Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
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Post by Sephiroth on Mar 12, 2023 7:04:10 GMT -5
O disrespect to the dead, I do think that if Reid is still with us that Ric would not be quite the train wreck he is today. But just how far would Reid have gone in the ring? Having never seen any of his work I can’t speak for whether the potential was there, but the fact he did have an amateur and that unlike his brother he actually wanted to be a wrestler all his life could only have helped. But he also would have had to deal with that curse of second generation performers-his father’s shadow. I definitely truly think that some sort of program with Tyson Kidd would have been inevitable, perhaps a mixed tag feud pitying Reid and Charlotte against Tyson and Natalya. I could also have seen Curtis Axel being paired with Reid in some capacity. I could have seen the Impact and NXT belts being in store for him. Any other estimates?
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 12, 2023 7:08:12 GMT -5
He probably could have done well. I don't think he really got to reach his potential, but I think at minimum, probably IC title level since, well, Ric burned bridges with people, but a lot of those bridges were still intact before Reid died, and I also feel like enough people would have vouched for Reid whether they liked Ric anymore or not.
Unfortunately, addiction meant that even before he died, he was squandering his opportunities, so it's difficult to really gauge him properly.
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J. Hova
Don Corleone
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Post by J. Hova on Mar 12, 2023 7:16:40 GMT -5
I'm also going to try to be respectful of the dead, but talk candidly.
Like you said, he'd have been cursed by being the second generation. I've seen clips here and there of his work and it looks alright. I mean he definitely had the genetics to be something, but I don't know if he'd have been anything special. I didn't see anything that would have set him apart from getting out of the shadow of being Ric Flair's kid. Say what you will about Charlotte, but she can stand alone.
One thing I'll point out is everything I've seen of him, he always had, for lack of a better term, derp face. I could see him being a solid hand with experience, but I just don't see him in a Cody role, he'd be more like an Xavier or pre-bloodline Sami role.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 12, 2023 7:28:06 GMT -5
I'm also going to try to be respectful of the dead, but talk candidly. Like you said, he'd have been cursed by being the second generation. I've seen clips here and there of his work and it looks alright. I mean he definitely had the genetics to be something, but I don't know if he'd have been anything special. I didn't see anything that would have set him apart from getting out of the shadow of being Ric Flair's kid. Say what you will about Charlotte, but she can stand alone. One thing I'll point out is everything I've seen of him, he always had, for lack of a better term, derp face. I could see him being a solid hand with experience, but I just don't see him in a Cody role, he'd be more like an Xavier or pre-bloodline Sami role. I do think that his presentation was definitely not there yet, but when he died, he was only like 25-26, right? Guys have definitely put it together later in life than that, so maybe he'd have gotten to the next level. Still, yeah, I'd say between him and Richie Steamboat, Richie was the one I remember people being more excited about.
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XIII
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by XIII on Mar 12, 2023 8:47:26 GMT -5
If you think HHH pushes Charlotte hard imagine what he would have done with a son of Ric Flair. That’s all one needs to consider really.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2023 10:11:50 GMT -5
A lot farther than David, that's for damn sure.
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Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on Mar 12, 2023 11:26:39 GMT -5
He would’ve done better than Blue Flair and Green Flair, I think.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Mar 12, 2023 11:31:42 GMT -5
Tough to say. I remember when he was starting out, a lot of people talked about how much of a natural he was, and that he was Ric's son with the most love of wrestling. But unfortunately due to his battle with addiction I don't think we really ever got to see even half of what Reid could become.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Mar 12, 2023 11:47:16 GMT -5
I'm not entirely sure, he seemed to have his father's temperament and was already burning bridges prior to his demise. He had an assault charge, was found in possession of drugs and failed two wellness tests when they were actively trying to sign him to the WWE developmental system. It was telling that he was 4 years into his career and he hadn't had a steady run anywhere until the All japan tour prior to his death. Odds are good that he'd be like Teddy Hart or Tessa Blanchard, someone with a mountain of talent, but they're unable to stop themself from burning a bridge while they're standing on it.
The best case scenario he'd likely end up like Harry Smith, someone who has an okay career in Japan but keeps on burning the WWE to the point he never really makes any impact there. All the potential he showed early in his career has long been forgotten though, and now he's someone who just exists.
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Post by ChitownKnight on Mar 12, 2023 12:09:35 GMT -5
Well assuming he got his shit together, I’d say we would be talking about him dethroning Roman instead of Cody
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Mar 12, 2023 12:33:05 GMT -5
I know he wanted to be a wrestler unlike David really wanted to be. So he had the motivation. If he was clean, I'm not sure because I never seen his matches enough to know how good he was, Ive only heard about them. That a part to know how far he would have gone. I know there was some hype about him. It for sure one of those what ifs.
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Jake, The Jake, Jake
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Jake, The Jake, Jake on Mar 12, 2023 13:51:58 GMT -5
Somewhere in the gap between Charlotte and David
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Mar 12, 2023 14:32:59 GMT -5
I don't see Reid being the one in Cody's slot now, clean or not. Cody has a level of drive few in wrestling have, second/third gen talent, handed the same opportunities he has been haven't come close and there was no indication Reid had that. Cpdy could have earned millions as a midcarder, just coasting like a less successful Dolph Ziggler in the hopes of getting a thankyou run with the lesser world title, instead he rolled the dice on getting out and improving himself. Cody, again, rolled the dice on a return rather than coasting in AEW and is reaping the rewards, Reid on the other hand, was barely working indies.
I don't care for his Captain America schtick and hated his AEW booking, but Cody works his butt off and they wouldn't just replace him with Reid because Hunter likes Ric.
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salz4life
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Post by salz4life on Mar 14, 2023 8:35:42 GMT -5
Not as well as Red Foreman. Red Foreman would've been the next Bobby Heenan.
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Dang!
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Dang! on Mar 14, 2023 16:00:55 GMT -5
Haven't seen too much of him, but reading about his cause of death, I'm afraid he was pretty much doomed. Back in the days you could somehow have a decent career while taking all sorts of drugs, but today these kind of problems are a huge red flag for any major company.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Mar 15, 2023 7:41:54 GMT -5
He would’ve done better than Blue Flair and Green Flair, I think. Or Red Green Flair, with his flannel and duct tape robe.
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Post by poodoojenkins on Mar 15, 2023 8:41:29 GMT -5
I actually knew Reid a little bit. We weren't besties or anything, but we knew a lot of the same people from both having trained and wrestled in the Charlotte area, and we were friendly.
The coolest thing about Reid's short career is that while he definitely got opportunities other guys at his experience level would never have even been considered for, he was well aware of that and absolutely WOULD NOT simply coast on them. He would work anywhere and everywhere, and generally did it really cheap. He really loved wrestling, and never wanted to be seen as better or more special than any other indie wrestler. I never asked him about it to confirm, but a mutual friend told me that Reid had been offered an opportunity to just start off in the WWE system like so many other second generation guys, but turned it down because he wanted the experience of working the indies. He genuinely wanted to earn it, and not be handed anything for being Ric's kid.
I actually saw him wrestle in Albemarle, NC at an armory or something in a 6 man tag in front of 9 people. Yes, there were literally 2 more people in the crowd than there were in the ring. I can't remember who the third man was, but one of Reid's partners was George South, who had trained Reid and who I had known for years at that point. We sat there and talked shit to them the whole match, trying to get them to crack. George wound up using us for a spot that resulted in him taking a bump on the floor for me. It was legit one of the best times I ever had at a show.
Was Reid a future great in the ring? Honestly, probably not. He was decent, especially for how little experience he had, but I never saw anything that lead me to believe he was going to be a Ric Flair or Bret Hart technical master.
But Reid probably would have succeeded more because of his mouth. He hadn't honed the skill to put on a really great promo yet, but the raw skills were there. He loved to jawjack with the crowd and was actually really quick witted and funny. He could.have been a guy who talked them into the building, for sure. Would he have been on his dad's level? I can't say for sure, but I doubt it. But he could have had a solid career, for sure.
Unfortunately, Reid's problems were well known among those who knew him and worked with him. I never heard about him showing up in no condition to perform, but I heard plenty of tales of him leaving the building that way. It was enough that it gave certain promoters pause when they thought of booking him. There were, of course, plenty of promoters who didn't care, and booked him just so they could advertise that Ric's son was on the bill. That bothered Reid to some extent as well.
When I got the phone call from a mutual friend about his passing, it was a shock, but not a surprise. It hadn't been announced publicly yet, but word spreads fast among the boys. The last time I had seen Reid was at a bar where my band was playing, and he happened to come in. We talked for a few minutes, but he was f***ing gone. He smelled like a brewery and that was clearly not all he had in his system. It was like trying to converse with a toddler who is simultaneously falling asleep and running in circles. It made me extremely sad to see my friend that way, and I cut our conversation kinda short, making some excuse about having to go back on soon. I was just uncomfortable with his state, and the people around him were clearly a bunch of spoiled rich hangers-on, and that's not my scene.
I wanna say it was about 4 months later, he was gone. He'd just gotten back from Japan, if I remember right. I wish I had known him better, so I would have felt comfortable urging him to get help. I know it probably wouldn't have mattered, but there is a part of me that has always regretted not trying. Reid was a really nice kid with a lot of issues that weren't entirely his own, and it just caught up with him far too young.
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fg
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Post by fg on Mar 15, 2023 16:14:12 GMT -5
He would’ve done better than Blue Flair and Green Flair, I think. Or Red Green Flair, with his flannel and duct tape robe. If he was Red Flair, tgeir have and hair would be stained with blood…much like Ric Flair did a lot of times.
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Post by "Cane Dewey" Johnson on Mar 15, 2023 16:27:53 GMT -5
Somewhere in the gap between Charlotte and David On their worst days or with their worst pushes, this is a spectrum that becomes a circle.
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Fundertaker
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Post by Fundertaker on Mar 15, 2023 16:30:19 GMT -5
His career would take a weird turn when he became Black And White Flair, but he would somehow recover.
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