How big could Bagwell have been?

[Sephiroth]

Bagwell is one of those guys who, on one hand seems like a wasted opportunity, and on the other hand seems like a total waste of space. The guy honestly wasn't bad; he had a great look with a terrific body, he was charismatic and over with the crowd, and he was at least passable in the ring, even if he was no four star technical artist. I do think he would have been a much bigger star if he had been booked better. I could have see him as one of the guys who would lead the charge in post-NWO WCW, alongside DDP or Booker T. In particular when he came back from that neck injury I think that really should have been his springboard into the upper card, playing off it as a way to make him a sympathetic babyface who overcame terrible odds.
But on that same note, the guy was just an unprofessional douche backstage, so he brought a lot of it onto himself. I can certainly understand where he may have been frustrated at the lack of upward mobility in WCW, but putting yourself on the outs with everyone in high places is not the way to deal with it. Steve Austin had to be stunning and a ringleader before he became the biggest main eventer of all time, Triple H had to be a snot and HBK's lackey before he was the game, so why Bagwell would think he was supposed to be immune to doing some mid or lower card programs and even having to do the job now and then is beyond me. In the end he is another guy that WCW did not use to their fullest potential.

[SOR]

Bagwell could have been a star definitely. Good height, good looking, good body and was okay on the mic and in the ring.

The issue was WCW never pulled the trigger on him completely until 2001 when they had to.

1998 when he returned he should of gone against the nWo. Rick Steiner should have called Buff out and Buff could have forgiven Rick for hurting him. The two bro hug and Buff is a full blown baby face. WCW did this and later Buff turned heel. He never should have done that. It should have been Buff Bagwell Vs Scott Steiner and that should have been the rise of Bagwell.

1999 they tried again and it was working. Buff beats Piper on a PPV, Beats Flair in a semi main event on Nitro and even beats Randy Savage via disqualification in the main event of Thunder. 2 months later he's fighting Ernest The Cat.

2001 he finally started to get over as a heel with Lex Luger as Totally Buff but obviously the company died and Buff faded into obscurity. I think if Fusient had bought WCW we would have seen a Buff Bagwell title run at some point.

[cabbageboy]

Bagwell was never going to be a main eventer mainly because the guy never improved one iota. In fact he actively got worse. Early in his career he was almost too much of a pretty boy babyface for his own good, though he was at least crisp in the ring. But during the MNW era? No shot. Goofy heel turns, his bad neck injury, the entire horrible Rick Steiner feud, his lousy 1999 babyface run where his mom was all over TV, etc. Sorry, but you can't push the guy after all that crappy booking. Also, can anyone name me a good Bagwell singles match? Ever?

[Deleted]

As big as he was. The guy just didn't have "it" on the level of a Sting or Goldberg. That's not a knock to Bagwell, as he was perfect for his spot, but very, very few guys have that natural star power.

[SOR]

Dec 18, 2013 10:20:01 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

Bagwell was never going to be a main eventer mainly because the guy never improved one iota. In fact he actively got worse. Early in his career he was almost too much of a pretty boy babyface for his own good, though he was at least crisp in the ring. But during the MNW era? No shot. Goofy heel turns, his bad neck injury, the entire horrible Rick Steiner feud, his lousy 1999 babyface run where his mom was all over TV, etc. Sorry, but you can't push the guy after all that crappy booking. Also, can anyone name me a good Bagwell singles match? Ever?

Sure, Bagwell/Disco at Great American Bash 1999 was a good match. He also had a couple of really decent matches with DDP. Regardless, Bagwell didn't have to be a good wrestler, people were going to cheer him because he was a buffed up attractive male.

His mum wasn't all over TV either. I own all of 99 and 00 and to be honest I only remember his mum making appearances in 2000.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Bagwell is a guy who when he was younger seemed like someone who could have developed into quite a talent, on par with guys like Sting and Luger but he stopped progressing and developed attitude issues that meant his push to the moon never came. The moment he became the Buff character, all progress stopped, I think the way he seemed to be thought of, and talked up as the next big thing for so long went to his head, he thought a main event run was guaranteed because he had a great body and was friends with the right people so he didn't need to try harder to stand out.

When the time came to start pushing guys from the midcard, there were a lot of people ahead of Bagwell who were better at just about everything apart from their look, Booker T, Steiner, Jarrett, Kanyon, Benoit and, with the exception of Steiner, they weren't anything like as difficult to deal with behind the scenes. Russo and the WCW booking team had grown weary of guys who would ruin storylines by having match results changed at the last minute, so why would they promote someone to the main event scene who was likely to piss and moan or just not turn up when it came time to losing a title? On top of that, they had a bunch of guys coming up from the powerplant who looked even better than Bagwell, could talk at least as well and were better in the ring to boot.

Despite his mediocrity, Bagwell could have main evented in the dying days of WCW when they were willing to give anyone a shot, or gone on to have had a good WWF/E run but the fact he didn't is all down to him.

Dec 18, 2013 10:27:46 GMT -5 SOR said:

Regardless, Bagwell didn't have to be a good wrestler, people were going to cheer him because he was a buffed up attractive male.

Not really, there have been a lot of buffed up attractive males in wrestling who're every bit as talented as Bagwell that the crowd didn't take to enough to get them out of the midcard. Scotty Riggs, Tom Zenk, Paul Roma, Tom Brandi, Scott Vick, Jim Steele, Kenny Dystra, Rick 'The Renegade' Wilson, Johnny the Bull and so on and so forth. Being a great worker isn't enough to guarantee you'll get over, nor is having a great body, it takes more than that otherwise the WBF would have been a success.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

He had the look and was average at best in both on the mic and he wasn't that good in the ring. Can anybody remember a GREAT Bagewell match? Once he returned from his neck his ok in ring work became worst. His attitude as well got worst. Bagwell NEVER had the it factor to be World Champion. Sure the females cheered him because he was good looking. But as said the WBF would been a success if looks was everything. The guy never had a promo that stands out that says guy I can be the guy. Or did anything in the ring that says hey I have something the fans want.

Yeah he could been champion in the dying says of WCW but then again who would buy into it. It would been more proof WCW is in the crapper. He wasn't going to save the company he would likely drawn people away. Because he wasn't that great.

[Ecks Ecks Ringout Ecks Ecks]

If he really let himself go, I'd say maybe 400-450 pounds.

[Ben Wyatt]

Bagwell will always be one of the bigger 'what ifs' for me. They dropped the ball with him far too many times

[What?]

Buff Bagwell's window to break out was when he broke his neck. The guy was at his peak and was over with the fans. Had he been in the proper storyline, returning from a near career ending injury to get revenge on the stable that made him, then disposed of him, he could have been a big deal. When he went back to the NWO, he pretty much looked like Scott Steiner's girlfriend. I'm not sure if it would have helped Buff be a big deal over the long run, only because the man himself proved to be very immature. But who knows?

[Crappler El 0 M]

He went about as far as he could go.

[Deleted]

f*** the top hat. That is all.

[highfivessteve]

Judy? She wasn't ready, sister...



When Buff returned after the neck injury and jumped out of the wheelchair, I remember going nuts!

[tms]

He really wasn't all that good, although he fit the WWF late 90s "sports entertainer" mold. Both he and Konnan (post Dungeon of Doom) were the two most annoying wrestlers I've ever seen. At least Konnan was an excellent talent in his prime before he phoned everything in and became a fat catchphrase machine. Bagwell had a great finisher and dropkick but that was about it.

[edgestar]

Dude was in AMERICAN MALES! If anything NWO Buff was a downgrade!

[evilone]

Buff and Scott Steiner definitely could have been maineventing post NWO if WCW had survived.

[thegame415]

By the end of 1999, Bagwell should've been one of the focal points of the company, along with Goldberg, Booker T, DDP, Mysterio and Kidman. Those six guys should've been booked as the top stars. Hogan, Nash, Hall, Sting, Flair and Hart should've been used in ways similar to Undertaker, Triple H. Lesnar, etc. now. When one guy goes off TV, put another one on. This way those guys are staying fresh.

In a perfect world, I think Thunder should've been a cruiser weight show with Rey and Kidman as the one and two faces with Eddie and Tajiri (bring him over) as the top heels.

On Nitro, I think Buff could've been the third or fourth biggest face, about equal with Booker T and behind DDP and Goldberg.

Bagwell was so over, and was money with women and little kids (a market WCW should've tapped into). Why they never marketed those hats as a product is beyond me. Sure, they were goofy looking. However, I think kids would've wanted them.

[Kevin Hamilton]

When you hear about the prima donna shit he pulled in WWE, I'm betting the majority of his setbacks were self-inflicted. Couple that with him being a less talented Lex Luger type that had a body and not much else.and he achieved about what he was capable of doing

[Bear Skin Rug]

Dec 18, 2013 9:52:22 GMT -5 SOR said:

1998 when he returned he should of gone against the nWo. Rick Steiner should have called Buff out and Buff could have forgiven Rick for hurting him. The two bro hug and Buff is a full blown baby face. WCW did this and later Buff turned heel. He never should have done that. It should have been Buff Bagwell Vs Scott Steiner and that should have been the rise of Bagwell.

Buff was my favorite at the time and the heel turn just deflated me.

[Digital Witness]

I feel that Bagwell had that quality of someone that you just wanted to see get punched in the face. I think upper-mid card obnoxious heel was his calling. I just can't picture him doing anything else.

With that said, Vicious and Delicious was one of my favorite tag teams of the monday night wars era.