JRGoldman Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Footage may be an issue, but what about Buddy Rose? He started training in 73 and was awesome by the late 70s. Is there reliable footage of him under his real name or earlier than 77? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 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. You could say exactly the same thing about Atlantis. Santo has got footage of himself wrestling as Korak in some old wacky reel formats. He taped himself to study what was working and what wasn't. I doubt that footage will ever be seen but you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachchaos Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Tajiri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 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. Should that really be a knock on him though? I mean, I understand why it is. but very few wrestlers are still as good after 15 years. 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. What a major missed opportunity that no major U.S. wrestling league ever signed someone as talented and levelheaded as Michael Modest, save for the one WCW match he had at the end with Christopher Daniels, which Keller and DDP both ripped to shreds, because "no psychology, bro" even though they were only given five minutes and told to be flashy. The excuse given, that he "exposed the business" on that stupid NBC special (even though Harley Fucking Race and others were on the same special and did the same thing), really grates on my nerves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Ring of Honor used Modest for that one tournament and never brought him back. I think he tagged with Danielson and got to the finals of the tag title tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye12 Posted June 27, 2015 Report Share Posted June 27, 2015 Modest got a non-title Cruiserweight win on Nitro vs. the Artist FKAPI, but it was unfortunately the last show Sullivan booked before Russo returned in 2000 so it was quickly forgotten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Jun Akiyama has to be considered. He immediately started tagging with Misawa, Kawada, Taue, Jumbo and crew and didn't look out of place at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricR Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Modest got a non-title Cruiserweight win on Nitro vs. the Artist FKAPI, but it was unfortunately the last show Sullivan booked before Russo returned in 2000 so it was quickly forgotten. Around that time he also got a win in a fun Worldwide match over Elix Skipper (who may have still been Skip Over at that point). And after that Prince match *poof* he was gone, until the Daniels match which I think had the unfortunate Daniels moonsault botch to boot. 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. Should that really be a knock on him though? I mean, I understand why it is. but very few wrestlers are still as good after 15 years. I see how it comes off that way, but I wasn't using it as a knock on Bigelow. More how fascinating it is that a guy got as good as he did so quickly, and maintained that level - nothing more nothing less - for the duration of his career. I always loved little touches Bigelow would bring to matches, he especially seemed good at covering for blown spots, which was a nice skill to have in ECW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Farmer Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 I was thinking about Daniel Bryan as someone who was good right out of the gate, but his trainer Shawn Michaels needs to be mentioned. He was really good right away. While I don't have proof, I've heard El Texano was great right away. Perro Aguayo Jr was really good too, though he had been training for years. Same with Rey Misterio Jr when he was wrestling as Colibri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van_Fair Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 Arn Anderson was the bollocks the day he was born. I also imagine him looking like he does now, when he came out of the womb. Bearded, chesthair, with the glasses on and holding up the four horsemen sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 Arn Anderson was the bollocks the day he was born. I also imagine him looking like he does now, when he came out of the womb. Bearded, chesthair, with the glasses on and holding up the four horsemen sign. Arn was a jobber as Marty Lunde in Mid South and he still did the Arn-isms. What's the earliest Arn we have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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