Fame or Shame: The Pro Wrestling Game

[JaseSF]

This Fame or Shame game I think can be put to use on a wrestling thread. Simply use the different wrestlers and their gimmicks. I say leave the federations and titles out of this list though...let's just keep it to wrestlers. Regular Fame or Shame game rules apply.

Hulk Hogan - 30
"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair - 30
Doink the Clown - 30
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - 30
Lex Luger - 30

[Leah]

Hulk Hogan-30
"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair-28 KILL
Doink the Clown-32 SAVE
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat-30
Lex Lugar-30

[JaseSF]

"The Incredible" Hulk Hogan-32 SAVE
"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair-28
Doink the Clown-30 KILL
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat-30
"The Total Package" Lex Luger-30

[HappyGilmore]

Hulk Hogan- 32
Ric Flair- 30 (SAVE)
Doink the Clown-30
Ricky Steamboat- 30
Lex Luger- 28 (Kill)

Not really sure on the rules of the game though, but meh.

Luger's vastly overrated.

[Joe the Destroyer]

Hulk Hogan- 32
Ric Flair- 32 SAVE
Doink the Clown-30
Ricky Steamboat- 28 KILL
Lex Luger- 28

[Mr. DS]

Hulk Hogan- 32
Ric Flair- 34 SAVE
Doink the Clown-30
Ricky Steamboat- 28
Lex Luger- 26 KILL

I too feel that Luger was always overrated.  Granted he probably has more wrestling talent than Hogan (not saying much) but Hogan at least had carisma.

[JaseSF]

Hulk Hogan- 32
Ric Flair- 36 SAVE
Doink the Clown-28 KILL
Ricky Steamboat- 28
Lex Luger- 26

The Evil Doink was a great gimmick but they ruined it by turning him babyface. Ric Flair was the guy who always delivered great match after match in the 80s and early 90s and even pulled off a few good ones way, way past his prime.

[HappyGilmore]

Hogan- 32
Flair- 36
Doink- 30 SAVE
Steamboat-28
Luger- 24 KILL

Hogan lacked in ring skills, but in Japan put on some great matches.  But, in my youth (born in '84 here), he was the guy who got me interested in wrestling to begin with.  Due to charisma alone, and the fact that he had great guys like Piper to work against.

[Joe the Destroyer]

I highly agree with Luger being overrated, at least as far as WWF/E goes (never watched much WCW).   It irritated me that WWF in the early 90's had some popular guys that were ready for the main event spot at the time and they just turned Luger from hated heel to babyface Hulk clone overnight.  I know they're options were limited without Hogan going into Summerslam '93, but there were a bunch of other guys who were rising fast that would have worked just as well, if not better. 

[Mr. DS]

Hogan- 32
Flair- 38 SAVE
Doink- 30
Steamboat-28
Luger- 22 KILL

[JaseSF]

Hulk Hogan- 32
Ric Flair- 40 SAVE
Doink the Clown - 28 KILL
Ricky Steamboat-28
Lex Luger- 22

As for a system for voting, I simply have decided to choose to Save the wrestler I consider most deserving of a real Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame spot and to Kill the wrestler (or gimmick) least deserving. Someone else might rather vote on the basis of gimmick. It's all very subjective since pro wrestling is a "worked" sport anyway but winning major titles and having success everywhere you've went means a lot IMO. Lex Luger, while definitely someone I'd say was overrated had a lot of success. He did win many major titles, most in WCW/NWA and did have great matches with Barry Windham, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Brian Pillman, Michael Hayes, Stan Hansen and Hulk Hogan. Doink however was a gimmick played by several different wrestlers (the best of whom was Maniac Matt Borne) and while the gimmick of an evil clown initially got over, after he turned babyface he faded into obscurity and he didn't win any major titles or even have a truly memorable feud.

[HappyGilmore]

Hogan- 32
Flair- 40
Doink- 30 (SAVE)
Steamboat- 28
Luger- 20 (Kill)

Hulk Hogan- 32
Ric Flair- 40 SAVE
Doink the Clown - 28 KILL
Ricky Steamboat-28
Lex Luger- 22

As for a system for voting, I simply have decided to choose to Save the wrestler I consider most deserving of a real Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame spot and to Kill the wrestler (or gimmick) least deserving. Someone else might rather vote on the basis of gimmick. It's all very subjective since pro wrestling is a "worked" sport anyway but winning major titles and having success everywhere you've went means a lot IMO. Lex Luger, while definitely someone I'd say was overrated had a lot of success. He did win many major titles, most in WCW/NWA and did have great matches with Barry Windham, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Brian Pillman, Michael Hayes, Stan Hansen and Hulk Hogan. Doink however was a gimmick played by several different wrestlers (the best of whom was Maniac Matt Borne) and while the gimmick of an evil clown initially got over, after he turned babyface he faded into obscurity and he didn't win any major titles or even have a truly memorable feud.

I understand what you're saying.  But, the thought of an evil wrestling CLOWN getting over in any capacity is unbelievable, but Borne made it work.  And it wasn't his fault he turned "babyface", that was management.  Even at that point, it could've worked, but his personal demons got the better of him and he left the company.  But, even today, when they trot out the gimmick for an occasional match, the character still gets a decent reaction.

Luger had all the chances in the world.  Quite frankly, he could've been a bigger star but he shot himself in the foot.  I was never a fan, never saw the hype, and felt he should've been in the range of tag champ or US Champ, never given a World Title.  And for all the good matches he had, I'd say it had more to do with the people he was working with making him look better (Flair, Steamboat, and Pillman had a knack of having great matches with guys with minimal talent, making them appear better than they truly were.)  Not knocking Foley, but Flair had a match with him back in '06 and it was a decent match, despite Flair being damn near like, 57, and Foley being a semi-retired 3 match a year competitor with a bad back.  If that's not a testament to his ability, I dunno what is.

[Joe the Destroyer]

Hogan- 32
Flair- 42 SAVE
Doink- 30
Steamboat- 28
Luger- 18 KILL

[Mr. DS]

Hogan- 34 SAVE
Flair- 42
Doink- 30
Steamboat- 28
Luger- 16 KILL

[JaseSF]

Hulk Hogan- 34
Ric Flair- 44 SAVE
Doink the Clown- 28 KILL
Ricky Steamboat- 28
Lex Luger- 16

I agree that Luger was overrated but I still cannot forget he had many great matches, especially in his pre-WWF NWA days. In addition to those named above, Luger had some great matches with Nikita Koloff, Sting, the Steiners, Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard. He formed good tandems with Windham and Sting, although Windham turning on him to join the Horsemen was classic. Still as I understand it, Luger was never really a big fan of wrestling and I think it tended to show in a lot of his work. He probably could have done a lot more if the interest and enthusiam had been there.