Magnum TA

[ramblinroy68]

I recently watched the Rise and Fall of WCW and heard several people say that Magnum TA had everything you could want in a superstar. I was fairly young when Magnum TA got hurt and wasn't able to really judge talent. Did he really have everything you would want.

He doesn't stand out to me as a great promo guy. Don't get me wrong, I loved him when I was 8. I remember going and watching him wrestle in the Greensboro Coliseum against Tully Blanchard and Nikita. I thought he was awesome. Could he have been as big as Dusty, Flair, Hogan, Sting, etc? I think he was pretty well established when he got injured. Could he have taken the next step into the Main Event Picture and Headlined Starrcade? Is there anybody old enough to remember and shed a little light?

 

[jmt225]

I'm younger than you Roy, but I've been watching wrestling long enough and seen enough of it to come to the conclusion that Magnum TA's hype really is unjustified.

Think about this... the guy has one good cage match, against a phenomenal worker, and all of the sudden he's on the verge of becoming the NWA's Hulk Hogan. That match, and that match alone, is really the only thing from Magnum's career worth a shit, so when you think about it, when people say he was going to be as big as Hulk Hogan... they only say that because of this ONE match. Isn't that some ridiculous shit?

Magnum T.A. was a solid worker in the ring, but I agree with you... on the mic he was nothing special. I do believe he would have beaten Flair for the World Title, but rather ending up as the next Hulkster, he just would have been another Barry Windham. You know, transitional champion, but known as a talented worker and someone who could get guys over. But that's it.

People say certain entertainers, whether it be from music, movies, or wrestling, become overrated when they die. There are some cases like this, and others not, but even though Magnum T.A. technically didn't die, this kind of label still fits him. It's only because he had to quit wrestling why people ride his dick so much. That's it. If he never would have gotten injured (and I really wish he hadn't, for the record), then I think he would have just ended up as a popular eighties wrestler, who didn't adjust with the times and became irrelevant by 1993.

 

[Tully]

I'm old enough to remember Magnum and think that he would've become The Next Big Star had he not gotten in that car wreck. He could've/would've worked on his mic work and promo ability and the guy was HUGE with the women.

I don't mean he would've become a Hulk Hogan sort of star but he certainly could've headlined PPVs for quite awhile in the old NWA. At the time of his crash, he was THE Company Face IIRC.

 

[klunderbunker]

I think the one thing that's being overlooked is the fact that he would be the undisputed top face in the NWA just a year later. For many years, the NWA hadn't had a top face to put against Flair that was marketable. Dusty was not marketable. He was fat, he couldn't work, and he looked like an idiot. Magnum was a guy that could have been pushed as the hero of the company which is a big deal. Now, it's true that he wouldn't have been a great worker, but I don't think anyone would argue Hogan being a great worker and it worked back then. I think there's insufficient evidence either way here, but I would have loved to see Magnum get his chance.

 

[Theo Mays]

KB summed this up perfectly (you could pretty much say that about any wrestling topic he answers too). Magnum had the look to be a star and would have been the top face against one of the all time greats in Flair. If Magnum had not gotten hurt he could have easily trumped Flair and who knows where it would go from there. Magnum could have went on to be the next big thing in wrestling and had a career that mirrored that of Flair or Hogan. Or he could have flopped and went down the road as an one time wonder. I honestly think Magnum would have been a star had he not gotten hurt, as he would have been the top face of the NWA and going against a legend like Flair would have only helped.

 

[T2KFreeker]

Magnum was excellent in the ring. He was excellent in the way that Jake "The Snake" Roberts was. He had that intensity and game face that made you wonder if wrestling was real or not. Magnum did have the skills to be a big draw. I'd love to say I know for sure he would have been the future, but as said, we will never know. I know that NWA had huge hopes for him and he had gained Vince McMahon's attention as well. Back then, if you made a loud enough noise to get Vince to notice, you were relevant, like it or not.

 

[mm1160]

You guys with negative replies are truly clueless. This guy was a star and was headed for super stardom. Look at many of the interviews with the old NWA guys, they all had tons of respect for this guy and thought his ceiling was very very high. Hogan like? Maybe not, but this guy had it all and then some. Mic skills were not anywhere near as important back then as today so thats basically a non issue. He would have been the face of the faces for a long time.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

There have been many, MANY threads about Magnum TA and how he could have been a huge star or he was overrated. The thing with him is he was actually groomed to be the next face in the NWA. Not THE face. That was Flair. But the man who would let Dusty Rhodes take his bow out of the face spotlight and let Magnum take the reigns.

His car accident made sure that didn't happen. Terry Allen was a great wrestler who had a great look for his day, but to say that 'he wouldn't have been worth a shit' or 'he was overrated anyway', that's fine. But it's unfounded. We'll never know how big his star would have shined, but to me, I seen a reign with the NWA title, a possible contract with the WWF once he had his run in the NWA, and a Intercontinental title reign would have been possible.

But we'll never know for sure. That's the beauty of speculation.

 

[jarm35]

I can't belive anyone would say Magnum had "one good match". The guy carried a one move worker like Nikita to a best of seven series for the US title that has been the basis for many programs since. Comparing him to Barry Windham is laughable. He would have been a transitional champion if the transition was from Flair in 86 until Hogan got there in 95. My point is if he doesn't have that accident you know who really would have been affected? Sting!!!Magnum and Flair would have been the key players in NWA/WCW. Sting would have never been Sting because Magnum would have already had that spot locked up.

 

[T2KFreeker]

I can't belive anyone would say Magnum had "one good match". The guy carried a one move worker like Nikita to a best of seven series for the US title that has been the basis for many programs since. Comparing him to Barry Windham is laughable. He would have been a transitional champion if the transition was from Flair in 86 until Hogan got there in 95. My point is if he doesn't have that accident you know who really would have been affected? Sting!!!Magnum and Flair would have been the key players in NWA/WCW. Sting would have never been Sting because Magnum would have already had that spot locked up.

I agree with most of what you said here except for what you have said about Sting. Sting is still Sting and it is okay to have more than one face in the company. I am sure that Sting still would have been a major player in NWA. His career would have surely taken a much different path, but then again, several other wrestlers would have went down other roads had Magnum not been in the accident he had been in also. Saying Sting would never have been is taking away from the legacy he has left on the industry. I am sure Sting would have still been a player because with or without Magnum, sting is still an excellent worker who busted his ass for the industry as hard as anyone else in recent memory.

 

[Dre Guevara]

Magnum TA was being groomed 2 be the yin 2 Flair's yang, in fact, he was slated 2 beat Flair @ Starrcade 86 & become the champion. like everyone who watched & cheered 4 him back in the day, I 2 was heartbroken when his career abruptly ended, but when I think about what might've been of his career without the accident, I feel that Magnum would've went on 2 become a multiple NWA World Champion & I have 2 agree with the Lariat, had he gone 2 the WWF, he probably would've been limited 2 the IC belt & maybe a "contender" 4 the World title depending on who the champion was, & possibly a WWE Hall of Famer as well. plus I feel that Vince might've crapped on his legacy & had him on some nonsense like he did with Dusty Rhodes.

2 y'all youngin's calling the man overrated & saying he was nothing special, I suggest doing one of two things, find some more of Magnum's old matches outside of the "I Quit" Cage Match with Tully Blanchard or just leave the forums on wrestlers from the 80s 2 people who actually grew up duringthat era.

Peace!

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

Magnum was ahead of his time. I have said many times before that Magnum T.A. was not only the NWA's answer to Hulk Hogan, but the NWA's future. Back when most of the stars of the 80s were on coke and other drugs (like steriods) and were dying off at a rapid pace (see MOSTLY ALL of World Class' roster for names), Magnum, by all accounts, was living a clean life. He had a freak accident that cut his career short, we all know the story.

Magnum could sell. He wasn't the greatest worker, BUT if you saw his house shows, the man put on stellar matches. I think that a Hogan/Magnum showdown would have saw Magnum going over on Hogan simply because the fans down south were on a whole other level as opposed to the fans up north and they would have rioted had Magnum lost. Bottom line: Magnum T.A. DESERVES to be in the HOF instead of some of the ones in there right now.

 

[Tastycles]

I think it's hard to say where he would hae gone afterwards. I mean, sure, he was a big name in NWA, but the NWA champions around this time that weren't Flair had been largely boring. Looking at guys like Ronnie Garvin and Kerry Von Erich, they didn't really go anywhere with their popularity. I think that such was Flair's importance to the show and his popularity was so great that a true breakout face star was unlikely in NWA, and that's why we didn't get one until Sting. The comparision you have to make, is was Magnum TA as good in 1985 as Sting was in 1988, before he took the leap forwards? I'm not educated enough to answer that, but from what I do know, the answer is no.