"I remember..."

[dxparza]

Shawn Michaels:
Unfortunatley alot of people are going to say they remember his for the montreal screw job, and thats not fair because he is one of, if not the greatest wretlers of all time.. Mostly I will always remember being 10 years old and watching my favorite wrestler wrestle for over an hour and winning the wwf title and watching him hold that title crying and me thinking "wow, i wanna knoww hat that feels like." no matter what happened in montreal, I'll reember that.

The death of the WWF:
Unfortunatley I cant remember the day but when i tuned in to raw and saw the new scratch wwe symbol and hearing the announcer say wwe for the first time... even 7 years later I still cant say WWE.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

Ultimate Warrior: This man maybe had as much wrestling talent as Batista, but he was one of the most over figures in the WWE ever. He had such a charimsa, and excitment about him that got the fans going and it really was amazing. I still watch alot of his old matches on youtube, they usually sucked but you couldn't deny that the character "ultimate warrior" was a larger than life creature that made you get into his matches no matter how bad they were. Unfourtunetly Warrior will now always be known as a asshole(rude comments about Droz, calling Todd Grisham a queer). The things he does now has tarnished what a larger than life person he was in the ring.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I remember....Owen Hart

I hated his guts when he was wrestling. He was an arrogant little asshole. Not only did he steal two Slammy awards, but he was always screwing people over. Owen was a fantastic talent because he made me dislike his character so much, not the performer himself. Owen was one of those guys that you just HAD to boo. He whined, he cheated...he was freaking awesome.

I remember....Kane

You want to talk about monster heels, you have to mention this guy. When he first showed up, he was a TOTAL badass. He steamrolled through competition and you just knew that you wouldn't want to fuck with him. Now, he's just a shell of his former self, he looks more like Uncle Fester than an actual threat, his music isn't the old awesome theme, and he's been jobbed out so much that he won't even stand a chance against Mysterio. Sad.

I remember....Sunny

The original Diva. This chick was the wet dream of every guy my age at the time. The very first poster of a hot woman that I ever had on my wall was a poster of Sunny and every friend of mine was jealous. She'll always be "the hottest diva" to me.

I remember....Yokozuna

Sure, his matches were repetitive and he didn't have the flexibility of Umaga, but this guy was huge (no pun intended) back in the day. Until he began jobbing out as Vader became the replacement, Yokozuna was a legitimate main threat for years.

I remember....Jim Cornette

Easily one of the greatest managers ever, with his tennis racket, his floundering mannerisms, and how he constantly stayed in character, he was always someone who could generate heat whether or not he was associating himself with Yokozuna, Owen, Vader, you name it.

 

[Emmet]

Really? On HBK's latest DVD, HHH said that he and HBK convinced Vince to go through with it, but imo that's all Hart's fault. You don't decide when you drop the belt, the boss does, especially if you're ditching him for his competition and he's fully aware of it, so snap the fuck in line and do what's best for the business. Bret screwed Bret

Anyway, moving right along.

A-train will be remembered for having a stupidly hairy back, despite being a decent talent.
Mideon will be remembered for wearing nothing but a fanny pack instead of his stint as half of the Godwynns.

But sadly Ron Simmons will be remembered as a one word joke, instead of the first African American World Heavyweight Champ and leader of the Nation of Domination.Is anyone actually aware that he once wrestled in ECW?

Everyone seems to take credit for the MSJ. Ive read about 14 different people taking credit for it. I also loved how people havent clearly read the entire situation and make suggestions and give opinions when they haven't a clue.

Anyway my first choice is HBK. As good a wrestler as he was. Like Shocky said Ill remember him for the complete moron that he was from 1994-1998. Losing his 'smile', all the backstage shit he pulled throughout 1995-98. The 96 MSG incident. Not jobbing back to Bret at WM13, more or less driving Bret out of the WWF in 1997 etc. Ill remember that Shawn Michaels rather than the 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' HBK who came back in 2002 and supposedly found god. The guy has no class whatsoever.

My second choice is HHH. I loved HHH from 1999-2001. Was probably the best wrestler in the world at the time. Then I read about all his backstage shit. Starting with Bret and The Rock back in 1997 and continuing until the present day. Backstabbing Foley and not wanting him on TV when it was Foley who made HHH the main event guy he is today. What a way to re-pay a guy who made you look like a million bucks than by saying he shouldnt be on TV anymore. Holding down the likes of Jericho etc. Hes a complete jackass. In the HBK mould.

 

[AngryGrandpa]

Owen Hart

it came to me as such a shock, at such a young age that It finally made me realize that life is indeed very short...Never take anything for granted, and always treat people with respect because you never know when it's over.

I'll NEVER forget Owen Hart.... He was a genuine person and an amazing athlete.

I remember Owen.

 

[FromTheSouth]

Well, the point of this thread has drifted. We're supposed to be remembering people who bullshitted around, not fondly remembering our favorites. And on that note:

Hogan: Hogan is the reason WCW fell apart. He jobbed to Goldberg, yet Austin, Jericho, Malenko, Benoit, Rey, etc were all held down because he refused to leave the top spot. He never understood that he could be over without the title. He never understood that building up other guys for him to feud with would make him better. He never understood that Vince made him, not the other way around. He never understood that a leg drop was a shitty finisher. I will remember Hulk Hogan polluting my TV every chance he got.

 

[midori]

in terms of remembering someone i hated. i REALLY dislike Ric Flair. i mean, seriously, its like he kept wrestling to torture my eyes. i always hated his coats, outfits, etc. he was really annoying. i have no idea what attracted people to him, but by the time he gave it up he was like.... ancient.... i really truly hated him. a lot.

i also never like Benoit.... but writing about him sucks. i just really disliked him.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Everyone seems to take credit for the MSJ. Ive read about 14 different people taking credit for it. I also loved how people havent clearly read the entire situation and make suggestions and give opinions when they haven't a clue.

And I love when people argue with opinions as if they were presented as fact.

Was there or was there not a dispute about when Bret dropped the belt? Yes. Regardless of who's idea it was to end the match early, none of that would have transpired if Bret had fallen in line with Vince's original plans. It's the exact point that Steve Anderson made in his latest column. Wrestler's should never be allowed to call the shots. They get in the ring, lay down when they're told and walk back through the curtain. Otherwise you're most likely to get the WCW main event tier, or alienate all the people you're trying to attract much like ECW managed to do several times, and in both instances the talent were given too much creative control. I don't care what the arguments for and against are, the booker says you lose the belt, you lose the belt. End of, whether you're the best in the business or not.

Anyway, i have another example of a talent that i'll remember for their glory days and try to block out what they're doing now, and that is Glen Jacobs. People seem to have forgotten Unabomb, Diesel 2, Isaac Yankem, but those of us who have watched wrestling pre-2004 will remember his talent as a 7 foot 300 pound monster with some impressive agility. He's now the 7 foot jobber that struggles to achieve heat. He still gets cheered regardless of his actions now, and that reflects as him being unable to sell his character properly to the next generation of smarks. I'm not necessarily blaming Glen for that, just as id don't blame the other three guys i mentioned originally, but that's just my view.

 

[Mitch3721]

I'll always remember THE ROCK, in the way that he had charisma, mic skills, decent wrestling, all the attributes needed really, and now only comes back from Hollywood for hall of fames or to help underdogs like Eugene and Mick Foley. Im not bitter over his success, as if anything he has helped wrestling attract a wider audience, but thats how i will probably remember him, as the Actor who used to be a wrestler, which leads me onto....

Stone Cold, much like with The Rock i have all the time in the world for his achievements so far outside of the ring, but he is ever-increasingly becoming the guy who used to be a bad-ass, and now beats up Santino Marella every 6 months or so.

They're both legends in the ring and out the ring, but Rock is being remembered for sporadic appearances through the last 2 years of his career, and it seems Stone Cole is going that way, and i wonder how long it will be before Austin will cut most of his ties with wrestling to enhance his acting career.

 

[K Bro 30]

Lex Luger and Randy Savage. I can't think of either of the two without the Elizabeth incident coming to mind. And on top of all of that, Savage's rap album. I mean, seriously. These two were great stars, but Elizabeth's death I think is messed up. And Savage making the rap album, and he should be a hall of famer, but I do not think it will ever happen.

 

[Darkshot77]

Strange how I was just thinking about this today. This came about because I was watching youtube videos hilighting the top ten moves of certain wrestlers, the man who does these vids plays by the rules and dosen't use WWE or ROH footage. I came across a vid that was "The Top Ten Moves of Wild Pegasus" I watched that and rememberd....this was the man I always enjoyed watching. Chris Beniot was Passion. He gave his heart and soul to the business, but this caused a life style that like so many before him, destroyed him. But unfortunately it destroyed his loved ones too. It's a shame it all ended the way it did. I wish I could only remember him for his amazing ring work...but I can't, I probibly never will.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

Everyone in this thread seems that mentioned ecw in this thread, you mention rvd, the sandman, tommy dreamer. What about sabu and new jack?

Sabu- One of the men I Idolize still to this day. The shit sabu put his body through is amazing, and he allways came back. One match that sticks out in everyones mind is this, the terry funk match. He tore open his arm, and terry has legit said that this was the toughest match in his carrier. He's got scars all over his body from barbed wire fights, glass, thumbtacks, and whatever paul put under the ring that night. But still, you can say all you want about old ecw. Heres my take on the wrestlers, The sandman was the badass of the group who would come out and beat the shit out of you for looking at him wrong. He was so bad ass that for years he busted himself open with a beer can before the match started. Tommy dreamer was the fan favorite, allways willing to put his body on the line, and still dish it back to you. Rvd was the high flyer of the old group, he had a repituar of a moveset that could span the whole arena. And thats why people loved him. But sabu, he took so much shit. But would still throw it back in your face. He never gave up.

New jack- To me was the badest of the badest. The fucker didn't care what he did, or who he did it to. IT was his job, and he took it to the limit. Most of the time over the limit. Does anyone remeber this dude? For real he got shot in the eye by a fucking staple gun, he came back and not to long after The infamous danburry incident happend. He suffered fucking brain damage, He has no pref. vision and is basicaly blind in one eye. But still the man wrestles. ITs amazing, you can call the man shit for all of his wepon use, but answer me this? Will you step in the ring with him? If not shut up.

 

[RVDgurl]

Rob Van Dam

I remember sitting at my friend's house back in January '97 and he said "I started watching this ECW wrestling. There's this guy you gotta see- you'll love him". It was all over from there. I had been a wrestling fan since 1984 and I had never seen anything like Rob Van Dam. In fact at the time, I wasn't even really following wrestling anymore and RVD made me a diehard fan again.

He was truly innovative with his brash and honest promos, cocky swagger and phenomenal moveset. He was doing things in the ring that were cutting edge in the US. He incorporated the moves of a cruiserweight with a crushing hardcore style of wrestling. He had the longest title reign of the '90s by holding the ECW TV title for 2 years.

RVD should be remember for his remarkable perservance. This determination made him the only ECW original that was truly successful in the WWE. He held just about every title in the company and at one time was the WWECW and WWE champion simultaneously.

 

[jpfizzle]

I remember.....x-pac: a bit of a weird one to be honest, unlike some of the names in this thread he was never on his way to being a hall of famer. But when I first started watching wrestling X-Pac was one of the first names I learnt. His Partnership and feud with Kane is one of my fndest memories in wrestling, when Kane saved X-Pac and then the two reconciling there friendship after X-Pac realised what they done. X- Pac made Kanes face turn work. He made the monster someone I liked....and then came X-Pacs heel turn, amongst my top 3 heel turns of all time. I will never forget Kane being hand-cuffed to the bottom rope whilst X-Pac revealed all of the intricate details of his relationship with Tori, Kanes only love.

I loved X-Pac in a steel cage match against Jericho, and a first blood match against Jericho in which Jericho came to the ring in full hockey suit. I loved X-Pacs role in DX's invasion of WCW, when he got onto the Mic and said this goes out to our guys Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. I also loved the X-factor finisher, get a mans head, jump, then slam said head face first into the floor as hard as you can. X-Pac will always have his haters and I am proud to call myself one of his few fans.....

Yet I will always think of the time I read about his attempted suicide, his porn video with Chyna and his dogged past with drugs. It saddens me that someone I liked so much has a reality so dark.