WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
]]>but let's be real here, The Rock gave the greatest promos of all time, closely followed by the Ultimate Warrior and Hogan.
]]>One of my college roommates was from Buffalo(I guess WCW was big there) and he prefered the WCW over the WWF. He thought the WCW was more pure wrestling as opposed to the slickness of the WWF. WWF, with Hulkamania and Cindy Lauper was a bit too Hollywood for him, though his favorite was Rowdy Roddy Piper.
]]>The Nature Boy was a wild dude.
]]>The beauty of Flair was that in the territory days he was the super heel promoters used to bring in from outside to give their top babyface a push. I remember him coming down to Texas and having wars with the Von Eriks and the Ice Man. He would cheat, beg borrow and steal. Victory would be denied to the local hero until the inevitable loser leaves town match. Flair would lose and your babyface would be elevated by the rub. That's why he is beloved in wrestling. He made more careers than Vince.
He earned his chops going in front of some of the toughest crowds in the pre-irony days of rasslin' and telling them that their women were ugly, their men were pathetic and their local sports teams sucked. Andy Kaufman once said that the thing he loved about pro wrestling was that it is the only form of live entertainment where one performer's job is to make the audience absolutely fucking hate him on every level. Flair was a master of the art. He was a heel before being a heel was cool. And he was the best. You may not like it, but learn to love it. WHOOOO!
BTW, much like having Don Rickles cut you down, there is nothing like listening to Flair cut a promo on your hometown in person. Magical.
]]>As for extending the meme, this weekend's news proved that Obama and Biden are the Road Warriors of fundraising. McCain and Palin are the Mulkey Brothers.
]]>Let's give Macho Man his due when it comes to heel promos. I remember one in particular where he kept referring to himself as the "Cream of the Crop." Every time he said cream in that Macho Man way he would produce one of those little coffee creamers. He must have had 20 of them. Cracks me up to this day.
]]>I still have that on video somewheres
I love how his nickname, The Nature Boy, can mean anything you want it to.
]]>Also, I think the Ted Dibiase shoving hundred dollar bills in the loser's mouth after the Million Dollar Dream is the heel move to end all heel move.
]]>Side note. There is also a brother out there who calls himself, "The Black Nature Boy." Never seen him work, but I'd love to see his take on the gimmick.
What would professional wrestling be without beefed up white boys borrowing black shit? From Ric Flair to Vince's strut to Hollywood Hogan's forced swagger to John Cena?
]]>@Kiese,
There's truth to what you say, BUT, Steve Austin's "Stone Cold" persona was pure Johnny Paycheck/East Texas Redneck. Gotta give ALL the influences their credit.
]]>But I can't believe we're talking about old school promos and no one has mentioned "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. Here's Ric Flair giving him his due: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozY0SqriQnE
]]>Now Flair might have had a little brother to the gimmick, but I'd say he got more from Ali than the blaxsploitation. The flashy robes and flamboyant intro are pure Gorgeous George. Buddy Rogers had a little of that too.
But you are dead on in one regard. JYD should have held the strap. No doubt.
]]>Nice Call on Dusty too.
]]>Matt J, were you thinking The Natural Butch Reed? with the bleached blonde hair?
Also, Hot Chip has a song called "Wrestlers" which i think equates sex and wrestling
some choice lyrics
"While you've got us on the ropes
We've planned to play the mess around
He's technically trained
You've got him buckled up and he will misbehave"
"Now what you gonna do when I come for you
With all that I've got?
I've got a roll of coins, I'm aiming for your loins
And I will never stop"
"I learned all I know from watching the wrestling
I think you think I'm about to throw the towel in"
"Watch your back, watch your back
He'll charm you with a double-axe
And then he brings the tie attacks
He's not dressed for a cage
He's robed in garments strictly for another age"
"Here we come, drop kick
Half nelson, full nelson
Willie Nelson, Willie Nelson"
"Body slam, suplex, headlock, summer-slam, elbow drop
Jelly-flop, cage match, grudge match"
"Everyone knows Monday night means wrestling"
]]>This is the guy, I think. Looks like an indy worker. I guess he dumped the Black Nature Boy gimmick.
http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/s/scoot-andrews.php
and then
i said
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
]]>WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Flair in his prime could wrestle for an hour and pulled out all the stops and still had enough to sell the rematch. He and Steamboat had to have been the best of old school rasslin'.
]]>