JerryvonKramer Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I always liked the idea advanced by Jesse Ventura that Donald Trump was big mates with DiBiase and that he had a cheering section organized for him at Wrestlemania 5. That means, in the world of late 80s WWF, Donald Trump was a heel. How many celebrities have been heels? Trump, Dennis Rodman, Andy Kaufman and ... anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Kevin Federline, Charles Barkley, Lawrence Taylor (in WCW), "Pet of the Year" Patti Mullen, Jason Hervey regardless of whether he was intended to be or not, Floyd Mayweather, whatever Eagles player was Pillman's bodyguard in ECW, Joe Frazier at Starrcade '84 depending on your interpretation, Mike Tyson before the big swerve at Mania and the guy from Dinner and a Movie who joined the NWO at the last Clash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Add Chuck Zito to the list as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 "Pet of the Year" Patti Mullen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Also Pete Rose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Jim Cornette's idol and good friend Eddie Haskell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I'll be more specific. Are these any good? The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels by Greg Oliver Andre the Giant bio by Michael Krugman Larry Zbyszko's autobiography Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling by Jonathan Snowden Legends of Pro Wrestling by Tim Hornbaker The Heels is very good. I skimmed Andre's bio once and it didn't seem very interesting. A friend gave me his copy of Larry's book, which he disliked, and it has sat on my shelf ever since. I just bought Shooters and have only skimmed through a few parts, but it looks like a top notch wrestling history book and everybody is raving about it. Also skimmed through Legends of Pro Wrestling and it looked skippable. If you haven't read Hornbaker's National Wrestling Alliance book I recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 whatever Eagles player was Pillman's bodyguard in ECWHarry Boatswain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've got a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card burning a hole in my pocket. It's been a while since I've read a wrestling book. I've already got the book on Montreal wrestling pre-ordered. Any other recommendations for wrestling books that have come out in the last couple of years? Edit: I'll be more specific. Are these any good? The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels by Greg Oliver Andre the Giant bio by Michael Krugman Larry Zbyszko's autobiography Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling by Jonathan Snowden Legends of Pro Wrestling by Tim Hornbaker The Heels is really good, though I like the more recently released Heroes and Icons better. Shooters is a great book that everyone should read. I'd pass on the Hornbaker book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I really like the look of the Greg Oliver book. I'm thinking of getting like five wrestling books to start my collection. What else is worth reading? The National Wrestling Alliance book that Ricky mentioned looks like it could be good. As a rule, I'm not into bios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 If you aren't into bios you are going to have limited pickings. It's worth noting that all the Oliver/Johnson books are books filled with mini-bios. Shooters is by far the best non-biographical wrestling book I've ever read. Hornbaker's NWA book suffers from some organizational issues but would still probably be second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I'm at Heathrow airport and my plane has been delayed, so ... I've just been on Amazon and ordered the three Oliver books (heels, heroes and tag teams), the National Wrestling Alliance one and Shooters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Kevin Federline, Charles Barkley, Lawrence Taylor (in WCW), "Pet of the Year" Patti Mullen, Jason Hervey regardless of whether he was intended to be or not, Floyd Mayweather, whatever Eagles player was Pillman's bodyguard in ECW, Joe Frazier at Starrcade '84 depending on your interpretation, Mike Tyson before the big swerve at Mania and the guy from Dinner and a Movie who joined the NWO at the last Clash. Jeremy Piven and David Arquette were heel guest hosts. Morton Downey Jr. was obviously a heel at WM5. Can we consider Thea Vidale a heel too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I'm finishing Will's Buddy Rose comp and Don Owen absolutely cracks me up. Every month he gets mad at two wrestlers for having too good of a feud! He comes in the ring or to the interview stand and basically hollers (with plenty of stuttering and stammering) that he's sick of Wrestler A and Wrestler B (usually Buddy Rose) fighting all the time and that this next match will be the last match between these two so he can get back to regular business. I know Owen was just trying to hype things as a legit sport, but I wonder if anyone in the audience ever wondered why Owen got so mad that Wrestler A and Wrestler B (usually Buddy Rose) were having such a great feud and generating interest in his product. My favorite Don Owen thing was when he would complain about loser leaves town matches, because he couldn't afford to keep flying in new talent all the time. What was the story with this? Was it presented as if the wrestlers booked their own matches and Owen just signed the checks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Also, as for why Brother Love was given the time of day by the WWF (kayfabe-wise), it was revealed in an early segment that Ted DiBiase was paying for his air time. Ok, well there you go. I never knew that. That was always my problem, "Why does this guy have an interview show?" Interview shows are supposed to be hosted by wrestlers, managers, or ex-wrestlers. And believe me, I "got" that they were spoofing the Televangelist craze. Shit, back then we used to get high and prank call the PTL club and laugh at Benny Hinn. And I still can't stand the character. I was at a point where I hadn't watched wrestling in a few years, since Spring of 88. I would turn on WWF every now and then and there was so much I just fucking hated. Brother Love was like the #1 thing that would make me change the channel. Warrior and Taker, too. Just the overall cartoony/ it's a kid's show vibe turned me off. It wasn't until one Saturday morning I was flipping around and saw Heenan holding the NWA Big Belt on a WWF TV show and heard the name "Ric Flair" that I jumped back in as a regular fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueminister Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Brother Love owns, no diss to Paul Bearer but it would have been really cool if he kept managing the Undertaker and became the most hated guy in wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Has anyone ever managed to snag Don West for a podcast interview? Sems like he'd be a good guest having had such a weird ride through wrestling, going from never being involved in it before being hired by TNA to spending the next decade working for them in various roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I've got a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card burning a hole in my pocket. It's been a while since I've read a wrestling book. I've already got the book on Montreal wrestling pre-ordered. Any other recommendations for wrestling books that have come out in the last couple of years? Edit: I'll be more specific. Are these any good? The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels by Greg Oliver Andre the Giant bio by Michael Krugman Larry Zbyszko's autobiography Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling by Jonathan Snowden Legends of Pro Wrestling by Tim Hornbaker The Greg Oliver book is very good. If you've enjoyed any of the other books in the series, you'll enjoy that one. Legends of Pro Wrestling is interesting for the information on the pioneer era wrestlers. When it comes to bios on wrestlers from the 1970s on (which are a healthy portion of the book), it's about as useful as reading Wikipedia. Too much information is given in kayfabe form. His book about the National Wrestling Alliance is quite good though, albeit somewhat dry. Andre the Giant is one of the worst wrestling books I have ever read. Entire chapters are pulled word for word from old editions of WWF magazine. Strong recommendation to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 the guy from Dinner and a Movie who joined the NWO at the last Clash. I love this board for posts like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I think Brother Love was awesome, except for the time he was the announcer for an MSG show and called THE ENTIRE SHOW in his Brother Love voice. Yep, I loved Brother Love too. So slimmy. I thought Brother Love was great too. His purpose was to be a house organ for the heel elite of the WWF. Ted Dibiase bribed officials to get him his time slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I think Brother Love was awesome, except for the time he was the announcer for an MSG show and called THE ENTIRE SHOW in his Brother Love voice. Yep, I loved Brother Love too. So slimmy. I thought Brother Love was great too. His purpose was to be a house organ for the heel elite of the WWF. Ted Dibiase bribed officials to get him his time slot. Bruce Pritchard was only slim during his Belushi level days of doing blow. Hey, like I said. I was in my early twenties at the time and Brother Love was just fucking annoying and stupid to me. Granted, now knowing that he had a timeslot thanks to Dibiase, ok. That part of my hatred of the character is gone. But I go back and watch that era of WWF now, and I can get past a lot of what I hated about it. But not him. It's still just annoying. But that's me. I still think Paul Bearer and Taker from the time is annoying and embarrassingly stupid, and when I read the old Observers that go on about how awesome Pringle is in the role I scratch my head. It's a total age thing on my part, I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted December 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 They should have had segments where heels would visit Brother Love to get spiritual advice, where he would tell them to do something horrible that they would later do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Ha, Brother Love. I remember I would always fast forward through his bits on the old VHS tapes as a kid. He even made a Piper segment boring. It's funny the biggest thing that the character will be remembered for was introducing the Undertaker. Like chalk and cheese. How and when did Paul Bearer appear anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I still think Paul Bearer and Taker from the time is annoying and embarrassingly stupid, and when I read the old Observers that go on about how awesome Pringle is in the role I scratch my head. It's a total age thing on my part, I know.Even if you hate the Paul Bearer schtick you can at least justify the praise because of completely different that character is from his Percy Pringle work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 I know how the PR game works and everything but still this has interesting implications in terms of gay baiting and free speech: http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2012/12/...with-him-again/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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