Jul 2020
Well since Box went into nostalgia mood here is one from me.
I have long lost interest in American wrestling. I guess 1991 must have been the last year I followed it fanatically; But I believe at that moment it wasn't shown frequently any more on the European channels (like Eurosport) and I got other interests. I mean trained of guys putting on a fake wrestling match where the winner was already decided before the start... However all respect to these guys as they had to workout like 5 hours a day to become fit, strong and pull of those impressive moves. But it must have been 1989-1990 that I tried to watch as much as I could. It was called WWF back in that day. What is it called now? I know it changed to WWE later on. Oh yeah on occasion I saw wrestling shows from other federations which even had the occasional female match-ups. They didn't have the appeal of the WWF show.
Just want to know which of the guys/girls you still remember. Did you have any favorites or wrestlers you disliked. I never got that good guys/bad guys thing. It often caused me to root for the bad guys when I thought the supposed good one was a wanker. Besides the good guys were not always fair either.
From the top of my head I remember
Ultimate Warrior: was the reigning champ at that moment until he lost out to SGT Slaughter because the Macho Man intervened, he was spectacular but also a show off; He was like the guy everyone loved but I had other favorites.
Hulk Hogan: I remember he had a long title fight with the above guy lost and than took the title away from SGT Slaughter, I never was a fan sorry Zed
SGT Slaughter: I wonder if anyone actually liked his character, however him being an all American GIJoe it was hard for him to play the guy supporting the Middle East. I think he must have been a really likable guy in real.
Earthquake: I guess he was the fist one I saw in a match against some jobber. He was the guy nobody could get down. Loved him haha. And yeah he had a long feud with Hogan but in real they went along very well I heard.
Dino Bravo: yeah he was a show off banging on his chest like a gorilla. However being good mates with Earthquake made him cool anyway.
Jimmy the Superfly: was he the one making the jungle sounds, I always liked that tiger leotard.
Jake the Snake: Well the snake thing was cool but I somehow found him boring
Macho Man: his arrival was always grotesque even though my eyes were mostly on his manager Cher
Big Boss Man: I think he must have been the only guy at that point to make a policeman look cool.
Koko B Ware: as a fighter not much to shout about but yeah the parrot was cool
Barbarian: strong guy but seemed to lack personality
Texas Tornado: won intercontinental fight against Mr Perfect. always seemed like a lesser version of Ultimate Warrior to me
Mr Perfect: well he had that thing where he spit and tried to hit it with his hand. Complained a lot but somehow liked him.
Tugboat: I really found him a buffoon. That Toooot thing argh. Was first good mates with the Hulk. Later on formed a Tag team wih former rival Earthquake, the Natural Disasters as Typhoon but I lost interest by that time.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan: oh dear I loved that guy. He was my favorite. His entrance yelling Hoooooo and the plank. He was an entertainer who knew how to engage the audience.
The Undertaker: well I did not experience him becoming champion but yeah he definitely didn't seem like the guy to mess with. He was cool except for Bobby the Brain being his manager. Worthy champion later on I think.
The Warlord: cool costume but just like Barbarian didn't seem to have much personality
Akeem: I believe he was the one playing the Africa theme even though he was a white guy. Didn't see much of him, seemed fun.
Tito Santana: well seemed popular playing the Italian guy but he always struck me as king of the jobbers at best together with Koko.
Jumping Jim Brunzel: was played out as jobber but apparently was pretty popular before. I liked that he actually showed great resistance against the established fighters.
Million Dollar Man: hard to like but inventing an own belt because you cannot win a real championship, genius. The guy you love to hate and has to be there to spice things up.
Virgil: former manager of Million Dollar Man until they fell out and became a wrestler himself under the wings of Roddy Rowdy Piper. I would be surprised he would have had a long career.
Roddy Rowdy Piper: I never actually saw him wrestle unless the fight in They Live counts. The Scottish thing was kinda weird but OK.
The British Bull Dog: the coming man at the time. I believe he was in the running to fight Mr Perfect for the intercontinental title.
Brooklyn Brawler: mostly a jobber, seemed like a dude having escaped from the videogame Final Fight
Andre the Giant: too bad I never saw him fight. Made for a very likable character in the Princess Bride. I imagine he would have made a great asset to a movie like Freaks.
Saba Simba: played the African tribesman. Saw him once, he was ok.
The Mountie: supposed to be the Canadian Big Boss Man, pretty boring
The Viking: I was already losing interest when he made his entrance. I believe he was also called the Berzerker.
The Honky Tonk Man: I only remember him from the tag team Rhytmenblues (spelling?) and forgot his partner's name. I liked the Elvis impression. Never sure he was supposed to be the villain or good guy.
Dusty Rhodes: seemed to have a long rivalry with the Macho Man, I think he was already end of career with his son Dustin taking over.
The Playboy: his name had to be a joke as there is no way women would fal for that fattie boy who despite his weight fought like a wimp in the ring. One of the better jobbers and yeah liked him.
Battlekat: small but quick guy wearing tiger's mask. He was cool but I think his career was short
Rick the Model: ok he wasn't really popular however that spray he had spreading 'arrogance' was awesome. I think he was one of the best wrestlers out there. Just like Million Dollar Man the guy you hate but would miss if he were absent.
Ravishing Rick Rude: remember him from losing a title fight against Ultimate Warrior. Had that hip shaking to seduce the ladies and I belive his own face on the ass part of his pants. Wasn't a fan.
Bad News Brown: Other than being a rival of Jake the Snake I don't remember much of him. Would definitely fit in Bad Boys movies.
From Tag Teams I remember
The Rockers: yeah their music was cool but I wasn't a fan of them. Shawn Michaels went on to become a champion later I heard. Marty Janetti seemed like the guy being there for a quick cash in
Orient Express: Well the guys certainly looked Asian. I remember one having long hair the other a bearded later being replaced with a guy with red mask. Cato, Sanako I guess were their names. Also an Asian Manger Dr. Fuji I believe? Loved their martial art moves.
The Bushwhackers: those guys were extremely popular. If any tag team could make the audience move it were these guys. You could just not hate them. Bush and Luke yeah!
Legion of Doom: my favorite tag team. Even though they were the good guys their names, the way they were dressed and painted you would think otherwise. Hawk and Animal (Spider painted) great.
Demolition: Smash, Crush and Ax the only tag team made of 3 at the time. They were the reigning champs until Heartfoundation beat them in a rather controversial way I believe. Supposedly villains but I think they were actually pretty popular and I liked them.
Heartfoundation: Jim the Anvil seemed always more like a villain to me with that devilish beard. I liked him but his partner Bret the Hitman I found a wimp. I mostly remember for his mirror glasses he gave away to someone in the audience before a match started. I believe later on he formed a tag team with Hercules.
Power of Glory: Hercules was defintely one of the strongest guys out there. Played out as villain first but thankfully he would become a goodie later. His partner Paul Roma seemed more like a poor Rick the Model impersonator.
The Nasty Boys: I forgot the guy's names. I struggle to remember what they looked like too.
I have long lost interest in American wrestling. I guess 1991 must have been the last year I followed it fanatically; But I believe at that moment it wasn't shown frequently any more on the European channels (like Eurosport) and I got other interests. I mean trained of guys putting on a fake wrestling match where the winner was already decided before the start... However all respect to these guys as they had to workout like 5 hours a day to become fit, strong and pull of those impressive moves. But it must have been 1989-1990 that I tried to watch as much as I could. It was called WWF back in that day. What is it called now? I know it changed to WWE later on. Oh yeah on occasion I saw wrestling shows from other federations which even had the occasional female match-ups. They didn't have the appeal of the WWF show.
Just want to know which of the guys/girls you still remember. Did you have any favorites or wrestlers you disliked. I never got that good guys/bad guys thing. It often caused me to root for the bad guys when I thought the supposed good one was a wanker. Besides the good guys were not always fair either.
From the top of my head I remember
Ultimate Warrior: was the reigning champ at that moment until he lost out to SGT Slaughter because the Macho Man intervened, he was spectacular but also a show off; He was like the guy everyone loved but I had other favorites.
Hulk Hogan: I remember he had a long title fight with the above guy lost and than took the title away from SGT Slaughter, I never was a fan sorry Zed
SGT Slaughter: I wonder if anyone actually liked his character, however him being an all American GIJoe it was hard for him to play the guy supporting the Middle East. I think he must have been a really likable guy in real.
Earthquake: I guess he was the fist one I saw in a match against some jobber. He was the guy nobody could get down. Loved him haha. And yeah he had a long feud with Hogan but in real they went along very well I heard.
Dino Bravo: yeah he was a show off banging on his chest like a gorilla. However being good mates with Earthquake made him cool anyway.
Jimmy the Superfly: was he the one making the jungle sounds, I always liked that tiger leotard.
Jake the Snake: Well the snake thing was cool but I somehow found him boring
Macho Man: his arrival was always grotesque even though my eyes were mostly on his manager Cher
Big Boss Man: I think he must have been the only guy at that point to make a policeman look cool.
Koko B Ware: as a fighter not much to shout about but yeah the parrot was cool
Barbarian: strong guy but seemed to lack personality
Texas Tornado: won intercontinental fight against Mr Perfect. always seemed like a lesser version of Ultimate Warrior to me
Mr Perfect: well he had that thing where he spit and tried to hit it with his hand. Complained a lot but somehow liked him.
Tugboat: I really found him a buffoon. That Toooot thing argh. Was first good mates with the Hulk. Later on formed a Tag team wih former rival Earthquake, the Natural Disasters as Typhoon but I lost interest by that time.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan: oh dear I loved that guy. He was my favorite. His entrance yelling Hoooooo and the plank. He was an entertainer who knew how to engage the audience.
The Undertaker: well I did not experience him becoming champion but yeah he definitely didn't seem like the guy to mess with. He was cool except for Bobby the Brain being his manager. Worthy champion later on I think.
The Warlord: cool costume but just like Barbarian didn't seem to have much personality
Akeem: I believe he was the one playing the Africa theme even though he was a white guy. Didn't see much of him, seemed fun.
Tito Santana: well seemed popular playing the Italian guy but he always struck me as king of the jobbers at best together with Koko.
Jumping Jim Brunzel: was played out as jobber but apparently was pretty popular before. I liked that he actually showed great resistance against the established fighters.
Million Dollar Man: hard to like but inventing an own belt because you cannot win a real championship, genius. The guy you love to hate and has to be there to spice things up.
Virgil: former manager of Million Dollar Man until they fell out and became a wrestler himself under the wings of Roddy Rowdy Piper. I would be surprised he would have had a long career.
Roddy Rowdy Piper: I never actually saw him wrestle unless the fight in They Live counts. The Scottish thing was kinda weird but OK.
The British Bull Dog: the coming man at the time. I believe he was in the running to fight Mr Perfect for the intercontinental title.
Brooklyn Brawler: mostly a jobber, seemed like a dude having escaped from the videogame Final Fight
Andre the Giant: too bad I never saw him fight. Made for a very likable character in the Princess Bride. I imagine he would have made a great asset to a movie like Freaks.
Saba Simba: played the African tribesman. Saw him once, he was ok.
The Mountie: supposed to be the Canadian Big Boss Man, pretty boring
The Viking: I was already losing interest when he made his entrance. I believe he was also called the Berzerker.
The Honky Tonk Man: I only remember him from the tag team Rhytmenblues (spelling?) and forgot his partner's name. I liked the Elvis impression. Never sure he was supposed to be the villain or good guy.
Dusty Rhodes: seemed to have a long rivalry with the Macho Man, I think he was already end of career with his son Dustin taking over.
The Playboy: his name had to be a joke as there is no way women would fal for that fattie boy who despite his weight fought like a wimp in the ring. One of the better jobbers and yeah liked him.
Battlekat: small but quick guy wearing tiger's mask. He was cool but I think his career was short
Rick the Model: ok he wasn't really popular however that spray he had spreading 'arrogance' was awesome. I think he was one of the best wrestlers out there. Just like Million Dollar Man the guy you hate but would miss if he were absent.
Ravishing Rick Rude: remember him from losing a title fight against Ultimate Warrior. Had that hip shaking to seduce the ladies and I belive his own face on the ass part of his pants. Wasn't a fan.
Bad News Brown: Other than being a rival of Jake the Snake I don't remember much of him. Would definitely fit in Bad Boys movies.
From Tag Teams I remember
The Rockers: yeah their music was cool but I wasn't a fan of them. Shawn Michaels went on to become a champion later I heard. Marty Janetti seemed like the guy being there for a quick cash in
Orient Express: Well the guys certainly looked Asian. I remember one having long hair the other a bearded later being replaced with a guy with red mask. Cato, Sanako I guess were their names. Also an Asian Manger Dr. Fuji I believe? Loved their martial art moves.
The Bushwhackers: those guys were extremely popular. If any tag team could make the audience move it were these guys. You could just not hate them. Bush and Luke yeah!
Legion of Doom: my favorite tag team. Even though they were the good guys their names, the way they were dressed and painted you would think otherwise. Hawk and Animal (Spider painted) great.
Demolition: Smash, Crush and Ax the only tag team made of 3 at the time. They were the reigning champs until Heartfoundation beat them in a rather controversial way I believe. Supposedly villains but I think they were actually pretty popular and I liked them.
Heartfoundation: Jim the Anvil seemed always more like a villain to me with that devilish beard. I liked him but his partner Bret the Hitman I found a wimp. I mostly remember for his mirror glasses he gave away to someone in the audience before a match started. I believe later on he formed a tag team with Hercules.
Power of Glory: Hercules was defintely one of the strongest guys out there. Played out as villain first but thankfully he would become a goodie later. His partner Paul Roma seemed more like a poor Rick the Model impersonator.
The Nasty Boys: I forgot the guy's names. I struggle to remember what they looked like too.
I still keep up with WWE but the product has gotten so stale, repetitive, and at times, too kid friendly to watch regularly, but I still watch the pay-per-views, which are really no longer pay-per-views since they have their own streaming service (the WWE network), which the shows come with, along with their entire library as well as the library from about 8 or 10 other (dead) promotions. Pretty good deal.
Do you get AEW over there? They launched last year. It's the first big time promotion to come along in about 20 years, which is getting people back into wrestling a little. Pretty good stuff going on. They're already in a battle with WWE over TV ratings.