Don't Go Down
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Post by Don't Go Down on Feb 19, 2018 6:02:13 GMT -5
I'm talking original gimmick with William Moody as Paul Bearer.
Many claim no one else could have done it and pulled it off. Maybe. Maybe not?
I for one say Sid. Think of his crazy face and electric charisma. He would have been scarier than anything in Resident Evil.
I think Sid would have made an awesome Undertaker.
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Post by Stuart? on Feb 19, 2018 7:12:29 GMT -5
I can't picture anyone other than Mark Calaway playing that role. Literally no one else haha.
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Post by PJ on Feb 19, 2018 7:30:28 GMT -5
Nobody. I don't think anyone could have made it work for as long as it did.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2018 7:57:28 GMT -5
Other than Mark Calaway, no-one.
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Don't Go Down
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Post by Don't Go Down on Feb 19, 2018 8:22:23 GMT -5
Nobody. I don't think anyone could have made it work for as long as it did. Sure, but strictly original run as initial gimmick
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Post by PJ on Feb 19, 2018 9:51:01 GMT -5
Nobody. I don't think anyone could have made it work for as long as it did. Sure, but strictly original run as initial gimmick And I don't think anyone else could have made it work even for a few months let alone as long as it did for him. I don't see anyone else making it work. Just like I don't think anyone else could have pulled off Mr Perfect like Curt Hennig did. As much as I like Terry Taylor he wouldn't have been nearly as perfect as Curt was.
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Don't Go Down
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Post by Don't Go Down on Feb 19, 2018 10:04:39 GMT -5
Sure, but strictly original run as initial gimmick And I don't think anyone else could have made it work even for a few months let alone as long as it did for him. I don't see anyone else making it work. Just like I don't think anyone else could have pulled off Mr Perfect like Curt Hennig did. As much as I like Terry Taylor he wouldn't have been nearly as perfect as Curt was. I think Undertaker had a really easy gimmick to get over with and deserves credit for what he did to constantly reinvent it and keep it relevant to an extent. But I think it's a lack of imagination to not even ponder who might have done something with it. But the line of no one else could have done it has been repeated so often for so long that sometimes I think maybe it's a tad bit hyperbole
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Post by The Brain on Feb 19, 2018 14:29:29 GMT -5
Nobody but Mr. Calloway.
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raz2005uk
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Post by raz2005uk on Feb 19, 2018 21:31:12 GMT -5
Nobody apart from Mark Callaway. Then again.......how's about Glenn Jacobs? Hmmmmmmmm
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Post by ~*Young $ Money*~ on Feb 19, 2018 21:35:44 GMT -5
I think it’s one of those things where you can’t really picture or imagine anyone else doing it because Mark did it for so long and so many years it’s just him.
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nibs92
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Post by nibs92 on Feb 20, 2018 10:18:20 GMT -5
Hard to say as he’s done it for so long.
Brian Lee as the fake taker had me convinced for a while but don’t think he could have sustained the successful character let alone take a brand new character and enjoy the same career Calloway had.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Feb 20, 2018 13:17:44 GMT -5
Sid had too much of a personality to play a dead man. Where as Mean Mark Callous was really a nobody in the NWA. Paul E. managed him as the mouth piece and we didn't get to see what Mark could do. But with him becoming Taker he got to become that character and learn how to be it and grow into it. Sid would not have been a good choice.
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Post by drifter on Feb 21, 2018 1:58:38 GMT -5
There's no way Sid would have pulled of the Undertaker character, especially the early incarnation of it. When Taker debuted, the character, was at the base form, presented like he was a zombie. No emotion, no feelings, just an empty shell of destruction. Sid's personality, was just too attention grabbing in the sense of he would always be talking, as he came to the ring, and even in matches. If he had been the Undertaker, today we would be looking back at the character as one of those fails in wrestling history. And at that time, Mark Calaway was more of an un-molded talent that didn't really have too much in name value, especially to the WWF crowd. And at that point in his career, he hadn't really found himself, it was when he was given the Undertaker character, he was able to find something he could work with, and I think it was that break being given the character that helped drive him to succeed, and get the character over. A big reason for the Undertaker character getting over as it did, and still being over after almost 30 years, is because of Mark Calaway. I think Sid wouldn't have put the effort that Calaway did, to make it work. The reason Sycho Sid works so well, because that character fit more into Sid's personality.
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Post by Mark Martin on Feb 21, 2018 2:18:12 GMT -5
I'm sure someone in the business could have done it just as good, it's just hard to say cause Mark has been the one and only for so many years and done it well. If Mean Mark Callous can do it, who knows who else had it in them.
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Post by PJ on Feb 21, 2018 6:17:41 GMT -5
It was a combination of his size, look, athleticism, mannerisms and commitment to the character that made it work and I don’t think there was another guy in the business back then that had all that to pull it off.
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Post by drifter on Feb 21, 2018 12:33:09 GMT -5
Really, it kinda falls in the same category as Vader, with the character being considered for both the Ultimate Warrior, and Sid, first. I just couldn't imagine the character having worked without Leon White, like I can't see the character of Undertaker having succeed without Mark Calaway.
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Post by c-scope on Feb 21, 2018 12:51:43 GMT -5
Like everyone else has said, no body but Calloway could’ve pulled that off.
In all honesty that character should’ve failed, but instead it became the greatest character in wrestling history.
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nibs92
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Post by nibs92 on Feb 21, 2018 16:06:32 GMT -5
Like everyone else has said, no body but Calloway could’ve pulled that off. In all honesty that character should’ve failed, but instead it became the greatest character in wrestling history. Yeah well put. It should be one of those characters your non wrestling fan friends roll their eyes at yet such an entertaining character. And somehow managed to keep himself relevant and move with the times. Hogan was always s fine for a nostalgia trip but to me not a great fit for this century but taker seems to be able to hang with the top guys of every era.
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Post by snatch on Feb 21, 2018 20:21:36 GMT -5
I’m sure there’s a few guys that could of pulled it off, but nowhere near the long tenure that Mark did. You had so many versions of Taker, including the ABA Taker. I recall Jericho calling him “The Madonna of Wrestling”.
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Don't Go Down
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Post by Don't Go Down on Feb 22, 2018 17:09:51 GMT -5
I’m sure there’s a few guys that could of pulled it off, but nowhere near the long tenure that Mark did. You had so many versions of Taker, including the ABA Taker. I recall Jericho calling him “The Madonna of Wrestling”. That's my thing. He got to alter it to be a biker, to be a legend that works great talents in his latter career. He had lots to go on, not to diminish his accomplishments. But the person who never gets the credit and in my mind was so much more important to the original gimmick's success was PAUL BEARER. And I truly truly believe that he is the one that could never ever have been replaced by anyone else. Only William Moody could have done that sooooo effectively. And I believe that despite what is said about Mark Calloway, that gimmick would have been dead (no pun intended) without Paul Bearer. That's what made the whole thing magic and even I took days to get on here and give him his credit which I'm ashamed of. People are right about longevity, but I seriously believe at least that initial run with any other decent sized guy with presence would have at least worked somewhat as long as Paul Bearer was in the mix.
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