fromundertheapron

[fromundertheapron]

Episode 39 - Top 10 Top Non Champions of the 80s and 90s

We put out the question of the week, what are your top wrestlers either heel or face that were top guys in their era and in their company but never got the big belt. The World Championship in WCW or the WWE championship. Again, keep in mind growing up we only watched two companies, one in WWE and the other in WCW. This list is going to be controversial to some and its going to have a lot of people saying bullshit. But I think the list I did ended up being nothing but 80s and 90s guys so maybe there will be another list for the millennium guys. The new era guys.

 

Okay, so I gave myself some rules as to how I should pick these. Number 1, Vince loves loyalty so pick the guys that stayed there longer than a year. After that, there shouldn’t be a reason why they didn’t get a shot or a chance to become one.

 

10. Ravishing Rick Rude in WCW and WWE

Okay lets start off with the ladies man, im putting him at number 10 because he really did cause a lot of ruckus to get where he’s at. He was the top heel every where he went, not one time did he turn face in WWE for three years and then he showed up in WCW for another three years and tried going after the belt. He was a 3 time WCW International Heavyweight Champion, which only lasted a short time and it was unified with the big World Heavyweight Championship belt. The sad thing here is that he took a bump from Sting which caused him to end his career so soon. In WWE he was a one time Intercontinental Champion feuding with Ultimate Warrior and then later on with Rowdy Roddy Piper. The guy was popular when he left, we all knew who he was. So when he made his way to WCW, you would think they would have given him that push. They gave him a United States Championship when he defeated Sting. Some matches with Ricky Steamboat. But they didn’t push the button on him when he faced WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons on different occasions. On April 17, 1993 on the Spring Stampede ppv show he legit injured his back in a match against Sting. He retired shortly thereafter only making appearances in ECW as a color commentator and in WWE as a member of DX. Finishing his career in WCW as a member of the NWO and most notably known as the only person to show up on both broadcasts of WWE Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro at the same time.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted him Most hated wrestler of the year in 1992

PWI ranked him number 4 in the PWI 500 in 1992

 

9. Curt Hennig in WWE (1988-1996). Mr. Perfect deserved that championship belt. He was top face and top heel and still yet they give the belt to people who would eventually leave for movies anyway. Another guy who feuded with the top face and should have gotten that opportunity. And I get they wanted to protect their company. But you give him a name like Mr. Perfect and he’s a heel, you should be able to give him that. He then held the Intercontinental Championship twice which was the work horse belt. The secondary belt but it still doesn’t count. He wrestled and faced people that would become top guys, Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels.  Unfortunately, he started having back problems by 1991 when he suffered a broken tailbone and bulge disks and had to retire. You would see him sporadically as a manager to Ric Flair, wrestled a match teaming with Randy Savage, but later on would mostly be in losing situations against Shawn Michaels and our favorite Alexander Luger. Had it not been for his bad back we would have gotten to see a Perfect push for the top gold especially in the era where Hulk Hogan left for movies and WCW. Just imagine, him vs Bret Hart, Yokozuna, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow and feuding with The Million Dollar Corporation.

PWI Most Improved Wrestler 1997

Number 9 of the PWI Top 500 in 1993

8. Rowdy Roddy Piper (1984 – 1996) in WWE Are you telling me the Hot Rod never held the big belt but yet you give him the Intercontinental championship as a transition to give it to Bret Hart? I get that he’s more known to be a movie star but you had since Wrestlemania 1 to establish him as the top heel of the company and give him that chance. He faced Hulk Hogan. He smashed a coconut on Snuka’s head. Top Heel! And then when he became a top face you put him in the middle of the card or have him face younger talent.

Match of the Year in 1995 Wrestlemania 1 teaming up with Paul Orndorff vs Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.

Most Hated Wrestler of the Year 1984 and 1985

Most Popular Wrestler of the Year 1986

Number 45 in the Top PWI 500 1992

7. Ricky The Dragon Steamboat (1985 – 1988) Initially after getting a DDT from Jake the Snake Roberts on the concrete which Jake didn’t want to particularly do because he was scared Ricky wasn’t going to stop himself from hitting the pavement which happened anyway. Vince should have owed Ricky a favor from here on out. That was the first strike. The next strike is being the top match of the night right next to the match that Vince thought was going to be the top match in the main event. Vince should have thanked Ricky Steamboat then after he won the IC title from Macho Man. But instead they punish him for it and have him lose in the tournament for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 4. He left WWE in 1988 for WCW.

Match of the Year Wrestlemania 3 against Randy Savage

Ranked number 6 PWI Top 500 in 1992

 

6. Razor Ramon (1992 – 1996) in WWE Wrestlemania 10 ladder match should have told you he can go. Him facing Bret Hart at Royal Rumble 93 for the title said that he can go. He defeated Diesel on the year that he was World Champion and was in a feud with Jeff Jarrett and that should have told you that he can go. He didn’t even complain when they had Goldust flirt with Chico. Its no wonder he was the first one to shoot that shot and go to WCW. Check out episode 16 titled Hey Yo of the All Things Wrestling podcast to learn more about him, yet… he still didn’t an opportunity to hold it and be near it after that Royal Rumble match against Bret Hart.

PWI Match of the Year Wrestlemania 10 vs Shawn Michaels in a ladder match 1994

Ranked number 7 in the PWI 500 in 1994

 

5. Owen Hart in WWE (1991 – 1999) Not because of his death, Its more of a he should have gotten it when he was feuding with his brother. Summer Slam should have been it. But he didn’t receive that push. Instead it was given to Bob Backlund, crazy psychotic heel. Owen was a top heel from the start of that year. He won the King of the Ring, that should have put him in the front of the line. He got together with Yokozuna and then when that finished, they let Yoko try to go after it again instead of Owen. They had Owen and British Bulldog as a tag team, so they let Davey Boy go after it. Owen gives HBK a concussion, still not a championship opportunity. Montreal Screw job happens. Owen is the only one that stayed, that should have been a reason to give him the belt atleast for a few weeks before throwing it back to Shawn Michaels who left anyways because he had a bad back.

PWI Feud of the Year with Bret Hart 1994

Number 10 in the PWI Top 500 in 1994

4. Arn Anderson in WCW (1990 – 2000) The number 1 man of the top heel and the top stable in the company and even when Ric Flair left, Arn should have picked up the slack. What did Triple H do when HBK left after Wrestlemania? Trip became a top guy. So instead of him becoming top guy in WCW when Ric Flair and Sid left, they make him go after the tag belts. Honestly this was his chance to prove he wasn’t just the master of the spinebuster but a good main eventer. He was WCW TV champion 4 different times. WCW Tag team Champion with 4 different people 5 times. Ranked number 9 in the PWI 500 Magazine in 1991. You talk about a company man, this man was it. Only they didn’t pull the trigger on him because they were too busy experimenting with others that didn’t deserve it.

 

3. Jake the Snake in WWE (1986 – 1992) Why did this man not get a championship title after all the shit he pulled with that snake? He had a weapon. He literally almost killed Macho Man. He was in a blind man match. He almost gave Ricky Steamboat a concussion. He practically gave Andre a heart attack with that snake… and then you kill his snake? But wont give him a push.

Number 23 in the PWI 500 in 1991

 

Tatanka in WWE (1991 – 1996) He had an undefeated streak from 91 to 93 before he lost to some douche who left because his ankle got hurt. He would go after the Intercontinental Championship and lose via count out or DQ. But didn’t get pinned during those 2 and half years. He would be pushed as a main eventer and have main event style matches. When Hogan was gone, he would eventually adopt the hulking up move and run around the ring to get that energy from the crowd and then point at his opponent. He was honored by Chief Jay Strongbow, Chief Wahoo McDaniel and Lumbee tribesman Ray Littleturtle with a full length Lumbee tribe headdress on an edition of RAW. He feuded with IRS because tax man wanted him to pay taxes for that headdress.

 

My favorite year for him was in 1994 when he turned heel against best friend Lex Luger and joined the Million Dollar Corporation. He would feud with Luger, Bam Bam Bigelow, and have matches against the champions like Diesel and Bret Hart but always fell short. If anything, 1994 and 1995 would have been the year to have him win the championship and then have another feud with Lex Luger.

 

Ranked number 40 in the PWI 500 in 1994

 

1. Ted Dibiase in WWE (1987 – 1996) The man has a long resume!! He bought the wwe championship from Andre the Giant but they didn’t acknowledge it so its not in the history books. And since he thought he was cheated from that because he paid a price, he turned it into The Million Dollar Belt and always defended it. He got a bodyguard, paid off Dusty Rhodes stan friend Sapphire and turned and then kicked her out. After he defeated his opponent with the million dollar dream he would stuff a 100 dollar bill in his mouth so when he wakes up it be a way of saying thanks for doing the job. Sometimes Virgil would retrieve the 100 dollar bill and keep it for himself. The man was a free bodyguard. He made a young kid kiss his feet for money on live tv, years later we find out this little kid grew up to be Rob Van Dam.

 

He bought off Hercules contract and wanted Herc to work for him as a slave. Herc didn’t like that. He bought off the number 30 spot at the 1989 Royal Rumble from Akeem and tried to buy off Big John Stud who were the last two wrestlers in the ring before Big John eliminated Dibiase.

 

At the 1990 Royal Rumble, he was punished for buying off the number 30 spot the year before and was given number 1. He lasted 45 minutes

 

In 1992 he got the services of IRS which they became known as Money Inc and they won the tag team belts on three separate occasions. He would mock other heel wrestlers for losing to jobbers. He mocked Razor Ramon enough to turn him face. He retired and became a manager and even then he still was the most hated villainous heel. He started the Million Dollar Corporation and started buying contracts including Nikolai Volkoff’s who was doing poorly and needed the money. He would embarrass him and make him wear the cents logo on his trunks followed by property of the million dollar man. He followed that up with his other partner, IRS, and then Bam Bam Bigelow. He bought others and created the most hated stable in the WWE. Others in the stable were Kama who was Papa Shango and now goes by The Godfather. The walking Condom King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid, and the most famous one of all that I did not see coming. The Native American Tatanka… HE BOUGHT A NATIVE AMERICAN OFF!!!

 

And finally before he left to join the NWO, he introduced us all to the new Million Dollar Champion, The Ringmaster Steve Austin… Yea, that guy didn’t last long.

 

Most hated wrestler of the year 1982

Number 17 in the PWI 500 1991

[fromundertheapron]

click the picture to take you to my link tree

I know I dont have listeners on this site so im pretty much just screaming into the void. But just in case you're a fan and come across this, I want to make a few points.

Im a podcast about my views in wrestling. I have a co-host but he's in law school at the moment. Just in case you happen to go back and listen to the first few episodes (why would you?) and come across him talking to me and then he's not there again.

The reason I wanted to post this on tumblr instead of making other blog pages is because use what I know. I been on tumblr for 10 years now. Two other blogs, one is a dead shitblr and the other is a fitblr but still running so if you want to add me there you can, i'll give you the link to it. But I wanted to make a blog for my podcast because im coming up on a year now with my podcast. So im going to start posting edits about all the episodes. Yes, including episode 1. I had an episode zero but spotify decided to delete it.

So with all that in mind and you're still reading, let me tell you the rules and regulations here.

We are a society of different views and opinions. You dont agree with something that somebody said on the podcast, thats ok. Not everyone will. But please be respectful and if you still have a problem with it, want to make a comment, add something to it, or have a question message me and let me know. It might be a topic of conversation for the next episode.

I also talk about my diabetes and mental health, i'll let you know in what episodes but its a segment aptly titled Wrestling with Diabetes and its about my struggle and how I overcame it.

Im definitely a geek. I sometimes talk about other things as well and bring them up. You'll hear me randomly talk about The Challenge or Johnny Bananas voice "good ol headbanger" so its pretty much about what I love and not just about wrestling. I geek out a lot.

I love interacting with people and I love this community. So if you're a wrestling fan also or not but want to support me by just following back, thank you. I really appreciate you.

Hope you listen to the show and thank you for your support (im sorry if you heard the first five episodes I was new)

[fromundertheapron]

Episode 69 -  Breaking down the New Day vs Usos Tag Team Championship Match, we get a tease for Asuka vs Iyo Sky, and I do a deep dive on the WWE Perfomance Center Fall 2022 Rookie Class. 

click the top picture to take you directly to the episode or click below

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1VVj0OsIQhweaRQPwv1qj6?si=1UNHa8ahTpiQ9NvK9kgI1Q

Meet the NXT Rookie Fall Class of 2022

Beau Morris – From Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He’s an offensive lineman from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. During his senior year in 2021, Saw action in nine games, making six starts... Helped the Mustangs to national rankings of ninth in scoring offense (38.4), 13th in total offense (465.9), 14th in passing offense (304.5) and 17th in sacks allowed (1.33)... AWARDS: College Gridiron Showcase Invite... Tropical Bowl Invite... NFF Hampshire Honor Society…

Hayden Pittman – From Spanish Fort, Alabama. Played Tight End for the University of Alabama Blazers for His Senior year in 2021   hes on the John Mackey Award Preseaon Watch List...Utilizing his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to COVID-19...Appeared in all 13 games for UAB, making seven starts...Recorded 22 receptions for 192 yards, averaging 8.7 yards per catch...Had a career-high 32 yard reception versus Jacksonville State.

Alivia Ash – From Merrillville, Indiana. She’s a Track and Field runner from the University of Louisville Cardinals. In 2020 she Competed in five meets during the indoor season… Cleared a season-high 1.73m/5’08  in the high jump at the ACC Indoor Championships for a third place finish, earning first team All-ACC honors… Finished second in the high jump at the Gene Edmonds Open and Notre Dame Invitational.

Kevin Venturas Cortes – From Anaheim, California. Tight End from CSP, Concordia St. Paul in 2021     NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence honors ... led the team's tight ends in total receptions (10) and reception yards (64) … played in 10 games while starting five … had at least one reception in 5 games. His twitter account is so special. KVCortes7. He has a pinned video of Triple H making him an offer to go to Orlando to train at the Performance Center. Then the shot goes to the bus with everyone on the list, calling his loved one, at a loss for words but telling whoever is on that call that he got the contract. The video of his introduction into NXT and followed up with the words Arriva y Adelante which translates to onward. Representation Matters.

Skylor Clinton – From Prescott, Arizona. Former tight end from Northern Arizona University, professional indoor football league player.

Academic Notes: Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award recipient in 2021 UAB: Spent three seasons with the Blazers after joining the program in 2017... Played in nine games across the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Mesa Community College: Caught 23 passes for 441 yards and four touchdowns as a wide receiver... Finished with three catches and 100 yards in the season finale Valley of the Sun Bowl against Lackawanna College. Albany: Spent the spring of 2016 at Albany as an inside linebacker. Wyoming: Joined the Cowboys as a defensive end for the 2015 season.

Franki Strefling – From Niles, Michigan. She was an outside hitter for Eastern Michigan University Volleyball. Her resume is outstanding.

EMU: Became the sixth EMU volleyball player to reach both 1,000 career kills and digs, and was the first since Becky Baltare (2002-05)...Ranks eighth in program history with 3,510 career attempts...

2020: Earned AVCA Midwest All-Region First Team honors, becoming the first EMU volleyball player to collect first team honors since 1989...Named First Team All-MAC...Started all 20 matches, including 77 sets for the Green and White…Finished second in the MAC in both total kills (315) and total points (342)...Totaled double-digit kill performances 16 times...Notched 10-plus digs in 17 matches for the Green and White...Ended the season with 4.09 kills per set and 4.44 points per set, which led the team…Collected 308 total digs, which ranked second for EMU…Led the Eagles with 13 double-doubles and recorded 15-plus kills in 10 matches…Earned MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week after a career-best 26 digs to surpass 1,000 career digs, and posted 23 kills in a 3-1 victory at Northern Illinois (Feb. 11)...Recorded a personal-high 26 kills against Buffalo (Feb. 25) and collected her second offensive player of the week honor...Her 26-kill outing versus the Bulls is tied for seventh in Convocation Center history...Reached the 1,000-career kills plateau with her first strike of the match against Ohio (March 8)...Led the team with a season-best three service aces in a 3-1 loss at Miami (March 20)...Posted a season-high five blocks (0-5) in a five-set win over Ball State (March 27)...Named to the West Division Preseason All-MAC Team.. There is a lot more in the years prior but you get the picture. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that she graduated from EMU with a bachelor in business management and pursued a Master’s degree in 2021. WWE is just her back up. She is already a queen and we haven’t seen her perform yet.

Chukwusom Enekwechi - From Queens, New York. Another standout from Eastern Michigan University. He is a shot put guy. He throws stones. Here are his stats. Im impressed. EMU: 2021-22: Indoor: Competed in eight meets for the Eagles…Finished runner-up in the shot put at the Mid-American Conference Championships with a toss of 17.42m (57.15 feet) Feb. 26…Recorded a career-best throw of 18.72m (61.41 feet), the third-best indoor shot put in school history, at the GVSU Big Meet, Feb. 11…Took first in the shot put at the Wolverine Invitational with a mark of 18.16m, Jan. 8…

Harleigh White – From Clemson University in South Carolina. Her 2022 season highlights include

2022 Outdoor Season

Yellow Jacket Invitational

Jumped 13.12m in the triple jump

Jumped 13.06m in the triple jump

Florida Relays

Jumped 12.59m in the triple jump

Tom Jones

Member of the 4x400m relay team that ran a 3:35.68

South Carolina

Ran a 23.80 in the 200m

Ran a 54.60 in the 400m

Penn Relays

Jumped a 12.91m in the triple jump

ACC Outdoor Championships

Jumped a 13.05m in the triple jump

NCAA Regionals

Jumped a 12.82m in the triple jump

Rickssen Opont – From Port-au-Prince, Haiti. University of South Alabama. He can squat 900 lbs.

2020: Outdoor – Recorded personal-bests in the discus throw (43.33m) and in the hammer throw (51.56m) at the Jaguar Opener … Indoor – Earned First-Team All-Sun Belt honors in the shot put (16.47m) and recorded a personal-best in weight throw (17.57m) at the Sun Belt Championships … Won in the shot put (17.43m) and placed third in the weight throw (17.46m) at the Samford Bulldog Invite … Finished third in the shot put (17.35m) and sixth in the weight throw (16.53m) at the Jaguar Invitational … Recorded a 16.90m distance in the shot put at the Clemson Bob Pollock Invitational … Won in the weight throw (17.40m) and placed third in the shot put at the Samford January Invite.

Lea Mitchell – From Boynton Beach, Florida. She’s a gymnast from Michigan State. Four time team captain, Three time MVP.

CAREER HIGHS: • Vault - 9.900 • Bars - 9.900 • Beam - 9.925 • Floor - 9.950 • All-Around - 39.375 CAREER NOTES: Earned CoSIDA, which is a College Sports Information Directors of America, Academic All-America Division I At-Large Third Team accolades in 2022, becoming just the second Spartan gymnast all-time to reach CoSIDA Academic All-American status, with Angela Howard having received the honor consecutively in 1994 and 1995 ... Recipient of the 2021 Big Ten Conference Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award, becoming the first MSU female student-athlete to receive this honor, and only the second Spartan overall ... Won 23 career event titles, with 10 on floor, five in the all-around, four on vault, three on bars and one on beam ... Three-time team co-captain (2020-22) ... Five-time WCGA Scholastic All-America honoree (2018-22) ... Four-time Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honoree (2019-22). 2022: Earned CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I At-Large Third Team accolades ... A WCGA Scholastic All-America Award recipient ... Also earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades, as well as Academic All-Big Ten honors and the MSU SASS Scholar-Athlete Award recipient ... Made season debut on 1/15 against Bowling Green and Illinois State ... Placed second and earned a new career-best score in the beam event with a 9.900 ... Tied career-best bars score against Maryland on 2/5 ... Scored a season-best 9.900 on floor in the meet against Illinois 2/13 ... Tied for second place on the uneven bars event at Big Fives on 2/19, posting a 9.875 ... Scored a 9.900 on floor at Ohio State 2/26 ... Tallied scores of 9.850 on both bars and beam on 3/5 against Western Michigan ... Scored two scores of 9.900 or better at Kentucky on 3/11,  a 9.900 on floor and a career-high 9.925 on beam to tie for second place ... Tied for sixth on beam at the Big Ten Championships with a 9.850 ...  Posted a 9.900 on floor at the NCAA Regional Finals on 4/2 ... Scored a 9.875 at Regionals Second Round and Regional Finals ...

Anna Keefer – From St Michael Albertville, Minnesota. Coming out of University of North Carolina. She was on the track and field roster and her accolades are impressive as well. Five time NCAA All American.

All-America 2022 Indoor Long Jump 2022 Indoor 200M (2nd team) 2021 Indoor Long Jump (2nd team) ACC Champion 2022 Indoor Long Jump All-ACC 2022 Indoor Long Jump 2022 Indoor 60M (2nd team) 2022 Indoor 200M (2nd team) 2022 Outdoor Long Jump 2022 Outdoor 100M (2nd team) 2022 Outdoor 200M (2nd team) 2021 Indoor 200M 2021 Outdoor Long Jump 2020 Indoor Long Jump 2020 Indoor 60M ((2nd team) School Records Outdoors 100 meters (all-conditions), 11.23 Outdoors 200 meters (all-conditions), 22.83 Indoor Long Jump, 21-6 Majoring in communication studies ... Honored as the team's Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete for 2021-22 2022 Indoors: Qualified for NCAA Championships in both long jump and 200 meters ... Earned first-team All-America honors in long jump aft, second-team honors in the 200 meters ... ACC Champion in the long jump ... First-team All-ACC in long jump, second in both 60 meters and 200 meters ... All-ACC Academic Team for indoor track & field Outdoors: Qualified for NCAA Championships in the long jump ... Long jump champion at the Penn Relays ... Also won long jump at the Duke Invite ... Second in long jump at ACC Championships to earn first-team honors in that event ... Earned second-team honors in the 100 (6th place) and the 200 (5th place)

Kennedy Cummins – A cheerleader out of the University of Minnesota. From Kenosha Wisconsin. I wish we could find out more like her accolades and accomplishments but the university she went doesn’t have any information on her except for her hometown.

Breanna Ruggiero – acrobatics athlete and tumbler from Sacramento State University.

Jade Gentile – From Baldwinsville, New York. She played forward for the West Virginia University women’s soccer team. She plays professional soccer in Iceland. In 2018

Academic All-Big 12 Second Team­

Played at forward in all 23 matches and started one

Logged a career high 830 minutes of action

Finished the season with one point (1 A)

Earned her first career start and played a career single-game high 74 minutes in a 1-1 draw at Purdue (Aug. 24)

Assisted on first of two insurance goals in 3-0 victory over Xavier (Aug. 30)

Tallied a career-high three shots in 2-0 win over St. Francis (Pa.) (Sept. 16)

Monika Klisara. Karate black belt, martial arts from Canada.

Alfa magazine did a cover story about her. She says “I originally come from a background of Serbian-Croatian descent. Born in the Balkans during war, my family fled to Canada in order to seek a stable living environment.”  

She’s been training karate for 20 years and have currently been on the National team for 10 of those years. She won the Karate Commonwealth Championships. "It was a tough year overall in competition for me, and one of the largest competitions was coming up (Commonwealth Games). Before travelling to South Africa to compete, I fell short of medal rounds in 3 competitions prior to the Commonwealth championships".

Her favorite quote is "Hasta La Victoria Siempre."  -Che Guevara

For Victory, Always