Chuck Conry
Dennis Stamp
zombies DON'T Run
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Post by Chuck Conry on Dec 26, 2015 15:32:13 GMT -5
After his face turn you'll notice The Big Boss Man got pretty popular with the 90's WWF crowd. As a kid, I loved the guy, but how over was he? IC Title level? Possible World title level? You'll notice all the merch from the time was Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Roberts, and Boss Man.
The guy had a pretty good WWF career in general. He even got a World title program with Big Show (Be it not THE main event feud at the time) in the attitude era.
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Post by Hit Girl on Dec 26, 2015 15:48:05 GMT -5
He was massively over, but back then, not everyone needed a title.
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ToyfareMark
Vegeta
A WINNER IS YOU!
In Hutch I trust!
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Post by ToyfareMark on Dec 26, 2015 15:50:40 GMT -5
In 90/91 I'd say he was the 4th most popular face on the roster behind Hogan, Warrior, and Jake Roberts. His gimmick once he turned face was more suited for serving justice other than chasing titles, and he was perfect in that role.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2015 16:04:01 GMT -5
He was right in the Jake Roberts role as high mid-card babyface. I guess he could have won the IC title back then if they wanted him to, but as mentioned, back then not everyone needed to be a champion. He was fine where he was.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Dec 26, 2015 16:13:21 GMT -5
After his face turn he got more and more over as time went on to the point where he was honestly the third most popular face on the roster after Hogan and Warrior. If you watch his PPV appearances from WrestleMania VI to Royal Rumble 1991, you can notice his pops getting bigger each time. Decent but nothing major at WrestleMania which is understandable as he just turned face a few months before, good reactions at Summerslam and Survivor Series, and then a huge pop at Royal Rumble. It's really amazing how they turned this guy who was such a mean and unlikeable heel into one of the more beloved faces on the roster. It was just a combination of Boss Man being such a good performer as well as very shrewd booking with him opposing such a despised heel like Dibiase when he turned face and then later giving him the rub from Hogan by having him as his cornerman at Summerslam.
I think a World Title run would be stretching it quite a bit, but I definitely think he could've been IC champion. They could've had him beat Perfect for it at WrestleMania VII to really put the exclamation point on him cleaning out the Heenan Family instead of just getting the win by DQ. I get why they kept it on Perfect though as they needed some stability with the title after Perfect lost it and won it back from Tornado who flamed out quick. If they hadn't done the Tornado reign then I don't there would've been any reason for Boss Man not to win it there and have a quick little four month reign before dropping back to Perfect most likely after interference from the Mountie to transition him into that feud. With there being only two titles back then it was hard for the Boss Man's and Jake's and Duggan's to get title reigns because the even more over upper faces always had a stranglehold on the World title (Hogan, Warrior, Savage) and the IC title was usually reserved for arrogant heels (Rude, Perfect, Honky Tonk) or faces that were really good in the ring but needed a belt because they were a bit bland as far as their character goes (Steamboat, Bret). However with guys like Boss Man, Jake, and Duggan it didn't matter if they had titles because they were always super over, had larger then life personas, and were always in good engaging feuds (Duggan less then the other two in this regard) that always kept invested in their characters.
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Post by Manute Bol on Dec 26, 2015 16:25:18 GMT -5
It was a different time in the early 90s. Nearly everyone was over whether they were going for a title or not.
Hogan, Warrior, and Savage were on the top, but were far from the only guys who were over.
Bad News Brown, Big Boss Man, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Demolition, Dusty Rhodes, Earthquake, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Hart Foundation, Honky Tonk Man, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Koko B. Ware, Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, Mr. Perfect, Ravishing Rick Rude, The Rockers, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, The Texas Tornado....the list goes on and on. Business was hot, the roster was stacked, and everyone was getting crazy reactions.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2015 16:27:49 GMT -5
I loved the Heenan Family as a child(mostly Bobby,Perfect & Rude)when Bossman got Rude fired for saying mean things about his mommy I thought it made Bossman look bad & I figured he'd win the IC title from Mr. Perfect at Mania 7 to rehab him.
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Post by Big Bad Kahuna on Dec 27, 2015 5:18:25 GMT -5
Yeah IC title or not, he was very over nonetheless from his face turn until his exit in early 93
Most popular face in 1991 after Hogan and Warrior (in front of Bret, LOD, face Roberts)
Cooled down a tad in 1992 after not getting the big push around late 1991
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lws
ALF
No. It's the children who are wrong.
Posts: 1,032
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Post by lws on Dec 27, 2015 6:59:18 GMT -5
i was going to say that his title program in 99 was probably the least over he ever was, but then i remembered watching him tag with mr. perfect in 2002 and getting zero reaction, so i guess that wasn't the bottom. i liked the feud but it was still silly how not over he was for the most cartoonishly dastardly heel chasing the world title.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
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Post by Sephiroth on Dec 27, 2015 12:43:05 GMT -5
How easy it is to forget that his feud with Nailz was actually one of the headline matches at a PPV.
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Ben Wyatt
Crow T. Robot
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
I don't get it. At all. It's kind of a small horse, I mean what am I missing? Am I crazy?
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Dec 27, 2015 19:13:11 GMT -5
He should have had an IC title run.
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Post by chronocross on Dec 27, 2015 21:00:07 GMT -5
I liked his match with Barbarian at Royal Rumble 1991, fans were into it and it was my second favorite match after the Rockers/Orient Express opener.
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Greer
Unicron
Points. Don't. Matter.
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Post by Greer on Dec 27, 2015 23:43:23 GMT -5
Always saw him as right behind Hogan and Savage once he turned face.
Hogan Savage Warrior (when he was around) Piper/Bossman
Genuinely one of my favorites at that time. The nightstick was badass and the guy was always a good promo. Spoke quick, had fire, never fumbled over his words. All while twirling a nightstick.
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jmule
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,274
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Post by jmule on Dec 28, 2015 11:47:00 GMT -5
I have a boss man question, I used to hear stories of him carrying a ball n chain to the ring but I've never been able to find any pics or vids of it..was it true?
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Post by Stu on Dec 28, 2015 11:51:31 GMT -5
I have a boss man question, I used to hear stories of him carrying a ball n chain to the ring but I've never been able to find any pics or vids of it..was it true? Yeah, he did it during his heel run. He'd attack jobbers with it after their match. And how over was Bossman? Over enough to be the first runner-up in the 1992 Royal Rumble.
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Magnus the Magnificent
King Koopa
didn't want one.
I could write a book about what you don't know!
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Post by Magnus the Magnificent on Dec 28, 2015 14:05:58 GMT -5
I have a boss man question, I used to hear stories of him carrying a ball n chain to the ring but I've never been able to find any pics or vids of it..was it true? He did it as a good guy too.
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jmule
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,274
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Post by jmule on Dec 28, 2015 16:23:06 GMT -5
I have a boss man question, I used to hear stories of him carrying a ball n chain to the ring but I've never been able to find any pics or vids of it..was it true? He did it as a good guy too.Cool. Thanks
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Post by eDemento2099 on Dec 29, 2015 13:22:35 GMT -5
Don't ask me how, but the Bossman must have somehow gotten over with audiences. I know that happened because in the early 90s, KFC had a promotional deal with the WWF: If you bought one of the overpriced, greasy-as-hell meals, you got a WWF stamper in the shape of one of four WWF 'superstars.' I can only remember two of the four superstars featured in this promotion: Bossman and The "Macho King" Randy Savage.
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Post by Gremlin on Dec 29, 2015 15:02:30 GMT -5
With me, like Rover.
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Post by Hit Girl on Dec 30, 2015 2:39:16 GMT -5
I loved the lyrics to his theme song. It was a very good outline of responsible policing.
"If you ever take a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia (a scenic place, I'm sure) you better read the signs (stop signs I presume), respect the law and order (that's reasonable), or you'll serve hard times (quite right), you'll be serving hard times (again I agree), you know the Big Boss Man will make you walk the line (in the prison shower perhaps), he carries a big stick (oh I bet he does), a ball and chain too (now you're talkin'), if you're looking for trouble (I always am), he'll be coming after you (what a gentlemen!)"
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