MolotovMocktail
Grimlock
Home of the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers-and Wrestlemania 31
Posts: 13,970
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Mar 21, 2023 18:58:45 GMT -5
Tons. I think people overstate how unathletic some of those matches were. It was just a different style, but I think most of those guys could hang with this style. Maybe they wouldn't be doing flips and stuff, but they could match the pace and energy. Especially since working today would cut their workload in half from that grueling road schedule they were working. I'll say the one that most people would write off - 80s Hulk Hogan would easily be a main eventer today. Before he got lazy from like 1991 on, his matches were at a frantic pace, particularly in the mid-80s during his first title reign. People remember his matches with guys like Andre and they think it meant Hogan worked a slow plodding style. Go watch him against Orndorff, Terry Funk, or Randy Savage. 1985 Hulk Hogan vs Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins would be a banger. Part of that was that he really did screw up his back when he slammed Andre, so he had to work a slower style. But you’re right, like Taker, he was often given opponents based on size alone, with little athleticism of their own. Give him the right opponent, and we often saw a very different Hulk Hogan.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Mar 22, 2023 2:51:18 GMT -5
Honestly, all of the Radicalz could probably keep up. He wasn't a great promo, but I think Dean the best of all
He is still in NXT as Roderick Strong This is a vile slur against Malenko!
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,111
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 22, 2023 3:16:43 GMT -5
Andre in his prime was much better than Omos and Khali in the ring. If you watch matches with him and Race, Andre"s putting him in holds most of the match. His brawling with Stan Hansen was also great for his size. He also had a lot of charisma, which would make a difference. I think his biggest issue would be seeing how he'd adapt to a very different backstage environment. If he had a promoter that he could have the kind of relationship with as he did the Vinces, then he'd be gold, but if he couldn't, he'd probably bounce from company to company like Sid would later on. Andre was very conscious of his market value, and for better and worse, prioritized that over being a team player, which would lead to things like him viewing guys like Uncle Elmer and Big John Studd with suspicion and hostility, given he felt they could damage his value as THE giant.
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ToyfareMark
Vegeta
A WINNER IS YOU!
In Hutch I trust!
Posts: 9,608
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Post by ToyfareMark on Mar 22, 2023 5:50:59 GMT -5
Andre in his prime was much better than Omos and Khali in the ring. If you watch matches with him and Race, Andre"s putting him in holds most of the match. His brawling with Stan Hansen was also great for his size. He also had a lot of charisma, which would make a difference. I think his biggest issue would be seeing how he'd adapt to a very different backstage environment. If he had a promoter that he could have the kind of relationship with as he did the Vinces, then he'd be gold, but if he couldn't, he'd probably bounce from company to company like Sid would later on. Andre was very conscious of his market value, and for better and worse, prioritized that over being a team player, which would lead to things like him viewing guys like Uncle Elmer and Big John Studd with suspicion and hostility, given he felt they could damage his value as THE giant. Andre could also be a prick if he didn't like you. I mean not "wrestlers court" bad, but the way he treated some people would not be tolerated today.
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Post by drjayphd (feat. Pitbull) on Mar 22, 2023 13:27:12 GMT -5
Seemingly obvious answer but Blitzkrieg, had a short run in WCW but could fly with the best of them today. Feels too easy to say Bret & Owen, so I'm gonna go with Bam Bam Bigelow. Big dude, distinctive look, could go in the ring, carried an NFL guy to a perfectly passable match (within context) in the main event of a WM which takes a lot of skill and trust. Give me Bigelow/Bronson Reed, big boys bumping meat. (Big E might be so aroused he would blot out the sun.) 123 Kid/X-Pac. I'm not kidding. Anyone questioning this needs to go watch his matches against Owen Hart in the 1994 King of the Ring, then his title shot against Bret Hart. Dude could go then and could go by today's standards.
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Post by britishbulldog on Mar 23, 2023 14:55:02 GMT -5
I think most of the people who were at least decent-good in their day then would be able to hang. If they were around today they would obviously have the same expectations and training as the current stars and hopefully less of a drug culture than they did 30-40 years ago so there's no reason to think they wouldn't be able to adapt. The big guys though would have a tougher time. I don't think Andre ever becomes Andre if he debuts today. People would take one look at him, see his matches and write him off like a Khali or Omos. He wouldn't develop the aura and popularity he was able to back in the day. If we are talking mid 80s and later Andre I agree. 70- early 80s different story.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Mar 23, 2023 15:05:47 GMT -5
I think most of the people who were at least decent-good in their day then would be able to hang. If they were around today they would obviously have the same expectations and training as the current stars and hopefully less of a drug culture than they did 30-40 years ago so there's no reason to think they wouldn't be able to adapt. The big guys though would have a tougher time. I don't think Andre ever becomes Andre if he debuts today. People would take one look at him, see his matches and write him off like a Khali or Omos. He wouldn't develop the aura and popularity he was able to back in the day. If we are talking mid 80s and later Andre I agree. 70- early 80s different story. Yeah he still would have been seen as a great giant. Debuting today would also raise the question of what his career would have been like with modern medicine. Andre the Giant in Japan gif collection www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/2ukpeo/andre_the_giant_in_japan_was_so_awesome_gif/
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Post by Hypnosis on Mar 23, 2023 18:07:35 GMT -5
Falcon Arrow! He did the deal!
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,038
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Mar 23, 2023 18:18:13 GMT -5
Hadn’t even considered him until someone posted his 2-out-3 falls match with The Great Muta from a WCW Saturday night in 1992 but, even still: Brad Armstrong.
He was as quick and as smooth as anyone you see going today.
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Post by government mule on Mar 23, 2023 18:19:42 GMT -5
'94 Hakushi
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,038
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Mar 23, 2023 18:20:23 GMT -5
It’s ironic considering who managed him but I think Bobby Eaton deserves a shout, as well.
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Mar 23, 2023 20:20:25 GMT -5
Three pages in and nobody said Undertaker? I'm not talking about the 50-year-old broken down Undertaker that was an embarrassment to his legacy that we saw at the Saudi shows. I'm talking in his prime, 7 ft, 300 pounds, moving with cat-like quickness Undertaker. There's not an era in wrestling history where a guy with Undertaker's attributes wouldn't have drawn money.
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Post by evilone on Mar 24, 2023 5:39:01 GMT -5
123 Kid can still do it even today.
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Post by Alice Syndrome on Mar 24, 2023 8:15:26 GMT -5
Could you imagine a 25 year old or so Lance Storm vs half of the damn AEW roster?
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Post by Hypnosis on Mar 24, 2023 9:30:56 GMT -5
Could you imagine a 25 year old or so Lance Storm vs half of the damn AEW roster? Jericho:"As per our agreement, you must feud with me for 5 months. Oh, and sell the JAS attacks like death. Good luck, buddy!"
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Post by wildojinx on Mar 24, 2023 12:24:51 GMT -5
Jim Duggan. Not the goofy WWF version, but imagine Mid-South/UWF era Duggan against Sheamus, Gunther, Moxley, or Kingston.
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Mar 24, 2023 13:35:09 GMT -5
Could you imagine a 25 year old or so Lance Storm vs half of the damn AEW roster? Jericho:"As per our agreement, you must feud with me for 5 months. Oh, and sell the JAS attacks like death. Good luck, buddy!" Just leave it to Starmaker Jericho to get Storm over. Look at the wonders he did for Eddie Kingston's career!
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Mar 24, 2023 13:36:57 GMT -5
123 Kid can still do it even today. Sadly I don't think he can. He had that one comeback match in GCW last year and got injured. I did hear him say he thinks he has one great match left in him though.
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CMWaters
Ozymandius
Rolled a Seven, Beat the Ads.
Bald and busy
Posts: 63,083
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Post by CMWaters on Mar 24, 2023 14:04:21 GMT -5
Sleeper option: Sam Houston.
Guy was just a "wrong time period" guy in his WWF run, but as someone said before when I brought him up in a similar topic, he would have the potential these days to be a "Hangman" Adam Page type.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Mar 24, 2023 16:25:48 GMT -5
Three pages in and nobody said Undertaker? I'm not talking about the 50-year-old broken down Undertaker that was an embarrassment to his legacy that we saw at the Saudi shows. I'm talking in his prime, 7 ft, 300 pounds, moving with cat-like quickness Undertaker. There's not an era in wrestling history where a guy with Undertaker's attributes wouldn't have drawn money. How about the New Generation Era?
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