Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted August 12, 2017 Awards Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2017 Apologies if we've had this topic recently. I can't remember things. I decided to watch an old Summerslam or two this afternoon and settled first on 1999, which reminded me how over X-Pac was at that time. In the modern day where being smaller and more athletic is more likely than ever to get you to the top of the card - especially with two top titles - you'd have to think this period of Waltman would be right up there today. Before him, though, Ken Shamrock made an appearance, and again I had to think in today's world, getting a big time UFC guy into WWE would be a one way ticket to the main event. I can't imagine either of them would have had to toil away in NXT first either. Which other mid-card guys from times gone by might have fared better if they'd debuted right now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudley Eastbank Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Brian Pillman would be a huge star if he came along in 2017.  A really good face and top class heel who could work and talk.  He was always just a bit undersized to really headline in the early 90s but he was bigger than a lot of WWE main eventers are today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Someone mentioned it recently, but Rick Rude would take the scene by storm today or at any other time since his injury. An evergreen machine, if you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted August 12, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 12, 2017 7 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said: Before him, though, Ken Shamrock made an appearance, and again I had to think in today's world, getting a big time UFC guy into WWE would be a one way ticket to the main event. Ding ding ding ding. Winner. There will no doubt be some excellent answers relating to guys that would be massive players in today's WWE as a consequence of how the company and wrestling in general has changed, this relates to how the world outside the bubble has changed. UFC popularity today is insane compared to Shamrocks day when it was a really niche interest that pockets of American society were trying to get banned, and make no mistake, in a time when Conor and Mayweather is as big a deal as it is, a star in the Octagon the level of Shamrock 97 would waltz into main events today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big7thletter Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 I think if '97 Kane debuted in '17 he would be unstoppable, as he originally was and should be. The only problem was they stopped using him as a monster. He should have been unbeatable for a whiiiiiiiiiile. Braun Strowman is the next best thing right now, but Kane with the gimmick and look would be top dog nowadays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 See, I'm not sure about Kane. In that time, they could get away with the "brother" thing, but fake family members in this environment doesn't fly. Maybe there's a bit of grace with it since it was linked to Taker, but I can see it being a bigger turnoff now than then. Whereas Braun, given the same push but with less built-in story, works for this era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 14, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 14, 2017 If we're talking just WWE, then immediately the ones that come to mind are guys who I think everybody acknowledges probably would've been top even in their own eras had there not been such insane competition. Namely Ricky Steamboat and Dusty Rhodes. Steamboat certainly had the athleticism, and had a certain natural physical babyface charisma that would've more than made up for his lack of mike skills. I understand that Rhodes debuted in the WWF when he was pretty banged up and probably couldn't sustain a main-event run, but he had a pretty low-impact style, and could talk like no other - in this regard, a reverse Steamboat, I guess (yes, I'm aware that "reverse Steamboat" sounds like some really disgusting sexual act). If we're talking their actual debuts as new faces, then either guy would be in the main event within a year, I reckon. Certainly in Dusty's case. EDIT: When I think about it, there could've been a case for Larry Zbyzsko even as late as the very early 90s. Solid, believable work, good physique, pretty good on the mike; just ditch the James Belushi hair and he'd be fine. Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted August 14, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 14, 2017 D'lo is the first one to pop in my head. At his pre-Droz accident prime, he had proper star quality and confidence in himself. Plus, he had great entrance music and finishers. Bray Wyatt probably would end him, like, but he'd have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 14, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 14, 2017 12 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said: D'lo is the first one to pop in my head. At his pre-Droz accident prime, he had proper star quality and confidence in himself. Plus, he had great entrance music and finishers. Bray Wyatt probably would end him, like, but he'd have a chance. Ooh, good shout. D'Lo was brilliant, and, to be fair, I think people saw him as a top guy in waiting even back in his own era. That Droz accident really did put the mockers on him, didn't it? Poor guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love-Wilcox Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Raven in his prime... though the only thing holding him back is his relative lack of athleticism compared to today's guys. As far as everything else goes he's pretty much got it... character, look, promo, psychology etc Being a Raven mark I might be a bit biased, maybe he wouldn't be THE top guy but he'd certainly be in the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Really Big Shoe Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Dr D David Schultz, more so in the Attitude Era because his gimmick wouldn't fit into today's WWE or at least be truncated to such a level he'd just be a parody of Stone Cold. Say you had Austin, the Loose Cannon and Dr D you could have run a great angle with those three in the Attitude Era. Surprised Dave didn't turn up in ECW since his gimmick was tailor made for the promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 Not an individual but Right to Censor. It'd be ace if they claimed they were responsible for the PG stuff. Reckon if you had the right guys in the team you could have a top heel squad right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members mim731 Posted August 29, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2017 On 14/08/2017 at 6:45 PM, Love-Wilcox said: Raven in his prime... though the only thing holding him back is his relative lack of athleticism compared to today's guys. As far as everything else goes he's pretty much got it... character, look, promo, psychology etc Being a Raven mark I might be a bit biased, maybe he wouldn't be THE top guy but he'd certainly be in the mix. To be fair, Raven had a decent level of athletic in-ring when it suited, it's just that style never suited the Raven character. As Scotty Flamingo, he looked in good shape and had a fairly athletic style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted August 29, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2017 Surely Right To Censor only worked because all the popular stuff on the show at the time was tables, tits and middle-fingers. That's how the group got such nuclear heat. Nowadays what would they be censoring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted August 29, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted August 29, 2017 On 14/08/2017 at 8:26 AM, big7thletter said: I think if '97 Kane debuted in '17 he would be unstoppable, as he originally was and should be. The only problem was they stopped using him as a monster. No way. If Kane debuted today, in his 1997 getup, he'd be laughed out of the building. Nobody would take that shit seriously in this day. Look at the Ascension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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