One guy that wasn't my favorite or anybody that I really took that much notice of was the Bruiser Brody Light or wannabe clone John Nord. Now don't get me wrong when Nord was tagging with Jake 'The Snake' Roberts in Mid South I thought he was pretty cool.
I really didn't mind the WWF's version of Nord who was dubbed as 'The Bezerker'. I liked the Viking outfit and gimmick. I thought they could have done a lot more with him but they made the mistake of letting him do his own interviews and he just didn't have it on the mic. He could talk but he didn't come off as menacing.
Even when Nord was morphed into Yukon John Nord I thought he was pretty funny. But even then he was upstaged by the stupid gimmick given his partner by Verne Gagne 'Flapjack' Scott Norton the barrel chested lumberjack who could eat more pancakes than anybody.
But the one gimmick that Nord had where he was really successful was as Bruiser Brody's tag partner. Now Nord was good size, had curly hair and a beard and wore Brody like boots but he was not near the legend Brody was and the fact that he barked and basically did his own verion of Brody's gimmick turned me off. Still the two of them (Brody and Nord 'The Barbarian') had a good steel cage match in the A.W.A. with Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka (one of Brody's tag partners from Japan) and the caucasian Gumby of pro wrestling Greg Gagne.
Nords last run was in W.C.W. where he was hired to work in Eric Jerkoff Land. Nord was still solid, still big and still just lacking something. But when I really started liking Nord is when I watched his shoot interview. The guy is funny as hell and it is probably that funniness or jovial kind of personality that just didn't make him a good badass when they made him talk and even when he worked and was making goofy faces in the ring. Still Nord outside the ring is a true character. Catch his shoot. He is very entertaining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEeAlPDOH0Q&feature=related
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Ken Patera 'The Worlds Strongest Wrestler'
One wrestler that I thought was world champion material in every way was 'The Worlds Strongest Wrestler' Ken Patera. Patera was legit. He was a real Olympian and the first man to ever clean and jerk 500 pounds over his head in competition.
Ken made a name for himself as the top heel in the country when he snapped indian Billy Whitewolf's chicken neck bone with THE SWINGING NECK BREAKER! Grrrrrrrrrr! Whitewolf was injured so badly that he turned into an Iraqi!
Patera could always get over on TV with his strongman gimmick. One of his big foes was Mr. U.S.A. Tony Atlas. Atlas was a great babyface with an outstanding build who could match Ken in strength but could never overcome Ken and his willingness to use foul tactics to win at all cost!
Patera started as a babyface and his genetic superiority made him great in everything he did. Heck his brother Jack was even a great athlete. He was the first middle linebacker in Dallas Cowboy history and he was also the first head football coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Ken also competed in The Worlds Strongest Man Competition when it first started.
Ken was a natural heel and it was against WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino and later Howdy Doody Bob Backlund that Ken showed that he had all it took to be THE MAN.
Heck Dirty Rhodes, that yellow stinkin' dirty dog, even stole Ken's white afro!
Ken was so strong, so powerful and so GREAT that he could even go toe to toe with that big dumb giant Andre the Dummy!
But when it came down to it the only person that could stop Ken Patera 'The Worlds Strongest Wrestler' was KEN PATERA 'The World's Strongest Wreslter'!
"On April 6, 1984, Patera and fellow AWA heel Masa Saito were denied service after hours at a McDonald's restaurant in Waukesha, Wisconsin, prompting an angry Patera to throw a rock through a window of the building (Patera claims that a former employee threw the rock but he received the blame). He and Saito assaulted the policemen sent to arrest them later at a hotel. Sixteen months later, at which point Patera was in the WWF, he was sentenced to two years in prison."
Ken made a name for himself as the top heel in the country when he snapped indian Billy Whitewolf's chicken neck bone with THE SWINGING NECK BREAKER! Grrrrrrrrrr! Whitewolf was injured so badly that he turned into an Iraqi!
Patera could always get over on TV with his strongman gimmick. One of his big foes was Mr. U.S.A. Tony Atlas. Atlas was a great babyface with an outstanding build who could match Ken in strength but could never overcome Ken and his willingness to use foul tactics to win at all cost!
Patera started as a babyface and his genetic superiority made him great in everything he did. Heck his brother Jack was even a great athlete. He was the first middle linebacker in Dallas Cowboy history and he was also the first head football coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Ken also competed in The Worlds Strongest Man Competition when it first started.
Ken was a natural heel and it was against WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino and later Howdy Doody Bob Backlund that Ken showed that he had all it took to be THE MAN.
Heck Dirty Rhodes, that yellow stinkin' dirty dog, even stole Ken's white afro!
Ken was so strong, so powerful and so GREAT that he could even go toe to toe with that big dumb giant Andre the Dummy!
But when it came down to it the only person that could stop Ken Patera 'The Worlds Strongest Wrestler' was KEN PATERA 'The World's Strongest Wreslter'!
"On April 6, 1984, Patera and fellow AWA heel Masa Saito were denied service after hours at a McDonald's restaurant in Waukesha, Wisconsin, prompting an angry Patera to throw a rock through a window of the building (Patera claims that a former employee threw the rock but he received the blame). He and Saito assaulted the policemen sent to arrest them later at a hotel. Sixteen months later, at which point Patera was in the WWF, he was sentenced to two years in prison."
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Pat Patterson
Pat Patterson was one heck of a performer in the world of pro rasslin'. I remember seeing pics of him in all the old rasslin magazines growing up. Sometimes he was a heel. Sometimes he was a babyface but all the time he was on top wherever he was wrestling.
Pat was huge in San Francisco:
One of his biggest opponents and feuds was with The Great Mephisto. The two wrestled in every kind of match and they had bloody brutal battles.
Pat was linked very closely to Ray Stevens for the better part of his career. Pat learned a lot from Ray and the two formed a very successful tag team. They even snagged the world tag team championships in the A.W.A. But Pat really hit the big time when he went up to the W.W.W.F. His matches with Bob Backlund were legendary as the veteran heel took on the young Howdy Doody champion.
But then Pat went babyface and had one of the greatest matches in W.W.W.F. history against his arch nemesis Sgt Slaughter.
Of course Youtube is afraid that somebody might actually post a link to this match so you have to click these links to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNJhTuYh-AI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Mp00X4DVw&feature=related
Why? Because they are total fuckwads. But I digress. Pat then started doing some commentary which he was ok at but since he had the French Canadian accent he wasn't the ideal commentator. This was pointed out to him by ex-partner Ivan Koloff.
Koloff obviously forgot that his old comrade was French Canadian and not American. But who cares about the details. Pat later was involved in some stuff outside the ring and was accused of some behavior that if true really made him look like an asshole. But Pat was a great talent and a great worker and I enjoyed watching him whip some ass. He had real fire in the ring.
Pat was huge in San Francisco:
One of his biggest opponents and feuds was with The Great Mephisto. The two wrestled in every kind of match and they had bloody brutal battles.
Pat was linked very closely to Ray Stevens for the better part of his career. Pat learned a lot from Ray and the two formed a very successful tag team. They even snagged the world tag team championships in the A.W.A. But Pat really hit the big time when he went up to the W.W.W.F. His matches with Bob Backlund were legendary as the veteran heel took on the young Howdy Doody champion.
But then Pat went babyface and had one of the greatest matches in W.W.W.F. history against his arch nemesis Sgt Slaughter.
Of course Youtube is afraid that somebody might actually post a link to this match so you have to click these links to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNJhTuYh-AI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Mp00X4DVw&feature=related
Why? Because they are total fuckwads. But I digress. Pat then started doing some commentary which he was ok at but since he had the French Canadian accent he wasn't the ideal commentator. This was pointed out to him by ex-partner Ivan Koloff.
Koloff obviously forgot that his old comrade was French Canadian and not American. But who cares about the details. Pat later was involved in some stuff outside the ring and was accused of some behavior that if true really made him look like an asshole. But Pat was a great talent and a great worker and I enjoyed watching him whip some ass. He had real fire in the ring.
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