Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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Here's what boggles my mind about so much of the crap. take the jarret v. sting match. All they have to do is announce this match and it sells itself. You have the Franchise of WCW vs. "The Chosen One" who is trying to make his mark on WCW. You give them a couple of interviews each and then put them in the ring and let them do what they do. Everyone will be happy. But no instead we get a balding sting. what a joke. Halloween Stingers

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Wow. I have absolutely no recollection of that feud, which I apparently should be thankful for. Funny writeup though.

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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I'd say the three most successful were:

1. Hulkamania (WWF, 1984-1987): Hulk Hogan as the all-American hero who conquered all obstacles worked very well in it's early years. When he beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, it was a great moment.

It's truly amazing that Vince McMahon made such a great choice for his "chosen one". Hogan had gained popularity in the midwest AWA region due, in part, to his appearance in Rocky III. But, for McMahon to annoint him as champion immediately upon his entrance into the WWF in January of 1984 and for Hogan to take off like he did seems almost magical. Within half a year, wrestling went from a saturday afternoon TV show to something which was being show live on MTV (Moolah vs. Richter & Hogan vs. Piper) and then to great success in close-circuit TV and Pay-Per-View.

2. New World Order (WCW, 1996-1997): The invasion storyline had been done before in Japan. But, it was completely fresh in the U.S. Scott Hall's and Kevin Nash's early appearances in WCW, pretending to still work for the WWF, was a completely unique way to introduce new performers- especially since they were now using their real names. When Hogan made his long overdue heal turn, it sealed the nWo's future.

3. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon (WWF, 1998): Austin portrayed the anit-hero perfectly. More importantly, he had the ultimate villian in Vince McMahon. McMahon had been on WWF TV for more the two decades. By 1998, all fans knew he actually owned the company and wasn't just a broadcaster. McMahon was probably the only guy who had the credibility to pull off that role. Austin vs. McMahon was a great "regular guy vs. the system".

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I just stumbled upon this thread so I haven't read all the replies but I think Austin/McMahon really needs to be #1. I think Hulkamania was kind of like Moneymaker's win in the WSOP. It didn't really matter who won it, that person was going to get a lot of credit for creating the "boom".

Austin/McMahon was such a great storyline for so many reasons. Wrestling was starting to fade and WCW was really starting to take the lead over WWF. I think without Austin/McMahon, things would be a lot different. There are SO many memorable moments and it's amazing they were able to keep that storyline going for so long, some of which were shown in the special RAW from a few weeks ago.

NWO has got to be #2. Despite being a "smart" at the time, I was totally blown away by the first appearance by Scott Hall on Nitro. Unfortunately, Bischoff's lack of creative talent and the ridiculousness of the egos involved eventually killed the angle.

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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When he left the WWF after getting the Sharpshooter put on him was the point when I stopped watching WWF. Brett Hart was in my top 3 favorite wrestlers.

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Bret Screwed Bret

What about the heel reaction HBK got in Montreal before SummerSlam? That was flat-out amazing and he had every single person in the building in the palm of his hand. Greatest heel interview ever.

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

Others:

- Shane Douglas throws down the NWA title
- Madison Square Garden Hug
- nWo mocks Anderson retirement speech ("Not my liver spot")
- Owen Hart dies in the ring, McMahon says "show must go on"
- Austin/Pillman home invasion

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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How is Bret Hart's name not mentioned in this thread? He was by far my favorite wrestler.

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First, he was my favorite as well.

However, let's remember why he was good. Some guys make their name because they can cut one hell of a promo, others because they work awesome matches. Very few guys are top-notch at both. Hart was more of a guy who simply wrestled awesome matches. He wasn't much better than average with a mic, I think (Don't take this to mean I think he sucked. I just don't think he was great).

That may be why, when all of us are remembering certain angles, Hart isn't being mentioned a lot. If this was a "best matches" thread, I'm sure he'd be all over it (I'd list matches with Perfect, Piper, Bulldog, Michaels, Owen, Austin and Benoit, for sure).

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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- Owen Hart dies in the ring, McMahon says "show must go on"

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Clearly not an angle, for the same reason the Hogan/Jarrett laydown and Hogan quitting wasn't an angle (not a planned storyline).

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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I think Hulkamania was kind of like Moneymaker's win in the WSOP. It didn't really matter who won it, that person was going to get a lot of credit for creating the "boom".

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Whoa. You really think that anyone could have been in that spot and have near the impact that Hogan did? That's insane. Who? Piper? Big John Studd? I'm not a huge fan of his, but you are seriously selling short his talent. He was larger than life in both charisma and stature, no one could have come close. Workrate was not a factor in those times, at least in the WWF world. I seriously doubt anything would have taken off to even close to the degree it did without Hogan as the centerpiece.

As for Austin/McMahon, I guess I agree. Not that I was a huge fan of the angle in and of itself, but the great thing is that the entire company essentially revolved around the angle. New characters were brought into it and new stars were created in the background of that angle. Unlike the nWo, where it was basically the same guys doing the same stuff each week. Don't get me wrong, I loved every second of the early months, but it was stagnant and they did little to breathe any life into it. It created zero stars, and had no real long-term plan other than the Hogan-Sting clash. And even then they messed that up terribly. But the nWo made wrestling cool again and for that might just deserve to be placed ahead. It's possible the entire Austin-McMahon story might not have come to pass without the nWo jump-starting the industry.

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

does anybody remember the Hey, Dude! episode where Captain Lou Albano had a match vs. Mr. Ernst?


talk about a classic.

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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When he left the WWF after getting the Sharpshooter put on him was the point when I stopped watching WWF. Brett Hart was in my top 3 favorite wrestlers.

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Bret Screwed Bret

What about the heel reaction HBK got in Montreal before SummerSlam? That was flat-out amazing and he had every single person in the building in the palm of his hand. Greatest heel interview ever.

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I don't remember much about that. All I know is as degeneration-x was getting more popular the hart foundation were becoming bad guys. I did not like it at all. Brett Hart left and so did I.

Re: Wrestling Angles that worked
 

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Whoa. You really think that anyone could have been in that spot and have near the impact that Hogan did? That's insane. Who? Piper? Big John Studd? I'm not a huge fan of his, but you are seriously selling short his talent. He was larger than life in both charisma and stature, no one could have come close. Workrate was not a factor in those times, at least in the WWF world. I seriously doubt anything would have taken off to even close to the degree it did without Hogan as the centerpiece.

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No it would not have taken off with someone else, but it was Vince who wanted to take the WWF national, and he basically needed "someone" to be "the guy", and that person was Hogan.