Damn! Ron Simmons comes to CCW

Ron Simmons!

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Consider this my better late than never post. Last Saturday night my buddy Tom Harness and I attended the Cape Championship Wrestling show. The action was great throughout the night. Hollis Giroux won the CCW Heavyweight title in an action packed fatal four-way that included defending champ Brandon Barbwire, Austin Lane and guest Colt Cabana. 

New champs!

New tag team champs were crowned too as Blaster and guest Jeff Cobb beat Farmer Billy Hills and Dell Tucker. The title changed surprised me, especially after the Pinnacle members started playing dirty and handcuffed Cobb to the bottom rope. But what happened at the end of the match shocked the capacity crowd. A familiar theme song came over the loudspeaker and WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons emerged. 

The crowd popped like a bag of Orville Redenbacher at the sight of the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He cleared the ring and before cutting a promo he worked in his trademark phrase "DAMN!" Simmons then thanked the fans for supporting him through the years. Hundreds lined up at intermission to get a photo with him and the new tag team champs.

Meeting Ron Simmons in Chicago

I met Simmons during WrestleMania Axxess in 2006. He was great. And everyone I talked to who wrestled on the show Saturday night said he was amazing backstage. It was great to see him in person again and hear Simmons speak from the heart and show his appreciation to the fans.

SURVIVOR SERIES: Favorite team number 3: The Legends

The Legends

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm counting down to the 30th annual Survivor Series by looking back at my ten favorite teams in the history of the event. Survivor Series ranks among my favorite events every year and if you've read this blog in the past you know I'm a fan of the traditional elimination matches. 

Regular readers know I am a huge fan of old school wrestling and wrestlers. Ric Flair remains my all-time favorite. So naturally in 2006 when he led a team of WWE Legends into battle I was on board. Flair and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had just lost the WWE tag team championships to Randy Orton and Edge. Piper was diagnosed with cancer around the same time and had left to undergo treatment. Flair's feud with the Spirit Squad (the team from which he and Piper beat for the belts) was still ongoing. "The Nature Boy" summoned the help of fellow Legends Sgt. Slaughter, Ron Simmons and one of his greatest rivals Dusty Rhodes. Former Horsemen Arn Anderson was their "manager" for the night.

Woo!
Courtesy: WWE

Normally I don't like WWE bringing in retired guys to beat up-and-coming Superstars, but this year was the exception. There are a few reasons for this. Flair was the only Legend who was still actively on the roster. He carried the match for his team and ended up becoming the sole survivor that night. Also, it wasn't a clean sweep as the Legends put over members of the Spirit Squad, including Nicky (later Dolph Ziggler) pinning former World Champion Sgt. Slaughter.

It may not have been Flair's greatest Survivor Series moment, but I celebrated the performance none-the-less. Woo!

Top 10:

Team 4: Team Andre the Giant & Dino Bravo: Survivor Series 1988

Team 5: Four Doinks: Survivor Series 1993

Team 6: Team HBK: Survivor Series 1995

Team 7: Team Piper: Survivor Series 1991

Team 8: The All-Americans: Survivor Series 1993

Team 9: Team WWF Survivor Series 2001

Team 10: New Day, King Barrett and Sheamus: Survivor Series 2015

Black History Month: Butch Reed

"Hacksaw" Butch Reed

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Butch Reed was one of those characters I first took notice of in during his time in the Midsouth region.  He was feuding with the Junkyard Dog at that time.  It was right before Dog went on to the WWF.   Somewhere along the way, Reed turned face though, but then returned to his rule breaking ways and headed to Central States Wrestling.  I'm not sure who was Hacksaw first, Reed or Jim Duggan, but they both had the nickname.

I'm not sure how well known CSW was back then.  Living in St. Louis, it aired on Saturday nights.  Bulldog Bob Brown, Marty Jannetty, and Butch Reed are three of the main wrestlers I remember from that show.  Reed and Slick were paired up there, but they didn't stick around long, as they were called up north and started with the WWF in late 1986.

Reed had a new look when he arrived though.  His black afro was now bleached blond and he was known as "the Natural" Butch Reed.  I've written before about how this was not the right gimmick for Reed, but back then the WWF was more about creating characters and changing the identities of guys coming in from other companies.

"The Natural" Butch Reed

Reed didn't do a whole lot in his run with the WWF.  He beat Koko B. Ware at Wrestlemania 3, feuded briefly with Tito Santana, and was a member of the winning team of the first Survivor Series (although he was out early in the match).  Reed also put Randy Savage over in the first round of the World Title tournament at Wrestlemania 4.  He was also the last opponent for former WWF champion "Superstar" Billy Graham (although I don't know anyone knew at the time it would be his last match)

Doom and Woman

Reed left the WWF after Wrestlemania 4 and headed to WCW and eventually formed a tag team with Ron Simmons.  Doom had some success in WCW, winning the tag team titles and feuding with the Steiner Brothers.  But like all good things, this team came to an end when Simmons turned face.  He was pushed to pretty hard and Reed seemed to flounder.  He left and hit the independent scene.  I'm pretty sure he never returned to the "big leagues" after that.  I don't remember the appearance, but apparently he returned to the WWE for one night in a segment on SmackDown with Teddy Long.  I'd like to see the E use him again in the future in the Legends capacity.  Reed was a great talent as far as I'm concerned.

Black History Month All Links

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger

February is Black History Month, and we here at My 1-2-3 Cents are paying tribute with blogs on some of our favorite black wrestlers.

Many of the stories written are based on memories from my childhood, but I've also recruited help from other fans to share their thoughts too.  You'll also hear about several up and coming stars on the independent scene.  Check back daily, as I'll link all of our tributes to this page.

Thanks for reading My 1-2-3 Cents.  Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Junkyard Dog
Tony Atlas
Rocky Johnson
Sugar Dunkerton
Ron Simmons
Kharma
D'Lo Brown
Iceman King Parsons
Edmund "Livewire" McGuire
Booker T 
The Money Makin' Jam Boys
Kamala
Butch Reed
Slick
Mark Henry
The Rock
MVP
R-Truth
Shelton Benjamin
Kofi Kingston
Teddy Long
Koko B. Ware
Bad News Brown
Virgil
Jacqueline
SD Jones
Jazz
Men on a Mission/Viscera
Jay Lethal
Ernie Ladd

Black History Month: Ron Simmons

Damn! It's me and Ron Simmons

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Before he was yelling "Damn!" in outrageous situations, Ron Simmons was kicking ass and taking names inside the squared circle.  My first memories of Simmons come during the last days of the NWA before the company officially became WCW.  Simmons was a face, mid card at best at the time.  Then he got repackaged as a member of the tag team Doom along with Butch Reed.

The two debut in black tights and masks at the first Halloween Havoc.  It wasn't long before they shot up the tag team ranks and won the titles.  But all good things must come to an end, and the team eventually split with Simmons becoming a face.  It was during this time that he started getting a push and challenge Lex Luger for the WCW title at Halloween Havoc 91.  He came up short that time, but the following summer he'd win the title from Vader.  Simmons became the first black world heavyweight champion in all of wrestling.  It was quite a feat, but one that was poorly booked.

As WCW champ (WWE)

I'm pretty sure most would agree his world title run was less than desirable.  His opponents were most mid card guys who you knew would never win the gold.  For example, his opponent at Halloween Havoc 92 was the Barbarian.  Yes, really the Barbarian was given a WORLD TITLE shot on PPV.  Anyway, he dropped the title back to Vader.  He left the company in 94 and headed to ECW.  My only memory of him there was being assaulted by the giant 9-1-1.  (anyone remember him?)

Nice helmet...

Soon, he ended up in the WWF but completely repackaged as Faarooq Asaad.  It was odd seeing him under a new name and in such a lame outfit.  Take a look at the pic and you'll understand.  Simmons was managed briefly by Sunny and feuded with Ahmed Johnson.  It didn't take long for Faarooq to change his outfit and alter the gimmick a bit, becoming an angry black man and leading a band of fellow African Americans in the Nation of Domination.  But actually before Kama, D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry, and the Rock joined; it was Crush and Savio Vega.  Still not sure how that worked, but oh well.

Faarooq turned face when the Rock took over the Nation.  It was a relatively lack luster run in the WWF until he joined forces with Bradshaw and became known as the Acolytes.  Eventually they'd turn face after working with the heel Undertaker.  They'd also change their team name to the APA (Acolyte Protection Agency) and were booked as a couple of tough thugs who took care of business.  This incarnation of Simmons was my favorite.  I enjoyed the work he and Bradshaw did together.  The two worked well as a tag team and won the titles on more than one occasion.

APA (from WWE)

But like Reed, Bradshaw too would leave Simmons.  I'm not sure if they ever actually feuded as it seemed like Simmons retired shortly after the time they started pushing JBL.  He then came back from time to time shouting "Damn!" after bizarre situations arose back stage or in the ring.  I had the chance to meet Ron at Wrestlemania 22 Fan Axxess.  He was very nice and took a few minutes to pose for pictures with me and my friends, even though he wasn't one of the "featured" members of the panel.

Ron Simmons no doubt paved the way for other black wrestlers, as Booker T and the Rock each won multiple world titles themselves.  I think it's only a matter of time before he's inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, an honor he certainly deserves.

Boo: Spin the Wheel...

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Wow, what a difference a couple of years make in terms of a WCW pay per view.  Halloween Havoc 1992 had a lot of old faces from WWF in the event.  The show opened with Tony Schiavone and Bruno Sammartino running down the matches.  Then Jesse Ventura and Jim Ross were doing the play by play.  I had forgotten Jesse was a part of WCW so early on.

I should also note that this was a definite transition year for WCW.  Of course Ric Flair had been gone from the company for more than a year at this point.  But he'd be returning soon from the WWF.  Secondly, Lex Luger was out of the picture.  It was a little odd missing these two WCW mainstays.

Sting of course was, and is considered the poster boy for WCW.  This PPV was centered around he and Jake "the Snake" Roberts' Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match.  And once again, this was another cheesy gimmick by WCW.  The set for the wheel spinning reeked of low quality.  It was like a goofy 70's game show meets B Horror film.  Plus Sting's reaction to it all seemed exaggerated.  Anyway, Sting had to spin a wheel that looked like a big buzzsaw blade.  There were 12 options, and where ever the wheel stopped, that was the type of match the two would have.

Where's Vanna?

The wheel stopped on Coal Miner's Glove match.  I think prior to this event, I had no idea what a Coal Miner's glove match entailed.  I wonder if this was planned, or if it was a legit spin.  They had all kinds of props on standby depending on where the wheel would land.  A pole was put up with a coal miner's glove on the top.  Allegedly the glove was lined in steel.  And we're reminded again, this match is not sanctioned by WCW.  Does that really matter?  Nah.  But it's all good.

That's going to leave a mark

Pretty basic match between the two.  Jake hit a DDT, which I will still argue was the best in the business.  Sting did a pretty cool jump and spin on the pole.  He climbed for the glove, as Cactus Jack brought Jake's cobra to the ring.  But the cobra bit Jake in the face, helping Sting get the win.  Good Lord, it was a lame way to end the match.  The damn glove was never even a factor in the match.  The snake biting was pretty silly.  The WWF did something similar a year earlier with Roberts' cobra biting Randy Savage.

Ron Simmons vs. the Barbarian

The WCW World title match was Ron Simmons defending against The Barbarian, in my opinion was pretty weak.  No offense to the Barbarian, but I would have never picture him as a contender, much less on one of the biggest PPVs of the year for the company.  A Ron Simmons-Cactus Jack match would have probably been a better draw.  In my opinion, this was just another way to undermine Simmons' title reign.  Weak opponents=weak champion...

Other Notes:

I love Jesse Ventura and JR together doing commentary.  Again, I'd never seen any Halloween Havocs before (except for '91) so these two together was a real treat.

Ricky Steamboat and Brian Pillman had an outstanding match.  Steamboat pinned Pillman, who was slowly turning heel at the time.

Big Van Vader completely dominated Nikita Koloff.  Vader was defending the U.S. for Rick Rude.

"Stunning" Steve Austin teamed up with Dr. Death Steve Williams as a sub for Terry Gordy against Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham.  Match ended in a draw.  It's fun watching these guys in the pre Stone Cold and Goldust.

Paul E. Dangerously fired Madusa from the Dangerous Alliance.  She then proceeded to kick his ass on the stage.

Rude vs. Chono (From WWE)

Despite that firing, Madusa joined Rick Rude as he beat Masahiro Chono by disqualification in a match for the NWA title.  Each man got to pick a referee for the match.  Rude picked Harley Race (Vader's manager) and Chono had Kensuke Saski.  Let me just say, I really, really miss the Ravishing One.   Rest in Peace.

I watched a condensed version of the PPV, but I will say many of the matches were pretty long.  Some over 20 minutes, the tag match went 30.  These guys were able to tell great stories, Rude-Chono and Pillman-Steamboat come to mind immediately.  There wasn't a whole lot of gimmicky, cheesiness on this event like previous Havocs.  (Of course the Spin the Wheel is the exception here)  The undercard definitely outshined the two "main events" of the evening.

Boo: Southern Fried Butcher

Torture!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

By the time Halloween Havoc '91 rolled around, WCW was without it's longest running wrestler.  Ric Flair had left the company that summer and moved to the WWF.  Lex Luger was now carrying the banner for WCW and defending the world title against Ron Simmons.  This was actually the only Halloween Havoc I ever watched.  I think my roommate in college had recorded it for us to see.

The show opened up with video of Barry Windham being injured by the Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zybysko).  That forced Windham off the pay per view.

Sting vs. Jack

The first match of the night, the Chamber of Horrors.  It was a giant cage, much like Thunder Dome from two years earlier.  There were all kinds of "Instruments of Torture" in the cage.  Random people popped out of caskets.  There were handcuffs on the cage.  Kendo sticks.  All kinds of gimmicks. The whole goal in the match was to put an opponent into the Chamber of Horrors Chair of Torture and pull the "fatal level."  There were no pins, no submissions.  Just a lot of brawling.

The two teams: Diamond Studd (Scott Hall), Big Van Vader, Abdullah the Butcher, and Cactus Jack
battled Sting, the Steiner Brothers, and El Gigante.  The match also featured a first, the "Refer-eye Cam."  The ref wore a camera on his head for the match that the director took throughout.  Actually a pretty cool concept.  Not crazy about the name though.

Stick a fork in him...

As you can image, this wasn't a pretty match.  There were several times were a guy was placed in the chair, but no one was there to throw the switch and "shock" the opponent.  Jack and Abby juiced early on in the match, no shock there either.  But the shock did come when Rick Steiner belly to bellied Abby into the chair and an unaware Jack pulled the switch.  Lots of sparks flew and the lights were turned down.  The Butcher looked like a guy on death row who had just been put into the chair.  His reaction was priceless as he sat unconcscious, bleeding and sweating all over the place.  When Abby came to he attacked Cactus and all the guys brought to ringside to help him with a stretcher.

Probably the highlight of this pay per view was the WCW Halloween Phantom.  He had been teased as being a part of the show.  Remember, this was pre-Internet, so we didn't really know who was under the mask.  I was surprised to see it was "Ravishing" Rick Rude, returning to WCW after spending about 3 and a half years in WWF.  He had been "suspended" by WWF for making comments about the Big Bossman's mother and fans hadn't seen nor heard from him in almost a year.

Wait for it...

Rude may have been one of the most under appreciated guys in the business.  While he had a brief run as Intercontinental champion in WWF, he was largely overlooked.  I think it was because back then Vince focused more on the faces, as it was Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, and Randy Savage with the belt during Rude's stint with WWF.

Anyway, Rude beat the Z-Man, Tom Zenk at the show.  The fans were sitting on their hands as he came to the ring.  Once he got into the ring and started attacking, it was pretty clear it was Rude. He even ended the match with the Rude Awakening. Of course Tony Schiavone even called the move that.

Rude awakening...

I'm not sure why, but for some reason they waited until after the tag team title match to unmask Rude along with Paul E. Dangerously and Madusa.  This was the night the foundation was laid for the Dangerous Alliance.  Rude declared war on WCW U.S. Champion Sting.  He vowed to win the title, and sure enough, eventually he did.

After the announcement, Schiavone called it the biggest thing to happen to WCW all year.  While I think it was ONE of the biggest things to happen, I'd say the company stripping Ric Flair of the title and not resigning him was the biggest game changer that year.

Other notes:

• The set for this show looked more like a high school drama club built it.  And that's not a knock on high school drama clubs.  But come on, by this time WCW was under the Turner banner and you'd think some dough could be spent on a better set.
• "Stunning" Steve Austin defended against Dustin Rhodes.  The two went to a 15 minute time limit draw. Who knew within a few years both men would have radically different personas in the WWF
• Lex Luger beat Ron Simmons in the title match.  It was best two out of three falls.  One of the falls Luger won was by disqualification.  This match helped to propel Simmons, and about nine months later, he'd actually win the title.
• One Man Gang, Barry Windham, and Oz (Kevin Nash) were all supposed to be on Diamond Studd's team in the cage.  Gang left WCW, Windham turned face and got hurt, and I'm not sure what happened to Oz.

So this pay per view was memorable for me because of the frying of Abby and the debut of Rude.  Other than that, a lot of it seemed like something you'd see on free TV.

Boo: Double Vision

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

By the time the second installment of Halloween Havoc rolled around, a lot had changed in WCW. At the 1989 pay per view, Sting and Ric Flair teamed up as the company's top two baby faces.  Flair was the champ.  But it didn't take long for him to turn on Sting and drop the WCW title to the Stinger.

Flair was sidetracked in a tag team title feud with Arn Anderson, challenging Teddy Long's team of Doom.  Sting was set to defend against Anderson and Flair's fellow Horsemen  member Sid Vicious.  Sting was also being tormented by The Black Scorpion while this match was being set up.

The show started off with good ol' JR and Paul E. Dangerously dressed in costume.  The opening contest was an upset victory for Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich over the Midnight Express.  The Southern Boys did run interference and helped the faces win.

Look out Sting!

Next was an extremely cheesy vignette with Sting and Black Scorpion.  JR and Paul E. oversold this skit, with Paul being borderline annoying.  It's the one with the female fan and Scorpion disappearing and reappearing.  Lame sauce.

Renegade Warriors, Chris and Mark Youngblood made their WCW PPV debut on this show against Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin, the Freebirds.  Little Richard Marley was in their corner.  (He was once Rocky King)  The Birds won this one with some help from LRM.

An interview with the Horsemen minus Barry Windham... interesting.  Of course if you've seen this show you know why that is.  We'll get to it, be patient.  Love classic Flair and AA.  Woooo!

Third match, and it's the third tag team matchup.  The Nasty Boys challenging for the U.S. tag team titles.  Remember when there were enough tag teams to have two different titles.  This is another moment, I don't remember the Nastys being in WCW PRIOR to their WWF run.  I knew they wrestled in the AWA.  I thought they jumped from there to the WWF.  Anyway, the Steiners retain with a sloppy Frankensteiner, but that move is still really awesome.  Scott Steiner was so much better in my opinion before he became "Big Poppa Pump." Right after the match Scott was attacked during an interview by the Nasties who were dressed like concessionaires.  How did they change so quick?

Fourth match is ANOTHER tag team match.  This one is the world tag team title match.  Horsemen vs. Doom.  Anderson was the TV champ then, forgot that too.  Interesting they sidelined Flair for a tag team title feud.  SmackDown! General Manager Teddy Long is accompanying Doom for this one.  This match quickly went from wrestling to fighting and ended in a double count out.  This of course took us to Starrcade for the St. Louis Street Fight between the two teams.  Although Flair would be "hurt" and replaced by Barry Windham that night.

Stan Hansen and his mouth full of tobacco threaten Lex Luger.  Dude, he's as bad as Skinner.  Gross.  Hansen was a man of his words that night and beat Luger.  Back then I knew little of Hansen and was disappointed that he won the title.  I do recall his run as AWA world champion, so I knew who he was.  Yes, I will admit it, I was a Lex Luger fan back then.  Ref bump and a cow bell from Dan Spivey helped Hansen here, although he pinned Lex cleanly.  Luger ended up regaining the belt two months later at Starrcade.

Title match is set to begin, with Missy Hyatt joining the broadcast team.  I just realized I'm watching this on a DVD where some of the matches are cut, so ignore the comments about all the tag team matches.  There were several singles matches, most of which I question why there were on PPV, and understand why WWE left them on the cutting room floor.  No offense Brad Armstrong, J.W. Strong, or Moondog Rex.

Sid is pretty much a brawler, nothing too exciting out of this match.  Actually a weak main event in terms of wrestling. Sting did a good job.  I always liked the Beach Bum version of the character more than any other.  The action spilled out of the ring several times.  Flair and Anderson distracted the ref as Sting and Sid fight to the back.  Then they return and Sid pins Sting when Sting can't bodyslam the big man.  Sid is even introduced as champ.  But the celebration is cut short when the real Sting returns to the ring with ropes tied around him.

Sting splashes Sid and pins him.  But before all that, WCW did a fireworks display and dropped a bunch of orange and black balloons.  I think it was premature because it all happened BEFORE Sting one.  Of course it was revealed that the Sting who was pinned was actually Sid's fellow Horsemen Barry Windham.  It was an extremely sloppy execution.

Barry "Sting" Windham

They never really said it was Barry that night, JR speculated that it was.  With all the Black Scorpion hype and the tag line "Terror Rules the Ring" I didn't find anything other than Sid's performance and the lame finish terrifying.

Other notes from the show, Kevin Nash was a part of the pay per view.  He was kind of like Glenn Jacobs searching for the right gimmick.  At Halloween Havoc he was "Steel" and one half of the Master Blasters.  It's one of many gimmicks he played before finding success in the WWF as Diesel.

Fire up the grill, we're having Southern Fried Butcher at the 1991 installment of the show.  That review is coming up soon.

Boo: Tag Teams are Doomed

Doom & Woman

By Kevin Hunsperger @kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Halloween Havoc was a pay per view concept created by the NWA back in 1989.  The event obviously aired in October, near Halloween and often featured some spooky, scary, or downright silly gimmicks, matches, and characters.  I'll be writing about several of them this month.  Today's submission though is a tag team that debuted at the first ever event: Doom.

Quick back story Nancy Sullivan, aka Woman back then, was managing the Steiner Brothers.  Her gimmick was a bit of a nerd and she had a crush on Rick Steiner.  The brothers took her in, as well as Missy Hyatt if memory serves me right.  Woman eventually turned on the duo and said the Steiners would meet their doom at the first ever Halloween Havoc. 

And that's when Ron Simmons and Butch Reed arrived on the scene.  Both wrestled under black masks and wore long black pants.  They were a tough team and beat the Steiners in their debut as a team.  Not too shabby.  I remember back then knowing it was Ron Simmons and Butch Reed, but still enjoyed the masked gimmick.  Up until that point, I felt like Simmons had been kind of lost in the shuffle of the NWA.  Reed had just had a less than stellar run as "the Natural" in the WWF.  So this pairing helped reignite both their careers.


Tag team champions

The two would win the tag team titles, but lose their masks too.  They also lost their Woman, and picked up Teddy Long as a manager.  Doom was without a doubt my favorite WCW tag team at that time.  I watched their St. Louis Street Fight with Arn Anderson and Barry Windham live in person at Starrcade 1990.  The match ended in a no contest I believe, which I don't understand how a street fight ends without a winner.

Doom eventually disbanded though, and Simmons became the face.  He soundly defeated Reed in several matches and continued to rise in the ranks.  He eventually won the WCW world title in 1992.  Reed meanwhile fell off the face of the wrestling earth for the most part. But there was a time in the late 80's and early 90's when the tag team scene was Doomed! 

Thoughts?  Post them here or like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Unnatural Gimmicks

"The Natural" Butch Reed

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter
(The photos in this post are courtesy WWE)

The world of professional wrestling has had some pretty out there gimmicks.  Sometimes they work (I'd say Goldust is a good example of that), others leave the fans asking "Why?"  Today, a just a small sample of guys who got saddled with some ridiculous gimmick, that probably ended up hurting their stock.

Not so natural...

"The Natural" Butch Reed actually inspired the title and the writing of this blog.  I remember watching just plain ol' Butch Reed on World Class Championship Wrestling, Central States, and Midsouth Wrestling.  He was a bad ass.  A tough guy who could get it done in the ring.  I'm pretty sure Slick was managing him in Central States prior to their jump to the WWF.

But then when he arrived there sometime in 1986 he had bleach blond hair and was going by "the Natural".  Of course this was "unnatural" for a number of reasons.  Some say it was a tribute to Sweet Daddy Siki.  While the gimmick didn't necessarily hurt Reed as a wrestler, I don't think it helped to get him over with the fans.

He basically hovered on the midcard, feuding with Tito Santana, former world champion "Superstar" Billy Graham, and the Magnificent Muraco.  Reed beat Koko B. Ware at Wrestlemania 3, but didn't have any other significant wins during his run (at least in my recollection) He lost to Randy Savage in round one of the WWF Title Tournament at Wrestlemania IV.

Of course this was all in a time when WWF pushed the babyfaces and the heels were just kind of there.  With only a couple of pay per views a year and no Raw or SmackDown! it was tough to have more than just the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Ultimate Warrior at the top of the card.  In this era the WWF gave a damn about the tag team division.  Maybe Reed could have been paired up with a partner and dominated those ranks.

Ron Simmons became Farooq

Which leads me to his eventual tag team partner in WCW, Ron Simmons.  Farooq became his persona in the WWF when he arrived in the company in 1996.  Simmons had a run in WCW and ECW.  He even held the WCW world title briefly in 1992.

In the WWF he came in dressed like some sort of American Gladiator with a bad attitude.  I did not care for this at all.  Ron Simmons was a natural athlete, much like Reed.  He had plenty of name recognition back in his earlier days, but at this point in the game, Vince McMahon was into changing everyone's name when they arrived in his company.

APA to the rescue

The Farooq character evolved through the years, dropping the Black Power gimmick and becoming more of a bad ass, thug for hire type guy.  He and Bradshaw (JBL) teamed up as the Acolytes, then simply the APA.  While I didn't necessarily hate the original Farooq gimmick, I thought the costume was insanely bad.  And I do think the character was below Simmons.  They could have focused on his athletic background and made him one of the top stars in the company.  But that would have probably been boring. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Ron ever held a singles title in the WWE, just the tag titles with JBL.

The Stalker

The Stalker was another one of those gimmicks from the mid to late 90's that I didn't understand.  Barry Windham was a well established star by this point in his career.  He had already been a WWF tag team champion with Mike Rotunda.  He wrestled in the NWA/WCW and held several titles there.  Windham was a member of the 4 Horsemen.  He wrestled some great matches with Ric Flair.  The son of a WWF legend Blackjack Mulligan.

But when he returns to the WWF in 1996 (I think) he becomes some hunting fanatic with his face painted and lumbering around in camo.  It just didn't work for him.  He was basically a face version of the early 90's Skinner character.  While I'm on the subject, I didn't care much for "The Widowmaker" gimmick either.  I think mostly because they never really pushed him in that persona.  Like I said, I loved Barry's first run with Rotunda, and his time in WCW.

The New Blackjacks

Shortly after the Stalker gimmick flopped, he and JBL formed "the New Blackjacks" tag team.  Again, a fail as far as I'm concerned.  I'm not a fan of recreating the original.  Windham would eventually leave the WWF and return to WCW as just plain ol' Barry Windham.  Yes, he was plain, but sometimes I like plain vanilla ice cream over some crazy concoction that takes away my original desire to eat ice cream.  I think you guys get the point I'm trying to make.

Of course, these are just 3 of many, many "unnatural" gimmicks.  We could write a couple of books on the subject.  But I want to hear your thoughts.  Which gimmicks do you deem unnatural to the wrestler who was doing them?  Post here or on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.  And don't forget to like or subscribe to those pages too!

HOF Forecast: Sunny!

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

The 2011 class of the WWE Hall of Fame suddenly seems a little brighter.  Former diva Sunny will soon be added.

I keep reminding myself that the WWE Hall of Fame has a lot of folks in there who are more on the entertainment side than the sports side of it.  After all, guys like Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, and Randy Savage aren't in there yet, so you've got to talk it for what it is.

My immediate reaction though was why not Miss Elizabeth.  I believe she was a pioneer in terms of the role of the women in wrestling outside the ring.  She was really the WWF/WWE's first non wrestling woman.

Many have called Sunny the original Diva.  I guess it depends if you considered Liz a Diva whether you agree with that.  The more thought I put into it, the less I'm inclined to classify Elizabeth as a "diva."  But I will agree that Sunny was certainly the first Diva as we know them today.  That's not to take anything away from Wendi Ritcher, the Fabulous Moolah, or "Sensational" Sherri Martel.  But you guys know what I mean.

Sunny was clearly there for eye candy.  She was the beauty in a land of beasts.  And back in 1995 when she first appeared with her boyfriend Chris Candido, aka Skip, Sunny was a breath of fresh air.  In her years with the WWE, she managed several different teams including the Bodydonnas, the Godwins, the Smoking Gunns, and the Legion of Doom.  She also had some time with Ron Simmons when he arrived as Faarooq Assad.  She was part of the changing of the guard with getting the traditional male manager out and bringing in the babes.

But I don't ever remember Sunny actually wrestling.  At least not when she was in the WWF.  I've read that she did do some wrestling in WCW in 2000.  This time is a complete blur to me.  I remember Chris Candido signing with WCW, but I don't ever remember Sunny, aka Tammy Sytch joining him there.

Of course she was a part of the Miss Wrestlemania battle royal at Wrestlemania 25.  So while she didn't have a huge role as a wrestler, she did lay the groundwork for the modern day Diva.  She kept the fans (mostly male) entertained with her antics, and added something extra to the WWF when the company really was struggling in the 1990's.

I look forward to seeing her at the Hall of Fame ceremony and will be curious to hear what she says about the honor.  It's too bad Chris is no longer here to be there for the event too.

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Hall of Fame: WCW Style

The 2010 HOF Ceremony in Phoenix

In a recent post I listed a group of superstars I feel should be in the Hall of Fame now.  Many of them I doubt will actually be inducted as a part of the class of 2011.  Part of my reasoning is the fact that Wrestlemania 27 is in Atlanta and many are speculating this ceremony will be  a more WCW driven induction.

So here is a list of WCW (with some WWE experience) hopefuls for the class of 2011.

Spoiler alert:  you won't find Sting on this list.  He is probably the one guy you'd most likely associate with WCW, but since he's still in TNA, I don't think the WWE would induct-yet.

Please not again, most if not all these photos, expect the one above, are from WWE.

Lex Luger

1. Lex Luger:  Love him or hate him, Lex Luger was one of the biggest stars in the history of WCW.   He held the world title, U.S. (on several occasions), and the tag team titles.  Early in his career he was pegged as the guy to beat Ric Flair and take the title.  And as many times as he tried, he always seemed to come up short.  It wasn't until Flair left WCW for the WWF, that he finally got the gold belt. 

While he may not have been the best champion, Luger was leading the company at a time when they'd lost their biggest star.  That's a tough role to fill.  I don't know if the pressure got to him or Vince made him an offer he couldn't refuse, but he soon left Atlanta for the promised land of the WWF. 

There he competed as the Narcissist.  A role that seemed to fit him perfectly.  But then in an attempt to fill the void made by Hulk Hogan's departure, Luger became a babyface patriot, and seemed to be the man who would defeat the giant Yokozuna for the world title.  His attempts failed again, and it seemed that Luger was expected to be someone he wasn't.  He floundered and finally went back to WCW.

He wore the world title again and feuded with the nWo.  In more recent years, Lex has been in poor health after suffering from a stroke.  He's had his share of legal problems too, but that all appears to be behind him now.  Luger is a born again Christian and has made great strides as he recovers from his near crippling stroke.



Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson

 2.  Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard:  These guys could actually go in separately, but they were also on the best teams in WCW in the late 80's.  They were great on their own too.

Tully wore the NWA TV title and U.S. title and had several great matches with the likes of Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A.  In fact, thinking back to my childhood and watching the old NWA shows, I think TA may have been his greatest rival.  I remember a classic cage match between the two in which both men were bloodied and battered. 

Arn was also a TV champion and dubbed the Enforcer of the Horsemen.  Besides Flair, he was the group's other constant.  Arn had some great individual matches with Dusty too.  He and his "cousin" Ole Anderson were the original team in the horsemen, but when Ole got kicked out, he and Tully started teaming up.  I think that was a good move, as the two had some classic matches against the Rock n Roll Express, Road Warriors, and the Midnight Express.

The pair left the NWA in 1989 for the green pastures of the WWF.  They had some great matches there, most notably against the Rockers and the Hart Foundation.  Dubbed the Brain Busters and managed by Bobby Heenan, the two beat Demolition for the WWF tag team titles.  They eventually lost them back to the faces, and quickly left the WWF.  Arn went back to the NWA, Tully headed for the AWA.  It wasn't long after that he retired from wrestling.

Arn kept wrestling and was a part of the Monday Night Wars and reprised his role in the 4 Horsemen.  The Enforcer is still active with the WWE as a trainer.  It's a role that Tully held briefly a few years ago.  Either way, both of these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

3.  Magnum T.A.:  I often wonder, what if? when it comes to Magnum T.A.  Older fans know what I'm talking about.  Terry Allen was at the top of his game back in 1986 when he was nearly killed in a car accident.  The wreck left him unable to walk, much less wrestle.  Through rehab and hard work, he did walk again, but with assistance of a cane.

In the mid 80's T.A. was one of the most sound wrestlers in the business.  He gave Ric Flair a run for his money and many thought he'd be the World champion one day.  He had already been the U.S. and TV champions, feuding with Nikita Koloff and Tully Blanchard. 

Besides the great matches with those two and Flair, another memory of TA I have is from the Great American Bash (I think) and he was wrestling Kamala.  The Ugandan Giant was on the attack, but was subdued by the champ's patented belly to belly suplex.  I was amazed a guy of Magnum's size could do that to such a big man. 

"Sweet", "Loverboy", "Beautiful", & Jim Cornette

4.  The Midnight Express AND Jim Cornette:
When I saw the Midnight Express, I'm talking about the four guys pictured.  Although they weren't all together all the time, I think all of them are HOF worthy.

My first memories of "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey were in World Class.  They teamed up with their obnoxious, tennis racket wielding manager Jim Cornette.  They embroiled in a feud with the Fantastics and had some stellar matches in the territory over the tag team titles.

It wasn't long before they jumped to the NWA and had a natural rivalry with the Rock n Roll Express.  The duo also went head to head with two of the toughest guys on the block, the Road Warriors.  They engaged in that memorable scaffold match at Starrcade.  Who's idea was it to put a scaffold over the ring anyway?

Eventually the Loverboy would be replaced with a younger, more athletic "Sweet" Stan Lane.  While I think Condrey and Eaton worked well together, I think Lane and Eaton were the better version of the ME.  They would eventually turn face and win the tag team titles from Arn and Tully.  A heel version of the Road Warriors would then claim the belts.

What can I say about Cornette.  He's one of the best managers in the history of the business.  A classic heel who lead the way for many men in the business, including Big Bubba Rogers, Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog among others.  Let's not hold The New Midnight Express against him though.

Cornette's not on the best of terms with the WWE right now, so I don't know how likely it would be for him to get in, but at some point he and his team deserve a spot in the hall.

The Great Muta

5.  The Great Muta: Muta made a big impact on the NWA back in the late 80's.  I remember him getting involved in the Ric Flair-Terry Funk feud.  Besides sparking a rivalry with Flair, he also battled Sting and beat him for the TV Title.

Muta was a great addition to the roster back then, as he did moves that a lot of American fans weren't exposed to before.   I can't really explain it, but he raised the bar for wrestling here in the United States.   He continued to wrestle in Japan and the NWA/WCW for years.

Barry Windham

6.  Barry Windham:  Barry Windham jumped between NWA/WCW and the WWF several times in his career, but I think it's safe to say his most success was in the NWA.  I mean come on, two of his three stints in the WWF he was saddled with the silly name "Widowmaker" and "The Stalker".  And don't forget about "Blackjack" Windham (that came after the Stalker gimmick fell flat)

Anyway, Barry Windham gave Flair a run for his money back in the mid to late 80's.  Many thought he might even win the world title (myself included)  And while he never got that strap, Windham was quite successful.

He won several of the secondary titles and did have a run as NWA "world" champion.  He beat Muta for that title.  But I never really viewed that title as the world title.  At that time, there was the WCW world champion, so I never understood how you could have two world champions in the same company and on the same show.  It's not quite the same as the whole Raw and Smackdown world champions we have today.  But I digress...

Windham's impact on wrestling was quite significant and he did have success in the WWF too as a world tag team champion with Mike Rotunda.

Damn! It's me and Ron Simmons

7.  Ron Simmons: A fan just tuning in to wrestling today, would only know Ron Simmons as the guy who comes out and shouts "DAMN!" when something bizarre is happening on screen.

But Ron Simmons was quite the star back in the day.  Even before heading to the WWF and getting that crappy Faarooq Asad gimmick, (remember that hideous gear he wore?) Simmons was an established star.

After a successful run as a college football standout and some time in the pro's, Simmons turned to professional wrestling.   He spent the early days of his career in the NWA/WCW, where he won the tag team titles with Butch Reed as a part of Doom.  He also wore the U.S. tag titles with Big Josh (who became Doink the Clown).

But Simmon's biggest accomplishment was winning the world heavyweight championship.   He was the first African American to hold that title.  His reign didn't stand out as he was booked in some crappy matches with the likes of the Barbarian (a world title contender, really?) He lost the title back to Vader about five months after winning it.

But I'd say he made an impact on wrestling history with his work in WCW and in the WWF, and should at some point be inducted into the HOF.

Obviously, this is a short list there are plenty of others who wrestled in WCW who are worthy of induction.  Some that I left off but should be considered include Vader (who I think will go in at some point), Nikita Koloff, and his "uncle" Ivan (who is a former WWWF champion).  The Rock n Roll Express, Goldberg, and J.J. Dillon will all someday be considered for induction some day too.

So if you had to cast a WCW Hall of Fame, who would you chose?