Post by sungod2020 on Aug 23, 2022 10:44:47 GMT -5
As we know, the World Wrestling Federation experienced it's second(or was it third?) golden age. The whole "good guys" vs. "bad guys"(in the clean traditional sense that is), and saying your prayers and eating your vitamins was considered passe. This was an era where you had to bring more to the table than just your moral code as being bland and vanilla just wouldn't cut it.
Under the threat of competition(WCW), the WWF threw away the old playbook and started becoming edgier, sexier, more violent, and controversial and as a result, brought in a newer audience, or the fairweather crowd who left in the dying age of Hulkamania. Almost everybody on the roster had some sort of character, storyline, or something to do and was over because of it.
However, not everybody on the roster was liked or hated by the audience. This could be due to a)having a bland character, b)not having a storyline to get emotionally invested in them, or c)due to a stacked roster they somehow got lost in the shuffle amongst more colorful and charismatic guys. Who were these unfortunate (lets say 5%) of guys that didn't get over during one of the hottest times in WWF history?
Harry Beaver Cleavage/Chaz - Formerly Headbanger Mosh, head writer Vince Russo and co tried to give the Marilyn Manson enthusiast a shot at a singles run, while his partner Thrasher was out with an injury. Unfortunately, being an out of touch manchild from the 1950s isn't something the modern day audience in the late 90s would relate to. What would drive them away even further was his sickly obsession with his "mom." Even as a 12 year old mark who would blindly go with the product, I knew it was in bad taste and wasn't going to last.
The gimmick was cut short three weeks later after he denounced his gimmick via work shoot and went on to become Chaz, a kid from Jersey who just wanted to have fun. While certainly not the most exciting of personas, it least it wasn't offensive....or was it? Shortly after he reverted back to his "true" self, he was accused of beating his girlfriend Marianna, and as a result, was alienated and beaten up by guys in the locker room and referees refused to count for him in his matches.
It was later revealed by his former tag team partner Thrasher and it was Marianna who put make up on herself to make it look like he beat her and that was the end of not one, but two horrible gimmicks. He then went back to his tag team roots as he and Thrasher reformed The Headbangers.
Steve Blackman - Despite mastering martial arts, it didn't exactly translate into winning over the fans. What also didn't help was the company saying he was bland and boring. I mean, why should the audience care about the guy when his employers are pretty much telling them not to. Because of that, he was paired up with resident nut case Al Snow hoping Snow's cookiness would rub off on him, and while it might've got a chuckle here and there, it wasn't the best use of his full potential.
That all changed in the summer of 2000 when he entered the Hardcore Division. Winning the championship on six occasions. The highlight of it being his hardcore match against Shane McMahon at Summerslam where he knocked the Chairman's son off the titan tron with a singapore cane. After he lost the hardcore championship for the final time to Raven however, his TV appearances became less of a thing. He did form a short-live tag team with Grandmaster Sexay as a straight man/comedy tag team, but that certainly didn't set the World on fire. His last TV appearance was on on the June 25th, 2001 episode of Raw with the APA and other mid-card superstars planning a fight against The WCW Invasion. In the fall of 2001, Blackman worked for Heartland Wrestling Association a developmental territory of the WWF. He wrestled his last match in December 2001 and sat out of his contract. Blackman left WWE in October 2002.
Meat - Despite being the son of a former WWWF champion and a Hall of Famer(Stan Stasiak), Shawn Stasiak is proof that greatness dosen't run in the family. Being a sex slave to Pretty Mean Sisters(also known as PMS, consisting of Terri Runnels, Jacqueline, and Ryan Shamrock) isn't something that fans can get behind, nor would people tend to care about him getting owned by a loved babyface. He later dropped the name and gimmick and went by his more real sounding name(his real name is Shawn Stipich) before being let go by the company in December 99 for secretly recording a heated conversation between Davey Boy Smith and Steve Blackman. The highlight of his run(if you want to call it that) was losing to a debuting Kurt Angle at the 1999 Survivor Series.
Any other names you can think of that didn't catch on with the fans during the Attitude Era?
Under the threat of competition(WCW), the WWF threw away the old playbook and started becoming edgier, sexier, more violent, and controversial and as a result, brought in a newer audience, or the fairweather crowd who left in the dying age of Hulkamania. Almost everybody on the roster had some sort of character, storyline, or something to do and was over because of it.
However, not everybody on the roster was liked or hated by the audience. This could be due to a)having a bland character, b)not having a storyline to get emotionally invested in them, or c)due to a stacked roster they somehow got lost in the shuffle amongst more colorful and charismatic guys. Who were these unfortunate (lets say 5%) of guys that didn't get over during one of the hottest times in WWF history?
Harry Beaver Cleavage/Chaz - Formerly Headbanger Mosh, head writer Vince Russo and co tried to give the Marilyn Manson enthusiast a shot at a singles run, while his partner Thrasher was out with an injury. Unfortunately, being an out of touch manchild from the 1950s isn't something the modern day audience in the late 90s would relate to. What would drive them away even further was his sickly obsession with his "mom." Even as a 12 year old mark who would blindly go with the product, I knew it was in bad taste and wasn't going to last.
The gimmick was cut short three weeks later after he denounced his gimmick via work shoot and went on to become Chaz, a kid from Jersey who just wanted to have fun. While certainly not the most exciting of personas, it least it wasn't offensive....or was it? Shortly after he reverted back to his "true" self, he was accused of beating his girlfriend Marianna, and as a result, was alienated and beaten up by guys in the locker room and referees refused to count for him in his matches.
It was later revealed by his former tag team partner Thrasher and it was Marianna who put make up on herself to make it look like he beat her and that was the end of not one, but two horrible gimmicks. He then went back to his tag team roots as he and Thrasher reformed The Headbangers.
Steve Blackman - Despite mastering martial arts, it didn't exactly translate into winning over the fans. What also didn't help was the company saying he was bland and boring. I mean, why should the audience care about the guy when his employers are pretty much telling them not to. Because of that, he was paired up with resident nut case Al Snow hoping Snow's cookiness would rub off on him, and while it might've got a chuckle here and there, it wasn't the best use of his full potential.
That all changed in the summer of 2000 when he entered the Hardcore Division. Winning the championship on six occasions. The highlight of it being his hardcore match against Shane McMahon at Summerslam where he knocked the Chairman's son off the titan tron with a singapore cane. After he lost the hardcore championship for the final time to Raven however, his TV appearances became less of a thing. He did form a short-live tag team with Grandmaster Sexay as a straight man/comedy tag team, but that certainly didn't set the World on fire. His last TV appearance was on on the June 25th, 2001 episode of Raw with the APA and other mid-card superstars planning a fight against The WCW Invasion. In the fall of 2001, Blackman worked for Heartland Wrestling Association a developmental territory of the WWF. He wrestled his last match in December 2001 and sat out of his contract. Blackman left WWE in October 2002.
Meat - Despite being the son of a former WWWF champion and a Hall of Famer(Stan Stasiak), Shawn Stasiak is proof that greatness dosen't run in the family. Being a sex slave to Pretty Mean Sisters(also known as PMS, consisting of Terri Runnels, Jacqueline, and Ryan Shamrock) isn't something that fans can get behind, nor would people tend to care about him getting owned by a loved babyface. He later dropped the name and gimmick and went by his more real sounding name(his real name is Shawn Stipich) before being let go by the company in December 99 for secretly recording a heated conversation between Davey Boy Smith and Steve Blackman. The highlight of his run(if you want to call it that) was losing to a debuting Kurt Angle at the 1999 Survivor Series.
Any other names you can think of that didn't catch on with the fans during the Attitude Era?