smoot
Trap-Jaw
Posts: 296
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Post by smoot on Sept 20, 2010 16:09:38 GMT -5
... what was the deal with him, anyway?
I remember watching WCW, and every week they'd call him "The Living Legend", and I'd always wonder "why?".
(This in a company with Flair and Anderson- even Dusty Rhodes, for crying out loud- and this guy was the Living Legend? It always got me.)
It clearly wasn't meant ironically, because he'd do that little quarter-bow and finger-flourish every time he was billed that way at the start of a show he was calling... and sometimes there'd be crowds chanting "La-rry!". So either someone out there dug him, or they were drunk and/or told to do that by some WCW person.
And if he's a legend, why haven't I seen him hyped on DVDs or what-have-you, like I've seen for a dozen other guys from his era?
I've never heard any of the 'old school is the best school' guys saying stuff like "That was okay, but it's nothing compared to Larry Zbyszko!" And apparently, he doesn't inspire the sort of 'he was corny, but we loved it' thing that, say, Iron Sheik inspires, either...
It might be a case of just having come in as a viewer when he stopped doing whatever got him the moniker, but... what was the deal with him?
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Sept 20, 2010 16:14:38 GMT -5
Well, the "Living Legend" moniker came from his feud with Bruno Sammartino I think. Bruno had been called that while still WWWF champion.
As far as the crowd's response to him, a lot of the WCW fans had been following wrestling for a long time and knew who he was, plus he was always portrayed as totally pro-WCW. And I've heard that he's a very fan friendly guy if you meet him. I can't say for certain, but I guess that all had something to do with it.
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Post by strykerdarksilence on Sept 20, 2010 16:15:31 GMT -5
Him not being featured much now is due to him having a real stick up his ass about Vince McMahon.
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Post by DiBiase is Good on Sept 20, 2010 16:18:35 GMT -5
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smoot
Trap-Jaw
Posts: 296
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Post by smoot on Sept 20, 2010 16:23:11 GMT -5
Oh, and in-kayfabe, he put up the bounty of a new car to the first one to take a title off an NWO member. Sonofab**** still owes Jericho a car.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2010 16:24:03 GMT -5
Z works, if you can see it. When I was a teenager, I thought he was the biggest waste of time conceivable. I don't feel that way anymore. He's a good heel.
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Post by willywonka666 on Sept 20, 2010 16:26:45 GMT -5
Frankly I thought he was a fantastic heel. I'll catch heat for this but I thought he was a heel along the likes of Roddy Piper, in that he knew how to strike a nerve and run his mouth. He turned on the BIGGEST name in wrestling (Bruno) and stole his moniker and bragged about all his accomplishments that could never measure up to Bruno.
This would be like Piper or Savage or anyone for that matter being Hogan's friend, turning on him and calling himself "The Immortal" Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, etc. or something.
had he been featured in the NWA better or in the WWF rather than the dying days of the AWA he would be appreciated more I think.
The Larry you saw in WCW was just a nice guy version of a really great heel.
I wish I could find footage of him on the Uncle Floyd show, he was a bit of a celebrity outside of wrestling, if only from that show
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"Hollywood" Cactus Matt
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
You couldn't ask for a better custom title!
How do you spell "Goddess"? C-H-R-I-S-T-Y!
Posts: 15,300
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Post by "Hollywood" Cactus Matt on Sept 20, 2010 16:31:26 GMT -5
I thought Larry Z. & Arn Anderson made a fantastic tag-team. I seriously marked for the Enforcers.
He was kinda wasted in the Dangerous Alliance, but apparently they wanted Double-A to team with Bobby Eaton instead.
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NOwave
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,735
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Post by NOwave on Sept 20, 2010 16:32:54 GMT -5
Two things really: Zybsko had a terrific feud with Bruno Sammartino in 1979-80 and became known as the original "legend killer" as a result. Their match in Shea Stadium in 1980 drew 40,000 fans(despite the fact that Hogan says it was the match between him and Andre that was the draw-he was, and is wrong-Sammartino-Zybysko was the big draw)
And, Larry was the last AWA World Heavyweight Champion. The AWA actually had some real meaning at one time, and Larry was rightly proud of that legacy.
Finally, he has been described as a very nice guy by everyone who's written about him. He avoided any major scandals(drugs, alcohol, steroids, sex) and handled his finances wisely. He is well off enough to be essentially retired, and playing scratch golf almost daily, according to several accounts.
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lovingway
El Dandy
Crimson and Clover
Posts: 8,135
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Post by lovingway on Sept 20, 2010 17:01:33 GMT -5
Wasn't he in a porno a few years back?
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Post by bowman on Sept 20, 2010 17:35:36 GMT -5
He held multiple titles in multiple federations throughout the 80's. His feud with Nick Bockwinkle was outstanding, and quite bloody, too. If you didn't have access to federations outside of WWF and WCW, I can see where you're coming from here. I loved Zbyszko. He was a classic heel with an excellent mix of ring theatrics. Think Flair, heel Lawler, and Classiy Freddie Blassie mixed into one. He would constantly cheat, berate the crowd, and cower when the cards were down. He popularized running out of the ring and posturing to kill momentum, sometimes doing it four, five times a match. He also favored the timeless "ref, I need a time-out" move whenever he was getting pulverized by a face. Just a really good, 80's style heel.
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Post by willywonka666 on Sept 20, 2010 17:40:28 GMT -5
Lest we forget, he won a world title not only in a battle royal, but he did it by standing in a corner 95% of the time and threw the last man (Tom Zenk) out after he was worn down from actually competing the entire match. Makes me think of something Heenan woulda done.
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Post by i.Sarita.com on Sept 20, 2010 17:53:48 GMT -5
I always liked him on commentary, but I didn't understand why he was a "Living Legend" either while growing up as a WCW fan.
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Post by repomanfan on Sept 20, 2010 18:29:27 GMT -5
Larry had a decent career. Although it could have(and should of) been better. Larry was a good performer, a great talker, and he really knew how to work a crowd. The man had talent. Unfortunately things didn't unfold for him, the way they did for other guys. IMO, he is one of the most underrated heels in the history of the business. He's mot a legend , but, he was involved in one of the most legendary feuds in the history of the business, and for that alone, he will remembered .
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Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
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Post by Crappler El 0 M on Sept 20, 2010 18:44:54 GMT -5
The nickname definitely came from his matches with Bruno Sammartino, which to Larry's credit are pretty well thought of (I can't personally judge them). He was a better than average worker and a pretty good talker. He was pretty loyal to his father in law, Verne Gagne, and thus he stayed in AWA during much of what could have been peak years in his career. However, I doubt he would have been as big of a star anywhere else. When AWA folded, he fit in pretty well in WCW, forming a team with Arn Anderson which would become part of the Dangerous Alliance stable. He was a good fit for an Arn Anderson tag team and for being in the Dangerous Alliance. For some reason (maybe this is part of what you were asking), he seemed to be over with the audience during 1997 to 1998 as an announcer. He would do his little salute gesture to the fans and they would cheer him. He got good reactions when he feuded with Bischoff and Spicolli in late 1997 and early 1998. I don't think his in-ring career really warrented that much fan support for him, but maybe the fans liked his commentary when he talked bad about the nWo, who were the heels.
All in all, he was a pretty good worker, a decent talker, and fair commentator. There are certainly many, many living wrestlers who are bigger legends.
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Post by turkeysandwich on Sept 20, 2010 19:01:16 GMT -5
I always liked him as an announcer, he made the matches seem like real contests when he would talk about "the human game of chess."
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Post by Cry Me a Wiggle on Sept 20, 2010 23:33:24 GMT -5
True story: During those three hour Nitros, I would always dread the 9:30 halfway point, because that's when Larry went off commentary and Heenan came on. Even when the product started to suffer, Zybyszko was a very solid color guy while Heenan was just phoning it in.
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Post by Mister Yummy on Sept 21, 2010 1:05:40 GMT -5
Larry was one of the greatest heels of his day. Larry stalling got more heat than anything that Nexus could do today would. e'd take 4 or 5 minutes before he ever touched his opponent, and the crowd woul'd go bezerk. He'd almost make contact, and duck between the ropes. Reach for the guy, and scuttle back, hop out of the ring multiple times. All before ny action. Any it got huge reactions.
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SEAN CARLESS
Hank Scorpio
More of a B+ player, actually
I'm Necessary Evil.
Posts: 5,770
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Post by SEAN CARLESS on Sept 21, 2010 1:11:16 GMT -5
And, Larry was the last AWA World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the married to the boss's daughter. Good thing we don't see anything like that anymore! Ahem.
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oldad5518
Trap-Jaw
THE GREATEST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR SPORT
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Post by oldad5518 on Sept 22, 2010 15:04:54 GMT -5
And, Larry was the last AWA World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the married to the boss's daughter. Good thing we don't see anything like that anymore! Ahem. Ha your so right......... Wait a min
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