Who was WWE's Ultimate Spot Monkey?

[Ethelion]

Hey guys, this is my first thread, so go easy on me okay? I've always wanted to create this thread at least ever since I joined here. Anyway, after carefully skimming through the forums, I haven't seen anyone who's created this thread within this year, so I believe this one shouldn't be a duplicate.

After reading discussions on who is WWE's Ultimate Mr. Money-in-the-Bank, it got me thinking, "Who is/was WWE's Ultimate Spot Monkey?"

By "spot monkey", I mean this definition:

A spot monkey is different from a high flyer. Not all high flyers are spot monkeys. There are wrestlers who are able to add high flying moves to their arsenal while still being able to use other styles or not have to rely on moves that have a large risk of injury. Spot monkeys on the other hand are different from high flyers because they rely heavily (if not exclusively) on insane spots that have a large risk of injuring them.

With that being said, the three candidates that first popped into my mind are Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison and Kofi Kingston. Their most notable spots for me are the following:

- Shelton Benjamin:
* first countering Triple H's counter of his intended Superkick by transforming it into a Dragon Whip (seriously, he could have slipped by doing that, especially with his size)
* springboarding off the top rope (who else would be able to do that with his size?!), most notably being on the receiving end of Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music
* jumping off from the ropes into a ladder (or was it from one ladder to another?) at WrestleMania 22

- John Morrison:
* being able to perform the Corkscrew Neckbreaker (one false move and his neck's the one that's going to be injured, not his opponent's!)
* being able to perform the Starship Pain (he definitely needed to focus everytime he did one in order to spin like that)
* climbing the elimination chamber and performing a crossbody onto his opponents (note the risks)
* avoiding elimination from the Royal Rumble by landing on the barricade before jumping back into the ring (like Shelton, he could have slipped on the spot, pun intended, and botched the move)

- Kofi Kingston:
* using two separate joints off a ladder and use them as stilts at a Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania (okay, maybe not so much, but...)
* avoiding elimination from the Royal Rumble by landing on his hands and "walking" back into the ring (like Morrison, another Royal Rumble Moment)

Ultimately, I chose Shelton Benjamin, despite John Morrison having more notable spots than him in my thread, mainly because he could do the spots wrestlers his size couldn't do. Personally, my Ultimate Shelton Spot was his spectacular stunt at WrestleMania 22. Remember when Jerry "The King" Lawler said, "This guy's freakin' Spider-Man!"?

Now it's your turn. Who is/was WWE's Ultimate Spot Monkey? What's your Ultimate Spot Monkey's Ultimate Spot?

Feel free to correct/add more of these wrestler's spots that I forgot to mention, as well as your own Ultimate Spot Monkey/s and their spots, and comment on my first thread, but like I've said before, go easy on me okay?

Enjoy.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Tough to choose between Jeff Hardy & Mick Foley. These guys are no competition to these two, what they do isn't insane compared to what Foley & Jeff do. I'm suprised neither of the two are dead yet.

I'll probably go with Foley though cause all Jeff does is Swanton Bomb's off something but Foley has gone through C4's, Tacks, Barb Wire, Fire, Announce Tables & through the ring mat from the top of the Hell in a Cell. Hell, he got his ear frickin ripped off.

 

[Ethelion]

Tough to choose between Jeff Hardy & Mick Foley. These guys are no competition to these two, what they do isn't insane compared to what Foley & Jeff do. I'm suprised neither of the two are dead yet.

Thanks for being the first to reply to my first thread I guess I should have been more specific when I should have meant "in recent memory". Anyway, you're free to vote for "Other", since none of the choices I've provided are your choice.

I'll probably go with Foley though cause all Jeff does is Swanton Bomb's off something but Foley has gone through C4's, Tacks, Barb Wire, Fire, Announce Tables & through the ring mat from the top of the Hell in a Cell. Hell, he got his ear frickin ripped off.

Good point. Foley literally tasted tacks and fire while Jeff simply just jumped. With that being said, I believe Mick Foley may be WWE's Ultimate Spot Monkey of the Past (by past, I mean the Attitude Era) while Shelton Benjamin may be WWE's Ultimate Spot Monkey of the Present (by present, I mean the decade of 2000).

Thanks again

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

Oh god. Mick Foley hands down. End of conversation. I think the second poster summarized it perfectly. When I think SPOTS, I think dangerous, really no need for, but helps tells stories in the ring. Foley was a guy who could tell a story in the ring by taking risks. His match with the Undertaker in 1998 in that Hell in the Cell was ALL ABOUT the hatred these two had for each other, and Mick was able to tell that story by letting the Undertaker destroy him physically and mentally in the ring. I don't think Mick ever fully recovered from that match. And just think, he had been doing spots like that for years before. Mick is arguably the best stuntman WWE has EVER had, and that makes him the best Spot Monkey.

 

[pepentorresHHH]

Anyone who falls off hell in a cell voluntary not once but twice is nothing but the ULTIMATE SPOT MONKEY IN WRESTLING´S HISTORY.... That has to be top 3 if not the most memorable moment in the history of the business........

Jeff hardy had great moments and he was a daredevil of his own right.... the spear he took from edge at wm 17 was sick.... and his swantons were just crazier and crazier and higher and higher......

but to respond to the OP about current spot monkeys......... I would have to say either Kofi after that amazing boom drop to randy on msg or RICARDO RODRIGUEZ BACK ON TLC 11......that bump from the highest ladder all the way to the outside landing on two tables was just UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

 

[richunclescrooge]

Shane McMahon.

I know he was never technically a wrestler but he's had more than a few matches and most of them had insane high spots. In his defense, he pretty much had to do these things and be crazier than everyone else because he couldn't be taken seriously in any other role (technician, brawler, etc.). He was pretty much just a regular guy who needed to do high risk moves to keep up with WWE wrestlers. A few of his highlights are:

King of the Ring 2000: Took a chokeslam from The Undertaker from the top turnbuckle through the announce table.

Summerslam 2000: Took a bump off the top of the tron into a dumpster.

Wrestlemania X-7: Hit a dropkick from the top turnbuckle on one side of the ring to Vince who was sitting with a garbage can on his lap in the turnbuckle the ropes length away (Coast to Coast.

Also jumped from the top turnbuckle through the announce table with a missed elbow drop to Vince.

Backlash 2001: Hit an elbow drop off the tron onto The Big Show.

King of the Ring 2001: Was belly to belly suplexed by Kurt Angle through the glass KOR set, and thrown into it numerous times in an attempt to break it.

There is probably more, but the point I'm trying to make is that Shane is the biggest spot monkey because that's pretty much all he could do.

 

[justinept]

This isn't the definition I'd use for spot monkey. To me, a spot monkey is someone that has a dazzling repertoire of moves but continues to use the same moves in the same order. Thats where the monkey part comes on ... As in, he has learned a few tricks but he cant do anything else. I've always considered Tajiri to be the ultimate spot monkey.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

Damn! Previous posters beat me to the punch. My first thoughts were Shane McMahon and Mick Foley. Two guys COMPLETELY different from the type of wrestlers the OP suggested, but they are without doubt, the greatest spot monkeys of all. Foley flying off the top of the cell is one of the most ICONIC moments in WWE history! And I don't think anything's ever legit scared me as much as Shane falling from the TOP of the titantron structure after Steve Blackman chased him up and cracked him with the kendo stick. Just a few of MANY examples from these two.

 

[themegapowers]

I agree with other posters my Top 3 has to be:

Shane McMahon-Just for when he jumped onto the Big Show whilst Test was holding him down from the top of the titantron - Was definitely a Joey Styles OMG moment!

Mick Foley - Again for reasons people have mentioned before Hell in a Cell vs Taker makes him one of the best! Also when Edge speared him through a flaming table!

Jeff Hardy Spot Monkey or High Flier? Very debatable but have to say some of the moments that he has done are immense!

 

[#heel420]

The Ultimate Spot Monkey has to be Shane McMahon. I say Shane because he wasn't a trained pro, and heavily relied on crazy spots in many if not all his matches. His coast to coast attack with the trash can, the diving elbow through an announce table, getting thrown through glass, jumping off the titan tron. These were all regular occurrences in Shane-O-Mac's matches, and for that I believe he is the Ultimate Spot monkey.

Close Runner Up- Mick Foley (Chosen for obvious reasons)
Honorable Mention- Jeff Hardy (Again not much has to be said)

 

[wooooo]

My first thought was Jeff Hardy, I'd only just started watching wrestling at the start of 2000 and his swanton's at Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania and Summerslam all stood out and then obviously over the years he's done other big moves.

My next thought was Shane McMahon, his two falls are still the most unbelievable things I've seen in wrestling.

Mick Foley obviously has the most memorable big moment from hell in a cell and almost every match of his had something crazy.

Also New Jack should be mentioned, no wrestling skill and got over by hitting people with things and jumping off balconies.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, I'm not really seeing Benjamin, Kofi or Morrison as spot monkeys. When I think of a spot monkey, I think of a wrestler that has little to offer inside the ring except for high spots. There's a difference between a wrestler that uses high spots in his matches and a wrestler that uses virtually nothing but high spots. Classic examples of spot monkeys to me are guys like Generation Me, AKA The Young Bucks, Amazing Red and Sin Cara. Those are wrestlers that rely almost exclusively on fancy flips & flops and high risk moves without the ability to really tell a story inside the ring, have little understand or use of in-ring psychology and are massively low on charisma & pesonality. Without their flashy/high risk spots that they throw out every 5 seconds during a match, they have absolutely nothing to offer.

Guys like Benjamin, Kofi & Morrison can wrestle and have wrestled many times without these near endless spots in their matches. Benjamin & Morrison's problems lie in the fact that they have shown so little charisma in their careers. Benjamin & JoMo are great athletes and can go inside the ring, but they have the personality of a jar of mayonaise left out in the summer heat for a month. They do usually have some high spots in their matches, but nothing like the insanely nonstop spots like I've seen in matches featuring those other three I cited as examples of spot monkeys.

As far as spot monkeys go, you really don't see a lot of them in WWE. Rey Mysterio would've qualified back in his WCW days and during his early years in WWE. Over the years, however, Rey has definitely cut back on the high spots and has incorporated actual storytelling into his matches. He's still pretty low on charisma, but his matches don't consist of one flippity floppity high spot after another like they did once upon a time. That's partially because his luchadore style has aged his body before its time and the wear & tear on his knees especially has been extensive. In the end, I'll probably go with Rey Mysterio for an answer because the style he learned as a kid and has used for most of his career is definied by spots.

 

[JJohns]

In recent memory, for me the guy that was a huge spot monkey in WWE was Kid Kash. That's part of the reason that he was released, because of a match that he had with Juventud in which they threw in as many high spots as possible that it caused the match to go long at a television taping.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Are my eyes deceiving me? How can nobody have mentioned HBK yet?

Just because someone is a great wrestler without spots, doesn't expel them from also being spot monkeys. From his WM X Ladders Match with Razor on, Shawn could be guaranteed to be the guy most likely to have the match of the night and was also the most likely to take the largest bump. Yes - Mick, Jeff, Shane O'Mac, Shelton, JoMo et al have continued the trend but the 'Ultimate' is, by definition, the best and, in the WWe, that means the 'Showstopper'!

 

[kingofkings01013]

Anyone who falls off hell in a cell voluntary not once but twice is nothing but the ULTIMATE SPOT MONKEY IN WRESTLING´S HISTORY.... That has to be top 3 if not the most memorable moment in the history of the business........

The 2nd time was accidental. The cage was not suppose to break. Unless you are talking about the hell in the cell against HHH where it was suppose to break. But it is still Mick hands down.

 

[Loveless]

It's Jeff Hardy, a man with literally no talent other than falling from heights. Everyone else mentioned had something else to offer, he doesn't.

 

[Wolf Pac]

If recently then my answer is Jeff Hardy. I assume I can pick him since he was there when Shelton & JoMo were and now they all have been released except for Kofi. Even though I said he only does Swanton Bomb spots, they're still more crazy than what Kofi, Shelton, JoMo etc. do due to how high Jeff does em from. I mean he's done em from Ladders, Cages, Trucks, Scaffoldings, you name it.

 

[OneManStampede]

I have a different definition for a spot monkey.To me a spot monkey is someone who needs hardcore/extreme spots to get over as a performer and has no wrestling or mic skills(Most CZW Wrestlers). Some say Mick foley, but he had Mic skill and could wrestle a decent normal match. I don't why anyone would say Shelton Benjamin. The guy has incredible talent when it comes to wrestling. To me though, Sabu(Yes he was signed to a contract to WWE) is the WWE's all time ultimate spot Monkey.No Wrestling talent or Mic skills. Today, I am not sure who WWE's current best spot monkey is. Most guys that they have can wrestle extremely well (Except david Otubga, but he doesn't do spots. So I guess I will say Ricardo Rodriguez since I haven't seen him wrestle a good match yet.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I think the first post my "JackHammer" was pretty accurate, except I don't think of a spot monkey as someone that lacks other skills and EXCLUSIVLEY uses spots rather than storytelling or mat wrestling, but to me....

The ULTIMATE spot monkey is someone who has all the tools of mic work and storytelling but their strongest attribute ATHLETICALLY/PHYSICALLY is to perform spots!

And that's why I think Mick Foley is the ULTIMATE spot monkey.

The man has AMAZING character work & promos but let's face it, all anyone remembers about his in-ring career is getting thrown off/through cells by HHH & Taker or taking beatings from Taker, HHH, Rock, etc. I was never a huge fan of Mick's but I always respected his work and willingness to admit that since he wasn't a body builder, he would simply do things others wouldn't.

A close second would be RVD & Jeff Hardy tied. Simular idea but not as strong all around performers but still with an emphasis on the "spots".

 

[GameOver]

OK assuming the pretence is people who had no skills other then being a spot monkey then only all choices are eliminated
the obvious would be a toss up between HBK, Jeff Hardy and Mick Foley but all of them did have atleast one redeeming other thing then just falling.
Jeff Hardy is one of the most overrated wrestlers ever in my opinion but i can see why millions might idolise him and he did have moments of greatness outside of jumping off high places.

Single wrestlers who still had appeal otherwise but there career's were build around huge spots :
HBK, every single PPV match there was a always atleast one huge spot which involved HBK risking being crippled and he craved it it seemed, he was a sick as Mick Foley in that respect.

Jeff Hardy and Foley were just sicko's

Tag Teams:
Hardy's vs Edge & Christian vs The Dudley Boyz had to be the ultimate spot fest for the tag division no matches ever came close to what these 3 teams put on in a couple of years worth of matches

Non wrestlers besides referees ;p
Shane McMahon: like HBK in every one of his matches he did huge spots, who can forget Shane falling backwards of the scaffolding 30feet in the air at a SummerSlam vs Steve Blackman and again in a match against Big Show or getting knocked on conscious in a KOR match against Kurt Angle when angle suplexed him through the glass sign 3 times. BUT Shane was an alrounder he was one of the best talkers and got crowd reaction either way


My Ultimate Spot Monkey pick - a person that had no redeeming value other then just taking bumps is Sabu, he will always be remembered for constantly injuring himself and never talked
can't think of anyone else off the top of my head in recent memory that did nothing but take huge bumps and had absolutely no charisma or mic skills.... even JoMo and Shelton Benjamin had other areas they were good at, just overall they didn't garner enough crowd reaction for the management to invest in them

Women: Mae Young hands down at over 80yrs old she was still taking huge bumps but she was entertaining so maybe she isn't a concideration in this area.

 

[Hardymania]

Definitely Shane McMahon.- His spots are one of the main reasons he got over. He jumped off the titan tron (twice), got belly-to-belly suplexed four times through glass by Kurt Angle, chokeslammed throught the announce table by the Undertaker from the top turnbuckle! Shane McMahon was the definiton of an Ultimate Spot Monkey.

Mick Foley- My 2nd choice. Speared through a flaming table and landing in thumb tacs.

Jeff Hardy- 3rd choice. Swanton Bombs off ladders into ladders??

The choices listed by the OP are good choices but I think they were more "high-flyers" than spot monkeys at least compared to the ones i mentioned above.

 

[HBsam31]

I am not picking a fight with anyone here, but I need some clarification? While HBK definitely took a lot of crazy bumps you could take them out of the match and it would still be a great match. He didn't solely rely on those spots to get over. I just don't get the comparison between him and guys like Amazing Red and Sin Cara who have very little to offer in the ring beside their spots. My definition of a spot monkey is someone has little to nothing else to offer in the ring aside from spots. Do I have the definition wrong? Granted I am a huge HBK fan, but despite the fact that he takes a lot of bumps, I don't think he should be anywhere near this conversation. Just looking for some clarification as to the proper definition of spot monkey and how HBK fits that mold. To answer the thread I agree with JackHammer that guys like Amazing Red, The Young Bucks, are spot monkeys. New Jack is another good choice as his spots be it flying off the balcony onto people, and hitting people with things he offered little to nothing else in the ring.