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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Dec 14, 2007 20:03:14 GMT -5
I foresee two possibilities. One: coming face-to-face with himself 30 years older would put him into shock, and he'd simply pass out. Or, two: the encounter could create a time paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe! Granted that's a worst case scenario. whoa... this is heavy Weight has nothing to do with it.
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Post by Redbeard's Ghost on Dec 15, 2007 7:46:05 GMT -5
Obviously, Flair. However, I think in the territorial era, you needed a guy who was like rubbermaid, with the travel, 5-6 nights a week 60-minute matches, etc. they would need to bounce back quick. I dont think any of the guys today are conditioned in the way they would need to be to run that schedule like Flair did in 1983-1986. Guys like Batista, Cena, Lashley are too muscular and get hurt too easy.
Think about it, the guys who were able to handle that job in the 80's (Race, Flair) and ran the territorial gauntlet were not big guys. Flair, though, was as conditioned as anyone ever for that schedule.
HBK right now couldnt do it with his back problem, Angle with his neck couldnt do it, so on and so forth. HHH would be closest but even he was not trained and hasnt been conditioned to handle 6-7 nights a week on the road. Nobody understands the level of talent and skill it took to do that. Flair and Race were both able to conform to the needs of any promoter on any given night. The top guy in each territory would get his 2 or 3 shots at the Champ. If he was heel, the champ played face and vice versa.
In conclusion, none of todays WWE workers could be the territorial era NWA Champ.
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Post by Leaving after 1,600 on Dec 15, 2007 8:09:46 GMT -5
What about Bryan Danielson? Or if you're talking WWE wrestlers, Matt Hardy or CM Punk. Hardy: No, not only did you need good wrestling skills (this is NWA not WWF now, and Hardy lacks those) and you need charisma and be able to work a mic, I'd say no to Hardy Punk: Overrated.
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Post by tarheelfan on Dec 15, 2007 8:20:29 GMT -5
Obviously, Flair. However, I think in the territorial era, you needed a guy who was like rubbermaid, with the travel, 5-6 nights a week 60-minute matches, etc. they would need to bounce back quick. I dont think any of the guys today are conditioned in the way they would need to be to run that schedule like Flair did in 1983-1986. Guys like Batista, Cena, Lashley are too muscular and get hurt too easy. Think about it, the guys who were able to handle that job in the 80's (Race, Flair) and ran the territorial gauntlet were not big guys. Flair, though, was as conditioned as anyone ever for that schedule. HBK right now couldnt do it with his back problem, Angle with his neck couldnt do it, so on and so forth. HHH would be closest but even he was not trained and hasnt been conditioned to handle 6-7 nights a week on the road. Nobody understands the level of talent and skill it took to do that. Flair and Race were both able to conform to the needs of any promoter on any given night. The top guy in each territory would get his 2 or 3 shots at the Champ. If he was heel, the champ played face and vice versa. In conclusion, none of todays WWE workers could be the territorial era NWA Champ. Harley Race was not a small guy. He was 250 plus pounds. He was solid and pretty powerful although he didn't have the chiseled physique. Otherwise, I think this is a great post. Someone mentioned Matt Hardy in an earlier post but IMHO Hardy would have been a jobber in the NWA territory days and Edge is not good enough to have been NWA champion.
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Post by Arturo Classico on Dec 15, 2007 10:04:26 GMT -5
What about Bryan Danielson? Or if you're talking WWE wrestlers, Matt Hardy or CM Punk. Hardy: No, not only did you need good wrestling skills (this is NWA not WWF now, and Hardy lacks those) and you need charisma and be able to work a mic, I'd say no to Hardy Punk: Overrated. Um what? Punk overrated? He's one of the few young WWE talents that gets a response and even though WWE hasn't given him many long matches he has proven he can make a very compelling match and can carry people. Plus imagine a heel "I'm CM Punk and I'm better than you!" as the NWA Champion?
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Post by Leaving after 1,600 on Dec 15, 2007 10:22:50 GMT -5
Hardy: No, not only did you need good wrestling skills (this is NWA not WWF now, and Hardy lacks those) and you need charisma and be able to work a mic, I'd say no to Hardy Punk: Overrated. Um what? Punk overrated? He's one of the few young WWE talents that gets a response and even though WWE hasn't given him many long matches he has proven he can make a very compelling match and can carry people. Plus imagine a heel "I'm CM Punk and I'm better than you!" as the NWA Champion? From someone who has been in the back with Punk (ego to end all egoes) it's easy to tell that he is good at building himself up enough to where others believe it. Punk gets a response because of his looks not his abbility. Don't you think theres a reason WWE don't give him long matches.
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Post by Arturo Classico on Dec 15, 2007 10:28:11 GMT -5
Um what? Punk overrated? He's one of the few young WWE talents that gets a response and even though WWE hasn't given him many long matches he has proven he can make a very compelling match and can carry people. Plus imagine a heel "I'm CM Punk and I'm better than you!" as the NWA Champion? From someone who has been in the back with Punk (ego to end all egoes) it's easy to tell that he is good at building himself up enough to where others believe it. Punk gets a response because of his looks not his abbility. Don't you think theres a reason WWE don't give him long matches. I don't buy that. I mean look at his matches in IWA and ROH he had a lot of long matches and they are great. Plus the reason WWE doesn't give long matches yet is he hasn't faced anyone that can make a compelling 20 minute match with him. Trust me if the Benoit situation never happened we would have seen classics between Punk and Benoit.
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Post by Leaving after 1,600 on Dec 15, 2007 10:51:19 GMT -5
From someone who has been in the back with Punk (ego to end all egoes) it's easy to tell that he is good at building himself up enough to where others believe it. Punk gets a response because of his looks not his abbility. Don't you think theres a reason WWE don't give him long matches. I don't buy that. I mean look at his matches in IWA and ROH he had a lot of long matches and they are great. Plus the reason WWE doesn't give long matches yet is he hasn't faced anyone that can make a compelling 20 minute match with him. Trust me if the Benoit situation never happened we would have seen classics between Punk and Benoit. Because of Benoit, Punk needs to be carried to good matches.
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Post by Redbeard's Ghost on Dec 15, 2007 15:41:51 GMT -5
Obviously, Flair. However, I think in the territorial era, you needed a guy who was like rubbermaid, with the travel, 5-6 nights a week 60-minute matches, etc. they would need to bounce back quick. I dont think any of the guys today are conditioned in the way they would need to be to run that schedule like Flair did in 1983-1986. Guys like Batista, Cena, Lashley are too muscular and get hurt too easy. Think about it, the guys who were able to handle that job in the 80's (Race, Flair) and ran the territorial gauntlet were not big guys. Flair, though, was as conditioned as anyone ever for that schedule. HBK right now couldnt do it with his back problem, Angle with his neck couldnt do it, so on and so forth. HHH would be closest but even he was not trained and hasnt been conditioned to handle 6-7 nights a week on the road. Nobody understands the level of talent and skill it took to do that. Flair and Race were both able to conform to the needs of any promoter on any given night. The top guy in each territory would get his 2 or 3 shots at the Champ. If he was heel, the champ played face and vice versa. In conclusion, none of todays WWE workers could be the territorial era NWA Champ. Harley Race was not a small guy. He was 250 plus pounds. He was solid and pretty powerful although he didn't have the chiseled physique. Otherwise, I think this is a great post. Someone mentioned Matt Hardy in an earlier post but IMHO Hardy would have been a jobber in the NWA territory days and Edge is not good enough to have been NWA champion. Sorry, by "big guy" I meant muscular, like Batista. Race was obviously not small. He did however have toughness, which is something sorely lacking in workers these days. The guy was like made of cast iron. Gritty, hard nosed. Those were qualities in NWA Champions I remember most. Guys like Dory Funk who you knew were legit tough guys outside the ring added credibility to the belt.
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Post by tarheelfan on Dec 15, 2007 16:34:16 GMT -5
Harley Race was not a small guy. He was 250 plus pounds. He was solid and pretty powerful although he didn't have the chiseled physique. Otherwise, I think this is a great post. Someone mentioned Matt Hardy in an earlier post but IMHO Hardy would have been a jobber in the NWA territory days and Edge is not good enough to have been NWA champion. Sorry, by "big guy" I meant muscular, like Batista. Race was obviously not small. He did however have toughness, which is something sorely lacking in workers these days. The guy was like made of cast iron. Gritty, hard nosed. Those were qualities in NWA Champions I remember most. Guys like Dory Funk who you knew were legit tough guys outside the ring added credibility to the belt. Agreed. One thing about Race was that he was one tough no nonsense wrestler who was a perfect example of someone mixing great brawling and technical skills. A perfect recipe for a NWA champion.
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