Greatest Success of getting a wrestler over with the fans?

[The_Real_WrestleManiac]

erm... Hulk Hogan maybe? Who was more over than Hogan? Some say Austin but I don't swallow that. Hulk Hogan was a house hould name on kids lunch-boxes, in commercials and in movies, cartoons... all over. He wasn't born 'over' so he's the answer to this question.

 

[HBK-aholic]

MVP - When he first debuted we all expected him to be gone by the end of the year. But he's worked hard and got a great push. He's got quite a lot of fans, and has changed hugely from when he first started. He feuded with one of the best and it all worked from there.

Hogan - Has anyone ever being more over with the fans than he is?

Stone Cold - The Ringmaster. Anyone know who I mean? Thought not. But Austin 3:16 is a name known by everyone. They did a great job with this gimmick and Sutin got over very quickly with it.

 

[8five]

So for a couple years I wasn't watching and then I turn on Smackdown and Bradshaw the Texan was the champion known as JBL the billionaire, limousine riding, leader of a stable, and who the fuck is Orlando Jordan and why does he have the US title. Anybody know how this happen? And why is he in the main event at Wrestlemania and who is John Cena isn't that the white guy who tries to rap? did no one else feel like this...
O and also for honorable mention being that I interpret this as one person putting over another... Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie who then became Road Dogg and a major part of DX, yea that was pretty well done
Also in old non WWE, how about how Raven put Dreamer over in ECW, if it wasn't for Raven, Dreamer would have been a short lived jobber, but instead became the heart of ecw also to the crowd
There are so many but my vote goes to JBL cause I still dont understand wtf happened there

 

[Davi323]

Goldberg. He is the one thing WCW managed to do right. They took a complete no-talent hack and turned him into a monster that the fans loved...Of course, they were WCW fans, so tricking them into liking him wouldn't have been incredibly difficult...

 

[SCSA31693]

the rock=but hear me out, he went from rocky miavia who nobody gave half a damn about to the rock who at first nobody gave a damn about with the DIE ROCKY DIE ! chants to The Great One who nobody could get enough of, and who everyone wants back, went from rocky miavia to one of the 3 biggest names wrestling has ever seen in about 2 years

 

[ChosenOne]

Goldberg. He is the one thing WCW managed to do right. They took a complete no-talent hack and turned him into a monster that the fans loved...Of course, they were WCW fans, so tricking them into liking him wouldn't have been incredibly difficult...

I've never understood this argument, WCW fans were different from WWF/WWE fans? Really? No. Is one set of fans less educated because they watched the other? No, because for the most part wrestling fans kept up with both of them, and as we all recall WWF/WWE held the majority after mid-1998.

I kept up with both, and as most I watched WCW throughout 1996-1998, and kept up with WWF/WWE and hardly WCW in 1999, and when Russo/Bischoff took over WCW I watched them a lot in 2000. Of course, as WCW progressed into 2000, I switched over to WWF/WWE, but as most other wrestling fans, I pretty much understood what was going on with both shows throughout the entire Monday Night Wars.

 

[TheRealLionheart089]

for me it would have to be the great khali he is over with the fans after he almost killed undertaker he is the best wrestler ever i anit even joking

WOW.
I really hope you were callin The Undertaker the best wrestler ever...
because if you were talkin about The Great Khali being the best wrestler ever, then I feel sorry for you



But back on topic:
The greatest success of getting over would be Shawn Michaels, and its because they built him up slowly so he could grow on the fans, instead of being here today, gone tomorrow like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Ultimate Warrior etc.

He started off in a young, promising tag team
wasnt the best team, but won fans
turned on his partner and turned heel
got a valet
won the Intercontinental Championship multiple times
had several memorable matches for that title
**Ladder match at WM
got a bodyguard
turned to a baby face
***won the Royal Rumble TWICE, once at number 1
won the WWE title against Bret Hart in one of the greatest WM matches ever
defended that title in good matches
turned heel
The Kliq
D-Generation-X
MONTREAL SCREWJOB
got injured :/
RETURNED to active competition 4 years later in the nWo
STILL put on great matches
helped put over a couple of younger stars (Orton, Batista, Cena, Kennedy)

4 CONSECTUTIVE "matches of the Year" later, and here we are today. Shawn Michaels is one of the most recognizable and respeced wrestlers of ALL TIME

To me, that is the PERFECT career, and PERFECT way to get a wrestler over, Shawn Michaels career basically "grew up" in front of the fans over the past 20 years

 

[deadpool]

Triple H-I remember him havin short skits being a rude brit i guess.i never liked him.forget the change it must have been dx just dont remember what lead up to that point.you guys have to agree with me on that?

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

WOW.
The greatest success of getting over would be Shawn Michaels, and its because they built him up slowly so he could grow on the fans, instead of being here today, gone tomorrow like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Ultimate Warrior etc....
...To me, that is the PERFECT career, and PERFECT way to get a wrestler over, Shawn Michaels career basically "grew up" in front of the fans over the past 20 years

I didn't want to include the entire original post in a quote. You have a great post thought and I never really thought about it. But HBK is rather small compared to others so getting him over to where he is now is a great success.

With that said, yes, it is a perfect was to get someone over. Today people want someone to be heavyweight champ within a year of debut. Going the way Michaels went is perfect. Take a look at Jeff Hady. While clearly not on Michaels' level he followed a similar path that took years and look where he is now. I personally don't think he's championship material, but he is way over with the fans. People need to give it some time and not rush.

 

[vega13mv]

as much as i hate him, im gonna have to say cena. cena started his career as a heel, how mcmahon got ppl to like him, i have no freakin idea. i guess with a thin roster you have to push certain guys. cena then turned face, mcmahon gave him all the tv time in the world, and with that cena made funny catch phrases, designed nice t shirts, got the attention of children and horny teenage girls all over the world, and a star was born. WWE has since then lost its appeal to real wrestling fans and decided to appeal to bratty kids that bug their parents for merchandise. from a business standpoint it makes sense, so who cares if you piss a few ppl off with and overrated star right? "its all about the moneeeyyy!" - Vince McMahon

 

[TheRealLionheart089]

I didn't want to include the entire original post in a quote. You have a great post thought and I never really thought about it. But HBK is rather small compared to others so getting him over to where he is now is a great success.

With that said, yes, it is a perfect was to get someone over. Today people want someone to be heavyweight champ within a year of debut. Going the way Michaels went is perfect. Take a look at Jeff Hady. While clearly not on Michaels' level he followed a similar path that took years and look where he is now. I personally don't think he's championship material, but he is way over with the fans. People need to give it some time and not rush.

Exactly. I completly agree with you about having a wrestler be built up slowly, but surely, than fast and then forgotten.

Thats why I CANT WAIT to see where the careers of Lance Cade, Paul London, Elijah Burke, D.H. Smith, and Kenny Dykstra take us in the next 10 years