Today's Question: Let's say somehow, someway, on that day in July of 1988 in Puerto Rico, Bruiser Brody makes a full recovery from those stab wounds and is ready to go by the beginning of 1989....in 100 words or less, How would the next 25 years in the career of Bruiser Brody have unfolded?
Yesterday's Question: Totally random and off the grid, but I've been trying to rack my brain to think of the best "White Meat Babyfaces" of all time....so as part of this, I ask the blog a 2-part question:
a) In the history of wrestling, who best exemplifies the term "white meat babyface"?
b) Who is the greatest wrestler of all-time to never have a run as a heel?
In my simple thinking mind, I never stopped to consider the prior era to the 80s, so I didn't think Verne Gagne or Bruno Sammartino (sidenote: that guy would have made an AWESOME heel).
The wrestlers I heard mentioned (that really never have been heels - to my knowledge):
Verne Gagne, Bruno Sammartino, Magnum T.A., Ricky Steamboat, Rey Mysterio, Tito Santana. (I'd throw in Greg Gagne and Steve O as well - though they weren't mentioned)
I was thinking Mr. Wrestling II, but he was a heel in Mid-South at the end (and a damn good one as well). John Cena and Dusty Rhodes were both heels at the very beginning of their careers.
Being a not very good person overall sometimes, I found the exchange hilarious....and yes, Zack had a brief heel....uh....."run" on Smackdown I believe
As for the white meat babyface, clearly, the bloggers favored the same guys
MrJustinB: "Wouldn't the best white meat be the Gobbledegooker? Red Rooster?"
As I said yesterday, with that logic, my vote would be for Porkchop Cash
But seriously, my inspiration for the question stems from hearing it a lot on Stone Cold's podcast. Though Hulk Hogan in the 80s was the most over face of all time (my opinion), I've heard the actual phrase "white meat babyface" used to describe Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich more than anybody.
"Devin beat me to it. I have to go with Ricky Morton. "
"Ricky Morton. Dude was over as hell in 86 and I'm not even sure why."
Devin, dude was about 150 lbs. and took a helluva ass kicking as the ultimate underdog...and the girls LOVED him! Plus he sold like nobody's business. Especially against the Horsemen, or the Russians
"Gotta be Steamboat- when Flair brings out a line of bimbos to walk him to the ring, and you respond with your wife and infant child in a dragon costume- you might be a uber baby face. I'm sure Mayberry was going wild for him.
The funny thing is, because Steamboat was so good- nobody even gave him shit for being so over the top corny."
"Serious, I can't even imagine Steamboat as a heel. Only a warped mind like Russo would do some dumb shit like that."
My guess is that Russo would have turned him heel, and turned him back face 2 weeks later....by having Little Ricky drop blood from the ceiling onto him, causing him to lose to Vince Russo himself.....or something asinine like that
"Ricky Steamboat for both."
Okay, so pretty much everybody loves the dragon.....and why not? He was pretty awesome.
Yesterday's Question: Totally random and off the grid, but I've been trying to rack my brain to think of the best "White Meat Babyfaces" of all time....so as part of this, I ask the blog a 2-part question:
a) In the history of wrestling, who best exemplifies the term "white meat babyface"?
b) Who is the greatest wrestler of all-time to never have a run as a heel?
In my simple thinking mind, I never stopped to consider the prior era to the 80s, so I didn't think Verne Gagne or Bruno Sammartino (sidenote: that guy would have made an AWESOME heel).
The wrestlers I heard mentioned (that really never have been heels - to my knowledge):
Verne Gagne, Bruno Sammartino, Magnum T.A., Ricky Steamboat, Rey Mysterio, Tito Santana. (I'd throw in Greg Gagne and Steve O as well - though they weren't mentioned)
I was thinking Mr. Wrestling II, but he was a heel in Mid-South at the end (and a damn good one as well). John Cena and Dusty Rhodes were both heels at the very beginning of their careers.
Peyton Drinking: "Zack Gowen never had a run as a heel."
As for the white meat babyface, clearly, the bloggers favored the same guys
MrJustinB: "Wouldn't the best white meat be the Gobbledegooker? Red Rooster?"
As I said yesterday, with that logic, my vote would be for Porkchop Cash
But seriously, my inspiration for the question stems from hearing it a lot on Stone Cold's podcast. Though Hulk Hogan in the 80s was the most over face of all time (my opinion), I've heard the actual phrase "white meat babyface" used to describe Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich more than anybody.
"Devin beat me to it. I have to go with Ricky Morton. "
"Ricky Morton. Dude was over as hell in 86 and I'm not even sure why."
Devin, dude was about 150 lbs. and took a helluva ass kicking as the ultimate underdog...and the girls LOVED him! Plus he sold like nobody's business. Especially against the Horsemen, or the Russians
"Gotta be Steamboat- when Flair brings out a line of bimbos to walk him to the ring, and you respond with your wife and infant child in a dragon costume- you might be a uber baby face. I'm sure Mayberry was going wild for him.
The funny thing is, because Steamboat was so good- nobody even gave him shit for being so over the top corny."
"Serious, I can't even imagine Steamboat as a heel. Only a warped mind like Russo would do some dumb shit like that."
My guess is that Russo would have turned him heel, and turned him back face 2 weeks later....by having Little Ricky drop blood from the ceiling onto him, causing him to lose to Vince Russo himself.....or something asinine like that
"Ricky Steamboat for both."
Okay, so pretty much everybody loves the dragon.....and why not? He was pretty awesome.
King Kong Brody would probably have remained in Japan for a while as the territories finally died off. Due to his age he'd probably get the book somewhere, which could have been pretty cool. Jim Herd wasn't telling King Kong Brody shit.
ReplyDeleteHe would be unstoppable.....
ReplyDeleteHe would have gotten a run in ECW at some point and most likely a run with the belt.
ReplyDeleteHe would get fired from WCW after just a month due to no selling during a pay per view match with Big Josh.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, he most certainly would have joined ECW in 96 when Paul had brought in Doc and Gordy. I see him joining the Nest and taking the place of Brian Lee, putting over Dreamer in a several month feud.
No way, Paul would never put the belt on a special attraction, which is what he would have been, similar to Doc and Gordy.
ReplyDeleteHe'd sell for Matt Borne.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Bruno having awesome heel potential: back in the mid 80s I did think about how cool it would have been to have Bruno turn heel and become a bitter, old champion and then challenge Hogan for the title for a dream match. I still think it would have been fun, though I now know how far that was from ever happening. Still, Backlund got some mileage out of the part when he essentially did the same thing with Bret in Hogan's place.
ReplyDeleteHe was over 40 when he died, odds are most of those 25 years would have been in retirement
ReplyDeleteHe'd sell for the bear.
ReplyDeleteWow, never heard this been asked before.'
ReplyDeleteI figured Flair would get him in the NWA when he took the book in early '90... and he would have stuck around until about '94 when Hogan started up again... and quietly retired.
he would have kept doing what he was doing, gigging himself in brawls and not getting chances anywhere. Brody was an a-hole lots of times and had not issue jumping contracts or promoters when it suited him best. Most likely he's still wresting Abdullah somewhere in a HS gym for a payday.
ReplyDeleteA run in ECW similar to Terry Funk's
ReplyDeleteHe was an older guy at the time of his death.
ReplyDeleteHe would have kicked around the territories as they died, maybe done a Japan tour, and then been largely forgotten about until popping up for a couple of matches in ECW before fading into total obscurity.
Backlund was so beloved in NYC that it wouldn't have helped Hogan enough to even bother attempting it. The last thing Hulkamania needed especially in it's infancy is a mixed crowd.
ReplyDeleteBruno was so beloved.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. The man was a god.
ReplyDeleteNot Backlund.
ReplyDeleteI edited the original post. I mistyped.
ReplyDeleteJust keeping you honest.
ReplyDeleteBrody is interesting as he did the first shoot interview. He'd definitely figure out a way to keep making money.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the effort. You're one of the good guys. Keep up the work.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't really a shoot per se.
ReplyDeleteHe was revered in Japan, so he probably would have split his time between there and the highest bidder in the US. The way he died was so insane.
ReplyDeleteI'm tireless.
ReplyDeleteI would have hoped to have seen a Catus Jack vs. Bruiser Brody match and is there any truth to Brody breaking Andre's ankle? Both Solie and Adpter claimed it happened during Pro Wrestling Illustrated tribute show for Brody.
ReplyDeleteWas there any justification for it. I always read it was in cold blood.
ReplyDeleteBrody would have been back and forth between the NWA and Japan before retiring in the early 90s. Politically he'd never work in McMahon land.
ReplyDeleteThe booker didn't want the inmates running the asylum.
ReplyDeleteSomebody would have killed him not long after.
ReplyDeleteBrody shows up on the next episode of World Championship Wrestling after Starrcade '88 and storms the set ranting and raving about wanting to finally get Flair in a NWA World Title match on national TV. Ric Flair comes out in his suit calm, cool and collected and gives Brody the business about working his way up the ladder and becoming a contender, Brody will have none of it and brutally attacks Flair as the TBS studio crowd goes apeshit. Flair is battered until Barry Windham and Hiro Matsuda make the save.
ReplyDeleteFor the next couple weeks, Brody destroys jobbers in handicap matches to get over to the TBS audience what an out of control monster he is as Flair continues to dodge him. As January comes to a close, Brody saves Eddie Gilbert from a 2-on-1 beatdown by Flair and Windham setting up a tag match the next week which ends in a wild, bloody double countout. The match is finally signed for Chi-Town Rumble '89 on Feb 20th...Brody vs. Flair for the NWA World Title.
At Chi-Town Rumble, Flair and Brody put on a 4 1/2 star brawl as Flair does whatever he can to avoid Brody and cheats his ass off to get the advantage. Matsuda finally slows Brody down with a throat chop while the ref is attending to Flair outside the ring. Flair takes control but can't keep Brody down as the wild brawler keeps coming back for more, even after multiple figure fours. After 25 minutes of chaos, Flair is finally disqualified after a series of chair shots that do nothing more than daze Brody. Flair then takes off the dressing room to end the show.
The next week on TBS, Brody is ganged up on at the podium by the Varsity Club after taking exception to some of their recent actions. Brody is shunted into a feud with the VC while Steamboat makes his return to start his program with Flair leading to their first title match at WrestleWar '89.
I know that never would have happened but it would have been cool to see although I would not have been able to see Flair vs. Steamboat in a 5 star classic in person at Chi-Town Rumble.
Brody would have most likely followed the Stan Hanson route of appearing in ECW during the early days of the promotion (and continuing his feud with Abdullah the Butcher) before ultimately settling in Japan.
ReplyDelete