The Radicalz......WHY

[proweeks]

The debut of the Radicalz-A great moment in WWE history, a horrible moment in WCW history

but I have had a burning question on the subject of the Radicalz

Vince pushed Eddie and Benoit to the Moon and they both went on the be future great World Champions, and its understandibly so both are amazing in the ring, Benoit had a great no nonsense attitude and Eddie had a great lying, cheating and stealing attiude


but the question remains....what went wrong with Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko


Dean Malenko was booked into oblivion by the end of 2000-and by that I mean a womanizer who basically was Lita's sexual stalker and then he just disappeared

Perry Saturn was booked into oblivion by the end of 2001-and by that I mean turning him into a ****** who fell in love with a mop over Terri


both men were just as excellent if not better in the ring than Eddie and Benoit, so I ask again.....what went wrong?

 

[healyz84]

I think the problem with Malenko was his size. He was too small to be considered a good heavyweight with the way the wwe was going at the time and on the flip side he was too technical of a wrestler to be a good cruiserweight. He was also on the downside of his career(I believe he was 40 or 41 when he came to the wwe as part of the radicalzs) so the wwe wanted to put its attention more to up and comers. I think Perry Saturn just didn't click with the wwe fans. He was never able to find his niche. I believe Saturn also legitimately attacked a jobber and so got stuck doing the stupid storylines. He then got injured and was later released. You got to remember that it took Guerrero a long time to reach the main event level in the wwe. He had his midcard run in 2000-2001, then had that drunk driving charge and got released. He came back in 2002 and it took him about 2 years of connecting with the fans until he got that main event status. Benoit of course had that build that McMahon liked, though he was still too small for his liking. While Benoit was always up and around the cusp, he only had that 1 world title reign and was always stuck in the midcard role. Benoit and Guerrero were also only i believe 33 or 34 when they came to the wwe with the radicalz so they were in relative terms in their prime so were expected to have a few more real good years, which of course they did.

 

[gunslinger72]

I think with Dean it was a lack of charisma. His matches, while technically brilliant..were dull. He couldn't cut a decent promo, and he was getting old. As for Perry, that was a shame. In ECW this guy was GREAT. I don't think vince was ever into him, and took his as part of the package. The moppy gimmich was among the worst in history. He had to be humiliated. As for Eddie and Chris...it took them a long time to get to the top. Those two had incredible work ethics in my opinion.

 

[KillBill]

Why is it that the 2 guys that were pushed to the moon are no longer with us? They were already over when they left WCW, and when they reached even greater heights, maybe they couldn't be that. They were great, young, technically sound, and over, that why they were pushed. Saturn, not sure, he was so different. Malenko, agreed he was small, not much of charisma, but he still had a little success, and he still works for WWE, hes healthy and has a great family from what I've heard, and hes alive. I think that makes him the most successful overall. If we knew how this would all turn out, I'd rather them be great midcarders if it meant they lived. But, they had that special something, and thats why they became great.

 

[gunslinger72]

Why is it that the 2 guys that were pushed to the moon are no longer with us? They were already over when they left WCW, and when they reached even greater heights, maybe they couldn't be that. They were great, young, technically sound, and over, that why they were pushed. Saturn, not sure, he was so different. Malenko, agreed he was small, not much of charisma, but he still had a little success, and he still works for WWE, hes healthy and has a great family from what I've heard, and hes alive. I think that makes him the most successful overall. If we knew how this would all turn out, I'd rather them be great midcarders if it meant they lived. But, they had that special something, and thats why they became great.

A great point. I cannot imagine how some of these guys live this lifestyle, let alone being at the top. I know myself pretty well....if I had been in the WWF in my youth I would no doubt have developed a significant drinking problem. To be THE MAN....I probably would have been one of those early deaths. Vince doesn't care about his talent, other than how much money they can make for him. Its sad really.

 

[Paradoxx]

I was there when The radicalz debut it was in Pittsburgh. I'll be honest I didn't know who they were when they jumped in the ring and jumped (I forgot who). I was only 12 or so, later I became a big fan of Eddie.

but, mainly they didn't get that huge push til the other two were gone. And I don't really say benoit was pushed, he was a work horse and deserved what he got.

 

[proweeks]

some keep saying that Eddie and Chris took a while to get too the top and just got lucky over Dean and Perry, but I disagree, Eddie and Chris were contenders for the Intercontinental titles right away, Benoit and Eddie were at Wrestlemania 2 months after they debuted, but where were Dean and Perry?

Benoit was getting World title shots against the Rock after being with the company for 5 months and Eddie was still in the limelight with Intercontinental and European title fueds with Chyna and Jericho.....but once again where were Dean and Perry at the time?

 

[HeartBreakk1dPr]

That's so weird......ironic?....scary?......Don't know the word im exactly looking for but honest to god, I was thinking about this topic last night......I hop on to WrestleZone this morning and you guys are discussing it............I could be a Psychic.....or not.lol.

Anyhow, I think Dean Malenko along with Mr.Perfect(who we're not discussing by the way) is one of the greatest performers ever to not hold a World Heavy Weight Championship. The man deserved it. Granted, he wasn't the most charismatic wrestler out there but he could beat your a** with technical skills the likes of Benoit, Angle and the Hitman....if not better. If the Great Khali could have a run as the World Champ....I think Dean Malenko who is 1,001 times way better than Khali, should have had a run.

As for Perry Saturn....the man was great as well. Awesome, in fact. I could have seen him as the Intercontinental Champion....but I just didn't think he could have ran with the World Title being as though his wrestling style is different from the likes of Benoit, Eddie & Malenko. Just like Malenko.........I think Saturn lacked personality but he could wrestle..........I just think He wasn't marketable enough.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

Its how marketable you are to the company, not how good you can wrestle, that makes you a champion.

Yes, Benoit was a brilliant wrestler, yet he lacked charisma. One of the main reasons he finally got the belt is that fans were sick of the crappy wrestling and got behind guys who could wrestle, like Benoit, Angle and Lesnar.

Eddie appeals to the latino demographic, which I think may be around 20% of the American population. But he was a sneaky twat when he came back as the cheater gimmick, and that stuff was great to watch.

Saturn and Malenko had the skills in the ring, but both were dull as dishwater on the mic.

 

[Harpa]

Malenko was simply old and, as many have said, too dull.

Perry Saturn actually might have gotten pretty big, but he got into trouble with the "powers that be" back in the day. In a match with a jobber in early 2001 he was pretty rough because that guy screwed up a move, so Saturn threw him out of the ring and almost right on his head. That pretty much got him into the dog house.

Later he made some more comments to provoke the office, and that's what got him the "crazy" gimmick. Maybe you can find more details on that somewhere.

 

[RVDgurl]

I think with Dean it was a lack of charisma. His matches, while technically brilliant..were dull. He couldn't cut a decent promo, and he was getting old. As for Perry, that was a shame. In ECW this guy was GREAT. I don't think vince was ever into him, and took his as part of the package. The moppy gimmich was among the worst in history. He had to be humiliated. As for Eddie and Chris...it took them a long time to get to the top. Those two had incredible work ethics in my opinion.

I agree with most of your statement, but I don't buy the idea that Malenko was overlooked due to lack of charisma. I'm not saying he had an abundance of it, but he was certainly not any worse off in that department than Benoit. In my opinion, Benoit and Malenko were fairly even on all scales and I will never understand why Vince chose to push one over the other.

 

[Kyphael]

Well, as already stated, Benoit at least had the build whereas Malenko was shorter and didn't have the ripped look. That may be why Vince opted to go with Benoit over Malenko.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

And Benoit was a wh champ in WCW, so i think he was pushing Benoit over the rest of the Radicalz to stick it to Bischoff and show them how to do it.

And by time Benoit won the title in 2004, Malenko was retired and had been for a few years.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I was there when The radicalz debut it was in Pittsburgh. I'll be honest I didn't know who they were when they jumped in the ring and jumped (I forgot who). I was only 12 or so, later I became a big fan of Eddie.

but, mainly they didn't get that huge push til the other two were gone. And I don't really say benoit was pushed, he was a work horse and deserved what he got.

They jumped X-Pac and Road Dog during a tag match with Al Snow and Steve Blackman.

I always marked out for the Texas Cloverleaf, and still do, but i agree that Dean Malenko had very little charisma to work with, but Saturn? His ring work was great, and while yes the moppy angle was shit, what made it worse is that it was essentially Al Snow's head gimmick all over again. They even did the bit where a heel destroyed the prop and he went beserk all over again as well (just exchange Bossman for Raven). Sure, he wasn't particulalry charismatic either, and his googly eye was distracting, but his diving elbow was picture perfect, and i also really liked the Rings of Saturn as a submission move. The Elimiantors gor over really well in ECW, but that crowd were more then willing to chant for guys who were awesome in the ring even if they never spoke.

Doesn't work outside of the (original) land of Extreme (Philly) however, which is probably why they never got pushed far in WWE.

I wonder what Perry Saturn does now, the Eliminators were sposed to re-unite for Shane Douglas's 1st anti-One Night Stand night, but Perry no showed, and Kronus (rip) 'wreslted' (i use that term loosley because he put on a LOT of weight and i think the Rotten's just pummeled him in an extreme squash til Nu Jack came out) on his own.

C'est la vie

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The problem with Malenko was that he was short and bland. He could have a good match with almost anybody, so long as they weren't more than 5 inches taller than him. With somebody his size he's hardly going to be allowed to school somebody who's a foot taller and heavier. Certainly not in a believable manner. Yeah he probably does it now. But it's off TV so it's not important.

Saturn sucked. Plain and simple. Dull like Malenko, but with none of the skill. He was ok as a tag wrestler. But that's because Kronus bumped like a mad man for The Eliminators. Saturn was popular by association.

Oh and he also beat the shit out of a jobber on Heat. That have had something to do with it.