KrisZ

One thing you gotta take into consideration in this debate was this wasn't just about crowning a new champ but a new way of doing business in the NWA. Sam Muchnick was retiring on 1/1/82 and the days of St. Louis driving the NWA was over so now you have Crockett, Graham, Fritz, & Barnett being the guys in charge of the NWA and they were promoting a newer style than St. Louis was so they wanted to make someone champ who could be the face of that new style and there was really no one at that time who could do it but Flair.

Yeah as a heel definitely he was a Funk clone but he had great exposure as he worked the big money territories in JCP, CWF, & GCW. GCW would bring him in every year as a troubleshooting babyface which he was awesome in that role.

Fritz was a former NWA president so he definitely had his friends and I'm sure Barnett was one of them. Kevin came in for the Summer of 1981. Dusty feuded with lots of guys in Florida in that time such as Pak Song, The Assassin, Ernie Ladd, The Spoiler, Bobby Duncum, Magnificent Muraco, Leroy Brown, Terry Funk, King Curtis Iaukea, Killer Karl Kox, Bugsy McGraw, Sonny King, Jos LeDuc, Bobby Jaggers, Dick Murdoch, Dick Slater, Super Destroyer, Buddy Wolff, etc

Didn't matter though.......he started in Florida late in 1981 which is where his seasoning began.

It was too early for the Von Erich boys in 1981...the year after the hype started for them.

Kevin Von Erich just tweeted that he has been filming with a crew for a 30for30 on ESPN which will air in January according to Kevin. This could be a fantastic documentary because the 30for30 series is sensational.

Masks and NWA titles didn't go together. Tim Woods & Johnny Walker will tell you that

The only tie to the NWA Memphis had was the Mid-America title that they bought off of Gulas. Lawler and his lack of wanting to travel a lot is a big mark against him here. He would venture outside of Memphis at times but there was no way he was going to be a touring champ in this era. 1986 was different because Crockett had cut back a lot of the touring that Flair did.

Don't go by Apter mags.....they always ranked the US champ as the #1 contender and the National/Georgia champ as #2 or #3

Orton had zero chance since he was working for Poffo's ICW most of 1981 then went to Watts late in the year.

Okay Rich wasn't getting it because he just got the belt in May and had a week with it. The major deal at the time was you could tell who was on the immediate radar by who was sent to work GCW on TBS. DiBiase was clearly sent in to get national exposure and seasoned up for a run when needed but Robert Fuller cut him off as booker and put him with him as a team to feud with the Freebirds. Patera went in and got pushed pretty damn hard from the start as he won the Georgia title and was feuding with Tommy Rich but quit a couple of months in and pretty much never worked any NWA territory again. Flair came in and got shots at Race at the Omni plus already had been on TBS since 1978 at various times but you could tell by the way he was pushed in 1981 that he was going to get the title. Loss brought up Orndorff and Paul was definitely on the radar but not at the level of the previous 3.....he came to GCW in 1982 and had a good run with Flair with a solid push but something happened with him once Jim Barnett was shown the door and Ole fully took over.

Here is how the NFL HOF does it and the model that I think would be the best for this one.

The one thing that the NFL HOF does as good as anyone is the voting committee meets before the final elections and certain members of the committee must present the case of their pet project then debate the questions from the others. These debates go for hours sometimes. I seem to remember Cris Carter himself was debated for over 3 hours a couple of years ago.

Star Trek is a great example of how revisionism works the right way.

The thing I don't understand about Dave using Maeda is the fact that Maeda is an easy HOFer. Helped start an entire movement, great performer and a tremendous draw for quite a long time.

I haven't listened to today's podcast about the HOF but Dave said that he doesn't think he has any influence on anyone's votes regarding the HOF.........

If you make it about work then guys like The Sheik & Abdullah the Butcher wouldn't get in If you make it about drawing then guys like Benoit & Dynamite Kid wouldn't get in

DING DING DING DING

GCW's base roster was a regular touring crew that worked the whole week for the promotion but they would bring in special guests for the bigger shows and the Northern tours when they started touring Michigan, Ohio, etc.

Guys did this all the time.....GCW was a weekend trip for most of your big names and the regulars would tour outside because of their exposure on WTBS.

Doc Jr. over the years has been one of the biggest draws in Mexico like Jose said....his power has diminished lately but when it comes to mainstream appeal he's in the top tier. HBK is probably the lowest drawing ace in the HOF unless you count Angle.

The more I think about it basically Tanahashi got into the HOF for 2-years of work really because if you go back to pre-2011 there wasn't a whole lot of love thrown Tanahashi or New Japan in general's direction. Sure we can go back 6-7 years for Tanahashi being a top guy but the way it looks and I'm just speculating that he got in just for 2-3 years of work is staggering. Not saying it's fact but it really looks that way.

From WON

That last sentence pretty much sums up everything doesn't it.