Names of Yesteryear

[UltimateHitman]

I just finished posting in D-Man's Remembering the Jobbers thread (http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=152554), and it got me thinking about a similar thread.

I wanted to start a thread that was kind of like a tweak on his, and I hope he doesn't mind. This thread will be about names that you might remember, obscure names, forgotten names, or ones you just don't hear much anymore. They don't have to be jobbers, they could be mid-card talent, talent that was more than jobbers but didn't go far, or even upper tier talent you may have loved as a kid that might not be a part of other discussions.

Two names come to mind as I write this. The first one is "Iceman" King Parsons, the other "Gentleman" Chris Adams.

I did not list King Parsons in the jobber thread because I don't really classify him as a jobber. He was in high profile matches back in the day and even stood in for an absent Michael Hayes to assist the Freebirds in a feud. I think what stood out in my mind as a kid was the combination of his attitude and look. He had those feathers, or whatever they were in his hair, the mohawk thing and handlebar moustache. I just remember thinking he looked cool and different. Fond memories of staying up late to watch wrestling on my family's black and white tv, and seeing many a match with the "Iceman" as well as the next guy on my list, Chris Adams.

Chris Adams was a well over face back when I was watching late night wrestling. He was pretty technically sound and actually was a good friend of King Parsons. I honestly didn't list these two because of that connection, and wasn't even aware of it when they made an impression on me. (Another one of those crazy coincidences.) He wasn't really over the top gimmick wise or even personality wise, but was just a very good, all around "nice guy" type that the fans could get behind.

These are the two that I sometimes think about when remembering those years gone by. A couple other names that come to mind are "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) and "Exotic" Adrian Street. Like I said, I don't quite classify them as jobbers, but I don't necessarily put them in the major names of wrestling history.

Hope what I'm looking for makes sense. I'd love to hear some names I haven't heard in a while, or might have not even heard at all. To accommodate everybody, I don't want to confine it to any particular era. Just want to hear people's personal memories of names that might not be present in today's wrestling conversations but stood out in your mind, made you smile, entertained you, whatever the case may be. Have fun w/it, and make sure you give examples of why they stood out or why you remember them.

(Another example could be Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. A legend, a recognized name in the 80's for sure, but one that does not enter into many present day discussions and might not pop into the minds of many of the younger fans.) Please, no Hogans, Warriors, Rocks, etc. More along the lines of "supporting characters" instead of main ones. Thank you.

 

[mrhexum]

wow.... the ice man and chris adams.... definately names that havent popped into my head in forever.... i remember ice man being a pretty good heel in GCW (global championship wrestling/uswa). and you're right with adams, pretty solid in the ring and easy to get behind.

another couple names that stick out from that time are "crocodile" bill dundee and "hot stuff" eddie gilbert.... dundee and lawler had a great feud and some pretty good matches.... and looking back on it, eddie gilbert was an amazing heel who i think a lot of todays heels could take some notes from.

awesome thread

 

[Mr_billy]

Dino Bravo, the worlds strongest man, he was Jimmy Hart's weapon of choice in the 80's. He would beat a jobber, then crush who ever Jimmy's main guy at the times opponent at an opportune moment. He was very hate-able and was a pretty good heel.

I know he was a bigger deal, but no one ever really mentions Baron Von Rashke, the most vicious iron claw of all time. When he was a heel, he was hated, and loved as a face, and should have had won singles gold.

 

[KaoticMayhem]

lol... i know this will get a few *sighs*.. this dude was not going to the TOP by no means but i just got a kick out of his gimmick and found myself glued to the tv when this weirdo came on...The Missing Link.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

Good thread here. Always fun to go for a little bit of nostalgia. I sometimes like to watch really early Royal Rumble matches just so that I can pick out wrestlers I'd not heard of previously and would like to find out more about. Many of them don't feature much in modern wrestling conversation, but are still fun to remember.

One in particular that made an impression on me was a guy called Skinner. He had kind of a dirty backwoodsman kind of gimmick and later on would spit his tobacco plug into the mouth of each "new kill" (i.e. when he defeated an opponent.) Disgusting surely, but definitely made an impression. I don't really see how he could have turned face at any time, but a great mid card heel.

The Texas Tornado is one other that I don't hear much of anymore and, let's be honest, in his time he made a pretty darn solid impact even though nobody seems to remember him anymore. True, people talk about the Von Erichs, but for me, the Tornado was always a favorite.

 

[UltimateHitman]

I had another addition I just thought about, that being "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin.

I know he had a brief resurgence when Orton was stomping his opponents as people would reference his Garvin Stomp every now and then, but he was actually a very good "blue collar" face back in the day, ala Hacksaw. He was just less "scruffy" looking. To me, he was that man's man type of guy, the type that would remind people of a hometown bruiser in a local bar, but with a little more finesse (as in could hold a conversation and was intelligent but could still knock you on your ass as opposed to the type of guy that just rambles and picks fights and is basically a scroungy troublemaker type). You just pictured the guy being legitimately tough and being able to dish out a beating.

 

[longlivetheBrood]

A few that come to mind:
OUTBACK JACKRugged looking, looked the part, but had the mic skills and wrestling ability of a block of ice.

KILLER KAHNNo idea what happened to this guy, but I remember being a kid and being scared to death of him.

ONE MAN GANGBig, agile, scary looking as heck and a finisher that made you believe he'd really destroyed the guy (747 splash off the ropes). Too bad WW(F)E repackaged him as Akeem and he never quite recoverd though he had moderate success as half of the Twin Towers.

THE IRWINSScott "The Hog" and "Wild Bill" Irwin if I remember correctly. Big bruisers that had amazing matches in the AWA with the Road Warriors.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

I had another addition I just thought about, that being "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin.

I know he had a brief resurgence when Orton was stomping his opponents as people would reference his Garvin Stomp every now and then, but he was actually a very good "blue collar" face back in the day, ala Hacksaw. He was just less "scruffy" looking. To me, he was that man's man type of guy, the type that would remind people of a hometown bruiser in a local bar, but with a little more finesse (as in could hold a conversation and was intelligent but could still knock you on your ass as opposed to the type of guy that just rambles and picks fights and is basically a scroungy troublemaker type). You just pictured the guy being legitimately tough and being able to dish out a beating.

I loved The Man with the Hands of Stone Ron Garvin! I remember watching the match on Satuday Nights World Championship Wrestling and the main event was a Steel Cage Match between Garvin and Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The match doesn't end before the show goes off the air and I had to wait a whole week to find out if he won the title or not! He of course won but only held the belt for about a month if that before Flair won it back.

Alot of the old NWA and UWF guys were amazing like Eddie Gilbert, Big Bubba Rogers aka Big Bossman, One Man Gang, Dr Death Steve Williams, Ted Dibiase, Terry Taylor, some of my all time favorites.

Another guy I really liked was Prime Time Brian Lee, iirc he was the one that played the fake Undertaker, but was pretty awesome in his own right.

 

[Just2Sweet]

gets my mind working... anybody remember
PN NEWS- a huge man who worked the rapper gimmick well before Men on a Mission
DAMIEN DIMENTO- actually main evented the first Monday Night Raw
and finally, who ended Tatanka's undefeated streak?? none other than the legendary
LUDVIG BORGA

 

[mrhexum]

ahahahaha... pn news... "yo baby, yo baby, yo...."

so many awesome ones.... how bout guys like van hammer (lord, did he suck), or another awesome rocker... man mountain rock....

just remembering some of these guys is hillarious....

bastian booger
duke "the dumpster" drose
eric embry...

wow.... one of the funnest threads ive read on here in awhile

 

[mster]

How about an old wccw/USWA guy named Eric Embry, has run as the top face against Gen. Skandar Akbar's devastation inc was great. He played a really good face if you ever go back and watch it. he was a little guy but wrestled with great passion and told an interesting story.

 

[MjGriff]

Awesome memories so far! Rugged Ronnie Garvin and Dino Bravo are two of my personal favorites so far. I'll throw 3 good ones into the mix:

BAD NEWS BROWN

KEN PATERA

THE GENIUS LENNY POPPELL

What else do you guys got? Keep em coming!

 

[jontabs]

For some reason I can never forget the image of Man Mountain Rock playing guitar before wrestling.

And Mantaur coming to the ring with a prop Bull's Head on.

Mr. Hughes I throw in this list too. I always liked that guy

 

[UltimateHitman]

Actually, I liked the Flock and Van Hammer. lol Maybe it was just the metal head in me... Now I have to come up w/more examples because I'm posting again. Before I do, let me commend the mention of Outback Jack (good God lol) and the Missing Link. I loved the Missing Link, he was just a total nutcase.

My newest additions would be Billy Jack Haynes and the late Hercules Hernandez. Anybody remember the Full Nelson war these guys had?

Billy Jack was pretty cool and I had always liked him. I thought the Green and Yellow colors were nice, and he had that cool hat. He was pretty ripped and wasn't a bad talent, I just don't think there was the room for him in a bigger role, plus he was just shy of having the over the top, ME "it" factor.

Herc was awesome. He was almost as pale as Sheamus, and swung that bad ass chain around the ring. I loved it when he turned face, but he just lost momentum after he did, not keeping the crowd's affections for very long. Nevertheless, I always thought he was a great, simple character (minus the overplaying of his namesake at times. It got a little absurd every now and then...)

Damn, I'm having fun w/this thread. Not just because it's mine, but because it's something I love hearing about.

 

[Wainy]

Awesome thread! So many flashbacks to frogotten "memories" of days gone by! Everyone remembers Max(amillion) Moon, but I seem to remember him debuting as the Comet Kid. Someone mentioned Skinner before, that would be Steve Keirn, head trainer down in FCW no less! God, who else... Big Josh from WCW, Bunkhouse Buck, Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce, Maxx Payne (Who went on to become Man Mountain Rock if I'm not mistaken?) WWF(E) Gave us folk like Salvatore Sincere/Waylon Mercy, & although not wrestlers, who remembers Shaun Mooney & Todd pettingill!?!

Fantastic thread, thankyou!

 

[Mike Diesel]

One image burned into my head was Hercules coming to the ring swinging his chain with a big boner, so gross. A couple of guys off the top of my head, ice train, wcw towards the end. Hard to forget, way harder to remember Another favorite, big bully busick, no music, walked to the ring with Harvey whippleman, with a derby and a cigar which was used to pop little kids balloons, priceless


How come nobody's mentioned the shockmaster yet?!?!!

 

[ltyson]

I remember and enjoy alot of the names listed so far. How about the Moon dogs,Adam Bomb,Tugboat (uncle fred). Kevin Sullivan,Bam Bam Bigelow,Brad Armstrong and Dick Murdoch.The first wrestler I can remember someone in my family talking about, Haystacks Calhoun. The list is endless.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I was always a fan of The Headbangers, two weird looking guys who wrestled in dresses and were based on heavy metal characters (Mosh and Thrasher), and their finisher "The Stage Dive".

I never really understood the dresses but it was hilarious where they used to jump up and bang their asses together. They were pretty talented, but with a gimmick like that you are always going to be limited.

I thought Mosh was going to go on to more success when he began using the ring name "Chaz" and teaming up with D'Lo Brown and Tiger Ali Singh in Lo-Down, but nothing really happened there.

I would MTFO for a Headbangers return!

 

[The Crock]

Tatanka.

I freaking love Tatanka. His undefeated streak was gold. Absolute gold. He was actually very good, and I think he had quite a bit of untapped potential. His little mini-feud with Yokozuna could have been something much more. I remember when he returned to the WWE in 2005, the fans still loved him. During the peak of his popularity, though, in the 90s, I really think he could have been something special. He is vastly underrated and rarely mentioned on top of that. When he joined the Million Dollar Corporation and feuded with Luger he had another opportunity to make it big as well, but again, he came out on the bottom in that feud and nothing was made of it. This guy was great, definitely deserves a nod here.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Big Bossman.

I've always liked Ray Traylor but I think everyone will best remember him as the Big Bossman. During his two stints in the WWF, Bossman made quite the impact. The Bossman gimmick simply worked on many levels, and was an excellent heel character. The corrupt law enforcer we had all come to love to hate, Bossman would do things like savagely pummel his opponent with a nightstick post match. Bossman had a feud with Hogan while also forming a tag team with Akeem; the Twin Towers. However Bossman's second stint is perhaps his best remembered. He debuted as the enforcer for Vince McMahon's Corporation, winning the Hardcore title from Mankind, the tag titles with Ken Shamrock and at one point interrupted the Big Show's father's funeral. Just being an all round bastard, Bossman was one of these guys you just wanted to get there asses kicked.

 

[Mike Diesel]

May i also mention Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz? This guy was hilarious, and if I remember correctly, he never even wrestled. He wore a baseball uniform and painted his face to look like a baseball and walked around the fans on Monday night Raw picketing because MLB was on strike.

He always made me laugh, and he's another guy that deserves to be mentioned here

 

[Craig-O-Mac]

I was also reading the Remembering he Jobbers thread when I recalled a guy from circa 2000 in WWF called Just Joe. He was a messenger type guy that hung backstage and spread gossip to the superstars. I remember Stone Cold giving him a whooping one time. If anyone asked his name he would reply Joe... Just Joe. His tron was lame, It featured him with a speech bubble coming out of his mouth saying ''Dont Shoot The Messenger!'' Lame but somehow awesome. He didnt wrestle much, mainly on Metal or Jakked!

Anyone remember Phantasio around 1996? A magician type dude who performed the endless handkerchief routine before a match, only saw him a few times.

Alex 'Pug' Porteau- an amateur style wrestler (1996)
Well Dunn- Semi Jobber tag team (1995)
Tekno Team 2000- Another jobber-esque tag team from 95 featuring Eric Watts and Chad Fortune, oh lord the mid nineties had some bad ones.

 

[Dyno Kid]

How about "The Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer ! Great brawler who was also a very solid worker and good promo guy.

"The Universal Heart Throb" Austin Idol is another name that comes to mind. One of the best promo men of his time and a Memphis legend who along with Tommy Rich had a classic feud with Jerry Lawler back in 1987 !

Mr. Wrestling II-The masked man with the "Million Dollar Knee" was a great promo guy and worker who did the classic heel turn on a young Magnum T.A. back in 1984 in Mid-South Wrestling.

 

[neildittmar]

"Beautiful" Bobby Eaton - Had a pretty successful run as one half of the Midnight Express with partner Stan Lane and Jim Cornette as the mouthpiece. Eventually broke off and had a singles run, winning the Television championship and even facing Ric Flair for the NWA/WCW World Heavyweight Championship a few times if memory serves correctly. He really did need Cornette as a spokesman though... solid athelete with good skills and an impressive finisher (the Alabama Jam), but his promo work left a LOT to be desired.

Repo Man - A "post-Demolition Smash" character for Barry Darsow in the midst of the WWF's then "second job" gimmick push (a Plumber, a Race Car Driver, and a Garbage Man... oh my!) Unlike the others listed though, Darsow played the part of over the top reposession agent to absolute perfection. I know this character gets a lot of flack for being lame and hokey, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and was entertained nearly every time he came out.

The Great Muta - I absolutely loved this guy when I was a kid. His feud with Sting over the TV title in NWA/WCW was awesome. I even bought into the whole "Thunderdome Match" which saw Muta team up with Terry Funk to face Flair and Sting in a giant cage with an electrified top! Beyond the gimmick, he was also a great wrestler who showed a lot of athleticism and agility. His backflip elbow into the corner was innovative at th etime, and the Indian Deathlock he used as a finisher looked like it would legitimately hurt... and then of course there was the green (red? blue?) mist that would often play a part in his matches. Terrific character played by a terrific performer.

 

[byrnside]

Tatanka.

I freaking love Tatanka. His undefeated streak was gold. Absolute gold. He was actually very good, and I think he had quite a bit of untapped potential. His little mini-feud with Yokozuna could have been something much more. I remember when he returned to the WWE in 2005, the fans still loved him. During the peak of his popularity, though, in the 90s, I really think he could have been something special. He is vastly underrated and rarely mentioned on top of that. When he joined the Million Dollar Corporation and feuded with Luger he had another opportunity to make it big as well, but again, he came out on the bottom in that feud and nothing was made of it. This guy was great, definitely deserves a nod here.

On that note, how about this guy from the mid-90s? Lud Vig Borga. The man that ended Tatanka's undefeated streak. I'm pretty sure he's involved in politics now in Finland. Didn't last too long in the WWF, I think he was pretty injury prone.