OT Greatest Rasslin' Hero or Face Job of all time!

[Worf101]

Okay folks, guilty pleasure time. Lets hear it for the best/worst wrasslin' heroes of all time. One for "heels" will depend on how much love this poll gits.

Have fun...

Da Worfster

[dean_martin]

A business aquaintance of mine is Robert Gibson (real name: Rueben Kane) formerly of the Rock 'n Roll Express. These guys don't act much different in real life.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/r/robert-gibson.html

Hope your poll gets some action. My favorites have always been the heels like Ric Flair and Andy "I'm from Hollywood" Kauffman. The Kauffman/Lawler fued that spilled over to the Letterman show was great!

Viva del Santo!

[Kam]

hmmm will have to think about this one, but i grew up with Jimmy "The Superfly" Snooka, the Junkyard Dog, the Iron Sheikh, Hulk, Andre, rowdy roddy piper... i think i'd pick The Superfly, but i guess hogan was the 'dominant' wrestler when i was growing up.

[Woochifer]

I've only seen old vintage footage of Bruno Sammartino, but he seemed like the big-time stud of his time with actual wrestling skills to boot.

By the time I got into rasslin' it was already the era of the big roided out freaks who couldn't wrestle their way out of a cardboard box. It made for great showmanship and entertainment, but the skills somewhere along the line got lost. Because of this I always liked Hitman Hart and Chris Benoit. They got the flair for the theatrics and entertainment aspect, but have seem to also at least make an effort to look like an athletic event!

I quit watching when the show started evolving into the equivalent of human cockfighting with the scripted soap opera stuff in between.

[L.J.]

I remember back in the day thinking it was so real. As a child, I would try my hardest to stay up late and catch the NWA. Back then you had the WWF and NWA for only 1 hr each per week. I use to love Ric Flair and the Four Horseman. NWA came on at midnight back then because it was a little more hardcore than WWF. Going foward in time, the older I got the stupider it became. When wrestlers started coming to the ring with a group of women called the "HO TRAIN" and there was a 1/2 hr of soap opera between each match I gave up.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan are probably the wrestlers I most remember. Unfortunately I have been forced on more than one occasion to watch this drivel they call wrestling with my God-son, who is a 6 y/o wrestling finatic. What the hell is a Rakisi or whatever he calls himself?

[kexodusc]

For me it's gotta be Bret "the Hitman" Hart or Bruno Sammartino for me...total wrestling work and preachin' good morals to the kids...plus, these guys walked that grey line of not 100% sugar coated sweet good, or manager-salt-in-the-eyes cheatin' bad guy...They both broke the rules. And most importantly, they both told stories with their matches and opponents. These days it's just get your moves in on the other guy and the winner wins. A guy can have his knee bashed for the whole match, then do a triple flip ninja kick on that same leg a minute later...Bruno and Bret sold fight...

I like The Rock too, he found a great forum for his stand-up routine...and his movies are better than Hulk Hogan's...

(yeah, I'm a closet rasslin' fan, don't tell my fiancee)

[Lexmark3200]

My vote, regardless if it was on this list or not, has to go to one Rowdy Roddy Piper----the best villain the WWF has ever seen!

His Piper's Pit was awesome and it was always memorable when he had special guests on, such as during one of the Wrestlemanias when Morton Downey Junior came into the ring which was set up for The Pit, and Piper blasted him with a fire extinguisher....perhaps not as memorable as the coconut-over-the-head-of-Snuka, but right up there.....

THAT'S when wrestling was great.......

I vote for The Rock's rhetoric in the ring, too....

"Can you SMEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLA WHAT THE ROCK....IS.....COOKIN..........."

[eisforelectronic]

Karl Gotch, known in Japan as the "God of Pro-wrestling" and "the Man of a thousand holds"

[kelsci]

I have followed wrestling on and off since the early 1960s. During that time, Bruno Sammartino came into his own after training with Argentine Rocca. He had disappeared for awhile and then reappeared with the talents of dropkicking and other arial stunts. He beat Nature Boy Buddy Rogers on tv and the garden in less than a minute, I think using a traditional bear hug. Before Bruno came back on the scene there was three Madison Sq. Garden episodes between Buddy Rogers and a Cowboy Bob Ellis. I did get to see in person at the Island Garden arena Killer Kowalski, Buddy Rogers, Argentine Rocca and Apollo, Skull Murphy and Eduardo Carpartier just to name a few. I was aware that there were other wrestling organizations in the U.S. but did not realize their impact until I came down to Fla. in 1970 to find that the world champion was Dory Funk Jr. under the NWA.
The survey mentions Mil Mascaras whom I saw wrestle under World Class Wrestling out of Texas.
This wrestler had style to his wrestling and was a class act. World Class Wrestling seemed to have something to do with the Von Erich family, who was a wrestling family of tragedy. I do not know what to call somebody like Hulk Hogan; certainly not a wrestler and really not that entertaining in the squared circle. I once went to the Miami Beach auditorium in the 1970s and saw a special match between Eduardo Carpartier and Pat O'Connor. It was so terrific that the crowd gave a standing ovation at its completion. The Big O, Bob Orton fought Dory Funk Jr. that night. Bob Orton's grandson is now in the Smackdown lot of wrestlers with his RKO finishing hold. I remember in N.Y. going to the Island Garden one night when Skull Murphy, Karl Von Hess and Gregory Jarque passed within a few feet of me walking together into the arena. The funny thing is that usually Jarque was pounced on many times by Murphy and Von Hess. My brother and I during the '60s would try the figure 4 grapevine on each other. That hold hurts and it is not easy to get out of. I am not too impressed with wrestling today. I think the "soap opera" scenario that has been going on Smackdown over the child Dominic and Eddie Guerro and Ray Mysterio is in very poor taste.Kelsci.

[Smokey]

Anybody remember the Missing Link? He was my favorite :)

<img src="http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/m/missinglink/08.jpg">

[Worf101]

The Island Garden Arena, man you're bringing back memories for me. I remember Argentine Apollo soooo well. He was the first "flyer" I'd ever seen. Jumping off the top rope to fight guys 3 times his size. God you have me almost crying here for my lost youth... the names:

Baron Ratske
Dick "The Bulldog" Brower
Baron Mequel Secluna
Ivan Koloff "Da Russian Bear"
Argentine Apollo

Sigh....

Da Worfster :rolleyes:

[Lexmark3200]

Anybody remember the Missing Link? He was my favorite :)

<img src="http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/m/missinglink/08.jpg">

Hell yeah I remember the Missing Link! Good call Smoke! Remember GEORGE THE ANIMAL STEELE?

[kelsci]

Hi Worfster; Sorry to make you "cry" I saw Apollo battle Killer Kowalski. It was supposed to be Rocca vs Kowalksi. Apollo's antics just did not work that night. Kowalski kept pounding on him until he was pinned. I believe I saw Apollo in a tag team with Eduardo Carpartier vs the Fabulous Kangaroos.

One thing I did not like at the shows at the Is. Garden was that the card would change when my father, brother and I would show up. Usually the wrestler subsituted that night would be a lesser quality wrestler then what was scheduled. I saw Ivan Koloff on tv. He was a ruff and tough individual. I particulaly remember him as a tag team with his relative, Alexi Smirnoff. The two of them would work on somebody's arm in a corner. They were one of the most devestating tag teams. Speaking of tag teams, how about Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy, Chris and John Tolas aka the Tolas Brothers, Enrique Torres and Red Bastien and one of my favorites of all time, Cowboy Bob Ellis and Johnny Valentine.

Hi Woochifer; I agree with you on your thoughts about Chris Benoit. He certainly does attempt to make it more of an athletic event. I read somewhere that he had a weakness on one side of his body but you would not know it. Another wrestler sort of similar to Benoit was Malenko( I cannot remeber his first name offhand). He retired and I think scouts for the WWE. Malenko's father was The Great Malenko who became somewhat popular in Fla. here in the '70s.



Hi Lex; George the Animal Steele was a riot. I saw him within the past few years on a cable show. As looney as he was in the ring, in real life he was a most loveable talk show guest who was college educated and spoke extremely well. As for Roddy Piper, he is actually not a bad B-film actor. He was extemely good in a sci-fi movie, THEY LIVE. I also liked him in MARKED MAN. The ROCK's father, Rocky Johnson lives in I believe the town of Davie, Fla. He wrestled here in Fla. some years back of which at that time he was the Georgia Heavyweight champion. His wrestling style was sort of in the vein of Argentine Rocca and Apollo. I believe the Rock lives in Weston, Fl. KELSCI...

[Lexmark3200]

"Hi Lex; George the Animal Steele was a riot. I saw him within the past few years on a cable show. As looney as he was in the ring, in real life he was a most loveable talk show guest who was college educated and spoke extremely well."

He was actually a college professor in "real life" did you know that?

"As for Roddy Piper, he is actually not a bad B-film actor. He was extemely good in a sci-fi movie, THEY LIVE."

Oh see that was one of my LEAST favorite Carpenter flicks, and Im a massive fan of his work; I think Piper should have stayed in wrestling which seems to be his absolute calling-----especially his "Rowdy Roddy" personality which, to me, is the most unique in wrestling's history and the most entertaining.

"I also liked him in MARKED MAN."

I never saw that Kel.

"The ROCK's father, Rocky Johnson lives in I believe the town of Davie, Fla."

Yes; Rocky Johnson does live there.....is he still alive though? I for some reason thought he had passed away.

"He wrestled here in Fla. some years back of which at that time he was the Georgia Heavyweight champion. His wrestling style was sort of in the vein of Argentine Rocca and Apollo. I believe the Rock lives in Weston, Fl."

Wow, so you have some WWE superstars in your neck of the woods, huh? And they DO look like father and son, dont they? Its pretty scary.

[kelsci]

Hi Lex; It doesnot suprise me that George Steele was a college professor. Interesting.

I did not think THEY LIVE was the greatest film ever made. Piper's wrestling roderick does not really carry into the films he has made. I think he portrayed a rather noble person in THEY LIVE.

I checked a website pertaining to dead wrestlers. Rocky Johnson's name was not on the list. The ROCK-Dwayne Johnson acknowledges that Rocky Johnson is his father. Some time ago there was some kind of incident in Davie, Fl. involving Rocky Johnson, but I do not recall what that was all about. Perhaps info exist somewhere on the web.

There could be other wrestlers within and outside the WWE organization living in Fla. I believe Hulk Hogan has a house in Tampa. Until his death, Nature Boy Buddy Rogers lived in some area of Ft. Lauderdale near the beach. Kelsci..

[Lexmark3200]

"Hi Lex; It doesnot suprise me that George Steele was a college professor. Interesting."

Indeed.

"I did not think THEY LIVE was the greatest film ever made."

No, not by a long shot----and was nowhere near one of Carpenter's best works.

"Piper's wrestling roderick does not really carry into the films he has made. I think he portrayed a rather noble person in THEY LIVE."

Indeed. I think he should have stayed in wrestling rather than turn to Hollywood!

"I checked a website pertaining to dead wrestlers. Rocky Johnson's name was not on the list"

Interesting. I was wrong then.

"The ROCK-Dwayne Johnson acknowledges that Rocky Johnson is his father."

Indeed. They do look alike.

"There could be other wrestlers within and outside the WWE organization living in Fla. I believe Hulk Hogan has a house in Tampa."

Also interesting; I thought he had lived in Venice, California --- but these guys could easily have multiple homes!

"Until his death, Nature Boy Buddy Rogers lived in some area of Ft. Lauderdale near the beach"

Interesting. I guess Fla seems to be the gathering ground for WWF legends, eh?