Grimmas Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Discuss here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted September 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 One of the most dynamic and charismatic wrestlers of all-time. If his pre-Memphis stuff is as great as it probably was there would be a case for him number one. Great as a babyface or heel, as an underdog or favourite the guy did it all in the ring. Some great brawls and awesome technical displays. He's going to be anywhere from 5-25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 I love Savage for his charisma, his promos and making things feel big. But he's not someone with many matches I look back on as either classics or ones I want to rewatch. The former will probably ensure he makes my list, while the latter will put a pretty firm ceiling on his placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 What "awesome technical displays" did Savage produce? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I legitimately can't recall a single match where he worked the mat for any length of time. I saw a house show match vs. Bret where he kind of did, but that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted September 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 What "awesome technical displays" did Savage produce? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I legitimately can't recall a single match where he worked the mat for any length of time. I saw a house show match vs. Bret where he kind of did, but that's it. Technical only means matwork? Steamboat-Savage at Mania 3 is a technical match that is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Crackers Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 I haven't seen it in a while but I remember his ICW cage match against Ronnie Garvin being surprisingly mat based. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 I don't know that I could point to any excellent technical or matwork from Savage. I always loved his punches, his athleticism and how it translated into a pretty neat highspots for a guy of his size in in late 80s / early 90s WWF/WCW. But he could also slow things down quite a bit and may very well be someone who wrestled to the level of his opponent. How many top matches did he have against people not named Flair, Steamboat or Lawler? I'm sure there are some I'd come up with if I go through his various runs but that's what springs to mind. The work never clicked for me on the level of the character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted September 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 I don't know that I could point to any excellent technical or matwork from Savage. I always loved his punches, his athleticism and how it translated into a pretty neat highspots for a guy of his size in in late 80s / early 90s WWF/WCW. But he could also slow things down quite a bit and may very well be someone who wrestled to the level of his opponent. How many top matches did he have against people not named Flair, Steamboat or Lawler? I'm sure there are some I'd come up with if I go through his various runs but that's what springs to mind. The work never clicked for me on the level of the character. He produced two of the Ultimate Warrior's greatest matches. He had a great match with Dennis Rodman. He made DDP look like gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 Might be the most complete U.S. wrestler of all time. Not sure that makes him #1 overall or anything, but if you think of someone as a five-tool guy, not sure anyone other than Savage works. Which is awesome considering he played baseball before becoming a pro wrestler. He's not the best in one thing, but he's damn sure great in a lot. Easy Top 50, possible Top 25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 I knew I was blanking on something. The Warrior matches were awesome so put a definite feather in his cap on those. Not sure how I overlooked them. No comment on Rodman. The DDP series was fine, but DDP was delivering solid matches with most folks during that period. The Savage series didn't rise above any of those for me. But yeah, Warrior. Whoops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 His series with DiBiase isn't given enough due. Also has a case of being WWF MVP every single year from 1986 to at least 1991, if not 1992. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Savage was my favorite wrestler as a kid. He just had a unique way of moving around the ring that pulled me in from almost the first time I saw him. Great at projecting his character into his work, made a fairly basic offensive package seem bigger than it was, delivered huge in big matches. I don't see him as a top 10 candidate because his volume of great stuff was limited compared to the best of the best. But he'll fall in the 30-50 range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 He is in my Memphis category. Had memorable performances in every company he was in. He was a legend. He also presents a dilemma that I face with guys like Steamboat. Savage, Steamboat, Dibiase... these are guys I have personal attachment to even though I know there are better guys out there. Do I ignore these guys who gave me hours of entertainment from my youth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 I don't know that I could point to any excellent technical or matwork from Savage. I always loved his punches, his athleticism and how it translated into a pretty neat highspots for a guy of his size in in late 80s / early 90s WWF/WCW. But he could also slow things down quite a bit and may very well be someone who wrestled to the level of his opponent. How many top matches did he have against people not named Flair, Steamboat or Lawler? I'm sure there are some I'd come up with if I go through his various runs but that's what springs to mind. The work never clicked for me on the level of the character. He had great matches with Tito Santana, Bret Hart, Ronnie Garvin, Jake Roberts and others that other people have mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxnj Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 I've always thought he was overrated as hell. I don't understand why nobody holds it against him for mostly being shit post-1992 even while getting pushed as a main event guy for most of that time. What I've seen of his "great" 80's WWF matches doesn't hold up well when you compare it to things outside the context of an otherwise mostly horrible product. People here like to bash on KENTA and Marufuji matches for being overly cooperative but last I watched Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania it seemed way worse in terms of lacking struggle and being obviously planned out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 For me his greatness is perfectly captured in a match he had against Rick McGraw, June 1985 at MSG. He had already debuted on TV, but this was his first appearance at the most hallowed arena in wrestling. Within minutes he is so over as a heel that a fan throws a drink at him. He has the New York crowd that had never seen him before in the palm of his hand from start to finish. Amazing to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Casebolt Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 I haven't seen it in a while but I remember his ICW cage match against Ronnie Garvin being surprisingly mat based. That cage match is amazing. Not at all what I'd expected from either guy, but incredibly compelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 I can see the arguments being made against, but I don't buy into those arguments. I'm not hesitant to say that Savage was the complete package; tremendous bumper, excellent seller, understood pacing and psychology splendidly, and could work over a crowd like no other. Very high up in my rankings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 If we're being fair, we need to talk about Savage's return to 1999 WCW where he was heavily muscled up and was pretty obviously struggling in the ring. Those Nash matches are pretty bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Also Savage should lose points for going back and marrying his high school sweetheart years later, instead of carrying on a series of abusive relationships, based on serial cheating, rampant alcoholism and drug abuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Shows a lack of ability to adapt to old age in a way fitting his PCP-fueled character Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 The guy had a final year (a final two years actually, as 1998 was also pretty brutal) which ended his career on a major whimper. He was trying to recreate a rivalry with Hogan that was long past its expiration date and produced some actively bad matches. He had something decent with Bret once and that's about all he has for the two years his career continued after the Page feud ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Lists are easy, comedy is hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 To be fair, my buddy Tony pointed out to me that Savage had the most amazing ring attire ever for his 1/4/00 NJ Dome match, easily one of the bets entrances of Savage's career. If you factor in ring attire, Flair had long since passed the expiration point of WTF ring attire. Savage was killing it in one of his last matches ever... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqqX1LeE_yE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.00c68798e2502c92a7da65280cf7def4.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.