What if Gregory Helms was never The Hurricane?

[King Blitzkonic]

Imagine this. Gregory Helms shows up and debuts under his real name (as the same cocky heel that he did so well after turning on Rosey)... He gets universally hated because of his mouth and worms out of any situation he gets put in, finally winning a US title and put into the spotlight with the biggest stars of the time. Doesn't this sound like the formula used for...THE MIZ?!

I feel Helms could easily be on Jericho's level today if he never did the Hurricane gimmick. Your thoughts?

 

[GenMe]

Well when he had a Cruiseweight run this dude was the shit.He played a good heel.But if he should of not had the Hurricane gimmick im pretty sure that right now he should of been in Y2J's level and he could of been way better then the Miz.So yeah Helms with out the hurricane gimmick He would of been a top contender right now

 

[Dan E. Inferno]

I can totally see where you're coming from because, as a big fan of Hurricane/Gregory Helms, I was very impressed with his year long plus title reign and the cocky heel character he portrayed so well. He had many fun multi-man title defenses, an interesting feud with Matt Hardy and was moving towards a US title program before his injury. But the thing is, this all happened after the Hurricane was around, after Helms was an established superstar.

If Helms had come straight into the WWE as the cocky heel, he might have just got lost in the shuffle. Helms played it well but the cocky heel is a common character in wrestling and it might not have got him noticed. On the other hand, The Hurricane definately got him noticed. OK, it was cartoonish but it was different and the fans mostly loved it. He got good pops more often than not and there were always a bunch of people, both kids and adults, with Hurricane signs and t-shirts.

The point being The Hurricane was the starting place and when it was time for a real push, he dropped the superhero gimmick and became the cocky, brash Gregory Helms. Personally, I think it worked and was done pretty well, apart from his inexplicable loss to Lawler at, I believe, NYR 2006. At the end of the day you could be right. He could have started out as the cocky heel as rose to the top, but I'm not too dissapointed with how it was done. I'm just dissapointed with how The Hurricane is being used now, as I think Helms should be continuing with his heel character.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

I actually LOVED the HELMS gimmick when he was the longest cruiserweight holder.
Him and Matt Hardy's little feud they had was really good IMO. Their time in the long past training together showed their great chemistry in ring and out of ring. But I'd kinda prefer to just see like a regular Gregory Helms, kinda how he is outside of the ring, Just a Good ol boy, never meaning no harm. (Pardon the dukes of hazzard pun.lol)

Especially if you are a buddy on his myspace, you would see the incredible sense of humor this dude has, or just checking out any season of The Hardy Show. This dude's comedy is pretty f%#@ing hilarious.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Helms's gimmick as the Hurricane is the only reason why he was and is relevant in the WWE right now. Nobody cared about him when he was cruiserweight champion. His feud with Hardy was forgettable and went nowhere and he finally dropped the title after a lackluster reign.

He was a decent tag champion as the Hurricane and he got one of the biggest rubs ever from the Rock. His feud with Hurricane put Helms over immensely and is why everybody loved the Hurricane. Though I really don't like this newest reincarnation of him, he is somewhat over, more over than when he was just Gregory Helms.

So I think he wouldn't have amounted to much if he debuted as Gregory Helms. He would just be another bland character in the WWE.

 

[boozinjedi]

I have to agree LJL here,

IF Helms had come over as a cocky heel,He would've gotten lost i nteh mix and doomed to mid-card jobber hell!

The Hurricane was a gimmick that helped Helms to establish himself from other cruiserweights.

Case in point....What ever happened to the WWE's version of the cruiser/light heavy strap??

 

[acstylez]

Sorry I disogree. He played the part of a heel well but in the ring he was shit. I hated his in ring work as Gregery Helms so much I wanted to Fuck'en cry. He didn't deserve the title and was the main reason I think the cruewserwieghts were droped. I mean first his piss ass time as camp then chove's. After that noone cared about the divsion and they used that as an excuse to take it off TV.

 

[acstylez]

Sorry I disogree. He played the part of a heel well but in the ring he was shit. I hated his in ring work as Gregery Helms so much I wanted to Fuck'en cry. He didn't deserve the title and was the main reason I think the cruewserwieghts were droped. I mean first his piss ass time as camp then chove's. After that noone cared about the divsion and they used that as an excuse to take it off TV. My. Point is that as Gregrey Helms he was such a bad wrestler he could lay waste to an intire divsion.

 

[JJohns]

I would have loved to see him bring his character from WCW over with him. He didn't have that much of a gimmick (he had just left 3 Count at that time), and was over in the CW division over there, more so than even Rey Misterio Jr (granted, Rey Rey was stuck in the Shitty Animals stable).

The first thing that WWE did that hurt him was change his name from Shane Helms to Gregory Helms to Hurricane Helms to the Hurricane in such a short period (he debuted in WWE as Gregory, using that name to keep from having confusion between him and Shane-O-Mac). The second thing that they did that hurt him was have him stop using the Vertebreaker. That was the move that got him over in WCW, and he actually performed it safely on wrestlers that weighed more than him. Instead, he started using the Nightmare on Helms Street (Eye of the Hurricane) as his primary finisher.

On top of that, Helms was a pretty innovative guy in WCW. He was doing things that no one else was doing, hence the reason he was nicknamed the "Sensation of Innovation".

I think that when you factor in what WWE did to Helms when he first started, the actual Hurricane character was a blessing, as well as a curse.

 

[JackBurton]

The real answer to your question, "What if Gregory Helms was never The Hurricane?", is simply this;

He still wouldnt be 6"6" 290 pounds and we all know what that means gents

 

[Total Dolph]

I don't think Helms would of survived as long as he did if he was never The Hurricane.

As the Hurricane he was very distinct, had some good success and has had one of my all time favourite segments ever with The Rock, I was very pleasantly surprised how greatly he kept up with him.. and then he even got a win against The Rock (due to Stone Cold's help though).. but still I don't think any of that would of happened if he was just regular Gregory Helms the whole time.

 

[Tastycles]

You're joking right? Tell me where all of the guys who came from WCW are now? I'll tell you were they aren't. In employment. The Hurricane was a genuinely interesting and new character and in all honesty, it is what got the heel character over- the fact he wasn't the Hurricane. He returned as Helms and nobdy cared, then he turned back into The Hurricane and he was taken seriously until he did something stupid. Helms would never have made it even as close to this long in the company had it not been for The Hurricane.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

I normally tend to agree with you on most topics Tastycles. The main reason most of the former WCW guys aren't employed comes to two parts: too old and "not Vince's vision". Helms falls under the latter.WWE is all about ENTERTAINMENT...unfortunately the "wrestling" aspect has to take a backseat to the crap (aka Hornswoggle)

 

[Tastycles]

The reason that the WCW guys are out of work is because they were either too old, or not remotely over at all. The ones that were decent stayed as long as was realistic- Rey Mysterio, Booker T etc. The old ones moved on pretty quickly - Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner and the young ones had no build at all coming in - Jindrak, O'Haire etc. Helms would have been like the latter group.

 

[jmt225]

If Helms never became The Hurricane... then I believe he would have never lasted in the company as long as he did.

Was the character a joke? Sure, but it was a joke that was over as fuck, and one that sold merchandise. This, plus his friendship with the Hardys, are the only reasons he kept his job in WWE for as long as he did. Is Helms talented? Somewhat, but not talented enough to actually make something out of himself in a company like WWE. Look how well it went for him when he got rid of the character for a little while... he started having some decent matches, but there wasn't a peep for him whenever he went through that curtain.

Unless he's being over the top silly, the guy can not get people to care about him. Simple as that.

 

[Via Armbar]

Agree with jmt here. The only time Helms is over and interesting is when he's playing for laughs. He was incredibly boring when he was Cruiserweight champion and without the Hurricane gimmick. Nobody gave a shit, and when he was injured most people forgot he was even still employed. That doesn't really sound like someone that is relevant. Sure he was talented in the ring and had a decent moveset. It just was not good enough for him to rely on that alone.

When he had returned they quickly realized nobody gave a shit. So they decided to try and make people care by bringing back a gimmick that had been dead for who knows how many year. It was cool for a couple weeks, then it died again. Rather then keeping him around to try and repackage him in another hokey gimmick, they released him. Helms was kept around because of the Hardy's and because Vince loves goofy characters to use during unfunny skits. He was alright, but the only type of gimmick he was good at ran it's course.