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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Sept 24, 2022 16:00:07 GMT -5
I have been on a 1992 WCW kick lately and his push has to be the worst case of nepotism in the history of the business. He was super awkward in the ring, a terrible promo, had a poor look as while tall at around 6'6" he had no definition or physique at all. Yet they were pushing him like he was the future of the company.
At Halloween Havoc 1992 there's an interview with WCW World Champion Ron Simmons, Bruno Sammartino, and then Erik randomly there. Like it was almost like they were presenting it as the current champion, a great past champion, and then the future champion. Then they start an angle with Paul E. Dangerously putting a bounty on his head due to him being pissed at his father who was running WCW at the time. Erik thwarts any time attempt to collect the bounty by soundly beating anyone Dangerously throws at him including a masked hitman, Michael Hayes, Bobby Eaton, and even Arn Anderson (including the infamous "shoot" gas station fight including such go to real life moves in a real life fight like a knee lift and an STF) by using his dreaded submission hold the STF. There's also stuff like him punking out Cactus Jack in a locker room fight and putting him the STF. All the while the commentators are putting over how tough Erik is and how lethal the STF is. All the while he's getting tons of TV time too. And there was nothing there at all. Like literally all he had going for him was who his Dad was.
Fortunately "Cowboy" Bill Watts fired in early 93 and Erik was gradually depushed before eventually being released in 1994. He was able to get work in the WWF as part of the Tekno Team 2000 tag team and actually in what little is out there from that run he didn't look too bad and looked way better then he did in his WCW run. So it seemed like he was someone who maybe had decent potential but was rushed into the spotlight by his father before he was ready. However do you think if Bill hadn't got fired in early 93 that he would've had the balls to put the belt on his son? Like honestly with how hard they were pushing him it wouldn't shock me at all if he was planning it.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 24, 2022 16:05:30 GMT -5
THE title? No, though I could have seen him winning the TV title or something if they were able to cultivate him. Bill was way too impatient, and I think it kind of killed Erik's chances at having much of a legacy, despite how he actually kind of had a surprisingly expansive career, going from WCW to WWF to ECW to AJPW to TNA, the latter of which he stayed out for a few years. I almost want him to pop up in AEW for a random match just to say he's been practically everywhere.
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Post by Triangle Lancer on Sept 24, 2022 16:10:08 GMT -5
THE title? No, though I could have seen him winning the TV title or something if they were able to cultivate him. Bill was way too impatient, and I think it kind of killed Erik's chances at having much of a legacy, despite how he actually kind of had a surprisingly expansive career, going from WCW to WWF to ECW to AJPW to TNA, the latter of which he stayed out for a few years. I almost want him to pop up in AEW for a random match just to say he's been practically everywhere. I'd pop for that! Have him lose to Hook or something. Erik wasn't all bad once he was in TNA.
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Magnus the Magnificent
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Post by Magnus the Magnificent on Sept 24, 2022 16:13:06 GMT -5
Obligatory: Eric Watts at the time suuuuuuucked.
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Post by Feyrhausen on Sept 24, 2022 16:16:59 GMT -5
If it was Mid South where Watts had to worry about the bigger companies stealing his stars I could see him pushing Erik to the top. But then again if Erik was terrible enough to hurt business I cant see Watts losing money on him.
In WCW the only reason to push Erik beyond his abilities was ego. Plus Watts was working on a bonus system so it would have hurt him financially to kill houses with Erik on top. I cant see him not coming to his senses before too long.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Sept 24, 2022 16:17:55 GMT -5
If Bill Watts had stuck around and kept pushing Erik, someone would have shot on him because Bill was HATED. He was slashing pay, firing people and stripping away healthcare from talent, and to make matters worse people he was screwing over were genuine psychopaths like the Steiners. Erik would have given the irate talent a target had his push continued, and the poor guy would either have a match where nothing he did was sold or helped, or beaten to a pulp by a pissed off veteran and he didn't have the tools to recover from that, no matter who was booking.
I still think Erik could have been something if it wasn't for the nepotism push, if he'd found his way working as a saturday night jobber under a different name or worked down in SMW with Corny and co for a while the way Bryan Clarke did after a similar exposure when WCW put him on PPV as the Nightstalker well before he was ready. He was 6'6", legitimately athletic even if he wasn't ripped and relatively handsome, but his father threw him to the wolves and everything he couldn't do was exposed on TV for all the world to see.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 24, 2022 16:18:04 GMT -5
THE title? No, though I could have seen him winning the TV title or something if they were able to cultivate him. Bill was way too impatient, and I think it kind of killed Erik's chances at having much of a legacy, despite how he actually kind of had a surprisingly expansive career, going from WCW to WWF to ECW to AJPW to TNA, the latter of which he stayed out for a few years. I almost want him to pop up in AEW for a random match just to say he's been practically everywhere. I'd pop for that! Have him lose to Hook or something. Erik wasn't all bad once he was in TNA. Yeah, like, he's "semi-retired", but I'd even be cool with a cameo. Hell, maybe have him help Colten and Austin Gunn sometime as a joke about being a second-generation guy who may be sympathetic towards their frustrations.
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Post by Psicofreak667 on Sept 24, 2022 16:18:16 GMT -5
Erik Watts is, I think, second only to the Renegade when it comes to "dudes who actually had a ton of potential having their knees cut off by being pushed way too hard way too early." Once he switched his look to the JNCO jeans and muscle T, it made him look even taller while hiding his slimness, and he actually had a pretty good look. No, I don't think World Champion was in the cards, but he could've played an enforcer in a heel stable well and been a player in the Television division and an occasional challenger at the IC/US level.
I think he was even slated to get a push as part of The Network in ECW right before it had to shut down.
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Post by Triangle Lancer on Sept 24, 2022 16:24:57 GMT -5
I'd pop for that! Have him lose to Hook or something. Erik wasn't all bad once he was in TNA. Yeah, like, he's "semi-retired", but I'd even be cool with a cameo. Hell, maybe have him help Colten and Austin Gunn sometime as a joke about being a second-generation guy who may be sympathetic towards their frustrations. I wanted to mention the Ass Boys Gunn Brothers but went with the Hook match. *smh*
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Post by MiLB Fan on Sept 24, 2022 16:28:58 GMT -5
Well, he almost won *a* title. He made it to the final round of the tournament for the vacant television title, losing to Paul Orndorff.
I have a funny story about the bounty mentioned in the opening post. Clash of the Champions 21 was the first WCW show I ever watched, and Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura talked about the bounty that Michael Hayes was trying to collect. I was nine years old at the time and barely into my wrestling fandom, so I had never heard of a bounty match before. Heck, I didn’t even know what a bounty was.
So I’m sitting there all confused and thinking, “what are these guys talking about? I don’t see anything on his head!”
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Sept 25, 2022 14:39:25 GMT -5
Well, he almost won *a* title. He made it to the final round of the tournament for the vacant television title, losing to Paul Orndorff. I have a funny story about the bounty mentioned in the opening post. Clash of the Champions 21 was the first WCW show I ever watched, and Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura talked about the bounty that Michael Hayes was trying to collect. I was nine years old at the time and barely into my wrestling fandom, so I had never heard of a bounty match before. Heck, I didn’t even know what a bounty was. So I’m sitting there all confused and thinking, “what are these guys talking about? I don’t see anything on his head!” If it makes you feel better you're not alone. I remember renting the Best of Starrcade 1983-1987 tape from Blockbuster and being super confused when they were talking about Harley Race putting a bounty on Ric Flair's head. Didn't know what it was and also thought that it was an actual object.
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Sept 25, 2022 23:33:38 GMT -5
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Post by Jacy Derangement Syndrome on Sept 25, 2022 23:53:20 GMT -5
Me as a child: I love being born too late to be bored by Erik Watts
TNA Wrestling: guess what bitch
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Post by Non Banjoble Tokens on Sept 26, 2022 0:03:40 GMT -5
Erik Watts? No.
Eric Watts? Sure grandpa!!!
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Ultimo Gallos
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Sept 26, 2022 1:44:03 GMT -5
He was a decent tag guy and would have worked as a lower card dude that gets some wins. But he got pushed to fast too soon.
For me that was one of the few bad things Bill Watts did during his time in WCW.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 26, 2022 3:38:07 GMT -5
He was a decent tag guy and would have worked as a lower card dude that gets some wins. But he got pushed to fast too soon. For me that was one of the few bad things Bill Watts did during his time in WCW. Yeah, some of Watts' calls, I can understand that he was being given a specific set of goals, like reducing spending to try to fix WCW's financial woes, even if those moves often made him into the bad guy with fans and wrestlers alike. Still, yeah, he pushed Erik way too soon. I also feel like he'd have never done it like that if it was on his own dime, and his own company, not this early like this. Definitely him trying to hook Erik up with a gig while he had the chance.
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dpg
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Post by dpg on Sept 26, 2022 6:06:24 GMT -5
He was very over in early TNA, no idea why but he was.
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Post by Hypnosis on Sept 26, 2022 10:56:33 GMT -5
He was very over in early TNA, no idea why but he was. Remember when Erik was Fake La Parka?
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Gus Richlen Was Wrong
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Post by Gus Richlen Was Wrong on Sept 26, 2022 11:01:01 GMT -5
Obligatory: Eric Watts at the time suuuuuuucked.WHAT the f*** IS THAT hoLY JEEEEEEEEzus WHAT the f*** IS THAT
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Post by James Fabiano on Sept 26, 2022 11:02:48 GMT -5
He was very over in early TNA, no idea why but he was. When we were watching it, we all liked his delusional character, which was kind of like poking fun at his overpushing at WCW. I know The Hawk still isn't impressed by him in his early TNA rewatches, but... And I forgot about him being in ECW...another one for the random runs thread?
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