Instead of Hart, how about Von Erich

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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I suspect this will not be a popular post among some. It's part of my series of blogs looking at championship scenarios involving other Superstars. In no way am I saying Bret Hart should have never won the WWE Championship. I'm just offering an alternative. That being said, I should also mention that Kerry Von Erich is one of the first pro wrestlers I ever saw on TV and I credit him for hooking me as a lifelong fan.

Okay, now that the disclosures are out of the way, let's dig into this scenario... Of course for this to have worked, I'm basing it on Kerry being clean and sober and free of any demons. He had beaten Ric Flair in 1984 for the NWA Title. Repeating the act with the WWE Championship n 1992 would have been amazing. Kerry had the look for sure to be one of WWE's top guys. His mic skills weren't the greatest, but his work in the ring would have more than made up for that while developing his promo abilities.

Courtesy: WWE

Kerry could have lead the way for years to come. He was just 32 years old during this era of wrestling. Imagine him winning the gold and going on to face Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. Of course I would have loved for him to retain and go on to face Bret Hart at the next year's WrestleMania X and that's where Hart begins his run as champ. But I also don't think I would have avoided Yokozuna as WWE Champion all together. This also would change the return of Hulkamania and him winning the belt before heading to WCW.

For the sake of this plan, lets remove Hogan from the equation. I wasn't a fan of how that all went down anyway and for him to drop the belt back to Yokozuna anyway seemed kinda silly to me to have ever had Bret lose it. So Kerry loses to Yokozuna at WrestleMania XI. Yokozuna drops it back to him at SummerSlam. Kerry goes on to feud with "The Narcassist" Lex Luger, who co-wins the Royal Rumble with Hart. (There's no need for the All American gimmick and I liked heel Lex better anyway.)

Courtesy: WWE

WrestleMania X would still feature Bret vs. Owen and Kerry vs. Luger, with Kerry retaining and later going on to lose to Hart. Then Hart could have had a solid run through the rest of 1994. I previously wrote about putting the belt on Bulldog instead of Diesel. That could mesh in here, with Bulldog turning on Bret earlier than he did or simply having Bret vs. Shawn Michaels a year earlier at WrestleMania  XI and getting that rivilary off the ground.

Yes, hindsight is 20/20. There are plenty of things I've proposed that wouldn't have worked. Vince McMahon allegedly isn't a fan of face vs. face matches, so I'd imagine Kerry vs. Bret at WrestleMania would have been a hard sell anyway. However, I think this would have been a phenomonal match and a great way to book one of my all-time favorites.

Previous 'Instead of' blogs

Instead of Garvin, how about Windham?

Instead of Diesel, how about Bulldog?

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SURVIVOR SERIES: Favorite team number 6: Team HBK (1995)

Survivor Series 1995
Courtesy: WWE

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. 

In 1995 WWE tried something different for Survivor Series. This was the first year the event aired on a Sunday night. Previous Survivor Series shows were on Thanksgiving or the night before. Also that year, good guy teams vs. bad guy teams were tossed out the window. One match featured so-called Wild Card teams.

When rivals have to be partners
Courtesy: WWE

Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon made rivals team up and take on their friends. Shawn Michaels was forced to captain a team with Ahmed Johnson and his enemies, Sid and Davey Boy Smith. That foursome faced Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Owen Hart and Dean Douglas. As you might imagine, the teammate loyalty ran then and Shawn helped eliminate Sid after a serving of Sweet Chin Music. Once the dust settled it was Shawn's team that won, with HBK, Johnson and The Bulldog standing tall as the survivors. 

Teamwork
Courtesy: WWE

At the time of this match, Davey Boy was one of my favorites. He had recently turned heel and was being managed by Jim Cornette. I had previously been a fan of the heel HBK, and Ahmed Johnson was growing on me. I'll admit it here, I liked Sid too, so this team had it all. The "Wild Card" concept didn't become a consistent idea, but it did return from time to time. 

Top 10:

Team 7: Team Piper: Survivor Series 1991

Team 8: The All-Americans

Team 9: Team WWF Survivor Series 2001

Team 10: New Day, King Barrett and Sheamus

SURVIVOR SERIES: Favorite team number 8: All Americans (1993)

The All Americans
Courtesy: WWE

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. 

I was a big fan of Lex Luger's growing up. When he arrived in the WWF in 1993 as the Narcissist, I welcomed him with open arms. I thought the gimmick suited him perfectly, but a few months later he became a patriot in his quest for the WWF Championship, held by Yokozuna. While I don't think he pulled off the gimmick as well as he did as the Narcist, I still supported Luger.

At Survivor Series 1993, he assembled a team of the company's top talent to take on a group led by Yokozuna. Both teams lost members prior to Survivor Series. The undefeated Tatanka was taken out by Ludvig Borga weeks before. Luger returned the favor and eliminated Pierre, one-half of the Quebecers from the Foreign Fanatics. 

Showtime
Courtesy: WWE

The Undertaker subbed for Tatanka while Crush took over for the missing Quebecer. I would argue the All Americans will go down as one of the best teams in the history of Survivor Series. All four men achieved amazing feats in wrestling. The Undertaker's resume speaks for itself. The Steiner Brothers won multiple tag team championships. Luger, while not a huge WWF success, wore gold many times in WCW and spent months as the top contender for the WWF World Title. 

Santa celebrates with Lex Luger

This show set the wheels in motion for the Undertaker to become the new number one contender as he and Yoko would do battle at the next event: The 1994 Royal Rumble. Luger ended up the sole survivor by beating Borga with the forearm of doom. And just like Bret Hart had done a year earlier, Luger celebrated in the ring with Santa Claus after the victory.

Top 10:

Team 9: Team WWF Survivor Series 2001

Team 10: New Day, King Barrett and Sheamus

5 things I loved about Mr. Fuji

Fuji & Demolition
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Over the weekend WWE Hall of Famer Mr. Fuji died. By the time I started watching wrestling in late 1983, Fuji had transitioned from wrestler to manager, though he still had a few matches against good guys like Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and his former tag team of Demolition. While "the Devious One" had a great career in the ring, holding the WWF tag team titles a couple of times, I will remember him as a constant force on the outside of the ring. His managerial career in the WWF outlasted others from that era like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Slick and Jimmy Hart.

So I've decided to do a tribute here today with five of my favorite Mr. Fuji moments. He managed many men during his tenure, so narrowing it down to five was tough. (These aren't in any particular order.)

Helping Yokozuna win
Courtesy: WWE

1. His constant "a-salt" on opponents. Mr. Fuji became synonymous with tossing salt into the eyes of his foes in the ring. That act continued as a manager. He "blinded" everyone from Hulk Hogan to Ricky Steamboat to Bret Hart. In fact that act of malice cost Hart the WWF World Championship at WrestleMania IX and Fuji's huge henchman Yokozuna won the gold. But the title run lasted mere moments when Fuji challenged Hogan on the spot and his salt toss backfired and Yoko got the treatment. 

2. He was a sharp dressed manager. For most of his time as a manager, Mr. Fuji wore a black tuxedo, bowler and carried a cane. That looked also lead to an interesting tuxedo match against Hillbilly Jim, in which both men are in tuxes, and the man stripped down to his underwear first loses. Watch the clip above. Eventually when he began managing Yokozuna, he wore a traditional kimono and carried the Japanese flag.

The cane about to go into action
Courtesy: WWE

3. His "cane-do" attitude. Mr. Fuji's cane often became a weapon of mass destruction when his men needed it the most. That cane was used to bring Demolition the WWF Tag Team Titles against Strike Force at WrestleMania IV.  Dozens of good guys left the ring with an imprint of that cane on their back, head or abdomen.

4. He was the king of the low blow. Fuji used to set up his opponents for the ultimate low blow, a head butt to the crouch. It hurts me to just type this one out.

5. He and the Magnificent Muraco put Crockett and Tubbs to shame. The manager-wrestler duo did a spoof of Miami Vice on Tuesday Night Titans called Fuji Vice. It was a a fun segment to capitalize on the popularity of the crime show and give it a wrestling twist. Again, watch the above clip.

These are just a few of the many accomplishments Mr. Fuji made during his long career. I'd be remiss to not mention him during on Demolition during the 1988 Survivor Series and joining forces with the Powers of Pain. Rest in peace Mr. Fuji. You will be missed.

Patriotic Lex Luger was a dud

Celebrating at SummerSlam 93

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I don't write this to be disrespectful to Lex Luger. I am really a big fan of his. I've met Lex and he's a great guy. But on July 4, 1993 the WWF tried turning Luger into a great American hero. The intentions were good, but the execution was horrible.

Luger & Heenan: The potential dream team

Up until that point, Luger had been wrestling as The Narcissist. He'd been introduced to WWF fans earlier that year at the Royal Rumble by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. A year earlier Luger left WCW after losing the world title to Sting. The original plan was for "The Total Package" to compete in Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation. However a motorcycle accident sidelined those plans.

Courtesy: WWE

I always had a hard time buying Luger as a good guy, even in his days in the NWA. Luger was a natural heel. He had the perfect body to play off that cocky, narcissistic jerk. He and Heenan would have been gold as a unit with Heenan doing the talking and Luger taking care of business in the ring. But the Brain had already retired from managing at that point. 

Turning Luger into a hero
Courtesy: WWE

WWF needed a new hero to fill the void that was going to be felt when Hulk Hogan left the company after losing the championship to Yokozuna. For whatever reason, WWF felt the need to have an all American hero face the giant Sumo star from Japan. Bret Hart, the former champion and the man who would eventually dethrone Yokozuna, was sidetracked with feuds against Jerry "The King" Lawler and Owen Hart. 

Crush as the hero?
Courtesy: WWE

Based on things I've read it appears backstage politics played a role in Luger not winning the title. If that's the case I don't understand why they'd completely change his persona. If they were looking for an American hero type to feed to Yokozuna who would be big enough to pose a threat to him without winning the belt, instead of decorating Crush in orange and purple, they could have gone with red, white and blue on him and pushed him a bit harder. 

I realize too that with Hogan gone, the WWF was just entering the steroid scandal. It's been stated before that McMahon was trying to avoid using larger than life muscular Superstars. So it could be Luger was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger
Courtesy: WWE

Luger rose quickly and fizzled out shortly after the Lex Express experience. He got screwed over at WrestleMania X. I really thought he'd end up becoming WWF world heavyweight champion. Then I thought he and Davey Boy Smith as the Allied Powers would win the tag team gold, but that never happened either. I would have rather seen him stay heel and beat Bret instead of the Bob Backlund-Diesel switch. 

Overall, WWF bungled the Luger experience, not unlike other big name WCW/NWA stars who jumped ship. Terry Funk, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors and The Steiners all come to mind. 

MVPs of WrestleMania #6

By Kevin Hunsperger & Chad Smart

@kevinhunsperger, @chadsmart, @my123cents

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Last year I had the idea to do an MVPs of WrestleMania blog, but came up with it a day or two before the big event.  So I held my list waiting for WrestleMania 32 to roll around.  Admittedly I've made a couple of minor tweaks to the original list and debated internally over the quality of my list.  I invited Chad to play along too.  While the lists aren't perfect (he's not in our top ten), I hope you enjoy.  A new blog will be posted daily until March 31, the day I leave for Dallas.

For number 6 we both picked Bret "The Hitman" Hart

WrestleMania 8
Courtesy: WWE

Kevin's thoughts:

Bret Hart has the distinction of being the second to last guy in the ring at the first two WrestleMania battle royals.  He also teamed with Jim Neidhart at several Manias including a six-man tag at 3.  The duo joined forces at 5, 6 and 7.  The Hitman went on to win the IC title from Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8 in one of the best matches at the event of all-time.  He picked up the World title from Yokozuna a year after losing it to the big man also at a WrestleMania.  He had amazing matches with his brother Owen Hart and of course the big Iron Man match against Shawn Michaels and the "I Quit" match against Stone Cold.  Hart returned to the ring in 2010 to face Vince McMahon in a street fight.  While it was an ugly encounter, it gave the Hitman a chance at closure after his abrupt departure from the company in 1997.

Austin-Hart
Courtesy: WWE

Chad's thoughts:

“The Hitman” bridged the gap between Hulkamania and the Attitude Era. During that time, Bret faced off against Roddy Piper, Yokozuna, Bob Backlund, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart and the already mentioned, Steve Austin. Add in his tag team matches as part of the Hart Foundation and you’ve got a solid WrestleMania resume.

Miss an MVP?

10. Brock Lesnar, Edge and MVP

9.   "Stone Cold" Steve Austin & "Rowdy" Roddy Piper 

8.   The Rock & "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

7.   "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Rumble Rambings: 1993

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm hoping (but not committing) to watch several Royal Rumbles leading up to the 2016 event and just posting random thoughts of the match.  I'm not doing these in any order.  Today I'm starting with 1993.  I decided to watch it because I hadn't seen it since it first aired 23 years ago.  This was also the first time the stipulation included a championship match at Wrestlemania for the winner.

I miss these two...
Courtesy: WWE

• I miss Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon as a team.  It's nice watching a show and the entire time the commentary team is focused on the action at hand.  No Network shills.  No "Royal Rumble is trending on Twitter!" comments.  The back and forth between these two was always magical.  Heenan's quick wit has never been matched, ever.  And Monsoon's responses were always great.  "Will you stop?!?"

Flair, Backlund and DiBiase
Courtesy: WWE

• Ric Flair was days away from leaving WWF and started the Rumble as number one.  The second entrant was another former champion: Bob Backlund.  Keep in mind Flair is about six months older than Backlund, but Heenan and Monsoon focused on Backlund's age and his comeback.  They weren't the only two to do that during Backlund's return.  I just found it funny how Backlund was a hero for being so "old" and returning, while Flair had just finished a run as champ.

Carlos Colon
Courtesy: WWE

• Speaking of age, when Carlos Colon hit the ring, Gorilla referred to the Caribbean champion as a "youngster."  He was older than Backlund and Flair and had been wrestling nearly 30 years by the time the '93 Rumble rolled around.  This was his first appearance on WWF TV I believe, so maybe he was a youngster to the company???

Introducing Giant Gonzalez
Courtesy: WWE

• I hate when a guy gets eliminated by someone who has already been tossed from the match.  In this particular event it was Mr. Perfect.  He got taken out by Jerry "The King" Lawler who had been dumped to the floor moments earlier.  But the biggest miscarriage of justice (a Gorilliaism) was when the Giant Gonzalez appeared out of no where and took out the Undertaker.  Gonzalez wasn't even in the match and was making his debut that night.  How does that work?  

• Typhoon and Earthquake collectively were known as the Natural Disasters.  The two had a run as tag team champions.  But for some reason when Earthquake entered the match he immediately went after his partner and eliminated him.  I'm certain nothing ever developed from this.  Just a weird moment in the Rumble I guess.

The final two
Courtesy: WWE

• How did "Macho Man" Randy Savage go from the second to the last man in the ring to working on the announce team at Wrestlemania IX?  Considering Savage's pedigree I still don't know what happened there (keep in mind he wrestled a year later at Wrestlemania X).  And while I'm on it, why was the 1989 winner, Big John Studd merely a guest referee at Wrestlemania V?
  

It's fun looking back on these now "classic" Rumble matches.  Until next time...

SummerSlam A to Z: Yokozuna

Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Check out other SummerSlam A to Z blogs

Yokozuna only appeared on one SummerSlam pay-per-view, but he made history in the process.  He was the first bad guy world heavyweight champion on the yearly event.  He defended the gold in the main event of SummerSlam '93 against Lex Luger.  And even though it was the sixth SummerSlam, it was only the third to feature a heavyweight championship match.

Courtesy: WWE

Yoko had won his second championship (his first lasted about 20 seconds) at King of the Ring earlier that summer.  Because Hogan was leaving, the WWF needed a new all-American type hero and turned to Lex Luger.  He had been a heel himself as the Narcissist.  But soon he dressed in stars and stripes garb and was body slamming the 500 plus pound Samoan superstar (even though his character was Japanese).   The two met at SummerSlam and Luger won the match by count out after knocking the big man out of the ring with his patented "loaded" elbow. 

Austin vs. Yokozuna
Courtesy: WWE

He did wrestle a few years later on the "Free For All" event before SummerSlam '96.  By then he was  a good guy and had slipped down the card.  He also slipped off the ropes when he tried to do his Banzai Drop on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.  The rope broke and Yoko crashed to the mat.  A dazed Austin, fresh off his King of the Ring win, scored the pinfall.

 I always thought Yokozuna moved amazingly well for a man his size.  Now 15 years after his death I think I have an even better appreciation for him and wish he would have been around longer for his family, friends and fans to enjoy. 

Famer Friday: Lex Luger

Lex Luger

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Earlier this year, on the My 1-2-3 Cents podcast, Chad and I discussed the one person not in the WWE Hall of Fame that we feel should be.  I picked "Ravishing" Rick Rude and Chad picked Lex Luger.  I agree with him on his choice.  Luger's in ring work gets criticized a lot and his connection to Elizabeth at the time of her death is often brought up, but I think his history in the business speaks for itself.  For the record, Lex was ever only charged with drug violations and Elizabeth's death was ruled an accident.

Luger first caught my eye in the Apter magazines when he broke into the business in Florida.  I'd say he was the most physically gifted wrestler I'd seen up to that point and I knew it would be just a matter of time before he was wrestling on the national scene.  His early days in the NWA included a stint with the Four Horsemen.  I liked this version of the group better than the original, as Lex's youth and strength would replace an aging Ole Anderson.

Championship run
Courtesy: WWE

It didn't take long for The Total Package to embrace the cheers of the faces and feud with the Horsemen.  I still can't believe Lex didn't beat Ric Flair for the NWA World heavyweight title at The Great American Bash in 1988.  I was 0 for 3 that night as Sting and Nikita Koloff failed to capture the tag titles and Dusty Rhodes was beaten by Barry Windham in his quest for the U.S. title.   I thought Luger's redemption would come months later at Starrcade, but a cheating Flair came out on top.

The Narcissist
Courtesy: WWE

Lex would eventually have a run as WCW World heavyweight champ.  It was short-lived as he left the company and signed with Vince McMahon's new World Bodybuilding Federation, but a motorcycle accident sidelined him and the WBF quickly folded.  Months later, Luger would take on the persona of the Narcissist after being introduced to fans by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.  I wish the two would have stuck together as I loved the gimmick.

Battling Yokozuna
Courtesy: WWE

But I think Vince was looking to fill a void created when Hulk Hogan left the WWF for good in 1993.  A month later, Luger body slammed the massive Yokozuna and embraced an all-American gimmick, traveling the country via the Lex Express preparing for a WWF World title match at SummerSlam '93.  Again, Luger was screwed out of the top prize, but continued his feud with the champ.  Yoko beat Lex by disqualification in his final attempt at the gold at Wrestlemania X after a bad call by special referee Mr. Perfect.

The Allied Powers
Courtesy: WWE

Luger worked in tag team matches with Davey Boy Smith before leaving, but I thought this duo would win the tag team titles.  I was wrong again, as gold was never in Lex's future in the WWF.  He would return home to WCW and have a couple runs as champ there again.  

His life took a major turn after he injured his neck and ended up temporarily paralyzed as a result.  I had a chance to meet and talk with Lex in 2011, along with Nikita Koloff.  The two have found Jesus and are spreading His message.  Lex had also mended fences with WWE and was working behind the scenes with the company.  I hope that at some point the two sides work together again and Luger takes his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.