede was purchased by the WWF, Bret would be brought there and would eventually form a successful tag team tandem with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart named the Hart Foundation which would go on to capture 2 WWF World Tag Team Championships.

The Hitman soon gained renown for his “Excellence of Execution” as Gorilla Monsoon was fond of naming his wrestling style. Gorilla also quickly pointed out how Bret wasn’t afraid to mix it up and get into a brawl as well if that was what was called for. The Hitman soon started impressing in singles after long years as a member of the successful Hart Foundation tandem when he defeated Curt Hennig for the Intercontinental title (a title Bret would win again in 1992 from “Rowdy” Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania VIII), a victory that catapulted Bret into the spotlight like never before. After competing in a main event losing effort to brother in-law Davey Boy Smith in England at Summerslam 1992, The Hitman would go on to win the WWF World title unexpectedly from one “Nature Boy” Ric Flair in 1992 and soon thereafter took on all comers and managed to keep the firmest grasp of all on the title from late 1992 to 1997 going on to win it 5 times in total. The Hitman’s strengths lie in his determination, his never say die attitude and the way he gradually wore his opponents down and out.

Hart had a wide repertoire of holds and maneuvers and could reverse, counter wrestle and escape many holds. A few he made use of often was a diving axe-handle/elbow smash from the top rope, a Russian legsweep, a suplex, a piledriver, a figure-four leglock, a side suplex and a Boston Crab. His main finisher was the Sharpshooter although he used a flying clothesline during his Hart Foundation days. Hart was also quite capable of pinning an opponent with a small package cradle or roll-up. If Hart had any weakness, it was that sometimes he was too determined to participate and mix it up when it wasn’t wise for him to do so.

Following the infamous Survivor Series 1997 Montreal Screwjob that saw Bret unfairly robbed of his WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a plot including WWF owner Vince McMahon Jr., referee Earl Hebner, opponent Shawn Michaels and adversary Triple H to ensure the title remained in the WWF, Bret bitterly left for WCW. WCW though seemed to have no clue how to use or book “The Hitman”. Despite this, Bret went on to capture several WCW championships (including 4 WCW United States Championships, 2 WCW World Heavyweight Championships and 1 WCW World Tag Team Championship with Bill Goldberg) until being accidentally injured in a match with Goldberg. This led to concussion problems and Bret was forced to retire from pro wrestling. Eventually Bret would suffer a stroke that left him totally paralyzed on his left side. Bret would work his way back to health and would shockingly make a surprise return to the WWE in 2010 hoping to bury the long and bitter grudge held by him against McMahon, Shawn Michaels and others. Bret and Shawn would unexpectedly enough quickly forgive the past and move on but Bret, although certainly no longer truly the Bret of old,  ended up feuding with Vince and then defeated him in humiliating fashion at Wrestlemania XXVI finally exacting a long-awaited revenge with no small amount of help from the rest of the Hart family. Bret would have yet another surprise up his sleeve upsetting the Miz for his United States championship before quickly relinquishing it upon becoming Raw General Manager. He’d also help the Hart Dynasty tag team tandem of Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith, along with Natalya Neidhart, to capture their first and only WWF World Tag Team titles. Hart’s time as GM though would prove short-lived when Bret would become a target of and would be taken out by the Nexus.

”Sycho” Sid Vicious joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Sid certainly had the look and build for wrestling being an imposing 6 ft 9 inch muscleman weighing well over 300 pounds. Early on in his career, many fancied him a future Hulk Hogan yet it was not truly to be. Sid had the looks and a certain monstrous charm but yet never truly became as popular or charismatic as I’m sure many promoters would have liked. He was also somewhat limited in ring yet when he stuck to power moves, few could do those better. Plus Sid seemed to get injured amongst every time his  career seemed set to really take off. Under his real name Sid Eudy, he was discovered by Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo. After being trained by Tojo Yamamoto, Eudy made his debut teaming with Austin Idol against Nick Bockwinkel and Jerry Lawler. Shortly thereafter he adopted the masked persona Lord Humongous, obviously based on the villain from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, to whom Sid had a similar build. He competed early on in the Continental regional circuit (Alabama, Memphis and Georgia) and captured several titles there including the CWA Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Southeastern Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) and the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship with Shane Douglas. He also competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling under the name Vicious Warrior and even challenged Tatsumi Fujinami for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but failed to win it. He also briefly appeared in World Class Championship Wrestling where he first used the name Sid Vicious borrowed from the more famous Sex Pistols bass player.

In 1989, Sid moved to the NWA and World Championship Wrestling and would soon form the imposing Skyscrapers tag team with Dan Spivey managed by Teddy Long. The Skyscrapers would have memorable feuds with both the Steiners and the Road Warriors but the team would prove surprisingly short-lived when Sid would suffer a broken rib and punctured lung in a bout with the Steiners. Following this, he would be replaced in the tag team by Mean Mark Callous, the future Undertaker. When Sid recovered in May 1990, he returned as a new member of the newly reformed Four Horsemen lead by Ric Flair. As an Horseman, he’d go on to feud with Paul Orndorff and Junkyard Dog until he attacked NWA World Champion Sting in August setting up a match between himself and Sting at Halloween Havoc 1990 where Sid defeated a fake Sting (Barry Windham in disguise) in a plot to steal the title until the real Sting returned on the scene and defeated Sid. Following this, Sid seemed to begin having some troubles with the Horsemen and would briefly reform his old Skyscrapers team with Spivey to defeat the Mr. Hughes and the Motor City Madman. This apparent face turn though would soon be scrapped and Sid returned to being a full fledged heel taking out Trucker Norman and squashing Joey Maggs. He returned to being a full fledged Horseman as well taking part in the 1991 February War Games against Sting’s Squadron. The Horsemen would amicably split in April 1991 and Sid would announce his intentions to move to the WWF losing a feud to El Gigante on his way out.

In July 1991, Sid debuted in WWF as a babyface named Sid Justice and went on to be the special guest referee in a match that saw Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior team up to face Sgt. Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa and General Adnan and would later that night save Randy Savage and Elizabeth from an attack by the Undertaker & Jake Roberts. Sid dominated a short feud with the Undertaker and was scheduled to feud with Roberts until a biceps injury took him out of action. He returned at the 1992 Royal Rumble and entered at # 29 ending up amongst the final four wrestlers left in the match. Sid eliminated both Randy Savage and then Hulk Hogan leaving himself in the ring with Ric Flair. Storyline plans were for Sid to turn heel by eliminating Hogan although at the time fans actually responded positively to Hogan’s elimination and negatively to Hogan thereafter pulling Sid out of the match helping Flair capture his first WWF World Heavyweight Championship. This led to a feud between an heel Sid and a face Hogan leading up to Wrestlemania VIII especially after Sid walked out on Hogan during a tag match against the Undertaker and Flair and later attacked Hogan’s friend Brutus Beefcake. Sid thereafter hired Harvey Wippleman as manager and began “injuring”opponents with multiple powerbombs. At Wrestlemania VIII, Sid lost his match to Hogan via DQ when Papa Shango came out to help Sid leading to the Ultimate Warrior making a surprise run-in to save Hogan. Sid would be gone from the WWF later in 1992.

Sid returned to WCW in May 1993 as a mystery opponent for Van Hammer managed by Colonel Robert Parker. Sid defeated Hammer in a stretcher match and went on to team with Big Van Vader and reignited his old feud with Sting. At Fall Brawl, Sting’s Team (Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes and the Shockmaster) defeated Sid’s Team (Sid, Vader and Harlem Heat) in a WarGames Match. At Halloween Havoc 1993, Sid had another match against Sting but lost. The following week, Sid fired Parker and became a babyface. During a UK tour, Sid and Arn Anderson would become involved in an hotel room scuffle with Arn Anderson during which Anderson would suffer several stab wounds from scissors. This lead to Sid being released from WCW despite the then plans being for him to likely defeat Vader for the WCW World title at Starrcade 1993, a spot that would go to Ric Flair instead.

After being forced out of WCW, Sid resurfaced in Memphis and the USWA and started up his old rivalry with Jerry “The King” Lawler. On July 16, 1994, Sid won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship by forfeit when his earlier attack on Lawler left Lawler unable to defend the title. While Lawler was able to defeat Sid in non-title matches, Sid managed to retain the title in title defenses along with help from then ally the Spellbinder. Sid would also compete in Herb Abrams UWF around this time and would unsuccessfully challenge “Dr. Death” Steve Williams for the UWF World Heavyweight Championship in September 1994. On February 6, 1995, Lawler would finally defeat Sid to win back his USWA Unified World Championship. In February 1995, Sid returned to the WWF under the name “Sycho Sid” becoming the bodyguard of Shawn Michaels. He along with Jenny McCarthy would go on to accompany Shawn Michaels to the ring for his Wrestlemania XI title match against Diesel during which HBK would come to believe Sid’s interference cost him the match. This led to Shawn instructing Sid he would have the night off for his return match with Diesel leading to Sid attacking HBK, powerbombing him three times turning Michaels face yet again and injuring him at the same time. Sid would go on to join Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation, replacing the departing Bam Bam Bigelow, and would thereafter challenge Diesel for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship instead of Michaels. Diesel would win the match when Tatanka interfered helping Sid leading to a double-team attack and eventual save by Bigelow who thereafter teamed with Diesel to defeat Sid and Tatanka at King of the Ring 1995. Diesel would go on to defeat Sid again in a lumberjack match to end the feud. Next Sid started pursuing Michaels and his Intercontinental title but lost a title match to HBK on Raw after suffering three superkicks to the mouth. Sid then briefly feuded with Henry Godwinn defeating him before moving on to face Intercontinental champion Razor Ramon. The 1-2-3 Kid would unexpectedly help Sid defeat Ramon in a non-title match turning the Kid heel as he joined the Million Dollar Corporation. Sid and Ted DiBiase would go on to help their Million Dollar Team win at Survivor Series aiding 1-2-3 Kid in victory over Marty Jannetty. Later on the same card, Sid was forced to team with Micheals in a “Wild Card” Survivor Series bout that would see Ramon eliminate Sid after partner Michaels hit him with a superkick. After being eliminated, Sid got his revenge by powerbombing Michaels. Sid briefly formed an unsuccessful tag team with 1-2-3 Kid before a severe injury took him off TV in early 1996.

Sid would return in July 1996 as a replacement for the recently departed Ultimate Warrior teaming up with former rival Michaels and Ahmed Johnson in a losing effort against Vader, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. Sid would go on to feud with Bulldog and would defeat him at Summerslam 1996. Following Mankind’s title match with Michaels in September 1996, Vader would come out and team with Mankind to assault Michaels until Sid came to Michaels’ rescue. This led to a feud between Sid and Vader that Sid surprisingly would come to dominate. Sid would earn himself a WWF World Title match against Michaels which Sid would win illegally using a camera to his advantage.  Sid successfully defended the title against Bret Hart before facing Shawn Michaels in a championship rematch at the Royal Rumble which saw Michaels regain the WWF World Title which however he would shortly thereafter forfeit having “lost his smile”. This led to Bret Hart winning the title in a Fatal4Way match and then losing the title to Sid the next night on Raw thanks to interference from Steve Austin. This would be Sid’s second WWF World Heavyweight title. Sid would go on to lose the WWF World title to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 13. He’d later briefly return as a babyface to team with the Legion of Doom against the Hart Foundation of British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart. Owen would win this match with a roll-up on Sid which Sid would later avenge by defeating Owen in a singles bout before leaving the WWF yet again.

After spending some time competing in Memphis, Sid briefly competed in ECW in 1999 against the likes of the Dudley Boyz, John Kronus and Skull Von Krush before leaving due to the money problems plaguing the promotion. Sid returned to WCW in mid-1999 joining forces with Randy Savage and his Team Madness stable. Sid would go on to impress with an undefeated streak and on September 12, 1999, Sid defeated Chris Benoit for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship at Fall Brawl 1999. He’d then go on to feud with Goldberg over the U.S. Title and would lose the championship to Goldberg due to Sid’s excessive bleeding. Sid would also lose to Goldberg in an “I Quit” match ending their feud. Sid suddenly turned face and started pursuing the WCW World Heavyweight Championship suddenly vacated by Bret Hart who was suffering from a concussion. Sid would go on to lose a championship bout for the vacant title to Chris Benoit at Souled Out but Benoit would leave for the WWF leaving the title vacant yet again. Then WCW Commissioner Kevin Nash set up a special challenge for Sid. If he could defeat the Harris brothers in an handicap match, he would then face Nash in a Championship match for the vacant title later that night. Sid would defeat the Harris brothers and later Nash to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Two nights later on Thunder, Nash would strip Sid of the title for not pinning the legal Harris brother during the earlier challenge and set up a championship rematch between himself and Sid. Sid again defeated Nash to win his second WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to successfully defend the title against Scott Hall and Jeff Jarrett. During a bout with Jarrett, a returning Hulk Hogan would help Sid setting up a match between Hogan and Sid vs. Jarrett and Scott Steiner. During the match, Sid would turn on Hogan becoming an heel yet again.

However the New Blood angle followed shortly thereafter with Sid being stripped of his title. He would be kept off TV for several months later returning to challenge Scott Steiner for the WCW World Heavyweight title in a losing effort at Starrcade 2000. On January 14, 2001, Sid suffered a severe (cringe-inducing to the viewer) injury that nearly ended his career for good during a Four Corners WCW World Heavyweight Championship match against Steiner, Jarrett and Road Warrior Animal. During the match, Sid suffered a leg fracture when attempting a big boot from the second  rope on Steiner. Sid broke his leg in half snapping both the tibia and fibula with at least one of the bones breaking through the skin in an injury too graphic for many TV stations to air. This injury nearly ended his career for good and a 17 inch steel rod had to be placed in his leg during a two hour surgery. Sid later sued WCW claiming they forced him to jump from the second rope despite his objections. WCW though would shortly thereafter be purchased by the WWF.

Sid would make some special appearances on a WWA Australian tour but would not compete. He would not return to the ring until June 2004 competing in the Canadian based Internet Wrestling Syndicate where he appeared as Pierre Carl Ouellet’s mystery partner winning a ten team battle royal. Sid made his return to Memphis in mid-2007 restarting his old feud with Jerry Lawler and wrestled for the NWA throughout much of that year. Sid also appeared in Juggalo Championship Wrestling helping Tracy Smothers attack the JCW Heavyweight Champion Corporal Robinson. He battled Jerry Lawler in a losing effort at Memphis’ 35th Anniversary Wrestling Event.

Terry Funk joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Funk became a color commentator for WCW in 1989-1990 alongside Jim Ross. Funk was more than capable in the role and often offered great and thoughtful insight. He also looked surprisingly classy dressed to the nines in a tuxedo and repeating that WCW and the NWA was where wrestlers wrestled. While in this role, Funk hosted a segment called “Funk’s Grill” where he would amicably interview the top stars of WCW, both face and heel. However, Funk’s time as a color commentator would prove short-lived as he soon craved being involved in the in-ring action.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 13, 2011, 10:56:46 PM
Eric Garguilo joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. He's done notable work for both CZW and ROH but mostly he's known as the voice of CZW. After training with Jim Kettner and making several appearances in the ECWA, he started out as a ring announcer for ECW. Following this, he became the host of Pro Wrestling Radio out of Philadelphia and went on to interview many name stars including Steve Austin, Bruno Sammartino, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Tito Ortiz, Bret Hart, Edge, Dusty Rhodes, Chris Jericho and Superstar Billy Graham. Gargiulo joined CZW in 2000 as a ring announcer and commentator. He would eventually become their most familiar voice on video. He also announced for videos from Dangerous Women of Wrestling, Women's Extreme Wrestling, Major League Wrestling. He also did some early announcing on ROH video releases until conflicts started between CZW and ROH. He's also known for his involvement conducting shoot interviews for RF Video.

George "Crybaby" Cannon joins the Hall of Shame. Honestly I do have some fond memories of watching Cannon as an announcer for his weekly Canadian Superstars of Wrestling show although truthfully he himself often involved himself too actively in onscreen roles and battles, especially against the Original Sheik, taking away something from the other stars who appeared.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 14, 2011, 12:37:47 AM
Eric Gargiulo is superb.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 17, 2011, 12:34:25 AM
The Wild Samoans, Afa & Sika joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Playing a pair of savage Samoan wildmen, the Wild Samoans of Afa and Sika were a seeming unstoppable wrecking force in the ring using their raw power, size and intimidating qualities to their full advantage. They were masters of the Samoan Drop and basically landing one high impact power move after another. They were to be feared for more than just their wild appearance although that no doubt played a factor as well. The Samoans got their start in Stampede Wrestling where they captured the NWA Stampede International Tag Team titles. They moved on to success in other NWA territories and captured tag titles on the Gulf Coast (2 NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team titles),  Vancouver (NWA Canadian Tag Team championship), Detroit (2 NWA World Tag Team titles - Detroit version) and in the Southereastern territory (2 NWA Southern Tag Team titles). They also held the IWA Tag Team titles.

In the late 70s, early 80s, they'd move to the WWF where they achieved their greatest success and notoriety capturing three WWF World Tag Team championships and becoming arguably the most dominant tag team of that area. Managed by Captain Lou Albano, the two wild men were known for outrageous behaviour during interviews including eating raw fish and nose picking. Both men would also become top contenders for Bob Backlund's WWF World Heavyweight championship although they would fail to capture it.  They won their initial WWF World Tag Team titles defeating Tito Santana and Ivan Putski before losing them about five months later to Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales. Backlund however was not allowed to hold two titles at the time and had to forfeit the tag titles leading to the Samoans regaining them by winning a tag tournament defeating Tony Garea and Rene Goulet in the finals.  The Samoans would eventually lose the titles to Garea and new partner Rick Martel and would fail to regain them in rematches before leaving the WWF to compete in Mid-South where Ernie Ladd acted as their financial adviser.

 In Mid-South, they captured the Mid-South tag team titles and feuded with Junkyard Dog and Dick Murdoch eventually turning on and attacking Ladd who would join forces with Iron Mike Sharpe and drive them out of the territory. They next turned up in Georgia Championship Wrestling where they captured the NWA National Tag Team titles by defeating the Fabulous Freebirds. They would eventually vacate the National titles and return to the WWF under manager Captain Lou Albano.

On March 8, 1983, the Samoans would start their third WWF World Tag Team titles reign after defeating Chief Jay & Jules Strongbow. They'd go on to feud with Rocky Johnson, Jimmy Snuka and Andre the Giant eventually adding the young son of Afa - Samula as a third member of their team as a replacement for an injured Sika. On November 15, 1983, they lost their tag team titles to Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas when Albano's interference with a chair backfired and cost the Samoans the match and their titles. After a brief run as fan favourites, the Samoans left the WWF in 1984 and went on to briefly compete in the AWA in the mid-80s as heels  (they did capture the AWA Southern Tag Team titles) but never again did they achieve their previous success. Sika would reappear in 1987, now managed by Mr. Fuji and would eventually form a nightmarish tag team with Kamala, the Ugandan Giant.

Afa went on to become a prominent trainer of wrestlers and his Wild Samoans Training Center graduates include Paul Orndorff, Junkyard Dog, Michael Hayes, Luna Vachon, Yokozuna, Bam Bam Bigelow, Rikishi, Sherri Martel, Virgil, Billy Kidman, Gene Snitsky, Chris Kanyon and Batista. Afa would also go on to manage the Headshrinkers tag team which included son Samu and Fatu (Rikishi) and later Seonne (the Barbarian) alongside former manager Captain Lou Albano. The Samoans were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 19, 2011, 02:22:03 AM
The Backseat Boyz of Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This high-flying, high impact duo looked the part of party boys and were best known for their work in Combat Zone Wrestling where they captured the CZW Tag Team championship four times. They also made their mark in Ring of Honor becoming the first team in history to capture tag titles in both CZW and ROH. The Backseats started in CZW in 2000 with Dewey Donovan as their manager and became CZW Tag champs the first time by defeating the Haas Brothers in June 2000 before going on to feud with Nick Mondo and Ric Blade who would eventually defeat them for the CZW tag gold. They'd continue teaming and would battle the likes of the Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark), The H8 Club and VD. Both also competed in singles action and Trent Acid even collected some singles titles. In 2002 at Glory By Honor, the Backseats debuted in ROH as CZW "Invaders" and defeated Homicide and Steve Corino after Corino turned on Homicide. One year leter they won a tag team gauntlet match last defeating Special K to win the ROH Tag Team championships. They would lose the titles back to Special K a few weeks later. They continued in ROH until Kashmere left the company and Acid continued on as a singles performer. Together they also had success in practically every independent promotion which they teamed and collected tag titles in Assault Championship Wrestling, the East Coast Wrestling Association, Hardway Wrestling where they captured the tag titles three times, Jersey All Pro Wrestling where they won tag gold twice, Phoenix Championship Wrestling, National Championship Wrestling. They seemed to have a great deal of potential as a tag team yet perhaps were considered too small for the big leagues and possibly due to their substance abuse issues. Sadly Trent Acid passed away at age 29 as a result of an accidental drug overdose.

Badd Company of Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Tanaka & Diamond are likely best remembered for being AWA World Tag Team champions managed by "Diamond" Dallas Page and accompanied to the ring by Page's Diamond Dolls. They would later reteam in the WWF under the name The Orient Express with Diamons wearing a mask to play Kato. Tanaka & Diamond first formed their team in the Continental Wrestling Association in 1986 following tag success for both men when previously paired up with Jeff Jarrett. Tanaka & Diamond would go on to hold the CWA/AWA International Tag Team titles four times first defeating Tarzan Goto and Akio Sato. Less than a month later, they'd lose the titles to the Sheepherders Luke Williams and Butch Miller. They'd regain them and then drop them to previous champs Goto and Sato in February 1987. They'd win the titles and start their third reign in May after defeating Mark Starr in an handicap match but quickly lost them back to Starr and his new partner Billy Joe Travis.  Finally they'd win their fourth title reign capturing the then vacant titles at the end of May only to lose them to Bill Dundee and Rocky Johnson in early July. Johnson & Dundee would be the last International tag champs. While competing in Memphis, Badd Company would go on to capture the company's top Tag championship, the AWA Southern Tag Team titles from Jeff Jarrett and Billy Joe Travis in August 1987. They'd lose them to the Nasty Boys about a month later. They'd move to the AWA and have great success under colorful talkative manager "Diamond" Dallas Page since neither member of Badd Company was really very good on the microphone. They`d move right into a feud with AWA World Tag Team champions The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) whom Badd Company would defeat for their first and only AWA World Tag Team championship on March 19, 1988. They`d hold on to the tag belts for over a year defending against teams like Chavo & Mando Guerrero, the Rock `n`Roll Express and the Top Guns. They`d finally lose the titles on March 25, 1989 to the Olympians Brad Rheingans and Ken Patera. Following this, they`d split up and shortly feud with one another before moving on to compete in singles action until 1990. In 1990, Pat Tanaka alongside old foe Akio Sato under manager Mr. Fuji debuted in the WWF as The Orient Express. Paul Diamond would also move to the WWF to compete mainly as an enhancement talent. When Sato left the U.S., Diamond took his place in the Orient Express as the masked Kato in 1991-1992. They`d go on to have a memorable feud with and some great matches with old adversaries the Rockers including a great bout at Royal Rumble 1991. They`d also compete against the New Foundation of Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart at Royal Rumble 1992. Shortly thereafter Tanaka would leave the WWF and Diamond would continue on as an enhancement talent both under his old ring name and in the Kato gimmick. Diamond also briefly played the Max Moon character with little success. After Diamond left the WWF, he reformed Badd Company with Tanaka in Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1993. In October 1993, they defeated Bad Breed Ian and Axl Rotten but failed to defeat ECW Tag Team champs Tony Stetson and Johnny Hot Body. They`d go on to battle Public Enemy in matches often including the Bad Breed as well with Public Enemy typically coming out on top. Badd Company would go on to defeat the makeshift team of Don E. Allen and Mr. Hughes and would defeat Public Enemy in singles bouts during their feud. However Public Enemy got a measure of bloody revenge defeating Badd Company in a South Philly hood match. Badd Company next targeted tag champs Kevin Sullivan and the Tasmaniac defeating them in several non-title matches. However they failed to win with the titles on the line. On March 27, 1994, Badd Company wrestled their last house show match for ECW defeating Rockin`Rebel and Pitbull # 1. In 1994, the pair signed with WCW and briefly reprised an Orient Express like tag gimmick with Tanaka calling himself Tanaka-san and Diamond wearing a mask and calling himself Haito. They really didn`t get used much and had little success in WCW. Before the end of the year, the pair were split up.

Harley Race joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. As a manager and a former 7 times NWA World Heavyweight champion with a vast knowledge of wrestling, Race`s greatest success was managing Big Van Vader whom he guided to three WCW World Heavyweight titles as well as a WCW United States championship. Race was a natural as a manager adding his gruff voice and timely interference to Vader`s already vast arsenal of weapons. Race prior to this had lead Lex Luger to a WCW World Heavyweight championship as well. He also managed monsters like Yoshi Kwan and Tyler Mane. Race`s successful career as a manager would be cut short due to injuries sustained in car accidents forcing him out of the spotlight.

"Coach" John Tolos joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Following a long and successful wrestling career in which he and brother Chris Tolos dominated as the Canadian Wrecking Crew and later known for his wild brawls with Fred Blassie, later in his career Tolos turned to managing. As a manager, Tolos added a gruff voice and an annoying whistle at ringside yet didn`t prove successful. He was always more annoying and irritating to fans than someone they really out and out hated. In the end, as a manager, he proved surprisingly forgettable.  He did however manage some notable talent including then Intercontinental champion "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig whom Coach took over from Bobby Heenan and then the Beverly Brothers. Eventually Coach would be quietly phased out and replaced by "The Genius" Lanny Poffo. Prior to this, Tolos had appeared as a manager and announcer for Herb Abrams UWF managing "Cowboy" Bob Orton and the Power Twins in what was arguably a precursor to the later Coach gimmick.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 19, 2011, 04:26:32 PM
I loved the Backseat Boyz and still watch their matches I have on dvd.  Shame their apparent substance abuse/backstage behavior held em back to a degree.  They probably would've fit in quite well with the then WWE tag division, probably could've worked well with the Dudleys, Hardys, Edge and Christian, Too Cool, etc.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 19, 2011, 09:24:21 PM
I really liked Badd Company when they were in the AWA, thought they had some great matches there as champs, but I never really bought them as the Orient Express since well neither guy on the team, not even manager Fuji  (although I think Akio Sato was) was actually Asian...


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 19, 2011, 11:49:52 PM
I really liked Badd Company when they were in the AWA, thought they had some great matches there as champs, but I never really bought them as the Orient Express since well neither guy on the team, not even manager Fuji  (although I think Akio Sato was) was actually Asian...
I liked Badd Company and they were fine wrestlers.  Only reason I voted against them was I don't like em as much as the others they were against.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 20, 2011, 10:41:14 PM
Mike Adamle joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. A former NFL football turned American Gladiators co-host, Adamle might arguably be the worst play by play wrestling announcer and interviewer in pro wrestling history. Obviously hired for his entertainment background and appearance, Adamle seemed unprepared for his job clearly possessing little to no real knowledge of wrestling or its history nor did he even seem to like it. He also frequently made bad mistakes on air during broadcasts whether as an interviewer calling Jeff Hardy "Jeff Harvey" or during ECW broadcasts seemingly having little clue as to events going on with regards to ECW in the then present or past. Adamle always seemed like a big phony playing at being a wrestling announcer and only seemed to be there because someone thought his smile and appearance would be more pleasing than previous announcers who were by far more talented. Adamle would eventually be given a short run on WWE Raw as a General Manager but he'd continue to make many embarrassing mistakes on air and would eventually, and thankfully in the eyes of many fans, part ways with WWE.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 20, 2011, 11:47:52 PM
Mike Adamle joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. A former NFL football turned American Gladiators co-host, Adamle might arguably be the worst play by play wrestling announcer and interviewer in pro wrestling history. Obviously hired for his entertainment background and appearance, Adamle seemed unprepared for his job clearly possessing little to no real knowledge of wrestling or its history nor did he even seem to like it. He also frequently made bad mistakes on air during broadcasts whether as an interviewer calling Jeff Hardy "Jeff Harvey" or during ECW broadcasts seemingly having little clue as to events going on with regards to ECW in the then present or past. Adamle always seemed like a big phony playing at being a wrestling announcer and only seemed to be there because someone thought his smile and appearance would be more pleasing than previous announcers who were by far more talented. Adamle would eventually be given a short run on WWE Raw as a General Manager but he'd continue to make many embarrassing mistakes on air and would eventually, and thankfully in the eyes of many fans, part ways with WWE.
Someone tried telling me that was just a terrible gimmick gone wrong, ie, giving him the persona of a non-informed play by play guy.  Kinda like how Michael Cole is a "character" as well.  Either way, Adamle was TERRIBLE.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 23, 2011, 12:08:53 AM
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Hennig, the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig, was without a doubt one of the finest wrestling performers to ever step foot between the ring ropes. He had great matches with nearly every opponent night after night after night. Hennig started out in the AWA  as a clean cut babyface where he formed a brief team with his gruff formerly heel father before moving on to greater success teaming with Scott Hall and capturing the AWA World Tag Team championships defeating Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal on January 18, 1986. Hall & Hennig would later lose the title in controversial fashion via countout to "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Sommers as both Hennig and Hall seemed more poised to now pursue singles careers. Hennig would later go on to team with Greg Gagne but the two soon came to see each other as rivals for Nick Bockwinkel's AWA World Heavyweight title, a belt Hennig would eventually capture in controversial fashion supposedly using a roll of coins provided by Larry Zbyszko to clock Bockwinkel and win the title. Following this, he'd engage in a long feud with Greg Gagne that also saw involvement from both men's fathers. Hennig would eventually be managed by Madusa Miceli during his AWA World champ heel days and would also come to join Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Exchange alongside Madusa, Badd Company and Colonel DeBeers. Hennig would have an impressive AWA World title reign lasting 53 weeks before finally losing the title in controversial fashion in Memphis to Jerry "The King" Lawler on May 8, 1988.

Hennig shortly thereafter would make his return to the WWF (he'd had a previous run in the early 80s as an undercard performer and teamed with a young Eddie Gilbert). This time Hennig debuted via vignettes as "Mr. Perfect" which well worked to show just how perfect and arrogant Hennig was. The vignettes proved very entertaining and Mr. Perfect would become one of the WWF's most enduring characters. During his first year, he enjoyed a long lived undefeated streak defeating the likes of the Blue Blazer, the Red Rooster and Jimmy Snuka. Eventually he'd add "The Genius" Lanny Poffo as a manager and would even help Genius defeat WWF World champion Hulk Hogan by countout on Saturday Night's Main Event. Hennig would pursue Hogan's title unsuccessfully in the early 1990s and would be the last man eliminated from the 1990 Royal Rumble by winner Hulk Hogan. Hennig would ultimately lose his undefeated streak to Brutus Beefcake although he'd had previously untelevised losses as well to the likes of the Ultimate Warrior and Hogan.

Hennig hired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his new manager and began pursuing the WWF Intercontinental title, a title that became vacant following Ultimate Warrior's WWF World title victory at Wrestlemania VI. Hennig would defeat Tito Santana in the tournament finals to become WWF Intercontinental champ. He'd lose the title four months later to "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich at Summerslam 1990 but regained it in November thanks to outside interference from Ted DiBiase. Hennig went on to have an impressive run the second time around fending off challenges from the Big Bossman and winning a battle royal before finally losing the title to Bret "The Hitman" Hart at Summerslam 1991 in a fantastic match despite the fact that Hennig was in fact competing injured with a broken tailbone and bulged discs. By this time manager Bobby Heenan had more or less retired from managing and was briefly replaced by manager Coach John Tolos. After his loss at Summerslam, Hennig took time off to recover from his injuries and went on to become Ric Flair's Executive Consultant aiding Flair in his 2 WWF World Heavyweight title wins. He also went on to work as a color commentator on Superstars of Wrestling until Hennig returned to the ring in surprising fashion at Survivor Series 1992 as Randy Savage's surprise partner in a match against Flair and Razor Ramon. Hennig went on to feud with Flair eliminating him from the 1993 Royal Rumble and eventually a Loser Leaves the WWF match.

The face Hennig then went on to feud with newcomer heel Lex Luger who defeated him in controversial fashion at Wrestlemania IX. Perfect eventually ending up feuding with and pursuing Shawn Michaels Intercontinental title but interference from HBK's bodyguard Diesel kept the title out of his reach. Perfect in fact created "The Heartbreak Kid" nickname for Michaels. He went on to compete in the 1993 King of the Ring losing a classic quaterfinal bout to eventual winner Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Perfect's back injuries though had begun to bother him again so he briefly disappeared from TV again until he appeared in a special guest referee role at Wrestlemania X where he disqualified Lex Luger and set up a potential feud with him with this time Perfect as the heel but the back injuries kept it from happening. In late 1995, he returned in a color commentary role that lasted into 1996. He also worked as a special guest referee during a King of the Ring match between HBK and the British Bulldog. He was finally set to make his return to the ring in October 1996 against Triple H in what turned out to be a ruse to get "Wildman" Marc Mero to defend his Intercontinental title against Helmsley whom Perfect eventually helped win the title. Perfect briefly served as a mentor to HHH before leaving the WWF shortly before the 1996 Survivor Series.

Hennig signed with WCW in 1997 under his original Curt Hennig moniker since "Mr. Perfect" was a WWF trademark. Both the Four Horsemen and the nWo seemed interested in adding Hennig to their respective factions. Hennig seemingly chose sides with the Horsemen but then in a swerve betrayed Flair and the Horsemen and joined the nWo leading to a feud with Flair and the Horsemen as well as Diamond Dallas Page whom Hennig also turned on in a tag team match. Hennig would defeat Steve `Mongo` McMicheal for the WCW United States championship in September 1997 and defended it against the likes of Flair, Lex Luger, The Giant, Chris Benoit, Jeff Jarrett and Diamond Dallas Page to name just a few before losing it to Page at Starrcade 1997. He battled a knee injury for much of 1998 but briefly joined the face nWo Wolfpac version before turning on Konnan and rejoining nWo Hollywood alongside Rick Rude. He`d battle WCW World Heavyweight champion Goldberg in a losing effort at Bash at the Beach 1998. His injury would take him off TV and he wouldn`t return until Starrcade 1998 when he aided Eric Bischoff in his match against Ric Flair. In early 1999, Hennig began teaming with Barry Windham and lost a match to Flair and son David Flair. Following this, the nWo attacked and humilated Flair and son. Not long after that, Hall booted Hennig out of the nWo. Hennig & Windham nevertheless went on to win the WCW World Tag Team titles and Hennig would eventually become leader of the West Texas Rednecks group including himself, Barry Windham, Kendall Windham and Bobby Duncum Jr.. They were supposed to be the heels in a feud with Master P`s No Limit Soldiers but WCW fans cheered the West Texas Rednecks and their `Rap is Crap`country song to boot. Following the disbandment of the Rednecks, Hennig went on to have forgettable feuds with Harlem Heat and Shawn Stasiak before losing a retirment match to Buff Bagwell.

In 2001-2002, Hennig competed in the X Wresling Federation which proved short-lived as the WWF bought up most of its talent incluidng Hennig himself. Hennig did have a memorable loss to Hogan while there.

In 2002, Hennig returned to the WWE as a participant in the 2002 Royal Rumble and made it to the final three combatants before being eliminated by Triple H. Perfect had a strong Royal Rumble showing holding his own against the likes of Kurt Angle amongst others. He would go on to have a brief WWF run defeating Val Venis and feuding briefly with Steve Austin and Rob Van Dam. Hennig would also briefly team with Shawn Stasiak and Big Bossman before an incident occured with Brock Lesnar on the infamous Plane Ride From Hell leading to his WWE release. He would briefly compete in TNA and would challenge Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight title in 2002-2003 before being found dead in his hotel room in February 2003.
Quote
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office declared acute cocaine intoxication to be the cause of his death. His father said that steroids and painkillers also contributed to his death.
- Wikipedia.

Joel Gertner joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Gertner is of course best known as the brash color commentator who joined Joey Styles in ECW during its ECW on TNN days. His constant use of sexual inneundo and referring to himself as the Quinessential Stud-muffin soon got pretty tired although in all fairness, that was his act. Sadly it was a pretty lame and limited one. Still there is no denying he did have his share of fans who did enjoy his rhyming limericks loaded with sexual inneundo. Gertner also had a run as manager and ring announcer for the Dudley Boyz even referring to himself as Studley Dudley at one point. In a match against the Eliminators Gertner acquired a neck injury after suffering the Total Elimination finisher and wore a neck brace for years after that. He did manage the Dudleys to a record 8 ECW World Tag Team titles. While on ECW on TNN, Gertner turned face to feud with Cyrus and the Network. The feud came to an head with Gertner facing Cyrus in a match at Anarchy Rulz, a match won by Gertner thanks to outside interference from the Sandman. Gertner remained with ECW until its closure in 2001. He showed up at the final ECW PPV Guilty as Charged where he began to cut a promo but was attacked by Cyrus and Da Baldies. He would return later that night during the main event attacking Cyrus and helping Rob Van Dam perform a Van Terminator on Cyrus. Gertner made a brief debut in TNA in 2002 where he introduced the Rainbow Express of Bruce and Lenny Lane before disappearing again shortly thereafter. He next showed up during the WWE/ECW One Night Stand show where he was pie-faced by JBL and begged Eric Bischoff for a job. He also appeared on the ECW Hardcore Homecoming show where he reignited his feud with Cyrus. Gertner also works as promoter for a Connecticut wrestling promotion named MXW. Gertner returned during the TNA Hardcore Justice PPV to manage Team 3D.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 29, 2011, 11:55:40 PM
Brian Pillman joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Following a stint in football playing in the CFL and the NFL with the Cincinatti Bengals, Pillman turned to pro wrestling in Calgary following his career as a Calgary Stampeder. He sought out training in the famed Hart Dungeon to be trained by Stu Hart and his sons. Pillman shortly after his debut formed a tag team with Bruce Hart known as Bad Company. In April 1987, they captured the Stampede International tag team titles defeating Rotten Ron Starr and the Cuban Assassin in a tournament final to win the gold. They held the titles until October when they were held up following a match against Makhan Singh and Jerry Morrow. Bad Company would defeat Singh & Morrow in a rematch to win back their titles but dropped them to the Cuban Commandoes tag team of The Cuban Assassin and Jerry Morrow in July 1988. Pillman wowed in Stampede thrilling fans with both his determination in matches and his exciting high risk aerial moves. While in Stampede, Pillman also used then girlfriend Beulah McGillicutty, getting her to play his taunted "sister" to help get him over as a face.

In 1989, Pillman moved to the NWA which would later become WCW. There he would become a popular fan favourite under the name "Flyin' Brian" again exciting fans with high risk aerial moves like his flying missile dropkick and diving crossbody. Pillman was quite popular with the ladies too due to his athletic good looks. Still he seemed too small to truly succeed in WCW, something he worked hard to prove he really wasn't. He tasted his first WCW title success winning the NWA United States Tag Team titles alongside "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk in February 1990. The pair went on to have surprisingly good matches with the Freebirds amongst others. They'd lose the titles in May 1990 and would go their separate ways. Pillman returned to singles wrestling and went on to feud with Barry Windham who defeated him controversially in a Loser Leaves WCW match which led to Pillman wearing a mask and appearing as the Masked Yellow Dog, a perennial torn in Windham's side until he was finally reinstated. Pillman would go on to impress as WCW World Light Heavyweight Wrestling champion, a title he'd hold twice, and would go on to have fantastic matches against the likes of Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Richard Morton, Brad Armstrong and a young Scotty Flamingo.

Pillman shocked many by turning heel in September 1992 frustrated over Brad Armstrong's vacating the World Light Heavyweight title due to injury. In November, he'd form a tag team with old rival Barry Windham to pursue the WCW World Tag Team titles held by Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas but failed to defeat them at Starrcade 1992. The team lasted until January 1993 when they split as Windham sought the NWA World Heavyweight title. Pillman went on to form his most famous tag tandem The Hollywood Blonds with Stunning Steve Austin. On March 27, 1993, the Blonds defeated Steamboat & Douglas to win the WCW World Tag Team titles. They'd go on to feud with and impress in rematches with Steamboat & Douglas and eventually forged an identity as a surprisingly popular heel tag team. Next they'd feud with the Four Horsemen but most specifically Arn Anderson and Ric Flair, whom they even parodied in hilarious fashion in an interview skit entitled "A Flare for the Old". During the feud, Pillman would suffer a leg injury and Austin and substitute partner Lord Steven Regal would lose the WCW World Tag Team titles to the unlikely Horsemen pair of Arn Anderson and Paul Roma. Not long after the Blonds would split with Austin turning on Pillman returning Pillman to face status. Pillman began to pursue Lord Steven Regal's WCW World Television title and even battled him to a 15 minute draw but he failed to capture the title. In 1994, Pillman would be part of a WCW-ECW talent exchange where he'd go on to team with Shane Douglas in a losing effort against Ron Simmons and 2 Cold Scorpio. In late 1994, Pillman returned to WCW as a face but soon turned into a tweener feuding with the likes of Brad Armstrong, Eddie Guerrero, Alex Wright and Marcus Alexander Bagwell. In September 1995, Pillman would form a tag team with Arn Anderson as the two feuded with Ric Flair. Then Flair asked Sting to be his partner in the feud but it was all a ruse as Pillman, Anderson & Flair were in cahoots all along. Eventually they'd add Chris Benoit and form a new version of the Four Horsemen.

Shortly after this, Pillman began to evolve his "Loose Cannon" character becoming more reckless, wild and out of control in terms of his behaviour both inside and outside the ring. He began cutting worked shoots that blurred the line between fantasy and reality and once grabbed Bobby Heenan unexpectedly by the collar live on Nitro and later outed Kevin Sullivan as WCW's booker while the two feuded.

Pillman moved to ECW in 1996 where he continued his "Loose Cannon" gimmick referring to former boss Bischoff as a "gofer" and "a piece of crap". He'd later threaten to urinate in the ring. All this was building to a potential feud with Shane Douglas until Pillman was badly injured following a car accident in Kentucky after he fell asleep at the wheel. He was in a coma for a week and suffered a shattered ankle. Pillman would sign a contract with the WWF in June 1996 where Pillman continued his "Loose Cannon" gimmick albeit perhaps a little more toned down. Following Wrestlemania 13, Pillman would join the Hart Foundation stable led by Bret "The Hitman" Hart and including Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and start feuding with old tag team partner "Stone Cold" Steve Austin during which Austin "injured" Pillman's ankle with a chair. During the beginning of their feud, there would also be the infamous Pillman's "got a gun" angle which later the WWF would apologize for and admit it was in bad taste. After this, Pillman went on to feud with Goldust and his manager/then wife Marlena with whom Pillman claimed to have had an affair (they had previously dated before the Runnels got together). The bizarre feud would also see Pillman forced to wear a dress and win Marlena at one point as a prize. "Some time during the night or early morning prior to the October 5, 1997 In Your House: Badd Blood pay-per-view in St. Louis, Pillman died in a Bloomington, Minnesota hotel room at the age of 35. An autopsy found that a previously undetected heart condition, arteriosclerotic heart disease, had led to his death. The condition had also led to the death of his father. Pillman's use of drugs and alcohol also contributed to his death."- Wikipedia

Paul Heyman joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Heyman would take over the reigns as color commentator on WWF Raw after Jerry "The King" Lawler left to support then wife Stacy Carter. Heyman would do a commendable job and actually seemed rather fresh following King's long stint that had seen him become a little predictable. Heyman would eventually use the position to promote the agenda of the WCW/ECW Alliance as he would essentially become their on-air mouthpiece. Heyman though wasn't really a stranger to color commentary having previously worked with Jim Ross back in his WCW Paul E. Dangerously days commentating matches on WCW World Championship Wrestling on WTBS. While in this role, he'd feud with Ross, Missy Hyatt and even Hyatt's then boyfriend Jason Hervey. He'd also impress as a manager leading the Dangerous Alliance in 1992. When the WCW/ECW Alliance lost the war against the WWF at Survivor Series 2001, Heyman would be "fired" as an announcer but would later return as a manager of Brock Lesnar and then the Big Show. Heyman would later go on to have a stint as Smackdown! General Manager before returning to managing the likes of the Dudley Boyz and Heidenreich. After being sealed in a coffin by the Undertaker, he'd disappear for a while but would return with ECW One Night Stand in 2005 and later the rebirth of the ECW brand in WWE where he'd go on to manage ECW World Champions Rob Van Dam and the Big Show before parting ways with the WWE in late 2006 over creative disputes backstage.

The Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually many today think of Shelley and Sabin as wrestling's best current tag team and they certainly are successful and have impressed in TNA winning the TNA World Tag Team titles and having great matches against Beer Money Inc. and Generation Me. Both Shelley and Sabin are former TNA X-Division champions and have impressed with their high flying moves and fluid teamwork. Yet personally I'd also argue they very much fit in with today's spot monkeys who don't sell moves enough and move from one spot move to their next. Sabin and Shelley first started teaming in Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX in 2006. On August 25, 2006, they won the  ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Championship from Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka which they held for nearly two years before dropping them back to the Fujita and new partner Takuya Sugawara. They also made appearance in ROH and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. In April 2007, they made their debut in TNA where they'd go on to feud with Team 3D and Sonjay Dutt & Jay Lethal. In late 2007, they also won the Illinois based All American tag team championship. Eventually the X-Division title would play a part in their feud with Team 3D who helped Johnny Devine gain the title and kept it out of the Guns' hands. In 2008, they joined A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe in the Frontline group that tried to fend off the Main Event Mafia but the group had little success and the Machine Guns eventually turned their backs on their allies becoming heels in the process disrespecting legends like Mick Foley and attacking Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed). They would lose in a title match with Beer Money Inc. and also to Lethal Consequences leading to the attack and the feud. The debuting Suicide would also target the Machine Guns. Shelley would go on to defeat partner Sabin in the finals of a tournament to crown a new X Division champion but Shelley shortly thereafter would lose the title to Suicide. In January 2009, the Guns captured the IWGP Junoir Heavyweight tag team titles from No Limit (Tetsuya Naitō and Yujiro) in Japan. Following 3 succcessful titles defenses, the Guns lost the titles to Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) on July 5, 2009. In August 2009, the Guns would return to being faces when alongside Daniels they battled the World Elite faction. They'd go on to defeat Lethal Consequences in an Ultimate X match to become number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team titles held by the British Invasion but the Brits fended off their challenge. Later the Guns defeated Generation Me in yet another Ultimate X match to earn another TNA World tag team title shot but again they failed to capture the titles from Matt Morgan and replacement partner for an injured Hernandez - Amazing Red. The Guns however would not be deterred and earn yet another title shot winning a number one contender spot by beating Team 3D and Beer Money Inc. in a three way dance. On July 11, 2010, the Guns finally captured the now vacant TNA World Tag Team titles defeating Beer Money Inc. to win the belts. The Guns and Beer Money then engaged in a memorable Best of Five match series with the Guns eventually coming out on top with the titles and thereafter impressively fended off the challenge of Generation Me and Team 3D. Beer Money Inc. however have since regained the titles.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 30, 2011, 02:40:26 AM
The Guns are decent enough in todays tag scene, even though theyre kinda spot monkeys.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 30, 2011, 02:50:12 AM
I know these awards are largely worked but they did win the PWI Tag Team of the Year 2010 award.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 30, 2011, 11:18:04 PM
I know these awards are largely worked but they did win the PWI Tag Team of the Year 2010 award.
Yeah.  Just reading that issue.

Seeing as WWE doesn't really have a 'tag scene', and considering TNA is the number 2 promotion here, by and large the MCMG are the best overall team.  Granted, I'm a bigger fan of The Briscoes in ROH and The Kings of Wrestling, but, eh.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 31, 2011, 04:55:17 PM
Yeah I like the ROH teams better too although I bet the MCMG in ROH probably worked more holds and had more match time than they likely get in TNA.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 04, 2011, 12:02:47 AM
Sable joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Sable debuted in the WWF as an escort to the ring for Hunter Hearst Helmsley during his Wrestlemania XII match against the Ultimate Warrior, which Helmsley lost in embarrassing fashion. Afterwards as Helmsley was taking his frustrations out on Sable, the debuting "Wildman" Marc Mero came to Sable's rescue and took her on as his manager. Actually she was already his then wife, who had been signed to a WWF contract along with Mero. She would manage Mero to a WWF Intercontinental title win which he'd win in a tournament final over Farooq, who was then managed by Sunny. Mero would go on to lose the title to Helmsley. Sable would remain Mero's manager until he was injured in 1997. While Mero was injured, Sable's popularity, especially among many male fans, skyrocketed. Mero grew jealous of Sable's spotlight and began to mistreat her backstage yet Sable would remain his manager a little longer. At Wrestlemania XIV, the duo teamed up to defeat Goldust and Luna Vachon with Sable getting the win. Mero's jealousy would grow even more and he would come to cost Sable an Evening Gown match againts Luna at Unforgiven 1998. This led to Sable finally splitting from Marc Mero and even challenging him to a match. Mero would replace Sable with Jacqueline and a new feud between Jacqueline and Sable was born. This eventually led to a bikini contest which Sable won showing her breasts which were painted with hand impressions. The next night Sable would be disqualified since she technically did not wear a bikini. The feud with Jacqueline & Mero climaxed at Summerslam 1998 when with a debuting Edge as her mystery partner they defeated Mero & Jacqueline. Sable and Jacqueline would go on to compete for the newly reinstated WWF Women's title which was won by Jacqueline after interference from Mero. At the 1998 Survivor Series, Sable would defeat Jacqueline to win the Women's title powerbombing both Mero & Jacqueline during the bout. During the height of her popularity, Sable would guest star on Pacific Blue. Luna Vachon under a mask as the Spider Lady attacked Sable leading to a Strap match at the Royal Rumble 1999 which was won by Sable after interference from a Sable "fan" named Tori. After Sable appeared in the 1999 April Playboy issue however she turned heel becoming more arrogant and conceited and considering herself "Hollywood" and above others. This led to feuds with former "fan"/ally Tori and a now face Luna. She started to grind her pelvis suggestively during and before matches and often stated "This is for all the men who want to see me and all the women who want to be me." Sable's feud with Tori climaxed at Wrestlemania XV when Sable won with help from new bodyguard Nicole Bass. Sable went on to hold the Women's title for six months before losing it controversially to Debra who won it in an Evening Gown match despite being the one disrobed, which usually signals a loss. In reality, Sable was locked in a dispute with the WWF and so was stripped of the title. In June 1999, Sable (Rena Mero) filed a 110 Million Dollar lawsuit against the WWF citing sexual harrassment and unsafe working conditions. She would reduce the amount sought when Vince McMahon countersued for the Sable character name. The case would be settled out of court in August 1999 and Rena Mero would again appear in Playboy in the September 1999 issue. Around this time, Rena appeared on the Howard Stern show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. She also made guest TV appearances on First Wave and Relic Hunter as well as appearing in the films Corky Romano and Ariana's Quest. She went on to release her autobiography Undefeated in August 2000. She also released a comic book starring herself as a superheroine entitled The 10th Muse. She'd go on to make brief appearances in the XWF in late 2001 as an on-air CEO. Surprisingly Mero returned to the WWE as Sable in April 2003 where she'd go on to feud with Torrie Wilson and then Stephanie McMahon when she took part in a storyline where she portrayed Vince McMahon's mistress. Sable and Stephanie would engage in several brawls but Sable would gain an upper hand when A-Train became her ally. Sable would go on to manage A-Train during his Summerslam match against the Undertaker but Taker would eventually aid Stephanie in gaining a measure of revenge. Sable briefly returned to being a face when she appeared in Playboy for the third time this time alongside Torrie Wilson, the first time a pair of divas appeared together. The Playboy appearance led to a feud with Miss Jackie and Stacey Keibler whom Sable & Wilson defeated at Wrestlemania XX. Sable quickly turned heel again after this and went on to defeat Wilson at the Greast America Bash 2004. Shortly thereafter Sable and the WWE parted ways with Rena claiming she left to spend more time with family. After Mero & Sable were officially divorced in 2004, she began dating Brock Lesnar whom she later married. She would make some appearances alonsgide Lesnar in New Japan Pro Wrestling before Lesnar left wrestling behind. The couple now have two children.

Sabu joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Sabu would become legendary for his reckless in-ring aerial style and all-out hardcore assaults on opponents during matches. He truly came across as a crazed maniac in the ring who didn't mind at all hurting himself as long as he hurt his opponents worse. Billed as The Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death–Defying (Maniac)" Sabu, he worked hard to tried and live up to that crazy nickname.
Trained by his uncle, the Original Sheik, Sabu went on to compete in Japan's hardcore promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. While there, he competed in numerous Japanese hardcore matches. It was here Sabu acquired many of his now trademark scars, cuts and bruises. While in Japan, Sabu teamed with the Original Sheik, Tiger Jeet Singh and Horace Boulder and feuded with the likes of Tarzan Goto and Mr. Onita.

Sabu debuted in ECW in 1993 as an uncontrollable madman who had to be brought to the ring by handler 911 and had to be strapped to a gurney and wore an Hannibal Lecter style mask. Around this time, Sabu became infamous for breaking tables during his matches even if it meant putting his own body through one. Early on, Sabu portrayed himself as a non-speaking wrestler in the mode of his famous Uncle. Sabu would go on to compete for the ECW World Heavyweight title which he'd win in October 1993 from Shane Douglas and lost in December 1993 to Terry Funk. He'd also have a memorable one hour draw against Terry Funk and Shane Douglas. He'd also team up with the Tazmaniac to feud with Public Enemy and the pair would capture the ECW World Tag Team titles. Sabu would later be fired for no-showing an ECW event in favor of appearing in Japan.

In September 1995, Sabu would debut in WCW against Alex Wright whom he defeated. He went on to defeat Mr. J.L. (Jerry Lynn) after throwing a fireball at him (rather like the Original Sheik). He's also defeat Disco Inferno and would attempt to put him through a table but would miss. Sabu would leave WCW shortly afterwards.

He returned to ECW in 1996 and started feuding with Rob Van Dam with whom he'd later team to win two ECW World Tag Team titles. Meanwhile former partner Taz was calling out Sabu for a long time before the two finally clashed at Barely Legal in a match won by Taz. After the match however Taz's manager Bill Alfonso would turn on him in favor of Sabu & RVD. Sabu would be a part of the ECW WWF invasion angle and would leap off the WWF Raw R on to team Taz (actually he accidentally fell off the R and was caught by them). Following this, Sabu & RVD proclaimed loyalty to the WWF and began feuding with ECW loyalists Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. Sabu would defeat Terry Funk in a brutal No Ropes barbed wire match in August 1997 to win his second ECW World title, a match so brutal and gruesome it's achieved legendary status. During the match Sabu received a ten inch gash in his arm he just taped up and continued the match?! During his time in ECW, Sabu racked up numerous injuries including broken ribs, a broken jaw and two broken necks, one at the hands of Chris Benoit and the other Taz. Sabu recovered enough from these injuries to continue wrestling and would remain in ECW until 2000 when he left after refusing to put over Super Crazy.

Sabu would move on to a short stint with Juggalo Championship Wrestling where he'd win the JCW Heavyweight championship in a battle royal but would lose it one day later to Vampiro. Sabu also appeared in WWA in Australia where he feuded with Devon Storm. While there he also battled with and defeated the likes of Perry Saturn, Simon Diamond and Joe E. Legend.

He also appeared in TNA in 2002 and battled the likes of Malice and Ken Shamrock but usually ended up in no contests or disqualifications. In 2004, he teamed with Raven to defeat Raven's former proteges the Gathering (C.M. Punk & Julio Dinero) before moving on to feud with Monty Brown and Abyss who double-teamed him numerous times with Raven's failing to watch Sabu's back. Raven would go on to challenge Sabu to an empty arena match but Sabu refused on the advice of his Uncle. Thereafter Raven started targeting Sabu's ally Sonjay Dutt leading to Sabu finally accepting the match which Raven then won. A scheduled rematch never happened as Sabu suffered a legit back injury. While injured, Sabu contracted a virus that hospitalized and sidelined him for ten months. On December 12, 2004 a benefit show would be held entitled "A Night of Appreciation For Sabu" by the AWWL which would raise enough funds to cover Sabu's medical costs and he'd make a full recovery. Sabu went on to appear at ECW Hardcore Homecoming where he competed in a no ropes barbed wire match against Terry Funk and Shane Douglas and won and went on to compete in WWE's One Night Stand ECW PPV where he defeated Rhyno.

Sabu returned to TNA in July 2005 to team with old enemy Raven against Jeff Jarrett and Rhino. Rhino won the match by goring Raven through a table while Sabu was attacked by Abyss during the match starting a new feud between them. Abyss went on to defeat Sabu at Unbreakable hitting him with the Black Hole Slam on top of thumbtacks. Sabu would also compete in a brutal Monster's Ball match against Rhino, Abyss and Jeff Hardy in a bout ultimately won by Rhino. Abyss again defeated Sabu at Genesis this time Black Hole slamming him on a barbed wire covered steel chair. The feud came to an head in TNA's first Barbed Wire Massacre match at Turning Point, a bloody war which Sabu finally won. Sabu would take some time off following this and would next appear. despite a broken forearm, at Lockdown 2006 where he would be defeated by Samoa Joe.

Sabu moved to the WWE in 2006 (and to be part of the new WWE version of ECW) where he wrestled Rey Mysterio Jr. for the WWF World Heavyweight title, the match ending in a no-contest. Sabu next targeted John Cena who would defeat him at Vengeance. In July Sabu and Rob Van Dam would be arrested for drug possession and would be fined $1000 by the WWE and its Wellness Policy. Towards the end of 2006, Sabu started talking for himself and challenged the Big Show for the ECW World title. This led to a number one contenders match between Rob Van Dam and Sabu which Sabu won in a ladder match. Sabu though failed to defeat the Big Show. On ECW, he basically became a main eventer who competed mainly in Extreme Rules matches. He also teamed up with Rob Van Dam and the Sandman around this time to face Big Show & allies Test and Matt Striker. Sabu was a part of Team Cena at the 2006 Survivor Series which won over Team Big Show despite Sabu's being eliminated by Show. Sabu did eliminate Test during the match. Sabu would originally scheduled to be part of the December to Dismember Elimination Chamber match but would be replaced by Hardcore Holly. C.M. Punk & RVD would team up to defeat Test & Holly and would dedicate the match to Sabu. When Heyman had his security guards attack RVD & Punk after the match, Sabu with an heavily tapped arm made the save. Sabu would go on the join the ECW Originals team of himself, Tommy Dreamer, RVD and Sandman during their feud with the New Breed team of Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Kevin Thorn and Matt Striker. The ECW Originals would win at Wrestlemania 23 but would lose an ECW Extreme Rules rematch when Burke did the Elijah Express on Sabu through a table. Sabu would be released from his WWE contract in May 2007.

Sabu moved on to compete in Mexico's AAA where he joined Konnan's heel stable alongside X-Pac and Ron Killings. He also made appearances in JCW where he teamed with the Insane Clown Posse. Sabu would also move on to feud with Raven while there and even defeated Raven in a "Raven's Rules" match. He made appearances with the Australian Wrestling Federation and CWA Pro Wrestling in South Carolina. In August 2010, Sabu returned to TNA to take part in the ECW reunion show Hardcore Justice where he lost to former partner Rob Van Dam in an hardcore match. He'd become part of Extreme, Version 2.0 and would feud with Ric Flair's Fourtune group. At No Surrender, Sabu failed to defeat Doug Williams for the TNA X Division title. At Bound for Glory 2010, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino and Stevie Richards defeated Fourtune in a Lethal Lockdown match. Sabu & Rob Van Dam would go on to lose tag matches to Beer Money Inc. and dissension grew between the two with them shoving one another. At Turning Point, EV 2.0 put their individual careers in TNA on the line against Fourtune with A.J. Styles defeating Sabu ending his TNA career.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 11, 2011, 06:40:09 PM
Rey Mysterio Jr. joins the Singles Hall of Fame.  Rey Mysterio Jr. it can now be argued has achieved legendary status in the pro wrestling/sports entertainment business.  He has succeeded despite his small size (5’ 6” and 175 pounds) in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions often defying the odds and defeating much, much larger opponents. Rey Mysterio Jr. was trained by his Uncle, the original Rey Mysterio, in Mexico, from a young age. He was trained in the Mexican high-flying luchador tradition and has used it to achieve success around the world. Rey  Jr. debuted in Mexico at age 15 and would go on to have feuds there with the likes of Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera. Rey would also team with his Uncle to face Juventud and his father Fuerza Guerrera in Mexico’s AAA. In 1995, Rey made an impressive debut in ECW and while his stay there was short-lived, he did have a memorable run against Psicosis culminating in a terrific Mexican Death match.

Rey moved to WCW in 1996 to then compete in their cruiserweight division. He soon targeted Cruiserweight champion Dean Malenko. Rey failed to defeat Malenko in his first attempt at the 1996 Great American Bash but at Bash at the Beach would defeat Psicosis to earn another title shot. Shortly thereafter on a July 8th edition of WCW Monday Nitro he defeated Malenko to win his first WCW Cruiserweight title. He’d have a three month title reign successfully fending off challenges by Malenko, Ultimo Dragon and Super Calo before dropping the title back to Malenko at Halloween Havoc 1996. Mysterio next pursued Dragon’s J-Crown championship but failed to defeat him at World War 3 1996. He’d thereafter begin pursuing the WCW World Television championship held by Prince Iaukea but lost to him at SuperBrawl VII when Lord Steven Regal interfered. He’d also lost another rematch at Uncensored 1997. Eventually he’d move into a feud with Eddie Guerrero which would eventually lead to a mask vs. title match for the Cruiserweight championship at Halloween Havoc 1997 where Rey would win protecting both his mask and winning his second WCW Cruiserweight championship. He’d drop the title back to Guerrero on the November 10th edition of WCW Monday Nitro and would lose a rematch at World War 3 1997. Mysterio did not give up his pursuit however and again captured the WCW Cruiserweight championship for the third time defeating Juventud Guerrera on a January 18th edition of WCW Thunder. However he’d lose in just nine days later at Souled Out 1998 to Chris Jericho following which Jericho attacked Mysterio with a tool box and injured his knee (he actually needed knee surgery). When he returned six months later at Bash at the Beach 1998, he got his revenge defeating Jericho for what would have been his 4th WCW Cruiserweight title. However the next night on Nitro, the decision would be overturned and the title returned to Jericho due to outside interference from Dean Malenko. Next Rey found himself the target of Eddie Guerrero’s LWO (Latino World Order) group who insisted he join. Rey battled the LWO members including Psicosis but eventually a loss to Eddie Guerrero forced him to reluctantly join the group. Rey however enlisted ally Billy Kidman to still battle the LWO even after Mysterio became part of the group. Eventually this would lead to a three way battle for the title between Kidman, Juventud Guerrera and Mysterio with Mysterio failing to win the title in several matches involving the three and also Psicosis.

In 1999, when the nWo reformed, they insisted the LWO disband which Mysterio refused to do leading to a mask vs. hair match between The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) and Konnan and Rey Mysterio, which after losing saw Mysterio forced to unmask, something Mysterio was strongly against behind the scenes. Following this Mysterio suddenly got pushed as a giant killer scoring many upset wins over much larger opponents including Kevin Nash, Bam Bam Bigelow and Scott Norton. Despite this, Mysterio was not seen by the powers that be in WCW as a main event star.

Nevertheless, he’d go on to finally defeat Billy Kidman on the March 15th  edition of WCW Monday Nitro to win his 4th WCW Cruiserweight championship. Mysterio would finally receive his first WCW World Heavyweight title shot against Ric Flair in a match Flair would win by DQ despite interference from Arn Anderson. The next week, Rey Mysterio & Kidman defeated Flair’s Horsemen stablemates Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko for the WCW World Tag Team titles making Mysterio a double champion. Mysterio would successfully defend the Cruiserweight title against Kidman before losing it to Psicosis in a four way match also involving Juventud Guerrera and Blitzkrieg.  He’d quickly regain the WCW Cruiserweight championship for the 5th time from Psicosis but at Slamboree 1999, he and Kidman would lose the tag team titles to Perry Saturn & Raven in a three way match also involving Benoit & Malenko. In the summer of 1999, Mysterio began teaming with Konnan and joined Master P’s No Limit Soldiers during their feud with the West Texas Rednecks. When Master P left, Rey formed a new team with Eddie Guerrero and Billy Kidman called the Filthy Animals. They’d go on to feud with the Dead Pool. On August 19th, 1999, Rey Mysterio lost the WCW Cruiserweight title to Lenny Lane but he and Konnan would go on to defeat Harlem Heat for the WCW World Tag Team titles in October but Mysterio got injured and replacement partner Kidman & Konnan lost the titles back to Harlem Heat not long after. Mysterio returned in the Spring of 2000 and eventually joined the New Blood faction along with his fellow Filthy Animals which was feuding with the Millionaires Club. Filthy Animals Rey & Juventud Guerrera went on to defeat The Great Muta and Vampiro for the WCW World Tag Team titles but were stripped of the title following a stipulation that if Ernest “The Cat” Miller defeated Disco Inferno, a Filthy Animal member, they would be. The Filthy Animals went on to feud with the Natural Born Thrillers. In 2001, the Animals started feuding with Lance Storm’s Team Canada. Mysterio & Kidman would lose in the finals of a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team titles but would win the titles from Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo shortly before WCW was sold to the WWF.

In 2001-2002, Mysterio competed on the independent circuit and in Mexico competing for the short-lived XWF, in CMLL in Mexico and IWA Mid-South where he lost in a three way match for the IWA Mid South Heavyweight championship also involving C.M. Punk & Eddie Guerrero.

In June 2002, Rey signed with WWE. Rey debuted in WWE with mask and as a fan favorite. He soon found himself in a feud with Kurt Angle and the two clashed at Summerslam 2002 in a terrific match eventually won by Angle. Not long after, Rey formed a tag team with Edge on WWE Smackdown! to pursue the newly created Smackdown WWE Tag Team titles. They lost in the finals of the tournament at No Mercy 2002 to Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle. Mysterio & Edge worked their way back into contention defeating Los Guerreros (Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero Jr.) to earn another title shot before defeating Angle & Benoit on a November edition of Smackdown in a best two out of three falls match to win the tag titles. They’d lose the titles just 13 days later in a Triple Threat Elimination match to Los Guerreros in a match also involving Angle & Benoit. Rey would move back to focusing on his singles career and started pursuing the WWE Cruiserweight championship. He failed to defeat Matt Hardy at Wrestlemania XIX but finally defeated him in a June rematch to capture the WWE Cruiserweight title, his sixth Cruiserweight championship.  He’d hold the title until September 2003 when he’d lose it to Tajiri. On a new year’s edition of Smackdown!, he regain the Cruiserweight title (his 7th) from Tajiri and would successfully defend it against Jamie Noble at the Royal Rumble 2004 before losing it to Chavo Guerrero Jr. at No Way Out 2004. On a June 17th edition of Smackdown! , he defeat Chavo Classic (Chavo Guerrero Sr.) for his record 8th Cruiserweight championship.  He’d successfully fend off the Chavos but would lose the title to a newly heel Spike Dudley in late July.

After failing to regain the Cruiserweight title, Rey formed a new tag team with Rob Van Dam and went on to defeat Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree for the WWE Tag Team titles in December 2004, titles they’d drop to the Basham Brothers in January 2005 following an injury to RVD. Mysterio formed a new tag team with Eddie Guerrero to regain the WWE Tag Titles from the Bashams at Now Way Out 2005. At Wrestlemania 21 however, the tag partners faced off against one another with Rey winning starting a little dissension between them. At ECW One Night Stand, Rey faced and defeated Psicosis for the first time in about five years. Eventually the dissension between Rey and Eddie led to Eddie attacking Rey before a match against MNM which saw them lose the titles to MNM. The feud between Rey and Eddie took a strange turn when Eddie claimed to be the biological father of Rey’s son Dominick leading to a Summerslam ladder match for custody of the child?! The feud ended when Eddie defeated Rey in a steel cage match.  Right on the heels of a likely new face turn, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room leading the WWE to do tribute shows on both Raw and Smackdown to Eddie. Rey wrestled and defeated Shawn Michaels during the special. Rey next found himself the target of the much larger Big Show leading to an eventual tag team war between Rey & new partner World Heavyweight champion Batista and World Tag Team champions Kane & the Big Show. Now long after, Rey & Batista would go on to defeat MNM to win the WWE Tag Team titles. At the battle between champions however, Rey & Batista lost to Kane & Big Show when Kane pinned Mysterio following a chokeslam. In December 2005, MNM evoked their rematch clause and defeated Batista & Mysterio to regain the titles with help from their new ally Mark Henry.

Rey next focused on the upcoming Royal Rumble and shocked many by winning the 2006 Royal Rumble match despite entering at Number Two also setting a record for longevity in the match lasting over 62 minutes. Rey dedicated his win to his late friend Eddie Guerrero. Rey’s win earned him a title match at Wrestlemania 22 which Randy Orton eventually cheated his way into as well leading to a Wrestlemania 22 Triple Threat match between Rey, Orton and World Heavyweight champion Kurt Angle. Rey defeated Orton to win the match and his first World Heavyweight Championship. Rey successfully defended the title against Orton and Angle before entering into a feud with then United States champion JBL. JBL brought in monsters Mark Henry and the Great Khali to defeat and weaken Rey in non-title matches but Rey still retained the title against JBL and eventually driving JBL off Smackdown! after defeating him in embarrassing fashion. Mysterio was next challenged by ECW legend and WWE newcomer Sabu at ECW One Night Stand 2006 but the match ended in a no-contest meaning Rey kept his title. Next Rey found himself the target of King Booker and his King’s Court stable. King Booker would eventually defeat Rey for the World Heavyweight title at the Great American Bash 2006 when Chavo Guerrero Jr. surprisingly turned on Rey turning heel and costing Rey his championship. This led to an “I Quit” match between Rey and Chavo where Chavo storyline injured Rey’s knee. (He once again needed knee surgery). Mysterio would return at the 2007 Summerslam and gain a measure of revenge on Chavo and also in a brutal “I Quit” rematch on Smackdown!. Mysterio once more began to pursue the World title chasing then champion the Great Khali and seeing himself involved in a Triple Threat bout also featuring ally Batista. After failing to regain the title, Rey entered into a feud with Finlay which eventually saw Rey defeat Finlay in a Stretcher match at Cyber Sunday 2007. Rey moved back into the World title picture earning a World title shot against Edge after winning a Beat the Clock challenge but again he failed to regain the belt. Mysterio however would again be forced out of action following a biceps injury and wouldn’t return until the June 2008 Draft where he was sent to WWE Raw.

Rey defeated Santino Marella and went on to feud with Kane before competing in the WWE Championship Scramble match. Mysterio went on to challenge JBL for the WWE Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania XXV which he won in impressive fashion becoming the 21st WWE Triple Crown winner.

During the 2009 Draft, Rey was sent back to Smackdown! as Intercontinental champion. On Smackdown!, he soon found himself in a bitter feud with Chris Jericho leading to Jericho eventually defeating him for the I-C title at Extreme Rules 2009 eventually culminating in a Title vs. Mask match at the Bash which was won by Rey. Following a Wellness Policy suspension, Rey dropped his I-C title to John Morrison in a great match. Mysterio returned from suspension to team with Batista and face Chris Jericho and Big Show for the WWE Unified World Tag Team championships but they failed to defeat JeriShow. At WWE Bragging Rights, Mysterio was unsuccessful in a Fatal 4 Way match for the World Heavyweight title between then champion the Undertaker, C.M. Punk and Batista. Following the match, Batista turned on long-time friend Mysterio blaming him for costing him the match. This led to a feud where Batista constantly brutalized Mysterio in match after match until Mysterio finally upset Batista in a match to become # 1 contender to Undertaker’s World title but Batista interfered in the title match. Rey would go on to win a Beat the Clock challenge and would edge out Batista in a steel cage match to earn a shot against Undertaker at Royal Rumble 2010. Undertaker however defeated Rey at the Rumble. Mysterio next qualified for the 2010 Elimination Chamber match and soon found himself embroiled in a bitter feud with C.M. Punk and Punk’s Straight Edge Society. Mysterio would go on to defeat Punk at Wrestlemania XXVI. Punk won a rematch with his hair on the line at Extreme Rules but lost his hair in a rematch against Rey at Over the Limit effectively ending the feud with Rey on top.
 
Rey next fought Undertaker to earn a spot in a Fatal 4 Way World title match for Jack Swagger’s World title. Undertaker won the match but also was injured during the bout leading to a Battle Royal to fill the spot, which was eventually won by Rey. At Fatal 4 Way, Rey went on to win his second World Heavyweight title in a match also involving Swagger, C.M. Punk and The Big Show. Swagger however continually attacked Rey and put him in the Ankle Lock in an attempt to weaken him in hopes of regaining the World title. At Money in the Bank 2010, Rey successfully defended the title against Swagger but soon thereafter found himself the target of Money in the Bank winner Kane who quickly defeated the weakened Mysterio successfully cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. Mysterio earned a title rematch against Kane, who blamed Mysterio for putting his “brother” Undertaker in a vegetative state, at Summerslam but Kane defeated him. However after the match, it was revealed that Kane was the true culprit clearing Mysterio’s name. Shortly thereafter, Rey was upset by the debuting Alberto Del Rio who storyline injured Rey’s arm following a No DQ match with Kane the next week. A lengthy feud between Rey and Del Rio was born with whom Mysterio continues to feud.

“Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Kerry was a much beloved superstar in his home state of Texas, arguably the most successful and well-known member of the famous Von Erich clan. Kerry, the son of Fritz Von Erich, along with his brothers David and Kevin (and later Mike and Chris) were real life heroes to those who watched them in the Lone Star state. Kerry had a great look, a chiseled muscular body, was a true athlete with success in track & field and discus throwing, a winning smile and he could go with the best of them in the ring too. Unfortunately Kerry also had many demons which bogged him down and arguably kept him from achieving those heights he otherwise most likely would have achieved. Known as “The Modern Day Warrior” in Texas, fans cheered the youthful Kerry on hoping he’d achieve victory over the travelling NWA World Heavyweight champion of the time and indeed Kerry did make for an imposing challenge be it for Harley Race or later “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Kerry seemed on the cusp of becoming a great NWA World Heavyweight champion if one of his brothers didn’t beat him to it.

Kerry started in his father’s NWA Texas Big Time Wrestling in 1979 and went on to hold the Texas tag team and Americas Tag Team titles. When it became World Class Championship Wrestling in the early 1980s, he had considerable success both as a singles star there and in tag teams with his brothers and Bruiser Brody. He won his first NWA American Heavyweight title defeating Gino Hernandez for the then vacant championship. He’d drop the title to Ken Patera but would thereafter regain it from the Masked Superstar. He also teamed with Terry Orndorff to win the Americas Tag Team titles. Eventually he’d form a tag team with his brother Kevin. In June 1982, he defeated former NWA World Heavyweight champion Harley Race which elevated him to a main event star. Not long after, he began pursuing and feuding with NWA World Heavyweight champion Ric Flair. Flair would retain his championship in a two out of three falls match but on December 25, 1982, Kerry would receive a no –DQ steel cage rematch for the NWA World title with Michael “P.S.” Hayes acting as special guest referee.  The Freebirds would help Kerry defeat Flair and win the title but Kerry refused to take the win that way leading to Terry Gordy slamming the door on Kerry’s head and Flair retaining his title also igniting the historic and red hot feud between the Freebirds and the Von Erichs. In 1983, Kerry would also win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship. Kerry went on to team with Bruiser Brody to defeat the Fabulous Freebirds for the NWA Americas Tag Team titles while Kerry teamed with brothers David & Kevin to win the NWA Texas Six-Man Tag Team titles from the Freebirds as well. The Von Erichs would lose the Six-Man titles back to the Freebirds a little over a month later. On November 24, 1983, Kerry defeated Michael Hayes in a Loser Leaves Texas steel cage match. On December 2, 1983, the Von Erichs regained the Texas Six-Man titles from the Freebirds.

Unfortunately the Von Erichs would suffer a tragic loss in early 1984 when David Von Erich, who seemed on the cusp of a potentially great wrestling career, was found dead in Japan.  Kerry’s career high came shortly thereafter when he defeated “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair to win his first and only NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the May 6, 1984 David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions show, a show held in tribute to his late brother. Kerry would lose the title just 18 days later in Japan back to Flair in controversial fashion as Kerry was pinned with his feet under the ropes.  (In reality, Kerry was told to drop the belt back to Flair due to his substance abuse problems.) On July 4, 1984, the Von Erichs lost the Texas Six-Man titles back to the Fabulous Freebirds. However the titles would be held up due to outside interference from Killer Khan.  On September 3, 1984, the defeated the Freebirds to regain the Six-Man titles for the fourth time in a Handicapped Steel Cage Loser Leaves Town Match. As the feud with the Freebirds finally concluded, the Von Erichs moved into a feud with a newly heel Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts who eventually defeated them for the Six-Man titles. On October 25, 1984, he defeated Gino Hernandez for his fifth American Championship.  On December 25, 1984, Kerry finally got a rematch against Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight title but Flair intentionally got himself disqualified to retain the title. On  December 31, 1984, the Von Erichs defeated Roberts, Adams and Hernandez to regain the Six-Man titles.

One June 4, 1986, Kerry was in a serious motorcycle accident that nearly ended his life and left him with a dislocated hip and a badly injured right leg. Doctors eventually had to amputate his right foot. Kerry wore a prosthetic foot and it was generally well hidden from wrestling fans that Kerry now actually only had one foot. However during one match against Colonel DeBeers, DeBeers did accidentally pull the prosthetic foot in Kerry’s boot off. During the dying days of WCCW with Kerry as WCCW World Champion, Kerry would become embroiled in a bitter feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler, then AWA World Heavyweight Champion over who should be the Undisputed World Champion. This would led to their infamous clash at SuperClash III during which Kerry badly cut his arm even before the match and also suffered a cut to the head during the bout. Kerry bled so excessively that despite him having Lawler trapped in his trademark submission clawhold, the referee stopped the match and rewarded it and Kerry’s WCCW championship to Lawler. Rumor has it though that Kerry was in no condition to even really work the match which makes it remarkable it came off as well as it did.

Kerry continued to work for the new USWA promotion in Texas which had acquired the World Class banner, forming a tag team with Jeff Jarrett and winning the Texas Heavyweight title twice. In 1990, Kerry began a violent feud with Matt Borne, who had turned heel and later also with manager Percy Pringle and his stable but during the angle, Kerry suddenly left the USWA and signed with the WWF where he became known as “The Texas Tornado” although he was still occasionally referred to as Kerry Von Erich. At Summerslam 1990, Kerry substituted for the then injured Brutus Beefcake  to defeat “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Kerry held the I-C title for three months defending it against Haku amongst others before losing it back to “Mr. Perfect”  due to outside interference from “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. At the Survivor Series, prior to losing the title, Kerry teamed with the Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom. Kerry would be eliminated by Hennig but his team won the match. At the 1991 Royal Rumble, he would be eliminated by the Undertaker. He made his Wrestlemania debut at Wrestlemania VII defeating Dino Bravo with a discus punch. At Summerslam 1991, he teamed with Davey Boy Smith and Ricky Steamboat to defeat The Warlord and Power & Glory. At the 1991 Survivor Series, he teamed with Sgt. Slaughter, Hacksaw Duggan and Tito Santana against Colonel Mustafa, The Berzerker, Skinner  and Hercules. He didn’t eliminate anyone but his entire team survived. He made his last WWF PPV appearance at the 1992 Royal Rumble where he was eliminated by eventual winner and new WWF World Champion Ric Flair. He then was relegated to a jobber status until he finally left in the summer of 1992. In 1992, he returned to Texas to compete in the Global Wrestling Federation and team with Chris Adams. Kerry would be inducted along with his brothers and father into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

“Kerry had a history of drug problems, and drugs may have been a factor in the motorcycle crash in 1986 that cost him his right foot. Kerry committed suicide (as had done his brothers Mike and Chris before him) by shooting himself with a magnum revolver in the chest, at his father's ranch in Denton, Texas, on February 18, 1993. Kerry drove a Jeep over a steep embankment at the time he shot himself. It was only one day after being indicted on a drug charge.” - Wikipedia

The Outsiders, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall, join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Hall & Nash certainly made their mark and left a lasting impression as core members of the now legendary nWo faction in WCW alongside a newly heel Hollywood Hulk Hogan. While in the nWo, Hall & Nash became known as “The Outsiders” referencing the idea that they could possibly be WWF, where they were previously known as Diesel and Razor Ramon, invaders in WCW. The two powerhouses, Nash a former WWF Triple Crown winner and Hall a multi-time Intercontinental champion, made for quite an effective tag team running roughshod over the competition in WCW.  Actually the two had previously teamed before in WCW back in the early 1990s but in less memorable circumstances back when Hall was the Diamond Studd and Nash was known as Vinnie Vegas, the pair then managed by Diamond Dallas Page.  Hall would go on to achieve WWF fame as Razor Ramon and Nash of course became Diesel. While in the WWF, they became friends backstage and part of the infamous behind the scenes Kliq group which once held considerable political sway behind the scenes (and maybe even still does).

When they both left the WWF in 1996 to return to WCW, the whole Outsiders invade nWo idea was born with WCW eventually forced to drop the idea the Outsiders still worked for the WWF when the WWF threatened a lawsuit. Shockingly they were soon joined by a newly heel Hulk Hogan, something that once seemed unthinkable. Hogan reinvented himself as Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Hall & Nash became his main allies and backup, the true core of the group. The Outsiders would go on to win the WCW World Tag Team titles six times first defeating Harlem Heat at Halloween Havoc 1996.  They’d lose the titles to the Steiner Brothers at Souled Out 1997 only for now nWo member and WCW President Eric Bischoff to reverse the decision the next night. A mirror repeat of these events occurred after a match between the Outsiders vs. Lex Luger & The Giant at SuperBrawl VII with Giant & Luger seemingly winning the titles and Bischoff returning them the next night. In October 1997, fellow nWo member Syxx Pac substituted for an injured Nash defending the titles several times alongside Hall. Hall & Syxx would eventually lose the titles to the Steiner Brothers on October 13, 1997. The Outsiders and the Steiners continued to trade the belts back and forth until Scott Steiner eventually turned heel, turned on his brother Rick and also joined the nWo by doing so in turn helping Hall & Nash regain the tag belts. In May 1998, the Outsiders split up briefly as the nWo split into two factions with Hall choosing to stay with nWo Hollywood and Nash joining the nWo Wolfpac, a name originally used to refer to the trio of Hall, Nash & Syxx.  Hall’s personal demons and drinking problems began to surface even on national TV leading to Nash playing a game of tough love with his old partner. In early 1999, they reunited and stayed a team even after a new version of the nWo fell apart. After an aimless couple of months, they won the WCW World Tag Team titles for the last time in December 1999 until Hall’s personal demons cost them again leading to the team being stripped of the titles after Hall no-showed an event.
 
In 2002, the original nWo of Hogan, Hall & Nash reformed in the WWE as Hogan was set to battle The Rock and Hall was set to face Steve Austin. However the reunion would be short-lived as Hogan turned babyface yet again shortly after his hit Wrestlemania X8 match with the Rock, Nash was injured and Hall would be released now long after his arrival. They next turned up in TNA in late 2004 and early 2005 where they teamed as the Kings of Wrestling with former nWo 2000 teammate Jeff Jarrett. Hall & Nash would aid Jarrett in retaining his NWA World Heavyweight title in a match against Jeff Hardy at Victory Road 2004. The Kings of Wrestling declared themselves better than everyone else in TNA leading to a war with A.J. Styles, who dared to stand up to them, Hardy and a newly arrived Randy Savage. Savage, Jeff Hardy & Styles would team up to defeat the Kings of Wrestling at Turning Point. Savage seemed poised for a shot at Jarrett’s title but left TNA shortly thereafter. This led to a three way match to determine a number one contender between Monty Brown, Diamond Dallas Page and Jarrett’s KoW ally Kevin Nash. As Nash started to pursue the title, it led to friction in the group with Nash finally earning his title shot at Against All Odds where he failed to win the title. The KoW parted ways shortly thereafter.  Hall & Nash were scheduled to return in 2007 but Hall would no-show the event for what he sighted as health problems. On the January 4th live three hour Monday broadcast of TNA Impact!, Hall & Sean Waltman (formerly Syxx) made their return to TNA and quickly reformed their team with Nash now referring to themselves as the Band. Nash & Waltman, replacing a then injured Hall, went on to have a tag match against Beer Money Inc. who defeated them. Not long after Hall & Waltman seemingly turned on Nash who then recruited Eric Young. However at Destination X 2010, Nash turned on his partner Young to help Waltman & Hall win TNA contracts. At Lockdown 2010, Hall & Nash finally returned to teaming losing a steel cage match to Team 3D. Following an attack by Samoa Joe on Matt Morgan, who was holding the TNA Tag Team titles by himself, Nash cashed in his Feast or Fired contract and teamed with Hall to defeat Morgan to win the TNA World Tag Team titles. The Band added Eric Young as their third member and the three shortly defended the title until they were stripped of the belts due to Hall’s legal problems.

Hall & Nash also main evented Dream Stage Entertainment’s May 8, 2004 Hustle 3 PPV losing to the team of Shinya Hashimoto and Naoya Ogawa. On August 10, 2008, Hall & Nash teamed as the Outsiders to defeat the Thomaselli Brothers as Bloodymania II in Juggalo Championship Wrestling.  Nash also positioned himself as a member of the Juggalo World Order, of which Hall was already a member. On March 21, 2009, the Outsiders were billed against the former New Age Outlaws in a battle of nWo vs. D-X but Nash walked out on Hall during the match.

Jack & Jerry Brisco joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Arguably one of the most technically sound tag teams in wrestling history, few men knew their wrestling like the Briscos. Jack was a former two-time NWA World Heavyweight champion while Jerry was a former NWA Jr. Heavyweight World Champion.  Jack & Jerry began teaming in the early 1970s after Jack had trained his younger brother for the squared circle. They first teamed together in Florida winning the NWA Florida Tag Team championship on February 16, 1971. They’d drop the belts to Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk the next month but would regain them a month later. In late 1972, Jack Brisco would once more return to Florida to team with his brother and captured another Florida Tag Team title. In July 1973, Jack would capture his first NWA World Heavyweight title from Harley Race, would lose it to Giant Baba in December 1974 and thereafter regain it for a second time just four days later. He’d  finally lose his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Terry Funk in December 1975 continuing the intense and long feud/rivalry with the Funks. Upon Jack Brisco’s return to Florida, he and his brother would once again capture Florida tag team gold this time from Bob Roop and Bob Orton Jr.. They’d eventually lose the titles to Superstar Billy Graham and Ox Baker but would regain them in a rematch. In January 1978, they won the Florida belts yet again this time beating Ivan Koloff and Mr. Saito. While holding these titles, they also won the Florida United States tag team titles from Mike Graham and Steve Keirn. They’d then lose and regain the belts from Keirn & Graham. They then did the same against Killer Karl Kox and Bobby Duncum and later Mr. Saito and Mr. Sato and would also defeat Saito & Sato to win yet another Florida Tag Team championship. The Briscos would win the NWA Florida United States Tag Team titles five times in total.

In the late 1970s, in Georgia Championship Wrestling, the Briscos defeated the Funks to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team titles and won them a second time in November 1979 from Austin Idol and The Masked Superstar. In 1980, the Briscos would eventually reform their tag team to win yet another NWA Florida Tag Team title (which they won 8 times altogether). Together they also won the NWA North American Tag Team titles twice winning the initial title tournament in Florida and then losing and regaining the titles from the Funks.

In 1981, the Briscos also teamed together in Puerto Rico’s WWC to win the WWC North American Tag Team titles from Los Pastores (The Sheepherders/Bushwhackers) holding them for a month before losing them to the Fabulous Kangaroos. The Briscos also teamed together to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team titles on three occasions. As clever and crafty heels, the Briscos defeated Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood for the belts on June 18, 1983. This set up a rivalry and saw the teams trade the titles back and forth with Steamboat & Youngblood regaining the titles on October 9, 1983 only to lose them back to the Briscos on October 21, 1983. They’d hold the titles for a little over a month before losing them back to Steamboat & Youngblood. The Briscos though would win the World Tag Team titles for a third time defeating Wahoo McDaniel and Mark Youngblood. Jack & Jerry Brisco were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

The Hollys, Hardcore Holly, Crash Holly & Molly Holly, join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. The Hollys were essentially a comedy gimmick tag team in the late 1990s, early 2000s. They had surprising success in the WWF, at least on a mid-card level. In 1999 with Hardcore Holly relentlessly pursuing the WWF Hardcore title which he’d win six times, he’d eventually pair up with on-screen “cousin” Crash Holly (Mike Lockwood) and win the WWF World Tag Team Championship on one occasion defeating The Rock and Sock Connection of the Rock & Mankind eventually losing the titles back to Mankind and new partner Al Snow. Crash would have even greater success in the hardcore division than his bigger “cousin” Hardcore winning it a total 22 times and introducing the 24/7 rule defense for the championship. In 2000, another on-screen “cousin” named Molly Holly (Nora Greenwald) was introduced. Each Holly was billed as thinking themselves giants (each claimed at one time to be well over 400 pounds and they came to the ring with weight scales and claimed to be “super heavyweights” when it was obvious to everyone they were not) with big egos who believed they couldn’t be knocked over or defeated despite the relative smaller size of each.  Each Holly though never backed down and met each competitor head on.

J.R. Foley joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Foley is best remembered as the manager for the then heel Dynamite Kid in Stampede Wrestling in the 1970s as he then feuded with the Hart family, mainly Bret Hart. Foley also managed the likes of Duke Myers, Kerry Brown, Honky Tonk Man Wayne Ferris, The Viet Cong Express and the Cobra.  He was one of Stampede’s top heel managers of that 70s/80s era. Originally John Foley from Liverpool, England, he led his men in Foley’s Army to feud with all the different Hart brothers of the era and their allies including a young Davey Boy Smith with whom Dynamite also feuded while managed by Foley. He wore khaki pants and a jacket to the ring and wore a German style WW2 helmet and also sported a small moustache similar to another German from WW2. He looked down upon fans and sported arrogance as wide as he was long. He soon eyed all the titles in Stampede and led The Great Gama Singh to the Mid-Heavyweight title on several occasions. He soon paired Duke Myers and Kerry Brown in pursuit of the Tag Team titles which they eventually captured from Bret & Keith Hart. He also led Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie to heavyweight gold. With outside interference, run-ins, sneak attacks and brass knuckles, he led his charges to many titles. In the 1980s, he’d change his name to J.R. Foley and change his look starting to wear a cowboy hat and playing the part of wealthy financier who paid lots of bills to acquire talents such as David Shultz, Rotten Ron Starr, The Cobra and Honky Tonk Wayne. As age crept upon Foley, he had henchman K.Y. Wakimatsu  do the run-ins and interference with his lethal kendo stick. This eventually led to a memorable storyline where the Harts ally Leo Burke turned on the Harts just so he could get some of Foley’s money. In the 80s, he passed on his cheating ways to Bad News Allen, Les Thornton and the Viet Cong Express during their feuds with Ben Bassarab, Chris Benoit, Owen Hart & Johnny Smith.

“The Genius”, AKA: Lanny Poffo, joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. After a lengthy run in the WWF as an enhancement talent Leaping Lanny Poffo despite previous success teaming with brother Randy Savage in Memphis and the ICW and in several NWA territories, Poffo would reinvent himself as The Genius, wearing a cap and gown to the ring and using a clipboard to clobber his charges opponents over the head, turning heel in the process. He still recited an original poem before his match as he had done as Leaping Lanny only now they tended to be much more on the heelish side than before. He would achieve his arguable career high in the WWF when he scored an upset victory over Hulk Hogan in a non-title match in which he was aided by charge “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig. The Genius however failed to lead Hennig to a WWF World title win and would eventually be fired by Hennig who would replace him with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan who led Hennig to his greatest heights of WWF success.  The Genius would later manage and team with charges the Beverly Brothers, Beau & Blake Beverly (formerly known as the Destruction Crew Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom in the AWA) but they’d have little if any real success.
 
Cyrus, AKA: Don Callis, joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Cyrus was arguably the best color commentator in ECW history broadcasting exclusively on ECW PPVs as Cyrus the Virus alongside Joey Styles.  Cyrus had previously wrestled as the Natural in Canada’s West Four Wrestling Alliance where he became a five-time heavyweight champion. He had also previously teamed with Rick Martel as the Supermodels and with the Psycho as the Mercenaries of Mayhem.  While in the WFWA, The Natural would eventually engage in a long feud with former partner Rick Martel.  In 1996, he’d be hired by the WWF as a manager and debuted as The Jackyl leading the forgettable Truth Commission stable. He’d go on to have forgettable runs as a manger for the Human Oddities and later the Acolytes. Towards the end in ECW, he became a represent of the Network during ECW’s woes with TNN working against ECW’s more extreme nature and on screen lewdness. He’d join forces with an anti-hardcore Steve Corino who formed a stable with manager Jack Victory and hired guns Yoshihiro Tajiri and Rhino, collectively known as the Network and would eventually help Rhino capture the ECW World Heavyweight championship at their final PPV Guilty as Charged 2001.

Bruno Sammartino joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Following his legendary in-ring career, Bruno took on a role as color commentator on WWF Superstars of Wrestling alongside Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Vince McMahon. Bruno was still beloved by his many fans  the early 80s, many of whom still remembered his time on top as wrestling’s top drawing card in the 60s & 70s and if not, his brutal feud with Larry Zbyszko in the early 1980s and no doubt the powers that be in the WWF hoped to take advantage. Bruno actually returned more in hopes of helping his son David Sammartino in his aspiring career but David, while a skilled grappler, lacked his father’s natural charisma and the oomph and fire Bruno brought with him to the ring. Bruno’s thick Italian accent and his frequent searching for words meant he was less than ideal as a color commentator yet many fans still clamored to see him and indeed Bruno would return to the ring, first to team with his son David against Brutus Beefcake and his manager Johnny V and later against Paul Orndorff and Bobby Heenan. Eventually David realized he was being used to get Bruno and the sell out crowds he brought with him in the Northeast back to the ring. David would quit but Bruno would keep on wrestling hoping to keep David in Vince McMahon’s good graces leading to memorable feuds with Randy “Macho Man” Savage and later “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. He’d also appear in the Wrestlemania 2 battle royal, would challenge the Honky Tonk Man unsuccessfully for the Intercontinental title despite winning most of the matches by DQ or countout and finally briefly feuding with Hercules Hernandez. Bruno’s final WWF match saw him team with Hulk Hogan to defeat King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang. He continued his color commentary job until March 1988. In the late 80s, early 1990s, Bruno did color commentary, just as poorly as he had done in the WWF, in Herb Abrams UWF in its failed attempt to go national and compete with the WWF and NWA. Bruno has been vocal in his criticism since leaving wrestling about the turn it has taken more towards lurid storylines, over the top, can you top this theatrics and the continued steroid and drug abuse going on behind the scenes.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on February 11, 2011, 11:36:38 PM
I liked The Holly's quite a bit for what they were.

Cyrus was underrated.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 12, 2011, 05:19:54 PM
Rico (Constantino) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Constantino had a very interesting background prior to entering wrestling working as a paramedic, then a cop on the SWAT team, then a bodyguard. He was also a contestant on American Gladiators becoming champion for the first half of the 1990-1991 season and came within seconds of winning the Grand championship. He also appeared on th European game show Capture Ft. Boyard and was the only contestant to capture a necessary key on a bungee jump challenge He'd also end up a member of The Power Team and travelled the world impressing with feats of strength, becoming ordained as a minister and working with children's charities and the Special Olympics. In 1999, Constantino decided to pursue a new interest, a career in pro wrestling.

He started training in the Empire Wrestling Federation until he was noticed by WWE and sent to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling where he managed The Prototype (who would later become John Cena) and together they teamed to win the OVW Tag Team titles. He'd debut in WWE in 2002 as the hair stylist for the quasi-gay tag team Billy and Chuck whom he'd eventually come to team with and manage also embracing an effiminate persona. At one point, he'd be forced to team with Rikishi to defeat his team Billy and Chuck for the World Tag Team titles but shortly thereafter would turn on Rikishi and help Billy and Chuck regain their titles. In September 2002, he'd move to Raw and became manager of 3 Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal) until he turned on them following a loss to the Dudley Boyz. He'd return to Smackdown! as a fan favourite playing up his over the top effeminate character. There he'd form an unlikely tag team with Charlie Haas, who together managed by Miss Jackie, would win the WWE Tag Team titles. Rico would turn things up a notch more becoming a character not too unlike Exotic Adrian Street, from whom he actually sought advice. He'd be unexpectedly released by WWE in November 2004. He'd go to All-Japan and team up with former WWE star Bull Buchanan beat  Mitsuya Nagai and Masayuki Naruse for the All-Japan Asian Tag Team titles. In May 2005, Rico decided to return to a career in law enforcement and retired from wrestling vacating the Asian tag titles.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 17, 2011, 08:53:57 PM
Stevie Richards joins the Singles Hall of Shame. After being trained at Iron Mike Sharpe's wrestling school, Richards moved on to compete in Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992, a federation that would later reinvent itself as Extreme Championship Wrestling. He impressed wrestling to a 20-minute draw with Jimmy Jannetty before moving into a program with newcomer Raven after mocking Raven's old Scotty Flamingo identity. This led to Raven thrashing Stevie Flamingo and eventually transforming Stevie into his main flunky. Together Raven & Richards would win two ECW World Tag Team Championships. Richards would also prove memorable as a member of the Blue World Order where he and the group mocked and imitated many popular 90s grapplers and even some legends from the past. Stevie, mocking Kevin Nash, would take on the name Big Stevie Cool at one point. Richards' career highlight in ECW was participating in a #1 contenders match at Barely Legal, ECW's first PPV, where he lost in a war with Terry Funk and the Sandman. He'd later suffer a serious neck injury in a Fatal4Way match against Raven, Funk & Sandman that would hamper his career quite a bit and required numerous surgeries to fix.

He moved to WCW in 1997 where he basically followed Raven and ended up his flunky again, this time as a member of Raven's Flock. However this would be short-lived as Richards didn't pass his physical exams. Richards would sign with the WWF in 1999 where he briefly reformed a tag team with the Blue Meanie before taking on an impersonation role yet again before basically being used as enhancement talent. He would however get a career boost with the Right To Censor gimmick reinventing himself as Steven Richards, a seeming conservative who was critical of WWF's then more risque programming, a parody of sorts of the problems the WWF had at the time with the Parents Television Council. Eventually Richards would form a full fledged stable that got a surprisingly high level of heat from the crowd. The group also included Ivory, The Goodfather, Val Venis and Bull Buchanan, with RTC having reformed Venis and the former Godfather. The group would most notably feud with Chyna. RTC would come to an end following an asault from the Undertaker. Richards would next target Taker with his new team Kronik, of whom he'd become manager and also a member of the ECW/WCW Alliance faction in WWE. Not long after arriving in WWE though, Kronik were quickly released. Richards remained a member of the Alliance and competed on WWE's B shows. After the Alliance lost the war against WWE, Richards as well as the rest of the Allance would be "fired".

He'd next turn up on Raw as a psychotic jobber who went on to win the WWE Hardcore Championship 22 times trading it with such opponents as Crash Holly, Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Justin Credible, Bradshaw, Tommy Dreamer, Shawn Stasiak and even Terri Runnels. Richards later formed an alliance with Victoria and even helped her win the WWE Women's Title. They'd split when Victoria went face although Stevie would later briefly help her as the "mystery woman". Richards would go on to compete mainly on WWE Heat and even called himself its general manager at one point. Eventually he'd be used again as an enhancement talent. At least until the reunion of the BWO at ECW One Night Stand in 2005 but ultimately the group was short-lived and jobbed out and Richards returned to jobbing, this time on WWE Velocity. Richards would compete in the relaunched WWE version of ECW in 2006 but was still mostly used as an enhancement guy although he briefly turned heel to join the New Breed and later rejoined the ECW Originals in their feud with the New Breed later on replacing a departed Sandman. Richards did in ECW get in a brief run against Kevin Thorn where he pulled off a number of upset wins but utlimately failed to get into the ECW Title hunt when he lost the Elimination Chase event prior to his having throat surgery. Richards returned and had some brief success, most notably beating Mike Knox, before returning to his prior jobber status which he bascically maintained until he was released in 2008.

Before competing on the independent circuit, Richards had to battle and overcome the effects of a collapsed lung. Richards would return in January 2009 and would compete for NWA No Limits as well as Maryland Championship Wrestling. In February 2009, Stevie made his TNA debut as Dr. Stevie, Abyss's would be "therapist". Soon Stevie would become abusive to Abyss and would take on the heel role in the feud eventually teaming up with Daffney and a returning Raven against the big man. Later Stevie would briefly feud with Kevin Nash who'd powerbomb him. Later Mick Foley would get involved in the feud between Stevie and Abyss eventually taking Abyss's side and teaming with him against Raven and Stevie. Most recently Richards was a part of the TNA Hardcore Justice PPV where he defeated P.J. Polaco (the former Justin Credible) and thereafter became a member of EV 2.0 who went on to feud with Fourtune and Abyss. While in the group, Richards would challenge A.J. Styles for the TNA Television title but would fail to win it from Styles. Richards quit TNA in January 2011.

Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. This team would compete all over the world including All-Japan, UWA (Mexico), WWF/WWE and ECW but failed to have as much success anywhere else as they had in Japan where they were 5 time All Asian Tag Team Champions. They did however win one ECW World Tag Team Championship and  2 UWA Tag Team Championships. Lafon was originally billed as Dan Kroffat in Japan. Together both men were each smaller competitors with bot being 5' 11" with Kroffat bringing the speed and Furnas bringing the power. They initially feuded with Footloose (Samson Fuyuki and Toshiaki Kawada) over the All-Asian tag belts and fought with such teams as Kenta Kobashi & Tiger Mask II, Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith and Joel Deaton & Billy Black. After winning the titles for the fourth time, they held on to them for 304 days before losing them to Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. In 1992, they'd more to Mexico's UWA as the Can-Am Express where they'd defeat Los Cowboys (Silver King & El Texano) for the UWA Tag Team titles igniting an historic feud between the two teams. Eventually they'd lose the titles to Villano IV and Villano V. They'd go on to have a long feud with the Villanos and would regain and lose the titles back to them. They would return to AJPW in 1993 and Kroffat would win the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Masanobu Fuchi. Eventually Kroffat would lose the title back to Fuchi but together with Furnas would capture a record breaking fifth All-Asian Tag Team Championship beating the Eagle and the Patriot. Kroffat would win back the World Junior heavyweight title becoming a double champ. Eventually Kroffat & Furnas would vacate the All Asian Tag belts to focus on the AJPW Unified World Tag Team titles but still set a record remaining champs for 451 days.

They'd debut in ECW in 1996 and had a great series of "respect" matches against Sabu & Rob Van Dam. In late 1996, they moved to the WWF and Kroffat renamed himself Phil Lafon. They debuted at Survivor Series 1996 and scored the win pinning then tag champs Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith. However they'd fail to defeat the champs for the tag titles in title matches and eventually a car accident briefly put them out of action. When they returned, they actually turned heel aiding the Hart Foundation and joining the Team Canada team at Survivior Series alongside British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart. The team defeated Team USA of Goldust, Vader, Marc Mero and Steve Blackman. Following this, Furnas & Lafon made a few appearances on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night before being sent to ECW, even having one match with the then little known Hardys. Upon their return to ECW, they'd join the Team WWF stable alongside Rob Van Dam and Sabu. They'd defeat the F.B.I. for the ECW World Tag Team titles on December 5th, 1997. Just 1 day later, they lost the titles to Chris Candido and Lance Storm in a three way bout also involving Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten. The team would break up shortly after the loss in early 1998. Furnas & Lafon were great in ring technicians and fine workers but lacked the necessary charisma to succeed outside of Japan where the audience had more appreciation for the talents Furnas & Lafon possessed in-ring.

Mark Madden joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Madden is one of those know it all types who previously worked for pro wrestling torch before joining WCW as a magazine writer and eventually an on-air color commentator. Madden was annoying for the way he got in little digs at wrestlers he for whatever reason seemed to dislike and also made disparaging comments about WCW, lobbied for the return of a fired Scott Hall (despite his unprofessional substance abuse history) and even disclosed information about the sale of WCW which led to him eventually getting fired. Madden is now a radio sports talk show host.

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. This one goes without saying. Heenan was simply one of the most entertaining men in the entire history of pro wrestling especially when he was put behind a microphone and given an opportinity to talk, especially if he had a little more freedom to improvise. Heenan was without any doubt one of the funniest color commentators in wrestling history and nearly always had something entertaining, funny or at least interesting and different to say. One thing's for sure, he was never boring. When working with Gorilla Monsoon, you got wrestling comedy gold at its very finest and he even managed to elevate WCW Monday Nitro despite having to work alongside inferior announcing talent. Heenan had a knack for getting fans interested and excited about whatever was going on.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on February 18, 2011, 12:53:07 AM
Stevie Richards is a pretty underrated performer who never got a 'real' push for any number of reasons.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 22, 2011, 07:30:36 PM
Shaniqua (also known as Linda Miles) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Miles was a finalist from Season II of WWE's Tough Enough program where she trained under Ivory, Hardcore Holly, Al Snow, Chavo Guerrero Jr and Jacqueline. She and Jackie Gayda were the eventual co-winners from the program. Prior to training as a wrestler, Miles was a college basketball player who nearly made the WNBA. After completing her training under Ivory, Miles faced off against her in a match on WWE Velocity with Gayda in her corner. Gayda however quickly tuned villain and cost Miles the match by pushing her off the top turnbuckle. This led to then WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus coming to Miles aid and the pair defeating Gayda & Ivory on Smackdown!. The two would be placed on the Raw brand but during a match between Miles & Stratus vs. Gayda & Molly Holly, Gayda botched her moves so badly that her and Miles were sent down to OVW for further training and development. Miles would briefly begin a relationship with Shelton Benjamin and briefly managed him but this was forgotten once Benjamin joined Team Angle. Miles would return to WWE TV in 2003 as the dominatrix manager of the Basham Brothers now using the name Shaniqua. Despite her freqeunt interference in matches, the Bashams still struggled against jobbers. Being more muscular and powerful than most other divas, Shaniqua tried to exert dominance over them and feuded with the likes of Nidia, Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie in forgettable fashion. Eventually she'd lead the Bashams into a match with WWE Tag Team Champions Rikishi and Scotty2Hotty where she teamed with them in an handicap match that saw here suffer a Banzai drop and get pinned. Shortly thereafter she was released from WWE and her brief wrestling career lasting from 2002-2004 came to an early end. Now she works as a substitute teacher.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 23, 2011, 07:33:01 PM
Larry Nelson joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Nelson was the familiar bearded backstage interviewer/host/behind the scenes announcer who frequently appeared on AWA programming in the late 80s trying to explain to fans recent developments in the AWA or interviewing wrestlers with regards to their actions backstage, often condemning heels or praising babyfaces. He almost felt like the host of the show in many regards especially in the late 80s although he started out more in the backstage/interview/explain recent goings-on role. Eventually he'd also announce and would feature prominently on Canadian AWA shows, which is part of why I remember him a bit in nostalgic fashion from my younger days. Nelson wasn't all that great really but was competent and solid in his role and definitely had a certain seriousness and enthusiam for the wrestling product.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 26, 2011, 02:34:05 PM
The Magnificent Muraco (AKA: Don "The Rock" Muraco) joins the Singles Hall of Fame. A former state champion in amateur wrestling in Hawaii, a young Don Muraco chose a career in pro wrestling over a possible football career and got his start and early training in Vancouver, Portland, Florida and Los Angeles before getting a big break as a babyface in Verne Gagne's AWA in the early 1970s. While there, Muraco impressed with his mat ability, good looks and athleticism forming a tag team with Jimmy Snuka and battling with the likes of Larry Hennig, Ivan Koloff and a young Dusty Rhodes. In 1973, Muraco having grown tired of life in the cold Minnesota climate moved to San Francisco and a year later to Florida where he was often compared to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco and Muraco would go on to impress in a match against Brisco reversing his figure four lock, something that then surprised the world and helped make Muraco a star despite his still losing said bout via disqualification.

Muraco would briefly compete in Texas and Georgia before moving to California and winning his first gold - the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship as well as the San Francisco version of the NWA World Tag Team titles alongside Invader # 1. It was during this mid 70s stint in Roy Shire's San Francisco territory Muraco first learned how to work as an heel. It was help springboard him to new heights of success. He'd go on to make a name and rack up more Championships competing in Florida, San Francisco and his native Hawaii. He'd capture the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Florida Television Championship, NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida) alongside Jos Leduc, the NWA Macon Tag Team Championship (Georgia) alongside Robert Fuller, the NWA Pacific International Championship, NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (New Zealand).

In 1979, Muraco would compete under a mask under the name "The Magnificent M" which didn't surprise many when it was revealed to be Muraco although many were surprised to see him with a bald head at the time. His most memorable pre-WWF feud occurred in Florida with Muraco attacking a young Barry Windham and unforgettably piledriving Windham on the concrete floor. Windham would eventually get his revenge and gained legitimacy and stardom in the process during his feud with Muraco.

Muraco debuted as The Magnificent Muraco in the WWF in 1981 where he'd attain his greatest success. Managed by the Grand Wizard, Muraco captured the WWF Intercontinental Championship on June 20, 1981 from Pedro Morales and started an intense bloody rivalry/feud with Morales that peaked with Morales regaining the belt from Muraco five months later in a Texas Death match. In 1981, Muraco also battled WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund in impressive fashion taking the champion to several 60 minute draws. In 1982, Muraco moved to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling where he briefly teamed with Roddy Piper before returning to the WWF in the Fall. Now under the management of Captain Lou Albano, Muraco captured his second WWF Intercontinental Championship from Pedro Morales on January 22, 1983 and soon an intense and bitter feud ignited between Muraco and Albano's former protege Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka that saw Snuka turn face to feud with Muraco and Albano. The feud culminated on October 17, 1983 in a famous steel cage match at Madison Square Garden that saw Muraco actually win in clever fashion as he was headbutted towards the door. Snuka however attained his revenge dragging Muraco back in the ring and unforgettably delivering his Superfly splash from the top of the 15 foot high steel cage.

Muraco was a fantastic heel, one of the best of all time. He exuded arrogance and demanded respect while he himself showed little class or respect for anyone else. Once he ate a submarine sandwich in the ring to show how easily he could defeat his opponent. He also often dedicated his piledriver finisher to whoever he was feuding with at the time and he did have memorable and bloody early 1980s feuds with Backlund, Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson. The fans took to calling him "Beach Bum!". On February 11, 1984, Muraco lost his second I-C title to Tito Santana and failed to regain it from him. Muraco briefly faded from the spotlight but returned in 1985 alongside new manager Mr. Fuji, who fit surprisingly well with Muraco as manager, arguably better than any other. Muraco soon went on to challenge WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan in some great, bloody battles and gave Hogan all he could handle. On June 21, 1985, Hogan won a bloody steel cage match over Muraco to end the feud. Muraco rebounded on July 8 by winning the first ever King of the Ring tournament before going on to have a bloody and intense feud/rivalry with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Fuji & Muraco also debuted their immensely entertaining (and embarrassingly bad) parody of Miami Vice entitled "Fuji Vice" and later "Fuji General" parodying General Hospital.

In 1986, Muraco joined forces with "Adorable" Adrian Adonis and "Cowboy" Bob Orton during their feud with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. He'd also earlier that year get some revenge on Hogan helping King Kong Bundy injure Hogan's ribs leading up to Wrestlemania 2. Eventually Piper would win the feud and Adonis would leave the WWF leading to Orton & Muraco becoming a tag team. Unfortunately despite their years of experience, they didn't find much success losing to the Can-Am Connection and others a lot less experienced. This led to an eventual falling out between the two with Muraco turning face to feud with Orton in July 1987. Later that November, Muraco would come to the aid of "Superstar" Billy Graham who would become Muraco's new manager with Muraco changing his look and image to one similar to Graham's wearing tie-dye shirts and becoming a more muscular defined grappler changing his name to Don "The Rock" Muraco. Muraco would replace Graham on Hulk Hogan's team at the 1987 Survivor Series although said team would lose to Andre the Giant's team. As "The Rock", Muraco made it to the quarterfinals of the WWF World Heavyweight Title tournament at Wrestlemania IV for the then vacant championship. Muraco did not enjoy his WWF face run and it proved a lot lackluster as he feuded with Greg Valentine in forgettable fashion and lost to Dino Bravo at Summerslam 1988. Muraco would be fired by the WWF in late 1988. He'd go on to compete in several promotions in the late 1980s, early 1990s including Stampede Wrestling (where he captured the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship from Makhan Singh and defended it against Harley Race and Davey Boy Smith), the AWA (where he tried to get into AWA World Heavyweight Title contention) and Herb Abrams' UWF where he feuded with a young Cactus Jack. In the early 1990s (1992-1993), Muraco was one of the early Eastern Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champions winning it twice and rekindling old wars with Tito Santana and Jimmy Snuka. After retiring, Muraco moved back to Hawaii. In 2004, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Creatchman was a Canadian wrestler/referee who turned hated manager making his most memorable mark in Gino Brito's Montreal territory where he managed such hated villains as the Original Sheik, The Great Samu, Abdullah the Butcher. Don Leo Jonathan, Sailor White, Tarzan "The Boot" Tyler, George Cannon, Gilles Poisson and Steve Strong. As a manager, Creatchman was known for wearing sunglasses, smoking cigars, wearing a Star of David and pointing to his head referring to his superior intelligence and brains. Sometimes he was also called "The Boss". While managing the Sheik in 1970, he caused a riot at the Montreal Forum which impressed the Original Sheik so much, he brought Creatchman with him to manage him in Detroit. Aside from being a wrestling manager, Creatchman also ran a scrapyard for many years before he died in 1994. His son Floyd Creatchman would also become a wrestling manager.

Triple H joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Triple H is one of the WWE mainstay top stars from the late 1990s into today. He has dominated WWE for most of that period and was largely one of the WWE's main figurehead stars especially in the early 2000s. Born Paul Michael Levesque, Triple H started his wrestling career after being trained by Killer Kowlaski in the Independent Wrestling Federation and became IWF Heavyweight Champion. He'd move to WCW in 1994, billed as a muscular powerhouse then known as Terra Ryzing, the same name he used in the IWF and feuded with Brian Armstrong. Later he'd change his persona into one of a wealthy aristocrat patterned after Lord Steven (William) Regal of whom he was said to be a protege and took the name Jean Paul Levesque. The two would briefly team together and Jean Paul would have a forgettable feud with Alex Wright. He'd bring a similar style gimmick to the WWF with him when he moved there in 1995 this time as a Connecticut wealthy sophisticate blueblood named Hunter Hearst Helmsley, arguably becoming even more arrogant and frequently snubbed his nose at fans. He even did a number of vignettes where he discussed how to use the proper etiquette.

This character sure enough was soon feuding with more common man character types like Duke "The Dumpster" Droese and Henry O. Godwinn, feuds which really didn't seem to be helping his career much neither did an embarrassing loss to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania XII. After losing, Helmsley decided to take his frustrations out on valet Sable which led to a feud with "Wildman" Marc Mero. Backstage Levesque became known as a member of the behind the scenes Kliq which welded political power in the WWF at that time. But when the Kliq broke kayfabe to say goodbye to each other (Hall & Nash were leaving for WCW) at the infamous Madison Square Garden Incident, Hunter found himself in the doghouse and was suddenly demoted to a jobber to the stars role. Helmsley however would soon rebound taking on Mr. Perfect as his manager and defeating Marc Mero for the WWF Intercontinental Championship on October 21, 1996. Hennig soon left the WWF but Helmsley continued on his own as champion and held the title for four months before being upset by newcomer Rocky Maivia. Briefly Helmsley hired Mr. Hughes to be his bodyguard but soon replaced him with "The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna during his feud with Goldust and she proved more than effective in taking out Marlena and in the role as support for Helmsley. Helmsley started to get a push again in 1997 and won the 1997 King of the Ring tournament beating Mankind in the finals.

Soon a lot of his real persona began to blend in with his character especially when he formed a team with Shawn Michaels, Chyna and briefly Rick Rude known as DeGeneration X, a group known for pushing all the boundaries and particularly in response to Bret Hart's more reserved, traditional, respectable face gimmick. Helmsley and Michaels got more and more risque telling people to "Suck It!" and using a crotch chop motion. Helmsley eventually completely dropped the blueblood gimmick altogether and started wearing T-shirts and leather to the ring shortening his name to Triple H. Following the end of the feud between DX and the Hart Foundation, Triple H continued to feud with Owen Hart over the WWF European Championship. He also feuded alongside Michaels with Ken Shamrock, the Patriot and then WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Following Wrestlemania XIV, Michaels was forced into retirement due to a serious back injury which left Helmsley to lead a new version of DeGeneration X that included himself, Chyna, X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws. The new DX proved surprisingly popular in short order and were soon moved from villains to heroes. Triple H at this time also began a long-lived feud with the Rock who was recently taken control of and formed a new Nation of Domination.

Triple H feuded with the Rock over the WWF Intercontinental title which he won from Rock at Summerslam 1998 in a ladder match but he didn't hold the title long as he was sidelined with a legit knee injury. When the Rock won the WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1998 becoming Mr. McMahon's Corporate Champion, the feud between DX and the new Corporation stable and their respective main stars Triple H and the Rock escalated. Soon Chyna would betray Hunter and join the Corporation. This led to a feud with Kane and a match between them at Wrestlemania XV where Chyna betrayed Kane to aid Triple H. Many thought Chyna had rejoined DX but later that night Triple H betrayed X-Pac to help Shane McMahon retain the WWF European Championship showing that Triple H had in fact turned heel and joined the Corporation too.

Triple H changed his look away from his DX persona becoming more somber and serious in his hunt for the WWF Championship. Eventually he'd get a Triple Threat match against WWF Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and ManKind at Summerslam 1999 which ManKind would win. The next night on Raw, Triple H would defeat ManKind to win his first WWF Championship. Triple H would surprising lose his title to Vince McMahon on the September 16, 1999 edition of Smackdown! but regained it at Unforgiven in a six pack challenge also involving Davey Boy Smith, Big Show, Kane, The Rock and ManKind. He'd successfully defend the title against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin before losing it to the Big Show at the 1999 Survivor Series. Triple H continued his feud with Vince McMahon going as far to shockingly "marry" his daughter Stephanie McMahon (later they would be married for real). Eventually Stephanie turned on her family and the Helmsley-McMahon era began.

By January 2000, Triple H had dubbed himself "The Game" referring to his cunning and shrewdness putting him on top of the wrestling world. Later he'd also be given the nickname "The Cerebral Assassin" by Jim Ross. On January 3, 2000, Triple H defeated the Big Show to win his 3rd WWF Championship and started a bitter/bloody war with Mankind/Mick Foley with Triple H defeating Foley in a Street Fight and Hell in a Cell match which at that time sent Foley into retirement. At Wrestlemania 2000, he'd pin the Rock to retain his Championship. However the Rock would defeat him at Backlash 2000. Three weeks later though Triple H won his 4th WWF Championship defeating the Rock in an Iron Man match at Judgment Day 2000 but then dropped it back to the Rock at King of the Ring 2000. Next he feuded with Chris Jericho and shortly thereafter "Stone Cold" Steve Austin after it was revealed he paid Rikishi (storyline) to run down Austin. The feud culminated with a Three Stages of Hell match won by Helmsley. In early 2001, he started feuding with the Undertaker who defeated Triple H at Wrestlemania X-7. The next night, he formed a new Alliance with the newly heel "Stone Cold" Steve Austin known as the Two Man Power Trip helping Austin beatdown the Rock. Triple H shortly thereafter defeated Chris Jericho for his 3rd WWF Intercontinental Championship and dropped it and regained it from Jeff Hardy a few weeks later to become a 4-time Intercontinental Champion. Triple H & Austin, who was also the WWF Champion, also won the WWF Tag Team Championships at Backlash 2001 defeating Kane and the Undertaker with both Austin & Hunter becoming double champions. It would come to an end however unexpectedly shortly thereafter when Triple H suffered a severe injury on the May 21, 2001 edition of WWF Raw suffering a tear in his left quadriceps muscle as he and Austin lost the WWF Tag Team titles to Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. The tear put Helmsley on the shelf for eight months requiring surgery and then a rigorous rehabilitation process meaning Triple H missed the entire Invasion storyline.

Triple H returned as a fan favorite in January 2002 and won the Royal Rumble earning a WWF Undisputed Championship match at Wrestlemania X8 against Chris Jericho whom he'd defeat to win his 5th WWF Championship. He'd lose it a month later at Backlash 2002 to a newly face Hulk Hogan. Triple H would end up on Smackdown following the WWF Draft Lottery and would continue to feud with Chris Jericho finally defeating him in an Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day. Triple H would defeat Hogan in a # 1 Contenders match to earn a title shot against the Undertaker but would fail to defeat Taker for the belt. During this time, the on-screen McMahon-Helmsley faction crumbled with Hunter and Stephanie's (storyline) marriage being on the rocks, a fake pregnancy by Stephanie to win Hunter back and her eventually joining forces with Jericho against Helmsley. Eventually storyline wise they were said to have divorced. Triple H was eventually brought over to the Raw brand, the original plan for him to possibly join the new nWo faction but when that faltered, he was supposed to possibly reunite with Shawn Michaels in DX but Helmsley turned on Michaels becoming Raw's top villain in the process. This led to a big Unsanctioned Street Fight match between the two at Summerslam 2002 which saw Michaels come out of retirement to win. Following the match however Triple H attacked Michaels with a sledgehammer.

When WWE Champion Brock Lesnar become an exclusive Smackdown! star, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded the newly created World Heavyweight Championship, patterned after Ric Flair's old WCW World Championship, to Triple H declaring him champion in September 2002. Triple H would soon form an alliance with Flair who would act as a manager/ally of sorts. He'd successfully fend off the challenge of Rob Van Dam with Flair's help and later defeated Kane to merge the World Heavyweight Championship with the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He'd eventually lose the World Heavyweight Championship to Shawn Michaels in the first ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002. Triple H would defeat Rob Van Dam to become # 1 contender and would regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon 2002. In January 2003, Triple H formed a stable to watch his back. They were named Evolution and included veterans Helmsley and Flair alongside bright newcomers Randy Orton and Batista. Triple H, with Evolution backing him up, held the World Heavyweight Championship throughout most of 2003 until Unforgiven when he lost it to Bill Goldberg which he'd later regain in a Triple Threat match at Armageddon 2003, a match that also involved Kane. Evolution all left Armageddon with Championship gold. Triple H successfully fended off the challenge of Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble 2004 in a Last Man Standing match but lost the title to Chris Benoit, the Royal Rumble winner, in a Triple Threat match also involving Michaels at Wrestlemania XX. Triple H failed to regain the title from Benoit in several rematches. He however did end his feud with Michaels defeating him in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood. He also briefly feuded with Eugene who he defeated at Summerslam 2004.

Where Triple H had failed, Randy Orton succeeded leading to Evolution under the leadership of Triple H turning on Orton and beating him down. Triple H would regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Orton at Unforgiven 2004. The title however would be held up following a Raw title match between Benoit, Triple H and Edge. This led to a New Year's Revolution Elimination Chamber match for the vacant World title which was won by Triple H giving him his fifth World Heavyweight title (he'd also previously won five WWF Championships making him a ten time world champion). At Wrestlemania 21, Triple H would lose his World title to the 2005 Royal Rumble winner and former Evolution ally Batista who also defeated him in two rematches. After taking a few months off to recover from injuries, Triple H returned to Raw on October 3, 2005 to team with Evolution ally Ric Flair to defeat Chris Masters and Carlito. However after the match, Triple H turned on Flair and hit him with a sledgehammer and the two were soon feuding over Flair's WWF Intercontinental Championship, which Flair successfully retained in a steel cage match against Triple H at Taboo Tuesday. In the end, Triple H would defeat Flair in a non-title Last Man Standing match at Survivor Series 2005 to end the feud.

In 2006, Triple H won the Road to Wrestlemania Tournament giving him a shot at John Cena's WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 22 but Cena would defeat Triple H by submission. Triple H also failed to win a WWE Championship Triple Threat match also involving Edge leading to a frustrated Triple H attacking both men with a sledgehammer and giving the old DX crotch chop. Eventually Triple H found himself entangled in a feud with the McMahons whom he blamed for his woes. Not long after, Triple H reformed DeGeneration X with a returning Shawn Michaels making Triple H a fan favorite for the first time since 2002. D-X would defeat the Spirit Squad in embarrassing fashion and continue feuding with Vince and Shane McMahon, even doing a hilarious parody of them at one point. DX would go on to defeat the McMahons and the Big Show in an Hell in a Cell match at Unforgiven 2006 with DX shoving Vince's face into Big Show's rear end. Next DX feuded with Rated RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) until Triple H suffered a legitimate torn right quadriceps (similar to the one he'd had previously in his left leg). This put Triple H on the shelf for several months.

He'd return at Summerslam 2007 as the King of Kings to defeat King Booker. Not long after he defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship (his sixth WWE Title) at No Mercy and would successfully defend it against Umaga at the same event before also at the same event dropping it back to Orton in a Last Man Standing match. He'd go on to win the 2008 Elimination Chamber match to earn a title shot against Orton but would fail to win the title from Orton, who successfully retained at Wrestlemania XXIV. One month later at Backlash 2008, Triple H defeated Orton, John Cena and JBL in a four way Elimination match to win the WWE Championship (his seventh). Triple H successfully retained his title against Orton in a steel cage and later a Last Man Standing match until Orton suffered a legit collarbone injury. During the 2008 WWE Draft, he was sent to WWE Smackdown along with the WWE Championship. There he'd successfully fend off challenges from the Great Khali, Jeff Hardy and Edge. It would be Edge who would ultimately defeat him for the belt at Survivor Series 2008. After briefly feuding with Vladimir Kozlov, Triple H qualified for the 2009 Elimination Chamber at No Way Out and won his eight WWE Championship (setting a new record in the process for most WWE Championships).

During 2009, after Randy Orton attacked several of the McMahons including Vince, Shane and Stephanie, Triple H broke character on screen and admitted he was married to Stephanie leading to a feud with Orton. This led to Triple H defending the WWE Championship at 2009 Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton with Triple H successfully retaining the title at Wrestlemania XXV. Triple H however would lose the WWE Championship to Orton in a special six-man tag match which saw him team with Batista and Shane McMahon in a losing effort to Orton and Legacy members Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes. During the match, Orton did the running punt to Triple H's head putting him out of action for several weeks. In mid-2009, Triple H would recruit Shawn Michaels to reform DX and feud with Legacy whom they defeated at Summerslam 2009. At TLC 2009, DX would defeat Chris Jericho and the Big Show to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships in a TLC match, their first and only tag reign. They would however lose the titles a few short months later to the Miz and the Big Show with Shawn Michaels more concerned with the Undertaker at the time. At the 2010 Elimination Chamber, Triple H didn't win the WWE Championship but did eliminate the current WWE Champion Sheamus igniting a feud between the two. Triple H would go on to defeat Sheamus at Wrestlemania XXVI but Sheamus got some revenge defeating Triple H at Extreme Rules 2010 and that same night Triple H suffered a torn biceps muscle. Triple H recently returned apparently looking to challenge the Undertaker's legacy Wrestlemania streak at Wrestlemania XXVII.

Nick Bockwinkel & Ray "The Crippler" Stevens join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Bockwinkel & Stevens were a formidable tag team managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in the AWA during the 1970s. They were clever wrestlers who knew how to get around and manipulate the rules and officials to their advantage and soon had a stranglehold on the AWA World Tag Team titles for three years during which they won them three different times despite challenges from such impressive teams as Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher, Billy Robinson and Red Bastien and many others. They initially won the AWA World Tag Team titles from Red Bastien and the Crusher on January 20, 1972 and managed to hold on to the titles until December 30, 1972 when they lost the belts to Verne Gagne & Billy Robinson. They'd regain the titles about a week later on January 6, 1973 and would retain their grasp on them until July 21, 1974 when they lost them to The Crusher & Billy Robinson. On October 25, 1974, they'd regain them and would have yet another long reign finally losing the belts to Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher on August 16, 1975. In some ways, they were ahead of their time as they didn't feel like a thrown together pair of singles grappler but a very thoughtful, well executed team of arrogant blond bombers. Several years later, Stevens would also win another AWA World Tag Team titles alongside Pat Patterson and of course had a long distinguished in-ring career across many promotions while Bockwinkel would eventually become the top guy as AWA World Heavyweight Champion shortly thereafter.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 01, 2011, 01:19:06 PM
Tylene Buck better known to pro wrestling fans as Major Gunns joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Tylene first gained attention appearing in WCW as one of the fitness/bikini models who accompanied the nWo members Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner to the ring during 1999. Eventually she was hired and put in the role of a backstage interviewer which would prove short-lived. She was then given the name "Major Gunns" referring to her considerable breast endowment and joined the "Misfits in Action" group consisting of General Rection, Lt. Loco, Corporal Cajun and Major Stash as manager and sometimes in-ring competitor feuding with the female managers of rival factions including Tygress of the Flithy Animals and Miss Hancock (Stacy Keibler). Eventually she would turn on the Misfits and General Rection aiding Lance Storm in defeating Rection for the WCW United States Championship.  Thereafter she would join and become the manager/valet for Lance Storm's Team Canada (consisting of Storm, Elix Skipper, Mike Awesome and Hacksaw Jim Duggan) and made a surprisingly likable good fit with the group. Gunns would actually stay heel and remain with Team Canada and would team with Storm to feud with the Cat (Ernest Miller) and his valet Miss Jones. She was released by WCW in 2001 and moved to Xtreme Pro Wrestling in California where she managed the Sandman and feuded heavily with Lizzy Borden. She has also competed under the name Brandi Wylde. Since December 2005, Tylene has become an adult film star.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 04, 2011, 09:28:38 PM
Queen Sharmell joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Sharmell Sullivan got her start in wrestling as a member of the WCW Nitro Girls dance troupe named Storm. She had previously won the 1991 Miss Black America pageant and went on to become a professional dancer before landing the Nitro Girls gig. She would eventually become more involved in WCW becoming the manager of The Artist (formerly Prince Iaukea) and changing her name to Paisley. After the Artist was released from WCW, she became the manager of Kwee Wee (AKA: Bruce). She'd come to team up with Tygress and the pair would feud with Major Gunns of the Misfits in Action. Sharmell signed with the WWF in 2001 and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling for further development becoming the valet of the Suicide Blondes under the name Sister Sharmell (wearing a blonde wig) but this was cut short due to injury forcing her to retire from in-ring work. She'd return in 2005 as the face manager for then new husband Booker T. during a weird feud with Kurt Angle who seemed to have become obsessed with her. Eventually she'd turn heel and underhandedly helped Booker defeat Chris Benoit for the WWF United States Championship and the pair became heels. Later they'd reinvent themselves as the arrogant quasi-British King Booker and Queen Sharmell following Booker winning the 2006 King of the Ring tournament.  Sharmell was actually quite talented in WWE at getting Booker heat as an heel and I'm not sure the heel turn have ever worked without her. Eventually conflicts over storyline direction led to Booker & Sharmell asking for their WWE release in late 2007. The two would turn up in TNA not long afterwards again initially as faces first opposite Kurt & Karen Angle and later against Robert Roode & Ms. Brooks. When Booker later turned heel and joined the Main Event Mafia, Sharmell followed suit. Sharmell and the Beautiful People would go on to team and lose to ODB, Taylor Wilde and Roxxi. Eventually Sharmell would clash with fellow Main Event Mafia valet Jenna Morasca and led to the two facing off at Victory Road 2009 but lost following interference from Awesome Kong. She'd later team with Ms. Brooks in the TNA Kockouts Tag Team tournament but would lose in the first round to Kong and Raisha Saed. Booker and Sharmell made their final TNA appearance at Bound For Glory 2009. Booker has since returned to WWE as an announcer but so far Sharmell has not.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 05, 2011, 02:56:02 PM
The Enforcers tag team of Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually the Enforcers were a very capable tag team and held the WCW World Tag Team Championship in 1991. However they were a rather short-lived team competing together only in 1991-1992. Arn Anderson, who'd previously had lots of tag and singles success, & Larry Zbyszko, who had previously been an AWA World Heavyweight Champion, decided to team up in mid-1991 in pursuit of the WCW World Tag titles which became vacant following Scott Steiner suffering an injury forcing the Steiners to relinquish the belts. Anderson & Zbyszko would team as The Enforcers and win the WCW World Tag Team Title tournament defeating Rick Steiner and new partner Bill Kazmaier in the finals on September 5, 1991. The Enforcers used underhanded means to win the titles having previously attacked and injured Kazmaier earlier that same night with one of his own weights during a power lifting demonstration. The Enforcers would next tangle with Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes leading to the Enforcers breaking Windham's hand in an out of the ring attack by slamming his hand in a car door. Dustin Rhodes however would acquire a surprise replacement partner for his and Windham's scheduled bout at Clash of Champions XVII. The surprise partner turned out to be Ricky Steamboat and he and Rhodes defeated the Enforcers for the titles on November 19, 1991 ending their one and only tag title run. The Dangerous Alliance would be formed shortly thereafter with both Enforcers as members but manager Paul E. Dangerously would decide to pair Anderson up with "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton instead effectively ending the Enforcers tag team. They would be voted 1991 PWI Tag Team of the Year.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 05, 2011, 10:47:44 PM
I liked the Enforcers but not as much as the other teams they were up against in the game.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 07, 2011, 01:55:11 PM
Public Enemy of Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. After long feuding with one another under previous names/identities The Cheetah Kid & Johnny Rotten, the two former enemies decided to team together in the early 1990s forming Public Enemy, taking their name from the famous rap group, and going on to become hardcore tag team kings in ECW where they debuted in September 1993. The duo took on the image of white boys who loved hip hop and soon became surprisingly popular favourites in ECW where fans appreciated their wild brawling styles, use of many different weapons and foreign objects and especially their use of tables. It wasn't long before they won their first of four ECW World Tag Team Championships. This would lead to a long and bloody feud with the Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa Saed) in a war of gritty West Coast gangstas against their feel good East Coast counterparts.

Many ECW fans will no doubt remember Public Enemy from their time there and the many memorable moments they help caused including the ring being filled with chairs thrown on Public Enemy at the request of Cactus Jack & Terry Funk, them dancing with fans and the ring collapsing and their wars with the Gangstas, The Tazmaniac, Sabu, Kevin Sullivan, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Raven and Stevie Richards.  Their vast popularity would get the attention of WCW who would sign Public Enemy in early 1996.

WCW however had little idea how to use TPE and toned them and their hardcore style/roots down considerably turning them into pandering fan favourites who played to the crowd to rap and dance with them although they still brought their trademark tables out to the ring with them. Not surprisingly they floundered there winning just one short WCW World Tag Team title reign with an upset win over Harlem Heat in a title reign that lasted only 8 days. Public Enemy signed with the WWF and moved there in 1999 but there was a lot of backstage animosity towards them having signed with WCW during the Monday Night Wars which led to as rumors have it the APA (Bradshaw & Farooq) working them shoot style and essentially driving them out of the WWF. TPE briefly returned to WCW and competed in forgettable fashion in their hardcore division before making one final ECW appearance against the Dudleys in ECW where they declared their loyalty to ECW. Following ECW folding, they went on to compete in 3PW (Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling) as well as in several NWA territories and appeared in unaired taped for X Wrestling Federation under the name South Philly Posse managed by Jasmine St. Claire. In the early 2000s, they would also compete in i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling and other independents racking up several tag team titles including the i-Generation tag team titles twice, MECW tag team titles, TCW tag team titles, the NWA World and United States tag team titles.

When Rocco Rock, age 49, died in 2002 following an heart attack, Johnny Grunge formed a new Public Enemy tag team with brother Joey Grunge. Johnny would die in 2006 at age 39 following complications with sleep apnea. Grunge's widow has since become an advocate against drug abuse in pro wrestling.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 09, 2011, 06:16:52 PM
Larry Matysik joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Matysik acted as host and play by play man for the St. Louis Wrestling based Wrestling at the Chase shows during the 1970s and early 1980s. Matysik added a great level of excitement and interest in events and matches unfolding on these shows and helped make stars of many in the area with his commentary including the Von Erichs, Bruiser Brody, Ted DiBiase and many other stars who appeared in the territory over the 70s-80s decade.

Quote
Wrestling at the Chase was consistently one of the highest rated television shows in St. Louis. Among St. Louis-based shows, it was third behind the local news and St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. The show often had over 100,000 viewers per episode. It is considered one of the pro wrestling industry's most historic programs.
- Wikipedia

Matysik went on to write a couple of books about wrestling released by ECW Press including Wrestling at the Chase: The Inside Story of Sam Muchnick and the Legends of Professional Wrestling and Brody: The Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling’s Rebel. Matysik is in the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame for promoting, booking, announcing, commentating and working behind the scenes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5xKqLfXl7Q

Check out Race vs. David Von Erich too.

Randy Savage joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Savage briefly became a color commentator after losing a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VII in 1991. Unfortunately Savage's "Macho Man" persona didn't translate well to a full length show in terms of color commentary. It was fine for short interviews, even at times exciting and entertaining as something different but it really wore on audiences throughout an entire show. Also Savage still played up his "Macho Man" in-ring persona and with reason since he would eventually return to the ring to feud with Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 1992. Savage would return to color commentary while still a part-time competitor in 1993-1994 in the WWF but the wrestling bug would get Savage again and he'd leave WWF behind to compete full-time again in WCW.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 10, 2011, 10:44:02 PM
Al Snow joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After a lenghty and somewhat successful career in the ring as a competitor under names such Avatar, Leif Cassidy, Shinobi, Steve Moore and the Snowman but most significantly as Al Snow, Snow settled into the role of a Tough Enough trainer and shortly thereafter became a color commentator on WWE Sunday Night Heat alongside Jonathan Coachman. He and Coachman were all about having fun but Snow did know his wrestling holds, history and somehow the two together were much more tolerable, even at times legitimately funny, than Coach ever was alone. While on Heat, Coach & Snow would turn heel siding with Eric Bischoff leading to a short feud with Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler that briefly saw Snow & Coach replace Ross & Lawler at Unforgiven 2003. Snow would turn face again and leave Heat behind for Tough Enough IV and later the WWE ECW where he'd be jobbed out and released.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 13, 2011, 09:28:18 PM
T & A, Test & Albert join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. This young tag team was managed by a beautiful young lady newcomer named Trish Stratus. The name was a play on both the names of Test and Albert and the T & A their manager also arguably brought into the equation. While Test & Albert were two powerful young men, both would struggle to get ahead both in this tag team and in singles competition in the WWF. Initially it appeared Stratus picked two young stars on Sunday Night Heat and paired them together. But as a team, T & A just plain lost more than they won including losses to Al Snow & Steve Blackman and Road Dogg & X-Pac. They also battled with The Godfather and D-Lo Brown before moving into a feud with the Dudley Boyz who put Trish through a table although T & A actually won their match at Backlash 2000. They continued to feud with the Hardy Boyz and Dudleys but would be the first team eliminated in a Four Way Elimination match for the tag team titles at King of the Ring 2000. Soon the Hardys & Lita were feuding with T & A and Trish with the Hardys & Lita defeating Trish and her pair at Fully Loaded 2000. They went on to have a brief forgettable feud with the APA before moving into a feud with the Holly Cousins which ultimately saw Steve Blackman (replacing Hardcore) team up with Crash and Molly Holly to beat Trish & T & A at Survivor Series 2000. In December, Albert turned on Test attacking him and storyline injuring him. Trish would briefly manage Albert before moving into angle with Vince McMahon and moving on to be a very successful singles grappler. Albert would eventually join X-Factor with X-Pac and Justin Credible while Test would go on to feud with Eddie Guerrero over the WWF European title before joining the ECW/WCW Alliance. Test would arguably have his greatest success with this group while Albert continued to struggle although he would eventually capture an Intercontinental title. Albert would find his greatest success arguably in Japan as Giant Bernard.

Miss Jackie (Gayda) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Gayda initially entered the WWF via Tough Enough II where she was a co-winner with Linda Miles. Shortly after debuting, Gayda turned heel and joined forces with Ivory to feud with Miles and Trish Stratus. In one of her earliest TV matches in which she teamed with Christopher Nowinksi against Trish & Bradshaw, she notoriously botched several key moves which lead to her being sent down to Ohio Valley Wrestling for further training. While there, she joined the Revolution stable and managed the Basham Brothers and Chris Kanyon. In June 2003, she'd return to the WWE managing Rico. In early 2004, she'd team with Stacy Keibler declaring themselves the WWE's Hottest Divas and feuding with then Playboy co-cover girls Torrie Wilson and Sable who defeated them at Wrestlemania XX in a Playboy Evening Gown match. In the 2004 draft, Gayda and Rico went to WWE Smackdown where they formed a team with Charlie Haas and they would capture the WWE Tag Team titles. Eventually Haas and Jackie got engaged for real which led to a storyline in which Dawn Marie claimed to have an affair with Haas leading to a feud between Dawn and Miss Jackie. At No Mercy 2004, Gayda, Haas & Rico defeated Dawn and the Dudley Boyz. She continued her heated feud with Dawn which also saw Gayda attacked by Billy Kidman, Dawn enlisting Heidenreich to battle Haas, matches between the two in Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas costumes until finally a match with Haas as Special Guest Referee was held to end the feud with Dawn winning, Haas revealing he had an affair but saying he no longer wanted either woman. (In reality Haas and Jackie were married). Gayda briefly became a singles wrestler before being released along with Haas in 2005. Gayda went on to compete on the independent circuit and defeated the likes of Traci Brooks, Nattie Neidhart, Jamie D and April Hunter. In late 2005, she appeared in TNA and threatened to reveal some secret about Jeff Jarrett leading to a feud with Gail Kim, Jarrett's then valet. Eventually Jarrett would use video footage taken by Alex Shelley to blackmail Gayda and force her to join his Planet Jarrett stable. Soon enough, she was back to feuding with Kim who eventually fired her for being (kayfabe) pregnant. Gayda had by this point agreed to part ways with TNA. Gayda has been semi-retired since then making a special appearance at the Wrestlemania XXV Divas Battle Royal and making some appearances in Mexico on the same card with her husband Charlie Haas. There she teamed with Celestial to defeat Jennifer Blake and Mini Chessman in a tag match. She later in February 2010 teamed with NY Knockout Nikki to take on Blake and Christina Von Eerie.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 15, 2011, 10:23:09 AM
I liked T&A.  Thought both were relatively underrated for being bigger guys.  Test showed a lot of promise early on, but the roster in the WWF at that time was so loaded with people (from Stone Cold and The Rock, to guys like Guerrero, Benoit, Malenko, to The Hollys and Al Snow) that people were bound to get lost in the shuffle.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 16, 2011, 10:09:10 PM
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Duggan is best remembered as a likable big burly brawler fan favorite who fought for the honor of his country yelling "USA!" during his matches when he wasn't shouting "Hoooooo!" to his many fans. He frequently brought his own back-up to the ring with him in the form of his trusty 2X4 and seemed to like facing foreign heels who badmouthed the USA be it the Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Yokozuna, Dino Bravo, the Rougeaus,or Andre the Giant. Duggan never held many titles, although he was WCW United States and Television Champion and he did hold a number of titles early in his career in Mid-South Wrestling, but Duggan did have considerable success becoming a WWF King at one point and also winning the very first Royal Rumble. Duggan while he started as an heel in Mid-South would only briefly return once to his heelish routes shockingly turning on the USA to join Lance Storm's Team Canada at one point but that would prove short-lived. Duggan will be remembered for being a patriotic fellow who liked to stand up for his country and he was entertaining although he was largely a mid-card grappler for most of his career and a bit of a sideshow attraction one could argue. He has been announced as an entrant for the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame.

The Rock & Sock Connection of The Rock & Mick Foley joins the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Following a lengthy 1998-early 1999 between the Rock and Mankind Mick Foley, the Rock found himself suddenly the target of WWF World Tag Team Champions The Undertaker and the Big Show and Foley would surprisingly volunteer to be his partner on August 30, 1999. They'd face Undertaker & Big Show later that night and would capture thier first of three WWE World Tag Team Championships. They'd drop the belts back to Taker & Show at the September 7th Buried Alive show following interference from Triple H. On September 20, 1999 Rock & Foley would again capture the World Tag belts this time in a Dark Side Rules Match against Big Show, Viscera and Mideon (who took Undertaker's place in the bout). Just 3 days later, Rock & Foley would drop the titles to the New Age Outlaws. Over the next few weeks, Foley and the Rock would be involed in some of Raw's highest rated segments in the history of the show particularly during a "This is Your Life Rock" segment. Despite Rock saying he was tired of the team, he would once more team up with Foley to defeat the Outlaws for their third World Tag Title reign on October 14, 1999. Just 4 days later, the Rock & Foley lost the belts to Hardcore & Crash Holly after Mankind found the book he gave Rock "Have a Nice Day!" in the thrash and abandoned the Rock during the bout. In reality, it was Al Snow who had thrown the book in the thrash as it was filled with jokes at his expense. They'd eventually reunite to do battle with the McMahon-Helmsley faction until Foley retired in 2000 and the Rock left for movie stardom. They would reunite at Wrestlemania XX in 2004 in a losing effort in an handicap match against Evolution members Randy Orton, Batista and Ric Flair. They were without a doubt one of wrestling's most beloved tag team tandems.

Jacqueline (Moore) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame.  Moore started her career as a successful ladies grappler named Sweet Georgia Brown competing in FMW in Japan, LPWA and Women's Pro Wrestling. She'd move to the USWA where she'd become Miss Texas and get her first taste as a manager being the valet for then heels Eric Embry and Tom Prichard during a war between Texas and Tennessee stables. She'd eventually wind up feuding with the Dirty White Girl Kim Anthony to whom she'd lose an Hair vs. Hair match. Moore would go on to become the first ever USWA Women's champion, a title she'd hold 8 times in total. She'd eventually end up feuding with the valet of Don Bass and Reggie B. Fine who used her old name - Sweet Georgia Brown. She'd go on to feud with Uptown Karen, the girlfriend of Downtown Bruno and would defeat her in an Hair vs. Hair match. She'd also win the women's title in Herb Abrams UWF. In 1997, she moved to WCW where she managed Kevin Sullivan and made quite an impact on many of his then opponents outside the ring with her own array of elbows, punches and bodyslams. After this, she'd briefly manage Harlem Heat and feud with Disco Inferno before moving to the WWF in 1998. There she'd manage and join Marc Mero during his feud with Sable. Moore & Mero would lose a Summerslam match to Edge & Sable but Moore rebounded by capturing the newly returned WWF Women's title only to lose it shortly thereafter to Sable. After splitting with Mero, Moore teamed up with Terri Runnels to from P.M.S. (Pretty Mean Sisters). The pair briefly managed D-Lo Brown & Mark Herny before shifting their focus to a wrestler they named Meat (Shawn Stasiak). Moore would soon leave the group however and would regain the Women's title defeating the former Downtown Bruno Harvey Wippleman (as Harvina). She'd eventually lose the title to Stephanie McMahon due to extensive outside interference from D-Generation X. Moore would later challenge Lita and Trish Stratus unsuccessfully for the title and would move on to become a trainer on Tough Enough. Moore would eventually become a referee before returning to the ring. While unsuccessful in matches for the Women's title, Jacqueline would win the Cruiserweight Championship from Chavo Guerrero. She'd eventually lose the title back tto Guerrero before leaving the WWE. She'd first appear in TNA in 2004 initially as a ladies singles wrestler before moving on to manage "Cowboy" James Storm and feuding with Petey Williams and his then manager Gail Kim. Moore would lose a number of tough matches to Kim including Street Fight and Steel Cage bouts. After failing to capture the TNA Knockouts Championship, she moved on to managing Beer Money Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) and successfully managed them to the TNA World Tag Team titles until Moore and TNA parted ways in July 2009.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 17, 2011, 06:00:45 PM
Jim Duggan is vastly underrated.  He's a good worker, enjoyable. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 18, 2011, 09:37:00 PM
David McClane joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. McClane is best known as the promoter behind several semi-successful women's wrestling based wrestling promotions including GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), and later the more serious POWW (Powerful Women of Wrestling) and finally WOW (Women of Wrestling), the most successful of which and the one which garnered the biggest cult following was GLOW. McClane actually grew up a wrestling fan and started a Dick the Bruiser fan club in his youth. He'd eventually grow up and work for Dick's Indianaoplis- based WWA (World Wrestling Association) working as a ring announcer and later doing WWA play by play. McClane also promoted Roller Hockey and later Polo. McClane always had an high energy and enthusiam but also always seemed a little too focused on promotion, promotion, promotion and honestly was never really all that good at play by play commentary.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 25, 2011, 09:24:17 PM
Ivory joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Ivory, real name Lisa Moretti, actually started out as a lady wrestler for GLOW wrestling under the name Tina Ferrari where she won the GLOW championship and GLOW tag team championship. Later she'd wrestle as Tina Moretti and Nina in POWW and she'd win the POWW championship twice. About a decade later she'd return to the ring in the WWF debuting in 1999 as a face manager for D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry and was soon feuding with PMS (Jacqueline and Terri Runnels) along with Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart & Debra. She'd manage D-Lo Brown and Test at Wrestlemania XV in a losing effort against Hart & Jarrett thanks to interference from PMS and Debra. Ivory would go on to capture the WWF Women's title from Debra and bring it back to a level of seriousness that had gone unseen during all the bra and panties matches and evening gown matches. Eventually she'd wind up in a feud with Tori that would eventually turn Ivory heel. She'd go on to feud with Luna Vachon briefly before moving into a feud with legends The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young. She'd actually briefly drop the title to Moolah before regaining it from Moolah. WWF's more serious approach was quickly thrown out in favor of more strip show theatrics which led to Miss Kitty upsetting Ivory for the Women's title in a Four Corners Evening Gown match. In late 1999, Ivory started taking a more serious stance and started to protest all the bikini contests et al eventually leading to her joining Right To Censor which was arguably the most successful run for her as she recaptured the Women's title for the third time in a Fatal4Way match defeating Lita, Trish Stratus and Jacqueline. She also became a core manager for Right to Censor in many of their matches alonsgide leader Steven Richards when he himself was not competing. She was a very successful champion during this time retaining against the likes of Lita, Trish Status and Molly Holly though not without help from Richards and Right To Censor at times. Ivory and Right to Censor ended up feuding with Chyna after she posed for Playboy with Right To Censor seemingly injuring Chyna's neck at one point leading to Ivory retaining her title against Chyna at the 2001 Royal Rumble. She would however lose the Women's title to Chyna at Wrestlemania X-7 and Right to Censor would disband shortly thereafter. Ivory would appear sporadically before joining the WCW/ECW Alliance during the Invasion storyline with Ivory teaming with Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler before becoming the valet of Lance Storm and the Hurricane as members of the Alliance but failed to lead them to the WCW Tag Team titles they coveted. Ivory would go on to become a trainer on Tough Enough. In 2002, she'd form an alliance with Victoria and the two would feud with Trish Stratus. She'd return to Tough Enough and would eventually become an announcer on WWE Experience before her release later in 2005. She'd go on to compete on the independent circuit and she'd win the Carolina Championship Wrestling tag team title alongside Bambi over Team Blondage (Krissy Vaine & Amber O'Neal). In April 2006, she'd defeat Rebecca Knox for the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling NWA SuperGirls Championship. She'd hold the title for five months helping build their women's division before losing the title to Nattie Neidhart. On March 5, 2011 she was inducted into the Women Superstars Uncensored Hall of Fame.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 26, 2011, 10:00:12 PM
Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Actually Bernard & Murphy were one of the first teams to look and dress alike, were very successful in their era (but were just up against very stiff competition in the game). Both were Canadians and looked very much like movie thugs or heavies which they played up becoming a top heel tag team wherever they performed. Both men were bald, actually Murphy had a skin condition the result of a childhood disease which left him unable to grow any hair on his body, and gruff, brutish looking. Having previously teamed successfully with Gypsy Joe, veteran Murphy was paired up with the less experienced but older Bernard in the 1960s and they'd form one of the most successful tandems of that era capturing the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship on May 16, 1963 which they held for six months finally dropping them to Gorilla Monsoon and Killer Kowalski. They'd also go on to win the Florida version of the NWA World Tag Team titles on two occasions trading the titles with Duke Keomurka and Hiro Matsuda. They'd also have great success competing in Australia's IWA capturing the IWA World Tag Team Championships five times. Murphy, briefly breaking away from his team with Bernard when Bernard returned to the U.S., also had great singles success there capturing the IWA World Heavyweight Championship three times while Benard later captured the NWA Austra-Asian Heavyweight Championship. Despite being heels, Bernard and Murphy frequently battled fellow heels in "Battles of the Bullies" taking on the likes of the Blond Bombers (Rip Hawk and Swede Hansen), Gene & Ole Anderson and others until Murphy apparently committed suicide (overdosed on sleeping pills) in 1970.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 27, 2011, 10:44:47 PM
Diamond Dallas Page joins the Singles Hall of Fame. DDP is probably best remembered for his run in WCW where he used his positive attitude and hard work ethic to gain success despite the odds against him being a former manager turned grappler at an older age than most. Page started out as a manager in the AWA where he, usually accompanied by his Diamond Dolls, managed Badd Company Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond leading them to the AWA World Tag Team titles, Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and AWA Ladies champion Madusa Miceli. He'd move on to commentate and manage in Florida's PWF in 1989 working alongside Sir Oliver Humperdink at times as they feuded with Dusty and Dustin Rhodes, Scott Hall and the Nasty Boys. There he managed Dick Slater and Johnny Ace and would eventually debut in ring. He moved to WCW in 1991 where he managed The Fabulous Freebirds eventually once again paired up with Humperdink and they led the Freebirds to the WCW World Tag Team titles. Page brought back the Diamond Dolls and added the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) to the stable. When the Freebirds and him broke up, Page would also do some color commentary and would eventually train in the WCW Power Plant to team with Hall becoming a 35 year old rookie. It was an hard struggle and Page paid plenty of dues jobbing plenty of times before finally getting a break. He also continued managing at this time leading Scotty Flamingo (the future Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash) whom Page would also team with. In 1994, Page finally started making some headway with his wife Kimberly as the sole remaining Diamond Doll and his manager and Maxx Muscle as his bodyguard.

Page feuded with Dave Sullivan who became infatuated with Kimberly and finally upset the Renegade to win the WCW World Television Championship. Page's next memorable feud would be with Johnny B. Badd and it would start some dissension between Page and Kimberly with Badd eventually defeating Page in a match to win Kimberly's freedom. Kimberly would go on to manage the Booty Man (formerly Brutus Beefcake) and the pair would defeat Page in a Loser Leaves Town match. Nevertheless Page would return to WCW action just two months later. Page went on to win a Lord of the Ring Tournament last defeating the Barbarian to earn a title match. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the nWo was formed and former partners Hall & Nash helped Page throughout a WCW U.S. title tournament but turned on Page in the finals against Guerrero when they felt their aid went unappreciated. Eventually the nWo would approach Page asking him to join but DDP ultimately refused dishing out Diamond Cutters, his quick reverse DDT style finisher (the RKO) turning Page into a very popular babyface. Page shortly thereafter was involved in an intense feud with the nWo's "Macho Man" Randy Savage eventually reuniting with Kimberly to counteract Elizabeth. The numbers and the aid of Hall & Nash backing Savage though tended to prove too much with Page eventually recruiting newcomer Curt Hennig although Hennig would betray Page and the Horsemen to join the nWo igniting a new feud between Page and Hennig. Page would become "the People's Champion" around this time battling against overwhelming nWo odds and eventually even tangling with Hollywood Hulk Hogan himself. Page would finally taste gold as a fan favourite defeating Hennig for the WCW United States Championship. Page would gain more fame too be teaming up with celebrities Karl Malone and Jay Leno in matches against Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman/Eric Bischoff. Page would win the Fall Brawl WarGames to earn a title shot at the undefeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg. Page failed to defeat Goldberg but gave him one heck of a match. Page rebounded defeating Bret Hart for a second WCW United States Championship. Page finally won the elusive WCW World Heavyweight Championship in a Four Way match against Sting, Hogan and Ric Flair in April 1999. When challenged by Goldberg, Page turned heel and eventually lost the title just 15 days later to Sting. Later that same night, Page would regain the title in a four way match with Sting, Kevin Nash and Goldberg. Eventually Page would be upended by Nash.

Page turned to tag teams and formed the Jersey Triad with Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow winning the WCW World Tag Team titles from Perry Saturn and Raven. They held the belts two weeks before losing them to Revolution members Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn. They'd regain the titles just three days later but would drop them a couple of months later to Harlem Heat. Before the end of 1999, Page would wind up feuding with his former team and would return to his fan favourite ways. In 2000, he'd become a top challenger to Jeff Jarret eventually defeating Jarrett in a Steel Cage match to win his third WCW World Heavyweight Championship despite an early setback that saw Kimberly betray Page for Jarrett. In a bizarre move by WCW, Page would lose the title to actor David Arquette just three days later because of a special stipulation whoever got the pinfall would win the title in a tag bout between Page & Arquetee vs. Jarrett and Eric Bischoff when Arquette pinned Bischoff. Page failed to regain the title and was soon feuding with Mike Awesome who defeated him in an Ambulance match after Kanyon betrayed Page. Page took some time off and came back forming a tag team called the Insiders with Kevin Nash and won the WCW World Team Team titles twice. Page continued feuding with Kanyon before returning to World title contention where he lost to Scott Steiner.

Page signed with WWE in 2001 and was ultimately revealed as the stalker of Undertaker's wife Sara starting a feud between the two. Page also became a member of the WCW/ECW Alliance. Eventually Kanyon would reunite with Page and the two would defeat the APA to win the WWF World Tag Team titles. The feud with Undertaker continued with Undertaker eventually forming a devastating tandem with Kane to defeat Page & Kanyon for the tag belts. After the feud ended, Page reinvented himself as a motivational speaker type character, something he actually practiced in real life. Page struggled for a while but finally had a little success in early 2002 winning the WWE European Championship defeating Christian. At Wrestlemania X8, Page retained the title in a rematch but shortly thereafter lost it to William Regal and took a break from wrestling to recover from injuries and burn out.

Page briefly returned to wrestling in TNA in 2004 where he challenged Jarrett for the NWA Heavyweight Championship but lost following interference from Monty Brown. He also briefly feuded with Raven and Erik Watts. In 2009, he appeared in Juggalo Championship Wrestling and showed allegiance to the jWo but retired shortly thereafter to become a fitness guru.

Dave Prazak joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Following an independent career as a manager in IWA: Mid-South, Full Impact Pro managing the likes of C.M. Punk, Jimmy Rave, Eddie Vegas, Insane Dragon, LaDuke Jakes, Adam Pearce, Jay Lethal, Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, B.J. Whitmer, Jack Evans, Delirious, Cyber Kong, Shino, Nigel McGuinness many of which were members of his revolving member DP Associates stable. In 1996, Prazak started ring announcing. In 2004, he began working with ROH and Full Impact Pro becoming a play by play commentator for ROH, FIP, SHIMMER Women's Athletes (which he also founded) and other independents and can be heard on many DVD releases from said companies.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 28, 2011, 08:55:10 PM
I am a huge fan of DDP.  He did some acting too.  Mostly indie films, with the exception of Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects."


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 28, 2011, 09:21:30 PM
I greatly respect DDP and was always a fan of his from his days managing up to his successful WCW run. WWE never seemed to get what he was about though. I really admire his dedication, hard work and positive attitude.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 28, 2011, 09:24:58 PM
DDP kinda got the raw end of the deal.  He gave up decent money to come to WWE and producers said "No WCW guy could beat a WWE guy".  Without failing to realize, you know, it's not a real sport.  Ha.  But that guy went with it.  Shame.  Could've been a top guy for WWE.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 28, 2011, 09:34:23 PM
John House joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. House is a legendary interviewer/announcer in Combat Zone Wrestling where he announced alongside Eric Garguilo as well as for Pro Wrestling Unplugged shows. He frequently appears on radio shows as well.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on March 28, 2011, 09:37:39 PM
John House had a little 'feud' of sorts with CZW star Ruckus that I kinda enjoyed.  Pretty funny.  And he disliked Gargiulo.  Which led to some funny banter.  Kinda like Michael Cole is now.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on March 31, 2011, 12:30:56 AM
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Following his severe back injury in 1991, Hennig moved into a color commentary role on WWF Superstars of Wrestling as the heel foil for Vince McMahon. He'd shortly thereafter move on to other roles notably as a manager/adviser for Ric Flair and later a special guest referee. By 1995, he returned to a color commentator role but honestly Hennig was much better in an in-ring or around the ring role than as a color commentator usually adding little that was memorable although he pretty much remained true to his "Mr. Perfect" character persona as obviously there were likely plans for an in-ring return at some point. Hennig was a color commentator aside Vince McMahon on WWF PPVs throughout a lot of 1996 and with Jim Ross on WWF Superstars. There was plans for Hennig to mentor a young Triple H in late 1996 but Hennig moved to WCW in 1997 and finally made his long-awaited in-ring return to action. Hennig's most memorable contribution was likely giving Shawn Michaels the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid".

Pedro Morales joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Pedro's major claim to fame is he was the first man in WWWF/WWF/WWE history to win in his career the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, the WWF Tag Team Championship and the WWF Intercontinental Championship, a title he'd win twice. Morales debuted in 1959, a popular fiery Puerto Rican who could brawl with the best of them but could pull out some key wrestling holds when needed as well. First he competed on the West Coast against the likes of Fred Blassie and where he'd go on to capture the World Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship on two occasions defeating The Destroyer (Dick Beyer) for his first and regaining his second from Crazy Luke Graham after losing it to him. He'd also go on to win the WWA World Tag Team Championship on four occasions with four different partners: Luis Hernandez, Mark Lewin, Victor Rivera and Ricky Romero. He'd also win the NWA Hawaiin North American Championship three times and the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship three different times.

Morales moved to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1970 and by January 1971, he won his first title there winning a tournament final over Fred Blassie for the WWWF United States Championship. A couple of weeks later, opportunity knocked for him again as Ivan Koloff upset the legendary Bruno Sammartino shocking the world by ending Bruno's seven+ year reign. Pedro went on to defeat Koloff to win the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on Feburary 8, 1971 thereafter vacating the U.S. title. Morales was a popular champion especially amongst his fellow Puerto Ricans. Like Bruno before him, he was very much an ethnic champion. He gained fame for his scientific clean wrestling style and his endurance but was also known for his fiery latin temper that flared up during matches usually after some heel had done him dirty. Pedro feuded with and fended off the challenge of Freddie Blassie and even battled fellow fan favourite Bruno Sammartino to a 75 minute draw at Shea Stadium. Pedro fended off all challengers for close to three years before dropping the title to Stan "The Man" Stasiak on December 1, 1973 setting up for a return of Bruno on top as he'd defeat Stasiak nine days later. In some ways Pedro was a successor to Sammartino but one who eventually seemed to pass the torch right back to him again. Pedro shortly thereafter seemed to fade from the scene.

In reality, he moved between several NWA territories where he collected several regional championships from 1974-1980  including the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (w/ Rocky Johnson), the NWA Florida Television Championship, the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version), the NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (w/ Pat Patterson).

He'd finally make his WWF comeback in 1980 and went on to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship alongside Bob Backlund from the Wild Samoans at Showdown at Shea 1980 but Backlund had to vacate the titles as he was already WWF Heavyweight Champion at the time.  Later that December, he'd defeat Ken Patera for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and made history as the first man to win the WWF Triple Crown of titles. Pedro soon found himself in a major feud with Magnificent Muraco over the Intercontinental title and the two had some brutal but also very good bouts. Muraco and Pedro would trade the belt back and forth with Muraco finally coming out on top in the end. Pedro had also successfully fended off the challenge of "Superstar" Billy Graham. Morales next moved to Puerto Rico's WWC where he captured the WWC North American Championship from Buddy Landell in June 1983. He'd hold it until January 1984 when he'd lose it to Sweet Daddy Siki but would regain it again in March 1984 only to lose it to Randy Savage in September. Morales returned to the WWF and competed in the 1985 King of the Ring tournament making it to the third round defeating Johnny Valiant along the way before losing to Magnificent Muraco. In 1986, he'd make it to the finals where he'd lose to Harley Race. Along the way he'd defeat Mike Rotundo and Nikolai Volkoff. Morales made his only Wrestlemania appearance at Wrestlemania 2 as part of the 20 Man Battle Royal eventually won by Andre the Giant. Morales nearing the end of his career would essentially be used to put over other talent until he retired in 1987. After wrestling, he'd move into a Spanish commentary role and would be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 01, 2011, 11:18:11 PM
Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Mikey Whipwreck was an underdog wrestler, smaller than most, who used his toughness and aerial moves to pull out surprising wins. When Terry Funk cancelled an appearance, Whipwreck suddenly found himself thrown into an unlikely pairing with Cactus Jack and the unlikely tandem upset Public Enemy to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship. They'd hold the titles for five weeks before dropping them back to Public Enemy. This proved to Whipwreck's big break and it established him as a star in ECW. Whipwreck would go on to upset the Sandman for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. While champion, Whipwreck would score a win over Steve Austin. Whipwreck went on to defeat 2 Cold Scorpio in a match in which the ECW World Television title and the ECW World Tag Team titles were all on the line. Cactus Jack declared himself as Whipwreck's partner making the pair two time ECW World Tag Team Champions. About a week later, Scorpio regained the ECW World Television title and two months later, Jack & Whipwreck lost the ECW World Tag Team titles to the Eliminators. Following the loss, Jack turned on Whipwreck blaming him for the loss. During the feud, ECW fans supported Whipwreck against Jack who was soon departing for the WWF. Cactus would win their eventual showdown. In 1999, Whipwreck returned to ECW and won another ECW World Tag Team Championship this time paired up with Yoshihiro Tajiri.

Lex Luger & Sting join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Luger & Sting were arguably Ric Flair's two biggest challengers during the late 1980s, early 1990s. Surprisingly despite the natural rivalry, the two would pair up as early as 1988 where they became a sort of makeshift tag team in the Third Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team tournament following Luger being betrayed by Barry Windham and Sting left without a partner as Ron Garvin was injured by the Varsity Club. Luger & Windham would go on to win the tournament defeating Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdoch, The Midnight Express and Horsemen Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson in the finals. They would team up occasionally following this until Luger turned heel in 1989. However Sting would contribute largely to Luger's eventual face turn in 1990 leading to them teaming up again as part of Dudes With Attitudes to feud with the Horsemen. Again they only paired occasionally but did challenge the Steiner Brothers for the WCW World Tag Team titles at one point. They'd end up feuding again in 1991 when Luger turned heel and won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, a title he'd eventually lose to Sting. Luger would leave WCW shortly thereafter for the WWF but would return in 1995 and resumed teaming with Sting as a reluctant face and the pair feuded with the Dungeon of Doom and the Horsemen. Eventually Luger would turn heel and take on Jimmy Hart as a manager yet remained teaming with Sting and the pair won the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Sting as a face and Luger as a heel, winning it from Harlem Heat on January 22, 1996. While champions, they feuded with and defended their titles against Harlem Heat and the Road Warriors. They'd eventually lose the titles back to Harlem Heat on June 24, 1996 in a match that also included the Steiners. The team ended in September 1996 when Luger mistakenly believed Sting joined the nWo when it was in actuality the phony nWo Sting. They'd eventually make peace as both men warred with the nWo but both would join the offshoot babyface nWo Wolfpac group in 1998 but eventually the Wolf Pac group fell apart. They'd team again in 1999 to feud with Team Madness and Bret Hart. In late 1999, Luger turned on Sting starting a new feud but this would be short-lived and they'd pair up again as part of the Millionaires Club in 2000 to feud with the New Blood. When this angle ended, their team fell apart. They wouldn't team again until late 2002 in the WWA with Luger eventually turning on Sting yet again in pursuit of Sting's WWA Heavyweight Championship.

Jeannie Clark (AKA: Lady Blossom) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Jeannie Clark first gained attention as part of an angle where she teamed with then current husband Steve Austin, whom she managed at the time against ex-husband and Austin's trainer Chris Adams who teamed with his then wife Toni Adams in an intense personal feud in WCCW. She'd move to WCW with Austin under the name Lady Blossom replacing his previous valet Vivacious Veronica. She'd prove a shapely distraction at ringside and helped cost Bobby Eaton his WCW World Television title in his defense against Austin. Mostly in WCW, Clark served as eye candy and really wasn't given much of a chance to speak or further develop her character. Mostly she just wore cleavage revealing evening gowns and accompanied Austin to the ring, the pair playing themselves up as being somewhat high class. Perhaps she wasn't allowed to speak due to her noticeable English accent. Anyways she still frequently went out of her way to try and help Austin win his matches and sometimes took bumps for her efforts. Mostly she jumped on Austin's opponents back just when it looked like they might win and began scratching wildly at their faces with her fingernails. She'd most frequently get Austin disqualified but he still retained his title. She also used her bra to conceal brass knuckles which she'd sneak to Austin which he'd then use to win and would secretly pass back to Blossom when the referee was not looking and she'd place the weapon back inside her bra. Eventually these shenanigans would be exposed by Dustin Rhodes and Madusa who came down and actually (Madusa that is) reached down Blossom's dress to pull out the concealed brass knuckles. In November 1991, Blossom was no longer managing Austin as he joined the Dangerous Alliance and was now managed by Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman).


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 04, 2011, 05:59:22 PM
Professor Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Tanaka and Fuji both billed as villainous Japanese heels (in fact both men were born in Hawaii with Tanaka of Chinese descent and Fuji Japanese) so it was only natural they'd form an heel tandem managed by the Grand Wizard in the early 1970s. Tanaka was known for his massive chest and overall strength while Fuji was known as the "devious one" who used dirty tactics to gain the upper hand. Both men were known to throw salt in their opponents' eyes to gain an unfair advantage. The pair defeated Sonny King and Chief Jay Strongbow on June 27, 1972 to win their first WWWF World Tag Team Championship. Soon they'd be main eventing against WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Pedro Morales and former World Champ Bruno Sammartino. They'd reign for eleven long months before finally dropping the titles to Tony Garea and Haystacks Calhoun on May 30, 1973. They still feuded with and pursued the new tag team champions eventually regaining the WWWF World Tag Team Championships from them on September 11, 1973. Soon they were feuding with Garea and his new partner Dean Ho who eventually defeated Fuji & Tanaka on November 14, 1973. When they failed to regain the titles, they left the WWWF in 1974.

They debut in Georgia in August 1975 and on September 19, 1975 participated in a four team tournament where they defeated old rivals Garea and Ho in the finals to become NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions and no doubt gaining a measure of revenge. About a month later, they dropped the titles to Bob Backlund and Jerry Brisco.

Fuji & Tanaka returned to the WWWF in 1977 under new manager Freddie Blassie and would go on to defeat old rival Garea and new partner Larry Zbyszko in the finals of a tournament to capture their third WWWF World Tag Team Championship. They wrestled in many six and eight man matches during their third reign and would eventually drop the titles to Dominic DeNucci and Dino Bravo on the March 14, 1978 edition of Championship Wrestling. Not long after, they'd leave the WWWF to compete in other territories and would capture the AWA Southern Tag Team Championships and the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championships before they'd ultimately split up in 1979 to pursue singles titles. Both men had success in other territories and overseas. Fuji would go on to form another successful tandem with Mr. Saito and would capture two more WWF World Tag Team titles with him and later would become a famous wrestling manager. Tanaka would go on to become a successful movie villain often playing henchmen and heavies in many 80s films and TV Series. He notably appeared in An Eye For an Eye, The Running Man, Missing in Action 2, Pee Wee's Big Adventure and made several appearances on The A-Team. Bad movie fans might also recognize him from Angel of H.E.A.T., Revenge of the Ninja, Bad Guys, Darkman, Black Rain, Martial Law, The Perfect Weapon, Alligator II, 3 Ninjas, Last Action Hero and Hard Justice. In his book, Freddie Blassie details how Tanaka was a real stand up professional and even looked after and reigned in Fuji who wasn't as easy to get along with at all times.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 05, 2011, 07:55:53 PM
Diamond Dallas Page joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Page was arguably the AWA's most successful manager during the last few years of its existence leading Badd Company Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond to the AWA World Tag Team Championship, managing former AWA World Heavyweight Champion Curt Hennig, Ladies Champion Madusa Miceli and top foreign heel of that era in the AWA Colonel DeBeers. After the AWA, moved to Florida's PWF and managed the likes of Johnny Ace and Dick Slater and often aided Sir Oliver Humperdink and his House of Humperdink group. Eventually he'd move to WCW and would successfully manage the Fabulous Freebirds of Michael "P.S." Hayes and Jimmy "Jam" Garvin to the WCW World Tag Team Championships as well as the masked Badstreet and was also aided again by Humperdink who became Big Daddy Dink. Eventually Page would turn his attentions to wrestling but still managed and teamed with some bright up and comers including the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall), Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash) and WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Scotty Flamingo (later known as Raven). He'd also manage Bam Bam Bigelow.

Sylvia joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Sylvia, sometimes known as Miss Sylvia, mainly served as the valet for Robert Fuller (in reality her husband at this time, they'd later divorce) and his Stud Stable group in the Continental Wrestling Federation from 1988 to 1990. The Stud Stable consisted of Robert Fuller of course and his main partner Jimmy Golden, the team Sylvia most often managed, Cactus Jack, Brian Lee, Brickhouse Brown and fellow manager Downtown Bruno. Miss Sylvia frequently brought a kendo stick to the ringside area with her which she'd often use on Fuller & Golden's opponents, or passing it on to Fuller & Golden to use, often helping her men win in this fashion. She was known for her distinctive blonde locks and short red dresses.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 07, 2011, 09:22:09 PM
Donna Gagne joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Donna Gagne used to do little update segments called "Donna's Report" and earlier "Ringside Rumors" in her father's AWA promotion. She was hardly exciting or energetic in the role and wasn't exactly all that attractive to look at either. Mostly she seemed to be reading from a teleprompter or a piece of paper and trying her best not to make any mistakes (which she still made at times anyway). In the AWA's dying days, she'd eventually even join in on some play by play adding color commentary where she hardly seemed comfortable. Doubtful she'd have gotten a gig like that anywhere else but in her Dad's promotion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZfsd2mN1f0


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 09, 2011, 11:24:17 PM
The Executioners who ran roughshod of the WWWF in 1976 join the Tag Team Hall of Shame. These two masked big men dominated after they burst on the scene. First Executioner # 1 was competing in the federation, in actuality under the hood was lthe legendary Killer Kowalski whose career was beginning to wind down by this point in time. He'd later be joined by Executioner # 2, a young Big John Studd under the hood whom Kowalski had helped train. The Masked Executioners won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship on May 11, 1976 from Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi. They'd just use their size, power and strength combined with Kowalski's knowledge and experience to their advantage and few teams could match up with them on all those levels in that era. Later the Executioners would be joined by a third member Executioner # 3 which would cause controversy when # 3 took part in a title defense against Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf leading to the Executioners being stripped on their titles on December 7, 1976.  Shortly thereafter Executioner # 3 removed his mask to reveal himself as Nikolai Volkoff who then left the Executioners behind to form a new team with Tor Kamata. Eventually Strongbow & White Wolf would defeat both the Executioners and Volkoff & Kamata in a 3 team tournament to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. Shortly thereafter the Executioners broke up and Kowalski went back to his original identity while Executioner # 2 would gain greater fame as Big John Studd. Later on Barry Hardy and Duane Gill would form a jobber team using the same name in the 1990s. Also Buddy Rose competed at Wrestlemania I under the name Executioner # 1 and in 1996 Terry Gordy appeared in the WWF in a short-lived stint as the Masked Executioner.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 10, 2011, 10:50:21 PM
The Ultimate Warrior (also known as Warrior) joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Following a career as an amateur bodybuilder, a young Jim Hellwig decided to turn to professional wrestling along with a group of fellow bodybuilders including Steve Borden (later known as Sting). Initially Hellwig under the name Justice and Borden were members of Powerteam U.S.A., a group of former body builders trained by Red Bastien and Rick Bassman. Later he and Borden would team up as Flash (Borden) and Rock (Warrior) - the Blade Runners patterning their makeup and look rather after Daryl Hannah's in the film Blade Runner. They were raw power but very unpolished and inexperienced. They initially debuted in Memphis' CWA as babyfaces but had trouble getting over there due to fans being used to a more old fashioned style babyface tandem which meant they were quickly turned heel. After some success there, they move to the Mid-South promotion which later became the Universal Wrestling Federation where both Flash and Rock were members of Eddie Gilbert's Hotstuff International group until Warrior left to compete in World Class and Flash changed his name to Sting. In World Class Championship Wrestling, the still unproven young Hellwig adopted the name The Dingo Warrior and began to forge the identity that would ultimately bring him great success. While in WCCW, he teamed with Lance Von Erich to win the World Class World Tag Team Championship which they held for about two weeks before dropping them to Al Madril and Brian Adias. In 1987, the Dingo Warrior would go on to win the World Class Texas Heavyweight Championship but the title would be held up when Warrior left World Class behind to go to the WWF. Warrior actually initially appeared in the WWF under his old Dingo Warrior name and indeed his WWF character wouldn't be too far removed from that. But it was amped up, everything about the Warrior was truly amped up in the WWF after all he was now known as the Ultimate Warrior!

Warrior will forever be remembered for his high speed runs down to the ring to compete and his wild shaking of the ropes. How he wasn't completely winded after that for most matches is beyond me. He will also be widely remembered for his near incomprehensible interviews that are bizarrely fascinating to watch rather like certain bad movies (not that he's alone in that if one watches face interviews of Jimmy Snuka, Bob Backlund or Tony Atlas). He also wore a distinctive face paint pattern that he maintained and only changed slightly in terms of color patterns. He quickly became wild popular as an high energy force of unbridled destruction. After winning an initial feud over Hercules, the Warrior would soon shift his focus to WWF Intercontinental Champion the Honky Tonk Man. Warrior would go on to defeat Honky in 13 seconds at Summerslam 1988 to win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship much to the delight of fans who were well sick of Honky's antics at that point in time. Warrior would soon end up feuding with Ravishing Rick Rude over who had the better body eventually leading to a posedown followed by an attack by Rude. Rude, with help from manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, would upset the Warrior for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania V but Warrior would rebound and regain the I-C Championship at Summerslam 1989. He'd also memorably stuff Bobby Heenan in a weasel suit and would impressively win a feud over Andre the Giant. At Royal Rumble 1990, the unexpected would happen, the now widely popular Warrior would have a showdown of sorts with the vastly popular WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan. This inevitably led to an unlikely clash between the two biggest WWF babyfaces at the time, something usually unthinkable in the WWF of that era but it drew big interest in "The Ultimate Challenge" clash between the two at Wrestlemania VI at Toronto's Skydome. In a surprisingly great match, Warrior shocked the world by cleanly pinning Hulk Hogan not only to successfully retain his WWF Intercontinental Championship but also to win his first and only WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Warrior would go on to successfully defend the title against many worthy challengers including the likes of Haku, Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase and Ravishing Rick Rude but Warrior wasn't drawing the same level of interest that Hulk Hogan had before him and hadn't turned out to be quite the successor to Hogan he was hoped to be. Eventually he'd become a target to "Macho King" Randy Savage whose interference at the 1991 Royal Rumble would cost Warrior his WWF Championship which he lost to a now heel traitor Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter defeated Warrior for the belt after Savage hit Warrior with his royal scepter. This led to Hogan defeating Slaughter for the title at Wrestlemania VII while Warrior became engaged in a bitter grudge against Savage ultimately defeating him a very entertaining retirement match at Wrestlemania VII. Next Warrior became involved in a bizarre feud with a newcomer named the Undertaker and saw Warrior locked in a coffin by Undertaker & Paul Bearer and later by Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Warrior was scheduled to feud with Undertaker & Roberts but the feud would never fully develop when Warrior held up the WWF for more money and threatened the main event picture of Summerslam 1991 where he teamed with Hulk Hogan to defeat the traitorous Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa (the former Iron Sheik) and manager General Adnan in a 3 on 2 handicap tag team match. Warrior would be fired following Summerslam.

He'd be brought back because it was felt he was missed by fans in mid-1992 first making an appearance at Wrestlemania VIII to save Hogan from a gang attack from Sid Justice, Papa Shango and manager Harvey Wippleman. Warrior's slight change in appearance having shorter hair and being slightly smaller mistakenly led mainly to believe it wasn't the original Warrior which it was all the time. Warrior would have a bizarre feud with Papa Shango which saw him convulse and vomit strange colors on national television. Thankfully that would shortly be forgotten in favor of Warrior challenging old adversary Randy "Macho Man" Savage, now returned to the ring and once again WWF World Champion, for Savage's title at Summerslam 1992. Warrior would win the match by countout but wouldn't win the title. In later 1992, Warrior was scheduled to team with Savage at Survivor Series 1992 against Ric Flair and Razor Ramon but the WWF had another dispute with Warrior over the copyrights of his character and name, the direction of his character although WWF claimed he was suspended due to a drug violation at a time when WWF was being heavily criticized for its wrestlers using steroids. Warrior would be replaced in the tag match by Mr. Perfect.

Warrior moved into semi-retirement in 1992 and only briefly competed in independent matches against Hercules and the Honky Tonk Man as well as making a tour of Europe's CWA promotion. He'd return to the WWF in 1996 first making a big splash by crushing a young Hunter Hearst Helmsley at Wrestlemania XII before going on to have forgettable feuds with Goldust and Jerry "The King" Lawler before another dispute with Vince McMahon and the WWF led once more to them parting ways, this time seemingly for good. Warrior had been scheduled to team with Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson against Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Vader but would be replaced by Sycho Sid following this dispute.

WCW would sign Warrior in 1998 giving him a surprising level of control over the creative aspect of his character and matches. Warrior formed his own group called to One Warrior Nation (oWn) to combat Hollywood Hulk Hogan and his nWo group initially kidnapping and converting the Disciple (Brutus Beefcake). Warrior had this gimmick where he'd emerge through a trap door under the ring to challenge Hogan's nWo. British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith would later seriously injure himself on this hidden trap door in the ring. The Warrior only had three matches in WCW. The first was a WarGames main event at Fall Brawl involving eight men and won by Diamond Dallas Page. The second he teamed with old partner Sting to defeat Hogan and Bret Hart by DQ in a match he participated in very little. The third was his Halloween Havoc PPV loss to Hollywood Hulk Hogan widely considered by many to be one of the worst matches of all time. WCW would let go of Warrior when he asked for more money according to claims although Warrior says he was only brought back to job to Hogan in return for Wrestlemania VI. Shockingly after a long retirement from the ring, Warrior would return in 2008 to face Orlando Jordan in Spain's Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion. On June 25, 2008, Warrior made a surprisingly impressive showing against Jordan using a superplex and his trademark shoulderblock tackle/clothesline defeating the NWE Champion Jordan and then immediately vacating the title after the match.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Roberts is without a doubt one of wrestling's greatest talkers in all of its history. Soft spoken, Roberts' snake like demeanor and charm drew in fans who were fascinated by just what he might say next. Naturally the WWF would in turn give Roberts his own talk show/interview segment called "The Snake Pit". In many ways, it helped make Roberts, supposed to be an hated heel, surprisingly popular. Inevitably WWF recognized said popularity and used the talk show segment to switch Roberts to face and Honky Tonk Man to heel following a guitar attack from Honky on the show. Roberts would go on to become one of the WWF's most beloved babyfaces from 1987-1990 until he turned heel again in 1991 to feud with Randy Savage and joined forces with the Undertaker against the Ultimate Warrior. Still Roberts was simply fascinating to watch but most especially so on the microphone where he just enthralled and entertained and left fans pondering what wisdom he would bestow week after week.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 10, 2011, 10:57:23 PM
As a kid I used to love Warrior.  But ultimately, he never seemed to be around long, having long bouts of hiatus and short run matches of clotheslines and splashes.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 10, 2011, 11:03:39 PM
Yeah pretty much the majority of his matches were like that. Only Rick Rude, Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect arguably got more out of him...probably because they could carry him to better than usual matches.

And his Wrestlemania VI match with Hogan most likely was well pre-planned and laid out.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on April 11, 2011, 08:50:28 PM
Yeah pretty much the majority of his matches were like that. Only Rick Rude, Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect arguably got more out of him...probably because they could carry him to better than usual matches.

And his Wrestlemania VI match with Hogan most likely was well pre-planned and laid out.
I read they spent the weekend together with McMahon and a few agents and worked most of it out between the six of em or whatnot, in effort to get the best match possible.

It was the complete opposite while in WCW.  They didn't talk at all and went out and it was terribly done. :bouncegiggle:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 19, 2011, 10:05:43 PM
Boris Zukhov joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Zukhov, trained by Ric McCord, actually started out as Pvt. Jim Nelson, a member of Sgt. Slaughter "Cobra Corps" in Jim Crockett Promotions NWA where he'd frequently team up with Don Kernodle and would feud with Porkchop Cash. In fact as Nelson, he'd twice win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship with Kernodle. He'd also win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship and would feud also with Porkchop Cash in Southeastern Championship Wrestling. He'd also twice win the NWA Canadian Television Championship. In 1985, despite being born in Virginia, Nelson would transform himself into the Siberian Russian Boris Zukhov upon entering the AWA taking on Chris Markoff as his manager and going on to feud with and challenge Rick Martel and later Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. He'd also have a memorable feud with Sgt. Slaughter over the AWA Americas Championship. In 1987, he'd form a successful tag team with Soldat Ustinov managed by Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie and the pair would capture the AWA World Tag Team Championship defeating the Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty). However Zukhov would jump to the WWF while still tag team champion and would be replaced in the team with Ustinov by Doug Somers who'd quickly drop the titles to Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. Upon entering the WWF in October 1987, he'd quickly form a tag team with Nikolai Volkoff replacing the departed Iron Sheik. The team with Volkoff would be named The Bolsheviks but would never become serious contenders to the WWF World Tag Team titles despite teaming together for a long time and being managed by Slick. Zukhov and Volkoff would split in 1989 with Volkoff eventually becoming a fan favourite and feuding with his old partner Zukhov. Zukhov would frequently be made fun of by announcers for his larger than usual cranium but really Zukhov had a good villainous look even if he didn't really look Russian.

Billy Red Lyons joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After a long and successful wrestling career competing all around the world, Lyons memorably became the voice of Canada's Maple Leaf Wrestling and later worked with the WWF frequently acting as host for the Canadian telecasts. Lyons had a likable charm and friendly, easygoing quality and always seemed the true professional, a class act at his job. He'd also work as a behind the scenes interviewer for the WWF and did a very good job in the role interacting with the wrestlers in a professional manner yet in a surprisingly personable fashion. His "Don't ya dare miss it" was the catchphrase I'd come to most remember from my childhood.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 20, 2011, 10:18:15 PM
Kevin Sullivan joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Sullivan mostly has acted as a cornerman/leader of a stable and still usually remained an in-ring competitor as well. He started off as being the leader of a frightening and greatly hated devil-worshipping stable (including Maniac Mark Lewin, Bob Roop, Superstar Graham, The Lock, Luna Vachon) in Florida. Later in Jim Crockett's NWA, he'd become "The Gamesmaster", the leader of the Varsity Club stable (Mike Rotundo, Rick Steiner, Steve Williams, Dan Spivey) and later the Slaughterhouse stable which included Cactus Jack and Buzz Sawyer. Then he'd go on to manage in 1991 WCW the likes of the One Man Gang, Black Blood and the Angel of Death. He also acted as the masked Merlin, manager of Oz (a young Kevin Nash). After this later in WCW, he'd become the leader of the Three Faces of Fear with the Butcher [Brutus Beefcake] and Avalanche [Earthquake]. Finally he'd become the "Taskmaster", leader of the Dungeon of Doom stable (Kamala, The Barbarian, Meng, The Yeti, Hugh Morrus, Loch Ness, One Man Gang, Big Bubba Rogers, Lex Luger, The Giant and brought back Beefcake now called the Zodiac and Avalance now called the Shark and briefly Big Van Vader was also a member), the role for which he is arguably best remembered as the group feuded with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting. Eventually Jimmy Hart was also added to the group as a manager, allowing Sullivan a more active in-ring role, after Hart turned on Hogan and cost him the WCW World title in a bout with the Giant.

Cyndi Lauper joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Lauper was technically billed as the manager of WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter during the heights of the crossover 80s Rock 'n' Wrestling era. Lauper was in Richter's corner for some key wins over the Fabulous Moolah and later Lelani Kai for her two WWF Women's Championships. She'd also appear in Lauper's "She Bop" music video. Technically Lauper wasn't a real manager at all, just a celebrity cornerperson as became common for WWF at Wrestlemania for years afterwards. Still Lauper aligning herself with Richter helped Richter become much more popular than she likely would have otherwise.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 22, 2011, 05:17:10 PM
Killer Kowalski joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Kowalski, a Canadian born son of Polish immigrants, would be trained by the great Lou Thesz for the squared circle and would go on to have quite a storied career mainly as a ruthless villain who liked to hurt and maim his opponents, a reputation he largely got after accidentally knocking Yukon Eric's cauliflowered ear off during a match and later for accidentally kicking guest referee Jack Dempsey in the stomach during a bout with Pat O' Connor. Ironically Kowalski was known outside the ring for his friendly demeanor, his willingness to help others which lended itself well to his later days as a trainer and for his living an healthy vegetarian lifestyle.

Kowalski who wrestled from 1947 to 1977 and battled practically everyone who was anyone from Orville Brown to Buddy Rogers to Gorgeous George to Bruno Sammartino (whom he long feuded with) to Dominic DeNucci to Pedro Morales and many, many more. Kowalski actually started out as a babyface and used the names Hercules Kowalski, The Polish Apollo and Tarzan Kowalski early on. In his era, Kowalski quickly made an impression with his then much larger than usual build of 6' 7" and weighing 280 pounds. His size and look soon made him a natural heel and his name would be changed to Wladek Kowalski and of course eventually his most famous Killer moniker. He'd battle for World Championships in the AWA, NWA and WWWF but would only become a recognized World Heavyweight Champion in Canada's Montreal and Atlantic territories and in Australia (in both of which he'd become a multi-time World Champion).

Kowalski had a great villainous look and his deep menacing voice and his punishing looking finisher the Iron Claw, often applied to his opponent's stomach, only added to the look. Kowalski would win many championships in his day including titles in the Central States, Florida, Hawaii, Vancouver, NWA Hollywood Wrestling, San Francisco, Texas Big Time Wrestling, Calgary Stampede Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Federation, IWA Australia and finally the WWWF where he won a United States Tag Team championship with Gorilla Monsoon and later a WWF World Tag Team title with Big John Studd under masks as the masked Executioners. He'd also wrestle under a mask in Canada as the masked Destroyer. He pretty much won titles everywhere he went and was certainly an entertaining draw as a top villain in many territories. In 1972, Kowalski was the first man to pin Andre the Giant in North America in a match then billed as "The Battle of Giants". Following his in-ring career, Kowalski trained many future superstars for the sport including the likes of Triple H, Chyna, Perry Saturn, John Kronus, Eddie Edwards, Kofi Kingston, Big John Studd, A-Train, Chris Nowinski, Frankie Kazarian and Kenny Dystra to name just a few of the most famous ones.

The Russians: Ivan and Nikita Koloff join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Ivan Koloff, then NWA World Tag Team champion with an American turncoat named Don Kernodle and a former WWWF World Heavyweight Champion having ended Bruno Sammartino's first legendary reign, brought in his young (kayfabe) nephew "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, a raw powerful muscular powerhouse to help as he then put it prove Soviet superiority. First Nikita would accompany "Uncle" Ivan and Kernodle to learn the ropes from them and would also compete in Puerto Rico to gain more experience eventually becoming good enough for the Russians to oust the American traitor Kernodle attacking him and driving him out of the group. Ivan & Nikita would then add Krusher Kruschev (Barry Darsow) to the group and would go on to defeat Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on March 18, 1985. The trio would then have any two of them defend the titles with Ivan and Kruschev eventually dropping the titles to the Rock 'n' Roll Express. The Russians would also become dominant in the six-man division and would hold the NWA Six-Man Tag Team Championship. They'd regain the NWA World Tag Team Championship a second time regaining them from the Rock 'n' Roll Express on October 13, 1985. They'd also feud with the AWA World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors throughout much of 1985 battling over either the AWA World Tag Team titles or the NWA World Tag Team titles. The two teams would have a series of legendary and brutal Russian Chain Steel Cage matches with Lights Out stipulations. The Koloffs would eventually lose the NWA World Tag Team Championship back to the Rock 'n' Roll Express at Starrcade '85. In mid-1985, Nikita was pushed into the NWA World Heavyweight Title picture as a top contender selected by the Russian Kremlin (kayfabe) to defeat Ric Flair and bring the NWA World title back to the U.S.S.R.. Flair was drawn into the battle after Nikita attacked NWA interviewer David Crockett. Ivan acted as a trainer and cornerman for Nikita during this run. In Spring of 1986 with the backing of his fellow Russians Ivan and Kruschev, Nikita started to pursue Magnum T.A. and his NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, a belt he'd eventually win in a Best of Seven Series but not without the help of his Russian allies. After this, he'd defeat Wahoo McDaniel to win the National Heavyweight Championship which he then unified with the U.S. Title. A potential future feud with Magnum T.A. would not happen however after Magnum T.A. had a career ending car accident. With Russians gaining more acceptance in the wider world as Mikhail Gorbachev gained in popularity due to his reforms which pretty much was the beginning of the end of the Cold War era villains, booker Dusty Rhodes decided to turn Nikita face leading to a then quite shocking face turn. A lone Dusty was booked to take on Ole Anderson and J.J. Dillon in a cage and needed help and fans absolutely erupted with Nikita Koloff came out to Rhodes aid and formed a new tag team with Rhodes, The Superpowers eventually joining forces with the Road Warriors, to battle the Four Horsemen. This ended the Russians tandem with Uncle Ivan who would go on to feud with Nikita while he teamed with Vladimir Petrov and later Dick Murdoch as a member of Paul Jones's army. While with Jones, Ivan Koloff would eventually team with the Powers of Pain to win a second Six-Man Tag Team Championship and later would team with the masked Russian Assassins who eventually turned on Ivan and he too found himself an unlikely face. Ironically none of the Russians were really Russian (Ivan's from Canada while Kruschev and Nikita were both American) but they sure did play up their parts as being legit playing themselves as legitimately Russian in and out of the ring to maintain kayfabe even learning to speak the language to a degree.



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on April 26, 2011, 11:46:25 PM
Lord James Blears joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Blears was a veteran retired wrestler, a very successful one who won many titles in many NWA and WWA regional territories and was also nicknamed "Tally Ho". He'd become a color commentator on AWA wrestling in the 80s alongside Ron Trongard and Larry Nelson. Blears seemed kind of out of place in the role but did try his best to add some wrestling knowledge to the in-ring goings on. However mostly he just kind of agreed and went along with the other announcers when he probably would have been better served playing the heel role. He also would appear in a couple of TV shows including "Magnum P.I." and "Hawaii Five-O" and appeared as a contest director on "North Shore". He'd also appear as himself in the film The Wrestler (1974) and in the documentary The Endless Summer (1966).

"Adorable" Adrian Adonis joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Adonis, who'd previously played a straight New York biker gimmick in tag teams with Dick Murdoch and Jesse Ventura would drastically change his image by "coming out of the closet" (only in kayfabe though as he wasn't gay in reality) and played it up to the hilt wearing dresses, lipstick, blush, eye shadow, rouge, scarves, leg warmers, wigs and more. He was greatly hated for it in the 1980s WWF by the majority of wrestling fans especially when he took over the old Piper's Pit talk show with his "Flower Shop" interview segment even employing Piper's former bodyguard "Ace" Bob Orton as his own complete with new pink cowboy hat and well as befriending Magnificent Muraco and a then heel "Macho Man" Randy Savage. In the ring, Adonis was a hard working, bumping machine despite his enormous size but seemed somewhat uncomfortable in the more flamboyant interviewer role although he was aided somewhat by his manager Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart. On the Flower Shop though, the roots for Paul Orndorff's turn on Hulk Hogan were laid with Adonis needling Orndorff about being in Hogan's shadow. When "Rowdy" Roddy Piper returned, naturally a rivalry and later a war between the two talk segments and their respective hosts began especially after Adonis, Orton and Muraco attacked Piper "injuring" his leg and covering him in lipstick before Adonis and crew laid waste to the Piper's Pit set. Piper would return a week later with a baseball bat and wreck havoc on Adonis's Flower Shop set. The feud, which actually had turned Piper from a loathed heel to a beloved babyface, climaxed at Wrestlemania III in what was billed as Piper's retirement match in an Hair vs. Hair match which saw Brutus Beefcake cut Adonis's hair following the match after Piper put Adonis to sleep with a sleeperhold.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 11, 2011, 07:25:22 PM
Prince Nana joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Nana has been a rather successful manager/in-ring competitor best known for his work in Ring of Honor managing several different versions his Embassy stable. Claiming to be a real Ghana, West Africa Ashanti Prince, Nana lays claim to many riches for the many heel grapplers who decide to join him in his stable which has had its up and down moments of success. One of the more successful versions of the Embassy saw Nana manage John Walters as ROH Pure Champion and lead Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley and Abyss to win a Trios tournament. Jimmy Rave has definitely been one of the most consistent and long-lasting Embassy members. A later notable version consisted of Bison Smith, Ernie Osiris and later included the likes of Necro Butcher, Claudio Castagnoli, Joey Ryan, Erick Stevens and Shawn Daivari. The most recent version included Osiris, Mia Yim, Robert Evans and Tommasso Ciampa. He's also managed the likes of Angel Williams, Christopher Daniels, Daizee Haze, Dave Taylor, Excess 69, Diablo Santiago, Fast Eddie Vegas, Jade Chung, Josh Daniels, Killer Kruel, Masato Yoshino, Oman Tortuga, Petey Williams, Ricky Morton, Sal Rinauro, Vanessa Harding and Xavier.

Tarzan Tyler joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Tyler was a longtime successful veteran wrestler having held many major titles in the NWA territories (Central States, Florida, Mid-South), Japan and the WWWF (where he was a WWWF World Tag Team champion alongside Crazy Luke Graham). Tyler was also extremely successful in Canada as a top heel grappler where he captured the Grand Prix Heavyweight Championship three times in Montreal in the 1970s. When his in-ring career began winding down in the early 80s, he turned to managing his young protege Mad Dog Pierre LeFebrve in Montreal's International Wrestling and the pair seemed poised for success there when tragically they were both killed in a car accident at Laurentides Provincial Park upon returning from a wrestling event in Chicoutimi, Quebec on December 24, 1985 along with referee Adrien Desbois.  :bluesad: Tyler was 58 years old.

The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn & Stan Lane) join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. While the Fabulous Ones were arguably the original fun-loving pretty boys tag team that inspired later teams like the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Fantastics and Midnight Rockers, their success was actually rather limited outside of the South although they did compete in the AWA and NWA and were very popular there as well, they just never seemed to rise things to that next level they might have had the ability to given their sticking to the Memphis/Continental territory where they remained at their most popular and successful. In early 1982, they were pushed in Memphis as a pair of pretty boys who appeared in music videos using ZZ Top song "Sharp Dressed Man" and Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You" while wearing top hats, sequin tuxedos and bow ties. Local Memphis legend "The Fabulous" Jackie Fargo would even lend his name to the team giving them credibility instantly with local fans. They'd go on to have memorable feuds with Jimmy Hart's New York Dolls ("Dream Machine" Troy Graham and Rick McGraw) and later the Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose and Norvell Austin). Eventually the Fabs would win the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship and would hold them a total of 15 different times altogether as well as holding the CWA World Tag Team Championships twice.  The Fabs would start a legendary and long and bloody feud with the Sheepherders (Luke Williams and Jonathan Boyd) most of their battles over the AWA Southern Tag Team titles. They'd also go on to feud with the Moondogs over the Southern titles as well. The Fabs would move to Texas and would be awarded the Southwest Championship Wrestling World Tag Team titles which they'd soon reignite their feud with the Sheepherders over. In 1984 and 1985, the Fabs moved to the AWA and had great success in terms of popular appeal while feuding with the likes of the Road Warriors, Jesse Ventura, Nick Bockwinkel, Mr. Saito and manager Bobby Heenan. The Fabs however would fail to capture the AWA World Tag Team titles from the Road Warriors. The Fabs would soon return to Memphis and would battle with the likes of Rick Rude and King Kong Bundy over the Southern Tag titles whom the Fabs eventually upended, then traded the titles with the Interns before entering into a feud with the PYT Express (Koko Ware and Norvell Austin) managed by Jimmy Hart. Before long, the Fabs were once more embroiled in a bitter feud with the Sheepherders, this time the Rip Morgan and Jonathan Boyd version. The Fabs would move on to compete in the NWA and would actually lose in the first round of the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup 1986 to the Fantastics, a team that was pretty much a rip-off of them. The Fabs would go on to compete at AWA WrestleRock 1986 only to lose yet again, this time to the U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo) before moving on to compete in Florida where they were soon battling those pesky Sheepherders yet again over the newly created NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championships and would return for one more tour of Memphis where you guessed it, they again were embroiled in a feud with the Sheepherders, this time seemingly running them off for good. The Fabs would break up not long after with Lane becoming "Sweet" Stan Lane and joining "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and Jim Cornette in the Midnight Express while Keirn turning to training and competing in singles action. In 1990, Lane & Keirn would actually reunite in Memphis by now the USWA and would win the USWA Tag Team Titles from Tony Anthony and Doug Gilbert. By 1995, the Fabs were only teaming sporadically and both men are now retired from active in-ring competition.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 11, 2011, 08:08:21 PM
I love Prince Nana.  Love his work in ROH.

I remember seeing him back in 2000/2001, even early '02 in several jobber/tryout matches on WWF television.  Used to work matches on WWF Sunday Night Heat and WWF Metal/Jakked against the likes of Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Perry Saturn, The Godfather and other underutilized WWF talent.  Good stuff.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 12, 2011, 09:47:33 PM
Josh Matthews joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Matthews actually started out as a contestant on WWE Tough Enough back in 2001-2002 and was a runner-up in the competition. He'd move on to compete on the independent circuit in the XWF before moving back to the WWE in later 2002 as a behind the scenes/backstage interviewer on WWE Smackdown as well as eventually becoming the lead announcer on WWE Velocity, in terms of wrestling arguably the WWE's most entertaining show at the time. Matthews took to the role very well indeed and soon became one of the WWE most consistentally entertaining and informative announcers. While appearing on Smackdown! he'd wind up involved in an angle where he was abused by JBL and his lead henchman Orlando Jordan leading to Matthews eventually teaming up with Booker T and surprisingly winning. In the end though, JBL would dish out some severe punishment for Matthews interference in his and Jordan's plans. He'd also be attacked on Smackdown! by Kurt Angle and the Undertaker. Matthews would eventually move to Raw where he'd be a part-time commentator and interviewer as well as working on WWE Heat. Matthews would also move on to become lead announcer on ECW when Todd Grisham moved to Smackdown! and he'd also get to announce the early seasons of WWE NXT before being moved himself to Smackdown! to replace Grisham, who was moved to NXT, and work alongside Micheal Cole and Booker T.. Matthews more recently has also begun frequently appearing and announcing on WWE Raw, often being the most consistent voice on the show as his fellow commentators Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole are engaged in a bitter, personal feud which has since involved former WWE Raw/Smackdown! announcer Jim Ross. Matthews is arguably the best young announcer in wrestling today.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 20, 2011, 10:54:01 PM
"The Franchise" Shane Douglas joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Douglas came into his own in ECW where he made a major name for himself after throwing down the NWA World title he just won and declaring himself the first Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion. Douglas actually first came to national attention in the UWF in the late 1980s after spending some years in the independents as Troy Orndorff, fictional nephew of "Mr. Wonderful" and doing some jobs in WWF actually putting over "Mr. Wonderful" himself on a few occasions. Douglas billed as a young up and comer in UWF pulled off some surprising upsets defeating "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert for the UWF World Television title and getting involved in Sting and Chris Adams' feud with Hotstuff International and Terry Taylor. Eventually Douglas would drop the title to Taylor. He'd move to the NWA in 1989 as a member of a surfer/skateboarder tag team with Johnny Ace called the Dynamic Dudes but fans could see that their gimmick was phony and not true to the men portraying it. The most notable thing from the Dudes would be their feud with the Midnight Express over manager Jim Cornette with Cornette eventually betraying the Dudes in favor of the Midnights. The Dudes would split with Ace going to compete in All-Japan Pro Wrestling. He'd move back to the independents before debuting in the WWF in 1990 as a bright young and up and comer. He'd impress and get some wins but would never rise very far up the card. He'd eventually leave to take care of his ailing father in 1991. He'd return to WCW in 1992 and would form a successful tag team with Ricky Steamboat and the pair would capture the WCW World Tag Team Championships from Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes before becoming embroiled in a long feud with the Hollywood Blonds (Steve Austin & Brian Pillman) that even saw Douglas and Steamboat wrestle under masks as Dos Hombres. After losing the tag titles to the Blonds, Douglas would move on to compete in ECW.

It would be in ECW that Douglas would firmly establish himself as a top tier star being a very impressive Champion and forming a stable with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko called the Triple Threat. Douglas would have memorable feuds with the Sandman and Cactus Jack before moving to the WWF in 1995 as Dean Douglas, a cheesy college dean character, a character that would be rather similar to the one portrayed by Matt Striker years later. He'd briefly win the WWF Intercontinental title via forfeit from Shawn Michaels after Michaels was allegedly assaulted by a group of thugs in Syracuse, New York. The title reign would prove rather short-lived however when at the same In Your House show, he was forced to defend his newly won title against Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) who'd defeat him for it that very same night. By January 1996, Douglas was back in his old ECW stomping grounds and was soon targeting ECW World Champion Raven. He'd have a memorable feud with the now departing Cactus Jack and then 2 Cold Scorpio eventually winning the ECW World Television title from Scorpio but he'd drop it to PitBull # 2 a month later. Douglas would however regain the title in a four way dance defeating Chris Jericho, PitBull # 2 and 2 Cold Scorpio after the PitBulls manager Francine turned on the Pitbulls and sided with Douglas helping him regain the title. His partnership with Francine would prove very successful for Douglas and he'd go on to form a new Triple Threat with Chris Candido and Brian Lee, who would later be replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow. Douglas would hold the TV title for a year before finally losing it to Taz. He'd then focus on the ECW World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk eventually defeating Sabu and Funk in a Three Way Dance to win the ECW World title a second time. He'd briefly lose the title to Bam Bam Bigelow in October but would regain it 15 days later at November to Remember. He'd then keep a firm grasp on the title until January 1999 when he finally lost it to Taz, who had been battling and chasing after/feuding with him throughout 1998. He'd briefly turn face and would team with Tommy Dreamer against the Impact Players before leaving for WCW yet again in 1999. There he'd reform his old Triple Threat team with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit and would add Perry Saturn to form a new group called Revolution stating he wanted to wipe out the cancer in WCW referring to Ric Flair. Eventually he'd also join the New Blood faction during their feud with the Millionaires Club that included Flair. Douglas would go on to win another WCW World Tag Team Championship this time with Buff Bagwell as well as a United States Heavyweight Championship and would be managed for a while by Torrie Wilson.

Following the demise of WCW, Douglas competed in XPW and won its World Heavyweight Championship but the promotion would be short-lived. He'd also compete in the Australia based WWA before moving to TNA in 2003. There he'd reignite his feud with Raven while a member of the New Church climaxing in a Hair vs. Hair match that saw Raven's brutally get his head shaved by Douglas after interference from Vampiro. He'd then leave the New Church and hire valet Traci Brooks and would take on Michael Shane as a new protege before the egos of the pair would eventually clash and they'd feud. Douglas would take on more of a behind the scenes role after this before becoming the manager for the Naturals for a brief time hoping to reignite the fire they had when paired with his own late ally Chris Candido. Eventually he'd end his pairing with the Naturals following an embarrassing loss to Team 3D. In 2009, Douglas returned to more of an in-ring role in TNA feuding with Christopher Daniels and A.J. Styles seemingly trying to steal their place in the roster with Douglas himself eventually losing his spot to Daniels. Douglas still competes on the independent circuit (Renegade Wrestling Alliance).

The Valiant Brothers ("Handsome" Jimmy, "Luscious" Johnny and "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant) join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Johnny and Jimmy first debuted in 1974 in the World Wrestling Association as a pair of heel "brothers" (kayfabe) quickly impressing defeating Dick the Bruiser and Bruno Sammartino on January 5th, 1974, their debut winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship. A rematch with Bruno and the Bruiser would see the titles held up but another rematch saw the Valiants winning a second WWA World Tag Team Championship. They'd quickly become dominant, clever cheating heels and would quickly gain popularity holding the titles for a few months before dropping the belts to Pepper Gomez and Wilbur Snyder. Shortly after dropping the WWA belts, the Valiants (Jimmy and Johnny) signed with Vince McMahon Sr. World Wide Wrestling Federation, paired up quite naturally with manager Captain Lou Albano, winning the WWWF World Tag Team Championships in short order defeating Tony Garea and Dean Ho on May 8, 1974. They'd hold a previously almost unheard of grasp on the tag belts holding them for over a year before dropping them on May 13, 1975 to Dominic DeNucci and Victor Rivera. The Valiant Brothers would hold the record as longest reigning WWWF World Tag Team champions until the late 1980s when Demolition would finally break their old record. The Valiants would also memorably feud with Haystacks Calhoun and Chief Jay Strongbow in the WWWF. In 1976, Jimmy and Johnny moved to the NWA territories and toured throughout them collecting more titles along the way including the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championships (from Dean Ho and Ken Mantell), the NWA World Tag Team Championships (San Francisco version) (defeating the Royal Kangaroos Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III), and finally they were awarded the NWA United States Tag Team Championships (Florida version) in January 1978 before going on to lose them to Steve Keirn and Mike Graham. Later in 1978, the Valiants returned to the WWWF but Jimmy was now retired from in-ring competition (although he'd return later) and was replaced by "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant in the team although Jimmy was still there as manager. On March 24th, 1979, Johnny and Jerry won the WWF World Tag Team Championship from Larry Zbyszko and Tony Garea. The new Valiants were successful but Johnny and Jerry was never quite as flamboyant and popular with fans as heels as Jimmy and Johnny had been. Johnny and Jerry lost the WWF World Tag Team titles to Ivan Putski and Tito Santana on October 22, 1979 and could never successfully regain them leading to the team eventually splitting up. Jimmy and Johnny would be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996.

Paul London and Brian Kendrick join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. In 2005, Paul London and Brian Kendrick formed a high-flying, fast-moving young tag team quite popular with fans. By May 2006, the duo won the WWE Tag Team Championship from MNM (Joey Mercury and John Nitro/Morrison). They'd go on to have a surprisingly long reign as champions holding the titles for the fourth longest length of time of any pair of WWE/WWWF/WWF Tag Champs retaining their titles until April 2007 when they finally lost the titles to newcomers Deuce and Domino. Later in 2007, they'd be moved to the Raw brand where they'd briefly win the World Tag Team Championships as well. London and Kendrick, despite their relatively small size were surprisingly dominant tag team champions dominating in feuds with MNM and K.C. James and Idol Stevens (during which they added Ashley Massaro to counteract Michelle McCool who managed James and Stevens at the time) before having a losing streak against William Regal and Dave Taylor which was supposed to lead to a title match but would eventually be changed to a 4 way ladder match against the Hardys, MNM and Taylor & Regal with London and Kendrick still managing to hang on to their title belts. Moving to Raw, they'd dominate again against the World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) and would briefly capture the World Tag Team Championships from Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch at a house show in South Africa with Cade & Murdoch winning back the titles 3 days later. They'd eventually split for a while when London suffered a foot injury leading to a singles run for Kendrick. Upon London's return, they'd reform their team with limited success eventually leading to tension between the two losing more at this point than they won. Not long after this, Kendrick would be revamped as a newly heel "The Brian Kendrick" and London not long after was released by WWE. They`d reunite as a team on the independent circuit in 2010 in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Dragon Gate USA battling the likes of Generation Me and Jack Evans & Jimmy Jacobs.

Sonny Onoo joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Onoo, a friend of Eric Bischoff since the 1970s when the two became friends during Onoo's Martial Arts career with Onoo having won numerous accolades in that area. In 1994, Bischoff hired his old friend to WCW as an off screen consultant. Eventually he'd become more involved with overseas promotions including the Collision in Korea PPV. In 1995, he'd first debut as Sonny Onoo, a manager/language interpreter for many Japanese stars who appeared on WCW shows who wore stylish suits and sunglasses and came across as more than a little weaselly. At Starrcade 1995, Onoo managed Team Japan (Jushin Liger, Koji Kanemoto, Masahiro Chono, Masa Saito, Shinjiro Otani, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Kensuke Sasaki) against Team WCW in a Best of Seven World Cup series. Eventually Chono and later the Great Muta would turn on Onoo to join the nWo (Japan version). Onoo at this time also managed Ultimo Dragon, who had great success winning the WCW Cruiserweight Championship with help from Onoo at Starrcade 1996. The win temporarily united the title with the 8 championships of the J-Crown. Dragon would lose the J-Crown to Jushin Thunder Liger while retaining the WCW Cruiserweight title which he'd eventually lose to Dean Malenko at Clash of the Champions XXXIV following botched interference from Onoo. Dragon would go on to win the WCW World Television Title from Prince Iaukea and defended the title against "Lord" Steven Regal. Onoo tried to interfere on Dragon's behalf but Dragon admonished Onoo showing he didn't want to win that way leading to Onoo betraying Dragon and helping Regal win. In August 1996, Onoo would manage Bull Nakano during her WCW feud with Madusa. He'd also manage Malia Hosaka but would finally gain success with Akira Hokuto who defeated Madusa to win the WCW Women's Championship in a tournament final to crown a new champion with Hokuto also winning a series of rematches and even forcing Madusa into retirement at one point. However when Hokuto left WCW, the title would be quickly dropped and forgotten. Onoo next turned to the Cruiserweight division managing La Parka and Psychosis during his feud with Dragon. When they failed, he turned to Yuji Nagata with Nagata finally defeating Dragon giving Onoo a measure of revenge. Onoo next started managing Ernest "The Cat" Miller during feuds with Perry Saturn and Jerry Flynn. Onoo would also manage the likes of Judy Bagwell, Kaz Hayashi, Ohara, Kaz Onoo and Yuji Yasuraoka. He'd be released in 1999. In February 2000, Onoo and a number of African American grapplers filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against WCW claiming wrongful dismissal.

Corey Maclin joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Corey Maclin was an announcer/promoter in Memphis Wrestling bringing a bright level of energy and enthusiasm to shows but yet was never particularly good seemingly preferring to joke and kid around and have conversations more so than call the action. Also his use of slang during interviews and commentary often leaves something to be desired although he does have a likable down home charm to him.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on May 21, 2011, 08:50:44 AM
Shane Douglas was a pretty decent performer, but seemingly had a lot working against him in major companies like the WWF. 


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 23, 2011, 01:47:15 PM
"The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Following his successful pairing with the Dynamite Kid as the legendary British Bulldogs tag team who captured WWF World Tag Team gold as well as gold in Stampede wrestling, Davey Boy turned back to singles wrestling which he'd had some previous success before tangling with the likes of former tag team partner Dynamite Kid, even winning the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title from him at one point, and Bret Hart years back in Stampede and also forming a successful team with Bruce Hart. Prior to this, he had competed in Britain's World of Sport against the likes of Dave Finlay, Blackjack Mulligan and Marty Jones. He also teamed with Big Daddy and had a series of matches with Jim Breaks from whom he won the British Welterweight Championship in 1979. He'd also compete in New Japan against the Dyamite Kid and the Cobra over the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship. Davey, by now far more muscular and massive, would again return to singles action in Stampede after splitting with Dynamite Kid who formed a tag team with his "cousin" Johnny Smith to then feud with Davey and a young Chris Benoit. Davey would go on to capture the Stampede North American Championship on two occasion once in 1984 from Bad News Allen and again in 1989 from Don Muraco.

He finally made his return to the WWF, this time as a singles star nicknamed "The British Bulldog" in 1990 first feuding with the Warlord. It wasn't long before Smith became a megastar in the U.K. as the WWF's popularity grew overseas. Smith would go on to impress winning a 20 man battle royal and having a good showing in the 1992 Royal Rumble. He also won feuds with I.R.S. and The Mountie before moving into contention for Bret Hart's WWF Intercontinental Championship, a title he would capture in the Main Event of Summerslam 1992, one of the rare occasions the secondary title would headline a major PPV event, this one before 80, 355 of Davey's fellow countrymen in Wembley Stadium. The main event win for Smith is generally considered the highlight of his career. He'd lose the I-C title to Shawn Michaels later in November 1992 and would be released by the WWF when it was discovered he was receiving shipments of Human Growth Hormone.

Davey Boy would move to WCW in 1993 and would quickly become a main eventer and a top challenger to Big Van Vader's WCW World Heavyweight Championship yet would fail to capture the title. He also formed an alliance with Sting and also feuded with Sid Vicious. He would apparently be released by WCW later in 1993 when he was involved in an altercation allegedly involving a man making advances towards his wife.

He returned to the WWF in 1994 and sided with Bret "The Hitman" Hart in his ongoing family feud with brother Owen Hart and brother in-law Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Smith's team at Survivor Series 1994 captained by Razor Ramon won the match against Shawn Michaels' team despite Davey Boy getting counted out. Davey Boy and Shawn Michaels would continue their rivalry into the 1995 Royal Rumble with both men starting the match and lasting until the end with Michaels surprising Davey Boy at the end after he mistakenly thought Michaels had been eliminated. Next Davey Boy would form a tag team with Lex Luger called The Allied Powers but the team would have very limited success. Eventually Davey Boy turned heel by turning against then WWF World Champion Diesel and aiding Men on a Mission in a post match beatdown. Davey Boy would take on Jim Cornette as his manager and would join Owen Hart and Yokozuna in Cornette's stable. Davey Boy became a top challenger to Diesel's title in short order gaining wins over Bam Bam Bigelow and defeating Diesel in a six man match. During his title match with Diesel, Smith would win by DQ but would not win the title after Bret Hart interfered. After surviving at the 1995 Survivor Series, Davey became a top challenger for Bret Hart, the new WWF World Champion. The two had another terrific match as in 1992 but this time Bret Hart emerged victorious. At the 1996 Royal Rumble, Davey made it to the final four before being eliminated by Shawn Michaels and teamed with Owen Hart and Vader to defeat Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson and Jake "The Snake" Roberts at Wrestlemania XII and later teamed with Owen to defeat the team of Johnson and Roberts. Davey Boy next emerged as a top challenger for Shawn Michaels, now the WWF World Champion after accusing Michaels of hitting on his wife Diana Hart, sister of Bret Hart. In the end while he'd come close, Michaels would retain his WWF World Championship.  Davey next formed a tag team with brother in-law Owen Hart which would prove both very good and very successful eventually capturing the WWF World Tag Team titles from the Smoking Gunns and successfully defending them against the likes of Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon, Vader and ManKind and the Legion of Doom. In 1997, the WWF created a new European Championship that saw the tournament final conclude between tag champs Davey Boy and partner Owen. Davey would defeat Owen to become the first ever WWF European Champion in another terrific bout. It would not be long after that Davey Boy and Owen would make amends with Bret Hart and would form the powerful Hart Foundation stable also including Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman. In Canada, the Hart Foundation were beloved fan favourites while they became hated heels in the U.S. feuding with American anti-heroes likes "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Goldust, Vader, D-X, Ken Shamrock and the L.O.D.. Owen and Davey would lose the tag team titles to Austin and Shawn Michaels and a subsequent tournament final to Austin and Dude Love (Mick Foley). Not long after Davey lost the European title to Shawn Michaels in the main event of a British PPV called One Night Only. Shortly thereafter following the events of the Survivor Series 1997 Montreal Screwjob, Davey Boy along with Bret and Jim Neidhart left for WCW. Smith and Neidhart as a tag team had very limited success in WCW and clearly it was only Bret WCW was really interested in at this time. After suffering a series of unfortunate injuries including a bad knee injury and a much more serious spinal infection that nearly paralyzed him (after landing awkwardly on a trap door put in place for the Warrior to emerge from under the ring later in the show) and put him out of action for six months. While recuperating, he received his release in the mail from WCW. He returned to the WWF in September 1999 but was never quite the same wrestling now in blue jeans and with a darker attitude. He would defeat the Big Bossman for the WWF Hardcore title before forfeiting it to Al Snow. He'd eventually turn heel to pursue the WWF World Championship yet again now pursuing the Rock but would fail to defeat him. He'd later defeat D-Lo Brown for the WWF European Championship on October 26, 1999 but would lose the belt to Val Venis in December. On May 6, 2000, he'd defeat Crash Holly in England to win the WWF Hardcore Championship but Holly would regain it again in a May 11th Smackdown! rematch. Not long into 2000, Smith would enter a drug rehabilitation clinic at the behest and at the expense of Vince McMahon citing his problems with prescription painkillers although this wasn't the only drug he was abusing. Davey Boy would die on May 18, 2002 of an heart attack at just 39 years old and it is suspected by many his past steroid and other drug abuse may well have played a part. His son Harry Smith has since become a pro wrestler now called David Hart Smith in WWE.

Jim Cornette joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Despite being a very successful manager in many federations including the NWA, WCW, WWF, SMW, ROH, CWA, Mid-South, WCCW and elsewhere no doubt due in large part to his tremendous gift of gab. Well said gift of gab also translated well to those times he has also worked as a ring announcer and color commentator most notably on the syndicated NWA show on TBS on Saturday Nights alongside Jim Ross. In 1997 in the WWF, he also become a commentator and would do a series of very entertaining "worked shoots" about the state of the wrestling industry at said time and his own personal response to it sometimes berating certain grapplers while at other times singing the praises of others.

The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa Saed) join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The Gangstas first emerged on the scene in SMW and included a three man pairing of D-Lo Brown, New Jack and Mustafa Saed. There they became a very controversial team cutting promos about activist Medgar Evers and O.J. Simpson sure to infuriate the largely white Southern crowd. They often used fried chicken and watermelons as props to help them win matches and sometimes announcers would confuse their hometown of Los Angeles with Louisiana leading to New Jack berating the ring announcer. They'd actually be awarded their first and only SMW Tag Team Championships from the Rock and Roll Express after threatening a racial discrimination lawsuit over the referee's decision which originally saw them lose the match. They'd lose the titles back to the Express two months later and in controversial fashion would jump from SMW to ECW, starting a dispute between Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette. In ECW, the now two man team of New Jack and Mustafa Saed became known for bringing a shopping cart of weapons including staple guns, guitars, crutches and trash cans to the ring with them. Unlike in SMW where they had been hated heels, the Northeastern crowd quickly took a liking to them and they'd go on to successfully capture two ECW World Tag Team Championships defeating the Eliminators in August 1996 and the Dudley Boyz in July 1997. The team would split in 1997 when Mustafa Saed left ECW. New Jack would go on to form a new Gangstanators tag team with John Kronus after his Eliminators partner Perry Saturn went to WCW. The Gangstanators would win the ECW World Tag Team titles on one occasion as well. In 1999, Mustafa Saed would return to feud briefly with New Jack, by now a beloved fan favourite in ECW. The Gangstas also held the NGWA Tag Team Championships.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on May 29, 2011, 08:06:42 PM
Lita joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Lita, real name Amy Dumas, first started on the independent circuit as Angelica in MCW where she managed Christopher Daniels and ended up in ECW as Miss Congeniality, the on-screen love interest of Danny Doring before signing a development deal with and moving to the WWF in 1999 after attending Dory Funk Jr. wrestling school alongside 23 men and impressing despite this.

She'd debut in the WWF as the valet Lita for Essa Rios, who'd go on to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. Lita would often mimic Rios' high-flying moves including the moonsault and hurricanrana wowing fans at the time and gaining significant attention eventually leading to a feud with the pair of Eddie Guerrero and Chyna over Guerrero's European title although Guerrero and Chyna would win out in the end. Heat would start between Rios and Lita when she caught him cavorting with the Godfather's "Hos" with Rios eventually turning on and attacking Lita when she cost him a match. She would be rescued by Matt and Jeff Hardy and together they would form the widely popular Team Extreme and Lita started wearing more revealing clothing including a visible thong above her baggy pants. Lita would often get physically involved in the Hardys matches including even in TLC matches. In June 2000, Team Xtreme started feuding with T & A managed by Trish Stratus starting a long-lasting sometimes very heated feud/rivalry between Stratus and Lita that would go on and off for the next six years. Lita would next target WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and would eventually defeat her for the Women's title on August 21, 2000, her first of four Women's titles. She'd also continue to aid the Hardys as a member of Team Xtreme and this would eventually cost her as during a feud between Edge & Christian and the Hardys, E & C would help Ivory defeat her for the Women's Championship. Ivory was then a member of Right to Censor who frowned upon Lita's dress and behaviour. Ivory's partner and leader in Right to Censor Steven Richards generally helped her retain and keep the title out of Lita's grip. Lita would next become the focus of a love-smitten Dean Malenko whom Lita would come to reject and embarrass and would even challenge for his WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. During her feud with Malenko, Matt Hardy would come to her aid and help him defeat him in a match leading to a surprising on-screen kiss between them turning their then real life romance also into an on-screen one. In mid-2001, Lita and Stratus would actually join forces to battle the ECW/WCW Invasion's Stacey Keibler and Torrie Wilson with Lita and Stratus dominating the feud. Eventually Lita would end up between a newly feuding Hardy Boyz leading to tension and eventual storyline injuries for all as Jeff become a challenger to the Undertaker's hardcore title.  With time off, they'd reconcile and would return in February 2002 with Lita pursuing Jazz's Women's title at Wrestlemania X8, in a losing effort in a match that also included Trish Stratus. While filming a scene for the Dark Angel series, Lita suffered an injury during a stunt meaning she had to take on a noncompetitive role while she recovered so she became a color commentator on Sunday Night Heat before being fired in April 2003 after rejecting the advances of then Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. She'd return in September saving Trish Stratus from an attack by Gail Kim and Molly Holly with then co-GM Steve Austin explaining he had rehired Lita. Lita would soon become a top challenger to Molly Holly's Women's championship but would fail to defeat her and would eventually lose an intergender match teaming with Matt Hardy against Bischoff and Molly when Matt turned on her for not putting his interest before her own despite the stipulation she would be fired if she lost the match. However Christian, then a potential love interest for Lita, would use a favor to get her reinstated. Lita would have the first ever Women's Steel Cage match against Victoria the next week losing after Matt interfered. Christian and Lita as well as Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus seemed to be moving into storyline love interests until it was revealed the two men had bet one Canadian dollar as to who could get each lady into bed first leading to a battle of the sexes feud between Lita and Trish vs. Christian and Jericho with the men eventually winning the showdown between them in-ring.

Lita would go on to win a battle royal to become # 1 contender to Victoria's Women's Championship but would fail to defeat her. Not long after that, she and Matt Hardy would reunite and reconcile with Matt trying to protect her from Kane, who had begun to make romantic advances towards her. Eventually Kane would kidnap Lita and one point and would continually attack and beat up Matt week after week. Eventually it would be revealed (in a terrible storyline) that Lita was pregnant and had slept with Kane to save Hardy from all these beatings. This eventually led to a match with Lita's hand in marriage on the line between Kane and Matt eventually won by Kane. Kane and Lita would memorably get "married" on the August 23rd, 2004 Raw episode with Trish Stratus making a memorable appearance to torment Lita at one point. Despite being "married" and accompanying Kane to the ring, Lita often cheered for and aided his opponents until another terrible storyline had Lita miscarry after Gene Snitsky hit Kane with a chair causing him to fall on Lita. This led to Kane and Lita finally joining forces together as allies against Snitsky. Lita also continued her feud with then WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus who had relentlessly tormented her for weeks with Lita eventually winning her second Women's title from Stratus despite botching a suicide dive that nearly killed her at one point. In a January 2005 rematch, Lita would tear her ACL when executing a Thesz press from the ring apron in a title loss to Stratus. Lita would return in March 2005 as newcomer Christy Hemme's mentor during Hemme's Women's title match against Stratus at Wrestlemania 21. Lita continued feuding with Stratus and teaming with Kane until the May 16th episode of Raw when she betrayed Kane helping Edge, then known for controversially having had an affair with Lita in real life, defeat him in the Gold Rush tournament. Her pairing with Edge would arguably be Lita's best and the pair would have great success together successfully winning feuds against Kane and later Matt Hardy. She'd also be in Edge's corner when he defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship at New Year's Revolution in 2005. The next night on Raw, she and Edge were involved in a controversial and highly rated "live sex celebration" that would eventually be interrupted by John Cena and would see Lita's bare breast momentarily exposed when Cena returned to the ring to attack and FU her. She'd go on to team with Edge in a losing effort against Cena and Maria.  She'd continue to manage Edge and would aid him in his hardcore style feud with Mick Foley with the pair so impressing Foley he'd eventually turn heel and team with them himself against his former ECW alumni Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty whom they defeated at One Night Stand. Not long after, Lita, still managing Edge, would upset Mickie James for her third Women's Championship before Edge & Lita moved on to feud with Stratus and her new ally Carlito. Trish would go on to defeat Lita for the Women's Championship in her retirement match, Lita would regain and win her fourth Women's title after winning a tournament over such opponents as Candice Michelle, Maria and finally Mickie James in the finals. Lita announced her impending retirement and would go on to lose her Women's title to Mickie James during her retirement match at Survivor Series 2006. Lita largely retired as well because of all that fan backlash and harassment against her because of her betrayal of Matt Hardy despite being a very hot heel valet in terms of heat at the time.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 02, 2011, 12:24:07 AM
Scott Hudson joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Hudson who started off in the Global Wrestling Federation back in the early 1990s proved to be one of the better and more capable and knowledgable play by play/color men. You could also tell he really truly seemed to be a fan of the product. He would move to WCW alongside Tony Schiavone on WCW Monday Nitro in 1998 and the duo would call the final show in 2001. In 2001, WWE wanted both Hudson and Joey Styles to come in full-time but both men turned down the offer. Hudson however would briefly take part in the Invasion angle and called a WCW style match on WWE between Buff Bagwell and Booker T. alongside Arn Anderson. In 2003, he'd move to TNA where he worked as a backstage interviewer and fill-in announcer. In 2005, he would work for Vince Russo's Ring of Glory Christian wrestling promotion/ministry and on May 5, 2007 would act as ring announcer for a Women's Extreme Wrestling show.

Hector Guerrero joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Hector Guerrero, of the famous Guerrero wrestling family, son of Gory and brother to Eddie, Chavo and Mando had the most success in his career teaming with his brothers Chavo and Mando before adopting some goofy gimmicks including a Lazer Tag style gimmick with Lazer-Tron during which he did win the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship while often teaming with "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant. Later he'd move to the AWA and would win the AWA World Tag Team titles alongside Dr. D. He'd take his goofiest gimmick yet moving to the WWF in 1990 as the masked Goobledly Gooker. In the mid to late 1990s, Hector competed in ECW and then WCW with mixed success, winning some matches but probably losing more. In 2007, he signed with TNA as a Spanish color commentator and road agent and would end up getting involved with the tag team LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) becoming their on-screen mentor and adviser (and sort of inspiration, only Hector's career was hardly as inspiring as that of his siblings Eddie and Chavo). In 2008, Guerrero though did manage LAX successfully to several key win and a TNA World Tag Team Championship helping them along the way. In September 2008 however LAX lost a "Loser's Manager Leaves Town" match to Beer Money Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) effectively ending his short-lived managing career of a couple of months


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 15, 2011, 09:32:34 PM
"The Polish Power" Ivan Putski joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Putski, a Polish powerhouse with a bodybuilder's physique who had competed in strongman competitions, was one of the most popular and beloved wrestlers of his era in the 1970s and early 1980s. He always seemed to be the favourite of many a grandmother and many older fans. His in-ring offense wasn't always convincing though to many an home viewer and no doubt led many to suspect if pro wrestling was really on "the up and up" back in his time. He was known for his "Polish Hammer" finisher, a double axe-handle to his opponent's chest, his power wear down holds the bearhug, headlock, scoop slam and vertical suplex. But he definitely had a likable everyman charm that made him widely appealing to fans. He often competed also in arm-wrestling and posedown challenges especially when feuding with fellow muscular powerhouses like "Superstar" Billy Graham, who he'd challenge unsuccessfully for the WWWF World Heavyweight title and later Jesse "The Body" Ventura. He also had memorable feuds with the Iron Sheik and Ivan Koloff and made a memorable appearance on "Piper's Pit". Putski actually was a Polish immigrant to the United States moving with his family to Texas in his youth. Putski was smaller than most wrestlers given he was only 5' 6 " and typically weighed in the 220-250 pound range but was well built and muscular and always seemed larger than he really was by the way he carried himself. Putski would start out in the NWA territories in the early 1970s and would capture the NWA American Tag Team Championship and the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship while partnered with Jose Lothario defeating Brute Bernard and the Missouri Mauler. Putski often played an aloof happy go lucky buffoon who somehow always seemed to defeat his opponent when said opponent least expected it. By the mid-70s, Putski moved to the AWA and slimmed down to 215-220 pounds before moving on to the WWWF in 1974. Putski, a widely popular fan favourite often feuded with many top heels trying to position themselves into title contention and so feuded with the likes of Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen amongst others.  On October 22, 1979, Putski would team with Tito Santana to win arguably his biggest championship, the WWF World Tag Team Championship from Jerry and Johnny Valiant. They'd hold the belts for six months before losing them to the Wild Samoans. He'd win one more tag championship, the SWCW World Tag Team Championship with Wahoo McDaniel defeating Dory Funk Jr. and Larry Lane. By the mid-80s, Putski was mostly helping to put over rising WWF stars before retiring. He'd be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995 by his son Scott Putski, also a wrestler. He'd even return to the ring one more time to team with Scott against Jerry Lawler and Brian Christoper on Raw, a match won by the Putskis.

The Invaders joins the Tag Team Hall of Shame. The Invaders were a Puerto Rican masked tag team known for their high-flying moves that often befuddled much larger opponents. They had some small success in the WWF but mainly the biggest part of their success was to be found in their home country in WWC. Invader 1 (José González) and Invader II (Roberto Soto) and later Invader III (Johnny Rivera). Invaders I & II would capture many tag titles in WWC including the WWC World Tag Team Championships on two occasions and the WWC North American Tag Team Championship. Later the team of Invader I and III would win the WWC World Tag Team Championships 3 times and the WWC North American Tag Team Championship twice. Later Invader II and III would join forces to feud with Invader I before themselves falling out and Invader II defeating Invader III in a match for his mask. Later Invader II would win an AWF World Tag Team Championship with a mysterious Invader IV. Of course González is best known today as the man who stabbed Bruiser Brody to death in the locker room showers during a wrestling event. González would be acquitted after the jury accepted he was acting in self-defense. The investigation has since been harshly criticized in two books about the life of Brody.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 16, 2011, 10:11:26 PM
Joe Pedicino joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Pedicino spent some time commentating in Jim Crockett Promotions NWA in the 1980s and for World Championship Wrestling from around that era. He also appeared as a host on a show called "Superstars of Wrestling" along with wife Bonnie Blackstone and the legendary Gordon Solie, with whom he'd also co-host a show entitled "Pro Wrestling This Week". The "Superstars of Wrestling" show featured wrestling from several different territories and organizations including the Continental Wrestling Association, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Mid-South Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling as well as footage from all the many NWA territories early on. Later he'd become an announcer for a promotion he co-owned, the Global Wrestling Federation and their "Global Superstars of Wrestling" show. He'd also play a similar role in the short-lived LPWA (Ladies Professional Wrestling Association). Given the nickname "The Round Mound of Sound", he was one of the last familiar voices during the end of the territory era.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 23, 2011, 12:05:17 AM
Samoa Joe joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Samoa Joe is best known for his runs in ROH and TNA. Joe dominated in ROH holding its World Championship for an unrivalled 21 months and also holding the ROH Pure Championship before moving to TNA and impressing with an 18 month undefeated streak before losing to Kurt Angle at Genesis 2006. In TNA, Joe has captured the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once, the TNA X Division title four times and TNA World Tag Team Championship once. He also won the 2005 Super X Cup tournament, the 2008 King of the Mountain match being the only champion to retain his title in said match and the TNA Triple Crown.

Joe started out in Ultimate Pro Wrestling in 2000 where he feuded with John Cena. He eventually went on to capture the UPW Heavyweight Championship and became their longest reigning champion in history. In mid 2001, he began competing in Japan's Pro Wrestling Zero1 and Pro Wrestling NOAH while also competing in California's Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He'd team with Keiji Sakoda to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship. Competing in NOAH, Joe would eventually challenge Mitsuhara Misawa for the GHC World Heavyweight Championship but would be unsuccessful. In 2002, Joe began competing in ROH (Ring of Honor) where Joe quickly impressed with his hard-hitting stiff style that reminded one more of a MMA fighter than a pro wrestler. Joe defeated Xavier on May 17, 2003 for the ROH World Championship and held on to the title until December 26, 2004 when he finally lost it to Austin Aries. While champion, Joe defeated a virtual who's who of challengers including the likes of C.M. Punk, Aries, Roderick Strong, Homicide and many others.  Shortly after losing the ROH World title, Joe captured the ROH Pure Championship defeating his on-screen protege Jay Lethal on May 7, 2005. He'd hold the championship for three months before losing it to Nigel McGuinness on August 27, 2005. Joe would go on to impress in an October 2005 match against NOAH's Kenta Kobashi. Joe would eventually be a principal wrestler representing ROH in its war with CZW although he would get attacked by ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson, who'd he challenge in some great matches for the championship but would fail to regain it.

Joe started appearing in TNA in June 2005 and would go on to impress establishing a long undefeated streak and wowing fans in great matches with A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels. Joe would eventually brutally attack and "injure" Daniels which would set off a feud with Styles which would see Joe defeat him for his first X-Division Championship. Joe would eventually lose the title in Daniels in an Ultimate X match that also involved Styles. Joe would regain the title from Daniels n April 13, 2006. Joe would go on to reluctantly team with Sting against Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner at Sacrifice but would fail to aid Sting in a post-match beatdown by Jarrett and Steiner creating bad blood between them. Joe would go on to defeat Steiner in subsequent rematches. Joe would go on to lose his X Division Championship to Senshi in a Triple Threat match also involving Sonjay Dutt when Dutt was pinned. Joe suddenly decided he wanted to be part of the World Championship picture and stole Jeff Jarrett's title following a victory in a Fan's Revenge Lumberjack match. While Joe had the title in his possession, Kurt Angle debuted and targeted Joe giving Jarrett a chance to regain possession of the belt. Joe would go on to win a Monster's Ball match over Abyss, Raven and Brother Runt before moving into an intense rivalry/feud with Kurt Angle with Angle ending Joe undefeated streak with his anklelock submission hold. Angle would also go on to defeat him but just barely in an Iron Man match. Joe would go on to challenge Christian Cage for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship but Christian would cheat and find a way to defeat him. He'd then fail to win a King of the Mountain match for the title (it was won by Angle) but would rebound by capturing another X-Division Championship by defeating Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal. This qualified him for a match of champions teaming with Kurt Angle to defeat Team 3D for the TNA World Tag Team Championship but would later opt to hold the tag titles all by himself. Joe would elect to put all his titles on the line in a match at Hard Justice for all of Angle's titles (the TNA World title and the IGF version of the IWGP World Championship). Joe would lose to Angle thanks in large part to interference from Karen Angle. Joe would next target Christian Cage becoming the first man to defeat him by pinfall or submission after 23 months. Joe next started teaming with Kevin Nash and Eric Young, replacing a no show Scott Hall against Kurt Angle and his Angle Alliance of Tomko and A.J. Styles. This eventually led to Nash starting to show Joe tough love respect lessons about the wrestling business  :bouncegiggle: . Joe would eventually form a team with Nash and Christian Cage to combat Angle and his oft interfering Angle Alliance with Joe and his partners eventually eliminating Tomko and Styles as a threat during Joe's TNA World Title shot at Lockdown where Joe would finally defeat Angle to win his first and only TNA World Heavyweight Championship with the stipulation he'd retire if he lost. Joe would successfully defend against Angle and then Scott Steiner and Kaz and would even retain his title in a King of the Mountain match. He'd then enter into a feud with Booker T. which eventually saw Sting suddenly appear and attack Joe with a baseball bat aiding Booker. Later Jeff Jarrett would return and help Joe regain possession of his stolen title with a guitar shot. At Bound For Glory IV, Joe would lose his TNA World Championship to a now heel Sting.

Joe and A.J. Styles and numerous other young wrestlers would form an alliance called "The Frontline" to combat Sting and his new Main Event Mafia faction that also included Kurt Angle, Booker T., Kevin Nash and eventually Scott Steiner. Eventually the MEM would help Nash gain a measure of revenge on Joe and would eventually sideline him while dominating the feud with the Frontline faction. Joe would return with a new look sporting a buzzcut hairstyle, tribal facepaint and a much heavier frame and often welding a large knife stating the MEM was about to meet the real Joe and his "nation of violence". The silly gimmick didn't suit him well at all and mostly Joe would just get disqualified night after night. Joe however would eventually win a key match over Kurt Angle that would thrust him into a position to possibly lead a team against the MEM at Lethal Lockdown but declined. He did however team with A.J. Styles, Jeff Jarrett and a returning Christopher Daniels  and his team did finally defeat the MEM. Shortly thereafter, he'd finally get some revenge on Nash defeating his former "mentor". At Slammiversary Joe would shock many however by turning on A.J. Styles and helping Kurt Angle win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a King of the Mountain match turning heel and eventually joining the MEM himself claiming he did it for the money. The new MEM would name Angle as leader and would boot out and attack Sting as well as Daniels and Styles. Joe would have a grudge match with Sting at Victory Road where it was revealed Taz was Samoa Joe's secret adviser helping Joe gain the win. At Hard Justice, Joe would go on to defeat Homicide for his fourth TNA X Division Championship and reignited his old feud with Daniels whom he defeated. He would however lose the X Division Championship to the Amazing Red following interference from Bobby Lashley. Lashley subsequently defeated Joe in a submission match. The MEM would fizzle out after Kurt Angle decided to turn face and Joe would once again focus on the World title but would fail to defeat A.J. Styles in several challenges. Since then, his career has kind of been in a tailspin in TNA with many shifts from face to heel back and forth but little success in his continued title hunt despite successes in feuds with Jeff Jarrett and D'Angelo Dinero but failing to defeat the undefeated Crimson.

The Yukon Lumberjacks join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. The Yukon Lumberjacks was a big man team formed in 1978 in the WWWF under manager Captain Lou Albano. Yukon Eric, a very young Scott Irwin, and Yukon Pierre, the much older but equally inexperienced Zarinoff Lebeouf who also wrestled under Russian gimmicks such as Igor Volkoff and the Russian Stomper - he was also known as Pierre LaFleur. They used a Canadian lumberjack style gimmick somewhat inspired by the original Yukon Eric only they played heels. They had some success in the WWWF in 1978 going on to defeat Dino Bravo and Dominic DeNucci on June 26, 1978 to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championships. They'd lose the titles a few months later to Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko and Pierre would retire shortly thereafter. Irwin would go on to gain even more recognition and success as Scott "Hog" Irwin teaming with his brother "Wild" Bill Irwin in the Long Riders and Super Destroyers tag teams.

"The Dirty White Girl" Kim Anthony joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. "The Dirty White Girl" is of course best known for her time as the long-running valet of her now ex-husband "The Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony and his many partners over the years. She is remembered for her feuds with Tammy Lynn Sytch and partnered with Anthony against Dr. Tom Prichard and Miss Texas (AKA: Jacqueline Moore). She managed Anthony both in the Continental area, Alabama, the USWA where she once held the USWA Women's Championship and later Smoky Mountain Wrestling. She was one of the most active, in terms of not being afraid to get involved in the action, during the 1980s and was arguably a groundbreaker in that regard. She knew how to get fans to hate her and also how to get them to love her after she and Anthony turned face in the early 1990s. She also knew how to play up to whatever angles were thrown at her. She was a long-lasting independent attraction during her era.

Toni Adams joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Toni started in WCCW as an assistant to the production staff in 1984. There she'd meet and eventually marry pro wrestler "Gentleman" Chris Adams shortly after Adams divorce of ex-wife Jeannie Clark. She'd make some sporadic appearances in support of Adams before becoming his on screen manager in 1989. Before long she and announcer Frank Dusek would be attacked by Tojo Yamamoto and P.Y. Chu-Hi (Phil Hickerson) and would have her blouse ripped open by Yamamoto before Chris Adams could make the save igniting a feud between the Adams and Yamamoto and Chu-Hi. Toni started carrying a kendo stick to the ring with her for protection and soon showed she had no fear using it against anyone who dared to threaten her. Shortly thereafter she and Chris would feud with Billy Joe Travis, who would actually spank her in the ring at one point. In May 1990, she and Chris returned to now what was the USWA and started feuding with Chris former protege Steve Austin who would soon pair up with Adams' ex-wife Jeannie Clark, setting off a chain of mixed tag team matches and one of 1990s most memorable feuds. (Austin & Clark would eventually get married too). Not long after the feud, Toni would divorce Chris who had previously assaulted her due to his drinking problems. She'd make her return in late 1993 losing to Rockin' Robin before going on to manage Brian Christopher as Nanny Simpson and went on to feud with Koko B. Ware and Miss Texas (Jacqueline Moore) and would even score a win over Miss Texas at one point although Miss Texas would get the better of her in the end defeating her in a chain match by DQ. She'd go on to feud with Dirty White Girl Kim Anthony who defeated her finally in a street fight. She'd briefly manage Eddie Gilbert before his feud with Jerry Lawler and moved to Global Wrestling Federation where she'd join General Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. eventually managing Iceman King Parsons during a feud with ex-husband Chris Adams. She also managed Koko B. Ware, Scotty Flamingo, Tony Falk and Rod Price and also used the valet names Toni the Tigress and Miss Simpson.

Todd Pettengill joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. He is best remembered for his mid-1990s WWF tenure as a backstage interviewer replacing the departing Sean Mooney. He appeared on WWF shows such as WWF Mania, WWF Blast-Off, WWF Livewire and WWF Action Zone. He made his Wrestlemania debut wearing a toga at Wrestlemania IX and is perhaps best remembered for performing "WWF Superstars" at the 1996 Slammy Awards. At the 1997 Slammys, he presented Miss Slammy to Sable. His last WWF PPV appearance was at SummerSlam 1997 and left after his contract expired. He seemed to be another interchangeable type in the WWF replacing Mooney and performing in much the same way.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on June 24, 2011, 11:15:53 PM
Deuce and Domino join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. I gotta personally admit to be a huge fan of this tag team and honestly I wish they were still around. Sporting 1950s style gimmicks that looked like they stepped out of a 50s juvenile deliquency film or perhaps even off of "Happy Days", Deuce and Domino sporting slick, greased back haircuts, sweet leather jackets, white shirts coming to the ring in a 50s style car along with manager Cherry Pie, the storyline sister of Deuce, who looked like she just finished working at the local drive-in burger joint wearing roller skates, poodle skirts and constantly chewing bubblegum. I just loved their gimmick but also it was that they seemed to be and acted like a real tag team with the same idealogies and the same desire for tag team success and tag team gold. Deuce Shade, the real life son of Jimmy Snuka, and Dice Domino began teaming in WWE's developmental territories Ohio Valley Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling where they first started developing and working their greaser gimmick while paired with Kara Drew who became Cherry Pie. In OVW, they were known as The Throw-Backs and later changed their name to The Untouchables and started going by solely Deuce, Domino and Cherry. They'd captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship when Deuce defeated The Miz following the departure of the Miz's partner Chris Cage left OVW forcing Miz to defend the titles by himself. They'd drop the OVW Southern tag titles a month later to Roadkill and Kasey James in a match also involving the Spirit Squad. Next they'd pursue the team of C.M. Punk and Seth Skyfire eventually defeating them for their second OVW Southern Tag Team Championship and would also capture the Deep South Wrestling Tag Team Championship in a surprise appearance there. They'd eventually lose the Deep South tag titles to the Major Brothers and the OVW Southern tag titles to Sean Spears and Cody Runnels (Rhodes) with Cherry seemingly leaving them in favor of Spears & Runnels but it was all a set-up with Cherry eventually betraying Spears & Runnels to help Deuce and Domino. They'd capture one more OVW Southern Tag Team Championship from Spears & Runnels but would eventually drop the belts back to them in a street fight ending their feud/rivalry.

In January 2007, Deuce and Domino, along with Cherry, debuted in WWE and quickly impressed winning their debut match. On a February 2, 2007 match, they'd upset the WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a non-title match thus moving themselves into title contention. They'd lose their match against London & Kendrick at No Way Out but would go on to defeat London & Kendrick on the April 20, 2007 episode of WWE Smackdown! Deuce and Domino would go on to successfully defend their titles against many challengers including London & Kendrick, William Regal & Dave Taylor, Sgt. Slaughter & Jimmy Snuka, Cryme Tyme, Batista and Ric Flair before finally losing the titles on August 31, 2007 to the unlikely team of Matt Hardy and M.V.P.. Deuce and Domino impressed in many matches with their hard-hitting in your face style and fifties inspired brawling moves and finishers like the Crack 'Em in the Mouth and the West Side Stomp. However they'd fail to regain the tag gold in WWE and would get sidetracked in many feuds with Hardy & MVP, Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore, Jesse and Festus and even Finlay and Hornswoggle. In late May 2008, Deuce and Domino split with Cherry pinning their run of losses on her and replaced her with Maryse which made Cherry a popular fan favorite for the first time. No more than a month later, after too many bad losses, they'd eventually turned on each other and started brawling with one another effectively dissolving the team. It was really too bad as they truly felt a bit of a throwback to the old powerhouse brawling teams of old like Doom, the APA, the Road Warriors and Demolition.

Dusty Rhodes joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Rhodes is and was a terrific talker, one of the very best in that regard in wrestling history. While sometimes his color commentary seemed a bit hard to follow I'm sure for those unfamiliar with Rhodes and his southern drawl, he was almost always entertaining and worked hard to try and sell and put over the talent in the ring pointing out motivations behind matches as each man wanting to get ahead and get the bigger purse as the winner, "to get to the pay window if you will...". He was a mainstay on WCW Saturday Night for many years.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on June 25, 2011, 08:50:30 AM
Rhodes was great as an announcer.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 05, 2011, 10:42:43 PM
TAKA Michinoku joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Actually TAKA is one of pro wrestling's most talented cruiserweights who's had success practically everywhere he went. TAKA actually took the name Michinoku in tribute to his mentor The Great Sasuke, owner of Michinoku pro Wrestling. TAKA debuted in the WWF in July 1997 and quickly impressed despite losing a couple of bouts to Sasuke himself. By December 1997, TAKA defeated Brian Christopher in a tournament final for the newly created WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. TAKA would hold the title an impressive 10 months defeating any and all comers until finally being upset by then-newcomer Christian in October 1998. Shortly thereafter TAKA would become engaged in a feud with Kai En Tai (Mens Teioh, Dick Togo and Sho Funaki) and even teamed up with Val Venis against them, that is until Val propositioned Kai En Tai's manager Mr. Yamaguchi's wife, also TAKA's "sister". This led to TAKA joining forces with Kai En Tai to try and take out Val. Eventually Togo and Teioh would return to Japan and the team would be just TAKA and Funaki who had rather little success and basically become a jobber team. TAKA however would get one more day in the WWF Spotlight when he challenged Triple H for the WWE Championship in April 2000 and would impress even though he fell short of winning the title despite help from Funaki and the APA.

TAKA would thereafter return to Japan in 2002 to rehab a shoulder injury and to help start up his own Kaientai promotion. Over the next few years he'd also appear in Hawaii and All-Japan Pro Wrestling forming a team called Mexico Amigos (Black) with the likes of El Nosawa Mendoza and Kaz Hayashi as well as later Nobutaka Araya who would eventually be booted out of the group again. He also made some appearance in a Japanese comedy style promotion called DDT as well as competing in Michinoku Pro and reuniting his old Kaientai tag team with Funaki. TAKA is a master of many high flying moves but also has a great ground game. His finisher the Michinoku Driver has become a feared and respected and now oft used finisher.

TAKA has held the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship, the UWA World Trios Championship with Francis Togo and Antonio Honda, the FMW Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice, the IWW Junior Heavyweight Championship, the FMW/WEW Hardcore Tag Team Championship with TOMO Michinoku, the Strongest-K Championship twice, the Strongest-K tag Team Championship twice with Handsome Joe, the UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship with Ryota Chikuzen, the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship (Michinoku Pro), the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Dick Togo, the WEW Six Man Tag Team Championship with Gosaku Goshogawara and Tetsuhiro Kuroda and of course the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. He also won the Strongest-K Tournament in 2007.

Madusa Miceli joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Madusa, real name Debra Miceli, first made a name for herself in the AWA challenging and feuding with Sherri Martel until Sherri left for the WWF. Madusa would then replace Sherri as manager for "Mr. Magnificent" Kevin Kelly and later Nick Kiniski who teamed with Kelly in a team called "The Perfect Team". Madusa was actually surprisingly capable as a manager here and helped bring attention to her men with eventually Kelly moving into title contention while his team with Kiniski moved into tag title contention. Their success would prove short-lived however as Kelly & Kiniski just really couldn't deliver in the ring at this point in their careers. After moving away from Kelly and Kiniski, Madusa would go on to defeat Candi Devine for the AWA Women's Championship in a tournament final in December 1987 and would shortly thereafter move on to managing then AWA World Heavyweight Champion Curt Hennig in what was actually quite a good pairing and the two would later join Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Exchange alongside Badd Company and Colonel DeBeers. Madusa would go on to lose the AWA Women's title to Wendi Richter in November 1988 in a six person tag match teaming with Badd Company against Wendi & the Top Guns. Madusa would in 1988 become the first ever woman to win the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year Award.

Madusa moved on to compete in All-Japan Women's Pro Wrestling becoming one of the first foreign wrestlers to do so. She'd defeat Chigusa Nagayo for the IWA Women's title and would hold it one day before losing it back to Nagayo. In Japan, Madusa  trained and worked hard to improve herself learning the Japanese style of women's wrestling but also Muay Thai, boxing and kickboxing. She'd also work in the U.S. in Tri-State Wrestling feuding with Luna Vachon whom she'd eventually defeat in an hair vs. hair match while teaming with Eddie Gilbert against Luna and Cactus Jack.

Madusa would debut in WCW in 1991 as a core member of Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance where she mainly acted as manager/valet for Ravishing Rick Rude. When Dangerously would later kick her out of the Alliance, she'd get her revenge by defeating Dangerously in a match at Clash of the Champions. Madusa would next move to the WWF under a new name and identity there known as Alundra Blayze where she captured the WWF Women's Championship three times, once in a tournament final over Heidi Lee Morgan, second over Bull Nakano whom she traded the title back and forth with and finally she worked a similar program with Bertha Faye. The WWF would let go of Madusa in 1995 and she'd make the jump to WCW and in a shocking WCW Nitro segment, she threw the WWF Women's Championship into the thrash! (The WWF Women's Championship wouldn't return until 1998). In WCW, Madusa feuded briefly with Bull Nakano and then battled Akira Hokuto for the newly created WCW Women's Championship but would fail to defeat Hokuto for it with Madusa eventually losing a Career match against Hokuto. Madusa however would return again in 1999 this time as a member of "Macho Man" Randy Savage's Team Madness alongside Gorgeous George and Miss Madness (the future Molly Holly). Following a somewhat successful run with Savage, Madusa herself tried to compete with the men entering title tournaments but seemingly to no avail. Eventually she took to managing Evan Karagias and guided him to the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship until Karagias dumped Madusa in favor of Spice of the Nitro Girls. Madusa would go on to challenge Karagias for his title and would actually win it with help from Spice who turned on Karagias and briefly became Madusa's manager. By early 2000, she became embroiled in a sadly farcical feud with Oklahoma (Ed Ferrara making fun of Jim Ross in rather bad taste fashion) which eventually saw her lose the Cruiserweight Championship to him. She'd also become an instructor at the WCW Power Plant and helped train the future Molly Holly. Right before WCW's collapse, she'd team with Billy Kidman in a losing effort Mixed Scaffold match against Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson before retiring in 2001. After wrestling, Madusa would go on to impress on the Monster Truck circuit.

The Impact Players of Lance Storm & Justin Credible join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Storm and Credible would form a team in February 1999 when both men laid claim to becoming the next "Franchise" upon Shane Douglas's departure. Storm and manager/valet Dawn Marie and Credible with manager/bodyguard Jason made for an excellent combination. They'd soon come to dominate ECW feuding with the likes of Jerry Lynn, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman. They dominated the scene for quite a time attacking and brutalizing seemingly anyone who got in their way. They truly seemed to have the "it" factor at the time and were a cool and unpredictable tag team to watch. Their entrances with Dawn Marie and Jason were often high energy and exciting. They'd finally capture the ECW World Tag Team Championships from the unlikely pairing of Tommy Dreamer and Raven at Guilty as Charged 2000 but would lose them to Tommy Dreamer and Masato Tanaka on February 26, 2000 before regaining them from Mike Awesome and Raven at Living Dangerously 2000 on March 12th. The Impact Players would dominate the tag scene until their eventual split in late April 2000 when Storm left for WCW and Credible went on to become ECW World Heavyweight Champion. At Guilty as Charged 2000, a New Impact Players team of Credible and Steve Corino was formed but would prove short-lived as ECW neared its demise. During the later WWE Invasion storyline with both Storm and Credible members of the Alliance they'd reform their old team for a series of matches against the Hardy Boys, mainly on WWE Sunday Night Heat. Later at the ECW One Night Stand 2005 PPV, the Impact Players would again reunite with Credible helping Lance Storm defeat Chris Jericho at the event and again later that same year at Hardcore Homecoming: November Reign with Storm helping Credible in his cage match against Jerry Lynn.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 06, 2011, 10:12:41 AM
Big fan of TAKA as well as the Impact Players. 

I think I was one of a dozen people who bought the TAKA/Funaki t-shirt when it was available in 2000 or so.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 06, 2011, 10:23:31 PM
The Blue World Order of Big Stevie Cool [Stevie Richards], Da Blue Guy [The Blue Meanie] and Hollywood Nova join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The bWo stable formed in ECW in November 1996 as basically a parody of the nWo. After a long-time of parodying other wrestlers from both the WWF and WCW not to mention The Jackson 5 and KISS, Richards, Meanie and Nova (all lackeys in Raven's stable at the time) took things to a whole new level with their nWo parody which finally helped elevate Richards to a main event level in ECW as the bWo proved wildly popular with fans. The bWo even added further members in their nWo parody including Chastity, Thomas "The Inchworm" Rodman (parody of Dennis Rodman who was hanging around with the nWo at the time), 7-11 (parody of Syxx), "Nacho Man" Ricky Salvage (parody of Randy Savage), and a jobber in a parody of The Catman from KISS. They even added a bWo Japan in parody of nWo Japan with Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo and Mens Teioh (also members of Kaientai). However by 1998 with Stevie Richards having suffered a severe neck injury and shortly thereafter making the jump to WCW in 1997, the bWo now just Nova and Meanie had little success and were even squashed by Taz at one point. The bWo would actually reform in WWE in 2005 at ECW One Night Stand appearing before the tag match between Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman vs. the Dudley Boyz. The bWo would reunite again in July 2005 in response to JBL's bullying mistreatment of the Blue Meanie leading to a challenge from Meanie to JBL. Meanie, with a lot of help from Richards and Batista, would get the eventual win following a Meaniesault and a measure of revenge to boot. The bWo would again team up against the Mexicools (Super Crazy, Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis) in a six-man match at the Great American Bash and would even parody them as they made their ring entrance. However the bWo would lose to the Mexicools and shortly thereafter faded from the scene with Richards and Nova returning to their previous Steven Richards and Simon Dean WWE gimmicks. They'd have a few more sporadic reunions in the independents and once more at TNA Hardcore Justice.

Steve Romero joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Romero replaced Bill DeMott alongside Josh Matthews calling WWE Velocity which arguably featured some of WWE's finest, albeit largely unrecognized, wrestling talents at that time. Romero tried but wasn't really that great as a play by play or color man and seemed to lack real knowledge about wrestling and its history even if he did sometimes make cool references to old movies that most likely most viewers would have never heard of let alone seen. He also worked as a backstage interviewer and back-up commentator on WWE Smackdown! and also did work as a RAW backstage interviewer and commentated on WWE Sunday Night Heat on one occasion. He also did the Canadian update WWE spots for Canadian viewers.

Armando Estrada joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Mostly known for his time successfully managing Umaga and his loud and colorful ring introductions referring to himself as Armando Alejandro Estrada. Estrada actually began in Ohio Valley Wrestling as a boydguard for Muhammed Hassan and Daivari named Osama doing an anti-American gimmick. He managed Umaga to the WWE Intercontinental title in 2007. In August 2007, Estrada was named General Manager of ECW and mostly feuded with Colin Delaney before being moved into a jobber to the stars role. Estrada would move on to compete on the independent circuit in 2008 before returning in 2011 as a manager for Tyson Kidd although this seemingly only lasted one week on WWE Superstars. Estrada won the Pro Wrestling Report Manager of the Year Award in 2006 and was/is? in many ways a throwback to the managers of yesteryear.

Traci Brooks joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. While Brooks has managed a variety of wrestlers to varying degrees of success, she's usually more remembered for her ahem "ample bosom" that any managerial guidance she might have given. In TNA, she managed Shane Douglas and Michael Shane in a new group called "the New Franchise" until eventually Shane and Brooks turned on Douglas to forge out on their own. Eventually Michael Shane and Traci would form an alliance with Frankie Kazarian which would prove very successful with the duo eventually defeating A.J. Styles in an Ultimate X match and co-holding the X Division Championship. They'd hold the title for almost two months before losing it to Petey Williams in a gauntlet match. Traci would turn face by leaving Shane and Kazarian behind in 2004 to become assistant to Dusty Rhodes, then acting TNA Director of Authority which would lead to a rivalry with Trinity who also wanted to become Dusty's assistant. This led to both women managing tag teams against one another with Traci eventually winning out by leading Ron & Don Harris to victory over Trinity's Phi Delta Slam tandem. Eventually Traci would leave Rhodes behind to begin managing Chris Sabin against Michael Shane, who was now managed by Trinity which eventually led to a double-turn as Traci betrayed Sabin to help old ally Shane win and Shane turned on Trinity. Traci was once again managing Shane who now changed his name to Matt Bentley who soon became known for his "Bentley Bounce" along with Traci. Bentley however would have some negotational difficulties with TNA and the pair would have little real success. Traci next started managing the promising Robert Roode as Ms. Brooks but her association with him would be shaky at best as he mistreated her and was generally abusive although he did coerce her into signing Eric Young during a feud between him and Roode. Eventually she would be replaced by a Miss Payton Banks with whom she'd engage in a feud and would now take on more of a role as an in-ring competitor although upon her return in 2011 she would rescue her real life husband Kazarian from an in-ring beatdown by Robbie E. and Cookie. She'd also go on to challenge Madison Rayne unsuccessfully for the Knockouts Championship. In addition to Douglas, Shane, Kazarian, Sabin, the Harris Brothers, Robert Roode and Eric Young, Brooks has managed C.M. Punk, Colt Cabana, Ace Steel, David Young, Jacqueline Moore and Alex Shelley.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 12, 2011, 10:22:15 PM
I loved the bWo.  Still do. :twirl:


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 21, 2011, 08:35:31 PM
Jung Dragons , the trio of Kaz Hayashi, Yang and Jamie-San join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. This was a quick-paced team of cruiserweights who used the Japanese stable gimmick even though Jamie-San (in fact Jamie Noble) who wore a mask wasn't even Asian at all. They are mostly remembered for appearing in WCW where they feuded with another cruiserweight trio called 3 Count who used a boy band style gimmick. In WCW, they were later managed by the sexy Leia Meow (better known in ECW as Kimona Wanalaya) who dressed in a dominatrix outfit and carried a riding crop. Meow also often interfered in her men's bouts jumping from the top rope with flying bodypresses. All three stars while very impressive in the Jung Dragons and their high-flying fast paced bouts against 3 Count, all 3 would gain much greater recognition elsewhere with Yang gaining fame as Akio and Jimmy Wang Yang in WWE and Jamie-San becoming much better known as Jamie Noble. Hayashi also gained greater success upon returning to Japan.

The Long Riders [AKA: The Super Destroyers) team of brothers "Wild" Bill and Scott "Hog" Irwin join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. The Irwins were impressive huge brawlers and I'll always remember the impression they made on me as a kid watching them appear in Canadian International Wrestling and the AWA where they had a memorable feud against the Road Warriors. They pretty much ran over everyone else who stood in their way except the Warriors that is. The larger Scott had actually held the WWF World Tag Team Championship as Eric, a member of the Yukon Lumberjacks. Afterwards Scott adopted a masked character gimmick called the Super Destroyer. He'd eventually team up with younger brother "Wild" Bill Irwin also under a mask as the masked Super Destroyers and together they ran roughshod over the Texas NWA territory first capturing the NWA American Tag Team Championship from Bulldog Brower and Roddy Piper in October 1983. No long after their debut, they'd be managed by General Skandor Akbar. They'd lose the titles to Brian Adias and Iceman King Parsons on Christmas 1983 only to regain it again in January 1984. They'd next lose their titles four months later to Rock 'n' Soul (Buck Zumhofe and Iceman King Parson) but would regain the titles again 13 days later but would then be unmasked by Rock 'n' Soul after which they became the Long Riders of Scott "Hog" Irwin and "Wild" Bill Irwin, two crazy and out of control Texas cowboy brawlers. They'd drop the titles back to Rock 'n' Soul in August but would regain the titles again defeating Zumhofe and Parsons in September in what would be their fourth and final reign as NWA American Tag Team Champions. They'd eventually lose their titles to the Fantastics in October and would move back to Georgia Championship Wrestling where they'd quickly capture the NWA National Tag Team Championships in a tournament. They'd hold the titles for close two months before dropping them to Ole Anderson and Thunderbolt Patterson. They'd shortly thereafter move on to compete in Canadian International Wrestling where they'd win another regional tag team championship and the AWA where they'd feud unsuccessfully with the Road Warriors and would fall short in challenging both the Warriors and later Scott Hall and Curt Hennig for the AWA World Tag Team Championships. Sadly the Long Riders team came to a premature end when Scott died of a brain tumor in 1987.

Kal Rudman joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Rudman will be best remembered as an host, interviewer and announcer for WWF Philadelphia Spectrum shows. He was quite good and capable in his role and covering and reacting to the wrestlers even when things sometimes got rather goofy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOQbxgPB8qw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITZqFb7nLc


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 21, 2011, 09:26:40 PM
Ah...the old Spectrum.   :bouncegiggle:

Lots of good shows there.

Also: I liked The Jung Dragons a lot.  One of the reasons I even watched WCW in 2000 at all.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 26, 2011, 09:30:05 PM
Sapphire joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Sapphire is best remembered as Dusty Rhodes # 1 fan turned valet and dance partner during his WWF late 80s, early 90s polka dot gear run. Eventually she'd sell out to "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase who apparently had her price and would briefly becomes his valet before leaving the WWF. Born Juanita Wright, she was a genuine huge fan of pro wrestling who would eventually come to drive wrestlers to the arena and would even become a female wrestling referee before turning pro herself and performing as Princess Dark Cloud. As Sapphire in the WWF, she was a natural pairing with Rhodes "common man" character and their dancing together definitely added to Rhodes' popularity. She'd come to feud with Sensational Sherri Martel as Rhodes feuded with "Macho Man" Randy Savage. It would be revealed later in a shoot interview by Martel that Wright's admiration for Dusty Rhodes was legitimate and she no longer had the heart to perform after she was storyline split from Rhodes.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 27, 2011, 10:30:07 PM
Ivory joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. While quite talented as a lady wrestler and valet/manager and even as a trainer on "Tough Enough", Ivory didn't quite work so well as an host, a role she played as co-host on WWE Experience alongside Todd Grisham not because she didn't have energy and lots of enthusiam but because her shrill voice was grating and annoying to listen to on long commentary.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on July 27, 2011, 10:31:48 PM
Ivory joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. While quite talented as a lady wrestler and valet/manager and even as a trainer on "Tough Enough", Ivory didn't quite work so well as an host, a role she played as co-host on WWE Experience alongside Todd Grisham not because she didn't have energy and lots of enthusiam but because her shrill voice was grating and annoying to listen to on long commentary.
The two of them had a good enough chemistry together from what I remember.

She just was to energetic and shrill like over periods of time.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 29, 2011, 11:05:43 PM
The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. As the "Foreign Legion" in the WWF under the management of one "Classy" Freddie Blassie, they captured the WWF Tag Team Championships from the U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo) managed by Captain Lou Albano with more than a little help from Blassie's timely interference and his cane which became a foreign object difference maker to end the match in the heels favor much to the fans at Wrestlemania I's disgust. Sheik & Volkoff were quite a formidable powerhouse tag team what with Iron Sheik being a former WWF Heavyweight Champion and Volkoff having been a constant challenger for the top championship as well in times past. With Volkoff singing the Russian national anthem before matches and Iron Sheik ranting that Iran and Russia were # 1 and spitting when he mentioned the U.S. of A., these guys were truly amongst wrestling's most hated heels in the 1980s. Now most fans remember them with a certain nostalgic fondness and they were certainly entertaining performers. Their time as tag champs would however prove short-lived as they'd lose the WWF Tag Team titles back to Windham & Rotundo three months later. Soon Volkoff would get sidetracked in a feud with Corporal Kirschner but began teaming with Sheik again in late 1986 under the new management of "The Doctor of Style" Slick. They'd have limited success despite competing against many of wrestling's top tag teams including the Killer Bees and British Bulldogs and would eventually end up feuding with Hacksaw Jim Duggan until Sheik and Duggan, supposed to be too ring enemies, got into trouble for doing drugs and drinking together and getting arrested for it. Sheik would be suspended and would eventually be released from the WWF which led to Volkoff forming a new tag team with Boris Zukhov called "The Bolsheviks" who actually had much less success than his team with Sheik. Volkoff was no stanger to tag success prior to his team with Sheik having captured the WWWF International Tag Team Titles as a member of the Mongols tag team as well as having tag success in many other federations. Sheik too had proved a top contender and previous tag title holder in many other territories before this partnership but this is arguably the one team both men are best remembered for to this day.

Vickie Guerrero joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. The widow of the late Eddie Guerrero has no doubt surprised many by becoming one of pro wrestling's most hated personalities, a role many managers used to hold back in wrestling's heyday but it's rare to see in the modern era. Whether playing the role of a General Manager who favors her latest love interest as "The Cougar" or playing the role of supportive valet, Guerrero leads all those associated with her more oft than not to considerable success or at least helped extend heel heat even further just by her association with a certain star. Edge, Chavo Guerrero, Dolph Ziggler and Laycool all had great success in their partnerships with her and attained many championships in large part due to it while Kaitlyn and Big Show also benefitted from their involvement with her in different ways. Only Eric Escobar had very little success while under her wing and that may well be because the partnership was ended before it had a chance to take off although honestly the chemistry between the two never seen quite right. Her current partnership with Dolph Ziggler seems her best yet.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on July 31, 2011, 01:38:41 PM
Todd Grisham joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Grisham, while similar to some degree to many predecessors for his energy and enthusiam just comes across as somewhat more likable and actually seems more a fan of the wrestling product. Grisham became the voice of WWE Heat alongside Jonathan Coachman in early 2004. He'd later work with Josh Matthews amongst others. He was also co-host of the WWE Experience alongside Ivory for several years and even hosted it alone after her release until mid-2006. He also worked on Raw doing backstage interviews with many of the wrestlers. In 2005, he also hosted WWE Bottom Line up until 2007. He would briefly get to do play by play on WWE Raw following Joey Styles storyline "quitting" the show. In July 2008, he became the play by play commentator on ECW on Sci-Fi replacing the departing Mike Adamle which probably made him seem an even bigger improvement than he actually was. There he was paired with Tazz until Tazz left for Smackdown and would be replaced by Matt Striker. Grisham and Striker would actually prove a popular announce team and would win the 2008 Slammy Award for Announce Team of the Year. He still conducted interviews on Raw and Smackdown during this time and would host the 2009 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. In April 2009, Grisham would be moved to Smackdown! to do play by play alongside Jim Ross and in October, Matt Striker would also be moved to Smackdown and reunited with Grisham. However by December 2010, Grisham would be replaced by Josh Matthews on Smackdown and would be moved to the WWE NXT play by play role where a less serious environment is present and the show if often pretty bad but Grisham and color commentator William Regal are often surprisingly good.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 03, 2011, 11:37:58 PM
"Ravishing" Rick Rude joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Rude was known as an arrogant, overconfident jerk of an heel who loved to call down the wrestling fan viewing audience as fat and lazy while declaring himself to be a "real man" and what all the women out there really wanted. Rude actually started out as a babyface named Ricky Rood but wisely reinvented himself as the suave, sophisticated muscleman "Ravishing" Rick Rude. Actually Rude was quite capable in-ring and could have great matches with a wide variety of stars even making the Ultimate Warrior look great in his matches with him. He's most remembered for his feud with Warrior, his intense heated feud with Jake "The Snake" Roberts over Roberts' then real-life wife Cheryl after Rude brazenly tried to kiss her and later wore a likeness of her face on his wrestling tights, his feud with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in WCW where he and Madusa storyline broke the Dragon's nose. Prior to the WWF, he also had great feuds/rivalries with the likes of Jerry Lawler, King Kong Bundy, the Road Warriors (in Memphis and later the NWA), Wahoo McDaniel, Billy Jack Haynes (in Florida), Kevin Von Erich, Chris Adams (in WCCW), The Rock 'n' Roll Express (while teaming with Manny Fernandez in the NWA). Rude started off in Memphis as his Ravishing self under manager Jimmy Hart who would again later manage him initially during his WWF debut. Rude took on Percy Pringle in Florida and WCCW and had great success in both capturing top titles. In the NWA he was managed by Paul Jones who took him & Manny Fernandez to the NWA World Tag titles and eventually Bobby Heenan took him to arguably his greatest heights while he had a manager in the WWF as Intercontinental Champion, in WCW he would also be accompanied by Madusa and managed by Paul E. Dangerously during his WCW United States Championship run. In WCW, he'd also have memorable feuds with Dustin Rhodes (over the U.S. title), Ric Flair (over the NWA World title which he eventually captured and it was renamed the WCW International World title) and Sting with whom he feuded for both the U.S. title and later the WCW International World title. It would be in a match against Sting that Rude would suffer an in-ring career ending back injury. Later he showed up in ECW as a masked man who interfered in matches , a color commentator and even played the role of backup for the Triple Threat as well as aiding the WWF forces in the WWF Invasion ECW storyline. He'd eventually jump to the WWF and became an initial part of DeGeneration X appearing with the group at ringside in a suit. Later he'd jump to WCW and would play a similar role in the nWo frequently backing up Curt Hennig. Rude died young at age 40 of heart failure, an autopsy report would show he died from an overdose of mixed medications.

Rude's title accomplishments: NWA Southern (Florida) Heavyweight Championship twice, NWA United States (Florida) Tag Team Championship with Jesse Barr, AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, AWA Southern Tag Team Championship with King Kong Bundy, NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic) with Manny Fernandez, WCW International World Heavyweight Championship three times, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, NWA American Heavyweight Championship which would be turned into the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship when WCCW broke off from the NWA, WCWA Television Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship

Disco Inferno (AKA: Glenn Gilbertti) joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Gilbertti started wrestling in 1991 and first made a name for himself on the Georgia independent circuit impressing in Great Championship Wrestling. He also had short-lived stints in the WWF and USWA in 1992. Gilbertti reinvented himself as Disco Inferno in WCW in 1995 annoying the fans with his disco loving and disco dancing over the top character. Inferno would have limited success as a mid-card performer who even played up gimmicks such as him bringing out a diagram in order to remember his finishing hold as one point. Eventually Inferno became more a tweener as fans seemed to take a liking to him and his general goofiness. Eventually he'd chase WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko but would fail to defeat him. Next he'd end up feuding with Jacqueline Moore, whom he offended at one point, and Alex Wright with Wright and Disco becoming arch-dancing rivals. Disco would defeat Wright for the WCW World Television Championship on September 22, 1997 yet still suffered an embarrassing defeat to Jacqueline .  Inferno would eventually lose the TV title to Perry Saturn on November 3rd but would regain it from him on December 8th only to lose it about 4 weeks later to Booker T. After this, Disco fell down the rankings again and would turn heel to form a tag team with former rival Alex Wright called "The Dancing Fools", a buffoonish tandem used mostly for comedy relief. They did feud with Public Enemy and Davey Boy Smith & Jim Neidhart. After failing to get anywhere with this, the team split and Disco returned to singles action eventually joining the nWo Wolfpac and feuded with the likes of Booker T, Konnan, Buff Bagwell and Ernest "The Cat" Miller. Disco would capture the WCW Cruiserweight Championship from Psychosis on October 4, 1999 and would eventually team up with the Mamalukes tag team as an enforcer after dropping the Cruiserweight title to Evan Karagias. In 2000 when WCW revamped, Disco would leave the Mamalukes and would join the Filthy Animals faction as they feuded with the Misfits in Action with Disco unsuccessfully challenging Lt. Loco for the Cruiserweight Championship. Disco would eventually betray the Filthy Animals during a tag team match and would feud with both the Animals and the Natural Born Thrillers. Next Disco reformed his tag team with Alex Wright now calling themselves "The Boogie Knights". They'd win the WCW World Tag Team titles with General Rection actually substituting for an then-injured Disco. Disco would not be signed by the WWF upon their purchase of WCW so he moved on to compete in the WWA (World Wrestling All-Stars) continuing his comical Disco Inferno gimmick. He had limited success but mostly was used to put guys over although he would face WWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting in a losing effort at one point. Inferno moved on to compete in TNA under his real name Glenn Gilbertti and had some considerable success there as a member of the Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction even becoming their leader at one point. He'd eventually earn a NWA World Heavyweight title match against Jeff Jarrett but would fail to defeat him after interference from Vince Russo. After SEX disbanded, he began managing Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger and later would form a faction called the New York Connection including himself, Diamond, Swinger, David Young, Vito and Trinity. Eventually the stable would fail apart and Gilbertti and Young would battle Diamond & Swinger. Eventually though Swinger would turn on Diamond and would reunite with Gilbertti to battle Diamond, now called Pat Kenney, and a variety of tag partners. Not long after, Gilbertti would leave TNA to compete on the independent circuit in Georgia and Minnesota as well as competing in New Zealand. He returned to TNA in 2007 as Disco Inferno only to get squashed by Abyss and went on to work there as a road agent.

Disco's title accomplishments: GCW [Great Championship Wrestling] Heavyweight Championship, GCW Tag Team Championship with Johnny Swinger, GCW Television Championship three times, GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship, MEWF [Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation] Heavyweight Championship, NGWA [North Georgia Wrestling Association] Tag Team Championship with Ashley Clark, PPCW [Palmetto Pride Championship Wrestling] Heavyweight Championship, SWF [Swiss Wrestling Federation] Heavyweight Championship, WCW Cruiserweight Championship, WCW World Tag Team Championship, WCW World Television Championship twice.

Billy and Chuck join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This team, consisting of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo displayed a quasi-homosexual relationship which was certainly a first and quite cutting edge and shocking for the WWE in the early 2000s era. As the Invasion storyline drew to an end, Chuck Palumbo would be booted out of the WCW/ECW Alliance faction and would defect to the WWF side forming a tag team with Billy Gunn. They eventually started to show signs of engaging in an homosexual relationship with one another dressing alike in matching red outfits and Chuck eventually even starting to wear his hair in pigtails (actually they were rather like the Lenny Lane and Lodi WCW tag team which preceded them). Eventually they would be paired up with personal stylist/manager Rico and would twice capture the WWE Tag Team Championship mainly feuding with the APA. In September 2002 Chuck proposed life partnership to Billy which Billy accepted. There was a commitment ceremony to be aired on WWE Smackdown! during which Billy and Chuck revealed the whole thing was simply a publicity stunt gone too far and they weren't homosexual at all but just two friends. During this ceremony, a disguised Eric Bischoff and 3 Minute Warning attacked Stephanie McMahon, then GM of Smackdown!. Following this, Rico jumped to Raw to manage 3 Minute Warning. Billy & Chuck remained a team on Smackdown but dropped all the gay apparel. Not long after they'd lose in the first round of a title tournament for the new Smackdown WWE Tag Team Championship and following an injury to Billy not long after would split up and return quietly to singles action.

Goldust joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Goldust, AKA: Dustin Rhodes, the son of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes has certainly had an up and down career but still has had success more often than not wherever he's travelled. Dustin first impressed in Florida wrestling following an initial path similar to his father's. He'd actually move to the WWF in 1990 debuting as Dusty's son Dustin and initially impressing in a match upsetting "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Dustin would go on to team with his dad Dusty against Ted DiBiase and Virgil in a losing effort at the 1991 Royal Rumble with Dustin leaving the WWF shortly thereafter. He'd debut in WCW about a month later as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes feuding with Larry Zbyszko and Terry Taylor. Rhodes would have moderate success until 1992 when he teamed with Barry Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team titles until Windham eventually turned on Rhodes igniting a feud between the two. He'd go on to win the WCW United States Championship in January 1993 and would engage in a lengthy feud with "Ravishing" Rick Rude over the title and despite controversial finishes in numerous matches and the belt being held up, Rhodes would eventually emerge as the U.S. Champion. Rhodes would finally drop the U.S. title to "Stunning" Steve Austin in December 1993. In 1994, he'd enter into a feud with Bunkhouse Buck and Col. Robert Parker who eventually added Arn Anderson and Terry Funk into the mix. Dustin responded by bringing in his famous father to feud with Parker's Stud Stable. Eventually he'd feud with another member of Parker's stable the Blacktop Bully and would be fired for "blading" in a King of the Road match against Bully.

In September 1995, a completely transformed Rhodes returned to the WWF under a new gimmick - Goldust, nicknamed "The Bizarre One" (kind of like Exotic Adrian Street taken to a mad extreme with elements of Hollywood and the Oscar statue thrown in for good measure) for his creepy, suggestive in-ring mannerisms designed to throw opponents off their game. It actually proved quite successful early on with Goldust targeting and defeating Razor Ramon, who seemed reluctant to even get in the ring with him, for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Goldust was initially managed by the cigar smoking Marlena who from ringside in a director's chair seemed to delight in his bizarre actions such as groping and expressing affection for his opponents. Goldust would lose to "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in an Hollywood Backlot Brawl at Wrestlemania XII yet would retain the I-C title in bouts with Savio Vega and the Ultimate Warrior finally dropping it to Ahmed Johnson in June 1996. Goldust next teamed up with Mankind and feuded with the Undertaker and then Marc Mero in an unsuccessful effort to bring Sable into his stable. In May 1997, Goldust would reveal himself on national TV as Dustin Runnels eventually coming to feud with the Hart Foundation stable mainly Brian Pillman to whom Rhodes would lose the services of Marlena for 30 days. Pillman however would unfortunately pass away before the feud could culminate and Goldust would eventually turn on his Survivor Series teammates turning heel once again and feuding with Vader. Goldust got even more bizarre than ever adding Luna Vachon as manager/valet and now referring to himself as "The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust" and started mimicking and imitating other wrestlers doing versions of Chynadust, Dust Lovedust, Dustydust, Hunterdust, Flashdust, Marilyn Mansondust, Sabledust and Vaderdust. In May 1998, he burned the Goldust jumpsuit and declared the character ended and would start calling himself Dustin Runnels, his real name. He reunited with Terri Runnels, formerly Marlena, and feuded with Val Venis. However it wouldn't be long before he'd bring back the Goldust persona to feud with Venis, Jeff Jarrett, Al Snow and even the Blue Meanie who'd eventually join him as a sidekick along with valet Ryan Shamrock. Goldust would capture the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Road Dogg but would lose it to The Godfather two weeks later. In 1999, Rhodes would request and receive his release from the WWF and would return to WCW. Rhodes initially debuted as Seven but the creepy painted face gimmick was quickly scrapped for fear of it being misinterpreted as a child abductor. Rhodes would return to being Dustin Rhodes but upon turning heel, changed his name to "The American Nightmare" Dustin Rhodes. In WCW, Rhodes feuded with Jeff Jarrett and Terry Funk. He'd eventually get himself suspended in April 2000 for badmouthing Vince Russo on national radio but would return in 2001 to feud with Jeff Jarrett and Ric Flair eventually once more bringing back his father to team with him against Jarrett and Flair. In January 2002, Rhodes made his surprise WWE return as Goldust in the Royal Rumble. He quickly started a feud with Rob Van Dam but failed to defeat him. Thereafter he turned his attention to the Hardcore division and won the title seven times. Following the brand split, Goldust would form a comedic tag team on Raw with Booker T which would prove quite popular with the pair eventually capturing the WWE World Tag Team Championship until they were forced to split up by Raw GM Eric Bischoff. Rhodes next did a terrible stuttering, Tourette's style gimmick and teamed with Lance Storm. Rhodes would quietly be released by WWE in December 2003. He'd move on to compete in TNA in 2004-2005 as "The Lone Star" Dustin Rhodes failing to defeat Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in his efforts. He'd also feud with Raven, Kid Kash and Bobby Roode before departing TNA and resigning with WWE in late 2005. He briefly appeared along with Vader as Jonathan Coachman's backup muscle during Coachman's short-lived feud with Batista. By early 2006, Goldust would be released by WWE yet again. He'd briefly appear in All-Japan Pro Wrestling in 2007 before returning to TNA initially aligning himself with Christian Cage against "Wildcat" Chris Harris. Rhodes eventually debuted a new bizarre gimmick character called "Black Reign" but typically lost or got DQed in his matches losing to Harris and losing a Monster's Ball match also involving Abyss, Rhino and Raven. Eventually Black Reign and his new tag team partner Rellik would feud with in a losing effort against Abyss and Raven and later Abyss and Rhino. He'd next attack Kaz and would briefly feud with Eric Young before continued no-shows led to his TNA release, Black Reign largely considered one of Runnels' worst character portrayal. In 2008, Goldust would return to the WWE to challenge Santino Marella but mostly was still used in a comedic role teaming at one point with Hornswoggle. Goldust would be traded to WWE's ECW brand and would actually impress in matches with Sheamus there. He also formed a somewhat successful team with Yoshi Tatsu and also teamed with Christian at times. He'd return to Raw in 2010 and would steal Ted DiBiase Jr.'s Million Dollar Championship from him with help from his NXT rookie/valet Aksana whom eventually agreed to marry Goldust in order to gain American citizenship only immediately afterwards she quickly slapped him and walked out on him shortly after which she would be eliminated from the NXT competition. Rhodes has since began to work as a Backstage Producer for WWE Events.

Goldust's title accomplishments: NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion, NWA Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Graham, NWA World Tag Team Championship with Barry Windham, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship twice, WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Tom Zenk and Big Josh, WCW World Tag Team Championship twice once with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and once with Barry Windham, WWE World Tag Team Championship with Booker T, WWF Hardcore Championship seven times, WWF Intercontinental Championship three times, TCW Heavyweight Championship, CCW World Heavyweight Championship.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 04, 2011, 08:37:30 PM
Afa the Wild Samoan joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Afa, after a legendary career of his own as a member of the Wild Samoans tag team, turned to managing his son Samu and nephew Fatu who were the Headshrinkers in the WWF, with Samu later being replaced by Headshrinker Sionne [AKA: The Barbarian], in the early 1990s. The Headshrinkers had some success and even captured the WWF World Tag Team titles but they were also co-managed by legendary Captain Lou Albano. Afa rarely did much of substance at ringside but was certainly an imposing figure there basically continuing his old Wild Samoan savage-like character for the most part. He also managed more relatives in the Samoan Savage and Yokozuna.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 11, 2011, 10:28:48 PM
Ultimo Dragon joins the Singles Hall of Fame. After graduating from New Japan's dojo but struggling to make it above mid-card, Ultimo Dragon, which means the Last Dragon (a reference to an old gimmick where he claimed to have been the last student of Bruce Lee), moved on to Mexico to gain valuable experience and to hone his skills. There's he'd win the UWA World Welterweight Championship in 1988. In 1990, he returned to Japan to compete in the UWF but moved back to Mexico's CMLL in 1991 which is where he first established his recognizable mask and Ultimo Dragon identity. He's also compete for Japan's WAR promotion and in New Japan becoming IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion twice while also holding various titles in Mexico and also moving on to compete in Mexico's AAA promotion. He signed with WCW in 1996 first competing under the name The Ultimate Dragon before eventually using his original Ultimo Dragon name. With Sonny Onoo as his manager, he was pushed as a top heel cruiserweight debuting on PPV against Rey Mysterio Jr. for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship but losing said match. However he'd win a return bout at World War 3 after also becoming J-Crown Champion against Mysterio and would later capture the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship from Dean Malenko at Starrcade 1996. Eventually he'd drop the title back to Malenko but would go on to capture the WCW World Television Championship from Prince Iaukea eventually losing that to Lord Steven Regal. Following this loss, he'd turn babyface by firing Onoo and regained the World TV title from Regal only to eventually lose it to Alex Wright. He'd then return his focus to the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship which he win again this time from Eddie Guerrero. He'd eventually lose it to Juventud Guerrera but throughout this period he was having tremendous matches on TV week after week against top notch WCW cruiserweight and mid-card talent. He suffered an arm injury in 1998 that required surgery which was unfortunately botched leading to nerve damage and Dragon at the time announced his retirement from wrestling. In 1997, he had returned to Japan to become a trainer and continued on this route for the next six years. In 2002, he had further surgery hoping to repair the damage done to him and would eventually get himself back in shape and would prepare by competing in his own T2P promotion as well as Toryumon Mexico. He'd sign with the WWE in 2003 and would accomplish his own personal goals of competing at Madison Square Garden and at Wrestlemania even if his WWE run would in fact prove a bit less than remarkable and despite working hard, he went largely unnoticed there. He would however get to compete with a host of top WWE cruiserweight talent at the time and also would go on to compete in Canada's UWA Hardcore Wrestling competing with the likes of Sonjay Dutt, M-Dogg 20, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Jushin Liger and Black Tiger. He'd also compete in Japan's Pro Wrestling KAGEKI and Michinoku Pro as well as competing in Mexico and working in Spain for Nu Wrestling Evolution. Dragon has been a phenomenal in-ring performer well remembered for his great matches around and across the world.

Dragon's championships and accomplishments: [Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre] NWA World Middleweight Champion twice, [Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre] Suzuki Cup 2007 winner with Kensuke Sasaki and Marco Corleone,  [Michinoku Pro] British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champion, [Michinoku Pro] Tohoku Tag Team Champion with Jinsei Shinzaki, [New Japan] IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion twice, J-Crown Champion,  British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champion, NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, NWA World Welterweight Champion, UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion, WAR International Junior Heavyweight Champion, WWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion, [Toryumon] 2003 Differ Cup, NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion, 2008 Yamaha Cup with Yutaka Yoshie, [UWA] UWA World Middleweight Champion 5 times, UWA World Welterweight Champion, [WCW] WCW World Cruiserweight Champion twice, WCW World Television Champion twice.

M.V.P. joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. M.V.P. is known for his time hosting his "V.I.P. Lounge" interview segment where he had various guests on over the years. When he was an heel, at times the show had some interest and fun factor and even helped further establish his feud/tag team with Matt Hardy. However as a babyface, the show was basically completely forgettable and often felt an unnecessay addition to either Raw or Smackdown!. Honestly as an host, M.V.P. was surprisingly dull.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 14, 2011, 10:10:12 PM
3 Count, the trio of Shane Helms, Shannon Moore & Evan Karagias join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. This team/stable was formed in 1999 playing off a boy band gimmick, the trio were actually highly talented cruiserweights who mostly had gone unnoticed before this. They played off the popular boy band craze, both to capitalize on it and to make fun of it, to get over even going so far to perform a couple of cheesy pop songs "Can't Get You Outta My Heart" and later "Dance with 3 Count" often lip synching and dancing to this music before their matches. They had a long and memorable feud with fellow cruiserweights the Jung Dragons. In time, Helms and Moore would battle over the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a tournament with Moore defeating Helms. Later the trio would actually co-win and co-hold the WCW Hardcore Championship defeating Brian Knobs in February 2000 making Moore the youngest champion in WCW history. Eventually Helms would get injured and upon his return would return with an enforcer and storyline 3 Count fan - Tank Abbott with Abbott helping 3 Count win key matches over the Jung Dragons and even attempting to dance with them at times. Eventually Abbott professed his desire to be 3 Count's lead singer eventually leading to a split in the group and a brief feud with Abbott. Following a feud with the Misfits in Action, 3 Count's problems began to escalate with Helms and Moore accusing Karagias of hogging the spotlight leading to Moore & Helms booting Karagias out of the group. Karagias would go on to form a team with former Jung Dragon enemy Jamie Noble while Moore & Helms continued to feud with the other Jung Dragons and Karagias and Noble. 3 Count (Moore & Helms) would eventually win a showdown between the three teams. Later Moore & Helms would also win a match for the # 1 contendership ladder match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship when both men grabbed the contract at the same time. Following a showdown between the two, Helms emerged victorious but would lose the WCW Cruiserweight Championship match against Chavo Guerrero Jr. at WCW Sin in January 2001. Eventually Moore would come to turn on Helms as both men vied to become top contender to the Cruiserweight title. Moore & Helms would later reform their team to challenge for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship but WCW was in its dying days and came to an end before they could capture it although Helms did himself win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. When WWE bought out WCW, all three members of 3 Count would eventually be signed. Helms would gain the most success as The Hurricane while Moore had limited success as himself. Helms & Moore also one time held the NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 15, 2011, 08:48:20 PM
I don't know if this is 'good' or not, but I remember really digging 3 Count and The Jung Dragons during WCW 2000.  Highlights of the show.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 16, 2011, 08:14:54 PM
"Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Veterans Rose & Somers teamed up together in the mid-1980s managed by Sherri Martel with the duo eventually capturing the AWA World Tag Team titles while Martel held the AWA Women's Championship. The somewhat weatherbeaten Somers and the chubby Rose played themselves up as good-looking playboy types but the fans seemed to think otherwise despite Rose's constant claim that he in fact weighed 217 pounds and not 287 pounds which was clearly in reality much closer to his real weight. Somers and Rose's title win would be controversial however as they defeated Curt Hennig and Scott Hall for the belts via countout on May 17, 1986 thanks in no small part due to a lot of outside interference from one Colonel DeBeers who was trying to start a feud with Scott Hall. Nevertheless Somers and Rose would prove capable champions, and combined with Martel as manager were surprisingly formidable. They  soon found themselves in a long and bloody war with the young upstarts The Midnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) having some of the finest tag team battles in wrestling history. Michaels still credits Rose & Somers for teaching him a thing or two from those days. Rose & Somers would finally drop the titles to the Rockers on January 17, 1987. Rose would move to the WWF and would gain even more weight and would become a jobber to the stars still claiming to weigh "217 pounds" when he was clearly well over 300 by that point. Somers remained in the AWA for a while longer and would replace Boris Zukhov as Soldat Ustinov's AWA World Tag Team Championship partner when Zukhov jumped to the WWF with Somers & Ustinov eventually losing the titles to Jerry "The King" Lawler and "Superstar" Bill Dundee.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 25, 2011, 06:46:56 PM
Mil Mascaras joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Mascaras, a legendary muscular Mexican masked luchador has been wrestling since the 1960s. In the ring, he comes across as a superhero of sorts and rarely ever breaks the rules and always fights for justice and honour. Mascaras is also known for his many colorful masks all sporting the letter M boldly on the front, his name in English even meaning "The Man of 1,000 Masks". Also Mascaras is a movie star in  Mexico and has starred in numerous films as a Mexican luchador superhero of sorts as one might suspect and is perhaps the third most well known Mexican movie superstar after El Santo and Blue Demon, with whom Mascaras has actually appeared in films as well. Mascaras has proven a popular sensation with fans the world over competing successfully in Mexico, Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere. His feuds with TNT, El Canek, El Halcon and Angel Blanco are the stuff of legend in Mexico as is his feud with the Destroyer in Japan. In the U.S., he has memorably tangled with the likes of Ernie Ladd, Black Gordman, Great Goliath, John Tolos, Superstar Billy Graham to name but just a few. However as more behind the scenes truth about wrestling began to be revealed, Mascaras has been criticized by other wrestlers for his lack of willingness to sell any opponent's holds and moves or put over anyone perhaps insisting on maintaining his "superheroic" image. Mascaras is a muscular grappler with a great build and is also known for being acrobatic in the ring. He has collected titles pretty much all over the world.

Mascaras' title accomplishments: ALLL World Heavyweight Championship, (All-Japan) PWF United States Heavyweight Championship, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times), IWA World Heavyweight Championship, NWA American Tag Team Championship with Jose Lothario, NWA Texas Tag Team Championship with Jose Lothario, WCWA World Tag Team Championship with Jeff Jarrett, NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (3 times) with Alfonso Dantes and Ray Mendoza, WWA Americas Heavyweight Championship, WWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

C.M. Punk joins the Singles Hall  of Fame. The "Straight Edge Superstar" has made a career out of seemingly defying the odds and accomplishing more often than not just what he brashly claims he will. Punk exemplifies the qualities of hard work and discipline leading one towards happiness and success. Punk has won championships and other notable accomplishments everywhere he's went and right now seems on the cusp of his greatest potential, to rise above all he has already accomplished and arguably become one of the top performers of the current generation as he's broken out on his own for the first time in a couple of years. Punk is mainly a striker in the ring nailing kicks, forearms and flying kicks and elbows throughout a match but he also has a number of submission holds at his disposal and rarely backs away from anybody. His feuds with Raven, Rey Mysterio Jr., Jeff Hardy and John Cena have all been fantastic as was his series of matches against Samoa Joe in ROH. He is also the 19th WWE Triple Crown Winner.

Punk's title and other accomplishments: IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (5 times), IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times), IWC Heavyweight Championship, MAW Heavyweight Championship, NWA Cyberspace Tag Team Championship with Julio Dinero [The Gathering], NWA Revolution Heavyweight Championship, OVW Heavyweight Championship, OVW Southern Tag Team Championship with Seth Skyfire, OVW Television Championship, ROH Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Colt Cabana, ROH World Championship, SDW Northern States Television Championship (2 times), SPCW Northern States Light Heavyweight Championship, ECW Championship (WWE Version), WWE World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), WWE Championship, WWE World Tag Team Championship with Kofi Kingston, WWE Intercontinental Championship, Mr. Money in the Bank (2008, 2009), Slammy Award for "OMG" Moment of the Year (2008)- Cashing in Money in the Bank to win the World Heavyweight Championship, Slammy Award for Shocker of the Year (2009)- Forcing Jeff Hardy out of the WWE after Steel Cage match victory, Slammy Award for Despicable Me (2010)- Harassing Rey Mysterio and his family.

The Midnight Express of "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton & "Sweet" Stan Lane join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Eaton & Lane may be the most exciting and consistently entertaining tag team in wrestling history their matches arguably more watchable than any other tag team. They are also likely the best team in wrestling history to make use of the double-team making it look like an artform of sorts, working so fluidly together one could argue they were like poetry in motion. Their feuds with the Rock 'n' Roll Express, the Fantastics, the Road Warriors are the stuff of legend. Also their manager Jim Cornette was a major factor in their success giving timely interference to insure the Express many wins with his trusty tennis racket which became a foreign object weapon of choice to aid the Express in winning bouts. Also at one point Cornette employed bodyguard Big Bubba Rogers (later the Big Bossman) to run interference in the Express' matches.  The original Express consisted of Randy Rose, Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin with later it being changed to Condrey and Bobby Eaton. However the pairing of Eaton and Lane, the former "Fabulous One" brought into Jim Crockett Promotions following the departure of Condrey in early 1987, may have been the best of them all. The Express three times captured the NWA United States Tag Team Championship and would have a memorable war against the Fantastics over the titles and once captured the NWA World Tag Team Championship from Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson before dropping them to a newly heel Road Warriors in a bout that also saw the Express become fan favourites. They'd also have memorable wars and battles with the Freebirds, Flyin' Brian & Tom Zenk, The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, the Samoan Swat Team, the Dynamic Dudes and the Original Midnight Express.

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Following a long and successful in-ring career during which while in WWF he acted as a second for allies Virgil and Andre the Giant, DiBiase turned to managing full-time in 1994 building up a stable of traditional "Devastation Inc." style monster heels called The Million Dollar Corporation. The group at different points in time included former Money Inc. partner I.R.S., Bam Bam Bigelow, Kama Mustafa, King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, Nikolai Volkoff, The 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka, the last three of whom surprised many by turning heel to join. Also briefly he managed a Fake Undertaker who he claimed was the real thing until the real deal returned at Summerslam 1994 to defeat the Impostor who was played by Brian Lee. The Corporation feuded with practically all the top WWF good guys in the 1990s including the Undertaker, Diesel (Kevin Nash), Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and Bret Hart. DiBiase would back Bam Bam Bigelow during his Wrestlemania XI showdown against Lawrence Taylor only for Bam Bam to embarrassingly fall in defeat. When Bam Bam later failed to defeat Diesel, DiBiase would fire him from the Corporation leading to Bigelow turning fan favourite to team with Diesel and feud with the Corporation. When the Corporation failed to gain any measure of real success in terms of the title picture, DiBiase would disband the group and would turn to managing "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin even presenting Austin the Million Dollar Championship at one point. DiBiase however would be forced to leave the WWF due to Austin losing a match to Savio Vega in which that was the stipulation. In reality, he had already signed with WCW. He'd move to WCW in 1996 and would join the nWo as "Trillionaire Ted", a sort of money man/manager for the group. After about a year with the nWo, DiBiase would surprisingly turn face and turn against the group and would start managing his old Money Inc. enemies the Steiner Brothers leading them to WCW Tag Team title success until Scott eventually turned heel and joined the nWo reinventing himself as "Big Poppa Pump". DiBiase also briefly managed Ray Traylor, the former Big Bubba Rogers/Big Bossman as he briefly feuded with the nWo in late 1997. DiBiase would retire from managing in 1999.

SoCal Val joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. SoCal Val, real name Valerie Elizabeth Wyndham, actually has done most of her managing outside of TNA for which she is most known for her ring girl, backstage interviewer role during which she has been attacked by the likes of Kurt Angle, Abyss and Awesome Kong. In TNA, SoCal Val is most known for her time valeting/playing the on-screen girlfriend of Jay Lethal whom she'd eventually storyline betray for Sonjay Dutt seeking the fortune of Dutt's supposedly very wealthy family. She has also acted as a manager/valet for Billy Fives, Bobcat, Chasyn Rance, Claudio Castagnoli, Danny Doring, Francine, Kaz, Jason Blade, Jazz, Jeff Morrison, Kenny King, Lacey, the Naturals, Phil Davis, Prince Iaukea, Rain, Sal Rinauro, Scoot Andrews, Sean Davis, Shocker, Steve Corino and Super Dragon. She has been involved with wrestling since age 15 as a ring girl, manager and timekeeper. In her debut she managed Pinoy Boy only to betray him for Scott Lost after he lost the match.

Joy Giovanni joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Giovanni debuted in WWE taking part in the 2004 Diva Search contest making it to the final three before being eliminated. She'd return as the valet/on-screen friend of the Big Show seemingly just to continue her feud/rivalry with Amy Weber which began during the Diva Search competition. Giovanni really did very little to help advance Big Show's career at this point and just seemed to be eye candy thrown in the liven up a rather boring feud between Big Show and J.B.L., whom Weber was managing. Giovanni and Weber had a few catfights but no real match ever materialized. Despite this, Giovanni would win a 2005 Rookie Diva of the Year contest and would go on to briefly battle against the likes of Melina and Dawn Marie in forgettable feuds as well as taking part in bikini contests and the like but really interest in her had waned following Weber's departure from the WWE and so Giovanni would be released in the summer of 2005. She would return at Wrestlemania XXV in an invitational battle royal in a one-shot appearance.

Mick Foley joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Foley did color commentary on the WWE ECW One Night Stand PPV and because he did such a good job would later be added to the mix as a color commentator on WWE Smackdown. While Foley was entertaining and knowledgable as a color man and seemed a natural fit for the job especially alongside Jim Ross, he ultimately wanted out of the job later he let it be known for how much behind the scenes screaming was done in his ears as he tried to do his job in essence being directed as to what to say and sell next. Still Foley did remarkably well during his brief time in the role and probably would have been even better if left alone.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 25, 2011, 08:46:38 PM
Punk's done a great job and I've been following him since his days in ROH and TNA.  He's still relatively young, and barring any major injuries/time away/not ticking off management, should have a relatively great run in the coming future. 

Foley was pretty good as commentator and watching him and JR for a bit was partly why I watched SmackDown at the time.  I hear rumors of him potentially coming back to WWE in a somewhat non-wrestling capacity, mostly a "Legends" deal.  A commentary spot is open to him if signed.  Right now Cole is doing both shows and I see Foley fitting in well with SmackDown.

SoCal Val- She's still young, but I like her a bit.  Still room to improve, but vastly better than I've seen by a lot of indie-girls. 



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 26, 2011, 06:46:53 PM
Stan Lane joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Following a long career which saw him achieve his greatest success in tag teams The Fabulous Ones, the Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies, he turned to announcing following his retirement in 1993. He started out as a color commentator alongside Vince McMahon on WWF Superstars and would go on to host WWF Wrestling Challenge in 1994 where he worked alongside Ted DiBiase and Gorilla Monsoon. He'd also work as a commentator for DiBiase WXO's promotion. After about a year of announcing, Lane retired although he would make sporadic returns to the ring for years to come mostly at legends shows. As a color man, Lane was surprisingly bland but then while he was often the talker in his teams, he was still usually overshadowed by his usual manager Jim Cornette. Mostly Lane did his talking in the ring so it's not really that surprising he should prove so forgettable as an announcer.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on August 29, 2011, 11:37:14 PM
The East-West Connection of Adrian Adonis and Jesse Ventura join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Adonis & Ventura formed a successful tag team in 1979 with Adonis being the in-ring workhorse of the team and Ventura providing a mouthpiece and the muscle inside the ring. They actually had quite a bit of success in the AWA at the time going on to capture the AWA World Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980 via forfeit from Mad Dog Vachon and Verne Gagne when Gagne was vacationing in Europe and unable to defend the titles. They'd hold a firm grip on the titles for almost a year until they finally dropped the titles on June 14, 1981 to a team that had long been pursuing them - the High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne). They'd actually move on to compete in the WWF as a duo in the early 1980s and while they never would capture the WWF Tag Team Championship, both men would become singles contenders for the WWF Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships. When injuries would finally force Ventura into retirement, Adonis would form a new tag team with Dick Murdoch, the North-South Connection which would go on to capture WWF Tag Team Championship gold.

Ernest "The Cat" Miller joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After becoming an unexpected fan favourite despite being cast in the villain role in WCW due to his pseudo karate training videos, dancing and other colorful antics before matches. Miller would go on to sign with WWE in 2002 and would become an announcer on WWE Velocity where he was very entertaining, colorful and outspoken.  An eventual return to the ring however would not prove too successful for him as he was basically used for comedy relief and quickly eliminated from battle royals and beaten in matches as he danced to his entrance music.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 03, 2011, 02:17:51 AM
"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Following a very successful tag team career teaming with his brother Rick and briefly flirting with being a singles star in 1992 briefly becoming WCW World Television Champion, Steiner really wouldn't venture far from teaming with his brother until 1998 when he finally turned on his brother after teasing the turn for close to a year as Scott grew more arrogant in the ring, wanted to dominate all the action, had a shorter than ever temper, increased his muscle mass to massive size, cut his long hair and mullet in favor of a goatee and Fu Manchu style moustache. During Superbrawl VIII on February 28, 1998 Scott would betray his brother joining the nWo by doing so helping the Outsiders Kevin Nash & Scott Hall regain the WCW World Tag Team Championships from he and his brother. The next night Scott changed his looked even more bleaching his hair blond and adopting a gimmick more reminiscent of "Superstar" Billy Graham. Surprisingly the gimmick change seemed to really work for him and it wasn't very long before he, now known as "Big Poppa Pump", became an established singles attraction although often teaming with Buff Bagwell. He remained a solid key core member of the nWo until 1999. After the group disbanded he arguably attained even greater singles success, often showing off his arrogance by being accompanied by different valets over the years, becoming a bonafide main event attraction and feuding with the likes of Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T. and Rey Mysterio Jr. capturing both the WCW United States and Television Championships along the way. Steiner would get injured in late 1999 and would be removed from action for a time. Upon his return, he pretended to be announcing his retirement but in reality used it as a ploy to attack Sid Vicious and shortly thereafter would be an integral part in the reformed nWo 2000 and later the New Blood faction. On November 26, 2000 he'd defeat Booker T. to win his first and only WCW World Heavyweight Championship becoming the centerpiece of Ric Flair's Magnificent Seven faction. He'd eventually drop the title back to Booker T., after feuding with him for months, on March 26, 2001 which turned on to be the final WCW Nitro broadcast as WCW was purchased by WWE.

Steiner would move on to compete in the WWA appearing at shows in Europe and Australia with Steiner eventually capturing the WWA World Heavyweight Championship from Nathan Jones. He'd hold the title for several months before finally vacating it to leave for the WWE in November 2002. Steiner first debuted in WWE as a babyface despite keeping the basic "Big Poppa Pump" gimmick and would go on to feud on Raw with WWE World Champion Triple H with Steiner and Triple H even having a memorable posedown challenge at one point. Steiner would prove tough competition for Triple H who ultimately still came out on top in the end retaining his World Championship. Steiner would struggle after this and eventually would wind up in an unlikely tag team with Test managed by Stacy Keibler with eventually the pair feuding over Keibler whose mistakes ultimately cost both men several matches ultimately causing Steiner to also turn on Keibler as well and return to being an heel, a role he always seemed better suited to play. He'd ask for his WWE release not long after this and competed on the independent scene in 2004-2005 before moving on to compete in TNA in 2006 forming an alliance with Jeff Jarrett, Gail Kim and America's Most Wanted. Steiner & Jarrett would team up and lose to the then unlikely pairing of Sting and Samoa Joe and Steiner thereafter would go on to feud with Joe, Sting and later Christian Cage losing more than he won against said foes while still acting as a bodyguard/backup for Jarrett. In 2007, Steiner switched allegiances and joined Christian's Coalition faction helping Christian as he feuded with Kurt Angle and later going on to feud with Angle himself and while Steiner did get a key win over Angle, Angle would ultimately come out on top in the feud. In 2007 Scott would also reunite with his brother Rick to feud briefly with Team 3D with the Steiners gaining a victory in the dream showdown although they'd later fail to defeat Tomko and A.J. Styles for the TNA Tag titles. In late 2007, Steiner would successfully capture one of four briefcases in a Feast or Fired Battle Royal one of which held a shot at the TNA World Championship. Later he'd defeat Petey Williams following a distraction from his latest valet Rhaka Khan to gain possession of another briefcase yet Williams would impress Steiner by showing guts in their matches and Scott would eventually take him on as a protege and giving him the briefcase for an X Division Championship match which Williams successfully cashed in on Jay Lethal. Later Scott would cash in his contract against Samoa Joe for the World Championship but would come up short and sustain a knee injury in the effort. Later in 2008 following knee surgery, Steiner returned as a core member of the Main Event Mafia faction attacking several stars with a lead pipe as he'd been known to do throughout his Poppa Pump days with Steiner eventually turning on and feuding with his former protege Williams and not long after the returning and then struggling Samoa Joe. As members of the MEM, Steiner and Booker T. would capture TNA Tag Team gold from Beer Money Inc. until they lost the titles to the British Invasion in a four way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match that also involved Beer Money and Team 3D. Not long after, the MEM disbanded. In 2009-2010, he'd enter into a feud with Bobby Lashley whom he'd defeat in a Falls Count Anywhere match although Lashley would defeat him in a return Last Man Standing bout. In February 2010, Steiner would leave TNA and would go on to compete in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council where he attacked and subsequently feuded with Universal Heavyweight Champion Ray Gonzalez eventually defeating Gonzalez for the title although Steiner would eventually be stripped of the title following a controversial no-contest finish between the two with Gonzalez finally regaining the Universal title in a final showdown between the two. Steiner returned in TNA in early 2011 as a face saving Kurt Angle, Matt Morgan and Crimson from a beatdown by Fortune and Immortal. The following week Fortune would turn on Immortal and join forces with Steiner, Angle and Crimson with Steiner eventually going on to feud with Rob Terry, the two even having a posedown at one point that saw Terry attack Steiner. Steiner formed a tag team with Crimson but the pair proved unsuccessful in their seeking of the TNA Tag titles and eventually Steiner turned heel again turning on Matt Morgan after both men announced their desire to pursue the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Steiner would go on to reform his tag team with Jeff Jarrett to battle Morgan and Kurt Angle with Morgan eventually coming out on top in their feud. Steiner has since joined the Immortal faction. Steiner while often an entertaining presence on shows rarely seemed to be a serious threat for the top championships aside from his early 2000 WCW run and even went he did reach that level rarely seemed to be able to stay there for long.

Steiner's title accomplishments: CWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) twice with Billy Joe Travis and once with Jed Grundy, NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Championship with brother Rick, NWA/WCW World Tag Team Championship (7 times) with brother Rick, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times), WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WCW World Television Championship (2 times), NWA Mid-Altantic Heavyweight Championship, NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship with brother Rick, IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) with brother Rick, PWA Tag Team Championship with brother Rick, SSCW Heavyweight Championship, TNA World Tag Team Championship with Booker T., WWA World Heavyweight Championship, WWA (Indianapolis) World Heavyweight Championship, WWA (Indianapolis) World Tag Team Championship with Jerry Graham Jr., WWWA Heavyweight Championship, WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship (2 times) with brother Rick.

Amy Weber joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Weber debuted in WWE in late 2004 participating in the WWE Divas Search Contest before going on to become an heel valet/manager for John Bradshaw Layfield and his Cabinet faction which also included Orlando Jordon, Doug and Danny Basham. Weber was billed as the group's "image consultant" but certainly more played the role of on-screen valet. Weber would go on to feud with former Divas Search rival Joy Giovanni, who had befriended the Big Show. By February 2005, she resigned from WWE amid allegations of harassment from some of the wrestlers and later explained she wasn't happy with the pay or the WWE frat-like behind the scenes environment where wrestlers are known to haze each other and especially test newcomers. Her departure on-air was explained as her simply being fired by JBL for mistakenly shooting a sleeping dart at him instead of the Big Show.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 04, 2011, 11:00:35 PM
John Cena joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Cena is arguably this generation's version of Hulk Hogan [actually this is complete and utter bullcrap] generally beloved by wrestling fans, well at least kid wrestling fans and their mothers that is. Unlike Hogan, Cena was kind of forced upon the public as their hero whereas fans more choose Hogan to be on their own accord. A whole lot of fans hate Cena for this, as well as his in-ring limitations, which to be honest is also the way many fans reacted to Hogan after turning on him once they got sick and tired of his act. Nevertheless Cena exemplifies hard work ethic and is very much a company man in WWE working to further not only his own but the WWE's larger overall interest. Cena though is probably the most recognizable star and name currently working in the world of wrestling. He has had numerous feuds and matches with practically anyone who's been anyone in WWE since 2002 and has captured championships and popular success wherever he's competed. Fans react to Cena whether it be by loving him or hating him, regardless he still gets a big reaction wherever he makes an appearance. Cena first started to gain popularity in WWE while actually playing an heelish freestyle white rapper/thug role where he frequently made up clever raps to make fun of or put down his opponents. As he was inevitably turned babyface arguably faster than perhaps he should have been, the raps became more and more inane and as WWE became more PG, much more toned down.

Cena debuted in UPW in 2000 as The Prototype, a sort of semi-robotic character. He'd move on to compete in WWE's development territory OVW as the Prototype and was also called Mr. P there. In any case, he had great success and won the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Tag Team Championship with Rico Constantino. Cena would move up and make his WWE debut answering an open challenge issued by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002. Cena would make an impressive showing in said match moving Cena into a sort of bland initial fan favourite role where he briefly feuded with Angle and Chris Jericho. He'd go on to team with Billy Kidman in a tag team tournament to crown new Smackdown! WWE Tag Team Champions and would blame Kidman for their loss turning on him and attacking him thereby turning heel. Cena thereafter began to reinvent himself as the thug rapper style gimmick and started saying "Word Life" and teamed up with Bull Buchanan who acted as his enforcer. Eventually Buchanan left but Cena continued to climb the ladder and would go on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship naming his finisher "The F-U" to mock Brock's "F-5" finisher. Cena lost to Lesnar but did impress in some # 1 contenders bouts and in a losing effort to the Undertaker. Cena returned to being a fan favourite, as his popularity was already growing with many fans, as he joined Kurt Angle's team at Survivor Series. Cena would be eliminated from the 2004 Royal Rumble by the Big Show leading to a feud with him that eventually saw Cena defeat Show at Wrestlemania XX for the WWE United States Championship. While champion, Cena would run afoul of Smackdown! GM Kurt Angle who eventually stripped him of the belt although he'd regain it a second time in a best of 5 series with Booker T. but lost it to a debuting Carlito shortly thereafter leading to a feud with Carlito that saw Cena suffer a "worked" stabbing at the hands of Carlito's bodyguard Jesus. This was scripted to give Cena time off to film THE MARINE. Upon his return Cena got his revenge on Jesus and regained the U.S. Championship from Carlito debuting his custom made spinner title belt much to the derision of many traditional fans although many newer fans loved it.

Next Cena entered into a feud with WWE Champion JBL and his Cabinet with Orlando Jordan, with help from JBL, defeating Cena for the U.S. title but Cena would eventually get his revenge defeating JBL at Wrestlemania 21 for his first WWE Championship and debuting a new spinner WWE title not long after. He successfully retained against JBL return challenges. Cena would be drafted to Raw in 2005 and was soon in a feud with RAW GM Eric Bischoff when he refused to take part in Bischoff's war with ECW at the time. Bischoff would send Chris Jericho after Cena to bring him down and after Jericho failed, he employed Kurt Angle to take on the task. Around this time, many fans were starting to grow tired of Cena's act, his F-U and his five knuckle shuffle, but Cena did adapt somewhat during his feud with Angle adding a STF to his set of holds. Angle failed to take the title from Cena although they had some close matches. Cena would finally lose the WWE Championship at 2006's New Year's Revolution after surviving an Elimination Chamber match when Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on a battered and beaten Cena igniting an intense feud between Cena and Edge. Cena would regain the WWE title at Royal Rumble 2006 and entered into a feud with Triple H, whom many fans decided to cheer despite Triple H playing the villain role. Cena would go on to successfully retain his WWE Championship against Triple H at Wrestlemania 22. Cena next found himself the target of new Money in the Bank winner Rob Van Dam who announced he would cash it in at ECW One Night Stand 2006 on his home turf with Cena and Van Dam tangling before an hot crowd that was very pro-RVD and very anti-Cena. RVD with help from Edge would go on to defeat Cena for the WWE Championship. By July however Edge regained the WWE title in a Triple Threat match involving RVD and Cena. The Cena-Edge feud continued and finally cultimated in a TLC match at Unforgiven with Cena regaining the WWE title for a third time. Cena next entered into a Champion of Champions war against World Champion King Booker and ECW Champion Bobby Lashley with King Booker, with help from Kevin Federline who'd taken a disliking to Cena, coming out on top. Cena next started a feud with Umaga over the WWE Championship and successfully retained against him despite the ongoing feud with Federline which even saw Umaga help Federline get an unlikely victory over Cena at one point. Cena would next go on to form a tag team with Shawn Michaels, his future Wrestlemania 23 opponent and together they'd capture the World Tag Team Championship from Rated RKO. After successfully retaining his title in a great match against HBK at Wrestlemania 23, HBK turned on Cena and cost them the tag titles. Cena continued to feud with the top contenders including Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and Edge until the Great Khali burst on the scene as the latest contender with Cena eventually becoming the first person to defeat Khali in WWE. Cena next would feud with and fend off the challenge of Randy Orton. After getting injured in a match against Mr. Kennedy, Cena would finally be stripped of the WWE title in October 2007, the longest reign in quite a while.

Cena would make a surprise return at the 2008 Royal Rumble winning the event and pursuing then WWE Champion Randy Orton. Cena however would fail to defeat Orton for the title at No Way Out or at Wrestlemania 24 in a Triple Threat also involving Triple H or at Backlash in a Fatal4Way involving JBL, Orton and Triple H where Triple H won the title and Cena reignited his old feud with JBL with both men trading wins. Cena would go on to team with Batista to win his 2nd World Tag Team Championship from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase although they'd lose the title back to Legacy a week later with Cena entering into a new war with Batista who defeated and injured him at Summerslam. Cena impressed again upon his return defeating Chris Jericho for his first World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series 2008. Cena would finally lose the World Championship to Edge at No Way Out in an Elimination Chamber match. Cena would go on to regain the World title from Edge at Wrestlemania XXV in a match also involving Big Show. Cena would however lose the title back to Edge in a Last Man Standing match after Big Show interfered and chokeslammed Cena through a spotlight. This ignited a renewal of Cena's feud with Big Show with Cena defeating Show in a submission match at Extreme Rules. Several months later following a bit of a chase, Cena would win his fourth WWE Championship from Randy Orton in an "I Quit" match but would lose the belt back to Orton in an Hell in a Cell match only to regain it again for the fifth time in an Iron Man match. Two months later, Cena would unexpectedly be upset by newcomer Sheamus in a Tables match. Cena finally regained the championship in an Elimination Chamber match but shortly after the win would be forced to defend against Batista by WWE owner Vince McMahon. Batista made short work of the worn out Cena igniting a feud between them. Cena would go on to defeat Batista to win his 7th WWE Championship at Wrestlemania XXVI and successfully retained against Batista in several rematches.

On the June 7,  2010 Raw Cena would next find himself the target of a new wrestling stable made up of WWE NXT Season 1 contestants who now called themselves the Nexus. The Nexus led by Wade Barrett laid waste to Cena and really the entire Raw show. Nexus' interference would cause Cena to lose the WWE Championship to Sheamus shortly thereafter. Cena would form a new team to combat Nexus at Summerslam mixing together an unlikely group of faces and heels including Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, Bret Hart and eventually Daniel Bryan. Cena's group would defeat Nexus at Summerslam but the group would fall apart shortly thereafter and Nexus was still going strong. Cena next targeted leader Wade Barrett and challenged him to a Hell in a Cell match that would end Nexus if Cena won but if Cena lost, he would be forced to join Nexus. Cena lost following interference from future Nexus members Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris and was forced to join the group and basically play slave to Barrett or he would be fired even leading to him and David Otunga defeating Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Tag Team Championship but they would soon lose that after Barrett ordered Otunga to lay down for fellow Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel. Cena next would be forced to help Wade Barrett defeat Randy Orton for the WWE Championship or he would be fired. When Orton defeated Barrett, it appeared Cena was done but Cena just wouldn't go away continuing to make run-ins and attacking and laying out Nexus members one by one with a frustrated Barrett eventually asking for Cena's reinstatement so he himself could deal with him only for Cena to defeat him in a Chairs match. Cena would next be the target to C.M. Punk who was announcing at the time but surprised many by attacking Cena with a chair. Punk would eventually form an alliance with Nexus and the group would beatdown Cena. Cena would gain his revenge at Royal Rumble 2011 eliminating most of the members of the New Nexus. Cena would next focus on WWE Champion the Miz and would eventually win an Elimination Chamber match to become # 1 contender at Wrestlemania XXVII. However Cena also entered into a verbal sparring war against the returning Rock, who was to be the host of Wrestlemania. Cena and Miz would actually be forced to team and would actually capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from the Corre tandem of Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel but would lose an immediate rematch after Miz turned on Cena. At Wrestlemania XXVII, The Rock would cost Cena his match against the Miz allowing Miz to retain. Shortly thereafter Cena would call out the Rock with the two declaring their intention to have a showdown at next year's Wrestlemania. Cena would get a rematch with Miz at Extreme Rules in a match also involving John Morrison with Cena finally regaining the WWE Championship and would go on to successfully defend against the Miz and a now heel R-Truth. Next Cena would become the target of new # 1 contender C.M. Punk, despite rumors of Punk's soon departure from the company which lead to Punk giving a scathing on-screen commentary and criticism of the current WWE and the lackluster reign of John Cena. Punk would finally have his showdown against Cena at Money in the Bank 2011, after Cena petitioned heavily to have Punk reinstated after he was suspended for his comments, in front of his hometown. The Chicago crowd rather like the 2006 ECW crowd where very anti-Cena and this time pro-Punk. Punk would shock the world by defeating Cena and rushing through the crowd with the WWE Championship, seemingly leaving the company with it. Vince McMahon threatened to fire Cena if he lost but before he could, McMahon would himself would be replaced by new COO Triple H who reinstated Cena. Cena would the following week be given a WWE Championship match against newly crowned tournament winner Rey Mysterio Jr. with Cena winning the title. Following the match, Cena was shocked to see C.M. Punk walk out to the ring also holding the WWE Championship he never actually lost. This led to both men being recognized as WWE Champions and a showdown between them at Summerslam with Special Guest Referee Triple H. Punk would win the match but shortly thereafter was mysteriously attacked by Kevin Nash who was sitting at ringside leading to Alberto Del Rio cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk. Cena has since become # 1 contender to Del Rio's title after defeating Punk who was distracted by Nash at ringside. For all the criticism against Cena, he has been praised for his matches with Punk recently and has had great matches in the past against Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton and Edge.

Cena has also appeared in WWE Studios films 12 Rounds and Legendary as well as the non-WWE Studios Fred: The Movie. Cena has also made numerous TV guest appearances and other celebrity appearances. He also released a rap album entitled "You Can't See Me".

Cena's title accomplishments: OVW Heavyweight Championship, OVW Southern Tag Team Championship with Rico Constantino, UPW Heavyweight Championship, WWE World Heavyweight Championship (2 times), WWE World Tag Team Championship once with Shawn Michaels and once with Batista, WWE Championship (9 times), WWE Tag Team Championship once with David Otunga and once with the Miz, WWE United States Championship (3 times), 2008 Royal Rumble winner, Slammy Award winner for 2009 and 2010 Superstar of the Year, Slammy Award for Holy $#!+ Move of the Year (2010)- Sends Batista through the stage with an Attitude Adjustment. [Regardless of all his accomplishments, Cena remains trash and utter garbage in the ring and as a performer IMHO]


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 05, 2011, 08:09:33 AM
Cena can actually wrestle, but he's smart and sticks to what works.  Hogan did the same thing.  I recall earlier matches, when he was slightly pre-rapper John Cena, clean cut kid from Boston in green and yellow tights.  Resembled a young Sting, and had great matches with Angle, Benoit, and Shelton Benjamin.  Even liked his rapper gimmick.  I still like him.  He's not a 'great' wrestler like Angle or Malenko, but he fills his spot on the card as the "Superman/Hogan" type character.  He's funny, and seems to genuinely care about the product and works hard when placed with more technical guys like a CM Punk.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 05, 2011, 11:06:00 PM
Raven/Johnny Polo joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Raven (Aka: Scott Levy) first started announcing in his early career as "The Palm Beach Heartthrob" Scott Anthony in the Global Wrestling Federation where he first got a chance to display on a national level his considerable mic skills and clever sense of humor. He basically played the heel color commentator to straight announcers Scott Hudson and Craig Johnson. After a short stint in WCW, he moved to the WWF as Johnny Polo, playing the spoiled rich kid heel manager for the Quebecers who he also managed to three WWF World Tag Team Championships. As Polo, Levy again got a chance to do some announcing on WWF All-American Wrestling working alongside the one and only Gorilla Monsoon and was often quite funny, albeit less serious playing this role, adding little sound effects to help demonstrate his jokes and the points he was trying to get across. He also played co-host on Radio WWF at the time. By 1995, he'd move to ECW and would reinvent himself as his most well known persona - Raven, a cult-leader type character who acted as a sort of example for misfits everywhere but Raven was always in reality very stoic and in-control. Raven would continue through another WCW and ECW stint before moving back to the WWE now for the first time as Raven. After winning a record setting 26 WWE Hardcore Championships, Raven eventually moved into the role of heel color commentator on WWE Sunday Night Heat and WWE Excess alongside Jonathan Coachman for a few months before finally returning to the ring on Raw only to lose a match to Tommy Dreamer which forced him to return to WWE Sunday Night Heat where he was allowed to develop an unique angle with Heat as his playground which unfortunately fizzled and he was given his WWE release in 2003 and went on to compete more as Raven in TNA, ROH and on the independent circuit.

Steve "Mongo" McMichael joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. McMichael first debuted in wrestling in the WWF as one of Lawrence Taylor's buddies during his feud/Wrestlemania XI showdown with Bam Bam Bigelow. At a Raw prior to the event, he did guest color commentary alongside Vince McMahon and would wind up in a brawl with Kama Mustafa, one of Bigelow's Million Dollar Corporation allies. He next moved to WCW as a color commentator for WCW Monday Nitro mostly bickering with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and showing his general lack of knowledge about pro wrestling. He'd eventually wind up getting involved in an in-ring angle, which thankfully took him away from the announce table, against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson after Flair put the moves on his then-wife Debra McMichael sitting at ringside. McMichael would team with his buddy Kevin Greene against Flair & Anderson but McMichael shocked many during the match by selling out for the money, attacking Greene and going on to join the Four Horsemen as their fourth member alongside Flair, Anderson and Chris Benoit, then managed by Elizabeth and Woman. He'd have some limited success as a wrestler becoming a power based grappler who relied on football tackles although he did pull out a major upset defeating Jeff Jarrett for the WCW United States Championship as the two bickered and feuded over Mongo's then-wife Debra. McMichael would eventually go on to feud with his wife's stable including Jarrett, Alex Wright and Eddie Guerrero. He'd eventually drop the U.S. Title to Curt Hennig after Hennig betrayed the Horsemen in favor of the nWo. Mongo stayed with the Horseman until he retired in 1999. He and Debra would eventually divorce with Debra moving on to greater fame in the WWF. He did win this dubious award: Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards- Worst Television Announcer (1996).


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 09, 2011, 05:13:41 PM
The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers , Jacques and Raymond Rougeau join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The Rougeaus are second generation grapplers trained by their father Jacques Rougeau Sr.. Their uncle was also the famed Johnny Rougeau. Jacques and Raymond's brother Armand also competed in Montreal. The Rougeau Brothers first started teaming in Montreal in the late 1970s and soon got into a bitter feud against Ronnie and Jimmy (as well as Terry) Garvin, who weren't really brothers but pretended to be although Jimmy was Ronnie's stepson. The Garvins were managed by Precious (Patty Garvin) who was known to interfere in matches and get the fans heated with her accusations of physical abuse against her despite her constant attacks on others with hairspray or with her hands. The feud between them would get really intense after the Garvins disrespected the Rougeaus' famous father and uncle and also attacked their brother Armand. While competing in Montreal International Wrestling, Jacques and Raymond became three time Montreal International Tag Team Champions.

They moved to the WWF in 1986 as true clean cut traditional babyfaces and were soon feuding with the Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine) and Demolition. The Rougeaus seemingly defeated the Hart Foundation for the WWF World Tag Team Championships on August 10, 1987 when the interference of Jimmy Hart backfired and the Rougeaus used Hart's megaphone to defeat the Foundation. However the decision would be reversed afterwards due to use of the foreign object. By July 1988, the then rather bland Rougeaus began to show a little sign of life when they actually cheated to defeat fellow fan favourites the Killer Bees and then offered to shake the Bees hands afterwards. Eventually with the Hart Foundation turning on Jimmy Hart and becoming popular babyfaces, the Rougeaus who weren't getting over as dull babyfaces were suddenly switched to heels by adding Jimmy Hart as their manager and developing a phony pro-USA gimmick which was in fact designed to mock the fans and draw heat as was their marked preference for whitebread stuff like Barry Manilow and their preppy hair fashions. The Rougeaus would get involved in a real life backstage altercation with Dynamite Kid Tom Billington which led to Jacques being attacked by Dynamite from behind and later getting his revenge by nailing Dynamite in the mouth with a roll of quarters knocking out four teeth. Tensions escalated but Dynamite Kid would be fired before anything more serious would come of it. The Rougeaus next big feud would be against the Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) with whom they'd have terrific matches night after night. Despite all these great matches, the Rougeaus were eventually demoted to be a comedy tag team fodder for the Bushwhackers. Raymond would retire in 1990 after suffering with chronic back pain for many years moving into an announcing role. Jacques would disappear for a while but would later return having reinvented himself as the Mountie going on to capture the WWF Intercontinental Championship and later teamed up as one half of the Quebecers, Quebecer Jacques who along with Quebecer Pierre (Carl Ouellet) would capture three WWF World Tag Team Championships.

The Rougeaus are often now fondly and nostalgically remembered for their fun theme song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn701jXWtkE


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 11, 2011, 08:57:37 PM
Mongo sucked.  Hard.  Worst announcer ever.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 14, 2011, 11:00:03 PM
Da Baldies join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. Da Baldies were a stable in ECW from 1999 to 2001. They were basically like a gang of street thugs who all happened to share the trait of having a bald head and in ring battled like brawlers but could generally go in the ring too when it called for it. The primary Baldies tag team featured Tony DeVito and Angel Medina but the group/stable also included the likes of P.N. News, Vito "The Skull"  LoGrasso, Vic Grimes, Redd Dogg and Rod Price. Sometimes they played the part of hired thugs paid to attack other teams/wrestlers/stables. Angel & DeVito feuded with the likes of Nova & Chris Chetti, Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten, New Jack, Danny Doring & Roadkill, Tommy Dreamer and Raven and were hired to attack teams such as Christian York & Joey Matthews and Justin Credible & Steve Corino.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 17, 2011, 12:15:40 AM
Bill Dundee joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Dundee after a long and successful in-ring career turned to managing in the late 1980s in Jim Crockett Promotions (although he still wrestled part-time as well). There he managed Konga the Barbarian and The MOD Squad who had only limited success under his leadership. He had more success managing and teaming with "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell in Tennessee. He also managed "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and Masahiro Chono. In the early 1990s, he memorably managed Lord Steven Regal in WCW as Sir William. While Dundee wasn't afraid to interfere on his men's behalf, very few of them ever advanced very far up the card and Dundee was almost always still active in-ring himself so his whole attention never seemed to be on those he managed, oftentimes they were used to further his own ends.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 18, 2011, 09:48:49 PM
Kevin Nash joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Nash was actually a very successful wrestler well known for his time in WWF as "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel and then as part of the nWo alongside "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and his Outsiders partner Scott Hall. Thing is, with a little bit more in-ring effort and less behind the scenes politics, perhaps Nash could have been even more successful.

After playing college basketball until a knee injury ended that pursuit, Nash eventually decided to turn to pro wrestling. Nash struggled at first to find an identity and despite his imposing size, lost far more than he won. He started out as Steel teaming with Al Green (known as Blade) as The Master Blasters but after that didn't basically go anywhere, he'd be reinvented again this time given the ridiculous gimmick of Oz, based on The Wizard of Oz as WCW was given permission to use licensed properties belonging to Turner at the time, and managed by Merlin (actually Kevin Sullivan in disguise). Despite squashing many jobbers, Oz would soon be defeated by Ron Simmons and would disappear from the scene. Next he turned himself into Vinnie Vegas, a wisecracking pseudo-mobster type and joined Harley Race's stable which also included Big Van Vader and Mr. Hughes at the time. After the stable disbanded, he joined the Diamond Mine stable alongside the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) and Scotty Flamingo (the future Raven) managed by Diamond Dallas Page. After Studd and Flamingo left, Vegas and Page formed a tag team and had very limited success. Try as he might, Nash could never really get any of these silly gimmicks over in WCW.

In 1993, Nash would move to the WWF and would once more be reinvented, this time as Shawn Michaels hulking 7 foot tall bodyguard/best buddy Diesel and was nicknamed "Big Daddy Cool" basically playing an unstoppable bad ass biker character. This time, he actually started to get over and the gimmick was his most successful to date. Diesel would go on to aid HBK in defeating Marty Jannetty for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Later Michaels would return the favor helping Diesel defeat Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship but he'd eventually drop it back to Ramon again. Diesel and HBK would also later team up to defeat the Headshrinkers for the WWF World Tag Team Championship but their alliance eventually ended up on shaky ground as HBK began to become jealous of his buddy's newfound success and the team would split up forcing them to vacate the tag titles. In the process, Diesel turned face and shortly thereafter squashed Bob Backlund to capture the WWF Championship, his first World title. He then fended off the challenge of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels who was furious Diesel, his former bodyguard, captured the WWF Championship before him. Following his lost at Wrestlamania XI however Michaels' new bodyguard Sycho Sid turned on and attacked Michaels essentially turning HBK face and leading to him and Diesel reforming their team/friendship. Diesel would successfully fend off more challengers including Sid and King Mabel and would also team up with Bam Bam Bigelow against Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. Diesel and HBK also pursued WWF Tag champs Owen Hart and Yokozuna and even seemingly defeated them for the titles in a match that saw Davey Boy Smith substitute for Owen only later Owen who arrived to interfere would be pinned. This led to controversy and the titles being returned to Owen and Yokozuna. Diesel's WWF Championship reign would end a little over a year after it began when Bret "Hitman" Hart defeated Diesel at Survivor Series 1995. This reign of 358 would be the longest of the 1990s. Following his title loss, Nash would go on to challenge and lose to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XII and thereafter would turn heel to feud with new WWF Champion Shawn Michaels who defeated him a couple of times before Nash was to leave for WCW. Before Nash left however, there was the infamous Kliq MSG Curtain Call Incident which saw kliq members Nash, Hall, HBK and HHH hug each other in the ring saying their goodbyes, a serious practically unheard of breach of kayfabe at the time.

Nash returned to WCW in 1996 alongside Scott Hall as apparent "invaders". They signed for a match against Randy Savage, Lex Luger and Sting where they would reveal their newest member who shockingly enough turned out to be a newly heel "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan forming the nWo in WCW, one of the most innovative and groundbreaking angles of the 1990s until it was carried on far too long. Still, Hogan, Hall and Nash dominated WCW with Hogan as WCW World Champion and Hall and Nash the dominant WCW World Tag Team Champions primarily feuding with the Steiner Brothers and Harlem Heat. Eventually though the nWo would split from within with both Nash and Hogan vying for leadership leading to Nash and Randy Savage forming a splinter nWo Wolfpac group in 1998 alongside Konnan and Curt Hennig. Hennig however would shortly revert back to Hogan's group as would surprisingly enough his long time partner Scott Hall. However Lex Luger and Sting would join the nWo Wolfpac as new members leading to a long and confusing war between the two factions with Nash primarily feuding with Hall. In late 1998, Nash would win World War 3 to earn a WCW World title shot at Goldberg whom he'd defeat, with more than a bit of help from Scott Hall and a cattle prod, at Starrcade 1998 to win his first WCW World Championship and end Goldberg's highly touted undefeated streak. Not long after, Nash fell to Hollywood Hogan's "fingerpoke of doom" basically laying down for Hogan to pin him and handing the title to Hogan in order to reform the nWo which would proved rather short-lived anyway. Nash was also at the times heavily involved with creative behind the scenes and a lot of these angles seemed to be designed to have Nash and his buddies work as little as possible earning him the nickname "Big Lazy" with some. Still Nash was popular with fans and remained successful winning his second WCW World Championship in May 1999 from Diamond Dallas Page. Eventually Nash would enter into a feud with a now heel Randy Savage and Sid Vicious and would eventually drop the title to Savage in a special tag team stipulation match in which Nash teamed with Sting. Shortly thereafter, Nash would interfere in a title defense of Savage and aid Hulk Hogan in regaining the WCW World Championship. In 2000, Nash would award himself the WCW World Championship but would lose it to Sid the same night. In May 2000, he`d defeat Jeff Jarrett for his 4th WCW World Championship in a match also involving Scott Steiner but would late give the title to Ric Flair. Not long after, Nash turned heel again attacking Hogan and now forming an alliance with Sid and Rick Steiner to battle Hogan, Sting and Goldberg with Hogan eventually defeating Nash in a "retirement" match. Nash didn't stay retired for long though returning to reform yet another version of the nWo alongside Hall, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett. This group wouldn't last long either as Bret Hart, the group's then leader would be injured. Nash would go on to feud with the likes of Terry Funk, Mike Awesome, Scott Steiner and Booker T. with Nash eventually capturing another WCW World Championship from Booker T. in August 2000 which he'd shortly thereafter drop back to Booker again. Nash next played a variety of roles even playing WCW Commissioner at one point and later mentoring the Natural Born Thrillers team until they turned on him. Nash would go on to form a new tag team with Diamond Dallas Page called the Insiders who feuded with th Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo) and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship in November 2000. Eventually they'd be stripped of the titles but would regain them at Starrcade and feuded with the Thrillers into 2001 until Nash lost yet another "retirement" match, this time to Scott Steiner at SuperBrawl.

Nash would sign with and would return to the WWF in 2002 alongside "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall, a reformed original nWo in WWF for the first time. They first appeared at No Way Out 2002 where they pretended to have changed their ways being originally friendly with Steve Austin and the Rock only to later in the night help Chris Jericho retain his title against Austin. At Wrestlemania X8, which saw the Rock defeat "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Austin battle Hall in a match in which Nash heavily interfered. After Hogan shook the Rock's hand after losing, Hall and Nash turned on Hogan turning heel but before it could really materialize into anything, Nash suffered a series of injuries that put him on the shelf for months effectively disbanding the nWo group in short order. After nine months out with injury, Nash returned in April 2003 and was soon feuding with World Heavyweight Champion Triple H. They two squared off in a series of brutal matches which saw Shawn Michaels side with Nash and Ric Flair in Triple H's corner that culminated in an Hell in a Cell match with special referee Mick Foley that saw Triple H finally defeat Nash to win the feud. Nash would next go on to play the losing end of a feud against Chris Jericho on his way out in 2003.

In 2004, he alongside Hall would debut in TNA siding with Jeff Jarrett as a new faction - the Kings of Wrestling. They'd go on to feud with Jeff Hardy and A.J. Styles and would actually suffer a defeat to Randy Savage, Style and Jeff Hardy. The group would be short-lived however with Hall leaving in early 2005 and Nash announcing his desire to win Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Nash would receive his title shot but would fall short following interference from the Outlaw (the former Billy Gunn). Nash would go on to team with Sean Waltman, his former X-Pac, Syxx-Pac nWo buddy, to feud with Planet Jarrett. Shortly thereafter Nash would suffer a staph infection and would be removed from TV. He'd finally return in October 2005 and was originally scheduled to face Jarrett in a big Bound For Glory rematch until his suffering chest pains hospitalized him and took him out of the title picture. Nash would next return in April 2006 showing much too much interest in TNA's X Division and forming an alliance with Alex Shelley. Nash would go on to feud with and target X Division grapplers particularly Chris Sabin and helped to build up young stars including Shelley, Austin Starr, Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. Soon he would move into a program with Kurt Angle aiding him against Sting who nevertheless defeated Angle anyways for the TNA World Title but Nash would later help Angle regain it. Nash shortly thereafter took on the unlikely role of mentor to Samoa Joe who would go on to capture the TNA World title. However and perhaps not surprisingly, Nash would eventually turn on Joe helping Sting win the TNA World Championship and going on to form a new villainous stable alongside Sting, Angle, Booker T. and Scott Steiner called the Main Event Mafia who dominated TNA with Nash feuding with Joe who he dominated with MEM help. Nash would go on to defeat A.J. Styles for the TNA Legends Championship, his first TNA title only to lose it to and regain it from Mick Foley. Nash would eventually lose the title to Eric Young in a 3 way match also involving Hernandez. Not long after, Kurt Angle announced the disbanding of the Main Event Mafia and Nash would go on to feud with Eric Young and the World Elite only to eventually align with them congratulating Young for outsmarting him. Next Nash would hint at another nWo reunion in TNA with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff soon coming in.  Sure enough, Nash would soon be back with old buddies Scott Hall and Sean Waltman as the Band. Eventually Hall and Waltman would seemingly turn on Nash who would team with Eric Young but it was all a swerve to get the Band contracts in TNA with Young eventually joining the group after turning on Team 3D. Nash and Hall would go on to capture the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Matt Morgan after Morgan was attacked by Samoa Joe. Eventually however Hall would run into legal problems and they would be forced to vacate the TNA tag titles. Next Nash would split with Young and would form an alliance with Sting to feud with Jeff Jarrett, who had aligned himself with Hogan and Bischoff with Samoa Joe eventually aligning with Jarrett as well.  Eventually D'Angelo Dinero would align with Nash and Sting as well and in the end, it would be revealed that Hogan, Jarrett and Bischoff were secretly the true heels as they aligned with a newly heel Abyss and Jeff Hardy as well. Nash would receive his TNA release at the end of 2010 and would return to the WWE as Diesel at the 2011 Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant getting a huge reaction from the viewing audience. Nash would next appear at the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony celebrating Shawn Michaels induction. Next he made a shocking appearance at Summerslam 2011 attacking the new Undisputed WWE Champion C.M. Punk with a powerbomb leaving him vulnerable for Alberto Del Rio to successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk. The next few weeks, Nash and Punk engaged in a war of words that eventually involved new COO Triple H as well breeding an hate between Triple H and Punk setting up a feud between the two and eventually leading to Triple H publicly firing Nash on Raw. Nash was also heavily involved in tonight's Night of Champions showdown between Punk and Triple H.

Nash's title accomplishments: TNA Legends Championship (2 times), TNA World Tag Team Championship with Scott Hall and Eric Young, WCW World Heavyweight Championship (5 times), WCW World Tag Team Championship (9 times) - 6 times with Hall, 2 times with Diamond Dallas Page and once with Sting, WEWF Television Championship (2 times), WEWF World Tag Team Championship with Mark Johnson, WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Shawn Michaels.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on September 19, 2011, 08:37:51 PM
I like Nash.  I think if he'd have a better 'attitude' backstage with helping guys (calling Eddie Guerrero a Vanilla Midget...really?), he'd be much more respected.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 20, 2011, 11:35:46 PM
Charlie Minh joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Minh was kind of like an high strung hyperactive Asian version of Todd Pettengill. He brought a lot of energy and excitement but seemed truly a bit over the top stereotypical even in the crazy world of WWF Wrestling. Minh did some backstage interview work and also worked alongside Dok Hendrix (Michael Hayes) on WWF Action Zone circa 1996. His stay in WWF was rather short-lived.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 26, 2011, 08:21:44 PM
The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys of Tracey Smothers and Steve Armstrong join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Armstrong & Smothers were a veteran tag team of two tall good-looking, well, Southern Boys who could go in the ring with slick, fast moves and crisp weardown holds. They could battle and brawl with the best of them. They also had some great double team finishers in the Doomsday dropkick and double superkick. They started teaming in 1987 in Florida Championship Wrestling where they feuded with the New Breed (Chris Champion and Sean Royal) and would win the NWA Florida tag gold. Later they moved to Southeastern Championship Wrestling where they feuded with the Stud Stable (Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden) and captured the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship. When Southeastern turned into Continental, they'd win the CWF Tag Team Championship twice. In 1990, they debuted in WCW where they arguably left their most lasting impression going on to memorably feud with the Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) with the Southern Boys dominating but nevertheless often getting laid out by the Freebirds. They also battled the Midnight Express amongst others. In 1991, the Southern Boys would surprise many by turning heel and going on to feud with and defeat the Patriots team of Todd Champion and Firebreaker Chip for the WCW United States Tag Team Championship. They'd also feud with Big Josh and Ron Simmons. They'd break up to pursue singles interests in 1992 although Steve would later team with brother Scott Armstrong. They'd actually reunite in Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2000 to feud with the Disciples of Syn and would actually capture the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship.

Baby Doll joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame.  Born Nickla Roberts, the tall 5' 10" Baby Doll became known as "The Perfect 10" despite the fact she was a larger than usual lady. In fact, Roberts debuted in World Class Championship Wrestling as Andrea the Lady Giant. She'd also debut as Gino Hernandez's manager wearing leather pants, studded belts, spiked wristbands and dog collars and metal t-shirts while sporting a punk haircut. She managed Hernandez as he feuded with Mike Von Erich and his valet Sunshine. She'd move to Jim Crockett Promotions and would change and adjust her image to become Tully Blanchard's "Perfect 10" valet/manager. She'd manage Tully during some of his most brutal and memorable feuds with Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. during Tully's days as United States and Television Champion in the NWA. At one point, Rhodes actually won Baby Doll for 30 days as his own valet in a match stipulation against Blanchard. Not long after, she'd be fired by Blanchard who then employed James J. Dillon and joined the Four Horsemen. This resulted in Baby Doll turning babyface and managing Rhodes on occasion against Blanchard. In 1986, Baby Doll would end up in a feud against Jim Cornette and his Midnight Express after they attacked Baby Doll with a tennis racket. She'd go on to introduce a young Warlord as her latest client. Warlord would go on to briefly feud with Express bodyguard Big Bubba Rogers before leaving JCP to further his training. She'd eventually team up with old enemies, now friends Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. to defeat Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express at the 1986 Great American Bash. In August 1986, Baby Doll would shockingly turn on Dusty Rhodes helping Ric Flair retain his NWA World Heavyweight Championship leading to Baby Doll briefly managing Flair until JCP decided to send her to Central States disapproving of her marriage to wrestler Sam Houston. She'd go on to manage her husband Houston in the UWF and on the independent circuit. In 1988, she'd briefly return to JCP to manage Larry Zbyszko during his feud with Barry Windham over the NWA Western States Heritage Championship but with Houston now in WWF, her being in JCP was now seen as a conflict of interest and she was released. She'd go on to tryout for the WWF alongside sister in-law Rockin' Robin with Robin eventually being chosen over her. In 2005, she'd make a return to ringside managing Jeff Jarrett in a NWA World Heavyweight Championship defense against Tully Blanchard. She'd go on to manage several wrestlers on the independent circuit in the 2000s including Abyss, The Barbarian, Phil Brown, d**k Foley, Robert Gibson, Ricky Morton, Scrap Yard Dog, Rex Sterling and Damien Wayne.

J.B.L. joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Following a long, successful career in WWF/WWE during which John Bradshaw Layfield had just recently reached the heights of success capturing the WWE Heavyweight and United States Championships in his most recent J.B.L. incarnation, Layfield was forced to take some time off from in-ring work to heal an injured back and soon turned to color commentating on WWE Smackdown! and considerably helped that show become more entertaining in the process even making the unlikely team of him and Michael Cole look good in the process. Layfield was quite capable in the role and helped to build many new stars and further establish several veterans as well yet he still remained true to his character and always seemed aware he would eventually return to the ring which he did in late 2006, early 2007 and wrestled for two more years before finally retiring in 2009. Surprisingly he has not since returned in a commentary role.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on September 30, 2011, 01:18:58 AM
The New Breed of Chris Champion and Sean Royal join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. While they were quite talented in-ring and worked well in delivering double-team moves and had a great look, their time in the spotlight came to an end almost as quickly as it started. Champion and Royal first came to team together in Florida Championship Wrestling, working a gimmick where they supposedly back in 1986 came from the future of 2002. They claimed in the future Dusty Rhodes was the President of the U.S.A., that their frequent adversary Lazer-Tron was in fact a real robot and that they used a flux capacitor, a fictional creation from Back to the Future, to travel through time. Yeah their gimmick was very silly indeed. While in Florida, they'd capture the Florida Tag Team Championship which they'd later lose in a feud with the Southern Boys (Steve Armstrong & Tracey Smothers). They'd move to the Jim Crockett Promotions NWA in 1987 and feuded with Lazer-tron and "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant before moving on to feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express but before the feud could really get going, the New Breed were in a car accident which cut short this program. Later a returning Royal would be attacked by the Midnight Express setting up a potential new feud between great double-teaming tandems and Champion would eventually return with a cast on his arm to do some promos now claiming his arm was computerized and bionic. Sadly before this feud could get off the ground, the team disbanded with Royal giving up wrestling to become a construction worker. Several later variations of the team would show up on the independent circuit for a few years after this.

The North-South Connection of d**k Murdoch and Adrian Adonis just the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This team of two great in-ring workers who gave it their all and bumped with the best of them night after night had great success in the WWF and Japan in the early 1980s. After Jesse Ventura retired, Adonis teamed up with Murdoch, a pair of beefy but crafty veterans who might have lacked championship looking bodies but made up for it in their ability to fight and take a beating and their general overall ring smarts. On April 17, 1984, they'd upset Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship. They'd hold the titles up until January 21, 1985, a fairly impressive run, when they were defeated by the U.S. Express of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo. They'd break up shortly thereafter with Murdoch leaving the WWF and Adonis gaining much too much weight and adopting the "Adorable" Adrian gimmick.

"Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. While he worked as a wrestler on the independent circuit in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Japan and Europe, Sweeney is perhaps most well known for his time in ROH managing a stable called "Sweet and Sour, Inc."  including the likes of Chris Hero, Sara Del Ray, Tank Toland, Bobby Dempsey, Matt Sydal and Daniel Puder with Sydal and Puder eventually departing. Later he'd announce his intention to take over ROH and would sign Adam Pearce, Brent Albright and Shane Hagadorn to his stable. Next he'd try to recruit Roderick Strong who refused his offer leading to Strong being betrayed by his No Remorse Corps partner Davey Richards with Richards then joining the Sweet and Sour stable. Shortly thereafter Sweeney added Go Shiozaki to the group. He'd also make appearances in Shimmer on behalf of his client Sara Del Ray. Aside from the ROH stars he managed, Sweeney also managed veteran Greg Valentine on the independent circuit.

Goldy Locks joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Goldy Locks is probably better remembered as a backstage interviewer during her time in TNA but she also spent some time as a manager/valet in addition. Truthfully she probably shouldn't be all that well remembered for either job. The character of Goldy Locks was a bit of a catty rich girl who backtalked wrestlers during interviews. Later she'd become valet/manager for on-screen love interest Erik Watts. When they inevitably broke up, she hired Abyss as her protector. Later she'd win Watts contract in a match against Abyss but would sell it to bring in her "baby bear" Alex Shelley. Goldy Locks then focused on trying to win contracts in matches pitting Abyss against different opponents basically using Abyss to punish opponents in order to let the "baby bear" come in and get the pin and claim all the glory for himself. It wasn't long before Abyss finally had enough and turned on Goldy Locks in a match pitting her, Shelley and Abyss against Sonny Siaki, Erik Watts and Siaki's valet Desire. Goldy Locks would leave TNA shortly thereafter to focus more on her work as a musician under her real name Moon Shadow and she has since provided quite a bit of music for TNA, including  theme songs for Trinity, Alissa Flash, Tara, Winter and Dixie Carter.  


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 01, 2011, 12:54:25 AM
Tony Atlas joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Known primarily as "Mr. U.S.A." Tony Atlas, a distinction he earned three times in bodybuilding, Atlas had a great look for wrestling with his chiseled muscular physique and for his time, good looks. Looking at Atlas in the past, one wonders just why he wasn't an even bigger star although a big star he was. Atlas proved very popular with fans in his early days and had success in practically every promotion in which he travelled as he travelled through several territories in the 1970s and 1980s. He was known for his strength and his gentle spoken nature. Atlas even has victories over Hulk Hogan on his record back in the days when Atlas was the popular hero and Hogan played the villain. He'd have success and win titles in Georgia Championship Wrestling where he'd win several tag titles with different partners, World Class Championship Wrestling, Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council, Southwest Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Quebec International Wrestling and finally in the WWF where he won the WWF World Tag Team Championship with Rocky Johnson, the title win for which he's perhaps best remembered upsetting the Wild Samoans and becoming the first Afro-American team to win the belts. After they lost the titles to Adrian Adonis and d**k Murdoch, things started to go downhill for Atlas. Initially there were plans for Atlas to perhaps have an Intercontinental title run but Atlas' growing drug problem behind the scenes made him unreliable and Atlas ultimately proved his brains didn't quite match his brawn. Atlas fell down the card ending up in makeshift tandems with Ivan Putski, Lanny Poffo and George Wells and eventually becoming a jobber to the stars putting over new talent on the scene such as King Kong Bundy and Harley Race. Atlas would shortly thereafter leave the WWF for World Class and would start calling himself "The Black Superman" and had some success there teaming with Skip Young. Atlas would move to compete in the Northeast in IWCCW where he captured the heavyweight championship a number of times and became a top star after turning heel on Joe Salvoldi and hiring a manager named The Duke. Atlas would go on to feud with Salvoldi and Vic Steamboat. In 1991 after getting himself clean and off the drugs, Vince McMahon would give Atlas another shot this time recreating him as the jungle warrior Saba Simba. The gimmick however proved unpopular and many considered it racist and Roddy Piper was quick on commentary to point out Simba was really Tony Atlas.  Still Atlas credits McMahon for giving him another chance saying he was homeless before getting the call to come back to the WWF. When the gimmick failed to get over, he briefly moved to WCW in 1992 and eventually back to the independent circuit and the AWF. Atlas would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 and would make a surprise return to ECW as the manager of Mark Henry who was then being given a good push. He would remain Henry's manager until Henry was traded to the Raw brand in June 2009. Atlas would next show up in September 2009 as the sidekick of Abraham Washington on the "Abraham Washington Show" segments which were a mock-up of late night interview shows with Atlas doing an outrageous forced laugh often resulting in him being the butt of jokes.

Atlas's title accomplishments: AWF North American Heavyweight Championship, CWA [Century Wrestling Alliance] Heavyweight Championship, EWA Heavyweight Championship, NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship, NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (4 times) once each with Tommy Rich, Mr. Wrestling II, Thunderbolt Patterson and Kevin Sullivan, IWCCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times), Quebec International Wrestling WCWA Brass Knuckles Championship, NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, NWA West Virginia/Ohio Heavyweight Championship, NEPW [New England Pro Wrestling] Heavyweight Championship, SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship, USA Tag Team Championship with S.D. Jones, WCWA Television Championship, WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship with Skip Young, WWWA Intercontinental Championship (2 times), WWC North American Tag Team Championship with Miguel Perez Jr., WWF Tag Team Championship with Rocky Johnson



Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 02, 2011, 07:29:18 PM
2 Cold Scorpio joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Scorpio, known for his high-flying aerial attack, has been a major player practically everywhere he's competed and found success competing in WCW, ECW and Japan. After struggling on the independent circuit in the 1980s, Scorpio under the recommendation of Big Van Vader would move to New Japan Pro Wrestling to compete and finally started to get some recognition. He'd later improve more by also competing in Mexico and Europe. Scorpio would debut in WCW as Ron Simmons' mystery partner at Clash of the Champions XXI in November 1992 quickly impressing many fans with his daredevil aerial moves including a 450 Splash. Later he'd form a tag team with Marcus Alexander Bagwell and would win the WCW World Tag Team titles with him in October 1993. Scorpio would leave WCW in 1994 and move on to have an even more impressive run in ECW where he racked up four wins as ECW World Television Champion and also once held the ECW World Tag Team Championship with the Sandman while still TV champ referring to himself as "2 Gold Scorpio" at the time. Scorpio would have memorable ECW wars with the likes of Taz, Shane Douglas, Sabu and Mikey Whipwreck. Scorpio would then move to WWF where he would be reinvented and given the Flash Funk character, a pimp style gimmick. It really didn't suit him at all and it wasn't long being he was floundering in a WWF that foolishly never seemed to know how to use 2 Cold Scorpio although he would memorably team with old allies Ron Simmons and Terry Funk and would briefly join Al Snow's J.O.B. Squad. In 1999, Scorpio briefly returned to ECW to memorably challenge Mike Awesome for the ECW World title before moving on to All-Japan and then jumping to Pro Wrestling NOAH with a lot of other former All-Japan stars. Scorpio was impressive in NOAH given a chance to shine in the hard hitting promotion and captured the GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship as well as twice winning the GHC Tag Team Championship, once with Vader and once with Doug Williams. He'd be re-signed by WWE in 2006 who would only use him in the development Deep South Wrestling territory before he left again in 2007 to compete in Booker T.'s Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion. He would make a special appearance at the TNA reunion show Hardcore Justice defeating C.W. Anderson. Scorpio has always been a very entertaining grappler and is perhaps one's of pro wrestling's most underrated stars who succeeded practically everywhere he went when allowed to be, well, 2 Cold Scorpio.

2 Cold Scorpio's Title Accomplishments: ASWA Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Tag Team Championship with the Sandman, ECW World Television Championship (4 times), German Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship, NWA National Heavyweight Championship, PCW Heavyweight Championship, PSW Cordele City Heavyweight Championship, GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship, GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times), PWU World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), WCW World Tag Team Championship

Lita joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. While recovering from a neck injury she suffered on the set of Dark Angel, Lita took a color commentary role on WWE Sunday Night Heat in October 2002 alongside Jonathan Coachman replacing D-Lo Brown. She'd stay in the role until April 2003 when she'd be fired on Raw by Eric Bischoff as part of an angle. However Lita's voice never really lent itself well to an announcing role as it gets kind of grating after a while.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 02, 2011, 08:42:12 PM
2 Cold Scorpio is superb.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 12, 2011, 10:22:26 PM
Ivan Koloff joins the Singles Hall of Fame. "The Russian Bear" as he was nicknamed throughout his career was a dominant force in-ring in both the WWF and later the NWA. Koloff broke the hearts of many fans in 1971 when he ended the legendary 7+ year WWWF World Heavyweight Title reign of Bruno Sammartino with a kneedrop off the top rope. Despite dropping the title shortly thereafter to Pedro Morales, he'd remain a top contender for years and would again challenge Morales, Sammartino, Superstar Billy Graham and Backlund for the championship although he never regained it. In these early days, Koloff was an imposing figure heavily muscled and weighing close to 280 pounds although he was shorter than usual at less than 6 foot tall. He'd later drop a considerable amount of weight and some muscle mass after moving to the NWA where he formed many successful tag teams and would capture tag gold with both Ray Stevens and Don Kernodle before forming his most famous and most successful tandem - the Russians with partners Nikita Koloff and Krusher Krushchev (the future Smash/Barry Darsow). The Russians were a pretty dominant stable in the NWA from 1984 to 1986 and would memorably feud with the likes of the Rock 'n' Roll Express (whom they defeated to win NWA World Tag Team gold), The Road Warriors, Magnum T.A., Dusty Rhodes and even Ric Flair and the Horsemen at one point in time. After Nikita shockingly turned on his kayfabe "Uncle" Ivan to team with Dusty Rhodes, Koloff struggled as he feuded with Nikita with assorted new partners including Vladimir Petrov and Dick Murdoch and had limited success. Eventually he'd become kind of a coach/mentor in Paul Jones army aiding the Powers of Pain and later the masked Russian Assassins who ultimately turned on him making Ivan surprisingly enough a babyface for the first time. Ivan would go on to team with Junkyard Dog and would dominate in his feud with the Russian Assassins (who were really American grapplers under the masks) and former manager Paul Jones. Ivan Koloff, who was actually born in Canada, was so convincing in his gimmick I honestly believed him to be a genuine Russian for years and was surprised to later learn he was in fact from my own home country. He never seemed to get seen out of character back in his heyday, had a Russian hammer and sickle tattoo and his relationship with Nikita seemed very genuine too. Early on before becoming Ivan Koloff, he actually used an Irish gimmick and wrestled as the villainous Red McNulty and wore an eye patch to the ring.

Ivan Koloff title accomplishments: NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (5 times) [Once with Pat Patterson, 3 times with Masa Saito, and once with Nikolai Volkoff], NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version), NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (7 times) [5 times with Ole Anderson and twice with Alexis Smirnoff], GLWA United States Heavyweight Championship, NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version), MoM USWA North American Heavyweight Championship, NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (4 times), NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Don Kernodle, NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship (2 times), NWA Television Championship (3 times), NWA United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) once with Krusher Krushchev and once with Dick Murdoch, NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) - once with the Russians and once with the Powers of Pain, NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (5 times) [Twice with the Russians, once with Ray Stevens, once with Don Kernodle and once with Manny Fernandez replacing Rick Rude who jumped to the WWF], NWA Charlotte Legends Championship, VWA Heavyweight Championship, WOW International Heavyweight Championship, WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, WWA World Heavyweight Championship, WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship, ACW Tag Team Championship, CREW Heavyweight Championship, IWA Tag Team Championship with Mad Dog Vachon, IWA (Montreal) International Heavyweight Championship.

C.M. Punk joins the Hosts/Announcer Hall of Fame. Punk did some announcing in both Ring of Honor and briefly in WWE on WWE Raw while recovering from an hip injury. He also made one appearance in a color commentary role on WWE NXT and most recently breifly got to call a little bit of a match between John Cena and Sheamus before it was interrupted by the returning Vince McMahon. Punk was superb in the color commentary role adding great insight and some inside knowledge but also adding a delightful element of humor that was refreshing amongst the often stale WWE commentary one gets nowadays. In ROH, he was also very, very good and probably even less limited as to what he could say which is all the better for Punk in this role.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 13, 2011, 11:16:11 AM
Punk was great as an announcer.

Even somewhat openly mocking the on air product while calling it.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 13, 2011, 08:55:42 PM
Magnum T.A. joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Actually Magnum T.A. was one of the most popular grapplers of the 1980s especially in Jim Crockett Promotions NWA and Mid-South Wrestling. Many believed at the time U.S. Champ Magnum T.A. was a certain future NWA World Champion and he seemed right at the cusp of his greatest success and a potential new run against Ric Flair and the Horsemen when the unfortunate happened and a car accident ended his short career. Magnum was lucky to be alive but would later return to inspire others from ringside as a manager.

Magnum started out under his real name Terry Allen competing in Florida and the Pacific Northwest. In Florida, he'd win the Global Tag Team Championship five times while teaming with 3 different partners in Scott McGee, Dusty Rhodes and Brad Armstrong. After honing his skills in Florida, he'd move to Mid-South Wrestling an reinvent himself as Magnum T.A., his gimmick largely inspired by Tom Selleck's Magnum P.I. which was quite popular in the 1980s. In Mid-South, he'd eventually capture his first major title, the North American Heavyweight Championship defeating Mr. Wrestling II on May 13, 1984. Magnum would hold on to the belt for five months before dropping it to "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd in October. In Mid-South, he'd also capture tag team gold with Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Mr. Wrestling II who'd he'd eventually rub the wrong way leading to the longtime fan favourite shockingly turning heel on Magnum.

He'd make the move to Jim Crockett Promotions and would soon be feuding with another former fan favourite turned heel in the legendary Wahoo McDaniel whom he'd eventually defeat to capture the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He'd successfully fend off the challenge of Kamala and later several of the Horsemen before eventually dropping the title to Tully Blanchard managed by Baby Doll. He'd also make a run at Flair's NWA World title at this time but would come up short in a near 30 minute match in September. In November, he'd defeat Tully Blanchard at Starrcade 1985 in an infamously brutal "I Quit" steel cage match to regain his United States championship. In April 1986, Magnum would begin feuding with Ivan Koloff who claimed his nephew Nikita could defeat Magnum. This lead to the eventual Best of 7 series between Magnum and Nikita for the title with Nikita eventually winning the seventh and final match with help and outside interference from fellow Russians Ivan Koloff and Krusher Krushchev. In October 1986, Magnum had his career ending car accident losing control of his Porsche in the rain and wrapping it around a telephone pole. It is believed Magnum's physical conditioning may well have saved his life. The accident though still left Magnum paralyzed for months and it was doubtful he would even walk again. Magnum however would defy those odds in the long run. Meanwhile back in the world of wrestling, Nikita claiming he was inspired by Magnum during their previous feud and shockingly turned fan favourite and started teaming with Dusty Rhodes. Eventually Magnum would make a surprise appearance at the 1987 Crockett Cup final inspiring Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff to defeat Horsemen Lex Luger and Tully Blanchard. Magnum would later become an announcer in the NWA and WCW and also worked as a manager for Dusty Rhodes at one point. Magnum too would be in the corner of Sting and Lex Luger when they defeated Horsemen Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson to win the 1988 Crockett Cup final even aiding them with some timely interference at one point. Magnum would make sporadic appearances in NWA and WCW up until 1993.

Magnum T.A. (Terry Allen)'s title accomplishments: NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (5 times) [3 times with Scott McGee, once with Dusty Rhodes and once with Brad Armstrong], NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times), Mid-South North American Championship (2 times), Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times) [once with Hacksaw Duggan and once with Mr. Wrestling II].

Velvet Sky/Talia Madison joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. After completing her training at the House of Pain Pro Wrestling Dojo, this young woman would begin working on the independent circuit as a valet and wrestler under the names Miss Talia, Talia Doll and Talia Madison, a name she still uses on the independent scene nowadays. She'd form a tag team with April Hunter called T & A. She'd eventually capture her first championship, the WXW Women's Championship in May 2004. She'd make a few scant WWE appearances in 2005 and 2006 appearing as an extra during JBL's Celebration of Excellence, losing a match to Victoria taped for WWE Heat and dancing with the Heart Throbs. She would however fail to make the final eight in the 2007 Diva Search which leaves one to wonder what those in charge of WWE were thinking in letting this stunning beauty with the cutest tush in wrestling get away? As Talia Madison, she'd also capture the Defiant Pro Wrestling's Women's Championship. She and Hunter would defeat Team Blondage to win the WEW Women's Tag Team Championship and she'd eventually win the WEW Women's Championship defeating Angel Orsini.

She'd move to TNA and change her identity to Velvet Sky eventually forming a duo with Angelina Love called "The Beautiful People". They'd prove quite popular with fans but made even better heels after turning on Gail Kim and Roxxi Laveux with whom they'd memorably feud. They'd eventually start putting paper bags over their opponents heads while performing what they called a "makeover". Sky would earn some title matches against TNA Knockouts Champion Taylor Wilde but was unable to defeat her. They eventually starting teaming with and managing Cute Kip as they feuded with ODB, Rhaka Khan and Rhino. In March 2009, they added a new member to the Beautiful People in one Madison Rayne and ultimately fired Kip. Sky would be in Angelina's corner when she defeated Awesome Kong to win the TNA Knockouts title and again helped Love defeat Tara by spraying hairspray in Tara's eyes. Eventually a tag team match pitting the Beautiful People against ODB and Cody Deaner would see ODB defeat Love for the Knockouts Championship due to a special stipulation. This led to Rayne being booted out of the group but this would be short-lived as Rayne would rejoin the group following an apology. When issues with a work visa forced Angelina Love to leave TNA, Angelina would be replaced in the Beautiful People by Lacey Von Erich. When Love finally returned in early 2010, she'd start feuding with her old teammates. Nevertheless Sky and Rayne would win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship defeating Love and Tara and Sarita and Taylor Wilde in a three way match. Eventually Sky and Rayne would turn their focus on Love's Knockouts title and Rayne would actually win it in a tag match pitting her and Sky against Love and Tara. However after capturing the championship, Rayne began mistreating her partners and claiming she didn't need them preferring to hang around with a masked mystery woman and Sarita. Eventually interference from this woman and Rayne would cost Sky and Von Erich the Knockouts tag team title in a match with Hamada and Taylor Wilde. Sky the following week would attack the mystery woman causing a distraction that allowed Angelina Love to defeat Rayne. Sky and Love would reform their team shortly thereafter and eventually would add Lacey to the group as well although she'd leave TNA shortly thereafter. Sky shortly thereafter started feuding with Sarita and Rosita while Winter eventually worked her way in between the Beautiful People successfully teaming with Love to win the Knockouts Tag Team Championship with eventually Love turning on Sky after she cost her and Winter the tag belts. Sky would go on to feud with Love, Sarita and Rosita hoping to win the Knockouts Championship and Knockouts Tag Team titles but would soon be attacked by a returning ODB igniting a new feud that eventually also involved Jacqueline who teamed with ODB against Sky. On September 15 Sky defeated Love to earn a shot at the Knockouts Championship in a four way involving Winter, Knockouts champ Mickie James and Madison Rayne.

She has managed many grapplers over her career including The Brain Surgeons, Simon Diamond, Romeo Roselli, Matt Striker, John Walters, Alere Little Feather, Jason Knight and perhaps most notably Angelina Love, Cute Kip and Madison Rayne.

Gorgeous George (valet) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Stephanie Bellars after training at the WCW Power Planet with Madusa and Nora Greenwald with whom she'd team as part of Randy Savage's Team Madness in 1999. She'd adopt the name of Gorgeous George obviously a reference to her legendary predecessor as she managed her then boyfriend "Macho Man" Randy Savage during a memorable run in 1999 but she was just one of a trio that also included the previously mentioned Madusa and Greenwald (then known as Miss Madness who would become the future Molly Holly). She added little to the group aside from being an attractive distraction at ringside. She'd later become known as George Frankenstein following her marriage to Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (Paul Caiafa), the former guitarist of the American horror punk band, the Misfits.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 15, 2011, 12:30:55 AM
The Top Guns join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame.  Initially this team consisted of Ricky Rice and Jon Paul [DeMans] but later Paul would be replaced by Derrick Dukes. Rice, after being trained by Eddie Sharkey debuted in Pro Wrestling America where he first attained success capturing PWA Tag Team gold alongside Derrick Dukes before the days of the Top Guns. Rice would also win the PWA Heavyweight Championship while in the organization and would move on to the AWA initially as a singles star but eventually he ending up feuding with the Nasty Boys in several makeshift tag teams teaming with Dukes, Mando Guerrero and Baron Von Raschke. He’d go on to team with Jon Paul forming for the first time the tandem known as The Top Guns. This well built, young and good looking duo were fast-paced and exciting to watch in ring delivering high flying moves with Rice impressing with his dropkick and Paul with his flying bodypress. They proved somewhat popular as both men were from Minnesota in which they primarily wrestled but lacked in comparison to the team they were obviously designed to replace- the Midnight Rockers. They’d go on to feud with the monstrous foreign menace tandem of Soldat Ustinov and Teijho Khan before moving on to become top challengers to AWA World Tag Team Champions Badd Company [Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond]. Rice & Paul would come close but would ultimately fail to defeat Badd Company.

Following a brief feud with the tandem of Beauty & The Beast from Memphis, Paul left the AWA behind and would be replaced by Rice’s old partner Derrick Dukes now known as The Top Guns for the first time. Dukes & Rice would perhaps forge a little bit more of their own identity as they continued chasing and challenging Badd Company although they’d still fall short when it came to defeating them for the AWA World Tag Team Championship although they would win a key mixed tag team match teaming with Wendi Richter to defeat Badd Company and Madusa Miceli at Superclash III. Rice & Dukes would continue teaming on and off until 1989 when they made another run at the AWA World Tag Team titles now held by the Destruction Crew [Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom] but failed to defeat them as well. Rice & Dukes would split up and go their separate ways following the closure of the AWA with Rice returning to PWA to win more PWA Heavyweight Championship winning it 4 times in total as well as capturing the AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship there although he’d lose it after only a week to Jerry Lynn. Dukes meanwhile briefly feuded with Colonel DeBeers before also returning to PWA on a sporadic basis as he also pursued a career in boxing on and off but ran into difficulties after it was learned he was taking dives. After returning to PWA, he’d capture a second PWA Tag Team Championship this time teaming with Charlie Norris. He’d also compete as a jobber to the stars in WWF and WCW.

Mike Hogewood joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Hogewood is best known as a sports broadcaster and freelance play by play announcer and has called ACC football games, ACC men’s and women’s basketball as well as anchoring Raycom sports coverage of Nextel Cup NASCAR races. He’s done play by play work for FSN South, Sun Sports, the Speed Channel, New England Sports Network, Comcast SportsNet and HDNet. It’s his work on HDNet where he might be known to wrestling fans for calling the Ring of Honor show on HDNet as part of ROH’s television deal with HDNet.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 17, 2011, 10:08:30 PM
Elektra joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Elektra is best known for her time managing in ECW after being trained by Johnny Rodz and the Fabulous Moolah and spending some time on the Northeastern Independent circuit. Initially she managed Danny Doring and Roadkill, debuting as a gift from Cyrus the Virus to Doring. They had some success together but Elektra would eventually turn on Doring and Roadkill betraying them in favour of C.W. Anderson and Billy Wiles of The Network working alongside Lou E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance (Anderson & Wiles) as they feuded with her former allies Doring and Roadkill. Eventually she'd move on to feud with Jazz getting more involved in-ring and at one point having her shirt ripped off by Jazz revealing her ample bosom. Towards the end of ECW, she'd end up managing the stable called Hot Commodity consisting of her charge EZ Money who now worked alongside Chris Hamrick and Julio Dinero. She'd made a brief appearance in one match in TNA, a lingeries battle royal to crown a Miss TNA where she'd have her PJs ripped off by winner Taylor Vaughn resulting in her elimination. She also appeared at ECW One Night Stand in 2005 and had beer poured down her shirt by the Sandman. While perhaps largely remembered for her revealing outfits, she was actually a pretty aggressive valet who wasn't afraid to get involved in the action on her men's behalf and she definitely was a factor in their success at times. In real life, Elektra was married to Alex Rizzo (AKA: Big Dick Dudley) until his death at age 34 and she has a daughter from their marriage. She also appeared in the TV series The Sopranos as one of the "Bada-Bing Girls" and posed for Playboy.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 17, 2011, 10:20:06 PM
For some reason, I really liked Elektra.  Dunno.

I am a bit partial to ECW though.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on October 25, 2011, 06:15:22 PM
3 Minute Warning, the pairing of Rosey and Jamal join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This pairing consisting of real life members of the famed Wild Samoan wrestling family would train with their family in their school. They'd first team together after a brief WWF stint where they appeared as gangsters stalking the "Make a Difference" Fatu character (who'd later become Rikishi) in Heartland Wrestling Association, a then WWF farm league where they wrestled as the Island Boyz under the names Ekmo Fatu (Jamal, the future Umaga) and Kimo (Rosey) where they'd win the HWA Tag Team Championship with Haku working for a time as their manager. They'd move on to compete in Japan where they'd capture the FMW Hardcore Tag Team Championship. The following year they returned to the U.S. and captured the MCW (Memphis Championship Wrestling) Southern Tag Team Championship winning it three times in total. In 2002, they were brought back to Raw as enforcers for Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff where they worked their new "3 Minute Warning" gimmick in which they'd attack and lay out anyone performing in the ring whom Bischoff declared boring. This series of segments lead to the eventual team name "3 Minute Warning" and would be known for attacking Billy and Chuck during their "commitment ceremony" which eventually lead to Rico making a switch and becoming the new manager of 3 Minute Warning. They'd go on to feud with the Dudley Boyz and Jeff Hardy. Surprisingly these two big powerful Samoan brawlers, who'd had great success everywhere else they went, struggled in WWE for a period afterwards until Jamal was released and Rosey went on to become the Super Hero In Training partner of The Hurricane. Later Jamal would be reinvented as Umaga.

"Exotic" Adrian Street joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Street is known mainly for his gender-bending flamboyant and androgynous wrestling persona but Street was actually a true legit tough guy too. Throughout his career, Welsh born Street was managed and accompanied by his powerful female valet Miss Linda who could probably go toe to toe with most men in the ring in her day as well. Street pushed all the boundaries in his time and was a true innovator with regards to portraying an apparently gay in-ring character using kisses to escape pinfalls and inappropriate grabs sure to throw his opponents off their game. When he had an opponent down and out, Street and Miss Linda were known for putting make-up on their victims. He was a successful heel wherever he travelled around the world and his music videos prove just how multi-talented a performer he truly was in his heyday. Street's primary finishers were a splash and a sleeperhold, perfect for putting his opponents to sleep to get his "make-up treatment".

Street's title accomplishments: All-Star Wrestling World Middleweight Championship (2 times), NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship, NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Diamond Timothy Flowers, NWA Wrestle Birmingham Heavyweight Championship, Mid-South Television Championship, NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (4 times), SCW Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on October 25, 2011, 09:04:57 PM
I quite liked 3 Minute Warning.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 03, 2011, 12:00:00 AM
Gangrel, A.K.A. Vampire Warrior joins the Singles Hall of Shame.  After competing for a long time on the independent circuit, David Heath had his first taste of success as one of the Masked Blackhearts winning the Stampede International Tag Team Championship and also competing in Tri-State Wrestling, Herb Abrams’ UWF and All-Japan Pro Wrestling typically paired with manager Luna Vachon. Eventually Luna who was married to Heath’s Blackheart partner Tom Nash broke up with Nash and became romantically involved with Heath who sporadically competed as a jobber in the WWF while Luna also worked there. The Blackhearts not surprisingly broke up and Heath reinvented himself as the Vampire Warrior now sporting fang-like teeth and went on to compete in Memphis where he captured the USWA Southern Championship. He’d also compete under a mask sporadically in the mid-90s as the Black Phantom before moving on to have a brief run in ECW feuding with Tommy Dreamer over Dreamer’s association with his real life wife. Heath also made a few jobbing appearances in WCW in the late 90s before moving on to his most famous role, that of Gangrel in the WWF where he was really allowed to play up his vampire gimmick for the first  time having a cool ring entrance that saw him rising from a ring of fire on the entrance stage and drinking “blood” out of a goblet on his way to the ring. In short order, he became the head of a gothic faction called “The Brood” which also included a young Edge and Christian. The trio had a very cool entrance, terrific theme music and soon made an impression on fans with their “bloodbaths” with the lights going out and when they came back on their opponents beings covered in “blood”. Eventually the trio joined the Undertaker in his Ministry of Darkness faction. Gangrel would go on to unsuccessfully challenge DeGeneration X member X-Pac for the WWF European Championship. After splitting with the Ministry, the Brood began a feud with the Hardy Boyz who were then managed by Michael Hayes. Suddenly Gangrel shockingly turned on Edge and Christian and aligned himself with the Hardy Boyz calling the group the New Brood. However this pairing would prove short-lived when the Hardy Boyz would ultimately pick Terri Runnels over Gangrel for their manager. Gangrel continued working as a WWF mid-carder up until 2001 even at one point aligning with wife Luna Vachon but he only had rather limited success there. The next few years would see Gangrel bounce back and forth between the independent circuit and WWE with WWE signing him several times but him getting little use there reportedly due to his struggle with weight (and perhaps because Gangrel always seemed more flash than substance). Gangrel continues to compete and have his most success on the independent and overseas  circuit now usually using the name Vampire Warrior.

Gangrel/Vampire Warrior’s title accomplishments:  All Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship [w/Billy Blade], All-Star Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, Atlantic Wrestling Council Heavyweight Championship, European Wrestling Promotion World Heavyweight Championship, IPWA Tag Team Championship [2 times w/Rusty Brooks], Not Rated Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship [6 times 4 w/ Tommy Gunn and 1 each with Mule and Craig Valentine], Maximum Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, NWA Florida Tag Team Championship [w/Blackhearts partner Tom Nash], Pro Wrestling Revolution Heavyweight Championship,  Stampede International Tag Team Championship [w/Blackhearts partner Tom Nash], TWA Tag Team Championship [w/Blackhearts partner Tom Nash], USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, USWF Tag Team Championship [w/Blackhearts partner Tom Nash], NWL Heavyweight Championship

Ron Simmons, A.K.A. Farooq joins the Singles Hall of Fame. After impressing for some time as a singles star in the late 80s NWA particularly in the Florida territory, Simmons first really broke through after turning heel to form the tag team of Doom alongside Butch Reed. Initially under masks and managed by Woman, Doom struggled although they were able to score some key wins over the Steiner Brothers. Later removing the masks and now managed by Teddy Long, they rebounded in big fashion defeating the Steiners for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. They’d have an impressive nine month run as champs defeating the likes of The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and feuding with the Four Horsemen. Doom are recognized as the first holders of the WCW World Tag Team Championship finally dropping the belts to The Freebirds [Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin] in February 1991. Simmons and Reed broke up shortly thereafter with Simmons becoming a popular babyface. After defeating his former partner Reed in a steel cage match, Simmons impressed defeating all comers including the likes of Oz and the Diamond Studd and went to unsuccessfully challenge now heel Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with Luger defeating him in a Best Two out of Three Falls Match at Halloween Havoc 1991. Simmons went on to feud with and defeat Cactus Jack. On August 2, 1992, Simmons shocked the world when he replaced an injured Sting to defeat Big Van Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first African American to do so. Simmons held the title for five months fending off challenges from Cactus Jack, The Barbarian and Steve “Dr. Death” Williams with Simmons finally dropping the title back to Big Van Vader on December 30, 1992. The loss saw Simmons fall back down to mid-card status becoming a bitter heel who unsuccessfully challenged Dustin Rhodes for the U.S. Championship and Paul Orndorff for the WCW World Television Championship.  Still there’s no denying Simmons had his greatest run and success in WCW.

He’d move on to briefly compete in ECW where he unsuccessfully challenged ECW World Champion Shane Douglas and battled Mikey Whipwreck and 911. He’d reinvent himself and move on to the WWF as Farooq Asad working what initially looked like a silly gladiator gimmick. He was initially managed by Sunny and went on to feud with Ahmed Johnson as he pursued the WWF Intercontinental Championship. After sidelining Johnson, Farooq seemed poised to win the title in a tournament only to lose to “Wildman” Marc Mero managed by Sable. Following the loss, Sunny and Farooq parted ways and he dumped the gladiator gimmick in favor of a black extremist gimmick forming a stable called the Nation of Domination and adopting Clarence Mason as his manager. The stable would initially feud with Ahmed Johnson and later the Legion of Doom with little success. Eventually the Nation split up with Crush and Savio Vega each forming their own factions to feud with Farooq’s now all African American Nation. In short time however, the Rock usurped Farooq’s leadership role within the group. After briefly feuding with his former allies in the Nation, Farooq briefly teamed with 2 Cold Scorpio before forming his Acolytes tandem with Bradshaw. The two powerhouse brawlers were seemingly unstoppable and plowed through much of the competition. Initially they were members of the Undertakes’ Ministry of Darkness and went on to capture the WWF World Tag Team Championship twice in that role. Later after the Ministry disbanded, they continued on as mercenaries for hire who liked to hang out backstage and play cards, drink and smoke cigars. As the Acolyte Protection Agency, they went on to win another WWF World Tag Team Championship and extended their run as a tandem in the WWF/WWE by several more years with Simmons becoming known for using the phrase “Damn!” in reference to a lot of the more bizarre WWF hijinks backstage and in-ring. The team would finally split with Bradshaw reinventing himself as the successful businessman themed J.B.L. although Simmons still makes sporadically appearances usually just to utter the word “Damn!”.

Simmons’ title accomplishments:  NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, Memphis Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship [w/Bradshaw], OVW Tag Team Championship [w/Bradshaw], WCW United States Tag Team Championship [w/Big Josh], WCW World Tag Team Championship [w/Butch Reed], WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship [3 times w/ Bradshaw]

The Midnight Rockers, A.K.A. The Rockers consisting of Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. Friends Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels first started teaming together in Central States Wrestling, although they initially didn’t have a team name they still managed to capture the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship although they shortly lose them back to the team they initially won them from – the Batten Twins. Following this Michaels returned to his native Texas and formed a tag team with Paul Diamond called the American Breed. In early 1986, both Jannetty and Michaels were signed by the AWA which was hoping to build exciting new young stars to replace those departing to the WWF at the time.  Bookers paired Jannetty and Michaels together and they decided to call themselves “The Midnight Rockers” , the name inspired by Judas Priest’s “Living After Midnight”. They soon adopted similar ring-gear clearly patterned after the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, a fun party boy image and were soon wowing fans with their exciting fast paced double teaming and high flying, high impact moves. After a relatively fast rise up the ranks, they were soon moved into a feud with AWA World Tag Team Champions “Pretty Boy” Doug Somers and “Playboy” Buddy Rose managed by Sherri Martel. After chasing Rose & Somers throughout most of 1986 with Rose & Somers usually just dodging them along or escaping with the titles by the skin of their teeth, the Rockers finally defeated Rose & Somers to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship on January 27, 1987 but seeing the AWA was clearly in decline, the Rockers decided to sign with the WWF and dropped the AWA titles to the Russian pairing of Boris Zhukov and Soldat Ustinov on May 12, 1987.

After a very brief WWF stint which saw they fired for partying way too much and not being serious enough about their in-ring roles, they landed on the independent having a brief forgettable run in Continental Wrestling before moving on to the CWA which was at the time affiliated with the AWA. While competing in Memphis, the Rockers had intense feuds with a young Nasty Boys and the Nightmares [Dan Davis and Ken Wayne]. While in the CWA, the Rockers for the first time got to play heel turning on the Rock ‘n’ Roll RPMs [Mike Davis and Tommy Lane]. They twice win the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship as they feuded with the RPMs. The heat they were generating in Memphis got the Rockers noticed by the AWA which brought them back and the Rockers were soon splitting their time between the two areas, playing beloved babyfaces in the AWA and hated heels in Memphis. On December 27, 1987, the Rockers won their second AWA World Tag Team Championship defeating the Original Midnight Express [Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose] and would later battle with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express in Memphis over the AWA World Tag Team Championship managing to fend off their challenges while playing the heels in Memphis. They’d eventually ask for more money from promoter Verne Gagne who’d refuse their request and would decide to again leave the AWA behind dropping the titles to Badd Company [Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond] on March 19, 1988 on their way out. By June 1988 they were in the WWF under the shortened name The Rockers playing pretty much the same gimmick they did in the AWA.

They’d quickly prove just as popular in the WWF as they were in the AWA although they were arguably viewed much more as underdogs in the WWF given they were smaller in stature than most of their opponents even if they made up for in great fast paced double teaming and high flying daredevil moves. They’d go on to have fantastic matches against the Brain Busters [Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson], the Hart Foundation [Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart] who they very nearly defeated for the WWF World Tag Team Championship (in fact they were briefly recognized as champs following a Best Two out of Three Falls Match but the titles would ultimately be returned to the Hart Foundation and the change was never recognized as official], the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers and The Orient Express [Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato]. Finally in 1991, the Rockers who had begun squabbling backstage finally broke up with Shawn Michaels turning heel throwing Jannetty head first through a plate glass window on Brutus Beefcake “Barber Shop” interview segment, arguably its most memorable moment ever. Following a feud between Michaels and Jannetty over the WWF Intercontinental Championship that saw both men win it, Micheals eventually came out on top and Jannetty ended up forming a New Rockers tandem with Leif Cassidy [Al Snow] which would prove relatively short-lived and rather forgettable. Jannetty would leave the WWF behind by late 1996 while Michaels would go on to have a fantastic singles career. In March 2005, the original Rockers would have a surprise reunion on WWE Raw and would look great together as they defeated Las Resistance [Sylvain Grenier and Rob Conway]. Jannetty at the time also had two great bouts with Kurt Angle who was feuding with Shawn Michaels leading up to their Wrestlemania showdown. A couple of more brief later WWE appearances were made by Jannetty, once in 2006 saving Jannetty from a Spirit Squad beatdown and later refusing to join McMahon’s Kiss My Ass Club and later in December 2007, Jannetty was defeated by Mr. Kennedy who was feuding with Michaels at the time. Personal issues seemed to keep Jannetty from maintaining any long term contract.

The Mongols,  consisting of Geto and Bepo Mongol  and later Geto and Bolo Mongol, join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. The Mongols had quite an unorthodox look with bald heads and little horn of hair on the top of their head. This look would be adopted for years to come as future “Mongolian” wrestlers such as Killer Khan and Teijho Khan sported similar looks to the point it almost became stereotypical. Geto was actually a veteran Canadian wrestler named Newton Tattrie who also wrestled under the name Tony Newburry. He’d discover and train a young big brawny 315 pound Nikolai Volkoff who’d become his partner Bepo Mongol. After spending some time in Stampede Wrestling as The Mongols, they moved to the U.S. and competed in the WWWF having lots of success. The two huge brawlers dominated like arguably never seen before in that time and twice captured the WWWF International Tag Team Championship. Their first reign came after defeating Tony Marino and Victor Rivera on June 15, 1970. They’d hold the belts just over a year finally losing them to the pairing of Bruno Sammartino and Dominic DeNucci. The Mongols would regain the titles just a month later and would finally lose them on November 12, 1971 to Crazy Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler. Bepo would win yet another WWF International Tag Team Championship this time teaming with Johnny DeFazio. Geto went on to train other wrestlers one of whom was Bill Eadie, the future Masked Superstar/Demolition Ax whom Geto teamed up with giving him the name Bolo Mongol. They competed mainly in Japan winning the IWA World Tag Team Championship. Bepo of course would again reinvent himself as Nikolai Volkoff and would have even more singles and tag team success, most  notably with the Iron Sheik.

Alicia Fox joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. With a name that sounds a bit more like that of an actress or singer, Fox is most memorable for her exotic looks and slim body. Her stints as a manager/valet have been pretty forgettable so far dancing to the ring with D.J. Gabriel in ECW on Sci-Fi and later accompanying Zack Ryder briefly in the same promotion. Her runs as a wedding planner and even as Divas Champion were just as forgettable. Honestly aside from being eye candy, Fox offers very little of substance although there may be some potential somewhere within her. She’s also been in the corner of Michelle McCool, Elijah Burke, Maxine, Rosa Mendes and Tamina but all of these associations proved short-lived.

Bill DeMott joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. The former Hugh Morrus/General Rection would become more known in WWE for his time as a Tough Enough trainer and an announcer on WWE Velocity, a role he which he was actually pretty darn solid and knowledgeable adding moments of humor and insight only a wrestler could give.

Angelo Mosca joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Following a long and successful in-ring career, Mosca had a short WWF run as a color commentator, a role in which he was pretty darn terrible honestly. It didn’t help he was paired with Jack Reynolds, who was far from great as a play by play guy too. His run as color commentator would be short-lived thankfully as he’d turn to managing his son instead.

            
         


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 08, 2011, 01:29:40 AM
"Bulldog" Bob Brown joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Brown, following a lengthy and successful in-ring career in Vancouver's NWA All-Star Wrestling, NWA Central States and Calgary Stampede where he collected multiple titles in all said promotions (he also worked as a booker in Central States), Brown turned to color commentating in 1989 in Stampede alongside Ed Whalen while also still being involved in the in-ring product as one of the top territory villains alongside "son" Kerry Brown, who was in reality his nephew. Brown was very entertaining in the role and was a perfect foil of sorts for Whalen. Brown's presence also seem to reinvigorate Whalen and added a fun new energy to the Stampede weekly show at the time. Brown worked as a police officer before turning to wrestling and became a security guard retiring from wrestling in 1996 after suffering an heart attack. He died on February 5, 1997 at age 58.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 10, 2011, 10:38:13 PM
The Patriots WCW tandem, sometimes called The WCW Special Forces Patriots, consisting of Firebreaker Chip and Pvt. Todd Champion join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. This pair of young grapplers used the gimmick of portraying everyday working class heroes with Firebreaker Chip |(AKA: Curtis Thompson) playing a firefighter gimmick and Todd Champion playing a soldier gimmick. Thompson had previously played a mailman gimmick in the USWA. The two good looking young wrestlers were pushed enough that they would defeat the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) for the WCW United States Tag Team Championship in August 1991. After feuding with the Freebirds, they moved on to feud with a newly heel Southern Boys, now called The Young Pistols - Steve Armstrong and Tracey Smothers who would defeat the Patriots for the U.S. Tag Team Championship in November of 1991. The pair split up and left WCW not long afterwards.

Michael Hayes/Dok Hendrik joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. After a lengthy and successful career as the front man for the successful Fabulous Freebirds stable that also included Buddy Roberts, Terry Gordy and later Jimmy Garvin, Hayes turned to announcing and a more behind the scenes role in WWE after his retirement. Hayes had actually previously announced while still competing in the UWF and worked alongside Jim Ross there. When Hayes initially came to the WWE following his retirement, he was actually repackaged and given the name "Dok Hendrik" although most fans immediately knew who he was. As Hendrik, he performed backstage interviews and would go on to co-host WWF Action Zone alongside Todd Pettengill and later Charlie Minh. He'd later do color commentary alongside Vince McMahon on WWF Superstars of Wrestling and on a couple of PPV events in 1995 before returning to managing with the Hardy Boyz. Eventually he moved more behind the scenes as part of creative and would more recently make some notable appearances on the Legends of Wrestling program on WWE Classics on Demand. Hayes was quite good at color commentary and added a good energy and insight although why they felt the need to change his image with the Dok Hendrik character is beyond me.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 13, 2011, 05:29:12 PM
The Headshrinkers, also previously known as The New Wild Samoans in WCW and The Samoan Swat Team in World Class, join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. The main duo/pair consisted of Samu and Fatu (now better known as Rikishi), with Samu being the son of the original Wild Samoans Afa and Fatu being the nephew of both Afa and Sika. Later further third members/additions/replacements including The Samoan Savage (formerly Tama/The Tonga Kid), Kokina (AKA: Yokozuna), Alofa/Ruopo and later in the WWF Samu would leave the team and would be replaced by Sionne (AKA: The Barbarian).

Originally Samu, billed as the Great Samu, and his cousin Fatu both competed in Montreal's International Wrestling until the territory shut down. They would then both go to Puerto Rico's WWC and would team up together becoming The Samoan Swat Team, basically continuing the famous Samoan savage gimmick originally started by their Wild Samoan family. They appeared with stringy long hair, barefoot and performed wildly in the ring. It brought them success and they would become the first ever WWC Carribean Tag Team Champions on November 7, 1987 defeating Invader I and Invader III. They held the titles for a month before dropping them to Mark and Chris Youngblood as they left the promotion. They'd move on to World Class Championship Wrestling where they were managed by Buddy Roberts as he engaged himself and them in feuds with the Von Erichs and Roberts former Freebird teammate Michael Hayes. The SST had immediate success and quickly dominated in World Class racking up an impressive undefeated streak and even defeating Kerry and Kevin Von Erich for the WCCW Tag Team Championships. They remained undefeated until they were finally upset by Michael Hayes and Hayes new partner Steve "Do It To It" Cox. The SST regained the titles four short days later. Hayes & Cox would manage to defeat the SST once more for the titles but would drop it back to them again just two days later. The SST would go on to become double tag champs in World Class also defeating "Hollywood" John Tatum and Jimmy Jack Funk for the World Class Texas Tag Team titles as well. They'd make their first PPV appearance at Superclash III where they successfully defended their titles against Michael Hayes & Steve Cox.

In early 1989, they'd make a surprise jump to Jim Crockett Promotions and quickly replaced the departing Original Midnight Express in their feud with Jim Cornette's Midnight Express here being managed by Paul E. Dangerously. The Samoans would score some key wins over The Midnights but would lose a War Games match teamed with the Freebirds Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Jimmy Garvin to the Midnights, the Road Warriors and Steve "Dr. Death" Williams. In the fall of 1989, the Samoans were revamped with Paul E. Dangerously being phased out as manager and replaced by "The Big Kahuna" Oliver Humperdink while the former Tonga Kid/Tama, real life brother of Fatu, was added to the group as third member The Samoan Savage. At the Starrcade 1989 Iron Team Tournament, Fatu and Samoan Savage would be added as replacements for the Skyscrapers after Sid Vicious suffered an injury. Now being billed as the New Wild Samoans, Fatu and Samoan Savage continued on in WCW for a little bit longer with Samu appearing in singles action but had little success. Finally they'd leave WCW in 1990 and the SST would team up in several independent promotions across the U.S., Japan and Europe often teaming up with family member Kokina Maximus, who would later gain more fame as Yokozuna.

In 1992, The Samoan Swat Team would sign with the WWF and would be reinvented as the wild and crazy Headshrinkers here with Samu and Fatu being managed by Samu's father Afa the Wild Samoan. The first made their mark helping Money Inc. upset the Natural Disasters for the WWF Tag Team titles. They'd go on to feud with the Natural Disasters and new team High Energy -Owen Hart and Koko B. Ware. The Headshrinkers remained as a consistent mid-card tag team for the next couple of years feuding with the likes of Men on a Mission and the Smoking Gunns and  occasionally challenging for the tag titles. They'd also aid Yokozuna in a casket match with the Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1994. Later that year, the Headshrinkers would shockingly enough turn face to challenge then WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers and with the addition of legendary manager Captain Lou Albano, Samu and Fatu finally captured the elusive WWF Tag Team Championship on April 26, 1994. They'd successfully defend their titles at King of the Ring 1994 against Yokozuna and Crush but would be defeated in August by Shawn Michaels and Diesel. Shortly after losing the titles, Samu left the WWF to recover from injuries and was replaced in the team by Sionne, formerly known as The Barbarian. Fatu and Sionne became the New Headshrinkers but they had little success mostly losing matches and being used to put over other teams such as Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka and the Blu Brothers. Fatu would later be repackaged with the "Make a Difference" Fatu gimmick while Samu and his brother Alofa/Ruopa formed a new tag team sometimes called the Samoan Gangster Party and also known as the Headshrinkers on the Independent circuit even briefly feuding with the Gangstas in ECW. They also won titles in WWC and ISPW.

Spice, perhaps best known as a member of the WCW Nitro Girls, joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. She started as a Nitro Girl in 1997 but wouldn't really be used in any other capacity until November 1999 when she began feuding with fellow Nitro Girl A.C. Jazz over control after Kimberly Page left the group. Jazz left WCW shortly afterwards and would be replaced in the feud by Tygress who she'd mostly wrestle to no-contests although Tygress and Skye once laid out Spice and painted her face with makeup. In December 1999, Spice would move on to feuding with Madusa after Madusa caught Evan Karagias flirting with her. After Spice upset Madusa in a match, she'd replace her as manager of Karagias only to later betray him during a WCW Cruiserweight Championship defense against Madusa in which she helped Madusa win the WCW Cruiserweight title. She managed Madusa for about one month before returning to being just a Nitro Girl after a couple of month flirting with more.

Jeremy Borash joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. Borash is best known today for his work in TNA mainly as a backstage interviewer and ring announcer. Borash, often involved with Creative behind the scenes, first appeared in WCW working as an host and later play by play announcer on WCW Nitro and WCW Thunder towards the end of the promotion even playing the role of Vince Russo's stooge at one point and being attacked by Goldberg. When WCW shut down, Borash moved on to work with World Wrestling All-Stars out of Australia and even provided PPV play by play there alongside Jerry "The King" Lawler in 2001. After WWA went down, Borash moved on to TNA working in many roles behind the scenes as well as taking a much desired role of backstage interviewer. On June 24, 2010, Borash began working as the lead play by play commentator on TNA Xplosion and worked as a color commentator alongside Mike Tenay for the 2011 Destination X PPV. He also made an ECW documentary on the Hardcore Homecoming reunion shows. As an announcer, Borash is not particularly good but he is much better suited to the backstage interviewer role.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 15, 2011, 10:15:05 PM
"Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr. joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Actually Orton, a second generation grappler, was always very talented in ring and had some great matches with a wide variety of opponents. Sadly though he's probably best remembered as the bodyguard/henchman for "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and later "Adorable" Adrian Adonis and for having a seemingly perpetual arm injury that had him wearing an arm cast in the WWF for what seemed like years and years. But hey at least he is generally remembered.

Orton, the son of rough and tough Bob Orton Sr. originally teamed with his father in the Georgia and Florida territories in the early 1970s and even once wrestled under a mask as "Young Mr. Wrestling". In the early-mid 1980s, he formed a tag team with Don Kernodle and captured the NWA World Tag Team titles. He is also remembered for his involvement in an angle where he and d**k Slater collected a $25,000 bounty placed on Ric Flair by then NWA World Champion Harley Race with the trio ganging up on and "injuring" Flair although Flair would eventually return and get his revenge. Orton only briefly appeared in the WWF in the early 1980s as a challenger to WWF World Champion Bob Backlund having little success against Backlund.

He'd return to the WWF in 1984 and adopted his most famous role as "Ace" Orton, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's bodyguard during the heights of Piper's WWF heel run in the mid-80s. Eventually this would involve him in feuds with Hulk Hogan and "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka leading to him legitimately injuring his left forearm in a bout with Snuka. However he kept wearing the cast long after his arm should have been healed and it frequently became a weapon he'd use to help himself win matches. Orton memorably would be the cornerman at Wrestlemania for the team of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff against Hulk Hogan and Mr. T with their cornerman Snuka. His interference would actually backfire here and would cost Piper and Orndorff the main event match, an action that eventually turned Orndorff face as Piper and Orton blamed him instead. Orton would continue to help Piper in his feuds with Hogan and now Orndorff whom the pair frequently teamed up against while Orndorff teamed with Hogan, Andre the Giant and even Bruno Sammartino. Eventually Orndorff too started to wear a cast to neutralize Orton leading to the WWF finally forcing both men to remove them in 1986. Orton would go on to unsuccessfully challenge Hulk Hogan for the WWF World title  and he unsuccessfully challenged Tito Santana for the WWF Intercontinental Championship as well although he'd have fantastic matches with Santana. Orton was also in Piper's corner during his Wrestlemania 2 boxing showdown with Mr. T although the two parted ways following the event and Orton became the new bodyguard for "Flower Shop" host "Adorable" Adrian Adonis even going so far as wearing a pink cowboy hat while aligned with Adonis. When Piper finally returned, he was betrayed by his long-time ally Orton who joined Adonis in an assault on Piper and his "Piper's Pit" segment. Piper would eventually come out in top in his feud with Adonis, Orton and Magnificent Muraco who became a regular tag team partner of Orton around this time. They'd remain a team for a little while but surprisingly would struggle to win eventually leading to friction between Orton and Muraco with eventually Muraco turning babyface and changing his image and name to Don "The Rock" Muraco. Muraco and Orton would feud during the summer of 1987 and Orton would leave the WWF not long afterwards.

Orton briefly returned to the AWA and the NWA where he feuded with d**k Murdoch before having a longer stay in Herb Abrams UWF in the early 1990s where he was one of promotions top heels and usually shined in some of the better matches on these generally poor cards. In 1994, he'd appear in SMW and feuded with Tito Santana in the AWF in 1996. He'd have a brief feud with Ace Steele in MVWA in 1997. Orton would enter into semi-retirement in 1999 but would still appear with other legends like Jimmy Snuka and Greg Valentine on smaller independent shows. He's also return to WWE in the mid-2000s to aid his son Randy Orton even involving himself in his son's feuds with The Undertaker and his a match against old ally/enemy Roddy Piper, Eddie Guerrero and Batista. Orton was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 but would leave WWE again in 2006. His brother Barry O was also a wrestler and now his son Randy Orton, one of today's biggest stars, has already accomplished far more than his famous father.

Orton's title accomplishments: AWF Heavyweight Championship, Central States Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Championship, NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Bob Orton (1) and Bob Roop (2), ICW Southeastern Heavyweight Championship, ICW Southeastern Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bob Roop (1) and Barry Orton (1), ICW Television Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)- with Don Kernodle, NWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Championship, NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Mr. Wrestling II (1) and d**k Slater (1), NWA Macon Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with d**k Slater, Mid-South Mississippi Heavyweight Championship, MPW Heavyweight Championship, PCW Heavyweight Championship, OSWA Heavyweight Championship, NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Bob Roop (1), Ron Garvin (2), and Jerry Blackwell (1), UWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, UWF Southern States Championship (2 times)


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on November 15, 2011, 10:27:58 PM
Borash is tolerable as a backstage interviewer.

As an announcer/color commentator/play-by-play, he blows.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 17, 2011, 11:57:41 PM
James Dudley joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Dudley, a former Negro League American baseball player is perhaps best known though for his time working in the WWWF where he managed several legendary African American professional wrestlers including Bobo Brazil, Sweet Daddy Siki, Bearcat Wright and Sailor Art Thomas, himself breaking new ground as an African American manager. Dudley was a key behind the scenes player in the early days of the WWWF under Vincent J. McMahon and was involved in many elements of the business. Dudley as the manager of Bobo Brazil frequently excited the fans by running down to the ring and waving a towel before his charge. Dudley would be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994 and would reap rewards over the years for being loyal to the McMahons.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on November 22, 2011, 01:36:26 AM
Well Dunn (also known as The Southern Rockers) join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. The pair started off on the independent circuit as The Southern Rockers, a pair consisting of Steve Doll and Rex King. Actually King was a replacement for Doll's previous Southern Rockers tag team partner Scott Peterson in the Pacific Northwest territory in which Doll & Peterson won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship seven times in the 1980s. King and Doll, like Peterson and Doll before them, patterned themselves after the Rock 'n' Roll Express. King & Doll would go on to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships 4 times as a pair defeating Scotty the Body (the future Raven) and the Grappler, Brian Adams (the future Crush) and Jeff Warner, Brian Adams and the Grappler along the way. They'd finally vacate the titles in 1990 as they moved on to compete in the USWA where they'd go on to capture the USWA World Tag Team Championships 4 times battling against Stud Stable [Robert Fuller & Brian Lee], the Uptown Posse and the Dirty White Boys [Tony Anthony & Tom Burton] who finally defeated them for the belts. After losing their third championship, Doll returned to PNW and captured 7 more PNW Tag Team Championships with assorted partners while King remained in the USWA and formed a team with Joey Maggs that captured the USWA World Tag Team Championship. King would move on to Puerto Rico's WWC and would twice win the WWC World Tag Team Championship with Ricky Santana. Doll & King would actually reunite in WWC and went on to win the WWC World Tag Team Championship from Ron Starr and Doug Masters. Later the team would split again and King would replace Doll with Ray Gonzalez but would reunite again with Doll in the USWA where the pair would win their fourth USWA World Tag Team Championship from the Moondogs.

They'd sign with and would move to the WWF in 1993 reinventing themselves as Well Dunn, the team of Steven Dunn (formerly Doll) and Timothy Well (formerly King) and dressed in an unusual fashion with bright bow ties and thongs on the outside on top of their wrestling singlets. They claimed that everything they did was "well done"!  In the WWF they battled all the top babyface tag teams including The Smoking Gunns, Men on a Mission, the Rock 'n' Roll Express and the Bushwhackers with whom they had their longest WWF feud. Harvey Wippleman would become their manager in the WWF but Well Dunn had little success, losing more matches than they won although they often did have entertaining bouts with whatever opponents they faced night after night. They also battled the Headshrinkers, and feuded with Adam Bomb after he turned on manager Harvey Wippleman. Other teams they'd notably feud with included Sparky Plugg (Bob Holly) and the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) and the Heavenly Bodies whom they tangled with in an unusual heel vs. heel series. Well Dunn still lost more matches than they won but were competitive and even won an occasional match or two. They'd soon resume their feud with the Bushwhackers and eventually it would draw Howard Finkel into a confrontation with their manager Harvey Wippleman leading to an unfortunate tuxedo match between Finkel and Wippleman. Well Dunn also pursued WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns but failed to defeat them. Eventually Well Dunn were reduced to little more than a jobber role putting over former adversaries the Bushwhackers, the Blu Brothers and finally the Allied Powers. After leaving the WWF, King returned to Puerto Rico and Doll went back  to the USWA. In 1998, they'd reunite yet again and would go on to capture the MCW (Memphis Championship Wrestling) North American Tag Team Championship on May 30, 1998 but following the match, Doll and new ally Reno Riggins would attack King splitting up the tandem for good while Riggins and Doll continued on as champions.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on December 09, 2011, 01:19:29 AM
Big Bossman joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Bossman, most famous for his run in the WWF in the late 80s, early 1990s would become one of their most popular competitors surprisingly enough embracing a kind of good guy peace officer role within the WWF.

Initially Bossman first gained attention and notice as Big Bubba Rogers, the hired bodyguard/henchman for Jim Cornette and his Midnight Express often interfering in matches on his stable's behalf and engaging in feuds in defense of the outspoken Cornette. In due time, Rogers would prove himself quite capable in ring having memorable wars with Ron Garvin, Ole Anderson amongst others before moving on to compete in the UWF where he would upset the One Man Gang to become UWF World Heavyweight Champion.

He'd impress enough to get the attention of the WWF who would sign him up and after dropping the UWF Championship to Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, he'd move on to compete there first as a top heel security guard gone bad heel, a man who'd quickly make an impact under manager Slick attacking the then former WWF World Champion with his billy club becoming a top contender for the title held by Randy Savage as well as he moved into a feud with Hogan often taking Hogan to the limit in many contests and having a particularly great steel cage showdown with Hogan at one point in time. Bossman would fail to defeat Hogan or Savage in bouts for the WWF Championship. Slick would eventually pair Bossman up with fellow stablemate Akeem, the African Dream (his former UWF adversary the One Man Gang) forming an imposing tag team known as The Twin Towers. Slick would eventually move his team into a feud with the Megapowers tandem of Hogan & Savage managed by Elizabeth. The Twin Towers would eventually factor heavily into the eventual split between Hogan & Savage after Elizabeth was bumped during a bout between the teams on the Main Event. With Hogan going to Elizabeth's aid, he left Savage to be brutalized by these two monsters. Later Savage would catch Hogan holding Elizabeth's hand as he seemed to be wishing her recovery and his jealousy would boil over eventually leading to Savage abandoning Hogan during the match and later attacking him back in the dressing room. The Twin Towers would remain a powerful tag team defeating the Rockers at Wrestlemania V and going on to feud with Demolition over the WWF World Tag Team Championship although they'd fail to capture them from Ax and Smash.

In 1990, Bossman would surprise many by turning face on the Brother Love show after refusing to accept a payoff from "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to recover the Million Dollar Championship from Jake "The Snake" Roberts. This would lead to an eventual feud with former partner Akeem whom he'd defeat in short order at Wrestlemania VI. Bossman would have more success teaming with Hogan at the Survivor Series on the winning team in a match against a team captained by the Earthquake. In 1991, he'd move into a feud with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and the Heenan Family after Heenan foolishly insulted Big Bossman's mother. He'd go on to defeat the Barbarian and would challenge Mr. Perfect for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania VII. While Bossman would win the match by DQ, he wouldn't win the title. He'd go on to feud with fellow "lawman" the Mountie defeating him in a Jailhouse match at Summerslam and later went on to feud with Irwin R. Schsyter. In 1992, Bossman's most memorable feud would be with Nailz who claimed to be a former disgruntled prisoner once abused by Bossman when he was a security guard, Bossman would go on to win this feud eventually defeating Nailz in a Nightstick on a Pole match. Bossman would briefly feud with Bam Bam Bigelow in 1993 before leaving to return to WCW where he initially struggled to find an identity wrestling under several gimmicks similar to his Bossman character using the names "The Boss", "The Man" and "The Guardian Angel" and memorably feuding with the likes of "Ravishing" Rick Rude and Big Van Vader but failing to gain much success. Perhaps not too surprisingly, he'd return to his Big Bubba Rogers heel roots bringing back the character, going on to feud with Sting and joining the Dungeon of Doom faction before eventually joining the nWo only to be eventually kicked out leading to him feuding with the nWo faction under his real name Ray Traylor. During this time, he'd be managed by fellow former nWo member Ted DiBiase who was also looking for revenge and would join DiBiase's stable alongside the Steiner Brothers whom he'd frequently team up with during this time as he feuded with Scott Hall, Vincent (the former Virgil) and Curt Hennig.

He'd return to the WWF in 1998 this time as more of a bully type personal security officer than a police officer essentially becoming the muscle of the Corporation stable run by Vince McMahon Jr.. He'd go on to be involved in Corporation feuds with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and DeGeneration X. While a member of this group, Bossman would have much success capturing the WWF World Tag Team titles alongside fellow Corporation muscle Ken Shamrock and winning the WWF Hardcore Championship 4 times. Bossman would however be defeated and "hanged" by the Undertaker in an Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania XV, generally considered to be one of the worst Hell in a Cell matches in history. Next Bossman would be involved in another "horribly bad" storyline feud with Al Snow in which he kidnapped Snow's dog Pepper and later killed him and tricked Snow into eating his own pet. This led to a terrible Kennel from Hell match between Snow and Bossman. Following this Bossman would enter into an arguably even more tasteless feud with the Big Show over Big Show's WWF Championship in which Bossman interrupted Big Show's father funeral (this was all part of a storyline) and towed the casket off with his car with the Big Show in pursuit. Big Show would defeat Bossman in the inevitable showdown. Big Show would next introduce his new protege Bull Buchanan whom he'd team with to defeat the Godfather and D-Lo Brown at Wrestlemania 2000 and would shortly thereafter defeat the APA at Backlash. The team however would split following a loss to the Hardy Boyz and Bossman would next wind up on Jakked and Heat feuding with Crash Holly. He'd briefly form a short-lived alliance with Booker T. before returning once more to Jakked and Heat. He'd also briefly form a tag team with Mr. Perfect in 2002 before being released in 2003, losing his last match there to Tommy Dreamer. Following WWE, he briefly competed in the International Wrestling Association of Japan competing in a tournament for the vacant title making it all the way to the finals before losing to an old rival in Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Traylor would die of an heart attack on September 22, 2004

Big Bossman's title accomplishments: UWF Heavyweight Championship, WWF Hardcore Championship (4 times), WWF Tag Team Championship (w/ Ken Shamrock)

Daffney joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Daffney joined WCW in November 1999 portraying the mentally deranged, frequently screaming girlfriend of David Flair managing Flair and his tag team partner Crowbar with whom he held the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Her character was said to be a mix of Mallory Knox from Natural Born Killers and Harley Quinn from Batman.
 
Daffney and Crowbar defeated Chris Candido and Tammy Lynn Sytch in a mixed tag team match to make the pair co-champions of the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship previously held by Candido. Daffney would go on to have a match with Crowbar to determine the champion in which Candido would interfere leading to Daffney surprisingly getting the win and the Championship, becoming the second woman after Madusa to hold the title. She'd eventually drop the title to Lieutenant Loco in a 3 way match that also involved Disco Inferno following interference from Miss Hancock. Daffney would go on to feud with Miss Hancock who had stolen David Flair's affections away from her. She'd remain solely the manager/valet for Crowbar and briefly feuded with Shane Douglas' valet Torrie Wilson. Daffney would prove surprisingly popular with a core base of fans but would nevertheless be released from WCW in 2001. In 2002, she'd make several appearances in TNA under the names Shannon and Shark Girl, playing valet for Shark Boy. In 2003, she worked as  valet for Vic Grimes under the name Lucy in Xtreme Pro Wrestling. She'd also appear in ROH in 2003 as Lucy, valet for the Second City Saints. A few months later, she'd be signed to a developmental deal with WWE and would work as a valet for Aaron Stevens in Ohio Valley Wrestling before being released later that year. Following this, she'd retire from wrestling for a bit over two years during which she'd work as a personal trainer. She'd return in 2006 competing on the independent circuit competing sometimes under the name Lucy Furr. She'd compete in Women's Extreme Wrestling and SHIMMER and would capture titles in Alabama. In SHIMMER she would go on to manager MsChif. She'd return to TNA in 2008 playing "The Governor" in skits with the Beautiful People eventually turning on them and teaming with Taylor Wilde and Roxxi who were seeking revenge. While feuding with the Beautiful People, the Governor would receive a haircut and would revert back to her Daffney character and she'd go on to team with Dr. Stevie, who was supposed to be trying to help her and Stevie's other "patient" Abyss. Eventually Daffney would turn heel after attacking Taylor Wilde and would eventually align herself with the returning Raven as well as Stevie eventually feuding with Abyss and Wilde. Daffney would continue to serve as valet/manager for Raven and Dr. Stevie for a few months before concentrating on her singles career and pursuing the TNA Knockouts Championship and the TNA Knockouts Tag Team title battling against the likes of ODB, Taylor Wilde and Tara as well as the Beautiful People suffering several injuries that siderailed her along the way and has since filed a workers compensation suit against the company.

She has managed a lot of grapplers over the years including Aaron Stevens, Ace Steel, Amy Lee, Chasyn Rance, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Crowbar, Dan Sawyer, David Flair, David Young, Dr. Stevie, Elix Skipper, Francine, Kenny King, McNasty, Nova, MsChif, Raven, Roni Jonah, Roxxi, Sal Rinauro, Sami Callihan, Scotty Riggs, Shark Boy, Steve Corino, Steve Madison, Taylor Wilde, The Unknown Soldier, Vanity and Vic Grimes.


Dutch Mantel joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Mantel had a very successful wrestling career primarily competing in the Southern territories of Georgia and Memphis, Tennessee as well as Mid-South and Puerto Rico. He almost always played the part of crafty, dirty heel even embracing the nickname "Dirty" Dutch Mantel and looking somewhat like Yosemite Sam from Bugs Bunny cartoons throughout his career. He actually was very influential in the careers of some men he managed earlier on in their careers including Sting, the Ultimate Warrior, Kane, the Undertaker and JBL. Mantel actually managed Sting and Warrior during their early raw Blade Runners days as Rock and Flash and also managed Kane and the Undertaker in their early days when they competed under names such as Unibomb and The Master of Pain/The Punisher. In the 1990s, he'd move to the WWF as Uncle Zebekiah where he managed the Blu Brothers Jacob and Eli (AKA: Ron and Don Harris) and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw who'd later reinvent himself as JBL. He actually had very limited success as a manager but was apparently influential in the future careers of a lot of very successful wrestlers.

Marc Lloyd joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. He appeared as a commentator on WWE B-shows such as WWF Jakked, WWF Metal and WWF Velocity as well as appearing on WWE Smackdown in 2002-2003. He also appeared on several WWE PPVs during this period between 2002 and 2003 usually as a backstage interviewer. He was typically terrible and worked with feigned excitement or terror/fright at the events he saw unfold, typically in the same forgettable mode as Todd Pettengill and Sean Mooney before him. He kind of came across as a poor man's Kevin Kelly.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 07, 2012, 01:18:20 AM
Carlito joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. From his initial colorful introductory promos through to his in-ring career, Carlito was always gifted behind a microphone. It wasn’t really too much of a surprise then that he would have a run with his own interview segment show entitled “Carlito’s Cabana” during which Carlito often belittled or made fun of his opponents and sometimes went as far as to spit an apple in the face of those he disrespected either to rile up fans when working as an heel or to get them on side during his shorter babyface runs. Some of his more memorable moments involved him tricking Big Show into eating a bad apple, his turning on Ric Flair and later Torrie Wilson and his continued pursuit of the WWE Intercontinental /United States Championships and later the WWE Tag Team Championships.

Raymond Rougeau joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Shame. After a lengthy in-ring career which saw his greatest success come as one half of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers and after a bad back finally forced him out of action, Raymond briefly turned to announcing in the early 1990s. His thick French accent didn’t really help him much here and he was typically bland and forgettable in the role he played although he did better with his native French/Quebec audience in the French editions WWF used to do of their shows. He stayed in this role until 2002 when WWE stopped doing said French editions.

Ken Shamrock joins the Singles Hall of Fame. Following a very successful MMA career and fame in UFC, Ken Shamrock made arguably one of the smoothest transitions from MMA into the world of pro wrestling. Actually Shamrock had initially trained for pro wrestling under Buzz and Bob Sawyer and Nelson Royal way back in 1988. He’d go on to debut under the name Wayne Shamrock and competed in South Atlantic  Pro Wrestling before later moving to compete in Japan’s UWF leading also to his eventual interest in Pancrase and MMA. So he made a smooth transition back to Pro Wrestling in 1997 following a very successful UFC career and was soon a top star in the WWF. Shamrock’s reputation as a legit badass/toughman certainly helped.
 
He’d quickly get involved in things as a special guest referee for the Wrestlemania 13 Submission match between Bret Hart and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. He’d remain a top star and near headliner for the rest of the year feuding with the likes of Vader and eventually Bret Hart and his Hart Foundation stable and seemed poised to win the WWF World title until the infamous Montreal Screwjob. Thereafter he targeted Shawn Michaels and DeGeneration X but the numbers proved too much and got in the way of his capturing the top gold. His next focus would be upon The Rock and his WWF Intercontinental Championship but again he fell short of winning the title when his rage got the better of him and he ended up getting disqualified. He would however rebound by winning the 1998 King of the Ring tournament defeating enemy The Rock in the finals. Next he’d feud with Owen Hart with whom he’d trade wins and formed a short-lived stable with Mankind and the Rock. Shamrock would find much more success after turning heel in October 1998 defeating X-Pac in a tournament final for the then vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship. He’d find even more success and back-up after joining Mr. McMahon’s Corporation stable and formed a successful tag team with the Big Bossman with whom he captured the WWF Tag Team Championship as well. He and Bossman would hold the tag belts until January 1999 when they dropped them to Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett. In early 1999, he’d feud with Goldust, Billy Gunn and Val Venis who all made moves on his “sister” Ryan Shamrock. Venis would defeat Shamrock for the Intercontinental title when special guest referee Billy Gunn made a fast count on Venis’s behalf.

Shamrock would go on to feud with the Undertaker and the eventual Corporate Ministry stable after Undertaker ambushed Shamrock several times and at one point “sacrificed” Ryan Shamrock on his Undertaker symbol. This turned Shamrock face again and he’d eventually tangle with Undertaker in a memorable showdown at Backlash 1999 although he’d eventually lose said match. Shamrock along with Big Show, Mankind and Test would form a stable called “The Union” to defeat the Corporate Ministry. He’d go on to have brief feuds with Jeff Jarrett and Steve Blackman that eventually saw Shamrock and Blackman battle in a brutal Lions Den Weapons match won by Shamrock. He’d briefly feud with the newly debuting Chris Jericho before making a return to the world of MMA.

He’d return to wrestling in 2002 first refereeing a match in ROH in March between Bryan Danielson and Low-Ki before moving on to compete in TNA in May capturing the vacant NWA World Championship in a Gauntlet for the Gold match, similar to a Royal Rumble. He feuded with the last man he eliminated – Malice (formerly the Wall) for several weeks before dropping the title to Ron “The Truth” Killings before basically leaving wrestling once more to return to the MMA world.

Ken Shamrock’s Title Accomplishments: SAPW Heavyweight Championship, (TNA) NWA World Heavyweight Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF Tag Team Championship with Big Bossman, 1998 King of the Ring Winner

Steve Blackman joins the Singles Hall of Shame. Blackman, a former weightlifter and bodybuilder, known to wrestling fans for his martial arts skills, genuine toughness, well built muscular frame and surprising blandness started out in Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling in the late 1980s after being trained by Tony Altamore.  He was actually fairly impressive in these early Stampede showings although he had limited success, he was apparently being considered for the WWF when while competing in South Africa he contracted malaria and dysentery and very nearly lost his life. It took Blackman several years before he could regain muscle mass and get back in wrestling shape. He also incorporated martial arts training in tae kwon do and eskrima into his physical therapy recovery. When finally back in ring shape, he contacted friends working in the WWF for a tryout and finally debuted in November 1997 jumping from the audience to save Vader from a beatdown by the Hart Foundation stable with Blackman now employing a martial arts gimmick. He would become the replacement for the injured Patriot at the time joining Vader’s Team U.S.A. (alongside Goldust and Marc Mero)  in a losing effort against Team Canada (Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Philip Lafon and Doug Furnas) at Survivor Series 1997. He would later team up with Ken Shamrock as Shamrock feuded with the Nation of Domination. He finally branched out on his own coming to the ring swinging glow in the dark eskrima sticks. He’d eventually turn heel by siding with Shane McMahon with Blackman frequently bringing weapons of all sorts to the ring with him in a bag. Before long, he'd end up feuding with former ally Shamrock who’d eventually defeat him and win the feud in a brutal Lions Den Weapons match at Summerslam 1999. In late 1998, he also competed in the Brawl For All defeating Marc Mero but he got injured in the bout which forced him out of the contest.

He’d go on to form a memorable tag team with Al Snow unofficially nicknamed “Head Cheese” with Blackman playing the more serious straight man to Snow’s wild and outlandish actions often involving the duo in backstage comedy skits and even forcing Blackman at times to wear a “Cheesehead  hat” on his head to the ring during their entrance, Snow trying to come up with a name for their team, Snow proposing a TV show where they solve mysteries and travel through time and Snow scheduling the always dread serious Blackman for a stand-up comedy routine at a retirement home. After his team with Snow dissolved, Blackman got involved in an area that seemed a natural for him – the Hardcore Division during its 24/7 days. Blackman however would prove hard to defeat for the title despite this rule and he wouldn’t lose the title for any length of time until Shane McMahon with a lot of help from Test,  Albert, Edge & Christian defeated him and commissioner Mick Foley suspended the 24/7 rule at the same time. He’d finally regain the title from McMahon at Summerslam 2000 with them both climbing the TitanTron and Blackman knocking McMahon off with a Singapore Cane shot and then he landed a flying elbow to get the pin. He’d finally drop the title in a more permanent fashion to Raven in later 2000. He’d briefly form a comedy duo similar to “Head Cheese” with Grandmaster Sexay in 2001 with him again playing straight man but this would be short-lived with Lawler eventually getting released and Blackman eventually getting injured and shortly after released in 2002.

Blackman’s Title Accomplishments: Stampede British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship, WWF Hardcore Championship (6 times)

The Von Erichs join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. From their early days in wrestling, Fritz Von Erich’s popular good-looking sons teamed together as it seems after all natural for brothers to do, initially the teams involved Kevin, Kerry and David Von Erich. Following David’s death however, son Mike and father Fritz also often played a role in tag team alliances and showdowns, frequently of the six-man variety. The Von Erichs most long lasting and memorable feud was against the Fabulous Freebirds of Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy, but there were also feuds with the likes of Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, Iceman King Parsons and different members of General Skandor Akbar’s Devastation Inc. stable. They also supported one another as Kerry, David and Kerry all challenged for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship held by Harley Race and later Ric Flair. In later years, Lance Von Erich (not a true Von Erich) and even youngest son Chris would join in on the tag team showdowns. There’s no denying however the best pairings always involved Kerry, Kevin and David.  The Von Erichs held many tag championships including AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (David and Kevin), NWA American/WCCW American/WCWA World Tag Team Championship (Kevin and Kerry- 5 times)- (David and Kevin – Once), NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (9 times) - Fritz, Kevin, and Mike (1), Kevin, David, and Kerry (2) Kevin, Kerry, and Mike (3), Kerry, Lance, and Kevin (1) Kevin and Kerry with different people (2), NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (6 times) - Fritz (2), Kevin (1), David (1) and Kerry (3), WCCW/WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship (5 times) - Kevin and David (2) and Kerry (3), WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (6 times) - Kevin (4) and Kerry (2).

PG- 13 join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. After turning heel against his famous father Bill Dundee in the early 1990s and transforming himself from Jamie Dundee into white rapper J.C. Ice, the young star would go on to form a successful heel tag team with partner Wolfie D. called PG-13. It would be in their birthplace the USWA they would have their greatest success capturing the USWA Tag Team Championships on 16 different occasions. After being forced to leave the USWA after losing to Bill Dundee, they briefly return under masks as the Cyberpunks until finally being unmasked and forced to leave once again. They briefly turn up in the WWF in the mid 1990s losing the Smoking Gunns and briefly joining the Nation of Domination as members. They’d eventually move to ECW where they’d become known for goading the audience. While there they battled the likes of the Dudley Boyz, Mikey Whipwreck, The Eliminators and Spike Dudley. In the early 2000s, they spent some time in WCW mostly competing on WCW Thunder against the likes of the Jung Dragons and Three Count before returning to Memphis. PG-13 are still competing as a team on the independent circuitand are the current Showtime All-Star Tag Team Champions. They’d also held titles for Kick-Ass Wrestling and Wrestling International New Generations.

Tygress joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Shame. Tygress, real name Vanessa Sanchez, started off as a Nitro Girl but would eventually get involved in the action primarily as a valet for the Filthy Animals stable (Konnan, Rey Mysterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera, Billy Kidman, Disco Inferno) sometimes even wrestling against enemy valets of rival stables including Major Gunns of Misfits in Action and Torrie Wilson who managed Shane Douglas. Tygress replaced Torrie Wilson in the group as they moved into a heel role in 2000-2001. At one point, she successfully teamed with Konnan to defeat Wilson and Douglas.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 07, 2012, 09:55:38 AM
Shamrock was a favorite when I was younger.  Blackman too.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 11, 2012, 12:55:10 AM
The Insiders join the Tag Teams Hall of Fame. This team consisted of Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash in WCW during its dying days of 2000-2001. Actually they'd teamed previous to this years back as The Vegas Connection way back in 1992 when both men were still young and struggling to find their identity. Then former manager Page turned grappler teamed with hot young prospect Vinnie Vegas. They had previously been together as part of Page's stable The Diamond Mine that also included the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) and Scotty Flamingo (who'd become better known as Raven). In the mid to late 90s when Nash returned to WCW as a core member of the nWo having made a name for himself in the WWF as Diesel, Page seemed a natural addition to the group and at one point even seemed poised to join them only to shockingly enough reject the invitation and in turn became one of WCW most popular stars at the time feuding with his old buddies Nash and Hall in the nWo not to mention Randy Savage and Curt Hennig. Anyways several years later and the nWo now pretty much history, Kevin Nash would be betrayed by the Natural Born Thrillers stable in late 2000 and would need a new partner so he turned to his old friend Diamond Dallas Page becoming The Insiders, a play-off on Nash & Hall former Outsider name and also a recognition of the close behind the scenes friendship both men had with WCW official Eric Bischoff. They'd come to the ring to Nash's Wolfpac Theme. Nash & Page were soon feuding with the Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak & Chuck Palumbo) and defeated them for the WCW World Tag Team Championship at WCW Mayhem. Shortly thereafter they would be stripped of the titles by Perfect Event ally/then WCW Comissioner Mike Sanders but would regain the titles at WCW Starrcade 2000 but would drop the titles again by January 2001 to Natural Born Thrillers Sean O' Haire and Chuck Palumbo. They'd split shortly thereafter as a team with WCW being bought out by WWE. Both men would later turn up in WWE but never again teamed together.

Maria (Kanellis) joins the Managers/Valets Hall of Fame. Maria who started out in the 2004 Diva Search, a contest she'd lose, would go on to become one of WWE's most popular valets and backstage interviewers ever. Maria had a seeming innocence and even naievety about her that generally made her very likable in the eyes of fans. Even though she frequently played the dumb blonde character, despite being a brunette, fans could still pretty much see through that to know underneath it all she was much smarter than she let on. By 2005, Maria worked hard and took her bumps and bruises as she tried to become an in-ring competitor battling the likes of Trish Stratus, Melina, Victoria and others. She'd be very involved in the angle that led to Eric Bischoff eventually getting fired for abuse of power. Maria continued to battle in-ring and even managed to get some title shots against Mickie James although she'd come up short in those. Later she'd become involved in angle with John Cena teaming with him against the Rated R pairing of Edge and Lita. In mid-2007, she'd begin a storyline romance with Santino Marella, for whom she'd become valet. Eventually they'd break up over Marella's disapproval of her appearing in Playboy. She'd go on be involved in a Playboy inspired Wrestlemania match teaming with fellow cover girl Ashley Massaro but would lose said match to Melina and Beth Phoenix. In 2008, she'd be drafted back to Smackdown where she'd pursue Michelle McCool for the Divas Championship but would fail to defeat her. She'd eventually go on to feud with McCool and McCool's partner Layla at one point teaming with Melina to defeat them. She'd next get involved in a storyline romance with Dolph Ziggler even though he was an heel and she was still playing the face. She'd briefly become his valet until he blamed a loss on her and the pair split up. She'd take a brief hiatus from wrestling to appear on Celebrity Apprentice and upon her return would team up with Mickie James to feud with the team of LayCool. Maria would next begin to support Matt Hardy and briefly teamed up with him and the Great Khali as their manager but this would prove short-lived as she'd be released from WWE shortly thereafter in early 2010. She only recently made her return in ROH as valet for real-life boyfriend Mike Bennett. Maria definitely has an instantly likable quality to her and seems a natural for fan approval.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on January 30, 2012, 03:15:52 PM
The Blade Runners - Flash & Rock join the Tag Teams Hall of Shame. They would later on go on to fame and fortune as singles grapplers known by then under the names Sting and The Ultimate Warrior but early on in their careers, they were in this early tag team where they were very raw and inexperienced performers who had a more futuritsic take on a Road Warriors style gimmick, more of a New Wave approach with make-up actually based on that worn by Daryl Hannah in the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner. They were two musclemen who relied on the raw power game. Initially both men were members of Powerteam USA, a group of four powerful young musclemen trained by Red Bastien and Rick Bassman. Eventually the other two members of Powerteam would leave wrestling behind and Bassman would move on to other territories as a manager leaving Flash & Rock on their own after which they'd form the Blade Runners and would compete in Jerry Jarrett's CWA and Bill Watts' UWF. Actually their initial name in Memphis was the Freedom Fighters under names Justice & Flash but they were so inexperienced and powerful, their hard hitting stiff style lead to them often injuring opponents meaning their stay there was short-lived. They'd go on to feud with Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams in the UWF where they'd become part of HotStuff International, Inc. managed by "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Justice changing his name to Rock and Flash finally changing his name to Sting, the name he would become most known under. After less than 6 months in the UWF, Rock would leave for World Class changing his name to The Dingo Warrior before later moving on to his greatest fame as the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF. They'd have one brief reunion in late 1998 on WCW Monday Nitro during Warrior's short-lived run there where they teamed as Sting and Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan and Bret Hart, then aligned with the nWo. The match however was disappointing and featured very little in-ring from Warrior ending in a DQ when the rest of the nWo interfered.

The One Man Gang, also known as Akeem, the African Dream joins the Singles Hall of Shame. The One Man Gang was a huge man who relied mainly on his huge size (height- 6 foot 9 inches, weight over 450 pounds) to gain in-ring success. Early on competing on the independent circuit, he competed under the names Crusher Gray (his real name was George Gray) and Crusher Bloomfield. He first started making waves as Bloomfield competing in Angelo Poffo's ICW where he became a part of an angle where Randy "Macho Man" Savage controlled his contract and Ron Garvin battled Savage to gain Bloomfield his freedom. Later he'd change his name to the more recognizable One Man Gang, billed as guy from the streets of Chicago who could take out numerous opposition all on his lonesome, he'd go on to work in NWA affiliates Mid-South Wrestling and World Class. He'd have many managers in the different territories in which he worked and became the cornerstone of sorts of some stables. These managers included the likes of Kevin Sullivan, Theodore Long, Sir Jim Holiday and Sir Oliver Humperdink. He'd perhaps have his most memorable allegiance as Gang with General Skandor Akbar as one of the star members of Akbar's "Devastation Inc." under whom he'd make his mark in World Class and Mid-South/UWF. By 1986, he'd become one of the UWF's top villains feuding with the popular "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. In late 1986, Gang won the UWF Heavyweight Championship winning the title via forfeit from Terry Gordy who had been attacked and taken out of action by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Gang would hold the title for 6 months battling the likes of Duggan, Williams and Ted DiBiase over the championship. By May 1987, Gang would sign with the WWF but would return to the UWF to drop the title to Big Bubba Rogers.

He'd go on to debut in WWF as a monster heel in the stable of Slick, the Doctor of Style. Gang easily defeated opponents on the lower end of the card but had a lot more trouble against headliners like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.  Gang would be involved in the angle that led to the early retirement of "Superstar" Billy Graham. Gang would be part of the successful winning team captained by Andre the Giant at Survivor Series 1987 defeating Hulk Hogan's team with Gang and Bundy significantly involved in Hogan getting counted out and Gang later wearing down Bigelow for Andre who would be the match's sole survivor. Gang would be part of the Wrestlemania IV WWF Title Tournament defeating Bam Bam Bigelow by countout in the opening round but later getting disqualified against Randy Savage in the semifinals after getting caught hitting Savage with his manager's cane. Following this, he'd fall further down the card and would feud with the likes of Bam Bam Bigelow, Koko B. Ware and Don "The Rock" Muraco usually coming out on top in said matches. In September 1988, Gang decided to undergone a transformation and became Akeem, the African Dream, a silly parody gimmick of sorts of "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes where Akeem claimed to be of African descent and he started talking with an extremely stereotypical  black accent. The gimmick was bad but was so over the top in execution it was laughable and no doubt hilarious to many wrestling fans although no doubt many found it offensive as well. He'd go on to form a powerful tag team with the Big Bossman known as The Twin Towers and they would go on to feud with the MegaPowers tandem of Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage before later targeting WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition although they never did defeat Demolition for the belts although they did feud with them for quite some time. They were also heavily involved the MegaPowers split-up between Hogan and Savage at the Main Event being the MegaPowers opponents the night they started arguing over manager Elizabeth. They'd go on to defeat the Rockers at Wrestlemania V. They'd eventually split with Big Bossman turning on Slick and Akeem after refusing to take a pay-off from Ted DiBiase. Bossman would defeat Akeem at Wrestlemania VI in Akeem's last notable WWF match and feud.

Akeem would move to WCW in 1991 resuming his old One Man Gang gimmick where he'd go on to feud with El Gigante and would be managed by Kevin Sullivan but wouldn't do much of note otherwise and plans were for him to job for others apparently his refusal to due which led to him being fired. He'd return in 1995 and would become a member of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable at one point defeating Kensuke Sasaki for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, a title he'd shortly thereafter lose to Konnan. Gang made brief appearances for ECW and WWF in the late 90s, early 2000s but nothing long term. Following an heart attack in 2000, Gang lost a lot of weight and went on to work as a prison guard at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. In the late 2000s, he actually made sporadic in-ring appearances on the independent circuit including with Chikara and IWC.

One Man Gang/Akeem's Title Accomplishments: BBOW Heavyweight Championship, NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version), NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (w/ Ron Bass), DSW Hardcore Championship, i-Generation Wrestling Australasian Championship (2 times), NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (w/ Kelly Kiniski), WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, UWF World Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (w/ Killer Tim Brooks and Mark Lewin), WWC Hardcore Championship (2 times)


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: JaseSF on February 05, 2012, 08:33:15 PM
Chris Jericho joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Although one might not know it lately, Jericho is undoubtably one of wrestling's greatest talkers known for his frequently entertaining verbal sparring with opponents over the years the likes of the Rock, Christian, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and many more. His interview show "The Highlight Reel" has been consistently entertaining with many memorable moments over the years especially his criticism laced interviews with Shawn Michaels leading to an eventual attack and all out feud. Jericho, believe it or not, has long been an entertaining loudmouth.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: HappyGilmore on February 05, 2012, 09:31:13 PM
Chris Jericho joins the Hosts/Announcers Hall of Fame. Although one might not know it lately, Jericho is undoubtably one of wrestling's greatest talkers known for his frequently entertaining verbal sparring with opponents over the years the likes of the Rock, Christian, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and many more. His interview show "The Highlight Reel" has been consistently entertaining with many memorable moments over the years especially his criticism laced interviews with Shawn Michaels leading to an eventual attack and all out feud. Jericho, believe it or not, has long been an entertaining loudmouth.
What's he said in the last month? Like, two sentences? Heh. 

Different approach for him.


Title: Re: Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread
Post by: ralfy on April 06, 2023, 02:01:05 AM
"Bret Hart Complains Again, Says He Can’t Watch Wrestling Because It’s ‘Too Phony’"

https://www.ewrestlingnews.com/news/bret-hart-complains-again-says-he-cant-watch-wrestling-because-its-too-phony (https://www.ewrestlingnews.com/news/bret-hart-complains-again-says-he-cant-watch-wrestling-because-its-too-phony)

Quote
On not being able to watch wrestling today: “The old kind of wrestling is sorely missed by a lot of people. If the old wrestling was around, like my dad’s wrestling, we’d come see it. I’m trying to advise my son Dallas and help him deliver the kind of wrestling show that I would enjoy watching where the wrestlers actually know what a headlock is rather than doing the scripted ballet and leaping, twirling, and dancing around like a bunch of ballet dancers. I don’t really enjoy today’s wrestling for those reasons. They’ve lost a lot of steps towards the reality and credibility of wrestling.

“Wrestling, in my opinion, needs to pretend to be real. It always has pretended really hard, almost to the point that you believe it is real. Wrestling is so far fetched today. When I think of WWE and see 20 wrestlers crowded together outside on the floor and someone dives over the top rope and knocks them all down like bowling pins, I roll my eyes at how pathetic wrestling is today. Top to bottom, all the top wrestlers and all the middle bottom wrestlers in WWE and AEW, all slapping their leg on every punch and slap. It’s to the point where I can’t watch wrestling today. Sadly, it’s getting too phony. I really question the direction that the people that are in charge are taking wrestling. AEW has gone in a bad direction with all the violence and gore. I watched an episode, Dr. Martha Hart doing her big press conference, I’m watching AEW and [Jon Moxley] is sticking a fork in somebody’s head for five minutes with a close-up. This isn’t wrestling. I would recommend turning all that off and not watching because it’s not very good. Wrestling is going in bad directions because people don’t know what wrestling is or was.”