When did Paul Roma hate start?

[Joekishi]

I still don't get why guys in the IWC hate Paul Roma so much. I'm thinking most of it has to do with Wrestlecrap RD's "Paul Roma is rolling in his grave" line, and people latching onto that going into thinking roma actually sucked.

Roma fit the mold of what the current IWC should love:

Great in the ring, good workrate, he did dropkicks higher than anybody, had great leaping ability. Ability to work with any wrestler no matter the style or size (he was working Powers of Pain, the Rockers, and Dustin Rhodes), and he could elicit a crowd response.

Seriously I still don't get the Roma Hate.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

There was something about the guy that kept him from catching on with the crowd. I'm not sure what it was, but it was there. His introduction as the newest Horseman was a disappointment because people were expecting Tully (Or Windham, or somebody on that level)

The comments on the Horsemen dvd didn't help, though it's been rumored he was goaded into them by the WWE crew. Who knows?

I enjoyed Power and Glory and felt they were underutilized.

[Blindkarevik]

As a young mark, I was definitely swayed by the "Herc and Jerk" quotes. But, I guess the biggest evidence for Roma hate is.. when I think of the Young Stallions, I think of Jim Powers.... when I think of Power And Glory... I think of Hercules... when I think of him joining the Horsemen, I think of Brian Pillman joining afterward.

[Aceorton]

Roma tainted the sacred earth known as the Four Horsemen, according to the folks who run the Web sites, and slowly the majority of the Internet has accepted that as fact. Forget Power and Glory. Forget his quality matches for a decade. For some folks, all that matters is "Paul Roma: Horseman."

His commentary on the DVD didn't really help his cause in the popularity department.

EDIT: Oh, and he supposedly buried Alex Wright on Nitro just to be a jag.

[Deleted]

Roma becoming a Horseman was a "wtf" moment for a lot of people. It's not even that he was bad or anything but I don't think alot of people could accept the idea that he should join the group instead of Tully (who screwed it up for himself to be fair).

He also jobbed out alot in the WWE as part of "Power and Glory", left, and then, all of a sudden he was a Horseman. It just seemed odd.

[Joekishi]

Sorta like Shannon Moore taunting TNA that somebody was getting Punk'd, then beating AJ styles, and leaving the promotion?

[plushtar]

He seems like a random target of IWC hatred. I saw no problem with him, I always thought the Power & Glory should have been more than Slickster's Job Squad with the Warlord.

I hardly take any internet columnist's word as the gospel of pro wrestling anyway. To me the IWC just has the wierdest double-standards which are too numoerous to mention.

[Mister Yummy]

He actualkly buried Wright at Superbrawl V, and it's a great match despite Paul doing his best to make Alex look bad. Paul Roma probably got the biggest reaction of his career. Too bad he was fired for it (as he should have been).

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

I never thought Paul Roma seemed that bad. In retrospect, part of me thinks that he was simply Midget Chris Masters, but another part thinks he could've been a much bigger star than he was during the Power & Glory days. He had a look, and wasn't a clod in the ring.

In fact, the Horsemen should've been a launching point for the latter half of Roma's career, but it never happened, and most of that was due to the fact that his version of the Horsemen was such a failure (and that version was a complete failure more due to the Sid/Arn "incident" more than anything the WWE DVD/HHH historical version of Roma would lead you to believe). He would've made a good tag guy and possible WCW U.S. Champ had the cards fallen right. He should've at least had a decent run in WCW at the TV/US Title level, then headed back to Vince during the "Hogan is WCW"-era for a better run, had his time in Atlanta not been so tainted from the get-go. From an outsider's perspective, that WCW run seemed to kill not Roma's potential, but overall interest in the business.

As an aside, if Roma was really Tully Blanchard's last minute replacement, I've always thought a better member would've been a young Dustin Rhodes. If the Horsemen would've been heel in 1993, and convinced a young, impressionable, cocky Dustin to join up with Flair, that would've been a decent angle at the time. Too bad Dusty was booking when the Horsemen came back in...

[jzbadblood]

Power and Glory were the shit.

[willywonka666]

I assumed the Paul Roma interviews on the Horsemen dvd were kayfabed because he was really full of himself. I guess he's allright, though I did hear a jerky story about him years ago-something about him knocking out one of his kid's teachers-it's been so long I can't remember the full story, but I think they got him for assault, and while I only remember part of the story, it's stayed with me all these years

[Cheeba]

I loved Power & Glory's finishing move (the superplex/superfly combo). It was simple, but effective.

[heyguesswhatidid]

From Jobber to Horsemen, that's why everyone hates him. People act as if he booked himself into the Horsemen.

[ddt]

heyguesswhatidid said:

People act as if he booked himself into the Horsemen.

Exactly. Why hate the guy because of a position he was put in? Roma had some pretty fair talent, and Power and Glory was definitely an underrated, underutilized tag team.

I hadn't heard about his remarks on the DVD everyone keeps mentioning, but I'd be curious to know what he said.

I can't imagine people will hate him so much for whether or not he buried Alex Wright. That seems like a huge ax to grind and a long time to hold a grudge for that. (Weird -- people are more willing to forgive Vince McMahon for the things he's done, but not Paul Roma for burying Alex Wright...)

It's all just very strange.

[Maxnificent]

I recently saw a match from 1985 where Bruno Sammartino repeatedly calls him "Tony Roma" on commentary.

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Well, you see, one day the entire internet got together to play a game of darts. But instead of a real game, it was a game where we threw darts at pictures of wrestlers to see who we would "Blindly hate". So when it landed on Roma, we decided "Okay, we'll ignore that he was a mediocre wrestler at best, had no personality to speak of, and was part of the worst overpush in history, and just hate him to confuse everyone that's not a part of our group. That'll show 'em!"

Or, you know, the fact that he was a mediocre wrestler, had no personality to speak of, and was part of the worst overpush in history. That one seems more likely than the "internet dartboard" theory. But that's just me.

[heyguesswhatidid]

maxnificent said:

I recently saw a match from 1985 where Bruno Sammartino repeatedly calls him "Tony Roma" on commentary.

Bruno was hungry I guess.

[heyguesswhatidid]

chuckymac314 said:

Well, you see, one day the entire internet got together to play a game of darts. But instead of a real game, it was a game where we threw darts at pictures of wrestlers to see who we would "Blindly hate". So when it landed on Roma, we decided "Okay, we'll ignore that he was a mediocre wrestler at best, had no personality to speak of, and was part of the worst overpush in history, and just hate him to confuse everyone that's not a part of our group. That'll show 'em!"

Or, you know, the fact that he was a mediocre wrestler, had no personality to speak of, and was part of the worst overpush in history. That one seems more likely than the "internet dartboard" theory. But that's just me.

But that's no different that a dozen wrestlers that aren't hated.

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

heyguesswhatidid said:

chuckymac314 said:

Well, you see, one day the entire internet got together to play a game of darts. But instead of a real game, it was a game where we threw darts at pictures of wrestlers to see who we would "Blindly hate". So when it landed on Roma, we decided "Okay, we'll ignore that he was a mediocre wrestler at best, had no personality to speak of, and was part of the worst overpush in history, and just hate him to confuse everyone that's not a part of our group. That'll show 'em!"

Or, you know, the fact that he was a mediocre wrestler, had no personality to speak of, and was part of the worst overpush in history. That one seems more likely than the "internet dartboard" theory. But that's just me.

But that's no different that a dozen wrestlers that aren't hated.

I doubt those guys went from jobber to Horsemen on top of being mediocre wrestlers and horrible personalities. Sure, Roma's one of a glut of guys of his milleiu, but there's a difference between him and them: "Publicity, publicity, publicity".

[imnotbooked]

I'm guessin' the moment he popped outta' his momma....