[1991-08-IWCCW] Rick Rude and the Honky Tonk Man

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Who is the best Intercontinental champion of all time? Who has the most devastating neckbreaker? Tony Rumble fumbles through an interview with George Napolitano about it, because apparently the entire wrestling world can't stop buzzing about this sudden controversy. Napolitano points out that Rude has held far more titles, including the WCCW title, and this brings out Honky Tonk Man to dispute this. HTM points out that he held the IC title for 15 months, and they keep going back and forth about it. This angle is like a bad Pro Wrestling Only thread. A babyface Rick Rude wants to settle this in the ring and seems fired up about it. What a silly premise.

[flyonthewall2983]

A babyface Rick Rude is a rather silly premise in and of itself.

[PeteF3]

I'm not even sure if Mrs. Rude thought that Rick Rude was the greatest IC Champion ever. His whole reign was built around a primitive WWF-style swerve finish, after all. Well, so was Honky's, but Honky held the belt for 37 years. A confrontation with Bill Apter in the middle leads to the burning poll questions of who the greatest IC Champion is AND who has the greatest neckbreaker. The wrestling world is ABUZZ about these two issues, according to Tony Rumble. There's nothing sadder in wrestling than someone yelling "SHUT UP!" at a crow that isn't saying anything. George Napolitano tries to offer some insight while Rumble blithers and does a horrible job of acting surprised when the two guys in question come out. Rude concedes that Honky Tonk is great--a GREAT, BIG FOOL. Oh, snap. The only unironically enjoyable thing about this mess was hearing the classic World Class theme again.

[Kevin Ridge]

I’m surprised Rude hasn’t shown up in WCW by now. Rude and Honky Tonk Man debate who is the greatest IC champion of all time. Got two guys talking about a title from another wrestling organization. There should be a poll for worst interviewer of all time with Tony Rumble as a favorite.

[soup23]

We have a WrestleCrap of the year contender. Holy shit was Rumble brutal fumbling along and the kids laughing and mugging for the camera behind him were not exactly great in getting over the seriousness of who the greatest IC titleholder of all time was.

[garretta]

I'd take guys like Muraco, Morales, and Patera over either of them, myself.

 

If this angle had had any promise, Vince would have run it himself instead of burying Honky six feet deep after he was squashed by Warrior. Ideally, it would have been a heel/heel setup, with Bobby and Jimmy in the respective corners. As it is, this is a minor league indy trying to get publicity for itself by using another promotion's titles and history.

 

I don't agree that babyface Rude is such a stretch, but the fact that Honky so emphatically said that he wasn't going to get in there with Rude instead of at least teasing a match leads me to believe that not even IWCCW saw money here. It's nothing more than a "Hey, look what the cat dragged in!" moment for a promotion that's done nothing of note since Tony Atlas left a year and a half before. Frankly, I'm surprised that they got people of Apter and Napolitano's reputations to be a part of it.

 

Did Tony Rumble ever become anything of note? Not an interviewer, I hope; he seemed more interested in promoting and getting heat for himself than he did in either Honky or Rude.

[dawho5]

I didn't mind that they made Rude the babyface. Who else was it gonna be, Honky? I mean, if you're going to put this out there (which they shouldn't have) it has to be the way to go. That interviewer wass beyond awful and Gorge Napolitano looked like there were several thousand places he'd rather be.