Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread

[JaseSF]

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

[Mr. DS]

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
	Small | Large

Its like the poor man's version of Hulk Hogan's Real American.  Try to sit through it all without pausing, its painful. 

[Joe the Destroyer]

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. 

[JaseSF]

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.

[Mr. DS]

Is it me or did Luger just and an odd look to him from the neck up?

[JaseSF]

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.

[Mr. DS]

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. 

[HappyGilmore]

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.

[HappyGilmore]

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.

[JaseSF]

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

[Psycho Circus]

Doink the Clown joins the Hall of Shame.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! 

[Mr. DS]

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
	Small | Large

[HappyGilmore]

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

Doink rocked. 

Cheesy, yes.  But I liked him.

Oddly, I also liked Bob Holly.

[JaseSF]

Disturbingly enough, Dusty Wolfe once informed me that Doink's make-up was based on that worn by serial killer John Wayne Gacy.  

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.

[Mr. DS]

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.