Which WWE legend represented his or her hometown the most?

[CM Steel]

WWE Night of Champions will be held in Boston, MA this sunday, in John Cena's hometown damn near (he's from West Newberry, MA). So John Cena has home field advantage going for the WWE championship once again against CM Punk.

The recovering Jerry "The King" Lawler is famed not only from his legendary wrestling career for over 35 years now but is famed and claimed to be "The King of Memphis, TN". A city where Lawler would always put over nationwide.

The question is, which WWE legend represented his or her hometown the most?

Hulk Hogan in the early years was billed to be from Hollywood, CA. In which he's really from Tampa, FL. So that was a lie. While a Bret "The Hitman" Hart who is from Calgery, Alberta Canada gets pops all over Canada from the East to the West! KoKo B. Ware would always chat out Union City (TN) whenever he could on TV. And of course "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair stays repping North Carolina to the fullest!

But all around, hich WWE legend represented his or her hometown the hardest?

 

[Wald]

Bret is the first I remember in the WWF where it was a thing that he was from Calgary, usually in reference to his dad and Stampede Wrestling. Before that I don't think individual places were picked out (Hogan represented America, Bulldog represented Britain, Warrior represented Parts Unknown etc.), at least not to my memory.

Given how much he played up to Canada and Calgary throughout his career I'd have to go with the Hitman. Go back to the Calgary Stampede PPV and watch the pop he gets when he comes through the curtain, amazing night.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

"Hometown", well I would say The British Bulldog gets a pretty big nod actually as his particular "hometown" would change regularly. He was originally billed as from Leeds, then Manchester and even referred to London as his "backyard". After all to most American's Britain would be a tiny country.
Finlay is close too as his "Belfast Brawler" gimmick and Sheamus with his Celtic Warrior gimmick is perhaps the best modern example.

With that in mind, I would say that The Von Erichs probably would top the list, particularly Kerry during his "Texas Tornado" days. The music, ring attire and style made clear where he was from.

Bret Hart is important but the identification was always more with "The Dungeon" than Calgary itself. He could easily have changed his hometown to "the dungeon" and not lost anything.

Still think Bulldog tho...after all his name, image, all screamed where the guy was from.

 

[Youngsleez]

Got to give the Brooklyn Brawler his credit. He came out with a torn Yankees shirt and even had Brooklyn in his name.

 

[legendkiller1979]

The answer is Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Every wrestler gets a good pop in their hometown but maybe not necessarily in surrounding towns. We all saw the pop Bret got last week.
He is huge all over Canada. I realize the comparison is somewhat apples and oranges, because Bret is far and away the best wrestler to come out of Canada but the answer to the question still has to be the hitman.

I'm sure someone will mention Shawn Michaels because of the huge crowd that attended the 1997 royal rumble. I hate that it's not up anymore but I recently watched a shoot interview with Jim Cornette. He talked about how bad the WWF wanted to capitalize on HBK's popularity in San Antonio. Jim called it "a stadium in need of a show". The funny thing is that the tickets were dirt cheap and they still had to give away thousands of tickets to fill the stadium. Again, I hate that I can't find the video so I could give the specific numbers. I fully expect someone to mention HBK at some point so I'm going to end the argument before it starts.

 

[safeco1999]

Agreed with the Hitman. I'm from BC, and don't particularly care for Calgary, but watching the Hitman, especially in 1997 with the Canadian flag was a source of pride across the country.

All you have to do is go back to 1997 and listen to the pop Bret would get in Canada and compare that to the USA. He was getting some very intense reactions from either side of the border.

Flair was more identified with the Carolina's and the surrounding areas. Same can't be said about Hogan, because no one cared about Venice Beach. I wish WWE played Punk off as more of a hero in Chicago a couple weeks ago. Ultimately, Bret's tie-in with Canada was legendary.

 

[pepentorresHHH]

Im going to bend the rules for a little bit an actually say Hulk Hogan, not because he represented hollywood or tampa.... but because he represented THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!! this guy took the gimmick of the ultimate american hero and personified it! remember what his theme song is called? Im a Real American! This guy bled red, white and blue ! remember his feud against sgt slaughter? this guy was the ultimate guy to have behind your corner and defend America´s honor!
Hulk Hogan for me

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Jerry Lawler. His entire gimmick is that he's the "King of Memphis Wrestling". He's been a huge part of the Memphis community for his entire adult life. I'm pretty sure he's even run for Mayor at one point. You can even give him extra points for openly identifying with the city he originally grew up in as well (Cleveland). Lawler openly supports teams like the Indians, and in fact is probably one of their most famous fans.

Guys like the Von Erichs and Harts are also good choices... but they identify more with their state (Von Erichs) or province/country (Harts) than their actual hometowns. Lawler is known as a Memphian first, and to me, that puts him at the top.

 

[The HEEL JuiceLee]

What about the MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS
619 Rey Mysterio.This little Mexican loves his current hometown San Deigo.
How could anyone forget the Texas Rattle Snake?
The Rock shows alot of love for his city of Miami.
But i guess you would have to give the nod to Bret Hart who beats out his fellow Stampede wrestlers the British Bulldogs.

 

[Born To Fly]

The Undertaker. Come on. He came from Parts Unknown so many times even I lost count. Plus, he's quite mysterious and parts unknown is definitely mysterious.

 

[OutsiderDX]

I think a few on air occurances and angles are what propels certain wrestlers to be come legends in certain towns.

Flair- Charlotte, North Carolina. They didn't rename is FLAIR COUNTRY for no reason at all. Heel or face, he is revered. One of the biggest receptions was the Nitro after he came back from being fired from Bischoff in NC.

Hart- He has an entire country that will never boo him. The USA vs Canada angle made him a canadian hero for life. Then having their Canadian hero being wronged made the connection 20x stronger.

CM Punk- I dont think any current high profile wrestler is associated a city more than Punk. He goes out of his way to speak of Chicago in-character quite often. Having MITB in Chicago cemented him as a hero forever there.

Lawler- of any old-schooler Lawer is associated with Memphis more than any other person.

 

[James]

What about the MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS
619 Rey Mysterio.This little Mexican loves his current hometown San Deigo.
How could anyone forget the Texas Rattle Snake?
The Rock shows alot of love for his city of Miami.
But i guess you would have to give the nod to Bret Hart who beats out his fellow Stampede wrestlers the British Bulldogs.

How fucking old are you?


Anyway the clear answer is British Bulldog. Look at the attire. Listen to the music. Listen to his accent. And his gimmick. No one represented their home like Davey. King is more than likely 2nd.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Given how much he played up to Canada and Calgary throughout his career I'd have to go with the Hitman. Go back to the Calgary Stampede PPV and watch the pop he gets when he comes through the curtain, amazing night

I Hated the Harts at this time. I was so pro USA, and even I will say this was fucking awesome. The best part was the pause before Brets entrance and the air horn going off. I think im going to youtube this right now.

Bulldog at Summerslam 1992. Winning th IC title for his country closing a ppv with the IC title match.

CM Punk in Chicago- MITB'11 highlight of the pg era

Flair in NC-always got an amazing pop there

 

[TheLoneCharles]

Ultimate Warrior being from Parts Unknown, which is apparently somewhere in Arizona. Warrior had the character of a wound up madman down to the T and was fitting he was from Parts Unknown. His promos were nothing short of hilarity at its best.

 

[justinept]

The Undertaker. Come on. He came from Parts Unknown so many times even I lost count. Plus, he's quite mysterious and parts unknown is definitely mysterious.

Unless I missed something early in his career, he's always been billed from Death Valley.

But so long as we're going with jokes - can we have some real fun with this?

The Dudley Boys - Dudleville
Damien Demento - The Outer Reaches of your mind
Kevin Nash (Oz) - The Emerald City
Deuce and Domino - The Other Side of the Tracks
Sami Callahan - The last house on the left
Sid Vicious (this is my personal favorite - Wherever he damn well pleases

However, of all the phony locations wrestlers have been billed from - none have done more for their "hometown" than Mankind. Hell, not only did he "create" the boiler room brawl, but he also did most of his early promos from the boiler room. That's dedication.

 

[Spack]

Did you guys forget the Skyscrapers? I think they did great things for their hometown: Metropolis!

Also I'd like to give honorable mention to the Midnight Express. I have no idea where "the Darkside" is, but it must be a pretty sweet place if it spawned the likes of "Beautiful" Bobby and "Sweet" Stan.

 

[Wolf Pac]

How has nobody mentioned Lance Storm yet? He represented Canada more than Bret Hart did. He wore the colors of the Canadian flag on his tights, would sing the Canadian national anthem before his matches, would carry around the flag with him all the time, he was part of two anti-American stables, one of which he was the leader of and managed to turn one of America's biggest representatives to the Canadian side, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and he changed the US Title to the Canadian Title. Here on WZ, you always see the Canadian colors on Lance Storm's avatars but not on any of Brets. The only time Bret really represented Canada was back in 97 when he was heel but Lance repped Canada all the time.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to agree with those that said Bret Hart and also the British Bulldog. Bret hart lived and breathed Canada, and even when he was hated here he would get mega pops in Canada. The British Bulldog had it in his name, he wore the colors, and the National Anthem was his entrance music. He was like a rock star when they held shows over there. There are others of course, but these two are the ones that stick out in my mind.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think a few on air occurances and angles are what propels certain wrestlers to be come legends in certain towns.

Flair- Charlotte, North Carolina. They didn't rename is FLAIR COUNTRY for no reason at all. Heel or face, he is revered. One of the biggest receptions was the Nitro after he came back from being fired from Bischoff in NC.

Hart- He has an entire country that will never boo him. The USA vs Canada angle made him a canadian hero for life. Then having their Canadian hero being wronged made the connection 20x stronger.

CM Punk- I dont think any current high profile wrestler is associated a city more than Punk. He goes out of his way to speak of Chicago in-character quite often. Having MITB in Chicago cemented him as a hero forever there.

Lawler- of any old-schooler Lawer is associated with Memphis more than any other person.

With Flair you have to bear in mind that he only was associated with Charlotte after moving there in the late 70's to be part of Mid-South... He's a Memphian by birth as discussed in his book. Adopted hometowns are a different thing to actually coming from a particular place and representing it. That's kinda why I discounted the King (and I lived in Memphis).

 

[FlairFan2003]

Ric Flair - he became so associated that an entire region of the country (roughly the territory most associated with Mid Atlantic Wrestling) was called "Flair Country". It was common to see signs at arenas anytime Flair appeared in North or South Carilona, GA, Kentucky, Missouri, sometimes even Fla that read "Flair Country", "You're In Flair Country", or "Welcome To Flair Country". This was common in both WCW & WWE after the mid 90s. I remember Jim Ross referencing that WWE was coming to Flair Country while promoting a PPV during a RAW broadcast in 1998, when he was still appearing in WCW. Numerous references to "Flair Country" were made during Flair's matches in consecutive weeks on RAW in Jan 06 vs Edge (The TLC Match and a tag bout including Kenny Dykstra & John Cena).

No doubt Brett Hart had a strong association with Canada. Shawn Michaels was way over in San Antonio. No wrestler however has been more associated with a fan base in a city, state, or region than Flair.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Ric Flair - he became so associated that an entire region of the country (roughly the territory most associated with Mid Atlantic Wrestling) was called "Flair Country". It was common to see signs at arenas anytime Flair appeared in North or South Carilona, GA, Kentucky, Missouri, sometimes even Fla that read "Flair Country", "You're In Flair Country", or "Welcome To Flair Country". This was common in both WCW & WWE after the mid 90s. I remember Jim Ross referencing that WWE was coming to Flair Country while promoting a PPV during a RAW broadcast in 1998, when he was still appearing in WCW. Numerous references to "Flair Country" were made during Flair's matches in consecutive weeks on RAW in Jan 06 vs Edge (The TLC Match and a tag bout including Kenny Dykstra & John Cena).

This answer is hard to argue with. Although, when I hear "Flair Country" Charlotte/Greensboro are the two that I associate it with.