Loss Posted August 1, 2011 Author Report Posted August 1, 2011 Ron Oates, a big blond kid who looks like he'd be pushed. Not sure whatever happened to him. Oates failed in a recent bid for the Southern title and came to Lawler for advice. Lawler talks about how he reminds him of Sting and the Ultimate Warrior in Memphis and how a new look gave them self confidence, and maybe the same will work for Oates. Lawler paints his face and says wrestling has a Sting but it doesn't have a guy named THE HORNET. He now has Sting's haircut and has his face painted exactly like Sting and that's his new name. They can't be serious. Quote
Tim Evans Posted August 6, 2011 Report Posted August 6, 2011 This isn't as bad as when they brought in a Ultimate Warrior clone and even tried to pass him off as the Warrior even though he was about 225 pounds. Quote
BackToBionic Posted January 5, 2012 Report Posted January 5, 2012 His name was Ron Oakes...or as Maclin would call him "THE HO'NET" Quote
Kevin Ridge Posted September 8, 2012 Report Posted September 8, 2012 Tough to make some guy follow Warrior and Sting who were big stars at this time. Quote
WingedEagle Posted May 1, 2013 Report Posted May 1, 2013 Lawler says Oates reminds him of Hellwig & Borden, but they were both lacking. Lawler then paints his face to see if it has the same impact on Oates, who he calls the Hornet. This was a really minor league segment. Quote
PeteF3 Posted July 30, 2013 Report Posted July 30, 2013 Lawler sells this as well as possible, tying in the facepaint to the gifts given out at the end of The Wizard of Oz. But still, there's ripping off gimmicks and then there's blatantly, openly SAYING you're ripping off gimmicks. Oakes doesn't exactly reek of charisma here. Quote
MikeCampbell Posted August 30, 2013 Report Posted August 30, 2013 A blatant rip off of Sting, with a goofy name to match. I can't imagine why this guy didn't set the promotion on fire. Quote
...TG Posted June 2, 2015 Report Posted June 2, 2015 I thought this came off more as Memphis trying to bury Sting rather than trying to push Ron Oates as a Sting clone - even revealing Sting's & Warrior's real names. Quote
garretta Posted February 22, 2016 Report Posted February 22, 2016 At least Lawler was open about wanting to steal the Sting gimmick and why, the better to avoid possible lawsuits from Turner Broadcasting. The problem was, this guy was just as big a nothing after he got his face painted as he was beforehand. I'd neither seen nor heard about this guy before, which proves that you need more than a certain look to be successful in the wrestling business. Whatever it was that Lawler thought Oates already had, it didn't come across on screen, paint or no paint. I disagree with TG about the USWA wanting to bury Sting. If anything, this was a sort of tribute to a man who got his start in Memphis and was now one of the top two or three wrestlers in the world. Hell, maybe they thought that Sting would show up at the WMC studios someday and give his official stamp of approval to Oates. Quote
dawho5 Posted April 28, 2020 Report Posted April 28, 2020 I thought of Sting right away looking at the guy. Way more steroid-y looking, which is kind of strange after Lawler's burial of the steroid-enhanced wrestlers a year or two back. If you're going to rip off a gimmick, why not be honest about it? Quote
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