Loss Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow morning at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Austin drew more money, better promos, and was seen as a bigger star. Savage had better matches, but that was due to Austin's limitations resulting from the neck injury he got just as he was becoming a huge star. Savage was never seen as the top star at any point during his WWF run, always behind Hogan, Flair, and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rob Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 You know, it is hard to vote against one of the two biggest money draws the company has ever had but I am going to. Austin had some of the fed's best matches ever with Bret Hart and arguably the Rock. He drew alot of money and was a cultural icon... Then he stayed around too long. His brawling style that defined the fed became cliche and predictable. His difficulty proved detrimental to the company when he should have been building new stars. I don't blame this all on Ausin as the Fed was making some mind-numbing stupid decisions around this time. His interviews, while entertaining initially, also became stale and gave us some of the dumbest wrestling catch phrases of all-time... "What?", "Bionic Redneck". Also, Austing gets points taken off for beating up his girlfriend while JR verbally fellates him at every opportunity. Then again, Savage locked his wife in the damn boiler room so that may be a wash. Austin's heel turn flopped, 1) because of the Fed's stupidity in not listening to the audience... and 2) because he was too eager to play sing along with the crowd and hold on to catchphrases in hopes it would help his merch sales. Then you have Savage. While Austin had great matches with the best wrestlers in the company (Benoit, Rock, Hart), Savage had his against the worst. This isn't to discount the great matche she had with Flair and Steamboat. Those are to be expected. You want a MOTY out of Hulk Hogan? Give him to Savage. You want a classic against Warrior where people are crying in the audience? Give it to Savage. Also, looking at flexibility, Savage could play heel or face with the best of them. He knew exactly what to do to elicit the perfect response. As a heel, he did all of the subtle things. As a face, he did all of the things a face in peril needs. In a perfect world, Savage, Bret and Austin would have a three-way dance in a barbed wire cage with the winner getting a chance to spend five minutes in the cage with Vinnie Mac. However, on match quality and importance to the company and his impact on the company with consequences, I am giving this to the Macho Man. OHHHHHHHHHH YEAH!!!! Randy Savage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyOwnSummer Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hunter's Torn Quad Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted May 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Randy Savage For all the reasons goodhelmet said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Some Guy Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Randy Savage For the reasons goodhelmet said plus the fact that Savage probably had more memorable moments with the WMVII stuff and the ringbell and Ricky Steamboat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Man in Blak Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Way too much money, way too much stardom. Savage may have the better body of work, matchwise, but he basically played second fiddle to Hogan for years, even during his time as World Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Goodhelmet made some great points about Randy Savage and his ability to have great matches with godawful -> below average workers. A big factor in that, in my opinion, is a couple of those workers, Hogan and Warrior, are those the fans cared for at the time. By the time Austin got to workers like that on a regular basis, such as Undertaker, he was already a shell of his previous working ability. This isn't a knock on Savage, who should still be commended for those matches with those guys. However, Austin did what he could at the time with a fucked up neck. Could Savage have done the same with the same level of injuries? It's unlikely, and I mention this, because Austin's most notable injury, his neck, was pretty much out of his hands. If he left to get the thing healed right away, it would've been nonsensical, considering his exploding popularity. And before Austin's injury, he was stuck in the ring with guys such as a still-green Hunter Hearst Helmsley who, using the same comparison, was someone the fans never cared for. How many memorable matches did Randy Savage have against George Steele? Savage, while very well remembered, never revived a promotion like Austin did. Savage never got knocked down by a bush league gimmick upon his debut and got back up to carry the company like Austin did. Savage never sold merch like Austin did, never sold tickets like Austin did, and never carried the company like Austin did. I agree that Savage wins on a couple things, such as good->great matches with slugs and success in both face and heel mode, but it's tough to ignore Austin's success in almost every other category imaginable. Loss mentioned a while ago that Austin took more from the business than he gave back. I agree, and I think he did that more than Savage, but he also, as far as general success goes, brought in a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alfdogg Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mac Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KingPK Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Son of a bitch. Goodhelmet makes good points for Savage while Marty makes good points for Austin. ............................................................... *flips coin* It's tails. Steve Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest treble Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Son of a bitch. Goodhelmet makes good points for Savage while SG makes good points for Austin. You must mean if Some Guy hacked into my account which, as far as I know, didn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KingPK Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 I swear I typed Marty, I SWEAR IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dazed Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 I'm glad Marty took me to task for calling out Savage but I think it really comes down to making an argument on why a guy is in the ournament in the first place. In the grand scheme of things, it will prolly be Bret Hart and Austin anyway. But, I think we should go a little deeper to what they mean and what they really contributed. I think this thread actually did that. I am still waiting for the Angle guys to defend THAT argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Steve Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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