Dylan Waco Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I can watch the match, but if you think a masked light heavyweight Mecixan high flyer is main eventing any US company in 1998 you need a reality check. This is a thread asking a normative question. Parka was over, had a very unique look, was in no way a light heavyweight (really an embarrassingly ignorant claim), and could work. He couldn't talk, but neither could Muta who had been over huge in 89 in the same promotion. Hell the top guy in the company couldn't talk at the time. I'm not saying Parka would have been a top star given the political landscape, but should he have been treated better, and given a better chance and is it possible that he could have been a guy in the mix near the top of the cards? I don't see why not. I also think you are being pretty silly on DDP. Regardless of what you think of him, he was as over a face as WCW ever had in the history of the promotion. I'm not saying he should have been the face of the promotion, but I also don't think it's out of the question that he could have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Yeah, the main difference is that they were Austin (biggest draw ever), The Rock (movie star), and Foley (author of number 1 bestsellers), whereas the others were DDP, Booker T and Jeff Jarrett. Excellent point well made by me. They weren't any of those things when they started, though. You think Rocky Maivia demanded a main event push? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I don't see why La Parka couldn't have main evented on Nitro and been one of the top 5 matches on a PPV. I don't think Parka/Savage in some wild brawl on the top half of a PPV card would be that ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I can watch the match, but if you think a masked light heavyweight Mecixan high flyer is main eventing any US company in 1998 you need a reality check. This is a thread asking a normative question. Parka was over, had a very unique look, was in no way a light heavyweight (really an embarrassingly ignorant claim) Come on now, he wasn't associated with the division? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpchicago23 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I think one thing that weighs in Parv's favor is that La Parka never became anything state side after WCW. He really only wrestled in Mexico save for the occasional small indy like MLW. I think if people regarded him as a future star in the US someone would surely have given him a shot. That's just a thought and I could be way off as to why he never became bigger but I think there's something there. The other guys that were held down, Jericho,Rey,Eddie,Benoit etc all became something. I'm a fan of La Parka I just never saw him as a big star Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Money. La Parka probably cost money and smaller indy and national companies like TNA couldn't afford that. Plus TNA has been aligned with AAA which means no La Parka for the majority of their run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Boricua Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 He was associated with the luchadors (many of which competed in the cruiserweight division), but I don't recall if he was specifically thought of as being in the division. He wasn't in the cruiserweight battle royale at Slamboree 98 for whatever that's worth. Come to think of it, did La Parka ever wrestle for the cruiserweight title? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 WCW loved reinforcing the message that second-generation wrestlers were not to be trusted, be they Bret Hart, Curt Hennig or Jeff Jarrett. Someone in power in WCW thought Bagwell was a second generation wrestler, I think. Well, his mum was a WCW tag team champion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I belive La Parka might have wrestled for the Cruiserweight belt once or twice but I could be remembering that incorrectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 He was associated with the luchadors (many of which competed in the cruiserweight division), but I don't recall if he was specifically thought of as being in the division. He wasn't in the cruiserweight battle royale at Slamboree 98 for whatever that's worth. Come to think of it, did La Parka ever wrestle for the cruiserweight title? I found one match on a Nitro from February 2000 where he ate in under 90 seconds to Prince Iaukea. God, all of that is terrible. Let's just say that he never did. He had four matches for the TV title (against Iaukea and Ultimo in '97, Booker in '98, and Rick Steiner in '99) which I think says something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Guitar Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 When the old vs young feud was being suggested in 1998/99. The only old guys who were willing to work with the the younger guys to put them over were Piper, Flair and Bret. Piper wanted a feud with Raven. Flair wanted to work with Eddie,Jericho, Rey & Benoit and Bret wanted to work with Benoit, Jericho & Booker. As Loss pointed out this would have required some careful booking. Something that was disappearing by the day in WCW and neither Flair, Piper & Bret were the the stars or performers they once were, in part thanks to some terrible booking. But at least somebody in that company was thinking about the future. Flair and Bret certainly had enough left in the tank that they could have made some of those guys stars. But it was all derailed thanks to politics. There was a list of guys, in the the Observer in early 99 who were to be buried/de pushed. All of the a fore mentioned guys were listed along with a few others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I started watching wrestling in 1997 and that TV Title challenge against Iuakea was the first time I saw him. I instantly feel in love with the character and he was one of the first guys I actively looked forward to seeing in the mid-card. Don't forget, he also had the dubbing gimmick that Kai En Tai got over with. WCW just didn't know where to go with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 He was associated with the luchadors (many of which competed in the cruiserweight division), but I don't recall if he was specifically thought of as being in the division. He wasn't in the cruiserweight battle royale at Slamboree 98 for whatever that's worth. Come to think of it, did La Parka ever wrestle for the cruiserweight title? WWE seem to think he was in the division: http://www.wwe.com/superstars/la-parka These guys also: http://www.prowrestlingpowerhouse.com/the-top-ten-wcw-cruiserweights-of-all-time/ Plus who ever booked him to all those light heavyweight titles he won in Mexico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Skinner Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Could any case be made for Chris Kanyon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg were the only homegrown guys WCW booked from the ground up who got Main Event over. Goldberg is the obvious winner in this regard, These were the two guys on the roster who were the immediate future as in 1998 forward for WCW. Others needed to be added of course. As far as who they were already on the roster I'd have a lot of thinking to do in regards cause I don't want to go back and watch. Maybe it's someone who's not on the roster? As for La Parka. They coulda made some money off the guy. Especially in the Merch department around the Fall with Halloween and all. WCW needed to think more about the Latino pop and use it to draw South Texas and West of. Especially California. WCW was fuckin stupid from day 1 though. They fucked outta the gate. Bottom line is WCW didn't have anyone within power who was carnie enough or had a wiseguy logic in dealing with Hogan. As in drowning him out. Along with the other shit like Nash. WCW needed to subtract before they added and promoted for there present and future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Could any case be made for Chris Kanyon? No. And I love Kanyon. Mid-card guy. Still underpushed for his talent though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Could any case be made for Chris Kanyon? Possibly as Mortis, but the lisp made it pretty hard to take him seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 One use for LA Parka in a higher role might have been as a Sting ally. But it would have been more effective if he didn't debut until Sting revealed him. That might have given him a kind of Kane run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Piggybacking on a side conversation during the Death of Crockett episode of Exile on Badstreet: even a Bushwhacker-type role for La Parka would have been an improvement from a push, marketing, and money standpoint than what they actually did with him. The 'whackers were never top-of-the-card guys, never threatened to be top-card guys, and never really contenders for the Tag Titles. But they were generally protected and served a purpose for a number of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Guitar Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Piggybacking on a side conversation during the Death of Crockett episode of Exile on Badstreet: even a Bushwhacker-type role for La Parka would have been an improvement from a push, marketing, and money standpoint than what they actually did with him. The 'whackers were never top-of-the-card guys, never threatened to be top-card guys, and never really contenders for the Tag Titles. But they were generally protected and served a purpose for a number of years. That's a great point and sadly that could have applied to a whole bunch of guys on the roster. La Parka, Pyschosis, Disco, Kanyon, Alex Wright, Kaz Hayashi and probably about a dozen others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Piggybacking on a side conversation during the Death of Crockett episode of Exile on Badstreet: even a Bushwhacker-type role for La Parka would have been an improvement from a push, marketing, and money standpoint than what they actually did with him. The 'whackers were never top-of-the-card guys, never threatened to be top-card guys, and never really contenders for the Tag Titles. But they were generally protected and served a purpose for a number of years. Yea this I can definitely get more on board with. I just think there is a wide gulf between "they could have done more with La Parka" and "La Parka could have been a top guy in WCW" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Piggybacking on a side conversation during the Death of Crockett episode of Exile on Badstreet: even a Bushwhacker-type role for La Parka would have been an improvement from a push, marketing, and money standpoint than what they actually did with him. The 'whackers were never top-of-the-card guys, never threatened to be top-card guys, and never really contenders for the Tag Titles. But they were generally protected and served a purpose for a number of years. "Bigger stars than Ric Flair." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Guitar Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Piggybacking on a side conversation during the Death of Crockett episode of Exile on Badstreet: even a Bushwhacker-type role for La Parka would have been an improvement from a push, marketing, and money standpoint than what they actually did with him. The 'whackers were never top-of-the-card guys, never threatened to be top-card guys, and never really contenders for the Tag Titles. But they were generally protected and served a purpose for a number of years. Yea this I can definitely get more on board with. I just think there is a wide gulf between "they could have done more with La Parka" and "La Parka could have been a top guy in WCW" Yeah, top guy or not. I think most of us can agree there was something more that could have been done with with La Parka than what WCW did do. I remember during Wrestlemania 14 on the hard cam there were 2 prominent signs that stick in my mind. One for Van Dam and "Viva la Parka". People were definatley into him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Ewiak Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I think the problem is the definition of 'top guy'. I think Parv is thinking of somebody headlining multiple PPV's. While I think most of the pro-Parka people in the thread are more thinking of somebody who could be in matches with the top WCW guys on Nitro or PPV's (Hart, Hogan, Savage, etc.) without looking out of place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I think he might have looked less out of place against Hogan a couple of years earlier during the Dungeon of Doom stuff. The roster was absolutely stacked in 98. Like I said, I could buy him if you pretend he never debuted and bring him in as Crow Sting's dark skeleton friend who doesn't talk. And maybe some gimmick like he comes out of the smoke or some shit. A secret weapon vs. the NWO. Maybe Sting brings him in after Starrcade 97. You could then drop him into main event spots just through association and once he's there rely on his qualities to get him over further. This is a lot easier than trying to elevate him up the card. There's a Nitro main event (say Sting and La Park vs Hogan + partner / Outsiders) and then he's in the mix for the next PPVs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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