Furnas & Lafon - big failure on the booking end?

[brandon]

Have any of you ever seen their match against Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in All Japan? That match had the hottest crowd in wrestling history and was 1992's Match of the Year.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

I think everyone has summed it up well; Good team but lacking in any look or character that can help in setting them apart from anyone else.

[Loki]

"He has the personality of a frog" ;D

Yeah, I agree with the general view on them. Probably they came around 10 years too late...

[seamonsters]

Jan 1, 2009 22:06:58 GMT -5 Mac said:

They seemed to get over pretty well at Survivor Series 96, but that was about their pinnicle. They could work today.

Which was their WWF on-screen debut. I don't recall anyone just suddenly turn up on a PPV, without any notice, but I think that was because half the card wasn't announced before the event. Vignettes would have really helped those guys.

I also remember Gorilla Monsoon commentating on one of their matches on Superstars, wondering why "they" chose to go by their own names, and not have a tag-team name, and that even giving them a name would help give them some sort of identity.

[Hiroshi Hase]

Jan 2, 2009 5:13:01 GMT -5 @brandon said:

Have any of you ever seen their match against Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in All Japan? That match had the hottest crowd in wrestling history and was 1992's Match of the Year.

That might be nice for Japan, but in the States you're going to have to do more than just be technical wrestler to get by especially in WWF. Of course there are exceptions, but those guys were just boring as hell.

[h]

So why did Dean Malenko work so well in WCW around that time? His gimmick was pretty much the same.

[Slammywinner]

Jan 2, 2009 12:41:07 GMT -5 h said:

So why did Dean Malenko work so well in WCW around that time? His gimmick was pretty much the same.

Yeah or Lance Storm's later character in WCW and WWF...

And I'm not sure it was a booking issue. When they finished up in WWF, they went to ECW and didn't do anything there either, even though ECW was becoming famous for polishing a turd into a diamond at the time.

[Agent P]

They were the greatest tag team in the history of the World Wrestling Federation!

[Hiroshi Hase]

Jan 2, 2009 12:41:07 GMT -5 h said:

So why did Dean Malenko work so well in WCW around that time? His gimmick was pretty much the same.

I did say they were exceptions and in WCW they were more about the wrestling they had. If he debuted in WWF at that time, more than likely he'd have gotten the same response.

They couldn't even get over in ECW, so they didn't have a chance in WWF,IMO. I forgot they even held the ECW tag titles for a short stint.

And Lance Storm's character didn't work all that well with the audience in WWF.

[randomranter]

They would have made it in the 80's NWA. Maybe in the WWF before about 1985 or so. And Maybe in a pre-NWO WCW. But there's no chance they'd have made it in the WWF once they started going mainstream, once ring talent took a back seat to gimmick and charisma (which furnas and lafon had none of). The late 80's and early 90's were dominated by gimmicky characters. The early 90's to the Attitude era were "family friendly" -- Kid centered, and kids find acts like them boring. And honestly, I'm surprised they even got any ring time at all in the Attitude era, where even the low- and mid-carders got more interesting storylines and got more over than most of today's roster. Furnas/Lafon couldn't compete with a roster full of people ranging everywhere from Austin and the Rock all the way down to the Headbangers.

Getting over on ring ability alone in the WWE just doesn't happen. Hasn't been that way since Hogan. Granted, there have been a couple of rare exceptions (Benoit), but for the most part, a wrestler with good abilities but no gimmick or charisma will go absolutely nowhere.

Furnas and Lafon were about 12 years too late, and in the wrong league anyway.

[warrenpeace]

Doug Furnas wasn't bland when he started in Knoxville in the late 80s.I remember him ripping off the cage door to make a save.It blew the roof off the Knoxville Civic Coloseum.I also remember him getting carried out on the shoulders of some guys after a win at a house show sometime in i think 88.So when i saw him again in the mid 90s i too was like hey were is the Doug Furnas that played for Tennessee and was all about flying into a rage for a big comeback.

[chunkylover53]

Jan 2, 2009 13:46:44 GMT -5 Hiroshi Hase said:

Jan 2, 2009 12:41:07 GMT -5 h said:

So why did Dean Malenko work so well in WCW around that time? His gimmick was pretty much the same.

I did say they were exceptions and in WCW they were more about the wrestling they had. If he debuted in WWF at that time, more than likely he'd have gotten the same response.

They couldn't even get over in ECW, so they didn't have a chance in WWF,IMO. I forgot they even held the ECW tag titles for a short stint.

And Lance Storm's character didn't work all that well with the audience in WWF.

And don't forget Chris Benoit with that *gasp* killer instinct.

I agree with what has been said about them with the lack of gimmick or personality. You can also add to the fact that they weren't in any noteworthy storylines and was not pushed as a serious threat to the tag team division. Getting TV time is a very important part in getting a wrestler over.

[Hiroshi Hase]

Jan 2, 2009 14:32:04 GMT -5 chunkylover53 said:

Jan 2, 2009 13:46:44 GMT -5 Hiroshi Hase said:

I did say they were exceptions and in WCW they were more about the wrestling they had. If he debuted in WWF at that time, more than likely he'd have gotten the same response.

They couldn't even get over in ECW, so they didn't have a chance in WWF,IMO. I forgot they even held the ECW tag titles for a short stint.

And Lance Storm's character didn't work all that well with the audience in WWF.

And don't forget Chris Benoit with that *gasp* killer instinct.

I agree with what has been said about them with the lack of gimmick or personality. You can also add to the fact that they weren't in any noteworthy storylines and was not pushed as a serious threat to the tag team division. Getting TV time is a very important part in getting a wrestler over.

Actually Furnas and Lafon were chasing after the champions and nearly coming close to beating them on several occasions in late 96-early 97. I'd say they had time to get over, it's just no one cared.

[Bishblast]

Funny , as a kid they were my favorite WWF tag team in early 97... right behind Bulldog and Owen.

I think they could've gotten over... if booking tried hard enough.

[Hiroshi Hase]

Jan 2, 2009 14:41:26 GMT -5 Bishblast said:

Funny , as a kid they were my favorite WWF tag team in early 97... right behind Bulldog and Owen.

I think they could've gotten over... if booking tried hard enough.

Honestly what more could they have done? I mean without a gimmick overhaul, these guys weren't destined for a long future there in WWF. Maybe in Japan or even WCW perhaps, but not in WWF.

[D-Lo's #1 Fan]

I think they stuck around into 98, or at least Furnas did because he accompanied Brakkus to ringside in ECW for his match with Taz.

[Hiroshi Hase]

Jan 2, 2009 14:48:43 GMT -5 D-Lo's #1 Fan said:

I think they stuck around into 98, or at least Furnas did because he accompanied Brakkus to ringside in ECW for his match with Taz.

Furnas did, and even had a TV title match against RVD but honestly the crowds just didn't care.

[CM Crünk is teh 'CRAP!]

I thought there last match was Survivor Series 97.

[Hiroshi Hase]

Jan 2, 2009 15:15:47 GMT -5 CM Crünk is teh 'CRAP! said:

I thought there last match was Survivor Series 97.

It was, I was referring to their stint in ECW shortly after that.