BillThompson Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Was watching some more Volk Han today, and that got me to thinking of the general notion most people put forth of, "He/she has only been wrestling a year, give them a break" Not saying I disagree with that sentiment, but there are exceptions and that's what I'm interested in. What wrestlers do you think got it right out of the gate and were basically top notch workers right away? On Twitter we were bantering a but about this and so far we came up with Volk Han, Bryan Danielson, and Jun Akiyama. Any others anyone can think of? P.S.: Since this is me you know I'm only referring to in-ring work with this question. Volk Han Jun Akiyama Bryan Danielson Bam Bam Bigelow Kurt Angle Brock Lesnar Psicosis Vader Owen Hart Barry Windham Jumbo Tsuruta Brian Christopher Dragon Lee Cavernario Mika Akino 1-2-3 Kid Magnum TA Hiroshi Tanahashi Johnny Gargano Dustin Rhodes Jaguar Yokota Mike Modest Carl Greco Yuki Ishikawa Cassandro Dynamite Kid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steenalized Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Bam Bam Bigelow started hot out the gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted June 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Someone else mentioned Bigelow and I recall him being pretty good right away, but he never reached that great level for me, as much as I liked him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted June 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Check back to the first post where I'm gonna list everyone mentioned here or online so far, feel free to add in your thoughts about any wrestler mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Psicosis made his debut in 1989 and was around for a good three or four years before anyone saw him so that's a pretty liberal example. Another one people used to mention a lot was Mika Akino. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpchicago23 Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Waltman was pretty good from the very beginning wasn't he? He has two or three great matches in 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted June 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Psicosis made his debut in 1989 and was around for a good three or four years before anyone saw him so that's a pretty liberal example. Another one people used to mention a lot was Mika Akino. I'm in the dark on Psicosis, someone mentioned him for his AAA ork and I asked Zellner who said people spoke highly of his pre-AAA work as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 I know some people here hate him but Johnny Gargano. I remember seeing him when he was 18 or 19 wrestling for Cleveland All Pro Wrestling. You could see the potential instantly. Magnum TA caught on really quick. I also thought Hiroshi Tanahashi was the future ace for New Japan the first time I ever saw him in a match in 2000. Vader was amazing as the Baby Bull Leon White. He would bust out some crazy athletic move almost every match. I enjoyed a lot of his AWA matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Psicosis made his debut in 1989 and was around for a good three or four years before anyone saw him so that's a pretty liberal example. Another one people used to mention a lot was Mika Akino. I'm in the dark on Psicosis, someone mentioned him for his AAA ork and I asked Zellner who said people spoke highly of his pre-AAA work as well. I guess you could argue that he was great right out of the gate in AAA since there isn't any Baja footage (at least not that I know of.) There is a 1992 Psicosis match on YouTube I might check out if I have time. If we're allowing for unseen footage, Jaguar Yokota was pretty great at an early age and Dynamite Kid was by far the best teenage wrestler I've seen in British wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR Ackermann Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Dustin Rhodes was really good really quickly. He was definitely a natural pro wrestler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricR Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Phil and I have talked about how Bigelow was very good within just a few months of starting, and 15 years later was the exact same level of good. A lot of the worked shoot guys could make sense here, as people like Ishikawa and Greco look good as far back as you can find footage. Cassandro is tough as his taped footage is so spotty. There are several year periods that are missing. Mike Modest seems like an odd name to toss out since he hasn't been on the national scene in well over a decade but he was the real deal when he started working CA indies, getting to work WWF job duty with just a few weeks of training form Roy Shire (which he said consisted of some guys messing around in a ring while Shire watched TV in his house) and being so good that his moniker became "The Natural One" after that. He had a real great mind for what does and doesn't work in a wrestling match, and had great taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InYourCase Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Katsuhiko Nakajima was great when he started wrestling at the age of 16. He was tearing it up in virtually every promotion in Japan in 2005. Great charisma from the start. He was a prodigy. The last few years haven't been banner years for Nakajima. He seems to not care. It's a real bummer. The T2P Class was really strong with Yoshino, Milano Collection A.T., and Ryo Saito being the standouts. Doi is really the only one that I think has gradually improved from just being okay to a very good wrestler. Yoshino is the one to really focus on here. He was great from the start. Debuted in late 2001, by 2003 was the standout in Toryumon. I plan on watching some more Ryo Saito later this week because I'm starting to think he might be in the same boat as Yoshino. I really like Johnny Gargano but I don't think he stands out as being anywhere near "great" until 2011. Always seemed to lack something. Being with two charismatic guys like Swann and Chuck Taylor helped him a lot, I think. Gargano is an above average worker with extraordinary charisma that puts him over the top. Without that, he's just as good as Seth Rollins, which isn't that great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 How much did Otsuka do in PWFG before getting to Bat-Bat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSR Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 I've not seen any of his Stampede work, but how was Pillman there before he came to the NWA in 1989? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Psicosis made his debut in 1989 and was around for a good three or four years before anyone saw him so that's a pretty liberal example. Another one people used to mention a lot was Mika Akino. I'm in the dark on Psicosis, someone mentioned him for his AAA ork and I asked Zellner who said people spoke highly of his pre-AAA work as well. I guess you could argue that he was great right out of the gate in AAA since there isn't any Baja footage (at least not that I know of.) There is a 1992 Psicosis match on YouTube I might check out if I have time. If we're allowing for unseen footage, Jaguar Yokota was pretty great at an early age and Dynamite Kid was by far the best teenage wrestler I've seen in British wrestling. There's 1989 pre-Psicosis footage of him teaming with his brother at the WIN TV tapings in San Bernardino. I haven't watched those in ages but he wasn't great right out of the gate even though he showed more potential than the average Tijuana rookie. Rey Misterio Jr. was very good based on reports of people like Kurt Brown and the 3 or 4 pre-AAA matches we have of him. Perro Aguayo Jr. was great from day one and we have the footage. We obviously don't have any matches but Gran Hamada was headlining in Mexico with only a few months experience. Rene Guajardo, one of the great workers of his generation, thought he was one of the best talents he had ever seen and pushed him to the moon. Similarly, Yoshihiro Asai/Ultimo Dragon was also supposed to be really good during his rookie year in Mexico but there are only a couple of handheld matches around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Wasn't TAKA one of those guys that was really good at a young age? The other guy for me is Ohtani. Absolutely fantastic basically from the start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Juventud Guerrera doesn't get enough love. At his peak just as good as Rey Jr. Tapes of him in AAA in his youth really highlight the talent he had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki both seem pretty damn good in the earliest footage I've seen of them, but I'm not sure exactly how early in their careers that stuff is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Arn Anderson was the bollocks the day he was born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Dustin Rhodes was really good really quickly. He was definitely a natural pro wrestler. I haven't seen him in any territories, but in his limited WWF run and then in WCW, he's no less than "very good" from the beginning, especially in tags. Great execution, timing, and charisma. I heard/expected it took him a few months to earn the nickname but that's not the case to my eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Juventud Guerrera doesn't get enough love. At his peak just as good as Rey Jr. Tapes of him in AAA in his youth really highlight the talent he had. I'm pretty sure that he rocked from day one but I didn't mention him as he had wrestled for two or three years before AAA as a mini and in small shows. Unlike Psicosis or Rey Jr., his earlier career isn't as well documented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 What about Santo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Lacelle Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Brock Lesnar was pretty good at the sports entertainment right from the get go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 What about Santo? I was asking about him yesterday. There's a pretty big gap in his footage, but I've seen footage of him from I believe 83 or 84 and he looked world class already. Rob Viper brought up the great point that he was always protected early in his career, and put with guys like Lobo and Fuerza who were great talents themselves. I think though, that even with the protection he showed top notch talent really early on and that carried over throughout the rest of his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Arn Anderson was the bollocks the day he was born. Arn does seem to come out fully formed, although I've not seen him earlier than 85. Greg Valentine looked great in 1975 from what I saw too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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