The Wrestling Thread

[Runefaust]

Who Is Your Guilty Pleasure Wrestler?

What are some wrestlers that you like that aren't exactly well-liked or considered good?

Mine is The Ultimate Warrior



The guy is nuttier than Chip N Dale, and has one of the worst reputations as a professional in the industry. But as a kid, I knew nothing of this and I ate every second up that he was on my T.V. screen. I was definitely one of the "Little Warriors". So he brings a ton of nostalgia factor in for me. And the match between Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior in the Champion vs. Champion main-event at Wrestlemania VI was like the ultimate childhood wrestling moment for me.

BTW, if no one has seen The Self-Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior DVD, you really should. It's VERY entertaining and laugh-out-loud at times. They probably portrayed it more extremely than he actually is, but from what I've heard and read about the guy, it's not too far from the truth:

Self destruction of the Ultimate Warrior part 1

Crappy quality, but it's free. If you want better quality, the DVD is easy to find and cheap.

Not to mention he also had one of the most energetic entrances at the time! You'd hear his theme kick in an' it was on!

My pick for guilty pleasure wrestler, hands down...


People loved to hate him, which made him a phenomenal heel and in the ring he's one of the greatest in my book. He's an absolute wrestling machine and probably the best mat wrestler in the industry.

... I loved the "you suck" chants that went so well with his WWE theme, lol! "Oh, it's true!"

Edit: Now that I think about it, Daniel Bryan is doing a hell of a job bringing on just as much heat as Angle built up (if not more by now), and he's good in the ring. So... /shrug

[Gamerforlife]

I remember when a lot of insider and internet fans hated Mark Henry. I never had a problem with him. I just thought he was a guy not using his potential, especially when he got the awesome World's Strongest Man title. I was very happy with his 2011 run. I enjoyed seeing him finally become a big time player and hearing the IWC(internet wrestling community)finally support him

[Rurouni_Fencer]

Warrior's entrance was amazing - even by today's standards! I can't really think of anybody since that has that much explosive energy coming into the arena, (of course, there probably isn't enough cocaine and speed in the world since Warrior's time.)

My guilty-pleasure wrestler: I've got two, actually.

Jeff Hardy - Dude has some substance-abuse demons in his personal life, and some backstage doubt his professionalism, (see: Victory Road 2011). But when Jeff gets in the ring and performs on any normal day - it's like being a little kid at the circus. Jeff has performed so many death-defying feats in the ring that he's a natural daredevil! His matches with Edge and Christian were legendary, and if you don't think of tables when the name Jeff Hardy is uttered, well, you haven't seen him at his best! Hardy is a great performer!

Second guilty pleasure - Daffney


She's no longer with TNA, but when she was, WOW! She had the looks, (goth = +1!) and more importantly the talent! Unlike the WWE Divas, Daffney actually wrestled! Drop-kicks, elbows, fisherman suplex, a plethora of sleeper holds - she made Divas like the Bella Twins and Eve look pathetic. I remember a couple years ago watching her get powerslammed into a bed of thumbtacks.

Let's see the WWE Divas take a bump like this! (warning: girl + chokeslam + barbedwire = ouch!)

[Razzmatazz]

Scott Steiner. Hated by critics, hated by fans, yet something resonates with me whenever I've watched him wrestle or do a promo. He's like Stone Cold with cheat codes on. Like The Rock if he took LSD. Something completely unpredictable but he is such a bad ass he is often hilarious (and I don't know if he is meant to be).
I will always remember the time in WCW he destroyed four cruiserweights, and I think he did a Steinter Recliner on 3 wrestlers at once! Immense. The second run in WWE in 2002/3 was probably too late in his career to truly astound like before, but he still put HHH to the sword in his matches, although they never gave him the title. The fans just didn't enjoy him much, and he did botch a fair few moves in big events. Shame. I'd like a DVD set to be honest, disc 1 with the tag matches with RIck against Harlem Heat and the like, disc 2 with Steiner's WCW work and disc 3 his WWE and TNA material. Hell disc 3 could just be his hilarious promos.

[Jmenglan]

Goldust. I was too young to really get what he was trying to do in his first few years in the WWF, but i became a huge fan of his in 97-98 when he started impersonating other wrestlers and coming out as Luna's S&M slave, I was sold by his Dusty Rhodes impersonation

He was always a technically sound grappler who had style. His run in early 2002 was also great when he was feuding with Rob Van Dam, and a part of me enjoyed his run as a comedic sidekick to Booker T, but it was sort of annoying to see a multiple time intercontinental champion be the weak link in that team. But I think they destroyed that character when they gave him that awful stuttering gimmick and made him a complete joke/jobber.

[Evildeadmanwalking77]

Who Is Your Guilty Pleasure Wrestler?

What are some wrestlers that you like that aren't exactly well-liked or considered good?

Mine is The Ultimate Warrior



The guy is nuttier than Chip N Dale, and has one of the worst reputations as a professional in the industry. But as a kid, I knew nothing of this and I ate every second up that he was on my T.V. screen. I was definitely one of the "Little Warriors". So he brings a ton of nostalgia factor in for me. And the match between Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior in the Champion vs. Champion main-event at Wrestlemania VI was like the ultimate childhood wrestling moment for me.

BTW, if no one has seen The Self-Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior DVD, you really should. It's VERY entertaining and laugh-out-loud at times. They probably portrayed it more extremely than he actually is, but from what I've heard and read about the guy, it's not too far from the truth:

Self destruction of the Ultimate Warrior part 1

Crappy quality, but it's free. If you want better quality, the DVD is easy to find and cheap.

Hell yeah man!! I was a Warrior too!! Yes, I own that dvd and a shoot interview dvd w/ him that he autographed as well. There is a definite nostaglic factor w/ him and that era from the WWF years! LOVE IT!!!

As for other wrestlers that I was into that weren't well liked or considered "good" in the business by other wrestlers? I'm not too sure but here are wrestlers from that era that I loved:

Demolition
The Road Warriors
Sting
The Big Bossman
Jake The Snake Roberts
Bobby Heenan
Ricky The Dragon Steamboat

[BurningDoom]

I'm liking most of these picks. But I have to ask about the Sting pick, how is he a guilty pleasure? He's pretty much universally liked by wrestling fans, and was a main-eventer for many, many years.

[Breetai]

Demolition
The Road Warriors
Sting
The Big Bossman
Jake The Snake Roberts
Bobby Heenan
Ricky The Dragon Steamboat

Aside from Bossman, how are ANY of these guys guilty pleasures? They are all pretty much liked by fans of all sorts.

[pakopako]

Ultimate Warrior was probably my "guilty" pleasure. As a kid, his stuff was awesome. It was neon man. NEON! He was like the Rockers, except he could gorilla slam and clothesline the PISS out of you! (I seriously that that was his finisher because he would never splash any jobbers on Superstars.)

I do like a ton of other "low-tier" wrestlers, but I don't consider them "guilty" pleasures.

• Sho Funaki
• Chavo Guerrero
• La Parka
• Iron Mike Sharpe
• I.R.S.
• Lance Storm
• Sho Funaki
• Matt Hardy V.1
• Crash Holly
• bWo
• JTG
• TWGTT
• The Hurricane League
• René Duprée
• Bad News Brown
• Sho Funaki
• J.L.
• Jung Dragons
• The Portuguese Man-o-War
• Spanky/THE Brian Kendrick
• Sho Funaki
• Harvey Whippleman
• Jim Cornette
• Billy Kidman (OK, that was pretty embarrassing to admit)
• Dawn Marie
• Ivory
• Bastion Booger
• Past-his-prime Sgt.Slaughter
• Al Snow
• and of course.. Sho Funaki

Chavo, for most of his career, was carried by everyone charisma-wise. Eddie could con you at the drop of a hat. Any of the LWO (including the Mexicools) could be threatening or funny. Chavo is worse than Brood-era Christian on the stick. (Pops for Gangrel!)
La Parka, the CHAIRMAN, was a little rotund for a cruiser. But dude could still move (and FLY).
Iron Mike (and his usually fodder-mate, Brooklyn Brawler) are hard working, loud, expressive ham-and-eggers. Sharpe would on occasion pull a Flair-spot on the turnbuckle.
IRS was solid. Quiet outside the ring, solid inside. That goes double for Lance Storm. Neither should ever speak. (Ditto with Dean "1,000 Holds" Malenko.)
Matt Hardy, when he was totally out of place in the Cruiser/Light division, was entertaining. Matt Fact videos and all just added to the smarmy air.
The late "Mad" Mikey Lockwood was an all-around energy guy. From Hardcore Houdini to Super-heavyweight, the man captured our attention.
B.W.O.! B.W.O.! B.W.O.! Three odd, nimble, and intelligent guys.
JTG, I think he's still employed, is a sad case of an all-around quickness on both mic and feet with no clout. TWGTT fits here to. Haas and Sheton can act; Haas is a sound comedian and SB fits as melodramatic jerk. The WWE tried so hard to reverse these roles.
The Hurricane wore out his welcome, but it was a fun ride seeing him try to choke-slam the Giant (and doing it to the Rock). 'Course I also liked Sugar Shane and the rag-doll 3-Count with Moore and Karagias.
The French Tickler was one of the better-spoken foreigner enemies in Wrestling, that mocking dance really stuck and it didn't hurt the man could move.
Two words -- Ghetto. Blaster.
J.L. was Jerry Lynn in his "Ultimo" years. Some great chain wrestling from the guy, especially when up against pre-surgery Ultimo Dragon in WCW.
The Jung Dragons were Kaz Hayashi, Yang/Akio, and Noble Jamie-san. Kaz was the tough guy and would only take risks when he was in multi-man matches. Akio/Yang is a human tornado, 2cold-style. Noble is actually a great do-anything guy... he's just short.
P.M-o-W was Justin "OH SHIIIII" Credible.
I really liked Spanky, mostly because he was as high-octane as London. His TBK character (a throwback to his Japanese days) was great, especially with Jackson as a foil.
Harvey and Jim were fun "little twerp" managers who picked fights with everyone. Their tag teams (RnR Express, Quebecers, et al.) were things to be reckoned with.
Billy Kidman... I actually liked the "you can't powerbomb Kidman" schtick in WCW. And that fireman-carry-backbreaker DDT-drop. And the feeling that every time he went to the top, someone was going to die.
Dawn Marie and Ivory are both hot and classy ladies. Marie was Jersey Shore before Jersey Shore took over Jersey. Ivory is actually pretty innovative.
Random fat-guy Bastion Booger. Because everyone needs to cheer/jeer for one. Be it Tugboat or Mark Henry.
If you never saw a Sgt.Slaughter match, he was hardcore. Even when he became a desk jockey, he was hardcore.
Al "Avatar" Snow did a lot of stupid things. And dude, he deserves respect for that.
Sho Funaki is seven different kinds of hardcore. From his shoot-style ways (arrrrrm barrrr... no, seriously!) in Japan to his "Biggest HBK Fan/Stalker" in the US. Guy has a wide range of improvisational skill as well. If he wasn't Asian and saddled with "Evil" KaiEnTai for so long, he may have been a decent midcarder.

After reading all that... man, for never having cable, I became way too attached to pro-wrestling.

[Runefaust]

I can't find the post and am currently too lazy to search, but someone inquired about Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania. I found out today that there was a MITB match scheduled for Wrestlemania and they were going to have Wade Barrett win it. Unfortunately, Wade is going to be out of commission for, at least, 3-4 months due to his injury.

For those that don't know, Barrett suffered a legitimate dislocated elbow which, unfortunately, is a lot worse than they originally thought.

You can see how and when it happened a couple weeks ago when Big Show tossed Ziggler over the top rope and onto Truth and Barrett.

Edit: Found the video. Potty mouth warning for those who are sensitive about that type of content.