Were there plans for the WBF guys to become wrestlers?

[wildojinx]

Aside from Luger, were there any plans for the WBF guys to become wrestlers? I mean, they gave them gimmicky nicknames and all, and I can see Vince wanting to put at least some of them in the ring (there have been guys who went from bodybuilding to wrestling, so it's not out of the question).

[SmashTV]

I think you’ve answered your own question with ‘I can see Vince...’. The WBF was always doomed to fail, but instead of admitting defeat I imagine Vince wanting to get something from his investment and inserting body builders into wrestling roles.

[Jaws the Shark]

I would guess not, I think the gimmicks and nicknames were McMahon just being really into tacky things, and having the mindset of a wrestling promoter despite wanting desperately not to be seen as one. See also the original XFL.

I'd be interested to know what the long term goal was with the WBF, though. I know almost nothing about bodybuilding but wasn't the big boom in the seventies and early eighties, so the WBF was about a decade too late? Even without the steroid scandal bringing its operations to a premature end I can't really see how it could've survived much longer.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

There were no plans other than Vince taking them to his bear skin rug. The WBF was a colossal failure and more proof that Vince should stick to wrestling.

[Deleted]

I would love to see this covered in Promotion Graveyard on wrestling with wregret.

[Crappler El 0 M]

I don't think any of them ever did become wrestlers. If there were thoughts of it, those thoughts were fleeting at best.

[hassanchop]

Did anyone in the XFL ever planned to become wrestlers?

[Crappler El 0 M]

Jun 7, 2020 18:00:05 GMT -5 hassanchop said:

Did anyone in the XFL ever planned to become wrestlers?

Ricky/Atlas Ortiz didn't just plan to become a wrestler. He had a brief run in WWE (ECW brand) and ended up marrying Layla.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

Jun 7, 2020 18:02:19 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Jun 7, 2020 18:00:05 GMT -5 hassanchop said:

Did anyone in the XFL ever planned to become wrestlers?

Ricky/Atlas Ortiz didn't just plan to become a wrestler. He had a brief run in WWE (ECW brand) and ended up marrying Layla.

Lucky SOB.

[XaviersSS2015hair]

Jun 7, 2020 18:11:33 GMT -5 Hulkshi Tanahashi said:

Jun 7, 2020 18:02:19 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Ricky/Atlas Ortiz didn't just plan to become a wrestler. He had a brief run in WWE (ECW brand) and ended up marrying Layla.

Lucky SOB.

Seriously. One of the worst wrestlers I've ever seen got to marry one of the most beautiful women WWE has ever hired. Further proof that life isn't fair.

[XaviersSS2015hair]

Jun 7, 2020 18:02:19 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Jun 7, 2020 18:00:05 GMT -5 hassanchop said:

Did anyone in the XFL ever planned to become wrestlers?

Ricky/Atlas Ortiz didn't just plan to become a wrestler. He had a brief run in WWE (ECW brand) and ended up marrying Layla.

Ortiz also had a brief run on Smackdown in 2009 but by that point he was jobber to the stars, status. Which should have been his ceiling anyway.

[XaviersSS2015hair]

Jun 7, 2020 17:40:37 GMT -5 @uppitynerd said:

I would love to see this covered in Promotion Graveyard on wrestling with wregret.

Wrestlelamia did a great episode of their Behind the Titantron series on the WBF a couple years ago. It doesn't have the comedic take Zane would have but I highly recommend it nonetheless.

[4real]

Gary Strydom WWF Champion Wowwwwwwwwwww!

[Sephiroth]

Luger’s whole reason for being in the WBF was because he had a one year non-compete clause from WCW. It was just a way to get him under a Titan Sports contract while they waited it out.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

I doubt it. Even Vince is smart enough to know that the kind of physique you needed for the WBF and bodybuilding was one that was completely unsuited to actual athleticism, and they would have ended up injured doing basic things like running the ropes. He threw money at these guys to poach them from more established bodybuilding contests, they wouldn't accept deals that would have lead to them training for another sport and risking major injury in the process.

And then there's that whole steroid thing that was flaring up...

[Deleted]

Jun 8, 2020 2:57:18 GMT -5 XaviersSS2015hair said:

Jun 7, 2020 18:11:33 GMT -5 Hulkshi Tanahashi said:

Lucky SOB.

Seriously. One of the worst wrestlers I've ever seen got to marry one of the most beautiful women WWE has ever hired. Further proof that life isn't fair.

I agree that he's a very lucky dude, but his wrestling skill shouldn't and doesn't have anything to do with how pretty of a wife he can get.

[Stu]

Jun 7, 2020 17:40:37 GMT -5 @uppitynerd said:

I would love to see this covered in Promotion Graveyard on wrestling with wregret.

Behind The Titantron did an episode.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDOiE_gHMWM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcwDk-d1wB0

[Feyrhausen]

Jun 8, 2020 9:14:00 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

Jun 8, 2020 2:57:18 GMT -5 XaviersSS2015hair said:

Seriously. One of the worst wrestlers I've ever seen got to marry one of the most beautiful women WWE has ever hired. Further proof that life isn't fair.

I agree that he's a very lucky dude, but his wrestling skill shouldn't and doesn't have anything to do with how pretty of a wife he can get.

I remember Bryan and Vinny of F4W reviewing an urban themed wrestling show that Ricky was in. They said he was almost unrecognizable but pretty decent. Maybe he is just another guy failed by the WWE developmental system at the time.

[ianriccaboni]

I've talked about this with a few people over the years. Every single one of us thought the WBF bodybuilders were going to eventually wrestle.

[Joe Neglia]

There was never any intention to bring them in as wrestlers, no.