"Boss maaaaaan, there are TWO thangs that don't last too long....... One is daawgs that chase cars and the other is law enforcement officers that don't take the mon-aaaay!"
Im still kind of a mark for Akeem and the Twin Towers. Really great team. A different time or company with less cartoony stuff and they could have been terrifying.
Imagine if instead of Akeem, the Twin Towers was Bossman + OMG as some kind of mercenary ex-prisoner guy that he'd aligned himself with. Would have given the team an altogether rougher, more dangerous image.
I think George was too nice a guy to be convincing as a bad ass. OMG never seemed that scary. Akeem was more scary because he was this big, daft guy who could crush you.
As a 9 year old kid that was watching Akeem and had his wrestling figure toy, i literally didn’t think anything of him being from Africa. Seemed legit to me. Lolol.
Akeem and the Big Bossman were the main heels when I started watching in 1988. When the drums of Jive Soul Bro hit you knew some shit was going to go down
@@TL2354 I wasn’t either, and I actually loved Akeem. He was hilarious. But at the same time I also hope I’m not the say all end all opinion on what people find offensive, lol
Yeah, Akeem left the WWE shortly after Earthquake arrived. According to George Gray, he wasn't being paid enough to cover the cost of his expenses on the road. That really sucked for him.
Quake had a way more dangerous image than Akeem though..... Would have needed yet another re-brand, but sure, he'd have made a better Typhoon than Fred Ottman
Unfortunately, George Gray might never be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, because he was part of the 60-man concussion lawsuit that got tossed out in 2018.
@@wmsmith7346 Yeah. Sadly, close to 60 wrestlers (alive & dead) are barred from HoF induction, until or unless the McMahons decide otherwise. Demolition and the Powers of Pain were also litigants in that failed lawsuit.
Akeem for the HOF definitely well overdue. If you are offended be offended by McMahon Akeem/OMG played the part well and got over for another 2 years in main event style!
Mega Akeem the African Dream mark.. the jive soul bro was the best lol the twin towers were amazing I remember the Arsenio Hall show when they were on lol. Fond memories
One day, Vince McMahon decided that the "very popular" One Man Gang heel gimmick was no longer entertaining to the fans. So, Vince informed George Gray, a white American man, that his gimmick was changing to that of a native African man. 🤪
I love how people are saying that they loved the gimmick....I definitely did. I guarantee if half of your kids came home acting, and talking just like that you would disown them and call them racist names.
You could not pay me any amount of money to make me believe that every shitty rebranding the WWE ever did was not based on NOT owning the commercial rights to the original gimmick.
@@airfixx_8952 awesome match! they were a great pair backed by a charismatic manager. Even being heels who in the audience didn't dance like akeem? Lol
well gang himself said vince told him he was done with him, not able much to do with him. so maybe this was attempt save him.. but dang it really killed it instead ...
bruce at end is BS, gang said he quit cause he wasnt getting any good work, basicly not being paid good, and sent to north dakota etc..and im sure he knew after being akeem, his career was over
@@TL2354 why would he? its not like he made up a crazy story about vince or something.. he simply had a dead end character that no longer was making money.. of course bruce is always gonna protect the company
All I remember about Akeem is he fell out of the ring when he and another guy bounced off the same rope and Akeem just disappears to the floor… Hah, actually you can see his yellow boots on him hangin upside down. Edit: Lol, this is it… ruclips.net/video/C9cifUwyJXA/видео.html
...cuz he's the A-ahaaaa-aaa-aaaafrican Dream! The Ultimate is when he faced the American Dream, and I do believe that's Sapphire in the audience!: ruclips.net/video/CFu8e5d5Sfc/видео.html
The whole Akeem thing ruined OMG's career. It made him look so clownish and cartoonish. It was hard to take him seriously after that. Made him the laughingstock of the wrestling world. He was transformed from a jack booted, street thug to some ridiculous buffoon. The WWE trivialized and belittled him with that gimmick. Lost all credibility and respect after that to the point of irrelevancy.
Not at all. It was a much better gimmick. He was a main event heel as Akeem and he was an interesting character as this deluded guy who danced around, but he was also very dangerous.
It's really pathetic that you couldn't do a gimmick like that today because of extreme political correctness and cancel culture. The current generation is so soft. Back in 1988 almost everybody thought the Akeem gimmick was funny. The good old days.
I'm more of an older generational wrestling guy. the 70s, 80s, early 90s. The same time as Akeem or One man Gang started! Which was the very best wrestling era of all time. Not this shity wrestling from today. You can't even tell what the hell is going on, and who is after who half the time. I can't watch wrestling anymore. After Wrestlemania 8, I started to lose interest. Things were starting to change. They were starting to lose what wrestling has always been. The magic that kept people tied to the story. Things were wayyyyy less crazy, way less dangerous, and even as goofy as it looked, it kept people even more attached to every character. Heel or Baby-Face. But back to the real matter here! I'm sorry but as funny and fun as Akeem was. The One man Gang gimmick was way way better to my eyes. Big badass guy, with the Mohock, and the tattoos on the head. "That's what he was, Badass" . He looked a lot more dangerous and intimidating than Akeem in every way. It's just sad that they didn't use the one-man gang more seriously and just more. Hard to beat, and very hard to pin. The same as Earthquake, King Kong Bundy, etc. Take em more seriously. Cause even as big as he was, he was able to do a lot in the ring. They could've done a lot more with the One-Man Gang character. But they didn't. I don't know why! He was losing back and forth. If they used that character more seriously, I really believe that he could've been one hell of a good tough character. Akeem was more of a JOKE thing, not serious at all. Especially when it comes to BIG Wrestlers. Well it's just my opinion.
The Akeem gimmick was stupid. You ruined a monster by sticking him with this. A White guy acting like his black and you guys trying to claim he had african roots. It was ridiculous and stupid and of course once the novelty of the stupid gimmick wore off, he was gone.
this was without doubt one of the biggest fails bad ideas , insult to not gang, but the fans.. even as kid i realized how dumb an idea this was ...! gang . who was well established bad ass, maybe the best wrestling name ever.. why on earth would he suddenly be from africa, and act like a black guy ? you took a legit guy and turned him straight into a joke..! its the equivalent of if you made rambo 4 movie in 89 and instead of being rambo like, suddenly hes working as an elf in tights at the mall. and tap danced on weekends !
"Boss maaaaaan, there are TWO thangs that don't last too long....... One is daawgs that chase cars and the other is law enforcement officers that don't take the mon-aaaay!"
Im still kind of a mark for Akeem and the Twin Towers. Really great team. A different time or company with less cartoony stuff and they could have been terrifying.
Imagine if instead of Akeem, the Twin Towers was Bossman + OMG as some kind of mercenary ex-prisoner guy that he'd aligned himself with. Would have given the team an altogether rougher, more dangerous image.
I think George was too nice a guy to be convincing as a bad ass. OMG never seemed that scary. Akeem was more scary because he was this big, daft guy who could crush you.
As a 9 year old kid that was watching Akeem and had his wrestling figure toy, i literally didn’t think anything of him being from Africa. Seemed legit to me. Lolol.
Holy shit I never realized the African dream was a play on Dusty’s character lmao
Really? The dance, the vibe, the American vs African dream. The only thing left was yellow polka dots! Lol
Akeem and the Big Bossman were the main heels when I started watching in 1988. When the drums of Jive Soul Bro hit you knew some shit was going to go down
This gimmick was way before people were indoctrinated to be offended by everything.
Just imagine that gimmick today
No need to be indoctrinated. This WAS offensive lmao
@@eightreasons566 why?
@@eightreasons566 I wasn’t offended
@@TL2354 I wasn’t either, and I actually loved Akeem. He was hilarious. But at the same time I also hope I’m not the say all end all opinion on what people find offensive, lol
Slick. As the manager. Was iceing on the cake 💯
If you're offended by something as good natured and fun as the Akeem gimmick, you're what's wrong with the country today.
Akeem would have been a great tag team parttner with Earthquake.
Yeah, Akeem left the WWE shortly after Earthquake arrived. According to George Gray, he wasn't being paid enough to cover the cost of his expenses on the road. That really sucked for him.
Quake had a way more dangerous image than Akeem though..... Would have needed yet another re-brand, but sure, he'd have made a better Typhoon than Fred Ottman
Conrad has his next Halloween costume ready to go!
I love these podcasts. Bruce and Eric B pod cast is fantastic also.
Akeem was hilarious. Still is.
I had to go to speech class because the teacher thought I was saying Ice cream wrong..I brought the figure to school then they laughed
This is amazing!
It was great 80s TV. Especially with Slick as his manager.
Conrad from now on will be known as “ ‘white’ Akeem”😂
He is now the head of the NAACP.
Go Bruce! Yeet Yeet! Dance that gimmick! Dance!
Bruce is an American fucking treasure. After God made him he swore to never do that again and laughed. God bless Bruce Pritchard.
Prichard
The Greatest African American Wrestler of All Time!
One Man Gang was the best, definitely belongs in the hall of fame.
Just as good as Braun Strowman. Same level he was probably a better primo than Blahn
Unfortunately, George Gray might never be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, because he was part of the 60-man concussion lawsuit that got tossed out in 2018.
@@Scorch1028 ahhh the clouds of McMahan suddenly clear as I now realize. They do know how to hold a grudge.
@@wmsmith7346 Yeah. Sadly, close to 60
wrestlers (alive & dead) are barred from HoF induction, until or unless the McMahons decide otherwise. Demolition and the Powers of Pain were also litigants in that failed lawsuit.
@@Scorch1028 is this what you read on the internet? Because you have no idea if this is true.
Bruce has immense integrity. That dollar chasing pulpit pimp rev slick, contrived recent stories of hakeem being his original idea.
🎶You's a jive soul bro you a jive soul bro and always lie to ya friends🎶🎷🎹🎺🎙🎤
Most underrated entrance music ever
Akeem for the HOF definitely well overdue. If you are offended be offended by McMahon Akeem/OMG played the part well and got over for another 2 years in main event style!
He should be there for his one man gang run for sure. Lot of big matches as gang
His one man gang character had a lot of high profile matches.
The similarities are uncanny between the host and Akeem
Mega Akeem the African Dream mark.. the jive soul bro was the best lol the twin towers were amazing I remember the Arsenio Hall show when they were on lol. Fond memories
Oh cool, Bruce had Akeem on to talk about it!
They need to do an episode on Bruce's time as JJ Dillons assistant ASAP
Why?
@@TL2354 Because it was a very big part of what made Bruce the man he is today. It really humbled him having to make coffee runs for JJ
One day, Vince McMahon decided that the "very popular" One Man Gang heel gimmick was no longer entertaining to the fans. So, Vince informed George Gray, a white American man, that his gimmick was changing to that of a native African man. 🤪
Sounds legit👍💯
I love how people are saying that they loved the gimmick....I definitely did. I guarantee if half of your kids came home acting, and talking just like that you would disown them and call them racist names.
I’d buy em a yellow robe and big hat, jive soul Brutha
I liked it too..I wanted his Wrestling figure
@@jasoncutshaw8401 I didn’t like it, I loved it
You could not pay me any amount of money to make me believe that every shitty rebranding the WWE ever did was not based on NOT owning the commercial rights to the original gimmick.
The twin towers were hot at one time. Their feud with the mega powers really helped push them. Shame they never won the tag titles.
Love their match v The Rockers at WM5.
#ThatClothesline
@@airfixx_8952 awesome match! they were a great pair backed by a charismatic manager. Even being heels who in the audience didn't dance like akeem? Lol
Akeem was over AF!
Shouldve been the first Black WWF World Champ!!
He wasn`t black, lol
@@markant9534 Blasphemy!!!
@@markant9534 lies
@@markant9534 Slick says otherwise.
i always thought the akeem idea came from "coming to america" being a smash hit
Slick said it was his idea.
Akeem was quite the dancer
Going to go check out the birth of the dream...it's been to long
One Man Gang was cool, Akeem was absolutely stupid.
Akeem was cool AF. POS One Man Gang was dopey AF!!!
Man you're not jive enough to understand 😉 lol
@@CannedHam2479 Akeem was entertaining.
@@tonyslicer7399
Exactly 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
@@paulrodney951 Heck yea!
0:59 lol
Slick said he made up Akeem to save One Man Gangs career.
well gang himself said vince told him he was done with him, not able much to do with him. so maybe this was attempt save him.. but dang it really killed it instead ...
Always heard nice things about gang. No one seems to have anything bad to say about him
bruce at end is BS, gang said he quit cause he wasnt getting any good work, basicly not being paid good, and sent to north dakota etc..and im sure he knew after being akeem, his career was over
How do you know that Gang isn’t lying?
@@TL2354 why would he? its not like he made up a crazy story about vince or something.. he simply had a dead end character that no longer was making money.. of course bruce is always gonna protect the company
Among the TOP TEN Most Horrible "change over" gimmicks ever. Id include Mike Rotunda into IRS. UGH!!!
What about Saturn into Moppy
All I remember about Akeem is he fell out of the ring when he and another guy bounced off the same rope and Akeem just disappears to the floor… Hah, actually you can see his yellow boots on him hangin upside down. Edit: Lol, this is it… ruclips.net/video/C9cifUwyJXA/видео.html
Lmao! Dude thank you for that.
Yeah, he's lucky he didn't break his neck on that.
Another guy?
I would laugh at a character like this today tho
He's my Favorite African of all Time.
I always thought he was a rib on dusty lol
Halsted ST. Africa
If anyone ever says white boys can't dance, you show them this video of Brucey dancing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That wasn't a bad Akeem Dance Bruce
That gimmick definitely wouldn't fly now.
When’s Bruce going to apologize for all the careers he helped kill?
who else believes conrad is the son of akeem
I wonder if this was the prototype of Brotus Clay??
Wow I thought Conrad was Akeem
Akerm coulda been from north africa....
...cuz he's the A-ahaaaa-aaa-aaaafrican Dream! The Ultimate is when he faced the American Dream, and I do believe that's Sapphire in the audience!:
ruclips.net/video/CFu8e5d5Sfc/видео.html
The whole Akeem thing ruined OMG's career. It made him look so clownish and cartoonish. It was hard to take him seriously after that. Made him the laughingstock of the wrestling world. He was transformed from a jack booted, street thug to some ridiculous buffoon. The WWE trivialized and belittled him with that gimmick. Lost all credibility and respect after that to the point of irrelevancy.
Not at all. It was a much better gimmick. He was a main event heel as Akeem and he was an interesting character as this deluded guy who danced around, but he was also very dangerous.
It's sad how ultra sensitive people are. It's freaking entertainment
Even as a child with a developing brain, I knew that gimmick was stupid.
It's really pathetic that you couldn't do a gimmick like that today because of extreme political correctness and cancel culture. The current generation is so soft. Back in 1988 almost everybody thought the Akeem gimmick was funny. The good old days.
I'm more of an older generational wrestling guy. the 70s, 80s, early 90s. The same time as Akeem or One man Gang started! Which was the very best wrestling era of all time. Not this shity wrestling from today. You can't even tell what the hell is going on, and who is after who half the time. I can't watch wrestling anymore. After Wrestlemania 8, I started to lose interest. Things were starting to change. They were starting to lose what wrestling has always been. The magic that kept people tied to the story. Things were wayyyyy less crazy, way less dangerous, and even as goofy as it looked, it kept people even more attached to every character. Heel or Baby-Face.
But back to the real matter here! I'm sorry but as funny and fun as Akeem was. The One man Gang gimmick was way way better to my eyes. Big badass guy, with the Mohock, and the tattoos on the head. "That's what he was, Badass" . He looked a lot more dangerous and intimidating than Akeem in every way. It's just sad that they didn't use the one-man gang more seriously and just more. Hard to beat, and very hard to pin. The same as Earthquake, King Kong Bundy, etc. Take em more seriously. Cause even as big as he was, he was able to do a lot in the ring. They could've done a lot more with the One-Man Gang character. But they didn't.
I don't know why! He was losing back and forth. If they used that character more seriously, I really believe that he could've been one hell of a good tough character. Akeem was more of a JOKE thing, not serious at all. Especially when it comes to BIG Wrestlers.
Well it's just my opinion.
...it's just bologna!...lol...
Not sure why people associate with all Africans as black.. I mean this gimmick could have worked.. but didn't
One Man Gang was great, but Akeem was one of the stupidest gimmicks ever, that's literally when I stopped watching wrestling.
Okayyyyyy 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆
It was great
Yeah ok…… so you stopped watching wrestling in late 88, but you’re here today ? Stop lying for likes
And yet you’re here so you’re admitting that you’re full of it. Beyond useless you are
@@TL2354 shouldn't you be out introducing yourself to your new neighbours, letting them know about, you know...?
lol
The Akeem gimmick was stupid. You ruined a monster by sticking him with this. A White guy acting like his black and you guys trying to claim he had african roots. It was ridiculous and stupid and of course once the novelty of the stupid gimmick wore off, he was gone.
this was without doubt one of the biggest fails bad ideas , insult to not gang, but the fans.. even as kid i realized how dumb an idea this was ...! gang . who was well established bad ass, maybe the best wrestling name ever.. why on earth would he suddenly be from africa, and act like a black guy ? you took a legit guy and turned him straight into a joke..! its the equivalent of if you made rambo 4 movie in 89 and instead of being rambo like, suddenly hes working as an elf in tights at the mall. and tap danced on weekends !