Wrestlers You Hated Years Ago But Now Love

[toodarkmark]

There are many for me, but there are two that I've focused on lately.

The first is Eddy Guerrero in WCW. I really didn't care for him, even when he was a heel. But now I watch his matches with Rey, with Jericho, with Malenko and he's a master. He did old school heat and mixed it in with the Japan/Lucha hybrid. A real amazing guy to watch as you get older and watch more and more matches. Another thing, the Eddy -Rey match at Halloween Havoc '97, they were really pushing him, especially Bobby Heenan.

The other guy is Meng. I just felt Haku/Tonga was a jobber, and that may have been because of the end of his WWF run. But I watch those WCW matches where he is Meng and they let him go, and he's just a great worker. Probably my favorite of all the Samoan/Tongan types.

[ICBM]

Debiase, Scott hall and almost everybody fom original ECW

[mcmahonfan85]

thanks to the fabulous booking of TNA Impact circa 2005: Samoa Joe, AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels

then i saw them in Ring of Honor, and became a fan

[Starshine]

Scott Steiner.

I was honestly scared of the guy as a kid. But I love everything he does today.

[thegame415]

I hated Bret Hart when I was younger. I came to know him through the heel turn and his era in WCW.

[mysterious]

I'd have to say Bret Hart. Couldn't really understand why they gave him the title but watching some of his matches now I can really see why and appreciate how great he was in the ring.

[champviadq]

I'll probably get some hate for this but oh well.

Edge as a heel. I will not deny that Edge was a good wrestler. However, I just couldn't buy Edge as a heel for whatever reason. Edge was straight money as a face. His value as a face was to me, in my opinion, more entertaining and likeable.

CM Punk. I didn't really like him when he, like I said previously like Edge, as a heel. He's booked much more entertaining as a face than a heel. No doubt he's got talent whichever role he's in, but I think Punk is a better face than a heel.

Hulk Hogan. I wasn't born during the Hulkamania era and I don't think he's great in the ring. However he alone put wrestling on the global map. Maybe it's a generational thing. I grew up watching the rise of The Rock, Stone Cold, HHH, Mankind, attitude era. Whereas WCW was on it's last legs. Hogan did much more for professional wrestling than anyone else, but I just was never a fan. No doubt Hogan is a top draw in every sense of the word, but until recently I've slowly but surely became to appreciate him more and more by the day.

[Bravo Echo November]

JBL. I thought he wasn't worthy to hold the title because he had horrible matches and would always cheat. But looking back; he was doing what a heel should do and he was damn good at it. Plus some of the matches weren't that bad.

[thecrusherwi]

Definitely Sgt Slaughter and Jim Duggan. Slaughter I thought was just a boring, fat, old man, but his heel bumping is off the charts. I still haven't seem much of his prime, but I've grown to enjoy his 1990-92 WWF run.

I loved Duggan as a kid, but then during my most workrate-obsessed days, I thought he was a loser who just punches, kicks, and acts like an idiot. I have since diversified my wrestling tastes and have come back around to appreciating that style too. His WCW run is super underrated. His toe-to-toe underdog brawls with Vader, Meng, and The Giant are some of my favorite matches in that era of WCW.

I haven't recently revisited their 1992 tag team...maybe I should

[toodarkmark]

Jan 11, 2014 10:58:16 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

Definitely Sgt Slaughter and Jim Duggan. Slaughter I thought was just a boring, fat, old man, but his heel bumping is off the charts. I still haven't seem much of his prime, but I've grown to enjoy his 1990-92 WWF run.

I loved Duggan as a kid, but then during my most workrate-obsessed days, I thought he was a loser who just punches, kicks, and acts like an idiot. I have since diversified my wrestling tastes and have come back around to appreciating that style too. His WCW run is super underrated. His toe-to-toe underdog brawls with Vader, Meng, and The Giant are some of my favorite matches in that era of WCW.

I haven't recently revisited their 1992 tag team...maybe I should

Jim Duggan is there for me too. I have always been a work rate guy as well (except my Ultimate Warrior markedom as a youngster), but I have REALLY started to appreciate Jim Duggan as an adult. I even read his biography and loved it. He's so simple, yet, so effective.

[Aceorton]

Came in here to say Duggan. I found him to be a big snooze when I was a kid. Now I watch the same matches and he's just great.

With Brutus Beefcake, the phenomenon has been exactly the opposite.

[MichaelMartini]

Jan 11, 2014 10:31:16 GMT -5 champviadq said:

I'll probably get some hate for this but oh well.

Edge as a heel. I will not deny that Edge was a good wrestler. However, I just couldn't buy Edge as a heel for whatever reason. Edge was straight money as a face. His value as a face was to me, in my opinion, more entertaining and likeable.

CM Punk. I didn't really like him when he, like I said previously like Edge, as a heel. He's booked much more entertaining as a face than a heel. No doubt he's got talent whichever role he's in, but I think Punk is a better face than a heel.

Hulk Hogan. I wasn't born during the Hulkamania era and I don't think he's great in the ring. However he alone put wrestling on the global map. Maybe it's a generational thing. I grew up watching the rise of The Rock, Stone Cold, HHH, Mankind, attitude era. Whereas WCW was on it's last legs. Hogan did much more for professional wrestling than anyone else, but I just was never a fan. No doubt Hogan is a top draw in every sense of the word, but until recently I've slowly but surely became to appreciate him more and more by the day.

Hogan for me too. I was a prime age to be a Hulkamaniac, being 11 or 12 at the time of the first mania. But it was Piper that got me into wrestling. I hate Hogan. I thought he was boring and phoney. As an adult I can see the appeal and why he was so over. His matches weren't as formulaic as I remembered either.

[MolotovMocktail]

Dusty Rhodes, once I saw some of his old NWA stuff, and got past how horribly booked he was in the WWF.

[ICBM]

Jan 11, 2014 19:49:16 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

Dusty Rhodes, once I saw some of his old NWA stuff, and got past how horribly booked he was in the WWF.

Not Dusty's fault. They had to get their heat back for Dusty countering them in JCP pretty effectively. Did you know, Vince named Debiase's man servant Virgil as a crack on Dusty?

[Facetious]

Chris Hero. When I first saw him in 2006-2007 he looked terrible. He had that awful attire and his in ring work did nothing for me. It wasn't until he became That Young Knockout Kid that I started to warm up to him and become a huge fan.

[bones88]

chris jericho
kurt angle
kofi kingston
MVP
shelton benjamin
charlie haas
bret hart im a huge shawn michaels fan thats the only reason why lol
I dont now if I would say I love batista now but im looking foward to him returning

[willyjakes]

Sensational Sherri. Not sure why, even when I hit puberty I never really noticed her hotness and sexy badass style. Guess I thought she was shrill and was annoyed by her

Now I'm in my 30's and absolutely adore her and what a trailblazer she was. She was maniacal, colorful, had incredible style...very risqué for her era. I don't think there was ever a sexier diva.

I like her voice was always still heard on Shawns theme. Albeit backing vocals

[EvenBaldobombHasAJob]

used to hate JBL. now he's one of my favorites of all time.

[Instant Classic]

JBL and Edge

[The Ichi]

JBL is one for me too, although now I'm back to disliking him for his commentary.