Success, Bust or In-Between: Tommy Dreamer

[It's Damn Real!]

You know the series by now, I'd hope, but for those of you who don't, here's the run down:

• Former talents of the WWE/F are to be critiqued regarding their work with WWE/F, and only their work with WWE/F for the basis of these polls.
• Any work from the performer that was not done during his/her tenure during WWE/F should not factor into your vote.
• You can vote them either a success, a bust or in-between if you don't feel they deserve either extreme.

In addition to your vote, I'd like to know why you feel the way you do. Why was this particular charater a succes, a bust or in-between?

Next in the series is Tommy Dreamer.

----------

Tommy Dreamer
Years with WWE/F: 9 (2001–2010)
Number of titles runs: ECW Championship (x1), WWF/E Hardcore Championship (x14)

--------------------
Notable Feuds:
--------------------
• WWE/F via the WCW/ECW Alliance (2001)
• RVD (2002)
• Raven (2002)
• Edge, Foley & Lita via Terry Funk & beulah McGillicutty (2006)
• Test & Mike Knox via Sandman (2006)
• The Great Khali & Daivari (2006)
• The New Breed via The ECW Originals (2007)
• Mark Henry (2007)
• Colin Delaney (2008)
• Jack Swagger (2008)
• Christian (2009)

--------------------
Other Accomplishments:
--------------------
• Debuted in the WWF/E on Raw as a part of the WCW/ECW Alliance during the Invasion angle in 2001.
• Was retired following a loss to Zack Ryder on ECW in which he made his farewell speech before his release.
• Was managed by Colin Delaney
• Was coined the nicknames "The Innovator of Violence" and "The Heart and Soul of ECW".

--------------------
Previous Polls:
--------------------

• Mr. Kennedy – 47.37% In-Between, 31.58% Bust, 21.05% Success
• Shelton Benjamin – 49.25% In-Between, 31.34% Bust, 19.40% Success
• Jeff Hardy – 75.00% Success, 16.25% In-Between, 8.75% Bust
• Mickie James – 93.22% Success, 5.08% In-Between, 1.69% Bust
• Charlie Haas – 75.68% Bust, 21.62% In-Between, 2.70% Success
• John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) – 80.17% Success15.52% In-Between, 4.31% Bust
• Gregory "Hurricane" Helms 54.69% In-Between, 35.94% Success, 9.38% Bust

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Wasn't Tommy Dreamer regarded as the heart and soul of ECW, both the original & WWE version? Seems like a lame moniker to cover the fact that he wasn't over anywhere else.

I struggle to remember what Tommy Dreamer did from 2001-2006, with the exception of a short Jackass style gimmick in 2002.

Admittedly things were looking up for Dreamer in 2006. He inexplicably landed himself a role in one of the most intresting angles heading into One Night Stand. Although he could've been replaced by almost anybody.

Then, um, he did nothing until he made up the numbers at WrestleMania 27. Then, err, they gave him an unsuccessful run with the ECW Championship belt. He wasn't over and nobody cared, Christian & Jack Swagger must still resent him to this day.

Bust - But he was never as popular in ECW as RVD, Terry Funk, The Dudley Boyz, The Sandman, Sabu, Shane Douglas (etc) anyway. He had nothing to offer WWE going into that promotion and it showed.

 

[Ferbian]

I'm guessing this goes for his time in WWE solely, where he was definitely a bust, he didn't accomplish much with the exception of a brief ECW championship reign that seemed like it was given to him to breathe life into him again and as a kind of pity thing.

Tommy Dreamer left nothing memorable during his time with WWE if I recall correctly, his time was during the original ECW days, where I would've probably considered him an in-between, but seeing as this is WWE, I will go with a bust.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I actually have to go bust with this. I really tried to consider him an in-between, but I actually had to rely heavily on the internet to even remember half the shit he did in WWECW, because it was that unmemorable.

I hardly even remember his feud with Christian or Swagger for that matter. To be honest, the only one that stood out to me was that work with Delaney. Awful career with the WWE – absolutely awful. Total bust for me.

 

[1_2_3 Kid]

I had to vote in between. Although I didn't like him as a character, or any of his in ring work from WWE he did have some good feuds and was a continuous hard worker. He always showed up when he was needed. He is a hardcore legend and has had some pretty memorable fights with a lot of big name guys. Come to think of it, I should have voted bust, because all those matches were not in WWE. He was a god dam jobber and was used wrong all the fuckin time.

I mean really, this guy,he was a legend in the original ECW. @ that time ECW was pretty big out here in Jersey and surrounding areas. Guys like taz, the dudleys, even when austin was there, it was brutal always fun to watch, and that dam Dawn marie... mmmmm. Beautiful. But I respected what Dreamer did and where he came from, he was a down home kinda guy and seemed to have a grasp on how to get by. He was the last original ECW guy to leave the E. He made it. When everyone else "failed" to please the higher ups, Dreamer had something. But he was never "over" with the fans and that really hurt him, he was a jobber all the way to the end, but that's sometimes how the cookie crumbles and imo he handled it pretty well.

Seriously, who was going out to buy a Tommy Dreamer t shirt? Not anybody I knew. I wouldn't even play with his character in the SD v Raw game, just for the simple fact that its really not fun when your a jobber, is it? I could never see Dreamer winning the WHC or WWE titles. And surley Vince would never have let that happen. Dreamer was not the type of guy that could carry the entire WWE on his back, at least I didn't see that. His best days were behind him when he cam in and now he is trying to get back @ it in TNA, but I don't think he will be much of a character over there either. Just regular old Tommy Dreamer, and you gotta have "it" to be somebody, and this guy don't got it... nope, he just don't.

 

[DL23]

What people are forgetting here or just don't know is Tommy Dreamer in the Old ECW NEVER wanted to be World champion, he didn't want any title runs unless it made sense or was unique, like Raven/Dreamer tag team winning the belts from Dudleys Raven and Dreamer had "high school buddies" and then had that amazingly brutal feud, Dreamer also had that feud with Sandman that caused some riots in the networks stations because Sandman whipped Dreamer with a cain.

Old - ECW Dreamer is a success plain and simple no one can say in between or bust, he did some amazing things, he put JC on the map in 2000 as a legit world champion for ECW, Dreamer set himself up nicely he was someone the company could go to in dire need to create a new star, yet he wasn't selfish in wanting the world title and hogging that space up to do so like many others would of.

WWF-ECW 2001-2009, He was mocked regularly in the WCW/ECW days by Austin for being a nice guy, he was jobbed everytime he went out there, but the fans connected with him rregardless he was just a fan and the fans connected with him, and Y2Jake saying he wasn't over, everytime you seen him an massive ECW chant would erupt so obviously he was was over, but he did nothing between 2001-2006 of note worthy granted.
The New ECW he was in the mix with Edge/Mick and Terry in what was one of the most hyped matches of the year, fans knew it was going to be hardcore, hell Edge REQUESTED Dreamer be in the match to give it an authentic ECW feel (or I read).
As much as Tommy did very little in championship runs in his career he was dependable for putting people over, he was a company man.

His new ECW run I'd say was success he was given the face of ECW and put countless people over.

 

[El Rev sXe]

well he isn't a sucess at all! however I don't understand how people can say he wasn't over with the crowd. I mean yes, the guy was just a jobber in the E, just like Santino but both are cheered by fans (obviously by differents reasons). being that said, he was indeed the heart and soul of ECW and 'til this same freakin day everyone that knows a little of Tommy Dreamer knows that. do you remeber the chant: E-C-W!? when he was the last original in the E, well, ECW=TOMMY DREAMER!

yes Tommy Dreamer ain't gonna be remebered by being (in neither WWECW or original ECW) as the greatest champion of all times. however, in my book he is gonna be remembered by being extreme, being a jobber without doubts but loving this business and IMO the most important thing: loving the fans and giving them what they want!

so he didn't leave his mark in WWE as an awesome wrestler/entertainer but man it was emotional his departure! (at least IMO). so for that he is in-between.

 

[jmyers19]

I went for in-between. He never achieved anything huge in the WWE yet he did his best with what he was given, helped younger talent and carried feuds well. He was over with the crowd. I liked him, he could put on an entertaining match and didn't lose all the time, and had the right goodbye moment on his last match in WWE's ECW.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I voted for Bust...it just has to be...he never accomplished anything..

No notable feuds for me..only in 2009...His ECW championship reign wasn't that good..he was missused the whole time he was there...

Defo a BUST!!

 

[Bud78]

I say in-between. I do take exception with some of the posts. The truth is Tommy was over almost everywhere they went and the time that he was ECW champion were the highest rated ECW episodes, EVER. Higher than when Jack or Christian were champs and I thought he had some entertaining matches during that time. He was never a huge success but he was never really allowed to be either, and it wasn't even a jackass gimmick he just ate weird stuff like hair and garbage and then the heel undertaker used tommy to get himself over as a heel.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

I think it's ridiculous to even consider Dreamer as a bust. The guy never cared about being the world champ. In the original ECW, he never wanted it. He did what he did in the ring because he loved the business. Look at his career.

-his rivalry with The Sandman including the match where Sandman caned him over and over again and Dreamer despite being a bloody mess never once stayed down and kept saying to Sandman "Thank you sir May I have another?" From that day, nobody questioned how hardcore Tommy Dreamer was.

-his rivarly with Raven which lasted 2 years before he finally defeated Raven. The promos and everything included in that whole rivalry to me were epic.

-other rivalries in ECW which included The Dudley Boyz, Justin Credible, Shane Douglas, Lance Storm.

-Winning the tag team titles with of all people, Raven. The same guy he hated forever in ECW and then soonafter, held the belts with Masato Tanaka.

And to say that nobody cared about Dreamer winning the belt this past year even though the belt meant nothing, my ass he wasn't. Dreamer winning that belt actually helped in giving it some kind of credibility. If Dreamer didn't matter and management didn't take notice to him, he wouldn't have won it. I'm saying success because he did what he wanted which not to be the headliner of wrestling, but simply to be part of it.

 

[brighamosity]

I think it's ridiculous to even consider Dreamer as a bust. The guy never cared about being the world champ. In the original ECW, he never wanted it. He did what he did in the ring because he loved the business. Look at his career.

-his rivalry with The Sandman including the match where Sandman caned him over and over again and Dreamer despite being a bloody mess never once stayed down and kept saying to Sandman "Thank you sir May I have another?" From that day, nobody questioned how hardcore Tommy Dreamer was.

-his rivarly with Raven which lasted 2 years before he finally defeated Raven. The promos and everything included in that whole rivalry to me were epic.

-other rivalries in ECW which included The Dudley Boyz, Justin Credible, Shane Douglas, Lance Storm.

-Winning the tag team titles with of all people, Raven. The same guy he hated forever in ECW and then soonafter, held the belts with Masato Tanaka.

And to say that nobody cared about Dreamer winning the belt this past year even though the belt meant nothing, my ass he wasn't. Dreamer winning that belt actually helped in giving it some kind of credibility. If Dreamer didn't matter and management didn't take notice to him, he wouldn't have won it. I'm saying success because he did what he wanted which not to be the headliner of wrestling, but simply to be part of it.

Did you even read the first post? Everything you just named happened in ECW. This thread is about his WWE run. You talk about winning the ECW title, but who really gave a hoot about WWE's ECW? It was B show like Superstars.

 

[Megatron]

Tommy is a complete bust. Never really thought he was anything special as a wrestler, and the time that he was in ECW backed up my thoughts. His gimmick was boring. He was a boring wrestler. He didn't have any memorable feuds in almost 9 years in the company. That's quite a long time to not have done anything special. I know that it's partially the booking's fault for not giving him anything great to work with, but the truth is he really didn't deserve it. There were many other ex-ECW wrestlers that were more entertaining and useful then Dreamer. Bust, and a hard bust.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

Did you even read the first post? Everything you just named happened in ECW. This thread is about his WWE run. You talk about winning the ECW title, but who really gave a hoot about WWE's ECW? It was B show like Superstars.

My point is you can't blame Dreamer's lack of usage or success in the WWE on him when the WWE did the same thing to him that they do with other guys that they didn't make. And technically since WWE own's ECW and the rights to it, that makes what he did in ECW relevant.

 

[Captain America]

I voted success, because I believe Tommy Dreamer is a vast over-achiever. Despite not being great at anything, he still managed to keep his job for several years and he even had a view decent feuds at the end of his wwe career and was also able to capture the WWECW championship. I voted success for these reasons.