I will start off by admitting that I was a full-fledged Hulkamaniac back in the day and will probably always be one.
I trained, prayed and ate my vitamins- and when “Real American” would start playing I cheered for the Hulkster to get to the ring and rip his shirt off before ripping into his opponent. I bled yellow and red and couldn’t wait until he hulked up, gave them the big boot followed by the leg drop for another victory. His persona allowed professional wrestling to become what it did in the 80s and certainly planted the seeds for all of the success it has enjoyed since.
You cannot overstate the contributions of Hulk Hogan as an icon to the industry (and beyond), but I will not argue that he is more on the overrated side when it comes to his actual wrestling. It was not uncommon that many of the bigger personalities tended to be a little overrated as wrestlers.
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So, how about the other side of the coin? Which wrestlers in the 80s were caught in the shadow of Hulk Hogan? Which were worthy of a shot, but never quite received the push or title reign that they deserved? Here, in no particular order, are Five Underrated Wrestlers of the 80s:
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
In the late-70s into the early-80s, Steamboat made a strong impression in the NWA and Mid-Atlantic territories winning several individual as well as tag team titles. A career-long babyface, Steamboat had the reputation as a strong worker who produced outstanding matches.
In 1985, he moved on to the WWF (now WWE), was given the nickname of “The Dragon” and switched his ring attire to long tights and a martial arts gi to accentuate his Asian heritage. Steamboat continued to grow in popularity through feuds with Don Muraco and Jake Roberts. In late 1986, it seemed that Steamboat was finally going to get his big push. I still remember being horrified when Randy Savage smashed Steamboat’s throat with the ring bell.
In January of 1987, Steamboat returned to prevent Savage from a similar attack on George “The Animal Steele” which resulted in a match between Macho Man and The Dragon at Wrestlemania III for the Intercontinental Championship. In what is still considered one of the best matches of all-time, Steamboat defeated Savage to take the title and he seemed to be on his way.
It is reported that several weeks after winning that title, Steamboat asked Vince McMahon for some time off to be with his wife who was expecting their first baby. This didn’t sit well with Vince, and instead of going on his intended long-run with the belt, Steamboat was forced to drop the title to The Honky Tonk Man in June. Honky Tonk went on to hold the belt for a record 64 weeks after that. After Steamboat came back from the birth of his son, he had some great highly-rated matches, but was never again given the chance he deserved to become a megastar.
Good post, I love old school wrestling memories and thoughts
I wouldnt consider Steamboat, Perfect, Rude, Snake, or The Von Erich’s underrated they are loved by all (and I think most were brought up during the USF Fantasy Wrestling Draft .. not sure though)
Underrated for me are really good wrestlers who people wouldn’t immediately come up with when a wrestling fan named their favorites or ones they remember
Give me:
Magnum TA
Paul Orndorff
Nikita Koloff
Greg Valentine
Shane Douglass
Lance Storm
Super Calo and The Yeti lol
I actually considered including the first 3 guys you mentioned who were all personal favorites of mine: MagnumTA, Mr. Wonderful and the Russian Nightmare. They probably should have at least all been on the honorable mention list.
I was not implying that these wrestlers were never adored by fans, it was more that they never received the big time push that they probably deserved. Thanks for reading and commenting.
I was raised on AWA so I would have like to see The High Flyer, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunsel go further than they did. Greg’s father Verne was also a favorite.
Like I mentioned, I started off on AWA as well. The High Flyers are another example of a strong tag team that never really received the opportunity for individual glory.
The AWA was the first live wrestling match I was able to attend as a kid. Had front row seats and it hooked me in to wrestling even more at a young age. Baron Von Raschke, The Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon, Rock n Roll Buck Zumhoff, Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan, The Road Warriors, Jerry Blackwell, Nick Bockwinkle, Shiek Adnan El Kasey, the list goes on and on (and so do the great memories!)
good list, at first I thought no way Ricky is underrated, and then the Von Erichs, but I see what you mean. They were so talented they should have been as big as Hogan but weren’t.
Yes, that is the angle I tried to use. Who deserved a much bigger push than they ever received. There are certainly different ways to go at it and underrated is very subjective to begin with. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Where’s CoCo B. Ware or Jimmy “Superfly” Snukka?