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Post by Bandalero on May 4, 2015 10:40:40 GMT -5
I've always wondered about this. Buddy Landell had the blonde hair and feathery robes like his predecessors when he took on the moniker of "Nature Boy". The nick name isn't trademarked or anything, but for a jobber to use it - has Ric Flair ever commented on how he felt about that? Flair Forever? To be fair, Buddy was a good enhancement talent, egged the crowd on in his matches and was the epitome of heel-jobber, so this is not a slight to his in-ring work. I'm just wondering how Flair felt about it. When Flair took on Buddy Rogers nickname he went on to make an even greater legacy, Buddy Landell...not so much. |
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Post by marino13 on May 4, 2015 11:00:50 GMT -5
I don't know if Flair was offended, but I sure was. Bandy you're being too nice, Landell was awful. Just awful.
So very awful.
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theafricandream
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Jan 15, 2014 15:56:38 GMT -5
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Post by theafricandream on May 4, 2015 11:12:15 GMT -5
To say Buddy Landel was "enhancement talent" is just wrong. At one point he was slated to win the NWA title from Flair in the mid-80's. Needless to say, circumstances derailed that plan, but Landel was a massive draw in the JCP regions for quite a few years and held quite a few titles. His SMW work was also pretty stellar.
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Post by Bandalero on May 4, 2015 13:27:44 GMT -5
I don't know if Flair was offended, but I sure was. Bandy you're being too nice, Landell was awful. Just awful. So very awful. lol hey now, I know he wasn't exactly pretty to look at but he did what he was supposed to do in the ring. He's top of mind right now because I'm watching the GAB '90 and one of the under card matches is him vs. Brian Pillman. Pillman looked like a superstar and that's because Landell worked a really good jobber heel match. It went a good 15 mins and he did all the spots - taunting the crowd, posing with his less than flattering physique. I thought he made Pillman look so good and Pillman was a talented wrestler to begin with. I'm just amazed that he was allowed to keep the "Nature Boy" gimmick like he was the "Flair/Rogers" for the jobber crew. Another guy like that is "Hollywood" John Tatum, not built like an Adonis but such a good worker in the ring. I could be wrong but I think Tatum was a guy who heavily influenced Michael PS Hayes and the Freebird legend. It's interesting looking back at this old PPVs as an adult with a more critical eye and insider-knowledge I didn't have as a kid. Landell was stellar, at least in that match. |
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Post by marino13 on May 4, 2015 14:21:54 GMT -5
I don't know if Flair was offended, but I sure was. Bandy you're being too nice, Landell was awful. Just awful. So very awful. lol hey now, I know he wasn't exactly pretty to look at but he did what he was supposed to do in the ring. He's top of mind right now because I'm watching the GAB '90 and one of the under card matches is him vs. Brian Pillman. Pillman looked like a superstar and that's because Landell worked a really good jobber heel match. It went a good 15 mins and he did all the spots - taunting the crowd, posing with his less than flattering physique. I thought he made Pillman look so good and Pillman was a talented wrestler to begin with. I'm just amazed that he was allowed to keep the "Nature Boy" gimmick like he was the "Flair/Rogers" for the jobber crew. Another guy like that is "Hollywood" John Tatum, not built like an Adonis but such a good worker in the ring. I could be wrong but I think Tatum was a guy who heavily influenced Michael PS Hayes and the Freebird legend. It's interesting looking back at this old PPVs as an adult with a more critical eye and insider-knowledge I didn't have as a kid. Landell was stellar, at least in that match. I agree about Tatum being influenced by Hayes. Landell... awful. Be mad at yourself. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on May 4, 2015 15:38:26 GMT -5
Buddy Landell was supposed to be THE MAN along with Flair in the 80s. He was scheduled to be NWA World Champion but because of his drug problem, it never happened.
When Buddy was in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1995 he dominated there. He was the Champion there, and had some really great matches with the Dirty White Boy, Tracy Smothers, Brad Armstrong and all that crew.
I would never say Buddy Landell was a jobber, or enhancement talent, Buddy was just a victim of circumstances that were created by him. If he had remained sober and such, he would have been a main draw and been talked about in a higher regard today.
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Post by Bandalero on May 4, 2015 16:17:14 GMT -5
Battle of the Nature Boys
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Post by kazoosandstreamers on May 4, 2015 17:10:38 GMT -5
Not too familiar with Buddy as it was a little before my time, but looking him up on youtube he seems nothing more than a cheap Flair imitation.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2015 17:44:09 GMT -5
Hadn't heard of him before, but just looked him up on YT. Poor man's Flair by the looks of things! I'll watch some more, and see if that changes my opinion or not.
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Post by Flair Forever on May 4, 2015 18:33:18 GMT -5
Well, the first thing that we have to remember is that Ric Flair was not the original Nature Boy..... he took/won/borrowed the moniker from "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers..... so I'm not quite certain that the nickname is Flair's to protect....
However, Flair and Landell did have some matches together, so I assume that the rivalry wasn't too personal...
I wasn't really watching NWA in the 80's, I was just a kid and hadn't discovered wrestling yet... but here's an interesting clip from YouTube involving the two "Nature Boys" - apparently this was before the advent of the Four Horsemen, as JJ Dillon seems to be representing Buddy Landell....
And according to Wikipedia - Landell was slated to win the NWA Championship from Flair, but his flight was late..... so apparently Landell was a player at one time...
That's about all I know about Buddy Landell!
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Post by Nivro™ on May 4, 2015 21:34:11 GMT -5
Buddy was like Tommy Rich...He was a big time player in small territories but then when he was thrown into bigger ponds, he didnt really swim with bigger fishes well. Buddy might have very well been booked to win the NWA Title but in no way was he going to be a long term champion. He would have probably gotten brief run through the South for like a week or two and it probably wouldnt have been acknowledge on JCP TV. You had guy like Dusty, Magnum and Nikita who couldnt unseat Flair but yet Buddy was going to be "the man"? not likely
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Post by Bandalero on May 4, 2015 21:47:18 GMT -5
well I think Buddy would have been a better transition champion that Ronnie Garvin, at least Buddy can cut a promo.
I didn't realize he was a top dog in SMW. Never really followed it in the mid-90s, just read a few arena report articles from their cards.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2015 8:05:10 GMT -5
Check out Buddy Landell's match with Shawn Michaels from the mid 90's. Vince was doing his talent exchange and the two have an amazing match. Shawn may have been champ at this point. Regardless...Lamdell should have had more than the cup of coffee he did have in the WWF at the time.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on May 5, 2015 11:02:54 GMT -5
Buddy Landell vs. HBK at SMW SuperBowl show was pretty amazing in 1995. It made Buddy Landell a baby face too cause the heels went after him after the match and HBK helped Landell out in the fight.
Landell ended up having that brief WWE run in late 1995 cause of the match with HBK. He took the spot of Dean Douglas at the December In Your House against Ahmed Johnson since Dean was injured. But after that, Landell was gone again. But he did have some drug issues. Perry Saturn talks about how Landell would smoke crack on the car rides to wrestling shows.
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Post by T R W on May 5, 2015 11:18:31 GMT -5
Buddy was like Tommy Rich...He was a big time player in small territories but then when he was thrown into bigger ponds, he didnt really swim with bigger fishes well. Buddy might have very well been booked to win the NWA Title but in no way was he going to be a long term champion. He would have probably gotten brief run through the South for like a week or two and it probably wouldnt have been acknowledge on JCP TV. You had guy like Dusty, Magnum and Nikita who couldnt unseat Flair but yet Buddy was going to be "the man"? not likely Nailed it. Was a territory guy who got over in his area but didn't hold up to the national stage. And using the Nature Boy gimmick that Flair was already dominating with would definitely hold him back. Tommy Rich is a very apt comparison. |
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Post by Nivro™ on May 5, 2015 17:26:24 GMT -5
well I think Buddy would have been a better transition champion that Ronnie Garvin, at least Buddy can cut a promo. I didn't realize he was a top dog in SMW. Never really followed it in the mid-90s, just read a few arena report articles from their cards. Ill agree with you there. To this day I still think Ronnie Garvin had to blackmail his way into getting the title. No way with all those faces in JCP should he have been the guy to get the strap...and the sad part is he wasnt even a transitional champion. The title went from Flair back to Flair lol |
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2015 21:05:32 GMT -5
well I think Buddy would have been a better transition champion that Ronnie Garvin, at least Buddy can cut a promo. I didn't realize he was a top dog in SMW. Never really followed it in the mid-90s, just read a few arena report articles from their cards. Ill agree with you there. To this day I still think Ronnie Garvin had to blackmail his way into getting the title. No way with all those faces in JCP should he have been the guy to get the strap...and the sad part is he wasnt even a transitional champion. The title went from Flair back to Flair lol Garvin was badly booked, shortest reigning would be a better term for Garvin and his contemporaries. Garvin could have great matches with pretty much anyone and did. He was believable (in the ring at least), knew how to excite a crowd, despite not being the most flamboyant (Miss Atlanta Lively notwithstanding). He sounded like a straight shooter, looked tough as nails, and worked snug. However, he was another who put more into his live matches than his tv, though he knew what to do. Anyone interested should check out his ICW matches with Bob Orton jr.....Two of the best of the 80's going at it. No nonsense wrestling....Garvin had it all. |
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