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Post by Viking Hall on Oct 7, 2015 9:23:24 GMT -5
If we're including people that are billed around the 6'7" mark then for my money there's only one answer and that's Mike Awesome. No one before or since has been his size and been able to come close to the things that man could do, he was a complete anomaly. It's still completely beyond my comprehension that he didn't end up becoming one of the biggest stars in wrestling especially when you consider the kind of positions a lot of people on this list found themselves in with barely a quarter of the in-ring talent Awesome had. He moved up to the "big leagues" when he was older, and into WCW where people didn't want to take all the crazy bumps that his moves involved to put him over, that's before the poor booking and interviews kick in. I don't really see that as an excuse if I'm honest, take out the tables and chairs and his bumps weren't any worse than any others that were around at the time. The Awesome Bomb was probably the most tricky in his arsenal and that's hardly any different to the Razors Edge which every man and his dog had taken at some point. I won't deny that the hardcore stuff added to his monster persona but take that out and you still had the most spectacular big man in the business. So while I agree the ECW/FMW Awesome wasn't possible in the WWF or WCW I still think he had enough in his locker to be a major star for either of the big two.
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,035
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Oct 7, 2015 9:34:16 GMT -5
He moved up to the "big leagues" when he was older, and into WCW where people didn't want to take all the crazy bumps that his moves involved to put him over, that's before the poor booking and interviews kick in. I don't really see that as an excuse if I'm honest, take out the tables and chairs and his bumps weren't any worse than any others that were around at the time. The Awesome Bomb was probably the most tricky in his arsenal and that's hardly any different to the Razors Edge which every man and his dog had taken at some point. I won't deny that the hardcore stuff added to his monster persona but take that out and you still had the most spectacular big man in the business. So while I agree the ECW/FMW Awesome wasn't possible in the WWF or WCW I still think he had enough in his locker to be a major star for either of the big two. I'd say there's a bit of a difference, with the Razors Edge, it's a controlled landing, the Awesome Bomb he just threw you. Another thing in major American leagues is he wasn't that big. Oh he was reasonably large, but at 6'6, where in Japan and ECW he looked like this huge monster, in WCW meh, he was pretty average. Without his ultra violence, his giant act, and with his not amazing mic skills, I'm not totally shocked he wasn't more then he stepped into the big pond. He never got over on amazing ability, to me at least, he always got over just smashing stuff up with a couple of high spots thrown in, take most of that away and what's left?
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tms
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,901
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Post by tms on Oct 7, 2015 9:55:04 GMT -5
If Barry Windham counts as "tall" (in his youth he was quite lanky, which may have made him seem taller than he was), he would get my vote. During his all-too-brief peak (mid-80s) his pure talent was as good as I've ever seen from any era.
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Post by Tiger Millionaire on Oct 7, 2015 10:16:27 GMT -5
My memories of Mike Awesome:
Powerboming Violent J on the Partridge family bus
Joey Styles wishing he would kill himself during ONS.
Mike Awesome's biggest crime was that he didn't buy into the Paul Heyman Kool-Aid, and wanted to, you know, get paid.
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Post by Old Baby on Oct 7, 2015 10:18:45 GMT -5
I don't think Mike Awesome qualifies because he wasn't really that tall. I think the thread is asking about guys who were in the 6'9" and above range. I know Awesome was billed as anywhere from 6'6" to 6'8" but I have my doubts that he even reached 6'5". Awesome wrestled Hogan on Nitro and when they were both standing straight, they looked to be about the same height.
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Post by thegame415 on Oct 7, 2015 10:35:13 GMT -5
Despite the Local Man issues, Kane has had pretty good matches and character throughout his career. His first two years were very entertaining.
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Post by Viking Hall on Oct 7, 2015 12:50:05 GMT -5
I don't think Mike Awesome qualifies because he wasn't really that tall. I think the thread is asking about guys who were in the 6'9" and above range. I know Awesome was billed as anywhere from 6'6" to 6'8" but I have my doubts that he even reached 6'5". Awesome wrestled Hogan on Nitro and when they were both standing straight, they looked to be about the same height. I would have argued until the cows came home that he was one of the few wrestlers to be billed at his correct height but having discovered this picture I'm beginning to side with you. Tanaka is listed as 5'11" on Wikipedia which seems pretty realistic as I'm sure he was billed at around 6'2" in ECW and going by this picture I'd say there's around 4-5 inches in height difference which would make Awesome around 6'4" as you suggested. Which brings me to this, just how small is Taz? Because that's got to be close to a foot in height difference.
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Post by Old Baby on Oct 7, 2015 13:12:22 GMT -5
I don't think Mike Awesome qualifies because he wasn't really that tall. I think the thread is asking about guys who were in the 6'9" and above range. I know Awesome was billed as anywhere from 6'6" to 6'8" but I have my doubts that he even reached 6'5". Awesome wrestled Hogan on Nitro and when they were both standing straight, they looked to be about the same height. I would have argued until the cows came home that he was one of the few wrestlers to be billed at his correct height but having discovered this picture I'm beginning to side with you. Tanaka is listed as 5'11" on Wikipedia which seems pretty realistic as I'm sure he was billed at around 6'2" in ECW and going by this picture I'd say there's around 4-5 inches in height difference which would make Awesome around 6'4" as you suggested. Yep, Tazz is billed at 5'9" so probably not even quite that tall. I would also guess him to be close to 6'4". Still a big guy who could do incredible things for his size.
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