The Heels

[Shon Maxx]

I picked up "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels" recently, and thus far, it's a pretty good read. It profiles heels from all different eras, telling their background, feuds, and reasons that they were hated.

Those featured who are in LOW:

Buddy Rogers, Gorgeous George, The Sheik, Mad Dog Vachon, Johnny Valentine, The Destroyer (I didn't know he was a heel but this works great for my fed!), Killer Kowalski, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens, Ric Rude, Curt Hennig, Masked Superstar, Bob Orton Sr., Mike Dibiase, Larry Zbyszko, Don Muraco, Iron Sheik, Ivan Koloff, and Nicolai Volkoff.

A few missing names surprised me. No Ted Dibiase (The Million Dollar Man should have been an easy entry), Ox Baker (who the public blamed for at least 2 deaths in the ring), or Ed "Strangler" Lewis (who was mentioned in several profiles, but didn't have one of his own.

Some other entries would fit in well on LOW. I don't think they all would, especially the vintage guys, because many are one-dimensional brawlers. I mean, how many combinations of 'punch, kick, face rake, can you do?

Anyways, here are some that I'd love to see in LOW. I left off the obvious ones that people always mention (Piper, Rasche) or are untouchable at the moment (Edge, Randy Orton):

The Spoiler
KO Koverly
John Tolos
Adrian Street
The Zebra Kid
Pat Patterson
Jake Roberts
Bad News Allen
The Great Mephisto
Billy Edwards



Overall I'm enjoying reading it, and I hightly recommend it to those who like reading about those who love being bad.



Take care,

Jay

[tombraider]

wow never heard of ko koverly.otherwise good list bladeflyer.

[Shon Maxx]

Koverly sounds like a KO Keller-type of guy. Back in the days, closed fists were Very illegal. Throw in a guy who specialized in those moves, and you've got an easy formula for a prick in the fans' eyes.



Take care,

Jay

[tombraider]

ala moe of the three stooges. ;D

[scarface]

Zebra Kid ?

[Shon Maxx]

George Bollas was the first to wrestle under the Zebra Kid name, which was inspired by the folds in his skin after losing weight. He was a big, vicious guy who could move pretty fast.



Take care,

Jay

[scarface]

bladeflyer said:

George Bollas was the first to wrestle under the Zebra Kid name, which was inspired by the folds in his skin after losing weight. He was a big, vicious guy who could move pretty fast.



Take care,

Jay

Thanks

[mft]

Thanks for the post bladeflyer. It definitely sounds interesting...may have to check it out since I love the history of wrestling

[tystates]

Well don't know how I didn't see this thread just a little below mine, with the exact same subject even. I'm sure I will enjoy reading this one.

[Shon Maxx]

No problem, Ty. Psychotic minds think alike. I'm trying to find more info on Zebra Kid since he seems like an interesting character (of course that's only based on the fact that he's a big guy who moves fast, but I love wrestlers who go against stereotypes).



Take care,

Jay

[stephenvegas]

I just got this book today from Barnes and Nobles. It looks awesome. It was put out by the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and lists the top 20 heels of all time and, as mentioned earlier, 10 of the top 20 heels are in LOW including the top 4 heels and 8 of the top 10 heels of all time.

This is where the wrestlers from LOW rank on the top 20 heels of all time according to this list:

#1 Buddy Rogers
#2 Gorgeous George
#3 The Sheik
#4 Mad Dog Vachon
#7 Johnny Valentine
#8 The Destroyer
#9 Killer Kowalski
#10 Harley Race
#13 Nick Bockwinkel
#17 Ray Stevens

Now I just need to decide if I am going to choose this or the Terry Funk book as the next wrestling book I read- I think I'll probably pick this one and then read Funk's book.

[JM Punk]

I just posted about this book in the LOW section since I noted haow 4 of the top 5 are in the LOW sets and 10 of the top 20. I too was kind suprised about Ted DiBiase and Ox Baker missing. I was sorta even expecting the Terrible Turk to be listed with the pioneers.