Wrestlers you like that others don't

[Iafeta]

Some wrestlers are absolutely universally panned. But there are some we like as dirty dark secrets.

For me, first one I want to nominate is Steve Mongo McMichael. I'm watching WCW 1996 at the moment. Mongo rarely wrestles which is probably for the best but his promo work with Debra antagonising Chris Benoit as a cheater is awesome. Love the Halliburton gimmick too.

Scott Norton. Later in his career he became a non seller. But in the period I'm watching he does sell and transition momentum well. He's got size, he looks legit. He unfortunately gets lost in the nWo shuffle and someone I think tells him not to sell anymore, but it's often forgotten he was a big surprise feature on the debut of Nitro.

Buff Bagwell. Massive egomaniac but he had a great look and a great gimmick when he turned heel. Keep his mum out of it though.

Disco Inferno. Like how he sells. He's the comedy heel. But he then works a match v Dean Malenko where he retains his focus and he was actually really good.

I like John Tenta too. Only because I found a forum John was posting in as he fought cancer. Seems a legit great guy.

Who are some of your unlikely favourites?

 

[Eelementary]

Matt Morgan - had a good look, and enough charisma to make that stupid stuttering gimmick work. But he went well in TNA, and was not heard from again.

Hernandez - Super Mex. Was a huge dude that could move really well, but for reason, never kicked on.

Test - I thought he was great. Great look, solid in the ring, and Stacy Keibler managed to get him over. But a lot of people I talk to hated him.

John Cena - his Superman gimmick is stake and old, but the guy is a genius on the stick, and breathes this business. He's also solid in the ring.

 

[Iafeta]

Good picks. Matt Morgan and Hernandez had awesome looks. Hernandez could be a little sloppy but he looked legit.

 

[Eelementary]

I've scarcely seen a bloke Hernandez's size move like he did - he was a little lazy at times, but he could really go.

 

[Big Pete]

One guy I'm completely torn on is Sheamus. I hate the walking Irish stereotype gimmick, but the guy is a great hand and he's put together a catalogue of matches that could go up against many in WWE history. There was a time around 5 years ago where he was easily the most consistent worker in the company and had an awesome list of television matches. At a time where CM Punk & Daniel Bryan were active performers, that speaks volumes to me.

I feel like I'm the only Hugh Morrus/Bill DeMott/Hugh E Rection fan going. I actually dug the Joker like gimmick he had going with Hugh Morrus and in the ring he was always a good hand. Of course apart of the reason why fans turned on him is because of what he was like as a trainer, but as a performer I thought he deserved better.

Speaking of WCW, you're not going to find too many Mike Enos fans, but after watching through '96 I thought he was a very underrated performer. There was a match he had with Chris Jericho which for my money was the best bout Jericho had on TV at that time. The only other match that compares was his efforts on PPV against Benoit at Fall Brawl '96. Never the less, Enos was a good meat and potatos worker who knew how to bring the intensity.

Currently I'd say Eli Drake is my guy. He's sort of a similar performer as The Miz where he's OK in the ring, but on the microphone he can be amazing. Drake is similar and the promos he was cutting on EC3 were really underrated and did an excellent job of selling a match that was thrown together. I've been keeping a keen eye on the new regime just to see how it differs from the Corgan era, and honestly they've dropped the ball huge with Drake. Almost to the point where I feel TNA has gone back to being a really solid show that fans were missing the boat on to a really sub-par show with very little of substance.

If we're going to throw a woman into the mix, sign me up to Nikki Bella. Her ring-work improved drastically over the years and nobody noticed because she was such a brat on Total Divas. My head-cannon of John Cena introducing Nikki Bella to 90s All-Japan and them watching all these Kobashi/Taue/Misawa/Kawada matches with Brie & Bryan is such a cool thought.

Oh god damn, I almost forgot...what a goof...I almost forgot the most embarrassing pick of the lot Mojo Rowley. So many people were upset with his win at Wrestlemania and for good reason but after watching that NXT reality show on the Network I became a huge fan of the guy and really want to see him succeed. Hey if I've got to put up with a shitty Seth Rollins push, the least I can get is a Mojo Rowley US reign.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Matt Morgan - had a good look, and enough charisma to make that stupid stuttering gimmick work. But he went well in TNA, and was not heard from again.

Hernandez - Super Mex. Was a huge dude that could move really well, but for reason, never kicked on.

Test - I thought he was great. Great look, solid in the ring, and Stacy Keibler managed to get him over. But a lot of people I talk to hated him.

John Cena - his Superman gimmick is stake and old, but the guy is a genius on the stick, and breathes this business. He's also solid in the ring.

Well, Matt Morgan is back in TNA if that helps...

 

[Valheru]

I feel like I'm the only Hugh Morrus/Bill DeMott/Hugh E Rection fan going. I actually dug the Joker like gimmick he had going with Hugh Morrus and in the ring he was always a good hand. Of course apart of the reason why fans turned on him is because of what he was like as a trainer, but as a performer I thought he deserved better.

This is the first guy that came to my mind. He is criminally underrated as a performer and was given some absolute garbage (in terms of storylines) to work with in WCW but he was always over.

I always thought Vampiro was a decent worker too.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I liked Hugh Morris

I loved Glacier as well. Other than his entrance costing an arm and a leg (and this was in 98 so I was 10 and really into it), I don't understand the hate.

Prince Iaukea was another that I was a fan of

Vampiro as good to watch. I'll never forget his fued with Sting

More recent times Stardust (the gimmick), Goldust - I've been waiting for an attitude era type of Goldust return, one who could hold the IC belt but I don't think we'll ever see that, Rhyno.

Heck I don't even mind Roman Reigns and John Cena.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Ryback I enjoyed watching, blatant Goldberg ripoff, but I still enjoyed him.

 

[azzah72]

The Miz, for a long time.
I have found him to be the most consistent performer who's also incredibly entertaining.

Recently people have started to turn around on him but there was a time when everyone seemed to hate him. I never did

 

[madunit]

Jack Gallagher

I don't even know why or how it started....

Gangrel
D Lo Brown
Val Venis

 

[Iafeta]

Some real cool shout outs here.

Re Hernandez, I wonder whether he'd have been better in the 80s. Slow build, and then his high spots become either a transitional move or a well sold finisher.

Hugh Morrus. Awesome. Big man who could move. The moonsault was well played psychologically.

Re Iaukea. I listen to Kevin Sullivan's podcast. The reason he booked Prince to win the TV title was to show the boys you would be rewarded for hard work and a good attitude. In the locker room he was apparently quite charismatic but he apparently didn't display it once he went through the curtain.

Enos was a Bischoff favourite. If you watch WCW Bischoff liked his old mates from Minnesota where he grew up, and from the AWA. I'm surprised Enos didn't get more of a push. He was a decent hand and had a good history in tag wrestling.

Good picks team.

Could Alex Wright have been booked better? Good look. Good body. Great athlete. Sold well. Maybe sold too well.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

The Miz is a bit more appreciated than he used to be. Say what you want about him, but you pair him with anyone for an extended period and they come out of it massively over. Alex Riley and Damien Sandow comes to mind.

Have to admit though, I like Elias Samson. The gimmick is just so horrible it's good.

+1 for Buff. The guy was so unintentionally goofy at times.

 

[Big Pete]

The Miz is a good team player who just seems incredibly consistent. The only time I can ever remember him dropping the ball was when he let one of the wrestlers (Truth?) dive to the floor without catching him. Otherwise he's a consistent promo who can knock it out of the park when necessary but more importantly draw a reaction during some brutal angles. I think that's why he worked so well with John Morrison and why Morrison was so much better with him since he'd usually set the scene for Morrison to get all the punchlines and high spots.

Speaking of Miz-related guys, I feel like I'm the only fan who enjoyed Truth's Heavyweight Championship push in 2011. Granted it was completely out of the blue and he jobbed to a bottle of water but the conspiracy theorist promos were fantastic and I was genuinely entertained by his antics. It's just a shame they took the Little Jimmy concept and turned it into an imaginary kid, instead of a figurative kid who represented all the ham and eggers in the crowd.

I still have a soft spot for Fandango and feel the Fashion Police have been greatly underrated on SmackDown.

 

[Tigers1986]

BRAUUUUUUUUN! Big, fast, power moves, could become THE monster that has been missing from the WWE for a long time (well, since Kane demasked).

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Good shout re-R truth.
I like him as a heel, not so much as a face (although I did enjoy his K-Kwik run)

With Braun, I wouldn't say he isn't liked so wouldn't fill the bill in this thread

 

[Valheru]

Good shout out re: Iaukea. He wad a solid worket and his TAFKA gimmick in 2000 was well worked.

Miz has always been a good worker in my mind and i think he is appreciated by most.

Cena can't be on this list. I think everyone accepts him as nothing less than one of the GOAT workers. It became cool to boo him in 2005 because people wanted a character change. These days it is almost out of endearment that he is booed.

 

[Big Pete]

Given the timing, it seemed like WCW were trying to capitilise on Rocky Maivia's push in the WWF by making their own 'second generation polynesian star'. The difference was, Rocky was obviously an amazing prospect who just needed the right material to get over. On top of that Iaukea wasn't even related to King Curtis Iaukea so the whole thing fell flat.

I know Sullivan has a different take and he could very well be telling the truth. Granted, he maybe talking about his work on the house shows but based on his television appearances, I always felt like Iaukea was one of the weaker workers on the roster. In my view it would have been better to have put the belt on Rey Mysterio Jr and positioned him as a star instead of a niche attraction.

In regards to Alex Wright, he was pretty impressive for somebody so young. However, it was clear that the German Pretty Boy gimmick was not going to work as a babyface and as a worker I don't think he knew how to bring the crowd into his matches. '97 is remembered as this all-time great year for WCW, but there are so many aspects of that year that really turn me off. Alex Wright beating Jericho for the Cruiserweight Championship ranks right up there. Wright offered next to nothing and all that title change achieved was diluting the lineage of the Cruiserweight Championship. In fairness, having Syxx drop the belt to Jericho at a House Show after he'd just defended it wasn't wise either.

WCW everybody.

As for Vampiro, he was one of my favourites when I was younger. Even though I wouldn't get into their music until later, I was a fan of the Misfit persona and thought it worked well in Pro Wrestling. However as I've gotten older and learned more about Vampiro my opinion of him has dimmed. Not necessarily because he can be a dick behind the scenes because really he's in good company, but because he really was one of the worst workers WCW got out of Mexico. Just an incredibly sloppy guy who didn't know the meaning of the word consistensy. A shame, because the guy became a superstar in Mexico, so you'd think he would have been able to get over in the States.

With that said, I did enjoy his interview on Austin's podcast way back in the day. If you haven't listened to it, it's well worth checking out. He's certainly had some life...

 

[Iafeta]

Speaking of douche sacks, Van Hammer. As a teenager I always felt he had a good look. But he was looking back and knowing more now an absolute knob end.

Bryan Clarke. I actually liked that he was being pushed a little bit as Wrath because he had a great look. He even made me get interested in Brian Adams, and I don't mean the singer.

I also liked Rick the Model
Martel. Impressive physique, good psychology, good seller, if he had a great mouthpiece I think he could have been pushed harder. To the moon and back baby!

I wish Masahiro Chono could have spent longer in WCW. Real badass, good athlete, looked like he could be a legitimate tough foreigner rather than a special attraction. When he arrived in WCW, the promo on the ramp with Gene Okerlund and Sonny Onoo was comedy gold. One of the best things ever.

Sean O'Haire. Real menacing physique. He did the Swanton awesomely.

And frankly, I'm a huge Kanyon mark. Who better dan Kanyon?

 

[Valheru]

Kanyon is a good one.

Lance Storm i thought was quite a good worker too.

Here is one for everyone to debate. What about Ernest Miller? He was a gimmick to legitimise wrestling due to his martial arts background and not great in the ring but he seemed to be over throughout his run and was fairly entertaining.