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Post by Travis605 on Jan 20, 2022 12:54:00 GMT -5
Cornette recently did a segment on the Drive Thru "Would Terry Gordy be a good NWA Champion" and talked about his time as UWF Champ.
I discussed thids with Brian after the show and he agreed: in 1986, 99.9% of wrestling fans didn't know what "workrate" was. Folks cheered for good guys and bad guys. Many claimed it was the oil issues in the Midwest that caused the UWF downfall, but I think a big contributor was their choices for UWF champs
Dont get me wrong. I liked Gordy, OMG and Bubba, but when they are your first three champions in a territory youre trying to take national....
Gordy was always the second banana to Michael Hayes. We didn't get the TV here, but I still remember seeing in the magazines that Terry Gordy was the first champ and I was like "really?!". Remember in 1986, no one knew what "workrate" was, just the position the good/bad guy was in and Gordy was always presented as a tag guy that stood next to Michael Hayes
Then OMG, which seemed a bit stranger. Although a main player, did anyone see him as a world champ?
Then Bubba. I love Bubba, but he was presented over the past year as a part time wrestler and bodyguard for Corny, but comes into the UWF and immediate wins their main belt?
Always thought they were strange choices for the first three champions
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Post by "Emperor Norton" (Mark T) on Jan 20, 2022 14:19:10 GMT -5
I agree. I'm not real sure what the thinking was behind those guys as champs except maybe to set the expectation of "smash mouth, hard hitting, bowling shoe ugly, big man wrestling". Which is what Watts was relying on in Mid South when business was down and the Memphis guys had to come in and show them how to revitalize. So I suppose he just didn't learn anything maybe. Bubba was the one that really was out of nowhere. All of a sudden he was just supposed to be taken as a main event guy without any repackage at all.
Duggan seems like he would have been the natural choice as first champion. DiBiase would have been a natural too. But as we know those two AND Gang were all gone by 1987.
I don't THINK it was so much an economic situation as it was a booking issue and the fact that nobody could keep talent away from Vince McMahon except Crockett. It was destined to fold at some point before 1990 no matter what, I think.
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Post by Big Bri on Jan 20, 2022 14:36:48 GMT -5
I agree with your take. Then Crockett dropped the ball by not allowing Williams to at least challenge Flair for the NWA Title. Even if Flair retained (most likely by a Dusty finish), it would've elevated Williams as a major player.
So, when Bubba/Bossman was fighting Hogan for the WWF Title in a steel cage match on SNME, Williams was in the flipping Varsity Club. Sigh...
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Post by on_the_edge on Jan 20, 2022 15:50:55 GMT -5
OMG was not World Champion material for a big company. At the time I saw UWF as a smaller one working its way up. As you said, it was more about good vs bad guys then and character. That is where OMG fit. For me he was on the line. He was not quite good enough for a World title but being UWF was still new it was ok. Just needed someone better to beat him and carry the title upward and forward. Overall the three men should have really been feuding over a secondary title way more than the World title.
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Post by Tournament Master on Jan 20, 2022 16:40:49 GMT -5
At first I thought, "Wasn't Dr. Death the first UWF champion?" but then realized you were talking about the other UWF. Funny that Steve Williams was the last heavyweight champ for 2 different UWFs.
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Post by Gunslinger on Jan 20, 2022 16:55:25 GMT -5
At first I thought, "Wasn't Dr. Death the first UWF champion?" but then realized you were talking about the other UWF. Funny that Steve Williams was the last heavyweight champ for 2 different UWFs. There's a book about the Herb Abrams UWF but I want a book about the Bill Watts UWF. |
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Post by j on Jan 20, 2022 20:09:30 GMT -5
I think Gordy was somewhat believable since Hayes was there to talk for him & he was already seen as a top guy while in WCCW. But Gordy, OMG & Bubba were never guys people looked at for a great promo and generally if you want to be a top guy in an actual top fed I think you need to be able to do a pretty good promo since you're the representative of the company.
OMG was good as a monster heel to put against your top babyface but not as a champion. With Gary Hart in his corner maybe I'd buy a short transitional run on top.
Like already mentioned Bubba was the big shocker of the 3. He was Cornette's bodyguard and had a feud with Dusty during the bunkhouse stampede series. Nothing about what we'd seen would've made me think put this man on top.
Just off the top of my head and not looking to see who else was there at the time, Ted DiBiase, Eddie Gilbert & Jim Duggan would've been better options that OMG & Bubba.
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Post by natureboi on Jan 31, 2022 12:06:52 GMT -5
Agree with Travis. Wasn't Bubba put in place as champ by Crockett to tighten his grip on the company and to subordinate the UWF to NWA/JCP?
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Post by Gunslinger on Jan 31, 2022 12:15:53 GMT -5
Agree with Travis. Wasn't Bubba put in place as champ by Crockett to tighten his grip on the company and to subordinate the UWF to NWA/JCP? It's funny how quick wrestling promoters are to burn down something they didn't create rather than try to make money with it. |
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Post by Big Bri on Jan 31, 2022 16:31:17 GMT -5
It's funny how quick wrestling promoters are to burn down something they didn't create rather than try to make money with it. Amen. See "Invasion angle 2001". Vince screwed up the most un-screwable angle in history. Still blows my mind to this day. |
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