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Post by lildude8218 on Sept 27, 2013 0:16:57 GMT -5
Simple little exercise. Imagine that Randy Savage never introduced Miss Elizabeth to the world and instead chose one of these five men: Bobby "The Brain" Heenan; "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart; "Classy" Freddie Blassie; Mr. Fuji; or "Luscious" Johnny Valiant
What would have happened?
Here's a little help.
Savage made his television debut at the June 17, 1985 Championship Wrestling taping, which aired on July 6, 1985. Savage made his manager decision at the July 30, 1985 Championship Wrestling taping which aired on August 24, 1985. At the time, the stables broke down like this:
Heenan: Big John Studd, The Missing Link, Adrian Adonis (Heenan would trade Link and Adonis for Bundy in late September. Link would be gone soon after)
Fuji: Don Muraco
Hart: King Kong Bundy, Greg Valentine (would eventually wind up being managed by Valiant,) The Hart Foundation, Terry Funk
Valiant: Brutus Beefcake
Blassie: Nikolai Volkoff, The Iron Sheik (Blassie's men would wind up with Slick by next year)
Even with a different manager Savage would still go after Hulk Hogan and the WWF title. Try to take into account what else happened around this time (guys leaving, new guys coming in, etc etc)
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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 27, 2013 0:25:16 GMT -5
He wouldn't have fit in with Fuji or Blassie (or Slick, as Slick was about to take over for Blassie). I don't think he'd fit with Valiant either.
That leaves Heenan and Jimmy Hart. I think he could have worked with either of them and it would have been successful. Savage was just too damn talented NOT to succeed in WWE. I think Jesse Ventura could have been a pretty good manager for him too, though Ventura wasn't a manager.
Bobby Heenan would feel like the top manager in WWF not long after Savage debuted. For a time he and Hart seemed to be about equal, but as Heenan took on Orndorff, Andre, and Rude (replaced Orndorff), Heenan really started to feel like the top manager. Savage could have worked with Heenan.
I am grateful Savage brought in Elizabeth because they had such a great dynamic. Plus, Savage and Elizabeth reunited at WrestleMania is my all-time favorite romance angle in all of wrestling.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 41,949
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Sept 27, 2013 0:29:21 GMT -5
He wouldn't have fit in with Fuji or Blassie (or Slick, as Slick was about to take over for Blassie). I don't think he'd fit with Valiant either. That leaves Heenan and Jimmy Hart. I think he could have worked with either of them and it would have been successful. Savage was just too damn talented NOT to succeed in WWE. I think Jesse Ventura could have been a pretty good manager for him too, though Ventura wasn't a manager. Bobby Heenan would feel like the top manager in WWF not long after Savage debuted. For a time he and Hart seemed to be about equal, but as Heenan took on Orndorff, Andre, and Rude (replaced Orndorff), Heenan really started to feel like the top manager. Savage could have worked with Heenan. I am grateful Savage brought in Elizabeth because they had such a great dynamic. Plus, Savage and Elizabeth reunited at WrestleMania is my all-time favorite romance angle in all of wrestling. I don't know what it is, but there's always some dust or something in my eyes when I watch them reunite. Damndest thing. |
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mizerable
Fry's dog Seymour
You're the lowest on the totem pole here, Alva. The lowest.
Posts: 23,475
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Post by mizerable on Sept 27, 2013 1:29:01 GMT -5
I actually think both Blassie and Hart would have been the best choices. Blassie could make claim that he had already "managed champions" in both Iron Sheik and Hulk Hogan (not exactly true) and saw potential in Savage. Whereas with Hart, I think he would just animate Savage even moreso.
Heenan worked best with guys who weren't as colorful and acted more as muscle than anything else. The only time I liked Heenan working with a colorful guy, was with Ric Flair.
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Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
Posts: 6,847 
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Post by Reflecto on Sept 27, 2013 1:49:32 GMT -5
Due to Savage's obvious talent, him succeeding regardless of his manager is clear.
However, the other, equal "What If" here comes just from the act of picking one of the five male managers.
At the time, the women's wrestling picture in WWE was still very Moolah-oriented, where it was just women's wrestlers what wrestled, and if they were cute, so be it, if they weren't, it didn't matter if they could wrestle. By contrast, Miss Elizabeth was the first woman in WWF who was a star, and one of the most popular women in the sport, despite the fact that she couldn't wrestle to save her life. While they may claim it for Sunny, Miss Elizabeth really was the prototype for what would become a WWE Diva, where looks mattered as much- or more- than talent.
Put that into place, and the real What If? part of this that changes things dramatically is there- if there's no Miss Elizabeth in the WWF, it's far likelier that women's wrestling looks far different than it does now.
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Post by Digital Witness on Sept 27, 2013 5:04:42 GMT -5
I know I'd have liked to see Savage join with Hart. I know Funk wasn't there for very long, but imagine all the crazy that would be going on at one time if you had Savage, Funk, and Hart cutting a promo together. That would be absolute gold. You could even make that crazier and throw in a heel Roddy Piper for ultimate madness.
Another thing that I think WWF at the time should have done, is bring "Leaping" Lanny in immediately as a heel and also pair him with Hart. I think that would have ultimately got Poffo a lot more mileage on his career and he would have likely been more successful.
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Post by lildude8218 on Sept 27, 2013 12:10:39 GMT -5
I actually think both Blassie and Hart would have been the best choices. Blassie could make claim that he had already "managed champions" in both Iron Sheik and Hulk Hogan (not exactly true) and saw potential in Savage. Whereas with Hart, I think he would just animate Savage even moreso. they did a segment on TNT where Heenan, Hart and Blassie all made pitches for Savage. Blassie's main selling point was that he was the only one who had managed a world "champeen" |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2013 15:57:40 GMT -5
The thought of Macho being managed by Mr. Fuji is hilarious to me for some reason.
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Post by Joe Neglia on Sept 27, 2013 23:01:10 GMT -5
If Savage came in 2-3 years earlier, Blassie would have worked out well; the two had stylistic similarities in a lot of ways and I could see Blassie in the "Miser" role for Savage. By the time Savage debuted though, Blassie was far too long in the tooth and was being phased out in favor of the new wave of managers. That being what it is, I say Jimmy Hart. Both came from Memphis and worked together before and I could see Hart's hyper-chaos personality meshing pretty well with Randy's controlled-violence-chaos.
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Jeremy
Hank Scorpio
Horse of a Different Color
Posts: 6,240
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 27, 2013 23:30:38 GMT -5
I am gonna say Valiant. Luscious Jimmy and The Macho Man sounds like a good mix. I don't know much about Luscious other than he managed Valentine and Beefcake
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siredger
ALF
Can now proudly say he held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in his hands.
Posts: 1,116
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Post by siredger on Sept 27, 2013 23:56:04 GMT -5
I think Valiant also managed Dino Bravo when he debuted in WWF as well.
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Post by Joe Neglia on Sept 28, 2013 0:17:03 GMT -5
I think Valiant also managed Dino Bravo when he debuted in WWF as well. Was also Demolition's first manager. Valiant was, I hate to say it, possibly the worst manager the WWF had up until Coach. That's how bad he was. I don't really see him and Savage having decent chemistry. |
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Post by lildude8218 on Sept 28, 2013 21:48:02 GMT -5
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Post by molson5 on Sept 29, 2013 16:04:22 GMT -5
I love how he smirked afterwards as it to say, "what the hell did I just say?" |
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Post by 2 Cold Scorkum on Sept 29, 2013 17:00:17 GMT -5
The thought of Macho being managed by Mr. Fuji is hilarious to me for some reason. Mr. Fuji takes off his pants to distract Andre The Giant at Summerslam 1988 |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2013 17:20:45 GMT -5
The thought of Macho being managed by Mr. Fuji is hilarious to me for some reason. Mr. Fuji takes off his pants to distract Andre The Giant at Summerslam 1988 One (1) free like to whoever can photoshop this or the MegaPowers carrying Mr. Fuji around. |
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mrjl
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,319
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Post by mrjl on Sept 29, 2013 17:40:19 GMT -5
I had never actually seen him before, I always thought he was scrawny. Guess I was thinking of Jimmy Valient |
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Post by Digital Witness on Sept 29, 2013 19:27:19 GMT -5
I had never actually seen him before, I always thought he was scrawny. Guess I was thinking of Jimmy Valient That's the Valiant brother that wasn't caught by the Rock and Roll Express partaking in certain acts involving a glass table. |
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FinalGwen
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Particularly fond of muffins.
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Post by FinalGwen on Sept 29, 2013 21:34:51 GMT -5
Mr. Fuji takes off his pants to distract Andre The Giant at Summerslam 1988 One (1) free like to whoever can photoshop this or the MegaPowers carrying Mr. Fuji around. Challenge accepted.   |
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