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Post by Brother Ike: Thread Killer on Jul 17, 2014 13:56:06 GMT -5
I'd also put macho mait'sagain) on this list. He went from winning the world title at wm 8 to being a commentator the following year. That move probably did play a role in his eventual departure. No doubt about it. If you go back and watch old Raws from '93 and '94, you can tell that he'd much rather be in the ring than doing the commentator gig. He had a match here and there, but he could have been utilized so much better. Imagine the feuds he could have had with HBK or Bret Hart at that time. His best years might have been behind him, but I was so glad when he jumped to WCW and got back into the thick of the action. That's very true. One Raw in 94, Savage made a comment about going after the tag belts and vince quicly reminded him that he is a commentator. Savage did not seem to pleased, and its in retrospect his reaction is kind of uncomfortable. |
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Post by James Fabiano on Jul 17, 2014 15:38:21 GMT -5
I'd also put macho man (again) on this list. He went from winning the world title at wm 8 to being a commentator the following year. That move probably did play a role in his eventual departure. And what about WM6. From being in world title matches 2 years in a row to a comedy mixed tag. |
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Post by blackmegaman on Jul 17, 2014 15:44:27 GMT -5
Benoit from the Four Horsemen to Raw. Speaking about him he went from Winning the World title in MSG in the main event , to pretty much a midcard ladder match. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2014 16:07:17 GMT -5
No doubt about it. If you go back and watch old Raws from '93 and '94, you can tell that he'd much rather be in the ring than doing the commentator gig. He had a match here and there, but he could have been utilized so much better. Imagine the feuds he could have had with HBK or Bret Hart at that time. His best years might have been behind him, but I was so glad when he jumped to WCW and got back into the thick of the action. That's very true. One Raw in 94, Savage made a comment about going after the tag belts and vince quicly reminded him that he is a commentator. Savage did not seem to pleased, and its in retrospect his reaction is kind of uncomfortable. Yes, and I remember another occasion where Vince was hyping next week's Raw, running through the list of matches or something, and Randy said something like, "What about the Macho Man?" and Vince was like, "You'll be sitting right here next to me!" and Randy said sarcastically, "Big deal." |
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Post by Tony Schiavontay on Jul 19, 2014 15:36:44 GMT -5
I'd also put macho man (again) on this list. He went from winning the world title at wm 8 to being a commentator the following year. That move probably did play a role in his eventual departure. And what about WM6. From being in world title matches 2 years in a row to a comedy mixed tag. Not to mention having one of the greatest matches of all time before that. This was exactly the one I was thinking. |
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Post by fortknox on Jul 19, 2014 18:30:23 GMT -5
You know something? Thinking about it Savage's Mania run is something else.
IC title defense (but an awful match) - IC title loss (but an awesome match everyone remembers) - World Title win - World Title loss - Mixed Tag Action! (big drop off there) - big retirement angle - World Title Win - COLOUR COMMENTATOR - blow-off match with Crush.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jul 19, 2014 20:13:31 GMT -5
No doubt about it. If you go back and watch old Raws from '93 and '94, you can tell that he'd much rather be in the ring than doing the commentator gig. He had a match here and there, but he could have been utilized so much better. Imagine the feuds he could have had with HBK or Bret Hart at that time. His best years might have been behind him, but I was so glad when he jumped to WCW and got back into the thick of the action. That's very true. One Raw in 94, Savage made a comment about going after the tag belts and vince quicly reminded him that he is a commentator. Savage did not seem to pleased, and its in retrospect his reaction is kind of uncomfortable. The saddest part is that Macho was gung-ho about having programs with, and then putting over, Bret and HBK. Vince nixed it, didn't think Savage could really draw anymore. There are plenty of reasons why the New Generation era never took off, but Vince not committing to soundly putting over his next two big stars against members of the old guard couldn't have helped matters at all. |
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Jul 19, 2014 23:16:00 GMT -5
Eddie went from main event to opening match to dying.
Bundy, apparently Vince was never a fan of his work.
Benoit, main event to money in the bank, jbl, mvp, whatever happened to him?
Miz, went from main event to not being on the card.
Roddy Piper
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Post by SAJ Forth on Jul 19, 2014 23:38:53 GMT -5
Biggest from 1 WrestleMania to the other: Orndorff. Biggest over years: Miz.
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Post by Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster on Jul 20, 2014 2:59:26 GMT -5
While its not the biggest example Ted DiBiase going from being in the main event of wm4 to being in the third match of the night with Beefcake would still be up there.
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Post by thecrusherwi on Jul 20, 2014 8:52:05 GMT -5
I think the biggest WM demotion was an event, itself, WrestleMania IV. WrestleMania III was an amazing show that is still discussed today. The crowd was unheard of and two of the matches are considered two of the greatest ever. There was Macho and Steamboat for the athleticism and showmanship and Hulk and Andre for the ultimate encounter. The undercard was nothing to scoff at either. Next year, the venue was poor, the tournament didn't give too many WrestleMania moments and the undercard was in such sad shape that even without the tournament, the undercard couldn't provide a good source for match quality. I think you're right if you look at it now, but if you go back and watch the build to the show, Wrestlemania IV feels just as big, if not bigger, than III. The storyline from Wrestlemania III to Hogan losing the belt is phenomenal and now to solve it we're gonna have a giant tournament for the vacant belt (and possibly a new champion for the first time in over 4 years) with a guaranteed rematch of the Wrestlemania III main event in the second round!? I think it definitely was a worthy sequel. The show just wasn't as good. But they certainly tried. You could make a better argument for the drop off from VIII to IX. At VIII we have Ric Flair vs Savage with Elizabeth involved, Hogan in a retirement match against a big star in Sid, Piper vs Bret Hart, Jake Roberts vs Undertaker, and a ton of other long time stars in the midcard like Earthquake, Sgt Slaughter, Big Bossman, Jim Duggan, Rick Martel, then the mini return in the Legion of Doom and the huge return of the Ultimate Warrior!! At IX, we have long time IC champ Bret Hart as the world champ against a guy who wasn't on the roster 8 months before, Hogan is in a tag match (no one knew the end was gonna happen), no Warrior, no Flair, no Piper, almost the entire midcard is guys who are less than a year in or have brand new radically different gimmicks, and Savage doing commentary with Jim Ross of all people, who's in his first day with the company. But at least there were togas! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2014 9:01:05 GMT -5
You can insist Bundy from WM2 to WMIII was a drop-off, but Bundy's WrestleMania moment is slamming Little Beaver and dropping the elbow on him.
I call that a draw, not a demotion.
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Post by jason1980s on Jul 20, 2014 13:59:31 GMT -5
You can insist Bundy from WM2 to WMIII was a drop-off, but Bundy's WrestleMania moment is slamming Little Beaver and dropping the elbow on him. I call that a draw, not a demotion. Definitely. The announcers put the moment over so well and you really had to feel for Little Beaver. IIRC, when Beaver passed away one of the kayfabed magazines portrayed it as complications arising from the slam/squash. Bundy v. Hillybilly, alone, would have been a massive demotion but the six man tag was a WrestleMania moment. It's too bad Bundy wasn't given a storyline afterwards. I remember a Snake Pit with Hillbilly and Beaver, around June 87 but nothing more came of it. Possible both big men had a house show feud, though. |
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Post by Milkman Norm on Jul 20, 2014 14:12:14 GMT -5
A Rant: These threads always make the wrong assumption imo. That assumption is that wrestling has always worked in way that a talent reaches the top and then stays there. If you notice about 90% of the guys who are listed here are heels who went to work a main event program with the babyface, lost the blow off and then went back down the card. That's the way it worked. Bundy did the angle with Hogan on SNME, got the cage match, I'm sure had some house show stuff before hand and then he jobbed and went down the card. But he worked with Hogan and drew that top card money. Ditto with Mr.Wonderful, who did that massive heel tun angle, had the match in Toronto, the house show program and then the blow off at SNME with the double win spot in the cage match. Again Orndorff probably drew the best money of his career. The Big Event house show they headlined in Toronto drew over 50,000 fans. He made his money. He went down the card and turned face again because there was no need for him to stay a top heel, especially after Andre turned. So it's not a demotion. It's getting to the top, working the program and then letting someone else draw.
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Jul 22, 2014 3:09:42 GMT -5
A Rant: These threads always make the wrong assumption imo. That assumption is that wrestling has always worked in way that a talent reaches the top and then stays there. If you notice about 90% of the guys who are listed here are heels who went to work a main event program with the babyface, lost the blow off and then went back down the card. That's the way it worked. Bundy did the angle with Hogan on SNME, got the cage match, I'm sure had some house show stuff before hand and then he jobbed and went down the card. But he worked with Hogan and drew that top card money. Ditto with Mr.Wonderful, who did that massive heel tun angle, had the match in Toronto, the house show program and then the blow off at SNME with the double win spot in the cage match. Again Orndorff probably drew the best money of his career. The Big Event house show they headlined in Toronto drew over 50,000 fans. He made his money. He went down the card and turned face again because there was no need for him to stay a top heel, especially after Andre turned. So it's not a demotion. It's getting to the top, working the program and then letting someone else draw. You're not wrong, but I don't think that's the true intent of this thread. It's not like people were clamoring for Wonderful at the top of the card again, it's more just noticing, he main evented the first Mania, opened the second. Maybe it's the word demotion that's hanging you up. It's just noticing. |
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Post by Gummydavidson on Jul 22, 2014 3:54:08 GMT -5
Del Rio went from being World Heavyweight Champion to competing in a battle royal.
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Post by thegame415 on Jul 22, 2014 4:42:20 GMT -5
What about Faaroq? He was in a major 8-month feud with Ahmed Johnson, leading to a huge tag team match that also involved LOD at WM13, to being in a random tag team battle royal at 14.
Val Venis won the IC title at WM 15, then referred a match between Kat and Terri at 16.
RVD won the IC title at 18, competed on Heat for 19.
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Post by Rumble McSkirmish on Jul 22, 2014 9:54:01 GMT -5
Not a wrestler, but the venue for Wrestlemania VII got a big demotion going from the 100,000 seat LA memorial coliseum to the 10,000 seat LA sports arena due to bomb threats low ticket sales.
Although they did get a big a pretty sizable PPV buy rate so it wasn't a total loss.
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Post by jason1980s on Jul 22, 2014 10:30:35 GMT -5
Steamboat WM III to IV. I get that a heel had to go over a face for the Macho Man in the next round but Steamboat definitely was on the outs with WWF at the time. He was a talented athlete who deserved to be in any title tournaments but at the same time it seems like his position at the time was replacable and it could have easily been Patera, Hillbilly or JYD in the same tournament spot. Also, Steamboat could have wound up in the throwaway battle royal.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 6:43:20 GMT -5
Steamboat WM III to IV. I get that a heel had to go over a face for the Macho Man in the next round but Steamboat definitely was on the outs with WWF at the time. He was a talented athlete who deserved to be in any title tournaments but at the same time it seems like his position at the time was replacable and it could have easily been Patera, Hillbilly or JYD in the same tournament spot. Also, Steamboat could have wound up in the throwaway battle royal. I was going to mention this, but figured everybody knew he was stepping away, so it wasn't that big of a shock. |
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