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Post by Mr. Old School™ on Dec 23, 2009 19:57:20 GMT -5
Hey, Back again with another doozy for ya. This time we've got Saba Simba!! If Saba Simba looks familiar to current WWE fans, that's because the man playing the character is none other than WWE Hall of Famer "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas. Saba Simba entered the W.W.F. in late 1990 and even competed in the 1991 Royal Rumble. I can't remember too much of him as Saba Simba after that. It was definitely a short lived character, that's for sure. It really did not go over well with the fans at all. He did remind me of one of the bushmen from The Gods Must Be Crazy movies... ;D I'm sure the only reason Tony Atlas did the stupid Saba Simba character is because he needed the money. I can't think of any other reason he would make a fool out of himself like that, other than another paycheck. I can't recall any memorable feuds he had with anyone under the Simba character. Maybe one with The Brooklyn Brawler maybe... I believe after his lackluster showing in the 1991 Royal Rumble, he left the W.W.F. soon after and thankfully Saba Simba hasn't been seen since. I don't think the Saba Simba character ruined him as much as The Red Rooster ruined Terry Taylor's career, but that's open for debate. He never had an action figure in that character, but Saba Simba did have a funky entrance theme though. Other than that, there really isn't too much you can say about Saba Simba other than it was an embarassing gimmick and he went nowhere with it. So, there you have it. Another "Blast From The Past" in the books. As always, share your thoughts/memories/opinions of Saba Simba right here!!
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Mastermind
Main Eventer
Joined on: Oct 6, 2005 14:59:48 GMT -5
Posts: 2,480
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Post by Mastermind on Dec 24, 2009 0:53:10 GMT -5
i was just talking about this character about an hour ago...i know the wwf at the time were trying to reinvent a lot of the older more established people like tito becoming the el matador and rick martel becoming the model..but this one was strange...what a great tag team saba simba and kamala would have made...
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Post by Patrick Bateman on Dec 24, 2009 2:41:06 GMT -5
This gimmick was so stereotypical and ridiculous.
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June
Main Eventer
High Fives All Around!!!
Joined on: May 31, 2009 10:54:49 GMT -5
Posts: 4,457
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Post by June on Dec 24, 2009 6:21:43 GMT -5
If Tony Atlas were really a Hall of Famer he would have pulled the gimmick off. Dusty was given polka dots and it got over, Tito was turned into a Matador and it got over. Atlas had a larger than life physic, but no in ring talent and no charisma or mic skills, so he floundered. At that point in his career he was lucky to have been collecting a paycheck.
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Post by Patrick Bateman on Dec 25, 2009 16:25:19 GMT -5
If Tony Atlas were really a Hall of Famer he would have pulled the gimmick off. That gimmick was so demeaning and ridiculous to try pulling off. It was embarrassing as all hell to see Tony Atlas coming down the ramp looking like he got straight off the boat from Roots. He was never gonna get over with that character anyways.
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Post by Emerald Enthusiast on Dec 27, 2009 2:50:51 GMT -5
If Tony Atlas were really a Hall of Famer he would have pulled the gimmick off. Dusty was given polka dots and it got over, Tito was turned into a Matador and it got over. Atlas had a larger than life physic, but no in ring talent and no charisma or mic skills, so he floundered. At that point in his career he was lucky to have been collecting a paycheck. El Matador never approached the success of more real version of Santana that held the IC belt. Dusty's polka dots didn't really alter the same persona that he had in the NWA/WCW. Saba Simba was silly and after seing Atlas as a serious, cool babyface for so many years, it only highlighted how dumb the idea was. It also didn't help that Roddy Piper called attention to the problem on a live broacast ( I think it was the RR) when Simba was announced and Piper said, "You can't fool me. That's Tony Atlas." ;D
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Deleted
Joined on: Jun 15, 2024 16:03:18 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2009 12:53:26 GMT -5
I remember the episode of Superstars he debuted on........wow ridiculous is right.
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