Reconsider a Performer
 

Watching old shows and clips on the Network have allowed me to reevaluate and reconsider a wrestler that I only ever really perceived as an afterthought: Savio Vega.

In all incarnations (except KWANG) he was very good in the ring, and his character work with Razor, Los Boriquas, the Nation, and as the first foil for Steve Austin were pretty damn good. Looking back, I was always dismissive of Vega, but he was damn good for his time.

Have you guys stumbled upon anyone on the network or your maturation as a fan that has allowed you to reevaluate and reconsider your opinion of a performer?

What sound is made by 300 lbs of shit hitting the fan?

I'd say the late John Tenta was much better than many of the gimmicks given to him.

Leaping Lanny Poffo. Dude was busting out Swantons, Moonsaults and Hurracanranas in 1986.

His moveset was 15 years ahead of its time in the WWF

Can I do the opposite? Growing up I used to think Tito Santana was awesome. Re-watching his stuff from 83 to 86 MY GOD was he ever terrible.

For me, the inverse would be Al Snow. I would defend him no matter what, and I'm still a huge fan of the JOB Squad, but rewatching his WWF run now, it seems to me that he wasn't as great as I always remembered.

Growing up, I was never a huge Rick Rude fan. I could not get into his matches. But I have much more appreciation for him now, he really was fucking good.

As for a mid-card/lower mid-carder, Hakushi was fucking amazing also. His matches with Bret Hart and 123 Kid were great, and I thought he was just a jobber in the end. In hindsight, it's a pity they did job him out after his feud with Bret. They did pair them together for a short period, but then he lost to Barry Horowitz, and Bradshaw, and he was gone forever. I feel he could have been a big star.

Sorry, I kind of went off topic, but to reiterate, I was impressed by him so much more after watching him on the network, I searched out for his matches at one point.

William Regal
Mark Henry

Not because of the Network but one of those wrestlers I didn't think much about until late in their careers. RAW GM period for Regal and ECW Champ/Hall of Pain period for Henry that I started to realize how good both were overall.

I liked Al's gimmick at the time, but even back then I could see he absolutely stank in the ring. I think it hit me when he lost the European belt to Regal. He looked like he was sleepwalking through that match.

To be fair, Regal can run circles around anyone, make them dizzy/hypnotized and in a trance-like state.

A lot of people didn't know how to make the Head gimmick work properly. One of them was, by his own admission, Al Snow.

I'll go with one I never believe I would say: Sting.

I was a Sting fan for a brief period during the surfer days, but I got tired of him. I was always rooting for his opponents in big matches. I hated him all the way until, oddly enough, THAT match with Jeff Hardy. It was at that point I realized how important it was to have a guy like him around. I still have horrible images of one of the other hands trying to actually work around Jeff's fucked-uppedness (fuck you, I'm making it a word.), and the potential consequences. A seasoned veteran saw what was going on and dealt with it in a way that may not have made the fans happy, but got all parties out of he situation as safely as possible.

I was never a big fan of Xristo Diavlo ever since his CHW debut. He always seem like a generic big a man, a basic dime a dozen hose. However when he won the CHW world title he REALLY stepped up his game and even though his title reign was short I now recognize him as a great performer that just need that little push.

Found it funny you called it a world title.

Get that backyard garage outta here.

HEY!

I have a garage in my backyard :|

Get your head outta your ass

Rick Martel, seriously underrated talent. He was great as "the model" he was great in the AWA and surprisingly enough he had a short run in the late 90s in WCW and he was really good there too. They kinda "undersold" him on the AWA DVD, but if you go back and watch him he's really good

Loved Hakushi, but even with the graet look, entrance, and move set, you could only get so far in the WWF without speaking english.

Should have at least gotten the IC belt though.

Al Snow's going to be wresting in my town next week. I don't know if I can bear to go. The thought of seeing Too Cool was too much for me. v emotional...

The Wrestler reminded me parts of seeing Tommy Rich in a tag match. Other parts reminded me of seeing pre Yoga Jake.

He should easily be in the Hall of Fame. Even his tag team with Tony Garea was pretty good. Great feuds with the Moondogs and Fuji/Saito.