Matt D Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I'm going to put this out there for discussion and it's mainly based on what people wanted for Rusev. Past HHH, Andre, and maybe Orton, are there any top card WWF heels that stayed on top of the card for more than a year, year and a half at a time? Yokozuna comes to mind. He showed up right before Royal Rumble 1993 and lasted until a little bit after Wrestlemania X. By KOTR he was in a tag match with the Headshrinkers. He was off of Summerslam and he'd be tagging with Owen by the next Wrestlemania. Umaga debuted, crushed some midcarders, crushed some giants, feuded against Cena, and then ended up with the midcard belt shortly thereafter. Savage may have feuded with Hogan earlier, but his main event turn was at the beginning of 89 and it more or less ended with the Main Event in 90 (though his feuds with Dusty and eventually Warrior were very high on the card). Andre barely counts because of the lack of big events in the mid-late 80s and the fact he was out for most of 87. It's basically just HHH and HHH protege Orton, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I know people get sick of the "build up a heel to feed to a babyface" formula that has existed in WWF/E for like 30 years now. But I still think it's a much better formula than what we got in 2002-2003 of "heel kills momentum of the entire promotion by beating every popular babyface" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parties Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 what we got in 2002-2003 of "heel kills momentum of the entire promotion by beating every popular babyface" I think I know what you mean, but in many ways we're still getting that now. With two overpushed heels who are married to each other, running the company IRL, and "above" working matches or bumping much. In some ways it's worse, as HHH wrestles once a year and seems intent on maintaining at least a .500 record, while turning face/heel from moment-to-moment whenever its convenient to getting himself over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye12 Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 I think they got as much out of Rusev as they could've hoped. Long US title reign given his gimmick and a WM match with your top star. Maybe if they had two world titles you could expect more (or less since it was so watered down his real run was more impressive). Anything from now on is gravy, but seems like he'll be a focal point for quite awhile if Lana is going to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 The fact of the matter is, Rusev had to lose eventually. You can argue that he should have lost to someone else, but he was GOING to lose. And every time someone has a long undefeated streak, they take a hit when they finally lose. It kind of always happens. I don't think they are done pushing him by any means, he's still getting a ton of time to cut live promos in front of the crowd. They don't let just anyone do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 You know what, I'm going to go ahead and stake the claim right now that in the long run, Rusev is better off without Lana. I think he's proving now that he's a better promo than she is. And I think he'll get a more solid heel reaction without her there getting "We want Lana" chants and distracting from his matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Piper lasted a little longer than a year didn't he? Greg Valentine hung around near the top for a really long time as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 John Studd had a pretty long run in late 84 and most of 85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I know people get sick of the "build up a heel to feed to a babyface" formula that has existed in WWF/E for like 30 years now. More like 60 years. The territory was always booked like that going back to Vince Sr and Toots Mondt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollinger. Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 The problem being that you can't just bring guys in for a 6 month run and then let them go elsewhere until you want to use them again. And they've never really figured out how to cool guys off and then elevate them again, beyond guys like Big Show or Kane whose size makes them instantly credible(ish) when they need it. If you want a hot heel, they need to be able to disappear. And ideally, you have a Bobby Heenan in place as the real main event heel, giving instant credibility to whoever he decides is getting the next run at the super baby champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Edge had about five years straight at the top of the card as a heel, but it's hard to call him a "main eventer" throughout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Edge counts Kurt Angle was a top main event heel in 04-05 Ric Flair his entire first run late 91-early 93 Ted DiBiase was on top for 2-3 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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