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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 8, 2016 18:25:35 GMT -5
Once he won the belt off Hogan it seemed like he positioned to be on Hogan level in regards to leading the company but obviously that didn't come to pass. He defended the title a few times but most notable are his rematch with Rude at Summerslam and his eventual title loss to Slaughter at the Rumble
Hulk had a great feud with Earthquake at Summerslam and was building up momentum again. It always struck me as weird he was inserted a side wheel in the LOD and Demolition when he was your world champ.
What could of been done more to better his championship reign
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Post by Stu on Aug 8, 2016 19:28:04 GMT -5
Not much, given the time period. After Wrestlemania, Summerslam is his first major defense and he got Rude. Next was Survivor Series and there weren't title matches yet. Then came the Rumble and it was time to be patriotic.
All they could've done was begin the Savage feud sooner, but what we got ended up being amazing as is.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Aug 8, 2016 19:49:28 GMT -5
No, much like Goldberg years later, he may have had the belt but what Hulk Hogan was doing was always the focus of the company. They didn't try to give Warrior new feuds to cement him as the face of the company, all the focus was on what Hogan was doing, and when the same formula didn't work as well the 5th or 6th year they tried it with the same orange face on top, Warrior was the one they put the blame on.
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Aug 8, 2016 19:52:31 GMT -5
His biggest problem was a lack of exciting challengers. He and Rude worked well together and had split IC title matches, so I have no issue with the blow-off in a cage.
After that, though...not much for him. He and Savage had a great match and I guess they could have bumped that up, but without taking Earthquake from Hogan or turning Jake heel, there really weren't any viable contenders that hadn't already been beaten decisively by Hogan or Warrior himself.
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Post by evilone on Aug 8, 2016 20:16:14 GMT -5
Did anyone have a fair chance as a champion when Hogan was on top of the game? No, of course.
Macho has somehow managed to pull it off only by being Macho while all others were just belt keepers until Hogan came back for it. I wouldn't say UW was a belt keeper but he was just there not having much to do.
The first ever champion after Hogan's reign that was given a proper chance to shine was Bret, and I would have to say Yoko as well. Macho was there to transition both Bret and Yoko to stardom. It was truly the launch of New Generation.
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Albino Heat
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Post by Albino Heat on Aug 8, 2016 20:21:20 GMT -5
The only heel that could have been a believable threat would have been Earthquake, and Hogan already was tied up with him.
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Post by evilone on Aug 8, 2016 20:34:52 GMT -5
The only heel that could have been a believable threat would have been Earthquake, and Hogan already was tied up with him. Yeah that was stupid. Feeding the biggest monster to Hogan instead of Warrior was your typical Hogan cc. At that point people were accustomed to champions beating the monsters before some meaningful feud comes a long and they should have had the same thing with Warrior. But someone said nope. On paper Warrior's feuds seem awesome, I mean you can't go wrong with Rude, DiBiase or Perfect but those feuds were somehow ahead of the time. People didn't want to see that without some meaningful story. It was a perfect time for Hogan to set the score with DiBiase once and for all. DiBiase could have had few suprises for him and they could have had a year long feud where Hogan would beat up his cronies. Warrior teaming up with Legion of Doom was a good step to get somewhere but they still needed that monster to slay together with Demolition and it wasn't there. Rude could have happened after the Earthquake, it would have had a lot better stipulation. Just imagine if Rude has came out victorious in feud with Hogan and ready to challenge for that belt. Sure would have never happened but still.
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Post by gatordone on Aug 8, 2016 20:54:27 GMT -5
Warrior won the title in 1990 and lost it in early 91. Later that year the Undertaker made his debut and Flair and Sid came in 1992. Just imagine if Warrior still had the strap and worked programs with the three of them how much more credible a champion he would've been.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 8, 2016 21:32:34 GMT -5
Not much, given the time period. After Wrestlemania, Summerslam is his first major defense and he got Rude. Next was Survivor Series and there weren't title matches yet. Then came the Rumble and it was time to be patriotic. All they could've done was begin the Savage feud sooner, but what we got ended up being amazing as is. That's the thing. Even tho Savage vs Warrior wasn't until after Warrior lost the belt, that feud and match lessens the blow of his "failed reign". In retrospect, Earthquake would of been the perfect challenger to Warrior if he won the feud against Hogan and Warrior was able to slay someone Hogan couldn't. Obviously, that wasn't in the cards tho
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Post by Mozenrath on Aug 8, 2016 21:40:27 GMT -5
Not much, given the time period. After Wrestlemania, Summerslam is his first major defense and he got Rude. Next was Survivor Series and there weren't title matches yet. Then came the Rumble and it was time to be patriotic. All they could've done was begin the Savage feud sooner, but what we got ended up being amazing as is. That's the thing. Even tho Savage vs Warrior wasn't until after Warrior lost the belt, that feud and match lessens the blow of his "failed reign". In retrospect, Earthquake would of been the perfect challenger to Warrior if he won the feud against Hogan and Warrior was able to slay someone Hogan couldn't. Obviously, that wasn't in the cards tho Also fun would have been Earthquake beating Hogan AND Warrior, just since then you'd be able to pick between Hogan and Warrior, who gets the chance at redemption. That'd have been better than Slaughter as heel champion.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 8, 2016 21:46:04 GMT -5
That's the thing. Even tho Savage vs Warrior wasn't until after Warrior lost the belt, that feud and match lessens the blow of his "failed reign". In retrospect, Earthquake would of been the perfect challenger to Warrior if he won the feud against Hogan and Warrior was able to slay someone Hogan couldn't. Obviously, that wasn't in the cards tho Also fun would have been Earthquake beating Hogan AND Warrior, just since then you'd be able to pick between Hogan and Warrior, who gets the chance at redemption. That'd have been better than Slaughter as heel champion. Facts. Slaughter had the right gimmick for the time and when WWE went full patriotic mode so Slaughter was able to coast as a weasel heel. Earthquake with Jimmy Hart and Dino Bravo would of been a prime champ to hold the fort down until Warrior or Hogan defeated him. If not for the war I assume they could of considered Earthquake but Hogan would of had to play his part and lose at Summerslam & I don't see Hogan during that time dropping 2 PPVs in a row much less in a year.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Aug 8, 2016 22:28:12 GMT -5
I think Mr. Perfect could have been a solid challenger for the Warrior down the road especially if they kept his record in tact and not given the first loss to freaking Beefcake.
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Aug 8, 2016 23:10:16 GMT -5
I always thought it had more to do with the wrestling boom of the 80's dying down. Wrestlemania VI was the last big moment of the era before people moved on to other things.
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Post by SmashTV on Aug 9, 2016 2:08:22 GMT -5
Like it or not, Hogan was always still going to be 'the guy'. Any opponent given to Warrior would have been seen as one of Hogan's cast offs as he'd already feuded with them and beaten them.
The only one he hadn't feuded with was Rude, who Warrior himself had feuded with and beaten the year before. It wasn't Warrior's fault that there were no credible opponents for him, but this being the case his title reign was never going to gain momentum.
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auph10imitated
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Post by auph10imitated on Aug 9, 2016 3:18:22 GMT -5
I think it worked great as it was because what we got was fantastic with the Savage-Warrior angle, however no he didnt. But at the same time judging by the fact the plan for Slaughter vs Hogan was already planned in the summer of 1990 then I guess Warrior was always a short term plan. At this point though neither Hogan nor Warrior really needed the championship they were so over without the title, but in this era they needed a poster boy (man) champion.
I wonder if Warrior had stayed in 1991 would he have been given another run in the impeding absence of Hogan leaving in early 1992. With Savage not coming back (he only came back because Vince needed a replacement for Warrior and he begged Savage) I think Warrior-Roberts would have wrapped up by then WM 8 could have been Hogan-Flair, Warrior-Justice (Title Main Event as promised to Sid), Roberts-Taker.
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Aug 9, 2016 5:13:47 GMT -5
I think Mr. Perfect could have been a solid challenger for the Warrior down the road especially if they kept his record in tact and not given the first loss to freaking Beefcake. First acknowledged loss. Someone will come in here soon enough telling you who beat Perfect at house shows and I wanna say both Warrior and Hogan had pinned him at this point, but Beefcake was merely the first guy to actually get some credit for it on TV.
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Post by Hit Girl on Aug 9, 2016 14:10:42 GMT -5
Yes. He held the title between April 90 and January 1991. Long enough for someone as limited in the ring and incomprehensible in promos as he was.
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Post by Magnus the Magnificent on Aug 9, 2016 17:46:17 GMT -5
Not really. A champion is only as good as his challengers, and apart from the Rude programme, which we'd seen before, Warrior didn't have anything to work with.
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ICBM
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Post by ICBM on Aug 9, 2016 17:50:26 GMT -5
Rude hadn't been positioned as well as he could have to appear the big main event heel he needed. Rude was great and made warrior look tremendous, but he was no Andre, no Flair, no Debiase. He had the work down but wasn't presented with material. Plus I think rude gave so much away to make the faces look good that he didn't retain enough heat or main event cred as he should have
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Post by Hit Girl on Aug 9, 2016 17:55:10 GMT -5
The feud with Ravishing was awesome. I loved those vignettes which implied Warrior was afraid to be inside a cage, and those ones of Rude training were superb. I completely believed that Rude was taking this deadly serious. He even cut his hair shorter.
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