March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497506 For that matter.... "just there to make a quick buck" (Mr. T, Cyndi Lauper) In 1989, when he was backing up Kerry Von Erich? Yeah, maybe. In 1994, when Hogan was giving all his old friends a free ride on the WCW gravy train? Yeah, maybe. In 1985? I pity the fool who's stupid enough to believe that.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497507 I mentioned the Lauper thing a few weeks ago. She did more for the WWF than probably any celebrity they've had(maybe Tyson is only other one). She did TV tapings, MSG house shows, SNME and of course the big dates. No idea how she could possibly be one of the worst celebrity runs in wrestling. Like I said maybe it's the Watts infleunce on JR
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497509 All I know is I first became interested in wrestling because of Mr. T's involvement in WWF in 85-86. I was a kid and a huge A-Team/Rocky III fan, so I watched Mania 2 (funny, it's one of my least favorite Mania's as an adult), discovered this wrestling thing was basically a superhero comic come to life, and have been a lifer ever since. I'm sure many 80s kids were turned on to wrestling in a similar fashion.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497510 The anti-Mr. T sentiment was mainly driven by Piper who didn't just rag on him this time but in the last episode as well. He just hated working with him, said that he was very hard to do business with and just "didn't get it". Piper fucking HATES Mr. T.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497511 Everyone who was around the WWF at the time of the first Wrestlemania hates Mr. T, or at least thinks he was a pain in the ass. Piper's just the most vocal about it because, well... he's Piper, and he seems mad still over having to do the boxing match at WM2.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497512 They can hate Mr. T all they want, and some of it is likely justified, but his involvement with WWF made the first Mania a mainstream story in a way it could have never been without him (would there have even been a first Mania without him?), and probably opened a lot of media doors for Vince and co. (was the SNME deal with NBC made before the first Mania or after?), not to mention the effect T's involvement had on the box office.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497513 The whole talk about "getting it" or not reminds me the über obnoxious "Get it ?" campaign in 1999. Yeah, people points to their crotch and say "suck it", there was really something to get there. And yeah, what did Mister T. ever did except the A-Team and being in that Rocky movie with Hogan... Ah, wrestling people and their insecurity...
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497514 The point of the "Get It?" campaign was that not liking wrestling because it's fake misses the point that it's still an enjoyable form of entertainment. I thought that was obvious.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497516 Watts buried Lauper HARD on Mid-South TV for weeks so yeah it was him.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497518 I'm like the biggest Hayes mark that has ever lived so I never miss these. His Iron Sheik story makes me wish we coulda got a good Hayes shoot, but for him to still be employed after everything he's done, I've pretty much given up on that. The Lauper stuff was kind of hard to watch. I mean, she was probably one of the top 5 biggest names in music at the time she was doing all that. Could you imagine, I don't know...Kelly Clarkson stopping her career to manage Kelly Kelly (the Kelly connection!) or something? No chance. And Lauper did it before wrestling was hot so it's not like she was bandwagon-ing. And the story I always heard was that her boyfriend/fiancee at the time was a huge mark, which is why he was always ringside with her so she at least had a passing interest. JR's bashing of her cheapened much of his argument, IMO.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497519 The point of the "Get It?" campaign was that not liking wrestling because it's fake misses the point that it's still an enjoyable form of entertainment. I thought that was obvious. I don't think it was the point. Wrestling was fake since Vince said it was years before, that point was way behind already. They were getting shit on at the time because WWF programms were becoming really vulgar and such, and their response was "hey, it's only entertainment you snobs".
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497522 The "Get it?" campaign was a complex intellectual statement that worked on multiple levels.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497523 I totally get why Piper hated working with Mr.T. Watch the TV building up to Mania and you see T only had interest in getting himself over as a uber tough guy. So Piper had to put over T as being a big star and potential threat, while still getting himself over as top heel. It looked like pulling teeth. The WM 2 boxing match is really entertaining in hindsight. Seeing Piper embarrass T by blowing him up in the first round and then playing with him til the finish.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497525 Here's something to speculate for the hell of it: What modern celebrity would have the impact of a Mr. T or a Mike Tyson as far as being involved in major angle/match? Of course the key is to match them up with the right wrestler, like Hogan/Piper with T or Austin with Tyson. Off the top of my head, I'm going to offer up Tim Tebow. I think there would be some interesting possibilities with him and Cena as a you-either-love-them-or-hate-them team.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497529 Here's something to speculate for the hell of it: What modern celebrity would have the impact of a Mr. T or a Mike Tyson as far as being involved in major angle/match? Of course the key is to match them up with the right wrestler, like Hogan/Piper with T or Austin with Tyson. Off the top of my head, I'm going to offer up Tim Tebow. I think there would be some interesting possibilities with him and Cena as a you-either-love-them-or-hate-them team. Lady Gaga.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497533 Flair also told a neat story about Arquette. After Dewey won the belt, he was sitting around backstage in a daze. Flair happened to walk by him, and Arquette (clearly uncomfortable with what had just happened) asked "Ric... what do I do now?" Flair told him to do what every old world champ used to, wear the belt down to the hotel bar that night and buy everyone a round of drinks. Apparently David took his advice to the letter. Flair was mooching even back then? Here's something to speculate for the hell of it: What modern celebrity would have the impact of a Mr. T or a Mike Tyson as far as being involved in major angle/match? Of course the key is to match them up with the right wrestler, like Hogan/Piper with T or Austin with Tyson. Off the top of my head, I'm going to offer up Tim Tebow. I think there would be some interesting possibilities with him and Cena as a you-either-love-them-or-hate-them team. I used to think WWE could have done something with Terrel Owens though lately his star has faded. Maybe Michael Vick? No idea who you could pair them with as WWE doesn't even seem to know who their marquee stars are besides Cena, Hunter, and Taker and only one of them seems to have some miles left on them.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497537 Always thought Gordon Ramsey would be money in a wrestling context.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497542 When did the mentality start that the celebrity has to win? We are at the point now, the wrestler is the underdog vs a celebrity.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497543 Maybe when Vince bought WCW. I can't recall a single instance of a WWF/WWE wrestler beating a celebrity, although that probably means that I'm forgetting someone.
March 20, 201213 yr comment_5497546 Maybe when Vince bought WCW. WWF squashed WCW in the Invasion, because WCW guys were *wrestlers* while WWF guys were *superstars*. I guess.
March 21, 201213 yr comment_5497550 Checking out the Families Roundtable. "ROGOWSKI" Ole Anderson's real last name.
March 21, 201213 yr comment_5497551 Here's something to speculate for the hell of it: What modern celebrity would have the impact of a Mr. T or a Mike Tyson as far as being involved in major angle/match? Of course the key is to match them up with the right wrestler, like Hogan/Piper with T or Austin with Tyson. Off the top of my head, I'm going to offer up Tim Tebow. I think there would be some interesting possibilities with him and Cena as a you-either-love-them-or-hate-them team. Justin Bieber
March 21, 201213 yr comment_5497560 Maybe when Vince bought WCW. WWF squashed WCW in the Invasion, because WCW guys were *wrestlers* while WWF guys were *superstars*. I guess. Actually, back when the plan was still "Shane McMahon presents WCW" and they were to air on Saturday nights, the WWF trademarked the term "WCW stars", clearly positioning them below the WWF superstars.
March 21, 201213 yr comment_5497566 Here's something to speculate for the hell of it: What modern celebrity would have the impact of a Mr. T or a Mike Tyson as far as being involved in major angle/match? Of course the key is to match them up with the right wrestler, like Hogan/Piper with T or Austin with Tyson. Off the top of my head, I'm going to offer up Tim Tebow. I think there would be some interesting possibilities with him and Cena as a you-either-love-them-or-hate-them team. If they could have gotten Charlie Sheen about this time last year, that would've been license to print money. Now, I think people are bored of him so it wouldn't work the same way. But he was ostensibly jobless at the time, so he could have put time into it, and most big entertainment companies wouldn't touch him for reasons that WWE wouldn't give two fucks about.
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