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Post by Aceorton on Sept 9, 2009 4:14:47 GMT -5
Good grief, leave Percy alone. I was never a fan of the Paul Bearer persona, but it wasn't wrestlecrap. Ghoulish funeral director/pro wrestling manager whose name is a terrible pun. You're right. Nothing crappy about that at all. I'm crazy and mean-spirited, and you and Percy have every right to be exasperated.
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Post by Kash Flagg on Sept 10, 2009 8:41:49 GMT -5
I'm not getting into the argument (I disagree with you for once Ace), but like the fact that they took a part of PErcy's real life and made it a cartoonish character (Percy is a licensed mortician).
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Post by ani on Sept 10, 2009 10:11:04 GMT -5
Without Paul Bearer...I don't think the Undertaker character would have been successful imo.
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Sephiroth
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Post by Sephiroth on Oct 1, 2009 20:59:42 GMT -5
The character was silly, over the top, cartoony...and entertaining. Percy played the character to the hilt, and guess what-he got over! I think that Taker needed him in those early days when he was still feeling the character out and did not really know completely now to cut a good interview yet. And while yeah, he was involved in his share of wrestlecrappy angles and storylines, lest we forget, he was also involved in the Taker/Mankind feud and the Taker/Kane feud that brought us some utterly classic matches and moments-not the least of which was the infamous Mick Foley dive off the cage. And I might add, he also played a role in helping launch Paul Heyman's wrestling career, just as Heyman, who has talked numerous times of learning the trade under Percy in Memphis. He was good at playing a heel or face. He was good at helping get his man over and getting crowd reaction. And by all account, he kept himself very busy behind the scenes, playing a big part in the WWF/E's production team. Involved in some wrestlecrappy storylines? Hell yeah. Wrestlecrap himself-hell no.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Oct 1, 2009 21:36:57 GMT -5
No.....he was essential to getting the whole Undertaker gimmick over, at least in the beginning. They made such a bizarre duo, and that.....and Taker's ability is why that whole "Dead Man" gimmick still continues and thrives.
Besides, is Paul Bearer REALLY a worse name than some of the ones we have now? I mean......Dolph Ziggler.......Jack Swagger.......they sound like porn stars.
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Pink Lloyd
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Post by Pink Lloyd on Oct 2, 2009 11:06:37 GMT -5
If you are going to induct Paul Bearer you might as well induct Junkyard Dog. I mean seriously, wrestling was hot back in those days. You think the guy could afford to move out of the Junkyard.
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Post by quantum on Oct 3, 2009 7:44:21 GMT -5
If you are going to induct Paul Bearer you might as well induct Junkyard Dog. I mean seriously, wrestling was hot back in those days. You think the guy could afford to move out of the Junkyard. I thought of it more in the way of the guy is so tough that he likes to sleep in a junkyard not necessarily that he has to sleep in a junkyard.
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Post by romafan87 on Oct 3, 2009 22:19:48 GMT -5
If you are going to induct Paul Bearer you might as well induct Junkyard Dog. I mean seriously, wrestling was hot back in those days. You think the guy could afford to move out of the Junkyard. I thought of it more in the way of the guy is so tough that he likes to sleep in a junkyard not necessarily that he has to sleep in a junkyard. The Junkyard Dog was a nickname for Sylvester "Big Daddy" Ritter and is something that eventually stuck without the rest of his real name so it's almost a completely different situation. And a junkyard dog is a nickname for anyone who is pretty tough who came from a bad part of town who you don't want to mess with, ala the nickname's reference in "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce.
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Post by toddpolt on Oct 4, 2009 2:25:59 GMT -5
Wow I didnt know the IWC hated Bearer that much. Sheesh.
Look if Mr. Fuji can get in, why not Paul?
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Post by Janitor From Mars on Oct 6, 2009 15:56:10 GMT -5
*Undertaker reads this thread* *Undertaker starts taping his fists*
In other words, leave Paul Bearer alone.
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Post by gamblore on Oct 7, 2009 1:36:03 GMT -5
I would support inducting Paul Bearer.
Also, whenever I read Dune, I picture Baron Harknonenn as Paul Bearer for some reason.
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Post by Aceorton on Oct 13, 2009 1:58:57 GMT -5
Wow I didnt know the IWC hated Bearer that much. Sheesh. Look if Mr. Fuji can get in, why not Paul?You know this thread isn't about the Hall of Fame, right?
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Post by quantum on Oct 13, 2009 12:51:16 GMT -5
I thought of it more in the way of the guy is so tough that he likes to sleep in a junkyard not necessarily that he has to sleep in a junkyard. The Junkyard Dog was a nickname for Sylvester "Big Daddy" Ritter and is something that eventually stuck without the rest of his real name so it's almost a completely different situation. And a junkyard dog is a nickname for anyone who is pretty tough who came from a bad part of town who you don't want to mess with, ala the nickname's reference in "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce. Thanks for the American/British translation ;D
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Slim Loves Lily
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Post by Slim Loves Lily on Oct 14, 2009 20:34:45 GMT -5
Paul Bearer rules. You all marked when he came out at WM 20.
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Post by romafan87 on Oct 15, 2009 1:41:44 GMT -5
The Junkyard Dog was a nickname for Sylvester "Big Daddy" Ritter and is something that eventually stuck without the rest of his real name so it's almost a completely different situation. And a junkyard dog is a nickname for anyone who is pretty tough who came from a bad part of town who you don't want to mess with, ala the nickname's reference in "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce. Thanks for the American/British translation ;D No prob. "Meaner than a junkyard dog" was a pretty popular way of describing tough people here a few decades ago.
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Post by The Hawaiian Hammer! on Oct 23, 2009 19:35:22 GMT -5
I'll throw one last bit of persuasion into my dying campaign here: Paul Bearer, more than any other character EVER in wrestling, is the one I most hated to be on the TV whenever one of my parents happened by. More than the Bushwhackers, more than the Berserker, more than Tugboat, etc., etc. You simply cannot look a non-wrestling fan in the face and maintain credibility when a 300-pound man in white makeup is petting a copper bucket and moaning "Ohhhhhhh, yesssssssssssss!" It's funny, my Mom knows next to nothing about Wrestling but she will still make fun of a Paul Bearer promo she saw almost 15 years ago.
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Post by chunkylover53 on Jan 4, 2010 4:04:27 GMT -5
I know the Undertaker has been deemed uninductable because of what he's been able to do for 20 years with an outlandish gimmick, and I don't argue with that. But ... Paul Bearer? Surely this character doesn't deserve a pass, right? Paul Bearer brought us ... - A Heymanesque name to roll your eyes at right from the get-go - Six years of Gomez Addams makeup and a ridiculous "spooky" voice - Near-constant urn fondling - The Funeral Parlor, one of the very worst of the "talk show" segments - The most ear-raking promos of the Attitude Era (until Stephanie McMahon) - A number of retch-worthy Coliseum Video segments - Uncomfortable backstage conversations about doing the Undertaker's mom on the kitchen floor- A lack of storyline payoff, especially in the later years, because his obesity prevented him from being able to take the finishers/beatings his character had coming - His on-camera "murder" via cement bath And you can easily argue that the Undertaker became an industry icon in spite of Paul Bearer and not in any way because of him. Has his induction ever been discussed? I mean, if Double J gets an induction, then surely ... Oh c'mon, Paul Bearer calling The Undertaker's mom a two-bit whore(especially in his eire voice) was classic. That alone should disqualify him from being inducted.
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agent817
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Post by agent817 on Jan 4, 2010 14:00:38 GMT -5
Seriously, he does not deserve to be inducted. Can't deny that he was a great character. I loved the way the bookers decided to have his character step up a bit during the 1997-1998 days. During those days, we actually saw a little more in his character, especially during the Taker/Kane storyline, when Paul called Taker a murderer.
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Post by courageous on Jan 14, 2010 12:19:18 GMT -5
Not as much as a big 20 page Wrestlecrap tribute to KANE needs to be inducted. Gives me an idea - how about a special edition "good guys having to work with utter rhubarb yet still getting over" mega-post (Paul Bearer, Kane, Goldust, Dude Love, Dusty in WWF etc...)
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Post by noleafclover1980 on Jan 15, 2010 1:05:41 GMT -5
Nah, he was so over the top with it, that he made it work. Plus he's memorable, anytime you get some people together, you can do an impersonation, and a good chunk of people who may not have even watched for years eyes will light up and be like "Hey, Paul Bearer!"
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