Thanks for watching, make sure to subscribe to channel if you haven’t already for more videos. Let us know what we should cover in future videos, and make sure to drop a like to help get the video picked up by UA-cam’s algorithm🤘🏻👊🏻
Vader ran into the shovel that is Shawn Michaels. So many talented wrestlers got buried cuz of him. Vader was a beast. He could've been a monster heel champ and would've given a new dynamic in the world title scene cuz we were getting tired of watching the same 3 or 4 guys in the main event
I mean, he debuted and immediately missed like 9 months for a shoulder injury. Swapped some muscle for more fat, everybody says how bad his stench was and then of course the Kliq. I think if they could've capitalized on his debut, squashing Gorilla Monsoon, they might've had him go on a nice run beating up beloved babyfaces and getting a quick run with the title. Even Jim Ross has stated, he did himself no favors either.
@@lexkanyima2195 He was "indefinitely suspended" after the Monsoon attack and wrestled maybe once before Mania in a multi-man match to hide him. You don't think if he wasn't injured they would've capitalized on his Rumble debut? I mean his 1st year under contract he was used very little, so I guess I needed to add "essentially" for the hard to deciphers out there.
@cowboyquebecanimations3068 Well he botched a lot versus shawn in that match.. He refused to lose Is a reasonable amount of weight as well. Didn't do himself any favors.
Jake was supposed to get the I-C title in 1987 but had drug issues. Bam Bam was supposed to get the tag titles with Tatanka but Nash and Michaels pulled a power play and got them instead.
@@CatsClaw44 Jake Roberts was supposed to have a run with Hulk Hogan. Problem was that even though Jake was the bad guy he was getting cheered alot. Killed his push. They don't want bad guys to get cheered.
@jonathanrife-rs7sf Yep. Then they turned him face and Jimmy Hart has mentioned in interviews that Honky Tonk Man was supposed to be a transitional champion in order to move the belt from Steamboat to Roberts. Jake was supposed to get it in either August or September of '87 but relapsed. It was supposed to be a continuation of their feud right before and through Wrestlemania 3 but Jake's issues caused him to miss the House Show matches.
Having a belt, especially the world title, isn't about getting yourself over. It's about being the public face of the company and getting the entire organization and talent roster over. This is a skill that guys like Bockwinkel, Flair, Hogan, Race, Thesz, Austin etc had but Piper, Jake and Andre didn't. "He didn't need a belt to get over" is just a cute line people use to cover up this shortcoming. Jimmy Snuka, as talented as he was, could never appear on Regis & Kathie Lee or Jay Leno and be perceived by the general public as a world heavyweight wrestling champion. Bruno, on the other hand, could do it in his sleep.
@chrishagins3309 I've been involved in pro wrestling for two decades. Not as a fan but as a worker (wrestler) and promoter. I've worked with many former wwe, ecw and wcw guys. I'm telling you right now most of the time when somebody has a belt it is to get them over just like the reason wrestlers have managers is because most wrestlers that have managers aren't very good on the mic but are good in the ring so the manager helps them get over with the crowd. The world champion yes is the face of the company but you can be just as big a star as the main Champion without ever having a title if you have the crowd in the palm of your hand either cheering for you or booing you it's when it's in the middle like indifference that you don't work out in the end or stay in the mid and lower card. Jake Robert's, Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, Andre etc are all huge legends that didn't need titles to be faces of company. Yes piper had IC title but that was more of a "thank you for your contribution" placeholder title reign. Not gonna argue with a "smark" but I appreciate your reply, I've said what I said, agree to disagree but a ton of people inside the business think exactly like I do on this subject. That being said at the end of the day we are all fans and can at least agree we love the business. Have a blessed day
@@danc3488the money was in Hogan. The pull ur talking about is simply drawing power. By the time Hogan stopped drawing as much in 91 Perfect was too banged up.
@@PatI-zg9gm Duggan and JYD I agree. I can't agree on DiBiase or Robert's. DiBiase aka the million dollar man may go down as the best heel in wrestling history. Roberts will go down as a top 5 character all time
Legends that they were, Race and Dusty were way past their prime to be champions. Same reason Flair didn't win the title in his second go in WWF/E in the 2000s.
In WCW and in Japan he used to wear that big helmet that had smoke coming out of it, he was a absolute animal and he got ruined all cause of hbk being a little baby, absolute travesty
Dusty Rhdoes is the embodiment of you don't need a title to make a name for yourself in the industry, He never won a title but his legacy still stands as one of the most inspirational figure in all pro-wrestling.
@@drunozeko4332 I'm so sick of seeing this. Vince "hated him" or "buried him". Yet, he paid Dusty plenty of money to be on each PPV, let Dustin debut on national TV in the feud with DiBiase, let him get counted out with The Undertaker during 'takers debut and feud with Macho King. If he got "buried" none of us should have any fond memories of him at that time and the polka dots have been used as a callback a handful of times over the years. He even still let him use the "American Dream" nickname instead of becoming the Red Rooster etc. and was even there at the same time as Akeem and Virgil, both gimmicks said to be attempting to make fun of Dusty. Vince didn't even have him do any degrading Kiss My Ass club type of stuff, just say you don't like polka dots.
@@drunozeko4332I don't know that he hated Dusty. If he did it was one way hatred. Dusty to my knowledge didn't spend much time bashing Vince. I think it was more of Vince letting guys know that he was the top dog and Dusty bent the knee to his credit. Man Dusty was so great, people just don't get how much he could make people love him.
After Beefcake was separated from Valentine to become "The Barber", they paired Valentine with Dino Bravo, but it was a bust. Agree Orndorff would've been a better choice.
Reed was supposed to win the IC belt, but didn't show up that night vs. Ricky Steamboat (who was leaving WWF to tend to personal matters), so Vince put the belt on Honky Tonk Man, who was a great IC champ.
@@AntonXul Agree. The only time period where Bret could work the mic well was during the Canada vs. USA angle where he was a heel in the USA. I didn't think he deserved the world title because of his bad mic work - no wonder McMahon was thrilled when gullible Bischoff took Hart's huge WWE contract off his hands. Bischoff was good at blowing Ted Turner's money.
King of the Ring was seen as equal to a title back in the 80s. Harley Race, Haku and Macho Man ran with it. It became a spring board to the upper midcard in the 90s with Bret Hart and Steve Austin.
I think there was an unwritten rule that if someone held one of the big three world titles they wouldn't win any of the others. Pretty much Buddy Rodgers and Ric Flair are the only two recognized as having done that for about thirty years.
That always seemed so weird to me that they all operated like that. Did they not want to get poached, or did they think a former champ from somewhere else winning in their company downgraded the other talent? It's crazy
Your engine did a great rendition of the old Bob Dylan classic "Knock, knock, knocking on Heaven's door!!!" It's good to have friends who are willing to help you when you are in a jam. Thanks for another great video!!!
Roddy Piper never getting a world championship in either promotion was criminal. He only managed to get a cup of coffee with the IC and US titles as well. And Vince like big men that were tall and muscular. They only hefty champ I can think of was Yokozuna and Mabel getting a cup of coffee because Vince lacked top heels at the time. Besides Bam Bam and Vader stars like Rikishi, Earthquake, King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang/Hakeem had championship feuds but never sniffed the gold. Vince outright sabatoged Snuka as well. He was getting bigger pops than Hogan and Vince couldn't have that. Hacksaw carried the 2x4 as far back as I can remember. He carried it with his long feud with Butch Reed and Ted DiBiase back in Mid South.
What I liked about Dusty was that he wasn't selfish and didn't abuse his power as a booker in the NWA. He didn't put the belt on himself a lot and allowed others to shine. Rick Flair benefited a lot from this.
He was very creative, but he made sure he was the “centerpiece” of nearly every feud with heels from 84 to 88. He was over for sure, but his ego, like Flair’s, was enormous.
Are you kidding. Rhodes won the NWA World Title three times, but when he was the booker, he always put himself over, won regional belts many times over, and would kick faces out of the territory if they got too popular and challenged him for #1 Face in the promotion. He was selfish, and also not a man of his word.
@michaelmarkowski204 3 times could have been 10 times in those days. The NWA title was once the title. What I meant by not being selfish is he could've chosen himself to be the leader of the company on so many occasions but chose to put others in that position instead of himself.
I remember Lex Luger’s rise and fall. Bret Hart was, at the same time, on a run very similar to Daniel Bryan’s as he lost his world title in a dubious way to Yokozuna only to have Hogan winning it. People were lukewarm to Lex as it smelled that he was shoved down our throats as the next top star while you have Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Shawn Micheals, Razor Ramon, etc being amazing well-rounded performers. Wrestlemania 10 outcomes pretty much sealed Lex Luger’s fate in WWF.
Luger also couldn’t cut a promo. WCW could mask it being more regional and having others on the roster who could do promos. But at the time, you had very little too tier talent in the Fed. The crowds were a different mix than WCW, and it just didn’t work out. They needed to just let Luger be himself and it would have worked.
honorable Mention: stacy keibler she was offered to win the women's title but she turned it down i didn't even know that until a few years ago she's the best.
Not everyone needs a title to be important Jake, Dugan Mr. Wonderful, Snuka, Dusty etc didn't need it. They were still big time draws and putting on amazing matches the were over. Mr. Wonderful I remember as a kid was my favorite "bad guy". he was pretty popular back in the early 80's and Vince jr. felt he needed Hogan to run w/ the title for a long time as they were pushing new territories, TV and spreading. So even though Hogan was the face of the Company throughout the 80's, there were still a lot of really good talents that put on amazing matches night after night and the crowd was behind them
Yeah, it really makes no sense to me that they only have one secondary title. That’s why the territories were so great. I know there was only one world champion in the NWA, but each territory have their own titles or versions of titles, such as the US title for the television titles, and there were various tag team titles. It seems like Vince didn’t recognize much of the talents resumes prior
@@michaelmarkowski204 yea, in old wwf only the IC & tag titles occasionally changed hands on Saturday morning wrestling shows like Wrestling Super stars(Honkey Tonk Man and Strike won titles on that show). But it was mostly the big pay per view of events that the titles changed hands.
Winning a belt in the 80s to very early 90s was rare and important. Many wrestlers were stars who didn't need a belt. Many feuds didnt need a title to be interesting, that's why it was better back then. Remember there were also a lot less titles around too. Context is important. Todays titles are merry-go-round of taking turns so often. I mean in the 80s you had only 6 people hold the WWE title. Now think how many have held that same belt over the last decade? Too many.
In the WWE Hall of Fame: Howard Finkel, Hillbilly Jim, Junk Yard Dog. Not in the HOF: Bam Bam Bigelow, One Man Gang, Ivan Koloff (beat Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Title). HOF is more of a "How much does Vince like you" or "Can you generate enough interest for Vince to induct you" rather than your actual career accomplishments.
If you’re a legitimate wrestling fan you know great in-ring action exists outside the mass produced WWE Walmart product (territories, WCW till 2001, etc)You might have to search farther, but you’ll find it alive and kicking even now too. Search far back and you’ll find wrestlers like Mr. Perfect, Vader, Macho Man, Jake Roberts, Doink the Clown (Matt Bourne), Bigelow, Slaughter, Dusty, Brad Armstrong, Windham; list goes on and on, of people who held gold. Did you know I finished watching an exciting 1970’s 2 out of 3 falls match between NWA champ Harley Race and Andre the Giant? Race slammed Andre!! Yes, it wasn’t just Hogan or Kamala (RIP legend). But at the end of the day we all love wrestling, that’s what ties us.
Bam Bam Bigelow never won a title however he headlined the most mainstream Wrestlemania of all time. A feat than Hogan, Rock Austin, Undertaker, Cena etc. didn't. Biggest mainstream Wrestlemania but certainly not the best.
I like the Bammer but he also headlined one of the worst Wrestlemanias of all time and one of the worst main events of Wrestlemania history. And he never got rewarded for lying down for someone who had no business even being in the ring.
@@N17Stu He was promised a big push. And he was paid as a wrestler. Wrestler should wrestle wrestlers. LT didn't belong in the ring and letting a wrestler job to him denigrated the business.
@@str.77 no it didn’t. Muhammad Ali, William Perry, Mr T, had all done business before and Carl Malone, Rodman, Kevin Greene, Tyson all did business after. It’s part of the business. And Bam Bam got paid main event money, no ‘reward’ for doing his job.
I remember when managers were fighting over who got to manage Bam Bam Bigelow when he was being PR'd early in his WWF career. I remember seeing his first cartwheel on TV 😂 oh it was awesome!
The only one I feel sorry for is Orndorf. The rest either had too many issues or were past their prime. Especially Harley and Dusty, who held the NWA title back when it meant more than the WWWF title. And technically, Harley Race did hold gold in the old WWWF, since he was NWA champion when the WWWF briefly rejoined the NWA, and Harley had some high profile title for title matches in WWWF rings against Graham and Backlund.
Bob was a midcarder, basically Piper's lacky. Sting was way past his prime. Same reason Race and Dusty didn't win a title in their WWF runs. Luna, I'm assuming you mean the Women's title? I could be wrong but in her run, they were rarely promoting the women's title during that era. Same reason Chyna never held it (although they gave her the IC title I believe). Jesse is a good one. He couldn't work for shit, but neither could Hogan, and he was good on the mic like Hogan was. Maybe his injuries cutting his career short factored in.
There's almost a bit of a grey area with Harley Race and Jim Duggan since that time the title of "King" did get passed around like a belt. Haku and Randy Savage were also the King for some time.
-I heard that Honky Tonk Man was supposed to be a “transitional champion” from Steamboat to Roberts, but Roberts’ drug problems put that plan to a halt. -I also heard that Bam Bam and I.R.S. Were gonna win the tag belts from the Headshrinkers at SummerSlam, but with Diesel gonna lose the IC belt to Razor, they wanted to keep him relevant (with gold on him), so had him and HBK win the belts from the Headshrinkers instead. Diesel and HBK were also mad at Bam Bam “stealing” the main event spot from them at WM 11. The Kilq really screwed over some talented guys.
That’s why championship had more prestige back then. Promoters knew that not everyone deserves or needs a title belt. Plus, there was only 2 singles titles back then
Well... as you said it, there were few belts... but that's why the crown for the King of the Ring was put on show: Race, Duggan, Haku got it... and even the Million dollar belt...
It goes back to the times when you didn't have to hold a title to be over with the fans or considered a good heel that kept defending it by any means. Now if you haven't won countless titles your career is seen as a failure by fans and even some wrestlers who are bigger marks for themselves. We went through a period of time when title runs would last only weeks sometimes days and occasionally less where people would rack up 10 plus titles won in just a few years. Too much emphasis is put on them having to have won something for their careers to mean anything. Let's not also forget there were far fewer champions in the WWF during the 80s and early 90s so not everyone was going to get their turn so to speak.
It was so weird. Also Sting was already known for wearing red white and blue to fight foreign heels. But Luger never did this so it seemed out of character to portray him as patriotic all of a sudden.
It was just a different time in the WWE when it came to championships before the attitude era. There were less titles so there weren't as many opportunities to win one. Wrestlers were trained more in character work and in ring storytelling back then. So being a champion wasn't needed for a lot of them to stay over.
That is on point. Guys like Roberts, Dibiase. and Steamboat didn’t need McMahon’s validation. They were already great, for years, when they arrived in the WWF. Their jobs were to entertain, and supply credibility, up and down the card.
Thanks for watching, make sure to subscribe to channel if you haven’t already for more videos. Let us know what we should cover in future videos, and make sure to drop a like to help get the video picked up by UA-cam’s algorithm🤘🏻👊🏻
Did Gillberg ever win gold
W 😊
One reason so many 80's wrestlers have no titles is because WWF was all about year long title reigns at the time.
Vader ran into the shovel that is Shawn Michaels. So many talented wrestlers got buried cuz of him. Vader was a beast. He could've been a monster heel champ and would've given a new dynamic in the world title scene cuz we were getting tired of watching the same 3 or 4 guys in the main event
He shouldn't of injured so many wrestlers in the WWF back then, after he injured taker he destroyed any push he was going to get
I mean, he debuted and immediately missed like 9 months for a shoulder injury. Swapped some muscle for more fat, everybody says how bad his stench was and then of course the Kliq. I think if they could've capitalized on his debut, squashing Gorilla Monsoon, they might've had him go on a nice run beating up beloved babyfaces and getting a quick run with the title. Even Jim Ross has stated, he did himself no favors either.
He was too stiff and he wasn’t washing his gear. Not to mention Sid was more over so they went with him
@@ChubbsTheCat 9 months ? He was still around after the Royal Rumble 1996
@@lexkanyima2195 He was "indefinitely suspended" after the Monsoon attack and wrestled maybe once before Mania in a multi-man match to hide him. You don't think if he wasn't injured they would've capitalized on his Rumble debut? I mean his 1st year under contract he was used very little, so I guess I needed to add "essentially" for the hard to deciphers out there.
Bam Bam was my friend and lots of fun, I got stories. He was a great guy and treated me like family.
He deserved better in the wrestling business. Very talented big guy and one of my favorite wrestlers.
The fact that Vader never won a title is crazy.
He was planned on by some random called shawn micheals made sure that didn't happened same with Tatanka in WM9
@cowboyquebecanimations3068 Well he botched a lot versus shawn in that match.. He refused to lose Is a reasonable amount of weight as well. Didn't do himself any favors.
Vader was a multiple time WCW champ.
No its vrazy
I have an image of him in my head wearing the eagle 😔
Just like actors who never won awards but still become iconic....the world of wrestling is the same way
I agree
Just like legendary music artists with the best classical songs ever without winning album of the year or ever appearing on the billboards
Dusty Rhodes and Jake Roberts never needed a title. They were already over.
I went back and watched some of Jakes old promos. That man was terrifying.
@@redneckreviews3016 his promos are on the short list for some of the greatest of all time.
You should be over to win a title, not win a title in an attempt to get over… So no that’s not a valid reason.
Dusty is a muti time NWA World Champion.
@@sabotagethefoolLike Dolph Ziggler or Jinder Mahal did.
Jake was supposed to get the I-C title in 1987 but had drug issues. Bam Bam was supposed to get the tag titles with Tatanka but Nash and Michaels pulled a power play and got them instead.
@@CatsClaw44 Jake Roberts was supposed to have a run with Hulk Hogan. Problem was that even though Jake was the bad guy he was getting cheered alot. Killed his push. They don't want bad guys to get cheered.
@jonathanrife-rs7sf Yep. Then they turned him face and Jimmy Hart has mentioned in interviews that Honky Tonk Man was supposed to be a transitional champion in order to move the belt from Steamboat to Roberts. Jake was supposed to get it in either August or September of '87 but relapsed. It was supposed to be a continuation of their feud right before and through Wrestlemania 3 but Jake's issues caused him to miss the House Show matches.
How many guys had their careers crushed by the kliq?
For sure,
Candido, Bigelow, Vader, Spirit Squad...
Cant blame them for the spirit squad thats 100% on Vince
@@platinumpagoda3079 one of these things is not like the others😂😂😂
Except for Dolph, Spirit Squad was trash. They buried themselves.
Shane Douglas
Hogan didn't want to put Jake over. I heard they had a match Jake was heel and crowd was going crazy for Jake. Hogan got booed.....
Some stars didn’t need belts to get over
Having a belt, especially the world title, isn't about getting yourself over. It's about being the public face of the company and getting the entire organization and talent roster over. This is a skill that guys like Bockwinkel, Flair, Hogan, Race, Thesz, Austin etc had but Piper, Jake and Andre didn't.
"He didn't need a belt to get over" is just a cute line people use to cover up this shortcoming. Jimmy Snuka, as talented as he was, could never appear on Regis & Kathie Lee or Jay Leno and be perceived by the general public as a world heavyweight wrestling champion. Bruno, on the other hand, could do it in his sleep.
@chrishagins3309 I've been involved in pro wrestling for two decades. Not as a fan but as a worker (wrestler) and promoter. I've worked with many former wwe, ecw and wcw guys. I'm telling you right now most of the time when somebody has a belt it is to get them over just like the reason wrestlers have managers is because most wrestlers that have managers aren't very good on the mic but are good in the ring so the manager helps them get over with the crowd. The world champion yes is the face of the company but you can be just as big a star as the main Champion without ever having a title if you have the crowd in the palm of your hand either cheering for you or booing you it's when it's in the middle like indifference that you don't work out in the end or stay in the mid and lower card. Jake Robert's, Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, Andre etc are all huge legends that didn't need titles to be faces of company. Yes piper had IC title but that was more of a "thank you for your contribution" placeholder title reign. Not gonna argue with a "smark" but I appreciate your reply, I've said what I said, agree to disagree but a ton of people inside the business think exactly like I do on this subject. That being said at the end of the day we are all fans and can at least agree we love the business. Have a blessed day
If only Mr. Perfect had won a world title 😕
If Hogan hadn't had as much pull as he did, I think Curt would've beaten him for it.
@@danc3488the money was in Hogan. The pull ur talking about is simply drawing power. By the time Hogan stopped drawing as much in 91 Perfect was too banged up.
I could of sworn he won IC gold
Perfect was so awesome!!
@@N17Stu Can't disagree with you at all. And yet he still had one of the best matches in history against Bret that year
I loved Dusty's vignettes in the Wwe where he was an auto-mechanic, a pizza delivery man, a taco restaurant worker and a butcher shop worker.
Ted Dibiase never holding a world title is insanity.
He "technically" was the world champ for a little bit. Andre gifted the title to him remember?
@@john-wh6mzhe also has a few title defenses on house shows
@@sickkachitproductionz9822 there ya go! See!
Dibiase, like Duggan, Roberts, and JYD, were better in Mid South, before they got to Vince.
@@PatI-zg9gm Duggan and JYD I agree. I can't agree on DiBiase or Robert's. DiBiase aka the million dollar man may go down as the best heel in wrestling history. Roberts will go down as a top 5 character all time
Legends that they were, Race and Dusty were way past their prime to be champions. Same reason Flair didn't win the title in his second go in WWF/E in the 2000s.
And the rock is past his prime and still look more like a star than the whole current roster
I disregard Rhodes’ run in the WWF, and even as the biggest mark for Race, I could have done without the crown and cape.
But yet Bob Backlund was champion during the 90s
Fun fact Jake’s original plan is to win the ic title however that plan was scrapped due to his neck injury from the guitar hit
True👍✌️
Because of Honky Tonk Man
Bigelow and Vader are two of my favorite of all time. But yeah, good list. Can't argue with any of them.
Nowadays, all of these guys would've had multiple runs with all of the belts.
I thought Harley Race was 63 when he entered WWF, not 43!!
Ya hard living
Looking like a senior by that point did him no favors.
Harley race was born 43 lol
😂😂😂
I still to this day believe putting the belt on Vader was a big missed opportunity. He was the monster of heels.
In WCW and in Japan he used to wear that big helmet that had smoke coming out of it, he was a absolute animal and he got ruined all cause of hbk being a little baby, absolute travesty
@@BlueLighteningGojo we got the Phycho Sid run instead and he was more over than Vader in 96
He shouldn't of injured so many wrestlers. After injuring taker he destroyed any Push.
Dusty Rhdoes is the embodiment of you don't need a title to make a name for yourself in the industry, He never won a title but his legacy still stands as one of the most inspirational figure in all pro-wrestling.
In nwa and wcw where he held many titles 🤦♂️ he won plenty of titles... just not in wwe
Well he won titles in nwa wcw etc but not in wwe (wwf)
Vince would have never let Dusty win a title. He hated that man that's why he put him in polka dots, and got angrier when he got over
@@drunozeko4332 I'm so sick of seeing this. Vince "hated him" or "buried him". Yet, he paid Dusty plenty of money to be on each PPV, let Dustin debut on national TV in the feud with DiBiase, let him get counted out with The Undertaker during 'takers debut and feud with Macho King. If he got "buried" none of us should have any fond memories of him at that time and the polka dots have been used as a callback a handful of times over the years. He even still let him use the "American Dream" nickname instead of becoming the Red Rooster etc. and was even there at the same time as Akeem and Virgil, both gimmicks said to be attempting to make fun of Dusty. Vince didn't even have him do any degrading Kiss My Ass club type of stuff, just say you don't like polka dots.
@@drunozeko4332I don't know that he hated Dusty. If he did it was one way hatred. Dusty to my knowledge didn't spend much time bashing Vince. I think it was more of Vince letting guys know that he was the top dog and Dusty bent the knee to his credit. Man Dusty was so great, people just don't get how much he could make people love him.
Mr. Wonderful would have made a great tag team partner with Greg Valentine.
After Beefcake was separated from Valentine to become "The Barber", they paired Valentine with Dino Bravo, but it was a bust. Agree Orndorff would've been a better choice.
Vader in his prime as heel, you'd think he's already carrying the belt. He exhuded some unstoppable confidence as champs are like.
Basically.
Bam Bam was a phenomenal big man
Hacksaw Jim Duggen won the US Championship in WCW which was great
He beat Austin in a squash match, lol
Then he found the TV title in the garbage
Bam Bam, Jake the Snake, Lex Luger, and Vader deserved better. They’re all legends of their era, to not be rewarded a title is diabolical.
Honorable mentions:
King Kong Bundy
Bad News Brown
Hercules
Butch Reed
I fully agree with Bad News Brown.
Agree. Bundy main evented with Hogan at WM 2. Five count was a great gimmick.
Reed was supposed to win the IC belt, but didn't show up that night vs. Ricky Steamboat (who was leaving WWF to tend to personal matters), so Vince put the belt on Honky Tonk Man, who was a great IC champ.
One Man Gang too.
Roddy piper, Owen hart and razor Ramon never won a wwe championship
Mr. Wonderful actually did win titles in WCW after leaving the WWF: the TV and World Tag Team titles.
Orndorff wasn't good enough on the mic.
@@michaelmarkowski204
Neither was Bret Hart as a face. He was a boring talker, but still got the belt thanks to his talent.
@@AntonXul Agree. The only time period where Bret could work the mic well was during the Canada vs. USA angle where he was a heel in the USA. I didn't think he deserved the world title because of his bad mic work - no wonder McMahon was thrilled when gullible Bischoff took Hart's huge WWE contract off his hands. Bischoff was good at blowing Ted Turner's money.
King of the Ring was seen as equal to a title back in the 80s. Harley Race, Haku and Macho Man ran with it. It became a spring board to the upper midcard in the 90s with Bret Hart and Steve Austin.
Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels screwed so many people from 80s through 90s.. it's sad!
They weren't responsible. They were following orders from management.
I think there was an unwritten rule that if someone held one of the big three world titles they wouldn't win any of the others. Pretty much Buddy Rodgers and Ric Flair are the only two recognized as having done that for about thirty years.
That always seemed so weird to me that they all operated like that. Did they not want to get poached, or did they think a former champ from somewhere else winning in their company downgraded the other talent? It's crazy
Your engine did a great rendition of the old Bob Dylan classic "Knock, knock, knocking on Heaven's door!!!" It's good to have friends who are willing to help you when you are in a jam. Thanks for another great video!!!
Sting and also Jerry King Lawler come to mind
Roddy Piper never getting a world championship in either promotion was criminal. He only managed to get a cup of coffee with the IC and US titles as well.
And Vince like big men that were tall and muscular. They only hefty champ I can think of was Yokozuna and Mabel getting a cup of coffee because Vince lacked top heels at the time. Besides Bam Bam and Vader stars like Rikishi, Earthquake, King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang/Hakeem had championship feuds but never sniffed the gold.
Vince outright sabatoged Snuka as well. He was getting bigger pops than Hogan and Vince couldn't have that.
Hacksaw carried the 2x4 as far back as I can remember. He carried it with his long feud with Butch Reed and Ted DiBiase back in Mid South.
What I liked about Dusty was that he wasn't selfish and didn't abuse his power as a booker in the NWA. He didn't put the belt on himself a lot and allowed others to shine. Rick Flair benefited a lot from this.
He was very creative, but he made sure he was the “centerpiece” of nearly every feud with heels from 84 to 88. He was over for sure, but his ego, like Flair’s, was enormous.
Are you kidding. Rhodes won the NWA World Title three times, but when he was the booker, he always put himself over, won regional belts many times over, and would kick faces out of the territory if they got too popular and challenged him for #1 Face in the promotion. He was selfish, and also not a man of his word.
Also, Dusty got a dose of his own medicine when McMahon made him do the polka dot gimmick with Sapphire and never came close to a WWF title.
@michaelmarkowski204 3 times could have been 10 times in those days. The NWA title was once the title. What I meant by not being selfish is he could've chosen himself to be the leader of the company on so many occasions but chose to put others in that position instead of himself.
This channel is 1 of my favorites.Thank you! 👍😂✌️
Not a 'bot'!😂✌️
Appreciate you man 👊🏻🤘🏻
Paul Orndorff never had a title in WWF, made tons of money chasing Hogan though.
Agree. If you're main eventing with Hogan, you were making much more money than almost anyone else.
I remember Lex Luger’s rise and fall. Bret Hart was, at the same time, on a run very similar to Daniel Bryan’s as he lost his world title in a dubious way to Yokozuna only to have Hogan winning it. People were lukewarm to Lex as it smelled that he was shoved down our throats as the next top star while you have Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Shawn Micheals, Razor Ramon, etc being amazing well-rounded performers. Wrestlemania 10 outcomes pretty much sealed Lex Luger’s fate in WWF.
Luger also couldn’t cut a promo. WCW could mask it being more regional and having others on the roster who could do promos. But at the time, you had very little too tier talent in the Fed. The crowds were a different mix than WCW, and it just didn’t work out. They needed to just let Luger be himself and it would have worked.
Surprising Mr. Perfect never won the world belt..love ur channel joe..💙
As good as Hennig was, he was not going to unseat Hogan, and the back injury curtailed him. His out of the ring antics were also far from perfect.
They were going to put the Tag Belts on Bam Bam at SummerSlam '94 but Shawn and Diesel got them.
Hacksaw was the first Rumble winner
honorable Mention: stacy keibler she was offered to win the women's title but she turned it down i didn't even know that until a few years ago she's the best.
You do realize she was eye candy? She couldn't wrestle. It's a good thing she never held a title. What an embarrassment to women's wrestling
Oh wow 👌
She couldn't wrestle for shit
Not everyone needs a title to be important Jake, Dugan Mr. Wonderful, Snuka, Dusty etc didn't need it. They were still big time draws and putting on amazing matches the were over. Mr. Wonderful I remember as a kid was my favorite "bad guy". he was pretty popular back in the early 80's and Vince jr. felt he needed Hogan to run w/ the title for a long time as they were pushing new territories, TV and spreading. So even though Hogan was the face of the Company throughout the 80's, there were still a lot of really good talents that put on amazing matches night after night and the crowd was behind them
SUPERFLY was the IC Champ in the 80's I'm pretty sure...
Some wrestlers didn't need a title to get over. Jake Roberts is one of them.
Definitely! But it would've been nice to see him with the IC title...He could've pinned anyone with that DDT!
Vader+BamBam would have been a killer tag team
2 BIG men who wrestled like a small man. That could have been awesome if they would have done it right
Legends
The biggest mistake was not making No Way Jose world champion
Harley Race was a king. That's something !
Yeah, it really makes no sense to me that they only have one secondary title. That’s why the territories were so great. I know there was only one world champion in the NWA, but each territory have their own titles or versions of titles, such as the US title for the television titles, and there were various tag team titles. It seems like Vince didn’t recognize much of the talents resumes prior
I liked the idea of the TV title because the title matches were on TV back in an era where you usually saw only squash matches on TV.
@@michaelmarkowski204 yea, in old wwf only the IC & tag titles occasionally changed hands on Saturday morning wrestling shows like Wrestling Super stars(Honkey Tonk Man and Strike won titles on that show). But it was mostly the big pay per view of events that the titles changed hands.
Bam Bam Bigelow should have defeated Marty for the IC belt.
@@DanielGarcia-us7tf too big for the IC title
You sound exactly like Sega, Lord X look him up your voices are identical it’s unreal even your editing format
Winning a belt in the 80s to very early 90s was rare and important. Many wrestlers were stars who didn't need a belt. Many feuds didnt need a title to be interesting, that's why it was better back then. Remember there were also a lot less titles around too. Context is important. Todays titles are merry-go-round of taking turns so often. I mean in the 80s you had only 6 people hold the WWE title. Now think how many have held that same belt over the last decade? Too many.
In the WWE Hall of Fame: Howard Finkel, Hillbilly Jim, Junk Yard Dog. Not in the HOF: Bam Bam Bigelow, One Man Gang, Ivan Koloff (beat Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF Title). HOF is more of a "How much does Vince like you" or "Can you generate enough interest for Vince to induct you" rather than your actual career accomplishments.
Someone here is in love with the phrase "the same cannot be said for"...
If you’re a legitimate wrestling fan you know great in-ring action exists outside the mass produced WWE Walmart product (territories, WCW till 2001, etc)You might have to search farther, but you’ll find it alive and kicking even now too. Search far back and you’ll find wrestlers like Mr. Perfect, Vader, Macho Man, Jake Roberts, Doink the Clown (Matt Bourne), Bigelow, Slaughter, Dusty, Brad Armstrong, Windham; list goes on and on, of people who held gold. Did you know I finished watching an exciting 1970’s 2 out of 3 falls match between NWA champ Harley Race and Andre the Giant? Race slammed Andre!! Yes, it wasn’t just Hogan or Kamala (RIP legend). But at the end of the day we all love wrestling, that’s what ties us.
Bam Bam Bigelow never won a title however he headlined the most mainstream Wrestlemania of all time. A feat than Hogan, Rock Austin, Undertaker, Cena etc. didn't. Biggest mainstream Wrestlemania but certainly not the best.
I like the Bammer but he also headlined one of the worst Wrestlemanias of all time and one of the worst main events of Wrestlemania history. And he never got rewarded for lying down for someone who had no business even being in the ring.
@@willisapril Mike Tyson at WM14 was a lot more mainstream than 11.
@@str.77 he did get rewarded. He got paid.
@@N17Stu He was promised a big push. And he was paid as a wrestler. Wrestler should wrestle wrestlers. LT didn't belong in the ring and letting a wrestler job to him denigrated the business.
@@str.77 no it didn’t. Muhammad Ali, William Perry, Mr T, had all done business before and Carl Malone, Rodman, Kevin Greene, Tyson all did business after. It’s part of the business. And Bam Bam got paid main event money, no ‘reward’ for doing his job.
I remember when managers were fighting over who got to manage Bam Bam Bigelow when he was being PR'd early in his WWF career.
I remember seeing his first cartwheel on TV 😂 oh it was awesome!
The only one I feel sorry for is Orndorf. The rest either had too many issues or were past their prime. Especially Harley and Dusty, who held the NWA title back when it meant more than the WWWF title.
And technically, Harley Race did hold gold in the old WWWF, since he was NWA champion when the WWWF briefly rejoined the NWA, and Harley had some high profile title for title matches in WWWF rings against Graham and Backlund.
Sticking belts on guys who were just big but couldn't wrestle like Andre and Khali but Vader got nothing
This a class that Dijak has now Joined
Dijak couldn't tie these guys shoelaces.
Dijak is bland.
@dhenderson1810 what 😂are you joking
Honorable mentions:
1. Jesse Ventura
2. Bob Orton Jr.
3. Luna Vachon
4. Sting
Bob was a midcarder, basically Piper's lacky. Sting was way past his prime. Same reason Race and Dusty didn't win a title in their WWF runs. Luna, I'm assuming you mean the Women's title? I could be wrong but in her run, they were rarely promoting the women's title during that era. Same reason Chyna never held it (although they gave her the IC title I believe). Jesse is a good one. He couldn't work for shit, but neither could Hogan, and he was good on the mic like Hogan was. Maybe his injuries cutting his career short factored in.
I normally just hit the like and enjoy the show. I always wondered who never had a tittle. Thank you!!!!!
There's almost a bit of a grey area with Harley Race and Jim Duggan since that time the title of "King" did get passed around like a belt. Haku and Randy Savage were also the King for some time.
That was one hell of a tag that Orndorff makes to Piper at Wrestlemania.
Brutus beefcake
Jim neidhart
Rick Martel
Good singles wrestler but only held the tag title
I will bow to your knowledge but I thought rick Martell got the ic strap
Nope. He had matches for it. I think again Razor Ramon if I'm not very much mistaken, but never won the IC title
@@Gazowen-qz5xyMartel was among a few that were equally great at single and tags. He had an excellent run as the AWA champ.
Jake was my first thought.
Jake Roberts shoula won IC Title in 1987, but was injured.
Bam Bam at least had a WrestleMania main event, which is a much rarer achievement
-I heard that Honky Tonk Man was supposed to be a “transitional champion” from Steamboat to Roberts, but Roberts’ drug problems put that plan to a halt.
-I also heard that Bam Bam and I.R.S. Were gonna win the tag belts from the Headshrinkers at SummerSlam, but with Diesel gonna lose the IC belt to Razor, they wanted to keep him relevant (with gold on him), so had him and HBK win the belts from the Headshrinkers instead. Diesel and HBK were also mad at Bam Bam “stealing” the main event spot from them at WM 11.
The Kilq really screwed over some talented guys.
That’s why championship had more prestige back then. Promoters knew that not everyone deserves or needs a title belt. Plus, there was only 2 singles titles back then
Bam Bam and Vader were both very underrated!
Jake the snake and dusty definitely should've won a title in their careers and finish the story
According to jake in Warrior's darkside of the ring, he was planned on winning from warrior only for warriors ego to screw that
@@cowboyquebecanimations3068 When would that have happened?
@cowboyquebecanimations3068 from Warrior ? He would never fit it
Vader is one of my favorite big men in wrestling. He should have been a top contender
Don't forget about Bad News Brown/Allen. He definitely needs to be in the video. More people should know about him.
Coage was one of my favorites. A true bad ass.
Please can you continue the "wrestlings greatest rivalries" playlist/series
I feel bad for some of these guys, but the fact that they are legends today says a lot.
Vader was screwed by shawn back in the days
Well... as you said it, there were few belts... but that's why the crown for the King of the Ring was put on show: Race, Duggan, Haku got it... and even the Million dollar belt...
It goes back to the times when you didn't have to hold a title to be over with the fans or considered a good heel that kept defending it by any means. Now if you haven't won countless titles your career is seen as a failure by fans and even some wrestlers who are bigger marks for themselves. We went through a period of time when title runs would last only weeks sometimes days and occasionally less where people would rack up 10 plus titles won in just a few years. Too much emphasis is put on them having to have won something for their careers to mean anything. Let's not also forget there were far fewer champions in the WWF during the 80s and early 90s so not everyone was going to get their turn so to speak.
Damn Vader managed to work 3 years for WWE between 96-98? The man worked three years in just two years time.
Two years and 10 months actually (January 1996-October 1998) so close enough
Jake should have won a belt, just so we could have witnessed Damien gaurding the belt.
Roberts was great, and didn’t need that gimmick.
Snuka was considered for WWF World Champ and I-C Title. Snuka and his party animal reputation blew his chances from getting either titles.
Your UA-cam Channel Is The Best Wrestle With Andy
Appreciate you bro 👊🏻
This list should be called Wrestlers Burried by Hulkamania
George "The Animal" Steele? I always thought he would've been a hilarious babyface World Title holder.
That is weird to compare Sid to Bam Bam. They weren't vaguely the same. Bam Bam was barely anything while Sid was a true main eventer.
Bigelow was an athletic ass kicker. McMahon misused a lot of talent.
Lex Lugar wins in our hearts
I heard Lugar was a huge jerk when he was wrestling. Apparently a very nice guy now.
Some audio issue in video I guess brother
Thats wild. Considering, all the jabronis who did win titles.
Considering how much Vince tried to force people to accept Luger as the new Hogan it’s crazy he didn’t even get a minute with any belt
Lex really is a natural heel. Having him abruptly go from The Narcissist to All American out of nowhere was always gonna be a hard sell
So true
It was so weird. Also Sting was already known for wearing red white and blue to fight foreign heels. But Luger never did this so it seemed out of character to portray him as patriotic all of a sudden.
Agreed. The Luger in the NWA(1989) was his wheelhouse. He also had a kick ass entrance song.
It was just a different time in the WWE when it came to championships before the attitude era. There were less titles so there weren't as many opportunities to win one. Wrestlers were trained more in character work and in ring storytelling back then. So being a champion wasn't needed for a lot of them to stay over.
That is on point. Guys like Roberts, Dibiase. and Steamboat didn’t need McMahon’s validation. They were already great, for years, when they arrived in the WWF. Their jobs were to entertain, and supply credibility, up and down the card.
Perfect, Luger and Robert’s are crimes that they never won world championships
Luger not winning at Slam 93 was what killed his WWF run was never the same
@@ajlegend7456also him celebrating after winning from count out ended his momentum
@@Jkhealth964 he looked like a nerd
@@Jkhealth964but he buried himself
Now that Jey Uso has won the IC title can you do a vid of two generation of wrestlers who have both won the same title
Bam Bam and Vader should have formed a tag team.
Legend has it that Bret’s politicking is what kept Lex from being the guy
The Great Khali has more title reigns in the WWE than everyone on the list combined
Let that sink in 😅
Khali was not used right in the WWE but had a good title run.
More people paid to watch than Bret Hart
It's enraged to hear That Wrestlers in the WWF never won a WWF titles at all
Many did not. But, there were also a lot of them who did.
Dusty was a dad first. He wanted to be able to go home as often as possible. He couldn't do that if he was touring with the championship.
Bam Bam was a great talent and an great human being!!
Annnnnnnnndy. Have A Blessed Weekend FAM✌🏼🫡
Have a good one bro👊🏻