"Yankee" Joe Rogers

[pikemojo]

After reading Gotch's book I had really taken an interest in that era of wrestling. One guy that intrigued me (and still does) is "Yankee" Joe Rogers. He was also known as the American Apollo at times. He is so interesting because he seemed to be pretty widely regarded as a "jobber" but he received title shots and matches with Hackenschmidt & Gotch. It seems like his manager was a very talented guy.

He was also well known for having helped Gotch train for the Hackenschmidt matches. He was easily one of the biggest wrestlers around at that time and helped Gotch prepare for Hackenschmidt's strength & size advantage.

He wasn't extremely technical so he resorted to rough tactics and using his size to overcome his opponents.

I tried to make his card so that it would be possible for him to be beaten pretty quickly but occasionally he would be able to last for a longer match before getting beat. Once in a while he may pick up a win here & there. I have play tested this one pretty extensively and I am quite happy with how it performs.

So, here he is, the Vintage Jobber..."Yankee" Joe Rogers!

"YANKEE" JOE ROGERS	6'2" 265 lbs. Rochester, NY
Level 1 Offense	Level 1 Defense
1. open hand punch to face - 1 2. dig knuckles into ribs - 1 3. collar & elbow clinch - 2 (ag) 4. tieup & shoulder strikes - 2 5. shove - 2 (pw) 6. single leg lift & slam - 3 (pw)	1. hurt - 2 2. dazed - 1 3. dazed - 1 4. JOE ROGERS - 1 5. JOE ROGERS - 1 6. hurt - 2
Level 2 Offense	Level 2 Defense
1. nasty face holds - 2 2. over/under bodylock throw - 2 3. into the ropes (c) 4. into the turnbuckle 5. headlock - 2 (ch C) 6. side roll & double arm hold - 3	1. JOE ROGERS - 1 2. hurt - 2 3. hurt - 2 4. JOE ROGERS - 1 5. down - 3 6. hurt - 2
Level 3 Offense	Level 3 Defense
1. waistlock takedown - 2 2. nelson & body hold - 2 (ch F) 3. out of the ring (c) 4. ankle twist - 3 5. scissors hold - 3 6. hammerlock - 3	1. down - 3 2. hurt - 2 3. hurt - 2 4. hurt - 2 5. down - 3 (lv) 6. PIN 6 (3)
Ropes: B Turnbuckle: B Ring: C Deathjump: B Disqualification: 4	Agility: +2 Power: -2 Cage: 4

As usual, let me know if anything isn't "legal." I am trying...

Any other advice/thoughts are appreciated as well.

[TTX]

Some of the moves lack a number afterwards.

Most vintage guys don't have a deathjump in any form. Hack's was an error.

[tystates]

I'd have to look, but even without a DJ option, there should still be two CH moves. I believe most of the time, again a once over of some cards would tell, when three ag/pw checks are used, two of them are the weaker stat. Last legality note, put the ch C move at lvl 2 number five as it has the chance for a three move.

I read Gotch's book, albeit some time ago. I do not remember this name at all. Guess I'm getting old. Good work.

[TTX]

Okay now that I'm more awake I'd probably swap moves 2 3 and 5 on level 2 offense.
I'd switch ch G to ch F and put it with the nelson and body hold

Like the concept though. I'd love to get some more vintage guys.

[wildman]

Im sorry but this is one of the problems i have with bootlegs. You call the guy a "jobber" then give him a pin of 6 (3). IMO, if you are going to make a jobber, his pin should be at least a 7 (4) or higher. There are so many mid-card and even main eventers with official cards that have a pin of 6(3) so why would a jobber have that low of a pin? if you want to make him a little hard to beat, take away the down 3 from level 2 defense and add it to the level 3 defense.

[pikemojo]

I have made the required changes. I appreciate the feedback on this. I went back and reviewed all the "vintage" cards and I hadn't realized that there was a precedence set to not give them deathjumps.

As for his PIN rating, I wanted him to be a little harder to beat since he often had much longer matches where the top wrestlers of that time were unable to pin him to the mat in the required amount of time. But certainly we all know that the PIN rating is not the only measure of how strong a card is. I am sure most would agree that his card is far from a strong card.

[LWPD]

Nice work pikemojo. The only suggestion I'd make is to switch designations 2 & 3 on Level 3 Offense in order to group like potencies together.

Oct 31, 2010 23:54:35 GMT -5 pikemojo said:

I have play tested this one pretty extensively and I am quite happy with how it performs.

That's the most important part of it all!

Do any reference photos exist of him online?

[pikemojo]

Here are a couple pictures. They aren't very good though.

www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/12/l_c55ac1156921afca61649ea0a551dbc9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wrestlingclassics.com/.ubb/ultimatebb.php%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%3Bf%3D10%3Bt%3D002892&usg=__YtZluEK3ohJIbWH0CwNRMS1_yyk=&h=1131&w=600&sz=149&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=R2YiWHUf56L2gM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=76&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyankee%2Bjoe%2Brogers%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D976%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=748&vpy=25&dur=603&hovh=308&hovw=163&tx=97&ty=175&ei=cFDPTL7nOdeLnAemypDmDw&oei=cFDPTL7nOdeLnAemypDmDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=71&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0 He is in the 2nd picture, 2nd from the left
www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/47/l_d250d0ba727a4d4424e08bac66af92c5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wrestlingclassics.com/.ubb/ultimatebb.php%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%3Bf%3D10%3Bt%3D002892&usg=__a_-O4-WpgGoFpgd-KUQ-8ndPvFg=&h=1167&w=600&sz=131&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=4zrr4EW2coQ-6M:&tbnh=144&tbnw=74&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyankee%2Bjoe%2Brogers%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D976%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=277&ei=cFDPTL7nOdeLnAemypDmDw&oei=cFDPTL7nOdeLnAemypDmDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=71&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0&tx=33&ty=95 These 3 show him wrestling Gotch.

I have a pic of an old cigarette card at home that is a better picture. I can post when I get home. I should probably be working anyway.

[pikemojo]

Here is the card picture that I had found a while back.