No way, that dude couldn't wrestle, and if they gave him a mic, you could go walk the dog, take a shower, eat dinner, and he'd still be rambling some nonsensical timewasting garbage. He had the body and hyper ring presence to raise a crowd, though.
Mr. Fuji was best manager. When I wrestled, I was fuji and I could whack people over their back with a cane. Sweet. Warning: Don't ever let someone figure-4 you. Warning: The atomic Knee drop can hurt you too.
Does anyone remember the "Who Will Manage Bam-Bam Bigelow Sweepstakes?" All the managers were in it. One manager was called out each week (they would always look so smug as if they were finally the chosen one) and told that there were out of the running. This happened until there was only one left. I believe Slick actually won the sweepstakes, but Bam-Bam somehow ended up being managed by a brand new manager - Oliver Humperdink. I'm not quite sure how that happened. Anyway, you don't see good managers anymore. It's really a shame. A colorful manager brings a lot to the table. Characters like Slick, Mr. Fuji, Paul Bearer, Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart, Bobby Heenan and Sunny were great.
Say it aint' so I bet I wouldn't recognize the place now. Is the Jester Store still there or did a BK replace it?
Jake the Snake Roberts was my all time favorite when I was a kid, just because my mom has this morbid fear of snakes...
Some of the managers were hate-multipliers for their clients. Some of the better ones, and some from the "old days", were JJ Dillon, Skandar Akbhar (sp?), Gary Hart, Bobby Heenan, Captain Lou Albano, Classy Freddie Blassie, Jim Cornet, Paul Ellering, etc. Wow, that brings back a lot of crazy matches.
The greatest is probably Hulk Hogan circa the 80's simply because of popularity, however the most entertaining goes to the stylin' and profilin' Nature Boy, Ric Flair. WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Jose Lothario. Wait....gotta count in Ernie Ladd. He's the only pro wrestler I ever met, but I met him while he was still an NFL player.
I vote for Charles Barkley. Yes, Sir Charles. I saw him grab Shaq by the legs and flip the big fella onto the floor. Wise move on Charle's part not to get into a fist fite with the big guy.
Hulk Hogan But I loved all the guys in "WWF Superstar" by Technos (1989): Hulk Hogan (not "Hollywood") Randy "Macho Man" Savage The Big Boss Man Honky Tonk Man The Ultimate Warrior "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase Andre the Giant Good times....
Although I don't think he's the greatest, I have to give some props to Sting. I think if he'd been in the WWE during his prime, he would've blown up. The wrestler that did the most for promoting wrestling without a doubt was Hulk Hogan. The wrestler that had it all in terms of super hero physique, the looks, the presentation, the mic work, could be serious, could be hilarious, and the crowd loved him (when he was to be loved anyway) was The Rock. His dad, Rocky Johnson, was my mom's favorite wrestler on Houston Wrestling, even though she didn't really like wrestling. My favorite wrestlers as a kid (not necessarily my favorite or best wrestlers of all time) were probably Chavo Guerrero, Sr. and Mil Mascaras just for their acrobatics, and Ivan Putski and Tony Atlas because they were just walking blocks of muscle.
