TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 27, 2012 0:33:27 GMT -5
There are so many unanswered questions about this guy.
He debuted in June of 1993 and was immediately put on the fast track to becoming a major player in the WWF. He crushed jobbers for a few months and at Summerslam he destroyed Marty Jannetty in a match where Borga didn't even leave his feet. Then, he was put into a main event feud with Lex Luger. In October, he became the first man to defeat Tatanka. I'm still pissed about that.
Sometime after Survivor Series, he injured his ankle in a match against one of the Steiner brothers. On commentary during the '94 Royal Rumble, Vince mentioned the injury explaining that Bam Bam Bigelow was Borga's replacement to face Tatanka. After that, he was never mentioned again.
What happened here? The rumors that are most common say that Borga was supposed to win the WWF title and face Lex for the belt at Wrestlemania X. I am also curious why he never came back after his injury. It looked like they had big plans for him so my thinking is that something must have happened behind the scenes that resulted in him being gone for good.
The gimmick of evil foreigner was nothing new, but Borga was a badass and I kind of liked him. His power/boxing style made him pretty unique during that time and the guy just looked like a tough bastard.
Did anyone else like Ludvig? Any insight on these rumors or why he never returned to the WWF would be great to hear.
Rest in peace Tony Halme.
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Post by Bartman on Nov 27, 2012 0:41:46 GMT -5
I'm not too sure myself why he never returned from injury. Definitely seemed like they had big plans for him, especially considering he ended Tatanka's undefeated streak. I also heard about Borga/Luger at Wrestlemania X for the title. That would pose another interesting question, as to how they would have went about doing that, considering the title was on Yoko.
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Post by drifter on Nov 27, 2012 0:47:06 GMT -5
Could have had to do with him just as a person. Jim Ross talked about him after his death to the Sun. This is part of what he said:
"I won't speak at length about those that have passed away but Tony obviously had issues and was not a great guy to be around. Perhaps others have a different view of this man but I personally found him to be somewhat obnoxious and he could be a bully if allowed to be such. "Guys like Halme don't mix well in any locker room and need to be removed from the 'team' sooner than later." Ross added: "I still feel badly about the last years of Tony's life as things really unraveled for him seemingly due to alcohol and drug issues
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2012 3:31:18 GMT -5
I have honestly never seen one Ludvig Borga match or promo.
I remember his name getting tossed around a lot over the years though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2012 3:42:35 GMT -5
It was actually Bastion Booger who was Borga's rumble replacement (but he didn't enter either lol).
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Post by LeighD on Nov 27, 2012 6:45:49 GMT -5
From what I've read in the past about Borga winning the title, goes something like this:
- UT defeats Yokozuna at the Rumble for the title - Luger wins the Royal Rumble match itself - Short time after that, Borga defeats UT for the title - Borga vs. Luger for the title at WrestleMania X
In my eyes, it seems possible but odd. I always felt it was book as Luger vs. Yokozuna for the title, because since SummerSlam '93, WWF had pushed it has Luger's ONLY title shot. Thus he wins the Rumble and earns another title shot at Yokozuna but this time finally winning it at WrestleMania
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 27, 2012 11:10:26 GMT -5
It was actually Bastion Booger who was Borga's rumble replacement (but he didn't enter either lol). Seeing as how a bunch of other guys pulled double duty that night, that definitely makes sense. Actually, having nobody come out for that entry really built the drama. Bret got his leg destroyed earlier during the tag team match so everyone figured he was the one who no-showed. Then, a few entries later, he came limping out and the crowd exploded. That is easily one of my favorite childhood memories relating to wrestling.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2012 11:16:22 GMT -5
Oh yeah of course you meant the match against Tatanka. Booger took his slot in the rumble (but didn't enter). I got my wires crossed there.
I love that match between Tatanka and Bam Bam. The whole Rumble 94 event reeks of awesome.
I love it when Diesel breaks attacks Virgil in the corner before eliminating him and he's hitting him really hard which you could tell hurt Virgil.
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Post by Bartman on Nov 27, 2012 11:41:41 GMT -5
From what I've read in the past about Borga winning the title, goes something like this: - UT defeats Yokozuna at the Rumble for the title - Luger wins the Royal Rumble match itself - Short time after that, Borga defeats UT for the title - Borga vs. Luger for the title at WrestleMania X In my eyes, it seems possible but odd. I always felt it was book as Luger vs. Yokozuna for the title, because since SummerSlam '93, WWF had pushed it has Luger's ONLY title shot. Thus he wins the Rumble and earns another title shot at Yokozuna but this time finally winning it at WrestleMania That's also how I had it drawn up in my head. Yoko dropping the title to Taker at the Rumble, only to serve as a transitional champion to Borga. And I also agree with Yoko/Luger. While they should've had Yoko drop the title to Luger at SS93, I thought that the only reason it played out that way was to build up to Luger beating Yoko at Wrestlemania for the belt. But I definitely heard that Borga was supposed to win the title, only to drop it to Luger. In the end, glad it played out the way it did with Bret walking out of Wrestlemania with the belt, lol. Would've loved to see Hart vs Luger at Wrestlemania.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2012 11:59:13 GMT -5
I can't see Yoko losing to Taker at the rumble. Taker too a break between the rumble and Summerslam and they were really going for the Luger/Yoko feud at the time, maybe Borga would have taken the title from Luger after WM at the KOTR or at Summerslam.
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koreygunz
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Post by koreygunz on Nov 27, 2012 12:38:56 GMT -5
I had heard Luger was to take the title from yoko at summerslam 93 and then possibly drop it to borga, only to regain it at rumble 94 to either set up the rematch with yoko at mania, a match against Bret at mania, or the 3 man situation we saw. The monkey wrench in the plans (other than Borgas injury) was Luger not getting over as they had hoped.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2012 13:05:18 GMT -5
Borga also had an SS tatoo on his calf.....something which made him deeply unpopular.I heard tons about him on someones shoot......cant think whos it was though.
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@AnHonorablePod
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Post by @AnHonorablePod on Nov 27, 2012 22:49:47 GMT -5
Drug issues and mob connections. He also did not get along well with most people there at the time. A Tatanka shoot from a few years back goes into it more specifically.
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outlawhunter73
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Post by outlawhunter73 on Nov 28, 2012 10:50:49 GMT -5
I had heard that it never happened because the WWF decided not to put the belt on luger. And borga decided the WWF was not for him and went back to wrestling in Japan until he retired.
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Post by MrPerfect25 on Nov 28, 2012 12:07:10 GMT -5
what was the guy who played Borga's real nationality? I know the character was from Helsinki, Finland. I always associate ending tatanka's undefeated streak with him. that was claim to fame and the only thing he really ever did.
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Post by Double J JoshuaJohn on Nov 28, 2012 12:21:23 GMT -5
Borga was ace, my earliest memories of the wwf
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Post by MrPerfect25 on Nov 28, 2012 12:35:03 GMT -5
lol at razor being out cold from being hit in the back with the belt.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2012 17:04:23 GMT -5
Good recap of his career on Deadspin
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2012 17:05:12 GMT -5
Borga was ace, my earliest memories of the wwf thats a horrible promo lol
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Post by LeighD on Nov 28, 2012 18:15:53 GMT -5
I can't see Yoko losing to Taker at the rumble. Taker too a break between the rumble and Summerslam and they were really going for the Luger/Yoko feud at the time, maybe Borga would have taken the title from Luger after WM at the KOTR or at Summerslam. The "plans" for UT to win the title at the rumble were penciled in before WWF found out how banged up UT was. This added into Borga's ankle, Luger's lack of fanbase, and other things changed things. I really wish he had seen Luger vs. Bret for the title as the final match at WrestleMania X. I really don't see the big deal of giving the belt to Luger for a few hours even if he did spill the beans the night before at a bar.
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