Tommy Rogers

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Dylan Waco]

Even if I thought the Fantastics were better than the Rock N Rolls I don't know that I could include Rogers. With Morton I know he could be a great singles wrestler because I saw it with my own eyes against a variety of opponents. With Rogers, he was really underwhelming on the ECW handhelds even when I wanted him to be good, and I have no memory of any other singles matches of note. He is also hurt a bit by the fact that I have come to see Fulton as a much better worker than I originally gave him credit for. Don't get me wrong, Rogers was clearly better, it's just that he no longer feels like he's carrying the team.

 

All of that said the Fantastic had great offense, could brawl with the best of them, could cut a hell of a pace, and are probably a to five U.S. tag team of the taped footage era. So maybe I shouldn't dismiss him.

[KB8]

I had Rogers at 67 in 2016 and in hindsight that definitely feels too high, but he was an amazing tag wrestler and about as close to Ricky Morton as the best babyface tag wrestler in US history as you can get. I think the Fantastics have an absolutely stellar resume of great stuff, are neck and neck with the RnRs as a Midnight Express opponent and depending on when you ask me I'd maybe have them slightly ahead, and Rogers to me was for sure the best of the pair (I agree with Dylan that Fulton is better than he gets credit for, but his EMOTING can be super cringey and boy does he have some iffy facial expressions). That said, Rogers really needed the singles run to be this high and he just doesn't have it. I say that as someone who values tag wrestling super highly, so I wouldn't have needed the singles run to be better than the tag run. He wouldn't necessarily have needed a Flair cage match, just something more than...hell, I don't know what his best singles match would be, the Koko match from Memphis where Koko tries to kill him with fifty brainbusters? It's pretty slim pickings. Anyhow, the Fantastics were superb and Rogers' dropkick is an all-timer and he might make it on again 2026, even if it won't be this high. 

 

TOMMY ROGERS YOU SHOULD WATCH:

w/Bobby Fulton v Midnight Express (Mid-South, 8/9/84)

w/Bobby Fulton v The Sheepherders (Houston, 6/27/86)

w/Bobby Fulton v Midnight Express (JCP Clash of the Champions, 3/27/88)

w/Bobby Fulton v v Midnight Express (JCP WorldWide, 6/25/88)

w/Bobby Fulton v Joe & Dean Malenko (All Japan, 7/15/89)

[Troyvang]

I really love the Fantastics and especially Rogers. I don't know if he'll necessarily make my list, but either way, I needed to comment in his thread to mention that I think he's awesome and that dropkick is mesmerizing. If he had some good singles matches, he'd be a lock for sure

[CurtainJerker]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:22 AM, Troyvang said:

I really love the Fantastics and especially Rogers. I don't know if he'll necessarily make my list, but either way, I needed to comment in his thread to mention that I think he's awesome and that dropkick is mesmerizing. If he had some good singles matches, he'd be a lock for sure

Yeah, it's amazing, any time I watch 1980s NWA/UWF events, the Fantastics always get my attention. If this was a tag team poll, I've have the Fantastics on my ballot. But yes, sadly, Tommy doesn't have a singles run to speak of, and I don't value tag team specialists for a GWE 100. He was too specialized. If he was in his prime today, his size would not be a minus for a singles push to any promoter except Vince.