Booker's Dream: Any Era, Any Promotion?

[Manatee]

Harley Race fits all of the criteria you laid out.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

If the car crash never happened, Magnum TA would probably fit.

[C.S.]

Mick Foley for me.

 

Can work any spot on the card. Always credible with his insane physicality. Great on the mic. Awesome heel and babyface. Would have been a big star in every era. I can easily imagine him vs. Bruno or Backlund, for example. Could also see him as a wildman opponent in '70s/'80s NWA. Obviously, we know how the '90s went for him.

[Bierschwale]

I'd be willing to bet on Matt Hardy, though not as an ultra-tier universal face, but one who would get it all done. Could do anything you asked of him in the ring, really isn't small, quality promo, will work anywhere on the card.

[victory]

Paul Orndorff is a guy I thought of right away. Effective as a tag guy early in his career and late. Way over as a singles heel and a pretty decent as a singles face.

 

Probably the shortest guy Hogan ever worked with on top for a long length of time.

 

I'd throw Savage in the mix as well. Later in his career he was such a big name, I'm not sure how effective of a tag wrestler he would of been unless your were trying elevate his partner.

[Jesse Ewiak]

This is kind an out of the box pick, especially for this board but...Kane.

 

Think of how many dumb angles he's happily been apart of. Think of how many over flowery promos he's been able to get through despite the stupidity of them. Think of how every guy in the back loves working with him. He's been massively over as a face and heel, done 'serious' angles and comedy angles, and so on and so forth. For his size, he's a perfectly able worker and obviously has the size and ability to be a monster heel in 70's WWWF, Japan, or most territories.

 

I'd also add he's been perfectly willing to job to people in the midcard, be in tag teams, or part of the main event scene, sometimes all in the same year.

[ButchReedMark]

As much as he bores me rigid, I could see Randy Orton being a wet dream for many a booker.

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

Barry Windham without a doubt. In the late '80's was one of the better workers in the world. Good size, but could work 60 minute Broadways. Could play sympathetic babyface or dirty heel. There's a reason the version of the Four Horsemen unit he was in was considered the best. He had an excellent workrate that was comparable or arguably even better than Tully or Arn. I never understood how he never got over with Vince. One of my all time favorite wrestlers.

 

Christopher Daniels is another guy I would consider. Great promo guy. Awesome heel, although he can work as a face. Even better for being a respected locker room presence.

[jdw]

The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette

 

They worked heel for almost all of their run, largely because (i) they were good at it, and (ii) their primary promotions did less flip-floppy turns than other promotions or later eras. But when working tweener like against Arn & Tully & JJ, they were really good. When working face later, they knew what they could do. If the territory era continued and they bounced around more vibrant areas, they easily could have had a big face turn somewhere backing up the local face in some fued... and of course screwing him over at the end if needed. They worked well up and down the card, and could be paired up with most anyone / any type of opponent. They would be high on my list of draft picks when looking for the concept of the equiv a great #3 starter who in his best season(s) might end up winning a Cy Young (see Smoltz, John) and in other seasons ended up being the default #1 or #2 starter.

 

 

Barry Windham

 

Someone mentioned him earlier. Another person who isn't high end Hogan level, but did a heck of a lot of things well at a variety of different levels in the promotion.

 

 

Razor Ramon / Outsider-nWo Scott Hall

 

Something of a promoter's/booker's nightmare because he was a pain in the rear. But a very effective character both as a face and a heel. Not a knock you off your socks worker, but effective and fine for his level. Probably had a higher ceiling than he reached... one of the few people of the era where it feels like Vince left something on the table.

 

 

Shiro Koshinaka

 

Mixed feeling on his in our circles when it comes to his work. But New Japan / Choshu used him in a lot of ways up and down the cards. If you told people in 1986 that someday he would main event a packed Sumo Hall for three straight nights in heavyweight matches, they would think you were on drugs. Yet he did it a decade later, the folks in the building dug the matches, he connected with those fans every bit as much as his opponents... it's pretty amazing not just thinking about it from 1986 context, but looking back at it from a 2016 viewpoint. Doesn't appear to have caused headaches in the 80s and 90s. Did what the promotion wanted. You have someone who was Jr. Champ and then later was reliable enough the Choshu chose him as the first singles match for Tenryu in the NJPW vs WAR feud. Then could slip down the cards into the mids until the next time he was needed. The value of guys like Choshu and Hash are obvious to see. The value of roster depth that includes guys like Kosh... less so.

 

 

Randy Savage

 

Victory mentioned him above. Strikes me as one of the obvious candidates for #1. Like Hall, a pain in the rear. But as a worker he could go, and certainly could work the crowd. Terrific "character", and great on the mic in the era before folks were doing 10-20 minute mic spots of doom. Terrific heel, and quite an excellent face in his prime... another one who probably had a lot more in the tank though lacked sustained good heels to test the notion. If he has a negative on this list it's similar to Flair: he's too good / too strong a character to be down in the midcards once he hit his prime. It's more a sign of they've got crap to work with him or are out of ideas than moving him down to work a good midcard feud.

[Johnny Sorrow]

So we have to take into account Booker's stupid preferences?

Liking to breakdance and do a bad British accent aren't stupid. Maybe "shucky ducky quack quack", though.

[NotJayTabb]

How about Regal? Decent size (6'3, 245lb), excellent promo, can brawl or mat wrestle with the best of them, absolutely loves playing the stooging heel, plays fired-up face well, comfortable any place on the card. Legit tough guy and stretching credentials would have made him popular with bookers in the 70's, could play foreign heel or popular-friend-of-the-Bulldogs in the 80's, and we know he could get over in the 90's.

[C.S.]

Posted in the wrong thread... Please disregard.

[overbooked]

It really is quite difficult to do this. The check list is something like:

 

- In-ring can go with anyone

- Work face / heel

- Up and down card, main event, mid-card or tags

- Any sort of match

- Good on mic

- Good enough an actor to get over any angle

- Good relations with the boys

- Good relations with the office

- Big enough that he'd have gotten over in New York 70s / WWF in the 80s

 

Bigelow is a really nice outside-of-the-box pick, but he's let down by his politics.

Bret Hart? Maybe not big enough, but otherwise effective up and down the card, can have great matches with good workers and can carry stiffs too. Really good face and heel work. Sure, he has his faults, but I think he's a good candidate.