Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

Dino Bravo


Mr. Lacelle

Recommended Posts

I guess I should have probably put Dino as my biggest wrestling guilty pleasure but I felt like he deserved his own thread. I loved his team with Martel, especially against the Road Warriors, probably my favourite Roadies tag match ever. I always enjoyed dark haired Dino but even the blonde bloated version could still put in some fun perfomances like in the Rumble 89 6 man tag.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually think he's pretty underrated. His work for the first few years he was in WWF was pretty bad but by the late 80s he became a pretty fun heel who took some nice bumps. It doesn't sound like the highest praise but this Brian Blair match is pretty much as good as you could expect a throwaway 80s WWF mid card singles match to be

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaqllj_brian-blair-vs-dino-bravo_sport

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All were factors but most noticable to me was how the power version in the WWF seemed to have his offense dumbed down accordingly, which was probably a combination of the extra bulk and the determination from above on how he should wrestle (read: You're a power heel, punch, kick, stomp, that's about it).

 

The old Bravo could have played a scientific-styled heel (akin to Hennig or Martel, for example) adequately. He was never as smooth as either of those two examples as a face...which I think was part of the reason for the shift to power heel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I disagree in the sense they were able to perform many of the same moves that they did in their face personas, and have good back-and-forth matches with other wrestlers, like Bret Hart.

 

Bravo could have wrestled more of his Montreal style if allowed, but with the additional bulk and a "World's Strongest Man" gimmick, I don't think it would have translated very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's wrong with his blond heel work? Sure, his offense was pretty basic (odd complaint for a board that regularly shits on movez stuff) but the match I linked has him doing all kinds of fun expressions to keep things entertaining while getting in just enough offense to keep looking like a threat, similar to what you get in old Destroyer matches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...