It made sense with the story. Diesel was getting over by running through guys quickly. He had done it at the Rumble and at The Survivor Series, that year. By having him come in as a last second replacement to Bret, who was injured, they had the element of surprise and they attempted to make house shows (particularly MSG) exciting again by showing that anything could happen. By doing it so quickly, they could replay it on every WWF program for weeks in its entirety.
Bob was the best wrestler of the early 80s and the best promo of the early 90s. Shame he wasn't active during the interim except for a few UWFI and UWF bouts.
I had no problem with Backlund's nostalgia run, and I didn't even have a problem with it being as brief as at was - but doing it in an :08 squash match not only hurt Backlund, but wasn't a good look for the belt.
Backlund shooted on this in a interview. Savage had abruptly left the WWE at this point and the WWE was desperate to fill that void. Diesel was chosen. Backlund agreed to be squashed by diesel fast as possible to make him look awesome.
Jake Roberts was popular as heel in Midsouth . He and John Nord were paired and people ate it up . They even feuded with Ted and Doc as Heel vs Heel matches
Vince thought Diesel was the next Hulk. Vince tried to recreate 1984 in 1994: 1984: in days Backlund to Shiek to Hulk 1994: Bret to Bob to Diesel in days
Huge swing and a miss there by Vince... Diesel's promos as WWF champ were terrible. Some of the worst I've ever heard in my 45-plus years watching wrestling.
The Undertaker would be an Anti-Heri as well as Razor Ramon. Taker had turn baby face pretty soon, because people started cheering him, regardless the fact that he was a major heel at that time. And Razor Ramon maybe was the guy who made it cool to be the bad guy before Stone Cold. But Austing brought it to the next level.
Ted is wrong , because putting the title on Nash did not work and that reflected in the fact that Kevin Nash could not draw in 1995 bad move by Wwe management!!!
There was no one who could draw at eighties level at that time . Wrestling had shrunken in popularity as the flavor of the month with trendies . Bret Hart was the biggest draw in wrestling at the time and people complain about his drawing power . Wrestling needed to shrink as no longer cool before it could become cool again.
@ but it didn’t make any sense business wise !!! And when they turned Nash babyface that was the nail in the coffin ⚰️!!! Because that took away from his character of being tough!!!!!
Did it 'work' better than any other option they had at the time? Other than leaving the belt on Backlund, doesn't seem they had many established stars who could slip into that role. Sometimes it's a case of choosing the best option available, even if it's not ideal.
Exactly, if the economy is in a rut at the time then how is that fair to blame the champ for decreased gates? Well said Ted, I've always wondered this.
So many things wrong with the title change. First Backlund was over with the fans, his heel turn was highly entertaining and refreshing. I was a wrestling fan from the mid seventies and I hadn't watched wrestling since the Big Van Vader era in WCW. Flipping through the channels one night, I couldn't believe my eyes, Backlund was back, pre heel turn. Backlund's turn was just as stunning as Hogan's turn four years later. His attack on Arnold Skalland had "old school" written all over it. Backlund went from one of the worst at cutting promos to one of the best. With that being said, Backlund deserved a longer reign. It was actually a slap in the face having Backlund lose in eight seconds in Madison Square Garden where some of his greatest matches took place against the likes of the Magnificent Muraco, Harley Race, Pat Patterson, Jimmy Snuka, Greg Valentine, Sgt. Slaughter and Stan Hansen just to name a few.
Not necessarily my opinion, but I've always read that Bad News Brown was considered the first "true" anti hero type due to him being a loner badass and fighting both face and heel wrestlers. My opinion would be Stone Cold (for obvious reasons) mainly due to the fight "the establishment" with McMahon.
I've been watching wrestling since I was a little kid probably around WrestleMania 4, but I have memories of seeing 1 - 3... I had zero problems with Diesel being the champ and actually liked his run. I especially liked his matched with Bret Hart and was also very happy when Bret became champ. I wasn't a big fan of Yokozuna holding the belt though. He was way too slow and didn't have enough of a move set to really keep the matches moving. I think Lex should have beat him and carried the belt for a time. That would have made things more interesting.
The 10+ years worth of story that led Bob back to the title could only have properly played out with him getting his definitive loss at MSG, and nowhere else.
By Marcus’ definition, at different times and various territories, the following are some of the antiheroes in pro wrestling: Gorgeous George Ric Flair Stan Hansen Ted Debusy Greg Valentine Roddy Piper Ray Stevens
As foes, Nash & Sid had NO chemistry in the ring. I've said it before- Nash was always meant to be a monster heel. He was a killing machine in the '94 RR, which he should have won. If things had been different for him in wcw, Nash & Sid could have been a great pair of destroyers as another incarnation of The Skyscrapers, having a long undefeated streak
This is the worst wrestling podcast on RUclips by far. Not because of the host but because capital TD as always so politically correct and really never speaks his true mind on what's going on good or bad
To answer the question about whether Kevin Nash was truly the worst champion, perhaps he was as far as attendance numbers, but I do agree that wasn't exactly his fault. The business as a whole was in terrible shape, and Big Sexy was thrust into a position he really shouldn't have been in. Yes, he was big and possessed a hell of a lot of charisma, but in my opinion wasn't a great wrestler as far as overall in ring work, and by this point, fans wanted something different. Sure Hogan got away with that type of character for years, but times had changed by '94, and I honestly don't feel that Nash was the right choice to carry the banner at that time.
3 days was ridiculous. Bob was a red hot heel. They should have let him torment the fans for a while.
I agree
It made sense with the story. Diesel was getting over by running through guys quickly. He had done it at the Rumble and at The Survivor Series, that year. By having him come in as a last second replacement to Bret, who was injured, they had the element of surprise and they attempted to make house shows (particularly MSG) exciting again by showing that anything could happen. By doing it so quickly, they could replay it on every WWF program for weeks in its entirety.
I disagree they could’ve let him win it on raw or royal rumble
Bob was the best wrestler of the early 80s and the best promo of the early 90s. Shame he wasn't active during the interim except for a few UWFI and UWF bouts.
I had no problem with Backlund's nostalgia run, and I didn't even have a problem with it being as brief as at was - but doing it in an :08 squash match not only hurt Backlund, but wasn't a good look for the belt.
Backlund shooted on this in a interview. Savage had abruptly left the WWE at this point and the WWE was desperate to fill that void. Diesel was chosen. Backlund agreed to be squashed by diesel fast as possible to make him look awesome.
Jake Roberts was popular as heel in Midsouth . He and John Nord were paired and people ate it up . They even feuded with Ted and Doc as Heel vs Heel matches
So fun seeing mid south or whathaveyou and then switching it off onto RUclips, aka contemporary talk radio, and see each one of their podcasts.
I think Macho Man was the best anti hero. One of the first that I remember personally
"Diesel..... DIESEL !!!!!" 😁
Vince thought Diesel was the next Hulk. Vince tried to recreate 1984 in 1994:
1984: in days Backlund to Shiek to Hulk
1994: Bret to Bob to Diesel in days
Huge swing and a miss there by Vince... Diesel's promos as WWF champ were terrible. Some of the worst I've ever heard in my 45-plus years watching wrestling.
Getting a straight answer out of Ted isn’t very straightforward.
“What would you like for tea tonight, Ted?”
“People like tough guys!”
Bob was so good as a heal. They dropped the ball with that.
Sid justice was the anti hero bc at survivor series 96 when he defeated Shawn Michaels for the title
I hear that. Sid scared me as a kid
Good call! Sid was also an anti hero for me at the 92 Rumble when he eliminated Hogan
He was a villain that actually had the love of the crowd and would high five them when he walked out. RIP Sid ❤
That match sucked -it worked for who-? not me-I would have liked to see Backlund take down Big Kev.
It supposedly enabled Nash to be regarded as an unstoppable world champion. IMO the 8 second match was a poor decision.
Anti -hero in the 80s ....Roddy Piper ?
Maybe Macho Man during his first heel run? Agreed on Piper and Jake The Snake
Road Warriors the first.
I'd agree that Piper, Savage and Roberts fit that description. Vince actually couldn't stand that and wanted heels who the fans hated and got heat.
Jake Roberts
Another anti hero. Terry Funk
They buried tf out of Bob Backlund.
Brett I think was hurt.... And they just needed bob to get the belt off of him. WWF in the mid 90s was not good and made poor decisions
Brett And Vince We're Not Getting Along ..Vince took the belt to Back land ....Then to his second choice..... Diesel
The Undertaker would be an Anti-Heri as well as Razor Ramon. Taker had turn baby face pretty soon, because people started cheering him, regardless the fact that he was a major heel at that time.
And Razor Ramon maybe was the guy who made it cool to be the bad guy before Stone Cold. But Austing brought it to the next level.
The first anti hero I can remember is Roddy Piper.
Ted is wrong , because putting the title on Nash did not work and that reflected in the fact that Kevin Nash could not draw in 1995 bad move by Wwe management!!!
Agreed - Diesel's promos as champ SUCKED
There was no one who could draw at eighties level at that time . Wrestling had shrunken in popularity as the flavor of the month with trendies . Bret Hart was the biggest draw in wrestling at the time and people complain about his drawing power . Wrestling needed to shrink as no longer cool before it could become cool again.
At the time, it was really exciting. The way he won, and the line he used about "not being paid by the hour" was believable
@ but it didn’t make any sense business wise !!! And when they turned Nash babyface that was the nail in the coffin ⚰️!!! Because that took away from his character of being tough!!!!!
Did it 'work' better than any other option they had at the time? Other than leaving the belt on Backlund, doesn't seem they had many established stars who could slip into that role. Sometimes it's a case of choosing the best option available, even if it's not ideal.
The Crusher was a heel who was turned face by the fans.
Bob (Bulldog) Brown was a great bad guy that was very funny and nice to fans , even thou he was Leo Burks nemesis
Bulldog Bob Brown was one of those hilarious characters I enjoy watching, heel or babyface.
The Atlantic Grand Prix Wrassling ... the golden years YES! Even Macho Man worked in the territory
Exactly, if the economy is in a rut at the time then how is that fair to blame the champ for decreased gates? Well said Ted, I've always wondered this.
Dave Schultz was Stone Cold before Stone Cold. He slapped John Stossel
So many things wrong with the title change. First Backlund was over with the fans, his heel turn was highly entertaining and refreshing. I was a wrestling fan from the mid seventies and I hadn't watched wrestling since the Big Van Vader era in WCW. Flipping through the channels one night, I couldn't believe my eyes, Backlund was back, pre heel turn. Backlund's turn was just as stunning as Hogan's turn four years later. His attack on Arnold Skalland had "old school" written all over it. Backlund went from one of the worst at cutting promos to one of the best. With that being said, Backlund deserved a longer reign. It was actually a slap in the face having Backlund lose in eight seconds in Madison Square Garden where some of his greatest matches took place against the likes of the Magnificent Muraco, Harley Race, Pat Patterson, Jimmy Snuka, Greg Valentine, Sgt. Slaughter and Stan Hansen just to name a few.
Only in a fake profession could someone so awful at everything defeat someone so great at all facets of that industry.
Not necessarily my opinion, but I've always read that Bad News Brown was considered the first "true" anti hero type due to him being a loner badass and fighting both face and heel wrestlers. My opinion would be Stone Cold (for obvious reasons) mainly due to the fight "the establishment" with McMahon.
In the future, ask questions that you know Ted will have a response to.
I've been watching wrestling since I was a little kid probably around WrestleMania 4, but I have memories of seeing 1 - 3... I had zero problems with Diesel being the champ and actually liked his run. I especially liked his matched with Bret Hart and was also very happy when Bret became champ. I wasn't a big fan of Yokozuna holding the belt though. He was way too slow and didn't have enough of a move set to really keep the matches moving. I think Lex should have beat him and carried the belt for a time. That would have made things more interesting.
Hogan was a popular heel in AWA. That's why he was turned face.
Long before Jake there was Soop Soop Superfly!
People just didn't have money for it. Hard times in the 90's but my opinion Diesal was great champion 🏆 to me as a kid. I that he was cool 😎 👍
I think the economy was really good in the 1990's to be honest. The business in itself was just in a huge downturn.
The 10+ years worth of story that led Bob back to the title could only have properly played out with him getting his definitive loss at MSG, and nowhere else.
Ted is not wrong
By Marcus’ definition, at different times and various territories, the following are some of the antiheroes in pro wrestling:
Gorgeous George
Ric Flair
Stan Hansen
Ted Debusy
Greg Valentine
Roddy Piper
Ray Stevens
Jake the snake definitely who I thought of
As foes, Nash & Sid had NO chemistry in the ring. I've said it before- Nash was always meant to be a monster heel. He was a killing machine in the '94 RR, which he should have won. If things had been different for him in wcw, Nash & Sid could have been a great pair of destroyers as another incarnation of The Skyscrapers, having a long undefeated streak
This is the worst wrestling podcast on RUclips by far. Not because of the host but because capital TD as always so politically correct and really never speaks his true mind on what's going on good or bad
RODDY PIPER or Ric flair would be my pick Atlanta 1980
To answer the question about whether Kevin Nash was truly the worst champion, perhaps he was as far as attendance numbers, but I do agree that wasn't exactly his fault. The business as a whole was in terrible shape, and Big Sexy was thrust into a position he really shouldn't have been in. Yes, he was big and possessed a hell of a lot of charisma, but in my opinion wasn't a great wrestler as far as overall in ring work, and by this point, fans wanted something different. Sure Hogan got away with that type of character for years, but times had changed by '94, and I honestly don't feel that Nash was the right choice to carry the banner at that time.
I dont think the cohost "gets" what was going on here.
Ummmm, Ric Flair is the original antihero in my book.
If the let Nash still be Big Daddy Cool he probably would have had a more successful run as champ.
I grew up watching WRESTLING AT THE CHASE & I guess you can say that Dick The Bruiser & Brusier Brody were anti-heroes.
To be honest, this kind of made Bret Hart look bad, just like that WM 9 debacle. Yeah, maybe Vince did screw Bret a lot!
Ted is such a bad interview..Feel sorry for this guy.
Ted should have proposed to Virgil.
People also like cool heels. The Rock character was anti hero bit was just a cool heel