and I completely disagree that he was a 'career' mid-carder.
Hold on
I said Bulk of their careers as a midcarder
that is referencing say 90-95%... a CAREER midcarder would be 100%.
I acknowledged that Hening and Christian did win world titles
. But their time spent in the midcard far outweighed top liner status.
Let me ask you something first. When did you become a wrestling fan? I ask because I've seen a lot of guys on this board that didn't become fans until the Attitude Era, who think watching a few videos makes them authorities. .
No problem. It was 1991 around the time of WM7. I remember Curt first hand
and as a kid I was snapping up all the WWE videos of 80s and early 90s PPVs.
Hennig was not a 'mid-carder' in the WWF. You do not work extended programs with Hulk Hogan without being at the top of the card. It was common for him to be earning main event money every night. He was one of their most promoted and pushed guys. Things changed after he hurt his back, and from that point forward he was a mid-carder. But a CAREER mid-carder? Not at all. .
You are banding around CAREER MIDCARDER again. I never explicitedly said that they spent 100% of their time in the midcard
but the MAJORITY.
And as they spent the MAJORITY of their time in the midcard thats were I would put them.
If I were to twist the question and say All time favourite top level guys
. Would Hening, Goldust. Christian qualify? Surely that statement would mean the likes of Hogan, Austin, Flair etc
Curt was a WWE midcarder
albeit an upper midcarder.
Sure Curt worked a program with Hogan
but didnt King Kong Bundy? At least Bundy worked a PPV with Hogan.
Heck the Brooklyn Brawler one headlined RAW with the Rock
so that doesnt make him a jobber because he main evented with the top guy?
At his peak Hening was never given a PPV match with either Hogan or Warrior, he fell just short of top liner status in the WWE.
As for the other names being 'touted' here? Doesn't mean they're right. I can make a case for Jake (a weak one only if I ignore his territory days), but not Dibiase. Anyone who just considers him a 'career' mid-carder either has a very liberal definition of what a mid-carder is... or only knows about his career from Youtube.
Again we are going over the same mis-quoted point. Ted Dibiase was a top guy from 1987-1988 in the WWE. Then he plunged down the card for the remainder of his career. In 1991 he was even jobbing to Virgil.
Ted was a very talented guy and able worker
but if you look at his tenure from 1987-93, he was a top guy for just one of those seven calendar years. He didnt spend a great deal of time at the top compared to time spent in the midcard.
The AWA actually began gaining ground again with Hennig as champ. Losing him was one of the final nails in their coffin. That's not a 'career' mid-carder.
As for Martel... for the BULK of his career? Sure he was. But being champion of one of the biggest companies in the United States for a year means that he wasn't a 'career' mid-carder.
The AWA were struggling throughout the 80s. I would agree that Hening leaving was a nail in the coffin but the company was not thriving
they were losing ground on WWE and NWA.
As for Martel
he was a champ for one year of a 20 year career. Thats 5%.
No, he actually worked with Michaels quite a bit. He fought him at least 50 times.
He was one of their most over wrestlers. He worked quite a few main events during his initial push.
Youve answered your own question by stating a few main events.
But did he headline a PPV show one on one? Goldust was over at the beginning
but it wasnt long lasting.
Because anyone that would consider THAT guy to be a career mid-carder... well they're just ignorant.
Its not ignorant its called having a difference in opinion. Why get offended by something that is not intended to be offensive?
Care to revise that statement?
Not really as it wasnt an insulting term.
Again though, we're talking CAREER mid-carders. Now obviously we seem to interpret this differently, but to me that would be a guy that never in his entire career, at any point, rose above the mid-card. The OP mentions that his favorite was Bob Holly. He's actually a great example of a career mid-carder, because there was never a time when Holly was anything but.
But to trivialize the careers of guys like Perfect, Goldust and Christian by putting them in the exact same category as Hardcore Holly? C'mon. That's just insulting.
If I recall even Bob Holly had a program with Brock Lesnar. One high profile fued
. But that doesnt make him a top guy does it?
If you want to talk categories there are several levels to the totem pole:
Your elite megastars: Hogan, Flair, Cena, Austin, Rock
Your A grade stars: Bret, Shawn, Angle, Lesnar, Randy Orton, Taker
Next its guys who consistently fitted between midcard and main events: Jericho, Big Show
Then Its high rung midcarders: And here is where I would put Curt Hening, Christian
. And even though they didnt win world titles
Jake, Dibiase, Davey Boy Smith, Scott Hall belong here
guys who were bigger stars than some of the guys who won world titles in the diluted era of manic title switches.
And then below that you could list the like of Bob Holly, or the Big Boss Man etc.