Old School/Classic Wrestling

[Gryphon]

You know what, It might be good here.

[JCAll]

Yea, lets get the discussion back to old school wrestling.

Favourite old school tag team?

For me, it was the best, The Road Warriors.

The Bushwhackers!
...
What? Those guys were hilarious.

[GozertheGozarian]

The Bushwhackers!
...
What? Those guys were hilarious.

The Bushwackers were a full 180 from their UWF and WWC stuff as the Sheepherders.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

Yea, lets get the discussion back to old school wrestling.

Favourite old school tag team?

For me, it was the best, The Road Warriors.

For me?

Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody, although Brody was the weak link in that team, in terms of work-rate. They were the monster heel tag team that was almost impossible to beat.

I also liked:

Koloffs
Stan Hansen & Ole Anderson
"Maniac" Matt Borne & "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer (their stint in WCCW)
Road Warriors
The Midnight Express (didn't like them when I was young, but I see what a fluid team of performers they were when watching old footage of them now)

And I have to mention, the best one-shot tag team I've seen is Stan Hansen & Jesse Ventura. The way they worked together in one match made it look like they'd been a tag team for years.

As a kid, I liked Demolition. The costumes and entrance music really make them fun. As an adult looking back on them though, they obviously weren't the greatest tag team in the world.

Of course they weren't. It was a washed up Masked Superstar, with a slightly less washed up Krusher Kruschev, being made into a cheap WWF knockoff of the Road Warriors.

The Bushwackers were a full 180 from their UWF and WWC stuff as the Sheepherders.

You can't discount the Sheepherders run in Southwest and the NWA territories. Cousin Butch wasn't there, but Cousin Luke & Cousin Jonathan were wreaking havoc in both Florida & Southwest. Cousin Butch finally came back from Australia in the later part of the Sheepherders run in Southwest.

If you ever want a good laugh, try to find footage of the Sheepherders in Portland. I think it was their first run in America. Cousin Luke & Cousin Butch had shoulder length hair and were feuding with the likes of Roddy Piper & Rick Martel.

[Gryphon]

Once the wwf had the road warriors, demolition quickly went away.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

Once the wwf had the road warriors, demolition quickly went away.

Pretty much, although I didn't care for the WWF version of the Road Warriors......They changed their leather outfits w/sharp metal spikes for football shoulder pads w/plastic spikes.

I've always felt an important part of pro wrestling is aesthetics, and that really bothered me, even when I was a kid.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Does '80s/early '90s WWF and even WCW & ECW count here? I was actually gonna suggest a thread for those eras too (hoping this is the one).

Well yeah, it should. I mean, it's been twenty to thirty years.

[Blueferret]

No Mega Powers love? I don't care how cheesy they were as a team they could cut some of the best promos out of anyone.

[Gryphon]

It would be like Randy Orton and John Cena forming a tag team now.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

How about everyone's favorite old-school heels, and old-school faces?

For me....


Heels:
"The Magnificent" Don Muraco ---One of the best at drawing heat. I hated him when I was a kid, but, realized how good of a heel he was, later in life, when watching old footage of Muraco. One of the rare guys who was both great on the mic and great in the ring. His best years were from the early to mid-80s, during his long stints in the WWF, as well as in the Georgia territory for the NWA. He was at his best in the WWF, until they turned him into a face.

Gino Hernandez ---Similar to Muraco, he was one of the best at drawing heat. Hateful and arrogant promos. He would've been a lot better if he focused on ring-work a little bit. As you can see, in this match against Brad Armstrong, he could work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjQ_vMH3GpY (better footage exists, but this is the only footage of the match I could find on youtube)

Gino chumming it up with Roddy during Gino's short stint in Georgia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfKG9...eature=related

Gino had better interviews in Southwest & WCCW, but the good ones don't seem to be on youtube......And, had he not died, he would've been a shoe-in as an eventual member of the 4 Horsemen.......When Gino was in Southwest, he was tag team partners with Tully Blanchard. Blanchard wasn't that great on the mic back then, and it's obvious that Blanchard's time with Gino helped brush his mic skills up later in his career.

Rick Rude ---When he started to become a heel, he was green in Memphis, but when he got to Florida and WCCW, he started becoming first rate, complete with Sade's "Smooth Operator" as his walk-in music. I felt his gimmick was a little too over-the-top in the WWF, but he hit his prime, workrate-wise, in the WWF.

Stan Hansen ---The madman from Borger, Texas. A monster heel who was at his best in Japan, as well as the time around his championship run in the AWA. I also liked his run in Memphis, when he kept running roughshod over Austin Idol.

"Adorable" Adrian Street ---Arrogant Brit who modernized the gay gimmick in pro wrestling. Dustin Rhodes owes his Golddust gimmick to Adrian Street, as does Adrian Adonis for the stint he had in the WWF with a similar role......And, a little known fact, Randy Savage's valet & robe attire gimmicks, in the WWF, were taken from Adrian Street. Here are a few clips of Adrian:

Adrian Street's music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhLK6XPKCs

confronted by Jimmy Valiant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrY3IseLelM

One of my favorite Adrian Street lines, which isn't on youtube, was when he said (in a strong British accent, of course), "All you American women need to go to India, where you'll be worshipped for the cows that you really are."

"Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer ---He was probably at his best from '83-'86 (From his later days in Georgia to his stint in Mid-South/UWF). Don't judge him by his stint in WCW in '89, he was a shadow of his former self then.

"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin ---A fun, arrogant heel who popularized the valet gimmick. I felt he was at his best during his run in WCCW.

Nikita Koloff ---He was great during his initial run in WCW. Then they turned him into a babyface and he was horrible. His later runs were crap as well.

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff ---One of the heels who helped make Hogan's career flourish. Arrogant tough-guy who could beat any of the babyfaces. Best part of his career was that big run in the WWF against Hogan. Similar to Sawyer, you can't judge him by his crap runs in WCW & UWF, later in his career.

The Great Muta ---He showed glimpses of his potential when he was in WCCW, then he broke out in that first big run in WCW. One of the coolest Japanese gimmicks in pro wrestling. He was essentially Great Kabuki 2.0 ....A version of the Great Kabuki who had actual athletic talent, better work-rate, and a better look.

Roddy Piper ---He was at his best during his prime in the WWF, when he was Hulk Hogan's biggest rival.

"Maniac" Matt Borne (his run in World Class)

These guys I liked both as babyfaces & heels:
Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Bruiser Brody
Randy Savage

Austin Idol ---Hulk Hogan got some pieces of his gimmick from Idol, such as "Hulkamania" (Idol would talk about "Idolmania" in his interviews, in Georgia, around '81) and the "24-inch pythons" schtick (Idol passed that idea off to Hogan when Hogan was going through the NWA territories early in his career)......Dwayne Johnson has stated he patterned his character, The Rock, after Idol. Here's a video montage of Idol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqSDlWmaFm4


Faces:
Kevin Von Erich ---Horrible on the mic, but had some great moves for that time period (80s). He was good until around '85. Later in his career, his physique deteriorated and it was obvious he didn't want to be there.

Rick Martel ---I always liked his championship run in the AWA. He was a quality babyface champ, and the AWA was able to use the Quebec territories for his big hometown matches.

[Gryphon]

Kevin was the lucky one to get out when he did. He is the only one in his immediate family to have survived the industry.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

Kevin was the lucky one to get out when he did. He is the only one in his immediate family to have survived the industry.

He was still active when all the others died. He just seemed to be working half-assed at the time (Both in the gym and in the ring), and probably dwindled down his drug consumption.

I guess he was also the most mentally stable of the brothers, although you can give Kerry leeway for needing to be drugged up due to the pain in his injured leg.

I do remember a story Matt Borne gave about Kevin being so drugged up one day he ran over his daughter in the driveway.

As far as the Von Erichs go, what I never understood is why David didn't seem to do roids. Kerry & Kevin were obviously using (Especially Kerry), but if David ever juiced then he had horrible genetics, because he had no physique to speak of.......He was the best on the mic, as far as the Von Erich brothers go, although Fritz (Their father) was better than all his sons.

[Aubergine~!]

Yea, lets get the discussion back to old school wrestling.

Favourite old school tag team?

Steiner Brothers.

The Road Warriors were complete badasses, the Rockers were fantastic to watch, the Hart Foundation had an awesome look, and the Bushwackers were hilarious, but the Steiners looked like they were going to legit kill people every single time they stepped in the ring.

And honorable mentions to the Headshrinkers and the Natural Disasters.

Also, if we're counting late WCW as old school, nods to the West Hollywood Blondes, the Dancing Fools, and the epic that was 3Count.

[Alex]

Little Alex loved The Rockers, and was very very very upset when micheals turned on Marty.
Especialy since i was at the age when i thought wrestling was real still.

[Aubergine~!]

Little Alex loved The Rockers, and was very very very upset when micheals turned on Marty.
Especialy since i was at the age when i thought wrestling was real still.

...

I'm really hoping 'Little Alex' is you talking about yourself as a kid.