Koko B. Ware in the Hall of Fame
 

Stop referencing this when talking about people getting into the Hall of Fame.

"Oh well if Koko B. Ware got in anybody can!"

Stop it. You are making yourself look stupid. Koko got in, mainly because of his accomplishments and contributions in the territories. You know that thing that was around before WWF?

Fuckin' muties.

I'm sure his wife having cancer got him a couple sympathy votes, but point is, walking around in parachute pants with a parrot did not get him in the hall of fame. So stop acting like it did.

Its stupid b/c he wasnt inducted as the main guy anyway

Its always this format

Main eventer
Midcarder
Tag team
Manager/announcer
Celebrity

koko was one of the first black workers to draw with a belt on him in the south. before koko (and after in all honestly) it was a booking staple that black workers only drew in the chase for the belt. koko proved that wasnt an absolute. :y:

All those southerners wanted to see that N word get what was comin' to 'im.

typically it was a black babyface that drew...chasing of course

I like Koko's tag team with Norvell Austin

The Pretty Young Things

you can pretty much use every one of Clox's threads for an example of this

You're expecting people to remember that he had a career before the WWF.
People also undervalue the fact that, in a time when the WWF was pursuing mainstream crossover appeal, he did a lot of work with their music and music video projects. He might not have carried the banner for the company in any respect, but he did a lot of heavy lifting in that area. I've used Koko as a measuring stick in the capacity of this thread, but it isn't meant as a sleight to him.

Seriously though, in the time Koko was being seriously pushed in the southern territories, was there another black guy besides JYD who was at that level?

his run in the cartoon era WWF is what it was. typically did a routine match and never really was in anything high profile. but to his credit he was always over, and on house show circuts could draw as a top bill. he never had that big program or win but he was always over and always made money. and when not doing his routine match was a pretty good worker.

in level of talent? no. plenty of black workers tho.

eh Butch Reed was a pretty decent worker who was getting a push as well

i would like to point out, while we're on the topic, that the WWF's HoF is a fucking joke tho.

butch reed never drew flies to shit. Ernie Lad, JYD, Koko. these are the three guys that progressed black wrestlers forward in terms of success.

I would argue Sonny King, Ciclon Negro, Thunderbolt Patterson & Sailor Art Thomas as well

i would argue that "you be crazy foo"

Thunderbolt Patterson was a damn good heel in the early 70s

pretty over in Florida

being good, and moving a race forward (with in wrestling) arent really the same thing. getting white viewers to tune in just to see a black worker. thats the kind of immeasurable contributions the three i named did.

and they did this regionally, and later nationally.

not discredit the guys you mentioned, i just dont think they did half as much.

He started a revolution like Zack Ryder did. That was my point when I said it.

are you comparing being a pioneer for you race to ripping off the jersey shore?

Bobo Brazil, anyone?

No. I'm comparing drawing with a belt as a superstar drawing big for whatever reason. The south wasn't known for liking black wrestlers. The wwe wasn't known for getting behind guys the internet liked. One isn't as historically significant or as amazing a story but both have their place in the hall of fame.

So is this now the "Black Wrestler Appreciation Thread?"

good point, i over looked him. :y:

as of now ryder has drawn fuck all. they're doing everything they can to get him over to the masses and its struggling to catch, hardly think thats worth praise of any sort. beyond that i think compairing a guy who started cultural acceptance with in wrestling to a guy who (potentially) started success from the same medium that brought us funny ball shots to be in the same league.

My argument against ryder is simple: people watch a lot of awful things for free. would you pay for 99% of content on youtube?

lol, seems so.

lol wait, there was a black southern wrestler named Ciclon Negro?

awesome

Yeah but I presume Ryder will go somewhere. But that's an assumption.

seems unlikely. check back in a year and lets see if he's still on tv and we'll go from there.

He was from Venezuela. His name translates to Black Tornado or some shit like that.

It's cause he's black, obviously.

I believe Bobo Brazil is in the WWE Hall of Famr already.

Well it would have been dumb to call him Powder Blue Tornado.

He was inducted by Ernie Ladd. Oddly enough, he turned around and inducted Ernie Ladd a few years later.

I always found it a tad racist that promoters would call Skip Young by the name Sweet Brown Sugar

since we're talking about black wrestlers