Ya'll Remember When Wrestling Was Real?

Here's Part 3 of Waldini's Summer Top 5 Series:


This time it's the sports entertainment world better known to you mere mortals as wrestlings. Without further ado (drum roll) please, my top 5 favorite wrestling stables of all time.


1. Four Horsemen (late 80s) - Like you didn't know I was going to say this :-). Where do I begin? They were great on the mic and even better in the ring. I loved that everyone knew their roles. Flair was the top dog, the Andersons did the dirty work, and Tully was 2nd in command. Throw in JJ Dillon as the "manager" and you had a classic stable that I think many current teams mimic today. Shoot the '88 incarnation with Flair, Double AA, Tully, and Barry Windham was probably the greatest compilation of talent ever. Peep that Pro Wrestling Illustrated cover that year :-)

Horsemen Break Dusty's Arm



2. NWO (mid 90s) - Man, this was a close 2nd. From Hogan turning his back on the Hulkamaniacs (he told them to go to Hell Bruudddder) and growing a fake black beard the day after a PPV to Nash and Hall wreaking havoc, pure genius. They were fresh for not only WCW but wrestling in general. They changed the way WCW and WWF started marketing wrestlers. Guys who were supposedly bad guys were now being cheered for being cocky a**holes. Shoot their intro music is the best ever, complete with Hogan stroking that air guitar in the ring. I just hated that it became a parody in the late 90s and eventually started the downfall of Ted Turner's organization

The Birth Of A Movement



3. D-Generation X (mid 90s) - I'm talking about the original version of the Heartbreak Kid, Triple HHH and Chyna where the latter was nothing but a mute bodyguard who scared the piss out of all women and half the dudes in the audience. They stole a good part of their act from the NWO but it was good for WWF, who was at the time, getting crushed in the ratings. The later incarnations are ok but all you need for proof of how funny these cats were was view the time they were in the ring with Sgt Slaughter and had on those police front visors with wipers to prevent Sarge's spit from hitting them. FUNNNY

Suck It!!!



4. Hart Foundation (mid 90s) - Bret Hart turned his back on the fans and the United States, then rekindled ties with his brother, and brothers in law. Throw in the loose cannon Brian Pillman and you got a crazy group of Canadians running about (that;s ABOOT in Canadian). Those guys had a classic feud with D-generation X and at one point during their run held all of the major WWF belts at the time. Similar to Four Horsemen but different b/c their swag wasnt' as phenomenal as the Horsemen.

A Russian Beatdown



Ok, I thought I had a definite but I am torn btw the Nation of Domination when Rock was leading them, The Dangerous Alliance from early WCW days, the Varsity Club and Hot Stuff Inc. I'm taking vouchers :-)

Gangsta D:

I have to go with The Varsity Club. Kevin Sullivan was crazy...for real.

Varsity Club Ambush

Read more!

Back When Wrestling Was Real...Bitches

Waldini:

Wow, that just motivated me to do some damage in training today :-)

And it also reminded that nothing better happen to my 'precious' Ric Flair collection either Realist, lol. I have lots to pass on to TC about when wrasslin was dope during my day

Da Realist:

funny you should send this. i was just watching some clips from sean's ric flair collection and some from my dvd of the rock. i've finally come to a conclusion. ric flair is the greatest "talker" in wrestling history. i think the rock brings the goods and may untimately be more funny, but ric flair was just more versatile. as good as the rock was, he basically used catch phrases pretty exclusively. in fact, catch phrases were about 90% of his act.

ric flair was on a whole 'nother level.

Gangsta D:

Flair may have been the best talker. he may have been more versatile. But nobody matches Dusty for sheer entertainment, partially because you could never really fully understand what the hell he was saying. When he got worked up into a lather, he was part evangelical preacher and part "jive" talker from the "Airplane" movies. Are you ready for "Funky Like A Monkey Tour '07?"

Waldini:

You both have listed the 3 greatest promo cutters in wrestling history. I like them all b/c I thought in their primes, no one was better at these guys at getting on the mic. Flair had the great buildup in his promos, Dusty the classic mispronounciation of words ("Ric Flair is the constonant champion", "Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, we escavating in '87"), and Rock had the funniest punch lines.

Looking back that is the major reason I loved wrestling. That and the shock factor (Remember Hogan's turn in the summer of '96)

Da Realist:

no, no, no... who do you think is the BEST?

Gangsta D:

Come on, you know he's gonna pick Ric.

Waldini:

D-Lo knows me well :-)

C'mon man I used to have a Ric Flair VHS tape I watched before big test/presentations/exams, etc in college.

Gangsta D:

In case you were curious about the true identities of the Four Horsemen:

Tully Blanchard

Ole Anderson

Arn Anderson

Ric Flair

JJ Dillon

I had no idea Arn gave the horsemen their name. He was the only one I ever like. "Cause the bottom line..."

Da Realist:

yeah! arn anderson was my boy. this was before all the wrestlers started looking like lou ferigno.

Waldini:

He used to cut funny promos too....Double AA aka the Enforcer aka one half of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Read more!