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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Mar 30, 2022 12:49:13 GMT -5
I remember at one point when TNA was falling apart it looked like Ken Anderson would be the biggest star in the company. Some folks piled on about how big of a dumpster fire that made TNA…then Anderson peaced out while some other name guys were still there.
Also, not the biggest star, but I remember an old “If WCW Survived” thread. Some poster went into great detail about just who would be left and who they realistically would sign. I remember the cruiserweight division looked incredible, but there biggest main event heel would be…Rick Steiner.
As far as things that actually happen Bret Hart being the face of the WWF at least by 1993-1994, if not when he first won the title in 1992. I love Bret and over time he became my second favorite wrestler ever. However it was very weird at the time to go from all these larger than life muscled freaks like Hogan, Warrior, etc to our humble Canadian hero.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Mar 30, 2022 14:26:52 GMT -5
In a matter of weeks Bradshaw going from veteran low-card tag guy to having Smackdown built around him.
Drew McIntyre being the top babyface in WWE during the pandemic and actually doing a great job with it. No one would have predicted that a year or even 6 months earlier.
Justin Credible dominating ECW in 2000. They lost a lot of big names in quick succession (Taz, Sabu, Awesome, Storm, Raven) and the story goes that Heyman pushed the hell out of the likes of Credible, Corino and CW Anderson because he didn't think they were as likely to be poached away. You have to imagine 2000 would have finally been RVD's year to get a run with the main title if he didn't miss so much of it with injury and exploring acting stuff (and in the end I think he simply wasn't appearing as much because Heyman's checks were bouncing).
EC3 being the top guy in TNA. He was fine but he never struck me as a build your company around/give a 2 year undefeated streak to kinda guy.
There's always been something a little off with Nick Aldis being the marquee attraction of any company, even if the NWA isn't what it used to be.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Mar 30, 2022 14:49:30 GMT -5
In a matter of weeks Bradshaw going from veteran low-card tag guy to having Smackdown built around him. Drew McIntyre being the top babyface in WWE during the pandemic and actually doing a great job with it. No one would have predicted that a year or even 6 months earlier. Justin Credible dominating ECW in 2000. They lost a lot of big names in quick succession (Taz, Sabu, Awesome, Storm, Raven) and the story goes that Heyman pushed the hell out of the likes of Credible, Corino and CW Anderson because he didn't think they were as likely to be poached away. You have to imagine 2000 would have finally been RVD's year to get a run with the main title if he didn't miss so much of it with injury and exploring acting stuff (and in the end I think he simply wasn't appearing as much because Heyman's checks were bouncing). EC3 being the top guy in TNA. He was fine but he never struck me as a build your company around/give a 2 year undefeated streak to kinda guy. There's always been something a little off with Nick Aldis being the marquee attraction of any company, even if the NWA isn't what it used to be. I think I was the only one who bought into Justin Credible being THE GUY in ECW. Not to be too hard on Justin, but It was a case of trying to pass off cat food as filet mignon. Justin was booked incredibly in ECW. The guys who should’ve put him over did put him over, he was the focus of main event storylines, and had a worthy entourage. But like with cat food trying to pass for something better you can season it, give it great sides, and lay it out with beautiful presentation. But when you bite into it, it’s obviously not filet mignon. |
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Post by Mid-Carder on Mar 30, 2022 15:04:08 GMT -5
JBL in 2004 and Mark Henry in 2011 both reeked of "oh shit...will this guy do?" to me
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 30, 2022 15:19:37 GMT -5
You can argue WWE hasnt had a "The Guy" at all since Roman turned heel and that's f***ing bizarre to say. I suspect not having a single strong Babyface has really hurt WWE
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Post by ChitownKnight on Mar 30, 2022 15:20:42 GMT -5
More so awesome than weird but imagine 1996 white meat babyface that does cool moves Eddie Guerrero being World champion of the wwe just 8 years later and carrying the Smackdown brand
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Post by DSR on Mar 30, 2022 15:43:58 GMT -5
In a matter of weeks Bradshaw going from veteran low-card tag guy to having Smackdown built around him. Drew McIntyre being the top babyface in WWE during the pandemic and actually doing a great job with it. No one would have predicted that a year or even 6 months earlier. Justin Credible dominating ECW in 2000. They lost a lot of big names in quick succession (Taz, Sabu, Awesome, Storm, Raven) and the story goes that Heyman pushed the hell out of the likes of Credible, Corino and CW Anderson because he didn't think they were as likely to be poached away. You have to imagine 2000 would have finally been RVD's year to get a run with the main title if he didn't miss so much of it with injury and exploring acting stuff (and in the end I think he simply wasn't appearing as much because Heyman's checks were bouncing). EC3 being the top guy in TNA. He was fine but he never struck me as a build your company around/give a 2 year undefeated streak to kinda guy. There's always been something a little off with Nick Aldis being the marquee attraction of any company, even if the NWA isn't what it used to be. Not to be too hard on Justin, but It was a case of trying to pass off cat food as filet mignon. Justin was booked incredibly in ECW. The guys who should’ve put him over did put him over, he was the focus of main event storylines, and had a worthy entourage. But like with cat food trying to pass for something better you can season it, give it great sides, and lay it out with beautiful presentation. But when you bite into it, it’s obviously not filet mignon. I was a big fan of his at the time, too. |
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Post by GodzillaIsMyMonster on Mar 30, 2022 15:47:54 GMT -5
Count me in as another who loved Credible. He was a great ECW champion. His main event with Lance Storm is one of my favorite ECW matches.
Speaking of Lance, he was pretty much the top heel in WCW for a while. I remember thinking he was going to be a big challenge to Booker T. But they threw it away on a Nitro.
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Mar 30, 2022 16:36:19 GMT -5
Sheamus. He more or less has the tools but I can never remember a crowd totally losing their shit for him.
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Post by James Fabiano on Mar 30, 2022 16:39:32 GMT -5
Global did this a lot when Eddie Gilbert and everyone else left, leaving the Grey Pierson Era behind.
They took tag team wrestler Scott Putski and gave him the North American title, then when HE left, another tag team wrestler Rod Price. Who lost it to tag team wrestler Stevie Ray.
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Post by Cyno on Mar 30, 2022 17:55:49 GMT -5
Jeff Jarrett going from midcard heel in WWF to multiple time world champion in the dying days of WCW.
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Feyrhausen
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Feyrhausen on Mar 30, 2022 18:11:23 GMT -5
You can argue WWE hasnt had a "The Guy" at all since Roman turned heel and that's f***ing bizarre to say. I suspect not having a single strong Babyface has really hurt WWE Heel focused territories have rarely worked. The biggest I can recall was Detroit under the Sheik and once people got tired of his hardcore schtick it was over. And dont say the NWA. It may have had heels on top but the NWA was not a territory, it was a group of them. And the actual territories around the country were almost all face focused. Having a heel champ meant no face vs face matches to split the audience against their local favorite. |
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Mar 30, 2022 18:34:58 GMT -5
You can argue WWE hasnt had a "The Guy" at all since Roman turned heel and that's f***ing bizarre to say. I suspect not having a single strong Babyface has really hurt WWE Drew was still the guy for a bit while Roman was heel. But since Drew lost the title... yeah... they've not really treated any faces as important. Also as it's been stated the WWE has never really been a Heel promotion even as far back as Vince Sr. it was always based around the superman face. |
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Post by nickcave on Mar 30, 2022 18:38:12 GMT -5
Jarrett dominating the first half of TNA's history was always the most annoying part of that era
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BorneAgain
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Post by BorneAgain on Mar 30, 2022 18:56:47 GMT -5
One thing Credible had going for him was that he was never a cool heel that ECW fans would ever be inclined to cheer for. I think even 1994 suspenders wearing Tommy Dreamer could have gone against him and the crowd would have reluctantly cheered for the former.
It's interesting that Booker T ended up getting main event pushes due to very unlikely company circumstances not once, but twice. The first time essentially was Russo's Hail Mary to revitalize WCW and spotlight guys he wanted in such blatant conditions (Booker's a great star so he's wrestling for the WCW title tonight) that it's hard to imagine that happening in the same way again.
The second occasion was when a very unlucky set of circumstances (Christian quitting, Eddie's death, Batista's injury, Kennedy hurt, Orton suspension, Benoit taking time off, Angle moved to ECW) meant he was basically one of the few notable names left on SD circa spring 2006 that could be reasonably put in a main event slot. He made the most of it, and King Booker run finally got him out of the unmotivated run he fell into after WM XIX, but just if just one or two things go another way, and it likely doesn't happen.
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Post by ChitownKnight on Mar 30, 2022 20:19:54 GMT -5
Triple H as the guy in 2008 was also kind of weird after having submitting to the younger Cena 2 years prior and then getting his win back before going to smackdown
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