How far could Marty Jannetty of gone?

[supernatural1981]

So i was just looking at a thread created by Irishcanadian25 about the WWF in 1992/93 and he posted a video of the Intercontenental matches between Shawn Micheals and Marty Jannetty from early 93? anyway it got me thinking just how much i liked Marty and how he was my fave rocker.

So how far do you guys think Marty Jannetty should and indeed could of gone with the WWF after the split from HBK?

I like to think that if it wasn't for his "issues" which made him unreliable to the company he could of had a decent mid card run including a couple more IC titles down the line.

so come on guys how do you rate Jannetty and where do you place him in the early 90's WWF scene?

 

[Greg4WWE]

Mid-card to maybe a few world title matches. He was a great talent just, you are right.. to many "issues".

 

[bigdan7885]

I think how far he "could have" gone is the same as how far he "should have" gone, which is exactly where he did go (does that make sense?, well whatever). Even though he had reliability issues, he was still given several chances (even an IC and tag title with Kidd) and just never caught on. Face it, he just wasn't as charismatic as Shawn and was always going to be overshadowed even though he was pretty decent in the ring.

 

[daddyJ_t]

wtf are u high? none of what u just said is factual. he just got hired in 88 and no way vince pushes somebody that small for the title over his heavys. i think if it wasnt for his legal troubles he would have been pushed into a fued over the title with micheals. either winning by dq or countout but not winning the big one himslef or winning ala jericho vs hhh style where the decision was immediatly reversed

 

[HBsam31]

I have heard that some people thought Jannetty was the better of the two Rockers back then. I am not sure if that is true or not, but he and Shawn had some great matches. I never heard that Jannetty was going to be facing Hulk Hogan at Mania 6. That seems like a bit of a stretch doesn't it. I think he would have been a staple in the IC title division, and possibly at some point challenged for the WWF title. I just never looked at him as a permanent fixture in the main event, but he was sure talented and I think he would have gotten a shot had he not had all of the personal issues.

 

[hardy8778]

i'm going to be short sweet and to the point there is absolutely no chance in hell that Marty jannetty should of been world champ or faced hogan for the title at mania but he would've been a high mid carder and could've challenged for the WWE championship but just like guys like Mr. Perfect and Owen Hart Marty would've been just that close to the title but never win it if his problems did not affect his work ethic

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I would HAVE (not of) expected Marty to have remained pretty much where he was, as a midcarder involved in the Intercontinental Title picture along with the likes of Perfect and Razor. Jannetty was a talented guy and it's a shame that so many personal issues led to his constant hiring/firing from the WWF- I read somewhere it's something like 9x he has been hired then fired, absolutely pathetic.

Shawn was the more charismatic of the duo and when HBK had become champ, if Marty had still been around then maybe there would have a short feud over the WWF Title to make the most out of The Rockers breakup, with the commentators hyping up their past and achievements in the buildup and during the match. However, that would be only time I would expect Marty to be anywhere near the main event.

 

[ilapierre]

I just read HeenanGorilla's post and almost nearly shit my pants. Great stuff! The guy's got quite the imagination. I was a bit surprised at the end to find out he wasn't joking. Dude's gotta be high.

As for Janetty, he was my favourite of the two Rockers before the split. It's obvious now that Shawn had more potential. But at the time I thought Janetty was the more entertaining of the two to watch. Without the 'problems' posters keep saying he had, I believe Marty could have developed into a much more credible wrestler. Don't get me wrong, he still wrestled some fantastic matches in his feud with Shawn. But perhaps he could have developed into a 'King of Harts' type character gunning for Shawn and his world title.

 

[GameOver]

Gonna be the same as the consensus, he got further then he could've expected to get.
He was truly the Weak Link of the team. Michaels may have not been great on the mic when they teemed but everything else about him was head and shoulders above Janetty.

Janetty was purely a good in ring guy who was a likeable kid but otherwise he was dull and lifeless, as soon as the Rockers split that was the end of Marty Janetty.

He did get in contention for the IC title and was a tag champ so he should be thankfull they allowed that much.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Gonna be the same as the consensus, he got further then he could've expected to get.
He was truly the Weak Link of the team. Michaels may have not been great on the mic when they teemed but everything else about him was head and shoulders above Janetty.

Janetty was purely a good in ring guy who was a likeable kid but otherwise he was dull and lifeless, as soon as the Rockers split that was the end of Marty Janetty.

He did get in contention for the IC title and was a tag champ so he should be thankfull they allowed that much.

This is just factually inaccurate. Jannetty was seen as the stronger wrestler on the team and was more popular of the two at the time. He never developed, probably in part to due to his severe personal issues. Now, could he have eve developed to the level Shawn developed into (though nobody saw this level of potential in him)? No way you can assume that level of development. Nobody thought Shawn could do that, either, to be fair. But none of that changes the fact that Marty was seen as the star of the team and got bigger pops on his "hot tags" back then. Shawn was seen as more vanilla.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I remember Jannetty being a good in ring performer, I dont remember him having much charisma or ever showing much nuance with his character. To me it's clear he was the "other guy" in a team where one guy was great and the other guy was just great at complimenting him. HBK had charisma and as he improved on the mic he made a phenomenal transition from teeny bopper tag team guy to full fledged Ric Flair like heel, arrogaunt, over the top extravagant, a complete transformation that he pulled off well. Jannety never showed me anything that made me think he could have done that regardless of his drug issues.

I put him alongside Robert Gibson (great in ring worker, lousy promo guy) who was a stand out side kick for Ricky Morton in the Rock & Roll Express (the mega popular 80s tag team that the Rockers were created as immitations of) and Jim Neidhardt (never Brett Hart's equal in ability but a solid companion during the Hart Foundation days) in terms of his own individual star power and ability vs how good he played the 2nd fiddle.

Now some teams dont function like that. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson were a great team but both were seasoned singles stars, Blanchard a bona fide main eventer in his own right, before they teamed. Hawk carried the promos for The Road Warriors but never outshined Animal by the wide margins HBK did Jannetty or Hart did Neidhardt. HBK & HHH were great together also but clearly there was no one stand out between them.

If Jannety had kept himself clean, working in an era when Vince was giving smaller, more athletic guys more of a push than in the past, he likley had enough in ring skill and name recognition from his tag team days to have had a solid run in the mid card, popping in and out of the IC Title picture, and if all else failed likley could have gone to WCW and played a similar role for a slightly better pay check. I just done think he ever would have reached the heights HBK did because he wasnt the total package. He had the in ring ability but he lacked the charisma and mic work. He was good enough to have survived, especially with two major companies both with great national TV exposure, but he wasnt good enough to thrive.

At the very least I think we could have gotten some very good matches with him vs Brett Hart, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and if he went to WCW I think he would have worked well with Flair, Arn Anderson, and some of the mid carders like a young Eddie Guerrero or Rey Misterio, Jr.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

First off great thead. Marty was considered a blue chipper before the Rocker's split and was always intended for the mid card push he received. ItIs important to note that Shawn was not the worker he became in the Rocker's era and Marty was the captain of the team in terms of ability, popularityb and experience.

That you mention that match at the rumble is interesting as that was the match he was fired for... There are several accounts and Shawn has never refuted this so I take it as at least 75 percent true. The two had had the same match for a month on the road, tearing the house down. At the last minute Vince wanted Sherri involved which altered the chemistry and Marty did hurt his shoulder during the match. Shawn ran to Vince and blamed him being drunk...and Vince bought it and fired Marty.

A few months later, Shawn admitted to Curt Hennig that it wasn't true and Curt told Vince and Marty was rehired and given a "Billy Martin" and given the IC title as had been intended. After that yes, Marty screwed the pooch too many times... For me what makes it almost certainly true is you have never seen a second chance like that from Vince before...and since only on rare occasions like Davey Boy whom Vince always thought highly of. Was Marty gonna end up where Shawn did...probably not but I never accepted the tag of "failiure" he seems to carry, he achieved more than a Rick Martel or Crush did after their Tag team days.

 

[thebarber]

He had way too many drug and alcohol issues during his career. He would never have been a main eventer, he didnt have the best mic skills and his personality was pretty dry.
Every time Vince was going to give him a push, or re-sign him, he fucked it up with another drug fuelled or alcohol induced behavioural issue which led to him being brushed off. Marty Jannetty went pretty far considering the mess his personal life was in the majority of his WWE run