WON HoF Candidate Poll Thread

[Johnny Sorrow]

Luzinski was the worst LF that I've ever seen,

How dare you sir.

 

The Bull was great. I remember him leaping up against the wall and robbing Johnny Bench of a Home Run once and it was spectacular. Granted , I don't remember much else but hey, I was a little kid.

 

(Bull may very well have been not great in the field. But he was my childhood hero.)

[ohtani's jacket]

I should make it clear that Ross's football stuff doesn't annoy me, it just makes me laugh with how far he takes it.

Seriously, I'm watching an excellent Brian Pillman vs Barry Windham match. And there we go, Ross go on a tangeant about Pillman never being the biggest guy on any athletic team he was part of. And he drops the line "He was the smallest kid on his little league team." For fuck's sake Ross. And then he goes on and on with the *entire* Pillman athletic credentials, complete with coach name and awards he recieved, while there's a wrestling match taking place. That kind of stuff is what annoy the shit out of me. It's not good announcing, plain and simple. It's not fun, it's not interesting. Ross is noticably worse when he's alone, because there's no Missy or Paul E. to distract him from college sports.

Also, I realized it's a lot worse when you actually pay attention to it, which means this thread hasn't helped my watching lately.

 

EDIT : and then later on the same show, during a Dan Spivey squash, from nowhere he talks about how the Atlanta Hawks could use a guy like this and goes on another tangeant... This on the same show. I mean... And then talks about yet another damn football team, during the same match !! Jeeez...

 

Those are great examples of the shittiness of Jim Ross.

[jdw]

Good Jim Ross = Pretty Damn Good

Bad Jim Ross = Pretty Damn Bad

 

You could get them both on the same show... in the same fucking match. You could have him "on" some times, and in turn just mediocre.

 

What was annoying was that Jim was a sacred cow that you could never point out an error without hear all the defenses for how great he is. You'd go a year in the WON without reading something bad on him, while you'd rarely go a few weeks without a knock at Tony (who I don't like anyway) or Bobby (who reached a point of sucking in WCW as well) or Lawler or eventually Cole. I wasn't a fan of any of them in the Monday Night Wars era, but Jim was the bullet proof one.

 

John

[JerryvonKramer]

jdw - did you listen to the Ventura thing that was posted a few days back? (it'll be gone now it was on megaupload)

 

He was saying on that that Ross was never criticized by Meltzer because he was feeding him information and results.

 

Is there any truth to that at all?

[jdw]

We joked about proecting Ross back in the late 90s and early 00s. It's an old rip. Hell, the later concept of protecting Tenay is just an extension of it.

 

John

[JerryvonKramer]

The Ventura recording was from 93-4, so the insinuation was that Meltzer was getting stuff from Ross in '92 and before that.

 

If you look at the awards it does look ridiculous that Gorilla wins worst commentator and Ross best commentator for something like 8 years straight.

 

I mean there's NO WAY Jim Ross was the best commentator in 1993. That's just stupid.

 

Interesting that Vince never picked up best nor worst.

[jdw]

The Ventura recording was from 93-4, so the insinuation was that Meltzer was getting stuff from Ross in '92 and before that.

Dave pretty much has always gotten stuff from Ross. The WON is getting close to its 30th anniversary. I suspect that Dave has gotten stuff from Ross for 28 of those years. It's never been hard to guess. Hence us publically joking about it.

 

We joked about Paul E being one of the sources for the anti-Kevin Dunn stuff. Konnan being a sources is an old joke. Tenay is an old joke, since their friendship before Mike went to WCW wasn't a secret. Waltman being a source for Keller is an old joke. There are lots of them.

 

 

If you look at the awards it does look ridiculous that Gorilla wins worst commentator and Ross best commentator for something like 8 years straight.

Not really. WON Readers/Voters loved Ross. WON Readers/Voters thought Gorilla sucked hard.

 

 

I mean there's NO WAY Jim Ross was the best commentator in 1993. That's just stupid.

It might have been by default as it's possible that all pbp men sucked that year. I probably voted for Fukuzawa, and Daniel will swear up and down that Fukuzawa sucked donkey balls while my friend in Japan who first got me into puroresu LOVED Fukuzawa in 1993:

 

"All the other announcers love Misawa. Fukuzawa likes Kawada."

-jdw's Kawada loving Japanese friend

 

People like different things for different reasons. We have Demolition fans on this site, and no doubt other people who read the Demo Luv and kind of scratch their hard. There isn't exactly a #42 in pro wrestling than sums everything up.

 

 

Interesting that Vince never picked up best nor worst.

Vince probably won a lot of other awards.

 

John

[FLIK]

Scott Norton

 

Well he did headline the second biggest drawing card in wrestling history In all seriousness I'd be interested to see how much value he had as a draw to NJPW. I don't think there is anyway in hell he had HoF level drawing power, but I'm curious as to if he was booked like a gajin threat consistently. I honestly don't remember.

There's better ppl who could answer this but even from my limited NJPW knowledge I feel pretty safe saying the answer to the your last question is yes. He was pretty much the top gaijin in the company for the better part of about 15 years except for maybe when Vader was around or they had a guest aperance from a big outside name like Hogan or Flair. Don't remember whear but I read once that he was voted the most popular foreigner in company history by the fans. On his own he was never a draw but I don't think that was ever his role, he was supposed to be the guy you put against the top stars to make them look good. They did give him plenty of big wins though and always kept him really strong, he had 2 or 3 IWGP tag title runs and and though they were short he had 2 reigns as IWGP singles champ too back in the days before they whored the belt out and it still meant something.

 

It's not like I've voted for Eric. But if a gun was put to my head and I had to vote for one, Eric is the obvious choice to me. And I HATE Eric.

Was Eric ever on the ballot?

[Al]

Luzinski was the worst LF that I've ever seen,

How dare you sir.

 

The Bull was great. I remember him leaping up against the wall and robbing Johnny Bench of a Home Run once and it was spectacular. Granted , I don't remember much else but hey, I was a little kid.

 

(Bull may very well have been not great in the field. But he was my childhood hero.)

 

Luzinski was famously terrible in the outfield. Famously. The single most famous loss in Phillies history (Black Monday '77) was due to Luzinski's inability to catch a fly ball at the wall. For about four years though, he was a legitimate terror at the plate.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Luzinski was the worst LF that I've ever seen,

How dare you sir.

 

The Bull was great. I remember him leaping up against the wall and robbing Johnny Bench of a Home Run once and it was spectacular. Granted , I don't remember much else but hey, I was a little kid.

 

(Bull may very well have been not great in the field. But he was my childhood hero.)

 

Luzinski was famously terrible in the outfield. Famously. The single most famous loss in Phillies history (Black Monday '77) was due to Luzinski's inability to catch a fly ball at the wall. For about four years though, he was a legitimate terror at the plate.

 

I honestly was too young to recall. I just loved the guy and had posters of him all over my room when I was little. All I really remember is him hitting homers, so there ya go.

[Dylan Waco]

What were Sullivan's strengths as a booker?

[El-P]

What were Sullivan's strengths as a booker?

You can argue Sullivan booked the über succesful Monday Nitro during his peak years. Knew how to put heat on heels at the very least. Of course Sully run his course and got burned out, but that would happen with anyone.

[Dylan Waco]

Rob Van Dam

 

I guess Rob has never been on the ballot. I could absolutely see him having a small and serious group of supporters, particularly if there are ECW loyalists among the voter pool. Having said that watching the ECW stuff back I thought that while RVD was clearly the biggest star from 98 forward, he was not often in a real "money" position and there is only so much credit you give him for a failed company. He stayed over in the WWE, but largely underachieved. I would not think it strange for RVD to get a crack at the ballot, but it would essentially be throwing a bone to a small number of people who think cult status means more than it really does.

 

Junkyard Dog

 

I'd have to be convinced NOT to vote for JYD. Biggest star and biggest draw in the history of one of the most well regarded territories in wrestling history means a lot to me. Especially when the gates and numbers he were drawing were record setting levels and he seemed to sustain solid momentum through multiple programs. Not sure how he drew in Stampede during his run there, but I know he was a good draw in the WWF for the slots he was used in. I've heard the claim that he was the companies number two drawing babyface after Hogan during the initial boom years and while I don't know if the data backs that up, or how big of a deal that should be seen as, it doesn't seem like a real stretch to me. The big negative is that he sucked in the ring, but I don't think he is nearly as bad as some do - certainly not a Big Daddy type. A case could be argued that the brevity of his peak works against him, but there are people who were not nearly as important that are on the ballot and in the hall.

 

Big Show

 

I'm sure a lot of people will scoff at me including him as a "guy who should go on the ballot" choice but he does have some positives and I think he has value on the ballot as a point of comparison to other modern candidates (Edge, Batista, et.). I think of him as one of the better big man workers ever, but I don't see that as a major HoF strength. He has been up and down the cards over the years, but when put in the right positions has done well as a draw. Show v. Mayweather did a huge number, I THINK he drew well when he first came in as a fresh heel challenger, and I also think he had some solid buyrates in WCW. How much of that can be attributed to him? Who knows and that's kind of the point. I think he's worth exploring in more detail, but I also think that same "come on was any of that really because of him!" skepticism could and should be applied to other guys that are being given a pass in some quarters.

 

Bill Dundee

 

I am torn on whether to include Dundee in Bold or in Italics. I am by no means sure that I would vote for him, though I think his status as a booker is the sort of complimentary trait that bolsters his case. As a worker I think he was absolutely brilliant and one of the top tier of all time - but I don't think I would vote for anyone purely on work. As a draw he's tricky. No question he was a huge part of the Memphis equation, but in the period without Lawler and Dundee as the top star they did not do good business. In my mind Dundee is one of the all time great "second fiddle" wrestlers in history. I would certainly vote for him before I would vote for Sting for example. I'll put him in italics because if he were on the ballot I would likely vote for him mainly as a vote against others though to me he is ultimate borderline candidate.

 

Honky Tonk Man

 

Well, he held the I-C title for a long time and was in a famous match in Memphis. He also does shoots that people lol at. Still this feels like Dave just throwing a name on the list for the sake of throwing a name on the list.

 

Jerry Brisco

 

I don't really know enough to be sure, but nothing I've ever seen or heard about Brisco would lead me to see him as a real HoF level performer. Did he have a single run of note that would have meant anything?

 

George Steele

 

I know Steele was at times a good heel opponent for the big faces of the Northeast, but to me he comes across as a utility player more than anything else. A utility player with a memorable gimmick sure, but still.

 

Nikita Koloff

 

Sort of a "what if" type of guy because you get the feeling that had he stayed around a few more years and been able to shape his gimmick with the change of the times he might have been a star for a good long stretch. As it stands he has the memorable angles and matches with Magnum and Flair. No question he drew some big houses as a heel people wanted to see get destroyed. As a kid I loved him when he turned face, but by 92 the company was in the shitter financially. Sort of similar to DDP in the sense that if he had been able to sustain his run for even a few years longer he may have been viable as a candidate.

 

Austin Idol

 

Another one sort of like Nikita. I'm not sure how big a star he was in the 70's though I don't think he was a massive star at that point. In Memphis he was immensely entertaining and had his run as a great heel opponent for Lawler. Not sure if his runs in Georgia and elsewhere are enough to compliment the Memphis peak. Another "what might have been" type of guy though I think he is a great example of someone who I think is clearly a better candidate than Angle, despite the fact that most people would never see him as an HoFer.

 

Ivan Putski

 

Was an ethnic star of some value for Vince, but never a top tier ethnic star. He was more or less the guy the top heels worked when they weren't working the champ. Not a bad role, but not an HoF role. Terrible worker too.

 

Tony Atlas

 

Was at one point a huge star that was seen as the next big thing in wrestling. The problem with Atlas is that he was never the THING in wrestling or even in any territory so far as I know. He did have a very sold run in MACW, did solid with Vince Sr, and was a big star in GA. But his stardom was never taken to the next level and ultimately he feels like a massive underachiever.

 

Jos LeDuc

There is actually a thread on Jos for the HoF over at Classics. There aren't nearly enough particulars present in it for me to back him as a serious candidate, but I do admit that he comes across as the sort of journeyman main eventer that may have more good runs under his belt than you would initially assume. His strongest runs may have been in Deep South and Montreal which are two of the more underexplored territories when it comes to discussions of drawing power or even "stardom." My biggest question about LeDuc would be how much he was able to sustain any of these reigns. I'm putting him in bold largely as a guy who I think should be explored more and who I think could be explored more if people took the HoF seriously enough to actually research people.

[Dylan Waco]

Magnum T.A.

 

Another what might have been name. I'm not sure the popular myths about Magnum being the next superstar are true, but there is no question that he was hugely over and in his short run had a string of very memorable matches and angles. You can certainly envision him as a hall of fame performer - with another six or seven years of that sort of run under his belt.

 

Art Barr

 

Yet another like Magnum, Nikita, DDP, et. I tend to think Barr was a bit overrated as a wrestler, but there is no question that he was a hot ticket heel during a major point in the history of Lucha. I'm not sure it's entirely fair to call him a flash in the pan as he probably had his best years in front of him when he died, but I don't see how a couple of years can get you in a Hall of Fame.

 

Angelo Mosca

 

Was he even as big a star as John Studd? I doubt it.

 

Yoshihiro Takayama

One of the only Japanese wrestlers from the post AJPW/NJPW collapse years I could see an argument for. I wouldn't vote for him but as an outsider who doesn't follow the booking closely he certainly feels like he has been a consistent star with a positive impact on business at various points. I'm also a fan of his work, generally thinking he has been solid/very good for most of his career. Would need more hard figures to be convinced to vote for him and he may have been on the ballot and fallen off before. Without researching it much he seems fairly comparable to Sasaki.

 

Satoshi Kojima

 

Perhaps he meant more to business than I know, but I don't see him as an HoF level draw or star. And he's definitely not on that level as a worker (though from memory he was a favorite of many puro fans in the mid 00's).

 

Cibernetico

 

Don't know enough.

 

Fuerza Guerrera

 

Great worker. Hell he's still a good worker now. I have no clue if he was an impact on business in any meaningful way though. He's someone I would like to learn more about. Would like to know if Lucha fans see him as a deserving figure or not.

 

Pierroth Jr.

 

Don't know enough.

 

Jerry Estrada

 

Another worker that I like an awful lot although when he was off he was off. Sometimes he would be really awesome for half a match and really terrible for the other half which is especially annoying. I never got the feeling he was an iconic star in Mexico but could be wrong.

 

Latin Lover

 

Don't really know enough, but was he that big a star? I honestly thought he was kind of an upper mid-carder in Mexico, but as stated before my knowledge of Lucha history is very weak.

 

Kato Kung Lee

 

Don't know enough.

 

La Fiera

 

If Fiera was a draw of any magnitude I would support his inclusion on the ballot, as he was a brilliant worker. Probably one of the best workers than few people know anything about.

[Dylan Waco]

Curious if there have been any more polls on the WO. Please keep posting them if there have been.

[Mad Dog]

Satoshi Kojima

 

Perhaps he meant more to business than I know, but I don't see him as an HoF level draw or star. And he's definitely not on that level as a worker (though from memory he was a favorite of many puro fans in the mid 00's).

I don't believe I would vote for him but I think he has some merit as a worker. He held the All Japan banner for a couple of years with a really good title reign when the company seemed to not be in a complete death spiral. He also briefly held the Triple Crown and IWGP belts at the same time. Also voted tag team of the year in the WON in 2001. Again, none of that is HoF worthy but I think he has some merit.

[Loss]

What were Sullivan's strengths as a booker?

He was the detail guy (along with Cornette) under Flair in '89, in what was the best drawing period for the company until 1996, when he was also booking. He did a great job of getting the NWO over. I think El-P summed his case up well. Not so much using the numbers drawn in '89 to make a HOF case as I am pointing out that he was a key guy in the two time periods of WCW that were the most successful.

 

I probably wouldn't vote for Sullivan, but I think he's worth talking about.

[Dylan Waco]

Chief Jay Strongbow

 

Similar to Ivan Putski in that he was a second string ethnic babyface for Vince. This means that he got a shitload of main events on house shows and even on some bigger shows but was never really positioned as a main guy. He also sucked shit in the ring.

 

Haystacks Calhoun

 

Extremely famous name, and one of the first "old wrestlers" kids like me learned about in the 80's. Don't know if he was ever a really effective draw as a novelty. Seems like a vote for Haystacks would be like voting for Sky Low Low, though Sky Low Low was a much better worker.

 

Boris Malenko

 

Legendary on the mic though I have no clue if he was actually that good. May have been a draw in Florida though I don't know that he was a tremendous drawing card. Seems like someone there would have been a major uproar about by now if he was an obvious pick, though I could be wrong.

 

Gino Hernandez

 

Another in the what might have been camp. Was of course a great heel and could have been a massive star if he didn't die young. His Southwest and WCCW runs were really fun and did good business. Not enough.

 

David Shultz

 

Dr. D was a pretty relevant territory journeyman. Definitely made an impact in a wide variety of places and I have no doubt he could have been huge if the stars aligned. They didn't, he kicked a reporters ass, now he's a crazy old man. No.

 

Dino Bravo

 

I actually think there is some evidence just from the AWA results that shows Dino was a solid drawing card in Canada, but I don't know that he was ever the key name up there. He was in some decent feuds as a mid-carder, but I don't think he was enough of a main event talent elsewhere to merit serious discussion.

 

Leo Nomellini

 

Was a very successful tag wrestler for years though I don't think he was ever a major singles star. Hard for me to see a guy who was a part of good tags for less than ten years with no major singles run as a serious contender.

 

Lonnie Mayne

 

Mayne has been on the ballot a couple of times I think so I would oppose including him again though he is a favorite of Dave's and may have been a territorial draw of significant proportions.

 

Primo Carnera

 

I see no harm in putting him on the ballot. By all accounts he was perhaps the top draw in the business for a few years. Worse guys have gotten a shot at the ballot and I think there is something to exploring guys like Carnera or Tillet more thoroughly. I don't know enough to say that I would vote for him.

 

Bugsy McGraw

 

Was Bugsy a major draw anywhere?

 

Bull Ramos

 

Interesting candidate that I would consider if there was more info about him. Certainly appears to have been involved in some major angles and feuds all over the country and was often times positioned against the top heel in the territories he was in. How many guys can say they were in hot feuds with Bruno and Mascaras?

 

Dean Ho

 

Was certainly a star on the West Coast though I don't know that he was ever the absolute top star in any territory. Maybe in Hawaii? Don't see how he would be a better candidate than Dutch Savage.

[Ricky Jackson]

Leo Nomellini

 

Was a very successful tag wrestler for years though I don't think he was ever a major singles star. Hard for me to see a guy who was a part of good tags for less than ten years with no major singles run as a serious contender.

He was a pretty significant singles star in San Fran in the 50s, playing off his fame as a star player for the 49ers.(and he is in the NFL HOF) Drew some big houses challenging for the NWA title against Thesz, I believe record setting ones, and I think at one point he was even involved in a disputed finish/uncrowned NWA champion type angle similar to the more famous Carpentier one later in the 50s.

[Dylan Waco]

I knew Nomenelli worked some in SF and it stands to reasons he would be a draw there but I hadn't really put two and two together for whatever reason. Total airball on my part

[El-P]

Dino Bravo

 

I actually think there is some evidence just from the AWA results that shows Dino was a solid drawing card in Canada, but I don't know that he was ever the key name up there.

I don't know about numbers, but he has the rep of being a major name in Montreal and the entire Province de Quebec, when it was a hotbed for wrestling. On top there with the Rougeaus.

[Matt D]

People like different things for different reasons. We have Demolition fans on this site, and no doubt other people who read the Demo Luv and kind of scratch their hard. There isn't exactly a #42 in pro wrestling than sums everything up.

I wrote up over thirty matches! I don't care if they disagree, but I'd rather not they be confused about it!

 

As for Dino, I fully believe that he was a hell of a draw/super over in Montreal, and the talk of them canceling the match with Hogan would prove speak to that too, but he was probably the worst/laziest pushed guy from a work perspective in the WWF during the late 80s and that's a pretty tough post peak to get over.

 

Slightly related, as for WON voting, how they could put Fuji over Frenchy Martin for worst manager is beyond me.

[khawk20]

People like different things for different reasons. We have Demolition fans on this site, and no doubt other people who read the Demo Luv and kind of scratch their hard. There isn't exactly a #42 in pro wrestling than sums everything up.

I wrote up over thirty matches! I don't care if they disagree, but I'd rather not they be confused about it!

 

As for Dino, I fully believe that he was a hell of a draw/super over in Montreal, and the talk of them canceling the match with Hogan would prove speak to that too, but he was probably the worst/laziest pushed guy from a work perspective in the WWF during the late 80s and that's a pretty tough post peak to get over.

 

Slightly related, as for WON voting, how they could put Fuji over Frenchy Martin for worst manager is beyond me.

 

 

WWF Dino vs. Montreal Dino are two completely different animals.

 

Dino was certainly the go-to guy in Quebec in the first part of the 80's. No question. He was mostly the champion of the area, and the top heels would come in and fight him for the title. Sorta reminds me of Backlund's title reign, except the heel challengers would get the title once in a while, sometimes even keeping it for a bit and making Bravo the chaser. Masked Superstar and King Tonga are the two that spring immediately to mind. Robinson is another one I think had a run with him.

[Matt D]

People like different things for different reasons. We have Demolition fans on this site, and no doubt other people who read the Demo Luv and kind of scratch their hard. There isn't exactly a #42 in pro wrestling than sums everything up.

I wrote up over thirty matches! I don't care if they disagree, but I'd rather not they be confused about it!

 

As for Dino, I fully believe that he was a hell of a draw/super over in Montreal, and the talk of them canceling the match with Hogan would prove speak to that too, but he was probably the worst/laziest pushed guy from a work perspective in the WWF during the late 80s and that's a pretty tough post peak to get over.

 

Slightly related, as for WON voting, how they could put Fuji over Frenchy Martin for worst manager is beyond me.

 

 

WWF Dino vs. Montreal Dino are two completely different animals.

 

Dino was certainly the go-to guy in Quebec in the first part of the 80's. No question. He was mostly the champion of the area, and the top heels would come in and fight him for the title. Sorta reminds me of Backlund's title reign, except the heel challengers would get the title once in a while, sometimes even keeping it for a bit and making Bravo the chaser. Masked Superstar and King Tonga are the two that spring immediately to mind. Robinson is another one I think had a run with him.

 

I think Patera and Bravo have similar hurdles to get over in general, because a huge majority of the audience base are going to remember sad, sickly, out of place post-prison Patera and blonde, plodding, selfish Bravo over all else. I buy the argument for Patera being both a huge draw and a great worker and he had a relatively short post-peak before dropping off the face of the earth (But boy does it ever stand out. He is the most out of place guy in the WORLD in the Survivor Series he's in). Bravo on the other hand was all over the place in late 80s WWF. And while I buy he was a draw in French Canada, I don't buy that he had the level of work a guy who was also top draw in a limited geographic area, like, let's say Buddy Rose, had, to make up the difference.

 

But then my non-dyed Bravo exposure is pretty limited relative to Patera or Rose. Pimp me a match or two?

[JerryvonKramer]

Mean Gene Okerlund

 

Ok, this is a little less straight-forward than Ventura because it is not 100% about ability / quality. Here are the things I think Mean Gene has going for him.

 

1. Synonymous with the role - No other guy has defined the interview role to the same extenet as Okerland. Who are his competition here? David Crockett? Schiavone? Lord Alfred? Kevin Kelly? The Coach? Mooney? He absolutely blows all of those out of the water. In a league of his own when it comes to that.

 

2. Synonymous with boom-era WWF - I think Mean Gene is even more synonymous with this era AS AN ON-SCREEN PERSONALITY than Vince (or Ventura or any other member of the broadcast team). As evidence of this -- think of how many arcade and video games had screens with Mean Gene prominently featured doing interviews. The two that stick out in my memory are the one with DiBiase and Andre in Superstars and the one with Legion of Doom on Wrestlefest. But that's just scratching the surface and that's just GAMES.

 

Mean Gene was BUILT INTO the promos of certain guys. Hogan being the main one: "Well d'ya know something MEAN GENE?" But Savage had his version of that. Hell, The Iron Sheik had his version of it ("Gene Mean", lol).

 

He was like an omni-present.

 

3. Authority on the camera and in his voice - Mean Gene COMMANDED the segments he was a part of. His voice is distinctive, deep and made you care about what was going on. He did a good line in concerned (i.e. for injured babyface), and a good line in righteous indignation (i.e. when interviewing a heel). I'd suggest that no interview man before nor since has had such an authorative on-screen presence.

 

4. Professionalism and workrate - aside from Vince himself, I don't know if anyone else put more MAN HOURS into his job than Gene in the 80s. He recorded 100s of interviews back-to-back for long periods. He was working with guys of wildly different levels of talent and competency on the mic -- and he did a SUPER job of keeping them to time, keeping them on topic and butting in if required. I think that is quite a skill and it's easy to overlook. Anyone can hold a mic if you're standing next to Ric Flair, but what about some of the shitty guys Gene had to interview over the years? And not all of them were pre-tapes -- oftentimes he'd be working LIVE at the bigger shows.

 

Also, the fact he had the balls 1) to sing the national anthem at WM1 and 2) to step into the ring when he was asked and 3) to do the Gobblygooker spot just shows you that this is a guy who'd do anything that was required of the job. I think we're talking about legendary levels of commitment there.

 

Also, for what it's worth, he always does a SOLID job of hosting Legends of Wrestling on 24/7 and anything else he's been asked to do in the 21st century. I have respect for Mean Gene -- and if you don't, why not? He deserves it.

 

5. Charisma - he had this vibe of having been around the block and being nobody's fool. Okerlund's on-air personality was that he was a shrewed operator with a hint of being a guy who liked a cocktail or two after hours and an eye for the ladies -- the latter part became sleazier into his WCW career. But whichever way you look at it he was a BIG personality. You couldn't call him a bland company man.

 

Those are the 5 things I'd rest his case on.

 

The major knock on Mean Gene, which people bring up is that "he brought little if anything to WCW".

 

Not true. He brought all of the qualities he brought to WWF. He bought them LEGITIMACY. He bought them FAMILIARITY. And tell me his performance in the vignettes with Flair in the run up to Starrcade '93 aren't the stuff of greatness.

 

I think Okerlund is a 100% should be in case. More than anyone else mentioned in this entire thread. Certainly any of the wrestlers (Dino Bravo? Give me a break!) and more than Ventura or any of the other guys I've pimped.