2009 Running Pro Wrestling Thread

One phenom I can think of is Wendi Richter.

She was in the business for 4-5 years as an ordinary heel. Then she turns face, teams up with Cindi Lauper (who was one of the biggest celebs at the time, hard to believe) and actually main evented an MSG card. She also was in what was probably the second biggest match at the first Wrestlemania.

Then she got in a contract dispute with Vince, got screwed out of the title ("The Original Screwjob") and walked out. She spent the rest of her career in the failing AWA and other small independent organizations.

 

Neither Austin nor The Rock fit that mold. Austin was in WCW from '91 to '94 before Bischoff bounced him out; he reinvented himself in ECW before moving over to the WWF, finally broke out of Vince's prefab heel mold in 1996 and spent the next 7 years as the main face of the WWF. Rock was an overnight success .. if by "overnight" you mean "debuted in 1996 as an overpushed rookie face the fans hated, finally got over as a heel two years later and eventually turned into a monster face a year after that and spent 4 years at the top of the charts."

Warrior just sucked. And he just wouldn't go away.

Who came and went like you suggested? Goldberg and Lesnar. Two guys, one gimmick.

 

I suggested Rock and Austin because their prime years were short. Maybe four or five years apiece. Same with Warrior. They didn't have long careers at the top (or in general) like some of the other top guys I can think of. Triple H, Undertaker, HBK, Hogan, Flair, to name a few. At their peak, they were as hot as any of those guys or hotter. They just didn't stick there as long.

 

Bobby Lashley?

 

Not sure he had a big enough impact. Yeah, he was a champion. But he's not a household name like some of the others mentioned.

 

Both Austin and Rock's prime careers were shortened by choice. Austin's body was just too beat up, and Rock decided to go to Hollywood.

The other guys you listed, with the exception of 'Taker, pretty much owed their extended runs at the top thanks to the ability to play office politics, whether it was marrying the boss' daughter or creating a clique of friends.

Hogan and Flair kept their runs at the top in the 80s because they deserved it. However, by the 90s, Hogan was using his name to keep him on top, and Flair had faded. He was still good, but by the 2000s, he was benefiting from his friendship with Trips.

 

All true. But like it or not wrestling is a business where longevity is based, in part, on keeping the powers that be happy.
Those guys I named were just a few off the top of my head who had had 10-15 year (or longer) careers and maintained their popularity the whole time. For the definition of a phenom, I was thinking more of the shooting star types who came along, were at the top for a few years, then went away -- by choice or circumstance.
Even Lesnar and Goldberg more or less left by choice. Neither one of them is plugging away on the indy circuit right now.

 

Quick aside: I tried RVD's podcast last week. (I hope I haven't already mentioned this.)

What rambling crap it was.

 

Well, I think that subtopic has gone stale. On another note, it's Monday! Time for Raw. Any notes or predictions for tonight?

WWE.com has two matches announced for tonight so far. Edge will battle Big Show and Triple H will battle Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase in a handicap match.

We're less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania 25, yet, I'm not really feeling the hype. WWE is going an excellent job on building the Orton/Triple H match, but the Edge/Cena/Big Show love triangle storyline is overdone and boring the hell out of me. The storyline is likely to die immediately after WM and never be heard of again, but I say good riddance.

I know a lot of you hate JBL, but I hope they start pushing a match for him soon considering a lot of sources are confirming that JBL does indeed plan on retiring after Wrestlemania. Love or hate the guy, hell of a career.

 

I just wish we'd stop getting guys on the wrong brand appear on the other show.

 

Until Wrestlemania passes, that's not likely. Actually, the draft will happen in mid-April so likely that'll continue a bit after WM, too.

 

The hype has been OK. I think every year, there are a few grumblings about how the booking could be better. But it's been pretty logical this year, with the exception of the Jericho thing, which has been discouraging. Happy to see Miz/Morrison get a match and I'm interested to see how the TLC match plays out with the bizarre mix of wrestlers.

As far as the triple threat match goes, it isn't selling the PPV. It should be the third-to-last match, before Undertaker-HBK and Orton-HHH, which I personally see main-eventing. It's hard to see the feud being built on intensity, since Orton-HHH have so much of it in their title feud. It's more of a light-hearted rivalry in a soap opera context between Big Show and Edge, with Cena thrown in for crowd response and unpredictability. He has served his purpose by revealing the tape of Show/Vickie, as well as getting under the skin of both guys.

If they went with Edge vs. Cena straight up...well, it's been done before. Many, many times before. It'd still likely be a MOY candidate, since the two have unmatched chemistry, but with the addition of Big Show/Vickie/current storyline, it completely changes the context and freshness of the match.

As far as JBL goes, hopefully he gets rides off into the sunset after his WrestleMania match. I'm not a fan, but I heard he is investing money into OVW, which is definitely a good thing for the business.