He blew it big time!!!!

[stmarks2002]

Terry Taylor was the wrestler who was originally slated to play the Mr. Perfect gimmick. He decided to pass on the gimmick because he didnt think he could do anything with the character and thought it was dumb. He obviously blew it and we saw Curt Hennig take it and turn it into something special. Taylor later became the Red Rooster and went into wrestling obscurity. I'm sure he hates that he passed on that opportunity.

With that in mind, how do you think Terry Taylor would have turned out had he played that character? What do you think would have became of Curt Hennig gimmick/storyline wise? If Hennig had passed on the gimmick, what wrestler at that time do you think could have played the role and/or did better then Hennig?

 

[deadelviX]

Terry Taylor was the wrestler who was originally slated to play the Mr. Perfect gimmick. He decided to pass on the gimmick because he didnt think he could do anything with the character and thought it was dumb. He obviously blew it and we saw Curt Hennig take it and turn it into something special. Taylor later became the Red Rooster and went into wrestling obscurity. I'm sure he hates that he passed on that opportunity.

With that in mind, how do you think Terry Taylor would have turned out had he played that character? What do you think would have became of Curt Hennig gimmick/storyline wise? If Hennig had passed on the gimmick, what wrestler at that time do you think could have played the role and/or did better then Hennig?

i don't think it has much to do with the actual characters...for example...if they reversed the roles....then Mr Perfect Terry Taylor would've fallen into obscurity... and The Red Rooster Curt Hennig would be in the WWE Hall of Fame!

Hennig could make anything work... i'm sure he could've turned that crap into gold!

 

[Foshinzo]

Honestly, I think Terry Taylor wouldn't have executed the Mr. Perfect character well...perfectly, if you will. Curt Hennig was meant to play Mr. Perfect. Like WWE said themselves, the fact that he never really messed up just played into the character ideally. Whether it was smacking his gum away or his wrestling savvy abilities, he was just flawless in a lot of ways. I'm a little biased right now because Perfect was one of my favorites when I was younger, and I always felt it was a shame that he never could get a world title run. I always felt that during the Bret Hart, Perfect or Bulldog one could have beaten him instead and it would have been believable. Instead of Yokozuna getting three runs and Bob Backlund getting his hilariously short run. Let's not forget also, the joke that was Hogan's post-Wrestlemania IX run.

As for Terry Taylor, I think it's safe to say that he was meant to end up where he did. It's like, "You thought the Perfect character was stupid...yet you played one of the dumbest characters of all-time, the Red Rooster?" We all live and die by the choices we make, and Taylor is no different. I suppose it was just meant to be the Curt Hennig was Mr. Perfect, because I don't think anyone could have done it better and he'll always live on in wrestling history as one of the most underrated wrestlers ever.

 

[Da Truth]

I think Taylor would've made a good Mr. Perfect, not as good as Henning though. Taylor was very good in the ring and his mic skills were pretty descent. He had all the tools to play the character except for one thing, he wasn't as atheletic as Henning and that would've hurt his persona as Mr. Perfect.
Now Henning I think could've took the Dean/genius character later played by Shane Douglas. Henning would've perfect for the role because he was truly a genius in the ring. His mic skills were spectacular. He would've made that gimmick the best ever.
Who else could've played the Mr. Perfect character well? Two people come to mind. First, the person who held the gimmick of Dean, Shane Douglas. He would've been a perfect Mr. Perfect (Ok, I couldn't resist). He was atheletic enough, great in ring skills, and way over on the mic. I he had kept his mouth shut and stayed out of the backstage politics he would've done wonders with the character he had. The second person is Kerry Von Erich. He had the look; he so atheletic for a person who was an amputee; he never skipped a beat in the ring. His mic skills were ok at best though. But I can just see the name of his finishers (Perfect Punch-Discuss Punch or the Grasp for Perfection-claw hold)

 

[stmarks2002]

I could see Hennig playing the dean role because he "schooled" people in the ring. His matches were always clinics of "perfection". I think Rick Rude could've played the Mr. Perfect part as well based on his physique and in-ring crowd rants before his matches.

 

[steveh0481]

Looking back at the old Curt Hennig matches, namely the one against the Red Rooster at Summerslam 89 (I think), you can really tell Hennig was a better fit for the Mr. Perfect gimmick over Terry Taylor. He personified his character which is something that the WWE is lacking these days. He truly believed he was perfect in every way, from coming down. Someone mentioned it earlier that Mr. Perfect Terry Taylor would have faded into obscurity and I agree with that. Terry Taylor did not have the charisma for the Mr. Perfect role.

 

[rexbox82]

I don't think terry taylor would have mounted to anything in the WWE even if he took the mr perfect role. Curt henning was the most suitable person for the Mr perfect role and don't think anyone else back then or even now would do the role justice and henning should have achieved more in his WWE tenure but he was held back for whatever reasons some say because it was because of his physique back in the late eighties early nineties you had to be freakishly big to wear the strap , warrior, hogan etc and after his intercontinental defeat to bret hart injuries started to take it's toll and sometimes was out of wrestling ranging from months to years.

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

Terry Taylor was as genaric as could be and would have done nothing with the Mr. Perfect gimmick, noway could he have pulled it off the way Curt Henning did, thank god things worked out the way they did or we wouldn't of had one of the most entertaining characters in wrestling. Taylor didn't have the build/look or the cockyness to make it work, everything about Henning fit the character perfectly.(pun intended)

 

[Whatsinaname696]

terry didn't quite fade into obscurity, some of us remember him fondly as Red Rooster from younger days (.... this thread is starting to make me feel old) but I remember Mr Perfect... Perfectly, if there was ever a god of wrestling (besides Hogan) he truely made it work out for Curt Hennings ring name, The Ravishing One may have done good with it, but his character was just as solid for him, Douglas may have benefited from the name and doneit well, but no one ... NO ONE could replace Curt Henning in that role, some people have better talent (not by much if they do) .. maybe a little better mic skills (maybe)... but no one could do it all like Curt Henning ALWAYS did... so no Terry didn't blow it, he prolly did more with Red Rooster than he could have with Perfect and Perfect did more with perfect than ANYone could have... win/win

 

[trashboy]

i don't think it has much to do with the actual characters...for example...if they reversed the roles....then Mr Perfect Terry Taylor would've fallen into obscurity... and The Red Rooster Curt Hennig would be in the WWE Hall of Fame!

Hennig could make anything work... i'm sure he could've turned that crap into gold!

Nothing else needs to be said.. you pretty said what I was about to say.. Terry Taylor would have failed anyway

That'd also be like what would have happened to The Game character if Owen Hart had actually done it... "I'm not a nugget, I'm The Game. Woo!"

 

[EastCoastFan]

I have to agree with everybody else - Curt Hennig was meant to play Mr. Perfect.

That said, Terry Taylor was a good wrestler who did pretty well for himself in Florida, UWF and and NWA/WCW until he went to the WWF. He was not a good fit for that company. He was a "pro wrestler", not a "sports entertainer". Dusty Rhodes could have found a way to make "The Red Rooster" work, but Terry did not have the personality and charisma to do that. That gimmick ruined his career and to a smaller extent, gave people the impression that Vince McMahon may have a few screws loose.

 

[Aberle4Life]

I don't much to add to this, but I just want to say that I love it that so many are giving the love to Curt Hennig. He was definitely one of the greatest wrestlers we were ever privileged to have seen. He was absolutely the PERFECT Mr. Perfect. I miss him, and wouldn't be surprised if he was still in the WWE as an announcer today since, as with everything else, he was so good at it.

Obviously Terry Taylor could never measure up to Curt and the right guy got the Mr. Perfect gimmick, but I did enjoy the Red Rooster's feud with Bobby Heenan. The Rooster was the true underdog standing up to a bully, and got the best of the Brain ultimately. I thought that angle was entertaining, so it's not like Terry Taylor's run in the WWF was a total flop.

I wish we could see Mr. Perfect showing today's athletes how it's done. He'd show Drew Brees the PERFECT way to throw a football

 

[The Crock]

Terry Taylor wouldn't have been anywhere close to Curt Hennig. Hennig had the look, the in-ring ability, he had it all. Hennig was the epitome of Mr. Perfect. Nobody could have pulled that character off the way he did. He was a naturally gifted athlete and he gave off the aura that he mattered. Taylor never had that about him. Now, Taylor was a gifted wrestler, but again, he didn't have all the tools that Hennig did. Taylor got Heenan as a manager too, but that wasn't working. Even if the gimmick sucked, he had a chance to succeed with it, but he just didn't have "it." He lacked a connection with the fans. Hennig had the psychology of it all down, he used the Mr. Perfect character to enhance what he did in the ring and on the mic, he worked with the gimmick, he learned everything about and he BECAME the gimmick.

That's the thing about Hennig. He immersed himself into Mr. Perfect when he came through that curtain. His moves, the vignettes, everything was executed with the utmost of care. He made every last thing look good. Even the minor things in the match, Hennig focused on them and made them just as good as anything else. Plain and simple, Hennig did such a good job that he was believable. You could honestly look at him, as a fan, and say to yourself, "Man, what a performer." He was unmatched, unrivaled, he truly was perfect.

 

[wrestling89]

In some ways Terry Taylor did play the Mr. Perfect gimmick........in WCW. In early 1992, he was The Taylor Made Man in WCW. Which was a bullshit character, but he kind of played like he was above everyone else. And he just could not get that gimmick over. Similar to Terrance Taylor of the York Foundation.

IT's a stretch, but Hennig kind of played a comic character like the Rooster (altohugh not as ridiculous) in WCW as well. When he was (a Minnesota guy) playing a West Texas Redneck. The gimmick was dumb, but he made it work! I Hate Rap was one of the greatest wrestler sung themes of all time!

Bottom line is, in WCW Hennig took a crap gimmick and turned it into Gold. Taylor took a gimmick (that he tried to replicate from the Mr. Perfect character) and did nothing with it.

Taylor never blew it, he just never really had "it."

 

[The Brain]

I was thinking it wasn’t too long ago that I made a thread about this topic so I did a search for it. Turns out it was one year ago almost to the day. Time flies. Anyway, I’m in agreement with most here that Curt Hennig was born to be Mr. Perfect. Now if Taylor actually took on the role we might be saying the same about him. What I wonder more about than how these men’s careers would have turned out is if this rumor is actually true.

In 1988 would Terry Taylor have been in a position to tell Vince McMahon no? Everything I’ve read suggests that all new talent to the WWF was intimidated by McMahon at first. It seems unlikely that a newcomer would have the balls to turn down a gimmick from McMahon. Also, why would Taylor turn it down? If someone told you they were going to build you up as the perfect man would you turn that down? What’s more curious is why he would accept the Red Rooster gimmick. That had failure written all over it from the beginning. Even if Taylor didn’t see success in the Perfect gimmick did he really think the Rooster gimmick was better? It just doesn’t add up to me. I think Taylor may have been considered for the Perfect gimmick, but I highly doubt he was offered it and turned it down.