thewrestlingpress.com nostalgia
uLTIMATE WARRIOR V RICk RuDE
Say what you want about the Warrior, but he was marketable. And that was a real key to the success of the 1980s WWF. Larger than life characters who you wanted to see compete. These days too many wrestlers look like ‘just another guy from the audience’ rather than the larger than life superhero , and it’s difficult to be in awe when the most marketable guy on the roster is a guy who walks to the ring in jean shorts! On the opposite side of this match, Rick Rude was one of the top all-round performers the WWF had on their roster. With a look, the presence, the charisma, the microphone skills, and the ability to work a good match with anyone (including the Warrior!), Rick Rude was the type of wrestler that the WWF had on their roster to really benefit their product.
bRAINbuSTERS V HART FOuNDATION
As we have already said, the WWF of the 1980s was a hotbed of tag team wrestling. The Brainbusters being pilfered from the NWA was a major coup that only added to the division. Anderson and Blanchard were excellent technicians in the ring who had amazing bouts with the Hart Foundation and Rockers, among others.
bRITISH buLLDOGS V HART FOuNDATION
How can we talk about the WWF of the 1980s and not mention the Bulldogs. Not only were they pretty much the best tag team the WWF ever had on their roster, but they were very important to the international market too. The Bulldogs, and later Davey Boy Smith as a solo act, were a vital part of getting the product over in Europe and providing ‘hometown heroes’ for the European audience. Something WCW tried later with Davey Boy to slightly less success.
bRET HART V TED DIbIASE
One thing that Vince McMahon in the 1980s was very good at was playing on people’s desires and fears. Ted Dibiase as the Million Dollar Man was a great example of this, as his character of ‘the rich man with all the money’ played off the feelings of the primarily working class audiences. These
were often people who had to work hard just to get enough money to pay the bills, and this ability to produce characters that fed off the audience’s own personal experiences was a key factor to the WWF’s success.
HuLk HOGAN V bIG bOSSMAN
And the final factor in the WWF’s success was quite simply... It had stars. Superstars that were followed by millions around the world. And the biggest of them was Hulk Hogan. When Hulkamania hit, the WWF’s audience skyrocketed beyond any previous audience that pro wrestling had. Vince McMahon understood that, to be successful, wrestling had to transcend just what the hardcore fans liked and produce stars that could be huge celebrities in their own right. Ask anyone in the street who Hulk Hogan is and they will know. And that’s a very important key!
The WWF took all of these factors and put together a product in the 1980s that combined them all. By doing so, it was a product that not a single person watching couldn’t relate to. Hardcore wrestling fans had the technical brilliance of Mr Perfect, the Brainbusters, Bret Hart or the British Bulldogs producing top calibre matches, while mainstream fans could enjoy Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Jim Duggan or the Junkyard Dog in engaging storylines.
But as we said, the 1980s wrestling scene was about far more than just the WWF. But that is a subject for the next part in the series....
If you’d like to participate in the 1980s project, the guys at
deathvalleydriver.com have a tremendous set of DVDs put together. Go visit the 80s project section on their board to find out how you can take part.
n Contact Phil at
PhiluK1@aol.com tWP WoRlDWiDe WReStlinG MAGAZine 15
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