Reading through the Horseman thread yesterday got me thinking about something. Why didn't Rude and Savage cross paths during his first title run? It would have made perfect sense for Rude to be Savage's primarily challenger after DiBiase got his MSG rematch (the match where DiBiase broke his nose, not the steel cage match). It was in Rude's natural personality to chase after Elizabeth and I can imagine those two could have had some pretty good matches even though Rude wasn't considered a great worker just yet (although he proved that when matched with a quality opponent he had the ability). Instead Savage spent most of his post-DiBiase time struggling in matches with Andre.
There is a record of one encounter between the two from Mid-South with Savage playing the face. Five of the ten minutes is major stalling with the exception of Savage executing the mother of all airplane spins. After the stalling it gets pretty good but again it's just a small sample. Find it on YouTube, especially since Savage playing the face in Memphis is quite the sight itself.
Anyway Blog of Doom'ers what do you think? Savage-Rude in the summer of 1988 sound like something that would have gotten asses in the seats?
There is a record of one encounter between the two from Mid-South with Savage playing the face. Five of the ten minutes is major stalling with the exception of Savage executing the mother of all airplane spins. After the stalling it gets pretty good but again it's just a small sample. Find it on YouTube, especially since Savage playing the face in Memphis is quite the sight itself.
Anyway Blog of Doom'ers what do you think? Savage-Rude in the summer of 1988 sound like something that would have gotten asses in the seats?
I agree, a lecherous Rude lusting after Liz could have foreshadowed the MegaPower explosion. But I guess Rude was still considered midcard and was tied up with Jake Roberts at the time.
ReplyDeleteNah. The MegaPowers/MegaBucks thing was waaaaay too hot to do Savage/Rude. And then they moved right into MegaPowers/Twin Towers for Survivor Series & the breakup angle at the Main Event.
ReplyDeleteNow if they had been in the same promotion in 1992....then we're talking $$$$$
Besides, Hogan was the designated "Liz luster" in 1988/89.
ReplyDeleteRude wasn't at that level in 1988. If Savage had been a face in late 1989, early 1990, after Rude had done his run with Warrior, yeah, that would have been fun.
ReplyDeleteKinda off topic, but did the Steiners ever face the Mega Powers in WCW? And I'm surprised WCW never tried to rip off the Mega Powers EXPLODE! angle. Maybe Savage joining the Dungeon of Doom would have made that angle a wee bit better.
ReplyDeleteSavage/Rude is a definite fantasy booking that I would've liked to see happen, but considering the time frame, I don't think Rude was a viable main eventer on his own. Working the program with Roberts, a secondary headliner/C-show main event, helped establish him. By the point that ended, Savage was breaking up with Hogan and working with Bad News over his "Liz is doin' favor's" comments.
ReplyDeleteSavage could've carried Rude to some good stuff at any time.
ReplyDeleteNothing short of Cheetum blowing up every member of the Dungeon could make that angle better.
ReplyDeleteC'mon now. Crazy Macho Madness cutting coked out anti-Hogan paranoid promos wouldn't have been fun?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, he could have done that without the tremendous amounts of dead weight the DoD provided. Savage was never good in a group. Even his best nWo stuff was really just him and Liz.
ReplyDeleteUsually you don't want to say a guy wasn't ready to Main Event, but Rude really wasn't ready. We got one match with Rick Rude facing Hogan in Jan 1988, and while it's cool to see Rude in their with the champ - it meant nothing. Rude needed the feud with the "Snake Man" and then the Ultimate Warrior. The problem was that when Rude was over, Savage was still a heel and Rude was soon gone to WCW after that. Unless you count his run in the indies challenging the Honky Tonk Man.
ReplyDeleteRude didn't get really over until after the victory over the Warrior, so I don't think from a business angle it would have worked.
Savage and Warrior had amazing chemistry. Warrior and Rude had really good chemistry (at least the IC title Summerslam match was great). So by the transitive property Savage and Rude should have been awesome, especially when you consider that Rude was generally a better worker than Warrior. Rude's injury really created a lot of what-ifs, much like Magnum TA's. It seemed like he had a shot at becoming a major player. I imagine he would have made it to a Hogan feud, hit the glass ceiling, then jumped to WWF where he would have majorly affected the time line. Just imagine if there had been one more main-event level option during the era where Shawn was becoming a liability and Bret had started threatening to walk.
ReplyDeleteSavage and Rude vs Hogan and Warrior in 89 or 90 would have rocked.
ReplyDeleteSavage would not have let Rude within a country mile of Elizabeth. Dig it!?
ReplyDeleteThe story would've been awesome, but Rude just wasn't at that level yet. He was just getting to the IC level when Savage dropped the title to Hogan.
ReplyDeleteBut that's the previous posters point. The best storylines are based on character and not workrate, which didn't really exist in the late 80s. You can look at the wide random assortment of stiffs Hogan worked with to see that. To say Rude wasn't at the level where he could work a main event match is silly. He main evented every territory he was in from WCCW to Florida to Memphis and even got a run as a world tag champion with JCP. He knew how to wrestle a match.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Nick means that Rude's character wasn't at that level, not his ring skills.
ReplyDeleteCan never have enough Rude or Savage in the limelight. Hogan had enough time in the sun before & after this window in time
ReplyDeleteExactly. Rude was a capable wrestler at the time so his skills weren't an issue. But his character was just *then* being seen as an IC title contender. And it was the Jake feud that put his "Ravishing" character on the map. That feud didn't end until Survivor Series '88. So really there wasn't ever a time for a Savage/Rude title program to work.
ReplyDeleteThere was a Bad News Brown-Randy Savage WWF Title feud in 1988/89, so just substitute Rude for Brown, and there you go.
ReplyDeleteId have to disagree about Jake never showing the fire in that feud, he ripped the Cheryl tights off of Rude in the ring, lol. That feud was way ahead of its time.
ReplyDeleteLust Hogan! Jesse and his commentary always made things a thousand times better.
ReplyDelete