Ludvig Borga (AKA Tony Halme)

[wankah]

Remember Ludvig Borga? That Finn who hated US? Here's a reminder of him in the old WWF:

link

EDIT: Please don't embed videos of WWE footage unless it's from their official accounts.


He came out to the tune of Finnish national anthem. 

Somewhere along the line, he decided that he'd be a boxer and had a couple of pouts in the ring. Never anything special, but he did beat a few guys - though the question was whether they was jobbing to him or not as them fights were pretty ridiculous. 

Anyhow, made himself a name, a knowledgeable brand and he got himself a music career:


 

Then he got into politics and killed it there - was the crowd favorite in the noughties, and got into the parliament. Then came them usual problems - 'roid rage etc., and he was accused of shooting his wife with a shotgun, being a douche and so forth. Quite soon after that he took his own life.

Remember him?

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

I was fascinated by him as a kid, for reasons that completely elude me in the modern day. Serviceable brawler, but nothing else.

[Deleted]

I hated old Viggy back when I was a tot but I must admit in hindsight he was right on a lot of stuff but I still hold a grudge for him ending the undefeated streak of Tatanka.

[Sephiroth]

He told us Americanks what vas REALLY going on here!

[Mozenrath]

I never really knew about him until I already knew he was a white supremacist, so I can't really give an unbiased view of him as a wrestler.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Has there ever been a reason given why he left the WWF? I know he suffered an ankle injury just prior to Royal Rumble 1994, but he just ended up never coming back even after he healed up. Even when he was injured they had him originally scheduled to face Earthquake at WrestleMania X before he got pulled again, so I guess they had plans at one point at bringing him back. His run was always very strange and mysterious to me. Debuts in the summer and gets a big push where he ends Tatanka's undefeated streak and is programmed against Luger who they were trying to push as their next big face, then gets hurt and before you know it is gone after only about six months in the company.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

I'm pretty sure a character who criticizes America for its pollution would be a face today.

But yeah, Tony Halme seemed like an awful person in real life. I do remember Jim Ross outright stating when Halme died that he was an obnoxious bully and wasn't nice to be around, something that felt totally out of JR's character to say.

[Capt Lunatic]

Remember when he fought Randy Couture in the UFC. His strategy seemed to be "I'm bigger than him."

Did not work out for Mr.Borga

[MolotovMocktail]

Feb 13, 2016 20:02:51 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

Has there ever been a reason given why he left the WWF? I know he suffered an ankle injury just prior to Royal Rumble 1994, but he just ended up never coming back even after he healed up. Even when he was injured they had him originally scheduled to face Earthquake at WrestleMania X before he got pulled again, so I guess they had plans at one point at bringing him back. His run was always very strange and mysterious to me. Debuts in the summer and gets a big push where he ends Tatanka's undefeated streak and is programmed against Luger who they were trying to push as their next big face, then gets hurt and before you know it is gone after only about six months in the company.

I just think his injuries forced him to retire. Did he ever wrestle outside the WWF after he left?

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Feb 13, 2016 23:52:55 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

Feb 13, 2016 20:02:51 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

Has there ever been a reason given why he left the WWF? I know he suffered an ankle injury just prior to Royal Rumble 1994, but he just ended up never coming back even after he healed up. Even when he was injured they had him originally scheduled to face Earthquake at WrestleMania X before he got pulled again, so I guess they had plans at one point at bringing him back. His run was always very strange and mysterious to me. Debuts in the summer and gets a big push where he ends Tatanka's undefeated streak and is programmed against Luger who they were trying to push as their next big face, then gets hurt and before you know it is gone after only about six months in the company.

I just think his injuries forced him to retire. Did he ever wrestle outside the WWF after he left?

Apparently he wrestled for the Catch Wrestling Association, an Austria and Germany based promotion, from 1995 to 1997 before retiring. The injury he had doesn't seem like something that would keep him sidelined for him too long. From what I've heard about him, I'm guessing backstage issues played a part in his departure.

[Big Bad Kahuna]

Could have been HUGE if he wasn't a massive retarded douchebag bully irl

Had the look, the charisma and the intensity to become a bigtime player

There were even rumours that he was supposed to become WWF champ in 1994, before he got injured in January

Ending Tatanka's long undefeated streak in such a heelish and decisive manner was HUGE at that point in WWF (fall/winter 1993), when nothing really important took place. Great booking

[zappa]

He always looked like an extreme right wing white supremacist to me.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

The main thing I remember about him was my dad asking if he was Jari Kurri's cousin. A question that will land with about 5 of you, I'm sure.

[SmashTV]

I thought he looked like an absolute monster in the ring; he wasn't the biggest, but seemed very intense and focused and looked like he could genuinely hurt people. I expected a long run for him, with some of it as a big player. I was as surprised as anyone when he just suddenly vanished.

[brody]

Tatanka was my favorite wrestler in 1993, so watching him get destroyed made me

I was bothered seeing Tatanka lose battle royals in the Apter Mags house show results and getting all worked up too.

[evilone]

I never understood what WWE saw in him to get that much of a push especially over Tatanka.

I think I did see him somewhere in Japan with Scott Norton as Tony Halme after WWE.

[Sephiroth]

I also recall reading Vince had plans for him to actually had a short run with the WHC. I believe the original plan "Made in the USA Lex Luger" was that Yokozuna would drop the belt to Undertaker, then Undertaker would drop it to Borga, and Borga would then drop it to Luger at Wrestlemania. But Halm getting injured and the "Lex Express" tour fizzling out put the axe on those ideas. But wanting to put the belt on him explains why he was the one to end Tatanka's undefeated streak and why he was briefly teased at winning the IC belt over Razor Ramon.

For my part, I consider the evil foreigner to be a gimmick that will always have its place. People claim it can't work today because of political correctness and how corny it seems-but I think Rusev and Lana put paid to that notion. It can still work if done properly. But Ludvig Borga was not. To start with, the USA has never had any real problems with Finland; some might try to point to the fact that Finland was allied with Germany in WWII, but I doubt very many in the US today are aware of that, and probably couldn't even point out where Finland is on a map. And Borga's stated motivations for trashing on the USA-that he hated the pollution-made no sense whatsoever. It really is symbolic of how cartoony and over top that era was.

[________ has left the building]

I'm glad none of the bookers in WWF made a match between him and Barry Horowitz.

[Nickybojelais]

I think the words of Bobby Heenan sum up Borga

"Million Dollar body, ten cent mind"

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

Feb 13, 2016 23:52:55 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

Feb 13, 2016 20:02:51 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

Has there ever been a reason given why he left the WWF? I know he suffered an ankle injury just prior to Royal Rumble 1994, but he just ended up never coming back even after he healed up. Even when he was injured they had him originally scheduled to face Earthquake at WrestleMania X before he got pulled again, so I guess they had plans at one point at bringing him back. His run was always very strange and mysterious to me. Debuts in the summer and gets a big push where he ends Tatanka's undefeated streak and is programmed against Luger who they were trying to push as their next big face, then gets hurt and before you know it is gone after only about six months in the company.

I just think his injuries forced him to retire. Did he ever wrestle outside the WWF after he left?

Yeah. One match for what had to be the last of Herb Abrams' UWF shows, and then a handful of matches in Germany.