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Post by theoutlaw1999 on Jul 23, 2015 18:35:28 GMT -5
These guys are 2 of my all time favourites but I was thinking. During the 90's Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels were basically the 2 flagship stars of the WWE and then had many world title runs and great series of matches together. But what if they would've debut in todays era would they have made it as big as they did in the 90's?
That's look at Bret. He was a fantastic technical wrestler but he didn't have great mic skills and he wore hot pink. I could imagine the smarks on the forums taking the piss out of him because of his attire and calling him boring due to his mic skills.
Now lets look at HBK. Fantastic highflyer and put on entertaining matches but what about the gimmick? He was a stripper who had chest hair, wore earrings, and had hearts plastered all over his tights. Fans would've laughed at his gimmick and I don't believe he would have been taken seriously.
We all look at those guys now with nostalgia and great memories but if they debut in todays era I honestly could not have seen fans accepting a stripper and a guy dressed in hot pink main eventing PPV's and feuding for the World title.
I love gimmicks and have grown up with them but would other have felt the different?
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Revy
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Post by Revy on Jul 23, 2015 18:38:54 GMT -5
Hard to say. I doubt they would debut with their same look from back then. HBK changed with the times throughout the 2000s and I would imagine Bret would have as well given he had the chance. They had great minds for the business and would be able to get over in this era.
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Post by HHH316 on Jul 23, 2015 18:54:55 GMT -5
Bret would be a Cowboy. He tried it before, he'd try it again.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 19:06:52 GMT -5
Both would succeed in any era.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 19:12:42 GMT -5
I think they would be more over now then they were back then.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 19:15:31 GMT -5
I think Michaels would have a lot of success. He had top matches in the 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's. Always known to innovate, and work with many different folks, I think his charisma and competitiveness would get him over quickly. If there is a lot less recreational drugs backstage, it would be in Michaels favour.
Bret's colour of tights wouldnt ge a problem. His wooden delivery style, and repetitive matches would get him a quick exit from the business. Social media and the IWC? Poor Bret had enough trouble with criticism, it ruined him for years...it just would have happened much sooner, to a much stronger degree.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 19:21:25 GMT -5
I think they would be more over now then they were back then. Agreed. The smaller technical wrestler is probably more accepted now than ever...thanks to the work of Bret and Shawn in the 90s. Guerrero, Benoit, Jericho, Bryan, Angle, etc. all came after those two guys.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 19:24:47 GMT -5
I think Michaels would have a lot of success. He had top matches in the 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's. Always known to innovate, and work with many different folks, I think his charisma and competitiveness would get him over quickly. If there is a lot less recreational drugs backstage, it would be in Michaels favour. Bret's colour of tights wouldnt ge a problem. His wooden delivery style, and repetitive matches would get him a quick exit from the business. Social media and the IWC? Poor Bret had enough trouble with criticism, it ruined him for years...it just would have happened much sooner, to a much stronger degree. I completely disagree. I never found any of Bret's matches to be repetitive. You can watch any series of Bret vs. Perfect, Bret vs. Diesel, Bret vs. Owen or Bret vs. Diesel matches and they are all completely different from each other. He had his 5 moves of doom but so did HBK, Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Hogan, Cena, Flair and every other wrestler worth a damn.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 19:33:18 GMT -5
I think Michaels would have a lot of success. He had top matches in the 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's. Always known to innovate, and work with many different folks, I think his charisma and competitiveness would get him over quickly. If there is a lot less recreational drugs backstage, it would be in Michaels favour. Bret's colour of tights wouldnt ge a problem. His wooden delivery style, and repetitive matches would get him a quick exit from the business. Social media and the IWC? Poor Bret had enough trouble with criticism, it ruined him for years...it just would have happened much sooner, to a much stronger degree. I completely disagree. I never found any of Bret's matches to be repetitive. You can watch any series of Bret vs. Perfect, Bret vs. Diesel, Bret vs. Owen or Bret vs. Diesel matches and they are all completely different from each other. He had his 5 moves of doom but so did HBK, Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Hogan, Cena, Flair and every other wrestler worth a damn. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to disagree. I wasnt talking about his moves, I was referring more to his pacing and psychology...which to me, seemed clunky and robotic once you've seen a handful of his matches. Whatever...some people like chocolate, and some like vanilla.
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Post by Todd Pettengill on Jul 23, 2015 19:41:16 GMT -5
If they debuted today with the same attitudes and passion they had back then they would rule the company.
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gawd6sic6™
Main Eventer
" I cross the lines you love to hate "
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Post by gawd6sic6™ on Jul 23, 2015 19:50:57 GMT -5
I completely disagree. I never found any of Bret's matches to be repetitive. You can watch any series of Bret vs. Perfect, Bret vs. Diesel, Bret vs. Owen or Bret vs. Diesel matches and they are all completely different from each other. He had his 5 moves of doom but so did HBK, Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Hogan, Cena, Flair and every other wrestler worth a damn. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to disagree. I wasnt talking about his moves, I was referring more to his pacing and psychology...which to me, seemed clunky and robotic once you've seen a handful of his matches. Whatever...some people like chocolate, and some like vanilla. I'm with you... I do not dilike Bret but I feel the exact same way. Dude could cut a promo and have insanely awesome matches. But after a while he came across as simply getting by on how good he was. Never really pushing what he could do. Same as how I've felt about orton for the last 5 years. Simply does what he has to because it's what he does.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 20:50:39 GMT -5
I think they would be more over now then they were back then. Agreed. The smaller technical wrestler is probably more accepted now than ever...thanks to the work of Bret and Shawn in the 90s. Guerrero, Benoit, Jericho, Bryan, Angle, etc. all came after those two guys. A friend of mine's dad was at a gym when Hart was there working out. He said Hart was easily the biggest guy there.
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Post by RybackV1 on Jul 23, 2015 20:51:38 GMT -5
They'd both lose feuds with Cena and become "just another guy"
That's only cause every potential star of this era has had the Same fate
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 20:58:58 GMT -5
They'd both lose feuds with Cena and become "just another guy" That's only cause every potential star of this era has had the Same fate Cena wins lol Nah seriously HBK vs Brock Lesnar needed to happen.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2015 21:15:55 GMT -5
Agreed. The smaller technical wrestler is probably more accepted now than ever...thanks to the work of Bret and Shawn in the 90s. Guerrero, Benoit, Jericho, Bryan, Angle, etc. all came after those two guys. A friend of mine's dad was at a gym when Hart was there working out. He said Hart was easily the biggest guy there. Right. I mean small in the wrestling world. Not the real world.
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Post by Boy Wonder on Jul 23, 2015 21:25:19 GMT -5
They'd both lose feuds with Cena and become "just another guy" That's only cause every potential star of this era has had the Same fate Ha, pretty much Bret would flounder around the lower mid card until he got released. HBK would flounder around the mid card, maybe getting a belt every now and then, but never gaining any momentum. See: Tyson Kidd and Dolph Ziggler
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Post by A-Rob on Jul 24, 2015 0:07:21 GMT -5
Bret would be in the Daniel Bryan role as in he will tear the house down every time he steps into the ring and get over but management will hold him down. Shawn would be a main eventer no matter what since he was so good in the ring, so charismatic and had the look. His hight would have mentioned nothing since he had everything else.
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Post by LostHawk05 on Jul 24, 2015 0:52:00 GMT -5
They both would be over in today's era. They were too damn good in the ring not to be. Great matches are constantly praised on these boards, and these two could have one with pretty much anyone. Hot pink? No problem. Male stripper? No problem. Hell, if he was younger they could have thrown him in Magic Mike instead of Nash lol.
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Post by Himmy! on Jul 24, 2015 1:59:38 GMT -5
The guys were both so naturally talented they would definitely succeed in today's era. They got through a lot of adversity back when being a smaller guy was a real hindrance. They would thrive today purely on ability.
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Post by CF9™ on Jul 24, 2015 23:14:15 GMT -5
Michaels would've, no doubt. He's the best performer of all time. All time means any time.
Bret, I don't know. He was great in the ring... But I don't know how he got over even back then.
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