Fame or Shame: Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread

[JaseSF]

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.

[HappyGilmore]

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."

[JaseSF]

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.

[HappyGilmore]

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.

[JaseSF]

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.

[HappyGilmore]

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.

[JaseSF]

"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.

[JaseSF]

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).

[JaseSF]

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.

[JaseSF]

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.

[JaseSF]

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

[JaseSF]

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.

[JaseSF]

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.

[HappyGilmore]

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.

[JaseSF]

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.