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Post by Feargus McReddit on Jan 17, 2022 9:26:37 GMT -5
1. People tend to not like having a light shined on the, less appealing, aspects of society. So of course they were going to boo him. The fact that he would cheat constantly in matches added to that. 2. Vince doesn’t do subtlety and his thinking is stuck back in the 1980’s in many ways. So of course The gimmick was going to get watered down. This was well before his in ring debut and at the time the gimmick was debuting…yeah, people were going to boo it regardless, unfortunately. And that’s all the politics I can go into but if you know about the politics of the time, there was only going to be one outcome.
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Post by King Devitt and the Woke Mob on Jan 17, 2022 9:26:46 GMT -5
For the people who don't think Ali could be a main eventer, I'm like...have you heard his promos? have you seen him wrestle?
On top of being Aces in both of those categories, the man has charisma, and is the absolute prototype you want in someone representing your company. It's like the PR gods parted the clouds and gifted you Titus O'Neil and Mustafa Ali. Capitalize on that.
Tell me him being pushed, winning the Rumble, and going on to face...let's say...AJ Styles at WM wouldn't be the best freaking match all year.
The guy should be a mega-star, be it in wrestling or outside of it. A good dude, who stuck by his morals in the face of racist ass Vince McMahon?!!
Good for him. Let him go. And let him shine somewhere else.
WWE doesn't deserve him.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 17, 2022 10:10:47 GMT -5
That guy should have been one of their cornerstones. To have him in a position to where he wants out is one more example of how shitty that place is.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 17, 2022 10:29:39 GMT -5
Danielson is a big fan so he’d probably get picked up by AEW if he’s interested. Impact would give him a more instant push but it appears like he wants more creative control. Twitter statement implies he has a bit of time left as if it was expiring he’d just keep quiet and run down the clock, making it public means he wants to push WWE into granting his wish for good PR. Which could work, could completely backfire, depends what mood Vince is in. If Hollywood then all the best but hope he’s realistic that it’s going to be starting from zero. Rock and Batista were bigger names with more charisma (and Rock was in some stinkers for his first few years) and when Marvel or DC get around to casting their first Desi superhero they’re probably going to cast someone from Bollywood to get a billion extra eyes on the film. As a leading man sure, but Kozlov of all people is making a comfortable living as "henchman guy 5" in a bunch of movies and doesn't have 1/100th of Ali's charisma.
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Jan 17, 2022 10:35:36 GMT -5
Danielson is a big fan so he’d probably get picked up by AEW if he’s interested. Impact would give him a more instant push but it appears like he wants more creative control. Twitter statement implies he has a bit of time left as if it was expiring he’d just keep quiet and run down the clock, making it public means he wants to push WWE into granting his wish for good PR. Which could work, could completely backfire, depends what mood Vince is in. If Hollywood then all the best but hope he’s realistic that it’s going to be starting from zero. Rock and Batista were bigger names with more charisma (and Rock was in some stinkers for his first few years) and when Marvel or DC get around to casting their first Desi superhero they’re probably going to cast someone from Bollywood to get a billion extra eyes on the film. As a leading man sure, but Kozlov of all people is making a comfortable living as "henchman guy 5" in a bunch of movies and doesn't have 1/100th of Ali's charisma. Forget Koslov, Kurrgan’s been in fight scenes with Robert Downey Jr, Henry Cavill, Madds Mikkelson AND Ryan Reynolds and the only notable thing he did was carry around a Cartman doll to ICP.
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Post by polarbearpete on Jan 17, 2022 10:39:02 GMT -5
As a leading man sure, but Kozlov of all people is making a comfortable living as "henchman guy 5" in a bunch of movies and doesn't have 1/100th of Ali's charisma. Forget Koslov, Kurrgan’s been in fight scenes with Robert Downey Jr, Henry Cavill, Madds Mikkelson AND Ryan Reynolds and the only notable thing he did was carry around a Cartman doll to ICP. Hey, Golga/Earthquake was the Cartman fan!
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Jan 17, 2022 10:41:07 GMT -5
Forget Koslov, Kurrgan’s been in fight scenes with Robert Downey Jr, Henry Cavill, Madds Mikkelson AND Ryan Reynolds and the only notable thing he did was carry around a Cartman doll to ICP. Hey, Golga/Earthquake was the Cartman fan! Two things; 1. My bad but this does take away something Kurrgan might have been known for so I guess he was alright with swaying his arms? And 2. Has anyone given a reason why known commodity Earthquake came back to the WWF in masks during the late 90s not once but twice?
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pinja
Unicron
Posts: 3,125
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Post by pinja on Jan 17, 2022 10:43:05 GMT -5
Kozlov and Kurrgan are character actors. You look at them, you know what to cast them as. I'd think wrestling isn't too different from acting there: If you're really talented, but lack in presence and/or have a bland look, you'll fight an uphill battle, but when you succeed, your success is sustainable. Cornette quite rightfully said about Sid that he's the guy you make a million with in one night, while Arn Anderson is the guy you make ten million with in ten years or something to that extend.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Jan 17, 2022 10:50:25 GMT -5
Danielson is a big fan so he’d probably get picked up by AEW if he’s interested. Impact would give him a more instant push but it appears like he wants more creative control. Twitter statement implies he has a bit of time left as if it was expiring he’d just keep quiet and run down the clock, making it public means he wants to push WWE into granting his wish for good PR. Which could work, could completely backfire, depends what mood Vince is in. If Hollywood then all the best but hope he’s realistic that it’s going to be starting from zero. Rock and Batista were bigger names with more charisma (and Rock was in some stinkers for his first few years) and when Marvel or DC get around to casting their first Desi superhero they’re probably going to cast someone from Bollywood to get a billion extra eyes on the film. As a leading man sure, but Kozlov of all people is making a comfortable living as "henchman guy 5" in a bunch of movies and doesn't have 1/100th of Ali's charisma. Kozlov/Kurrgan/Kevin Nash are big intimidating guys who can easily play henchmen without needing to be great actors so they get consistent work. There's not a lot of people in Hollywood who have that 7ft, 300 lb monster look so if they want that they have to look to bodybuilders/wrestlers. What specific role would Ali get that a casting director wouldn't just hire a regular/experienced actor for? I love Ali and if he wants a Hollywood career I hope he succeeds but looking at past history, the only wrestlers who really made it in Hollywood are guys with larger than life physiques (Rock/Cena/Batista, Andre with Princess Bride too). I guess maybe Roddy Piper was an exception but he was mostly B movies and not mainstream. Even Steve Austin one of the most charismatic dudes ever didn't really amount to much in acting.
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Jan 17, 2022 10:57:00 GMT -5
I mean, as much as I love the guy, Batista fits more in the former category than the latter. Like, he’s a name but as a side character or a henchman. When he’s the lead, he hasn’t exactly drawn in the punters (even if one of the movies he was in got delayed due to the pandemic and then brought by Amazon Prime to fill a slot).
Cena’s really borderline too. He’s great at playing a certain character depending on the role but The Marine and 12 Rounds weren’t exactly Welcome to the Jungle, never mind Red Notice.
What I’m saying is that “‘making it” has a way broader definition than we’re giving them credit for. Kurrgan keeps getting work because he can do what is expected and, really, he’s made it in that regard. Hell, the fact people still reference They Live to this day means that Piper has too.
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Post by Texas Tornado on Jan 17, 2022 11:19:58 GMT -5
If the Blade tweets are any indications It will be cool to see Musfafa Ali breakout in Hollywood Ali's tweet graphics of "goals much bigger than pro-wrestling" had me thinking he's done with wrestling and moving on to other things. Certainly at face value. I don't think it's that so much as I think the only thing he has the option to do in WWE is wrestle. Anything he'd want to do outside of the business would be up to Vince's discretion, and for someone as creative as Ali, that's going to kill a lot of his dreams. I wouldn't be surprised if he just wants to have a bigger voice in and out of the business. With the way WWE operates, that's not possible at all.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Jan 17, 2022 11:26:23 GMT -5
I mean, as much as I love the guy, Batista fits more in the former category than the latter. Like, he’s a name but as a side character or a henchman. When he’s the lead, he hasn’t exactly drawn in the punters (even if one of the movies he was in got delayed due to the pandemic and then brought by Amazon Prime to fill a slot). Cena’s really borderline too. He’s great at playing a certain character depending on the role but The Marine and 12 Rounds weren’t exactly Welcome to the Jungle, never mind Red Notice. What I’m saying is that “‘making it” has a way broader definition than we’re giving them credit for. Kurrgan keeps getting work because he can do what is expected and, really, he’s made it in that regard. Hell, the fact people still reference They Live to this day means that Piper has too. The Marine was actually relatively more successful than Welcome to the Jungle/The Rundown. That was a huge bust making $80m on a $85m budget while The Marine wasn't a money sink like that, making $22m on a $15m budget. 12 Rounds also made $17m on a $6m budget while Walking Tall made $57m on a $46m budget. When you compare the relative size of the productions Cena's movies were probably way more profitable to the studio than Rock's. Those Rock movies would've probably lost money overall. As far as being a bankable leading man the beginning of Rock's career was pretty rough after The Scorpion King. Doom was a massive flop and a lot of his other movies underperformed at the box office too. It wasn't until after F5 he became what he is now. I agree that you don't have to be a leading man to make it/be successful. Unfortunately my fear is that Ali won't even make it to Kurrgan levels of getting consistent work. Again, I hope I would be wrong but how many wrestlers have left WWE in the past 10-15 years and spoken about wanting to get into acting? It rarely if ever pans out for them.
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Post by Shy Guy on Jan 17, 2022 11:33:32 GMT -5
Cena’s really borderline too. He’s great at playing a certain character depending on the role but The Marine and 12 Rounds weren’t exactly Welcome to the Jungle, never mind Red Notice. Neither was The Tooth Fairy, or Doom. Everyone has to start somewhere
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Post by Texas Tornado on Jan 17, 2022 11:35:26 GMT -5
As a current actor, the business is random as hell. Ali can make it purely off of the fact that he has the money and television experience to get himself an agent and the proper equipment to do good self-taped auditions.
His WWE experience could be a complete non-factor as to whether or not he succeeds (or doesn't) in that field. Getting acting jobs comes down to luck and the ability to nail it once you do get those calls.
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Jan 17, 2022 11:35:32 GMT -5
Cena’s really borderline too. He’s great at playing a certain character depending on the role but The Marine and 12 Rounds weren’t exactly Welcome to the Jungle, never mind Red Notice. Neither was The Tooth Fairy, or Doom. Everyone has to start somewhere I mean, Tooth Fairy was a moderate success from what I remember regardless of critic reviews. And I’m not saying it couldn’t happen but my wider point is that if that’s his spot, nothing wrong with that spot. You can make a tonne of money in that spot. He probably made a killing being the tattoo’d guy that came to Tina Fey and Amy Pohler’s party in Sisters.
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asuka007
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 23,358
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Post by asuka007 on Jan 17, 2022 11:59:54 GMT -5
I just remember thinking about how BS that finish to MITB was a few years ago. Everyone out there killing themselves in the match, and Ali finally about to get his moment. And then Brock Lesnar just waltzes down and wins at the last minute while Ali needs to look stupid in the process.
Sums up his career, and WWE’s booking, nicely in one fell swoop.
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Post by crowley1986 on Jan 17, 2022 12:42:57 GMT -5
Hey, Golga/Earthquake was the Cartman fan! Two things; 1. My bad but this does take away something Kurrgan might have been known for so I guess he was alright with swaying his arms? And 2. Has anyone given a reason why known commodity Earthquake came back to the WWF in masks during the late 90s not once but twice? iirc he lost a load of weight from his 80s/early 90s run and they didnt think it would be possible to do the Earthquake gimmick again He did appear on heat / dark show matches in 01 or 02
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PrimeTyme
Dennis Stamp
Be Good. Or Be Good At It
Posts: 4,926
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Post by PrimeTyme on Jan 17, 2022 13:31:08 GMT -5
Hey, Golga/Earthquake was the Cartman fan! Two things; 1. My bad but this does take away something Kurrgan might have been known for so I guess he was alright with swaying his arms? And 2. Has anyone given a reason why known commodity Earthquake came back to the WWF in masks during the late 90s not once but twice? Twice? Once as Golga, what was the second time?
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Jan 17, 2022 13:40:40 GMT -5
Two things; 1. My bad but this does take away something Kurrgan might have been known for so I guess he was alright with swaying his arms? And 2. Has anyone given a reason why known commodity Earthquake came back to the WWF in masks during the late 90s not once but twice? Twice? Once as Golga, what was the second time? He was one of the side members of the Truth Commission before they dropped a bunch of them.
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Post by hashtagdaley/JudasDay on Jan 17, 2022 14:16:00 GMT -5
Should have been Ali instead of Kingston. Smh
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