Loss Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I don't feel dirty about taking anything from that board, since Kawada~! is the one who thought of it over there, but this could be fun. Take your favorite wrestler (explanations are much preferred) and pick the following: Best Opponent Worst Opponent Most Surprising Opponent Most Disappointing Opponent Dream Opponent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I'm picking Hulk Hogan. I still mark for him and he was a big part of the reason why I started watching wrestling when I was a lot younger. Hell, I even wrote him a letter when he was hospitalized by Earthquake sitting on him. I was such a mark. I don't think I'll ever buy anyone's argument that someone else has more charisma than the Hulkster. I don't know if he's my favorite wrestler since I've smartened up to the business a lot more nowadays. I appreciate workrate and all that jazz a lot more and Hogan didn't bring a whole lot of that to the table. He did, however, always have my attention. Best Opponent: Well, most of his feuds had huge storylines going for them. Workrate wise, he's not put on a lot of great matches. So, I'd say either Savage at Wrestlemania 5, Warrior at Wrestlemania 6 or The Rock at Wrestlemania 18. Worst Opponent: Zeus, easily. He couldn't talk or work. The storyline was crap too since they were just trying to shill No Holds Barred. I at least laughed during the Finger Poke of Doom. Most Surprising Opponent: I don't really know. Anytime that Hogan had a match with a midcarder it was pretty surprising. I didn't actually think that the Hogan/Goldberg match on Nitro was going to happen, so I'll go with that. Most Disappointing Opponent: I have no idea. Most of his matches that I like are nostalgia for me nowadays. Even his match with Bundy doesn't bother me too much. I'd say Roddy Piper because I always expected the matches to be more epic because of all of their history. Dream Opponent: Nowadays I guess it'd be Savage so we'd see if either one would shoot. I don't really think Hogan should go anymore. That being said, he had his shots with The Rock, so Hogan/Austin could probably be pretty entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Not my favorite wrestler, but I think he's the most fun person to do this with. EDDY GUERRERO Best opponent: I'm going to go with Chris Benoit. Some have suggested that they've never been able to meet their own standards against each other, and not every match they've had has been great, but I can't think of anyone Eddy has had more good matches against than Benoit, both in singles and in tags, and in multiple companies. Worst opponent: Diamond Dallas Page. As good as Page was getting by late 1996 or so, I expected the matches he had with Guerrero to be excellent, but they never quite met at the same level. DDP actually had better matches with Chavito. Most surprising opponent: JBL, hands down. Bradshaw simply hasn't had matches anywhere near that level against anyone else. Most disappointing opponent: Chris Jericho. Maybe it's because they've rarely had the opportunity to work in singles matches, but on paper, that match has always looked better than it's ever really turned out. I dig the Fall Brawl '97 match, but I still think it had the potential to be better. Dream opponent: I think Owen Hart and Eddy Guerrero could have had some outstanding matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Mick Foley- not my favorite but one of my favorites and the first one to come to the top of my head. Best Opponent- HBK. They should have had a stronger series. Instead we got HBK-Sid!!! Worst Opponent- Sandman. I haven't liked anything these two have done together. Most Surprising Opponent- Kawada. Since Foley was retired, I thought this matchup would never happen. This brings me to... Most Disappointing Opponent- Kawada. From most reports, the match sucked. Another selection would be Al Snow. I think for all of the cheap shots Foley took, these guys could have had some wild hardcore matches. Unfortunately, Foley was winding down and nothing ever came of it. Dream Opponent- The ROH mark in me wants a Samoa Joe-Foley matchup. Realistically, never going to happen. They can't pay Foley enough and Joe is moving to TNA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Bret "The Hitman" Hart: When I first became a fan, it was his cool demeanor and good wrestling skills and professionalism that won me over as a Hart fan. While his attitude after the Montreal screwjob and WCW embarrassed me a little, I will always consider him "The best there is, the best there was and the best there will ever be." Best Opponent: He had many good opponents, but my vote is for Owen Hart, his brother. Just a tremendous series of matches at Mania X and Summerslam. Worst Opponent: Probably Goldberg. It's very hard for me to think of a "bad" Bret match considering how much of a mark for him I am, but the match with Goldberg wasn't very inspired. I'm sure he had worse matches, but I can't remember them at the moment. Most Surprising Opponent: Take your pick- 1-2-3 Kid, The Quebecer, Patriot, even Stone Cold. Most Disappointing Opponent: Ric Flair, without question. The way those two were hyped as technical masters, and they never seemed to be on the same page. Chris Benoit was another disappointing match. Just a random match reliant on spots and sentiment for Owen. Dream Opponent: Hulk Hogan. Do the job, brotha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 You bet Kawada/Foley sucked. They both looked like crap that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Try to think of someone else for "surprising" for Foley if you can, Helmet. The idea behind that is "most surprisingly good". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 HHH? I'm not sure people expected Foley to drag out two consecutive good matches out of this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Most Surprising Opponent: Take your pick- 1-2-3 Kid, The Quebecer, Patriot, even Stone Cold. I'd probably go with Diesel myself. Their KOTR '94 and SurSer '95 matches really hit the mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 OK, I thought it implied what opponent were you surprised to see him in the ring with. Foley's most surprising opponent- The fact that Foley isn't great in the ring but has had memorable feuds with Taker I guess when good Taker matches are usually reserved for good wrestlers like Bret and Brock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Most Surprising Opponent: Take your pick- 1-2-3 Kid, The Quebecer, Patriot, even Stone Cold.I'd probably go with Diesel myself. Their KOTR '94 and SurSer '95 matches really hit the mark. Yeah Diesel was surprising in a way. I think his matches with Bret were better than Diesel's matches with HBK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Easily. What really puts the exclamation point on that for me is that Diesel loses the match to Bret at Survivor Series '95, and that match does so much more to put him over than defeating Shawn did at Wrestlemania XI. That match, in some ways, was the death of his run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Well, Bret was more professional than Shawn. Shawn just cared about himself. Bret caed about putting on the best match possible, sometimes at his own expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 For Mick Foley's most surprising opponent, how about Van Hammer? I can't recall ever seeing another good Van Hammer match outside of their Clash meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I've heard it praised Al. My problem is I haven't actually seen it. I have it on tape but the tape is so jumpy it is unwatchable. However, it is in my next shipment of Ginnetty discs so my opinion may change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I forgot Van Hammer. If I recall, didn't Steve Austin try to get a good match out of him as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Hammer, for a VERY brief period in early 1992, wasn't horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Ted DiBiase: Best Opponent- so far, Jim Duggan. I have never had as much fun watching DiBiase as I was when watching the Duggan matches. Worst Opponent- One Man Gang. I saw this live and Ted juiced and I actually soaked up the blood but OMG sucks... bad. Most Surprising Opponent- Duggan. It had never even registered to me that Duggan was a good wrestler. Most Disappointing Opponent- I am going to have to say Savage at WM 4. Maybe it was because the show was too long or the match was too short but here are two of my favorite guys of the 80s who I know can go, go, go and we got an ok match with a Hulk Hogan moment at the end. Dream Opponent- I would love to see heel DiBiase against today's face Eddy. They could bleed buckets, both cheat like hell to win and have one of those grand Southern brawls that made last year's JBL series and the Duggan series so fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 The Midnight Express (Eaton and Lane version) are my favorite tag team, so I'll do them. The Midnights' best opponent is a no-brainer... the Rock And Roll Express. They did record business across the US with this feud and had great matches as well. The worst opponents are a bit of a toss-up... it's either the Freebirds circa 1989 (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) or the Samoan SWAT Team (Samu and Fatu (Rikishi)). It was a bad time in general for the WCW tag scene, as the Freebirds were on top, the Samoans were getting a push, the Road Warriors and the Midnights were getting shit-on by the office for political reasons (Crockett was overpaying them when he sold the company to Turner), and crap gimmicks like the Dynamic Dudes and the Ding Dongs were getting TV time. The Freebirds being on top was horrible because Michael Hayes never was a great in-ring worker... he just did the talking while Terry Gordy carried the ringwork. When you subtract Gordy and add Garvin, you get two people who try to coast on style rather than substance and it all falls apart. Most surprising opponents would have to be the Southern Boys. Given that they were considered to be a JTTS tag team for putting over shit like the Master Blasters, you wouldn't think that they would be allowed to have a good, competitive match with a "name" team like the Midnights. Most disappointing opponents would probably be the Guerrero Brothers. Considering the legendary status conferred on Hector, Mando, and Chavo Guerrero Sr., you'd think that they would have had ***** classic matches with the Midnights that would put the Rock And Roll Express feud to shame. The matches I've seen, though, tend to be somewhat on the average side. The dream opponents would be the British Bulldogs circa 1986. The Bulldogs made a name for themselves by wrestling the rough Japanese style and for Dynamite putting his health on the line to put on great matches. Mix them with the Midnights and you'd have the ingredients for a feud on the level with the Midnights-Rock And Roll Express feud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 I've heard it praised Al. My problem is I haven't actually seen it. I have it on tape but the tape is so jumpy it is unwatchable. However, it is in my next shipment of Ginnetty discs so my opinion may change. I haven't seen the match in perhaps a decade myself. It certainly was not a classic, but it was a fun 10-minute brawl from what I remember. I remember they came up with Van Hammer's music video before the match, and I was confused as hell wondering what happened to the wrestling show. I thought I changed the channel by accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Now that you mentioned this match, I am going to make it priority to watch it and maybe make a post in match reviews. To teke... I know you said it was a no-brainer but I think the Fantastics-Midnight stuff outshines the RNR feud in almost every single way, esp. work and match quality wise. With all of this footage we are obtaining we may want to do a Fans-MX comp and MX-RNR comp to compare the two. Next wrestler: Toshiaki Kawada: Best Opponent- Misawa Worst Opponent- Keiji Mutoh. Maybe the first couple of matches prior to the Mutoh takeover were ok but the last couple of times, the matches were embarassingly bad. Most Surprising Opponent- History would dictate that it was Gary Albright, esp. since he did little to nothing with anyone else. Most Disappointing Opponent- Hashimoto. I thought these would be alot more brutal than they were. I know both guys are way past their prime but I would have loved seeing this match in 1996. Now, they just look like they should both retire. Dream Opponent- Ric Flair. Would Kawada be able to break Ric flair out of his formula or even embrace it? I would have liked to seen it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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