March 8, 201213 yr comment_5496572 I interpreted the point of this to be career-long things, not capitalizing on injuries.Then I can't think of anything, because pretty much all the major examples were from devastating real-life injuries. It's more common for them to have weaknesses in psychology or tactics; i.e., a spot that rarely works or an attempt at something which frequently gets reversed. I'm up for identifying some of those too. Flair is the obvious one, what with his attempts to climb the top rope usually ending with him getting tossed off. And his finisher was a weakness all by itself; half the time his figure-four attempt would end with him kicked off or rolled up. And whenever he was a heel, having the babyface turn over in the hold and reverse the pressure was almost inevitable. Really, it was an incredibly poorly-protected finisher, considering how rarely he ever beat anyone except jobbers with it. Anyone ever wrestling Hogan seemed to have a weakness of going completely retarded whenever he started hulking up. WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO PUNCH HIM NOW. Kick him in the nuts, or run away, or anything besides punching him. I guess Hogan usually called the whole match, because I can't remember the hulk-up sequence ever varying from the standard model. Sometimes guys with high-risk offense will sell the risk, but unfortunately not many guys try. Jeff Hardy is the primary example, where often in character he'll go for a stupid spot because he thinks it'll be really cool and then ends up crashing and burning. Like in the Hardys/E&C cage match from 2000, where he could escape the cage but can't resist the temptation to hit a swanton on Edge instead. Occasionally, Mick Foley's masochism becomes part of the psychology. He'll either just sit there and take a beating which he should really try to avoid, or he'll do some dumb painful garbage spot despite the fact that it often hurts him just as bad as the other guy. Does Terry Funk ever sell his eye whenever he was wrestling anyone besides Lawler? Because anytime those two wrestled in the last thirty years, they usually did a spot referencing it; but I don't remember many others. ...does George Steele's tendency to get distracted from his opponents by the tasty enticing turnbuckle pad technically count for this?
March 8, 201213 yr Author comment_5496577 How many times in total do you think he forgave and then trusted Luger? Also, the moment when Flair turns on him in the 95 angle is one of my all-time favourite moments.
March 8, 201213 yr comment_5496595 Jerry Lawler being a "slow starter." (Similarly, Greg Valentine "taking fifteen minutes just to get warmed up," though that was more of a Gorilla-ism than standard practice). On some indy show I watched in 1998 or thereabouts Gordon Solie described Valentine as "not burning a calorie unless he has to."
March 8, 201213 yr comment_5496598 During 98/99 JR would talk about X-Pac's "surgically repaired neck" during his matches. It's the focal point of the match versus Hunter at Backlash 99 Gorilla used to point out how foolish it was for IRS to wear a tie in the ring because it could be used as a weapon against him. And it was!
October 31, 201212 yr Author comment_5518307 Dusty Rhodes seemed to have an injured leg from 1984 until 1987.
October 31, 201212 yr comment_5518314 The Mongolian Stomper had that inner ear problem that he sold constantly. He would even sell pain if the crowd got too loud and they would cheer/stomp to try to give the face an advantage in the match.
October 31, 201212 yr comment_5518315 How about Bob Orton Jr.'s arm. That damn thing just never seemed to heal in the WWF.
November 1, 201212 yr comment_5518416 Rick Martel trying to use the Flying Vault as his finisher. It worked maybe 0.01% of the time in matches that mattered.
November 2, 201212 yr comment_5518675 The one i can remember greatly and this may not count because it was a short stint but Mr Tiny "Zeus" Lister had a weakness of his EYES. Does anyone else remember that?
November 2, 201212 yr comment_5518694 Octagon's back mask lace/ribbon Also everybody knew that in a fight with Andre you could immobilize him against the ropes.
November 3, 201212 yr comment_5518728 Jumbo and the stun gun? Or is that just inferred? The Florida Brothers are weak against guys that can create their own invisible doors.
November 17, 201212 yr comment_5520311 Pillman's throatHe even had a signature bump to play that one up. Ah yes, the "phantom angle" as described in the MX book. Did they ever play it up any other time besides the Veg-o-Matic attack? Also, Ken Patera and the ringpost during his face comeback.
Create an account or sign in to comment