tafkaga
Samurai Cop
the Dogfather
Posts: 2,109
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Post by tafkaga on Nov 12, 2022 14:19:26 GMT -5
What are some examples of performers who have gone from cutting edge to cringe over the course of their in-ring career? Obviously we could point to Ric Flair's 80 year career, but I'm looking for examples that cover a comparatively brief span of time.
The example that made me think of this thread is Roddy Piper, who was absolutely red hot with Piper's Pit in the mid 80's, but then over the course of the next 10 years he becomes the personification of a dad joke trying to verbally spar with the Outsiders and just looking silly and old as f***.
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Nov 12, 2022 14:32:03 GMT -5
Brat Wyatt toes that line every single night he goes out there. It can either be something wildly entertaining that’s completely original or facepalms all around.
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nickcave
Unicron
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Post by nickcave on Nov 12, 2022 15:26:39 GMT -5
Road Dogg
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Post by Hypnosis on Nov 12, 2022 15:27:20 GMT -5
E & C Edge: Reeking of Awesomeness 2004 Face Edge: Reeking of Awfulness. At least he made up for that a year later with the Lita pairing.
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mo
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
"Here are the young men, the weight on their shoulders..."
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Post by mo on Nov 12, 2022 15:32:09 GMT -5
Brat Wyatt toes that line every single night he goes out there. It can either be something wildly entertaining that’s completely original or facepalms all around. Exactly who I thought of when I saw the thread title. The quickness with which Firefly Funhouse/The Fiend went from one of the coolest things in I’ve seen in wrestling to embarrassing channel changing material was something.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Nov 12, 2022 16:11:08 GMT -5
"Drip God" Seth Rollins is walking a tightrope when it comes to this.
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Post by Main Eventer on Nov 12, 2022 16:19:52 GMT -5
The New World Order.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Nov 12, 2022 16:30:12 GMT -5
Goldust was pretty interesting at first but by 1998 it was just like "let's see how many crazy outfits we can get him to wear."
That whole run after he ditched Terri and was with Luna was really bad. Then he denounced the gimmick on live TV, saying he would never do it again and wanted to be himself...then went back to the gimmick a month later.
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MolotovMocktail
Grimlock
Home of the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers-and Wrestlemania 31
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Nov 12, 2022 16:34:40 GMT -5
While he was never cringe, it’s telling where Ted DiBiase was at Wrestlemania IV and Wrestlemania V. He goes from main eventing to third match from the opener, and never really got back into the top heel spot.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Nov 12, 2022 16:44:52 GMT -5
While he was never cringe, it’s telling where Ted DiBiase was at Wrestlemania IV and Wrestlemania V. He goes from main eventing to third match from the opener, and never really got back into the top heel spot. Once the World Title never happened, he didn’t have anywhere to go.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Nov 12, 2022 17:23:12 GMT -5
While he was never cringe, it’s telling where Ted DiBiase was at Wrestlemania IV and Wrestlemania V. He goes from main eventing to third match from the opener, and never really got back into the top heel spot. WWF match placement has always been more strategic and not least important match to most important structure like WCW. So for example nobody would say Ronnie Garvin against Dino Bravo was a more important match then Dibiase against Beefcake because it appeared later on the show. With that said though it was odd for Dibiase as well as Beefcake for that matter to be in a match with really no build up or angle to it whatsoever despite being two of their bigger stars at the time (both in the top ten for sure). Both had different variations of the sleeper hold as their finisher so that would've been an easy route as in the feud could be centered around whose version is better. I guess it was just one of those things where both were in between feuds (Beefcake had just finished up with Ron Bass and hadn't started with Savage yet while Dibiase had just finished with Hercules and hadn't started with Jake yet) so it was just basically a way to get both of them on the card.
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Post by Hit Girl on Nov 12, 2022 17:33:50 GMT -5
DX
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Post by Axel Dieter jr. on Nov 12, 2022 18:35:40 GMT -5
Chris Jericho! There have been some cringey things before AEW (the Painmaker "gimmick") and the first year in All Elite had some fun moments ("I've got a ticket!"), but since then it's nearly all cringe.The ongoing JAS and sportsentertainer stuff is internal pain inducing, in every segment. Horrible.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Nov 12, 2022 18:46:18 GMT -5
If we were talking bookers, Vince Russo would be the embodiment of this.
Mr Kennedy (Kennedy), people were hyped for him for a while and then the wheels fell off, the Benoit fallout, wellness failures, bad matches then his 'Asshole' TNA run.
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Post by Cyno on Nov 12, 2022 19:03:41 GMT -5
The first DX Reunion in 2006 got really sad really quickly.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Nov 12, 2022 19:10:02 GMT -5
Goldust was pretty interesting at first but by 1998 it was just like "let's see how many crazy outfits we can get him to wear." That whole run after he ditched Terri and was with Luna was really bad. Then he denounced the gimmick on live TV, saying he would never do it again and wanted to be himself...then went back to the gimmick a month later. I actually REALLY liked TAFKA Goldust. ...it probably says something about me that I'm one of the most uptight people on the planet, and yet I always loved every incarnation of Goldust.
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Post by Georgina's Fancy Water on Nov 12, 2022 19:29:01 GMT -5
Abyss went from making Kane look like he needed to be put in a retirement home to moving around like he just got bussed in from one in the absolutely depressing span of 5 or 6 years.
It still hurts a lil lmao
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Push R Truth
Patti Mayonnaise
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Perpetually Constipated
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Post by Push R Truth on Nov 12, 2022 19:30:22 GMT -5
CM Punk has become nearly everything he bitched about for years. And now he's just a sad sack of bullshit.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Nov 12, 2022 19:39:34 GMT -5
Chris Jericho! There have been some cringey things before AEW (the Painmaker "gimmick") and the first year in All Elite had some fun moments ("I've got a ticket!"), but since then it's nearly all cringe.The ongoing JAS and sportsentertainer stuff is internal pain inducing, in every segment. Horrible. His main problem is believing himself to be a rock star. Also, being a giant tool IRL. I used to think he was cool, until a guy hears Chris Irvine speak.
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fg
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Post by fg on Nov 12, 2022 20:02:12 GMT -5
Abyss went from making Kane look like he needed to be put in a retirement home to moving around like he just got bussed in from one in the absolutely depressing span of 5 or 6 years. It still hurts a lil lmao He is like Mick Foley in that both of them have sacrificed their bodies so much that they really have paid the price. Even in 1999, Mick’s wife said he was as mobile as an old man.
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