Why not Macho Man as Crazy Old Man in 1994 instead of Bob?

[The Rick Jericho]

Same storyline, Macho snaps at Bret after a title match.

His 1995, he works with all the new generation guys like Razor, Bret, Diesel, HBK and Undertaker.

He had more upside and name value than Bob Backlund, so what this a missed opportunity?

And with Vince feeling that Macho was too old, here's Backlund who probably was OLDER and he got the WWF title.

Anyone else wish Randy Savage played crazy old man instead of Bob?

[Feyrhausen]

Macho left because Vince didnt want him to wrestle any more. If Vince had proposed crazy old man Macho he might have gone for that but who can say if that idea had even occurred to Vince yet.

[BlackoutCreature]

Savage was way too popular to pull something like that off at the time. It would've ended with the fans siding with Savage and turning on all the faces.

[karl100589]

I was gonna create a new thread about it, but I’ll post it here. Why did Vince give up on Champion Backlund so quickly. They did wonders building Bob up as this unhinged wildcard boasting one of the most feared moves in the sport, and he was mega over as a heel. So why undo that with the quick title change? Did they panic at the subdued reaction at SS94?

Give him a run until the Rumble when Diesel beats him.

[thecrusherwi]

Why not Randy Savage doing the crazy out of touch old man gimmick?

[BlackoutCreature]

Nov 26, 2021 18:29:43 GMT -5 karl100589 said:

I was gonna create a new thread about it, but I’ll post it here. Why did Vince give up on Champion Backlund so quickly. They did wonders building Bob up as this unhinged wildcard boasting one of the most feared moves in the sport, and he was mega over as a heel. So why undo that with the quick title change? Did they panic at the subdued reaction at SS94?

Give him a run until the Rumble when Diesel beats him.

Vince, and the WWWF/WWF/WWE in general, have never been a promotion that liked to run long-term with heel champions (at least not back then). Flair's reigns apparently did not do what Vince was hoping they'd do, and Yokozuna's lengthy reign wasn't exactly a high point for business either. I'm guessing Vince just wanted his hero champion again as soon as he could.

[HMARK Center]

I'd wager it had more to do with Backlund and Savage feeling like they came from different eras, despite not being that far apart in age. Savage had a lot more "TV years" on him for the national audience, but Backlund felt like an absolute territory throwback in a way that the loud, growly, technicolor Savage wasn't, so having straight-laced Backlund put across as an old man who snaps during the modern era might've just worked better. That, and it gave Bob's character an edge that he lacked when he first came back in '93. Savage, meanwhile, was too beloved, and Vince was dead-set on having his "Babe Ruth" wrestler he could trot out a few times a year for marquee matches but otherwise keep out of the ring for the most part, so once Hogan was gone he had Randy ticketed for that spot.

No doubt, though, Savage wanted nothing more than to put guys like Bret and Shawn over in interesting programs. All anyone has to do is see the work he put into the DDP feud in WCW a couple of years later, dude was chomping at the bit to build new stars, and it sucks because Savage circa '94-'97 could still go and had plenty to offer on that front, but Vince refused to see it. Wonder if some of that was lingering annoyance at Savage's in-ring work dipping in '92 during his and Liz's divorce, but Savage proved him wrong until he ended up hurting his knee in that stupid Hogan/Piper cage match in WCW.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

Because Bob never ate marijuana and Macho Man had.

[Deleted]

I think that the story being told was more or less "Remember that lame milquetoast Backlund guy who looked like Howdy Doody? Haha, Isn't he quain... oh dear God he's an absolute sadist maniac who can tie you in knots"

Randy Savage was way too over-the-top to ever be able to pull that kind of character off.

Side note, but can you imagine the absolute clinics we would have seen if Bob had been just 10 years younger? Backlund vs Angle, Backlund vs. Eddie... hell, flip the script and imagine crazy old man "I'VE STILL GOT IT" Bob Backlund vs Brock in a psuedo-face role.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Nov 26, 2021 18:13:09 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Macho left because Vince didnt want him to wrestle any more. If Vince had proposed crazy old man Macho he might have gone for that but who can say if that idea had even occurred to Vince yet.

Yet Prichard swears up and down that Savage didn’t want to wrestle anymore and they really wanted him to.

[petef3]

I think Savage was too important from a charity/personal-appearance/ambassador/endorsement standpoint to turn heel in 1994. 1997 when he actually did turn was a different universe.

[MrElijah]

Nov 26, 2021 19:32:55 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I'd wager it had more to do with Backlund and Savage feeling like they came from different eras, despite not being that far apart in age. Savage had a lot more "TV years" on him for the national audience, but Backlund felt like an absolute territory throwback in a way that the loud, growly, technicolor Savage wasn't, so having straight-laced Backlund put across as an old man who snaps during the modern era might've just worked better. That, and it gave Bob's character an edge that he lacked when he first came back in '93. Savage, meanwhile, was too beloved, and Vince was dead-set on having his "Babe Ruth" wrestler he could trot out a few times a year for marquee matches but otherwise keep out of the ring for the most part, so once Hogan was gone he had Randy ticketed for that spot.

No doubt, though, Savage wanted nothing more than to put guys like Bret and Shawn over in interesting programs. All anyone has to do is see the work he put into the DDP feud in WCW a couple of years later, dude was chomping at the bit to build new stars, and it sucks because Savage circa '94-'97 could still go and had plenty to offer on that front, but Vince refused to see it. Wonder if some of that was lingering annoyance at Savage's in-ring work dipping in '92 during his and Liz's divorce, but Savage proved him wrong until he ended up hurting his knee in that stupid Hogan/Piper cage match in WCW.

Give me '97 Austin vs. Savage.

[thegatewaydrug]

Savage was indeed three years younger than Mr. Backlund, but carried an extra decade of TV age.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2021 21:32:29 GMT -5 petef3 said:

I think Savage was too important from a charity/personal-appearance/ambassador/endorsement standpoint to turn heel in 1994. 1997 when he actually did turn was a different universe.

I agree with this. Savage could do the angry crazy out for vengeance character way better, but the wwf was in a bad place with mainstream pr at the time, and were doing every charity thing they could at the time to look good, and macho was their most well known mainstream guy at the time, after hulk left.

I like bob, and his story made perfect sense (coming back for his title after being screwed out of it), but his style of wrestling was more technical/he's going to out wrestle you, where savage would get mad and just start attacking and punching. But real life needed randy to stay the good guy face of the company.

[jimmyjames]

I think Macho Man was too current and well known. Fans were used to seeing him whereas Backlund was from a different pre-tv time. Plus Macho was always crazy and out there and that's what made him so popular.

[jason1980s]

Turning heel was the best thing for Bob's career, probably even better than being champion for so long. He was so out of place in WWF at the time and probably would have been out of place in WCW as well. He was like a throwback to the Gordon Solie era and Solie would soon be gone from WCW. If Bob hadn't turned heel I can't see him lasting much longer. They rarely used him on PPVs either but after the turn he got another year out of wrestling, the short manager role and has done the occasional special appearance where I truly wonder if he's blurring the lines of kayfabe or if he is legit nuts. At autograph signings he puts people in the chicken wing and stays in character almost the whole time when fans are watching so he puts on a show and I'm sure that keeps him being brought in again whereas babyface, Opie Bob Backlund I can't see being much of an attraction at shows.

[Woo]

Nov 26, 2021 18:29:43 GMT -5 karl100589 said:

I was gonna create a new thread about it, but I’ll post it here. Why did Vince give up on Champion Backlund so quickly. They did wonders building Bob up as this unhinged wildcard boasting one of the most feared moves in the sport, and he was mega over as a heel. So why undo that with the quick title change? Did they panic at the subdued reaction at SS94?

Give him a run until the Rumble when Diesel beats him.

Because Vince saw money in the cool heel Diesel so does what he always does and turned him into a bland face. He thought Diesel beating Backland in dominant fashion would make Diesel their next big star. In the end it killed Nash and Bob.

[fw91]

Macho Man didn’t speak with such enhanced vernacular

[Aceorton]

I don't see Savage taking very well to the idea of being portrayed as "the old man" who was being left in the dust by the cool young athletes. Jealousy of Bret, Diesel or Shawn? Sure. No one played a jealous lunatic better than Savage. He would have been great in any feuds with jealousy as the driving force. But making it about age tells the audience, "Hey, this guy is actually old," and Savage would have wanted no part of that. It would have stained anything he planned to do later.

With Backlund, he *was* a representation of an older era, and his age had already been played up as a novelty gimmick, so it made more sense.

Although I do have to laugh: Backlund was only 44-45 during his big push in 1994 and they acted like he was eligible for the senior soup discount. Brock Lesnar is 44 now. So is Jeff Hardy. So is A.J. Styles. Lashley is 45. Sheamus is 43. Orton, Nakamura and Baszler are 41. Balor is 40. By 1994 standards, these guys are all candidates for the retirement home.

[The Ichi]

Nov 26, 2021 18:55:52 GMT -5 BlackoutCreature said:

Nov 26, 2021 18:29:43 GMT -5 karl100589 said:

I was gonna create a new thread about it, but I’ll post it here. Why did Vince give up on Champion Backlund so quickly. They did wonders building Bob up as this unhinged wildcard boasting one of the most feared moves in the sport, and he was mega over as a heel. So why undo that with the quick title change? Did they panic at the subdued reaction at SS94?

Give him a run until the Rumble when Diesel beats him.

Vince, and the WWWF/WWF/WWE in general, have never been a promotion that liked to run long-term with heel champions (at least not back then). Flair's reigns apparently did not do what Vince was hoping they'd do, and Yokozuna's lengthy reign wasn't exactly a high point for business either. I'm guessing Vince just wanted his hero champion again as soon as he could.

Also Backlund sucked and Bret hated working with him.