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Post by kamotengkahoy on Feb 1, 2013 8:07:08 GMT -5
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Post by willywonka666 on Feb 1, 2013 8:16:23 GMT -5
I counted 42. Do they have that may on the roster now? I remember them having the supposed entire roster in the ring at one time for an announcement in 98 or so it seems and it didn't look like there were that many.
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Dang!
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,321
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Post by Dang! on Feb 1, 2013 9:02:33 GMT -5
Diesel II? ...not even sure what that is... Kane playing Kevin Nash.
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Post by fuzzywarble, squat cobbler on Feb 1, 2013 9:53:39 GMT -5
Alex Porteau was a mainstay in WCCW/USWA. I saw him lots of times at the Sportatorium when I lived in Dallas.
Seeing all these names brings back fond memories. It was my freshman year in college and I had just discovered internet wrestling news sites.
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Post by xxshoyuweeniexx on Feb 1, 2013 10:13:10 GMT -5
Diesel II? ...not even sure what that is... Kane playing Kevin Nash. ...that sounds like it was either really horrible or really good because it's Glenn Jacobs who makes anything work.
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Post by Metalheadbanger Man on Feb 1, 2013 13:02:28 GMT -5
...that sounds like it was either really horrible or really good because it's Glenn Jacobs who makes anything work. Fake Diesel and Fake Razor, nothing was good about this. It was just Jacobs dressed as Diesel and doing the same moves.
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Feb 1, 2013 13:52:17 GMT -5
Decent roster of talent, although most of them lacked any sort of credibility and name value among fans, especially when compared to the nWo over in WCW.
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babyfootball
Don Corleone
At least as good as Ron Garvin!
Posts: 1,320
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Post by babyfootball on Feb 1, 2013 16:34:34 GMT -5
To be fair, when business started picking up in 1998 (along with the ascension of Stone Cold, the Rock and eventually HHH), the roster was still pretty darn crappy. They had lost Bret, HBK and Pillman (though he isn't listed here). Their roster didn't really get top-to-bottom siginificantly more talented until around when the Radicalz jumped in 1999. A lot of gimmick changes helped matters, too, as stated a few comments before mine.
WCW's roster, on the other hand, was completely stacked, with all the top guys of course, the cruiserweights, international stars (some full- and some part-time) and tons of other low carders with name recognition from the end of the territories and Hogan-era WWF. Once the Radicalz jumped (and Jericho before them) and a lot of the other younger talent realized their upward mobility was being completely stifled, eventually WCW's talent roster would become pretty dire. WCW 2000 (and 2001) had a roster of some stale top guys, some career midcarders getting strange pushes (Jeff Jarrett), and a whole bunch of guys who, if you weren't watching at exactly that time period, you'd have never heard of before, or since.
Just goes to show that when your booking is bad, it doesn't matter what you got going on roster-wise, and if your booking is good (though imo a lot of the Attitude Era booking was also not so great), you will get the most out of whatever actual talent is available. ECW of course was also a great example of this, taking a lot of guys who had never been established elsewhere (or had failed runs in the national companies) and showing them in the best light and giving them opportunities (until they tanked as well, which is what happens when you've pushed the envelope as far as you can).
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2013 17:07:19 GMT -5
To be fair, when business started picking up in 1998 (along with the ascension of Stone Cold, the Rock and eventually HHH), the roster was still pretty darn crappy. They had lost Bret, HBK and Pillman (though he isn't listed here). Their roster didn't really get top-to-bottom siginificantly more talented until around when the Radicalz jumped in 1999. A lot of gimmick changes helped matters, too, as stated a few comments before mine. WCW's roster, on the other hand, was completely stacked, with all the top guys of course, the cruiserweights, international stars (some full- and some part-time) and tons of other low carders with name recognition from the end of the territories and Hogan-era WWF. Once the Radicalz jumped (and Jericho before them) and a lot of the other younger talent realized their upward mobility was being completely stifled, eventually WCW's talent roster would become pretty dire. WCW 2000 (and 2001) had a roster of some stale top guys, some career midcarders getting strange pushes (Jeff Jarrett), and a whole bunch of guys who, if you weren't watching at exactly that time period, you'd have never heard of before, or since. Just goes to show that when your booking is bad, it doesn't matter what you got going on roster-wise, and if your booking is good (though imo a lot of the Attitude Era booking was also not so great), you will get the most out of whatever actual talent is available. ECW of course was also a great example of this, taking a lot of guys who had never been established elsewhere (or had failed runs in the national companies) and showing them in the best light and giving them opportunities (until they tanked as well, which is what happens when you've pushed the envelope as far as you can). The WCW and ECW examples can't really be applied to the argument that's presented as both went under due to financial woes. ECW for bad money management & organisation, WCW as Time-Warner didn't want them on the air regardless of WCW's fantastic ratings (in comparison to other shows making their ad space a lot more expensive) at the time. If Time-Warner kept WCW on the air then they would have stayed for a few years longer, Hell, they might still be going today.
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Post by thelonewolf527 on Feb 1, 2013 17:36:08 GMT -5
I counted 42. Do they have that may on the roster now? I remember them having the supposed entire roster in the ring at one time for an announcement in 98 or so it seems and it didn't look like there were that many. Well let's list who was there in the beginning of 1998: Ahmed Johnson Animal Bart Gunn Billy Gunn Blackjack Bradshaw Blackjack Windham Bob Holly Farooq Flash Funk Goldust Hawk Headbanger Mosh Headbanger Thrasher Henry Godwinn Hunter Hearst Helmsley Jesse Jammes Mankind Marc Mero Owen Hart Phinneas Godwinn Rocky Maivia Saivo Vega Salvatore Sincere Shawn Michaels Steve Austin The Undertaker Vader Take these guys and add: Ken Shamrock, DOA (3), Los Boricuas (3), Mark Henry, Kama Mustafa, D'Lo Brown, Taka Michinoku, Brian Christopher, Scott Taylor, Kurrgan, Sniper, Recon, Chainsaw Charlie, Jeff Jarrett, Jacques Rougeau, Pierre Oulett, plus a whole bunch of light heavyweights so it had to be well over 50.
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Post by donbot on Feb 1, 2013 17:36:58 GMT -5
To be fair, when business started picking up in 1998 (along with the ascension of Stone Cold, the Rock and eventually HHH), the roster was still pretty darn crappy. They had lost Bret, HBK and Pillman (though he isn't listed here). Their roster didn't really get top-to-bottom siginificantly more talented until around when the Radicalz jumped in 1999. A lot of gimmick changes helped matters, too, as stated a few comments before mine. WCW's roster, on the other hand, was completely stacked, with all the top guys of course, the cruiserweights, international stars (some full- and some part-time) and tons of other low carders with name recognition from the end of the territories and Hogan-era WWF. Once the Radicalz jumped (and Jericho before them) and a lot of the other younger talent realized their upward mobility was being completely stifled, eventually WCW's talent roster would become pretty dire. WCW 2000 (and 2001) had a roster of some stale top guys, some career midcarders getting strange pushes (Jeff Jarrett), and a whole bunch of guys who, if you weren't watching at exactly that time period, you'd have never heard of before, or since. Just goes to show that when your booking is bad, it doesn't matter what you got going on roster-wise, and if your booking is good (though imo a lot of the Attitude Era booking was also not so great), you will get the most out of whatever actual talent is available. ECW of course was also a great example of this, taking a lot of guys who had never been established elsewhere (or had failed runs in the national companies) and showing them in the best light and giving them opportunities (until they tanked as well, which is what happens when you've pushed the envelope as far as you can). I personally think WWF's roster picked up in the later half of 1998, when the Attitude Era was fully established. Don't let the 1999 Royal Rumble fool you, other than it being badly booked, the crappy names dominated the first half of the match, while the top names were brought in the second half. Very lopsided. As far as 1997 goes, looking back at it in retrospect, it was a pivotal year for the company. If you stoped watching in January and came back in December, you'd be amazed how much has changed. It was actual a nice balance between New Generation and Attitude, but sometimes they clashed horribly, but they weren't afraid to take risks, which I feel is missing in today's shows.
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CM Dazz
King Koopa
Chuck
Posts: 10,475
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Post by CM Dazz on Feb 1, 2013 18:08:12 GMT -5
Plenty of future stars there, but it was still a transitional roster IMO. Not as bad as it was just before and not as good as it would eventually get. I'd be curious to see how WCW's roster at the time stacks up.
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Squirrel Master
Hank Scorpio
"Then the Squirrel Master came out of left field and told me I'm his bitch!"
Posts: 6,689
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Post by Squirrel Master on Feb 1, 2013 19:23:47 GMT -5
Some of these fellows were superb in other territories; highly capable of putting on great matches, yet they flopped in WWF. Tracy Smothers, Furnas & LaFon, Savio Vega, 2Cold Scorpio, Marc Mero and Hawk & Animal were neutered during this timeframe. Especially Vader was misused, and I was hoping that he'd rule with an iron fist.
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DavidArquette
Don Corleone
The actor formerly known as avanteproject
Posts: 1,542
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Post by DavidArquette on Feb 1, 2013 19:34:32 GMT -5
Great roster, honestly, but at that time the gimmicks were terrible for the most part. A couple of months later that roster made RAW unmissable
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Lardlad
El Dandy
Live reaction to @WWE #WWENetwork
Posts: 8,272
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Post by Lardlad on Feb 3, 2013 12:32:04 GMT -5
If I could watch any time period in WWF over and over, this roster would more or less be what I would chose to watch.
Anything from 1994 until 1997 really. I wish there were more home video releases that focused on a roster like this.
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Snowman
Dennis Stamp
The "Called His Mama at WrestleMania" Guy
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Post by Snowman on Feb 3, 2013 13:42:13 GMT -5
The biggest surprise for me is that only 5 of those guys are dead.
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Post by Manute Bol on Feb 3, 2013 15:13:58 GMT -5
...that sounds like it was either really horrible or really good because it's Glenn Jacobs who makes anything work. Nothing worked for him in his WWE career until he became Kane. Isaac Yankem and Fake Diesel were both typical New Generation Era crap.
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Post by Loser troll. Please ban me on Feb 3, 2013 19:24:20 GMT -5
A year earlier...
The WWF roster for December 1996 was as follows: "The Brooklyn Brawler"Steve Lombardi, Brett "Hitman" Hart, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, Luke Williams, Butch Miller, The Undertaker, "The King of Harts" Owen Hart, Barry Horowitz, The Sultan, Yokozuna, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, Savio Vega, Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, "The Portugese Man 'o War" Aldo Montoya, Henry Godwinn, "Sycho"Sid Justice, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, "Goldust" Dustin Rhodes, Leif Cassidy, Ahmed Johnson, Marty Jannette, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Tom Pritchard, Phineous I. Godwinn, Big Van Vader, Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, Mankind, "The Wildman" Marc Merro, Salvatore Sincere, T.L. Hopper, Alex "The Pug" Porteau, Freddy Joe Floyd, " The Time Bomb" Brian Pillman, "Farrooq Asad" Crush, "The Goon" "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry, "The Stalker" Barry Windham, Jacob Grimm, Jared Grimm, The New "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel, Razor Ramon, "Double J" Jesse James Armstrong, "The Executioner" Phil LaFon, Doug Furnas, Flash Funk, Rocky Miavia, Wolfie D., J.C. Ice, Mosher, Thrash, Achiem Albright
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2013 19:56:44 GMT -5
And to think, many of those guys were excluded from the Rumble match and replaced with the infinitely more interesting luchadores. And Horowitz was still there in Feb '97? Wow. I know he was demoted back to jobber in '96 but figured he was long released by that point.
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