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Who are some legends that have been beyond forgotten?

8K views 55 replies 22 participants last post by  Mr. Socko 
#1 ·
Idealstranger has done a great job with forgotten legends. But who are some legends, for whatever reason, that have somehow been totally overlooked. They might get occasional mentions on someone's list or spotted on a you tube clip, but do not get the love they should.

I was thinking about this yesterday as I was remembering some of the great fueds of my home area and I thought of the legendary Jackie Fargo. Unless someone grew up down here or is looking up Lawler, that guy has truly gone off the radar.

Who are some guys like this, that younger fans might be interested in doing some research on? Guys so off the radar that even Starnger probably won't get around to covering? Of course their are a boatload of guys like this from the 40's, and 50's. Feel free to mention anyone from any time period.

Here are some I thought of....Stranger excuse me if you have covered, or plan to cover some of these guys, just feeling really nostalgic tonight...

Sputnik Monroe: Great southern territory worker who helped usher in racial equality in the turbulent south.
Barron Mikel Scicluna: While a jobber in the WWF for a while, still had a very colorful and meaningful career
Tojo Yammamoto: Probably one of the greatest "foreign heel" characters of an era.
Sweet Daddy Siki: A touring African American star who wrestled just about everyone, but often under the radar.
Phil Hickerson: Probably best (for better or worse) known as PY Chu Hi in the World Class area, but a steady star in the 70's and 80's who helped develop alot of guys and was part of a great tag team with a young Dennis Condrey.
Billy Jack Haynes: It seems crazy that I am even typing his name here the guy was so over in the 80's in Portland and during a WWF run.

Just a few.....
 
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#3 · (Edited)
From what I understand, Junkyard Dog was over big time in Mid South. Many might not regard him as a legend due to not having much success in WWF or WCW but he was 1 of my favorites as a kid. I remember my eyes watering when I heard how he died. IIRC, he was either going to his daughters graduation or coming from and fell asleep behind the wheel. Just watched an old ECW PPV from Georgia in 1998 and it shocked me at how over he was with the fans when Joey Styles introduced him (along with "Dirty" Dick Slater, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong and somebody else).





Dude, wrestling is bigger than WCW or WWF. There have been plenty of guys who should be recognized as legends from the territorial days that people don't consider legends because they didn't hit it big in WCW or WWF. Guys like Bobby Eaton, The Rock N Roll Express, Tommy Rich, Eddie Gilbert, Bruiser Brody, The Shiek, "Ice Man" King Parsons and plenty of others are legends but people who are so short minded that they limit their wrestling knowledge to Attitude Era, NWO or guys who are widely acknowledged that they forget others who did their thing in the business before it became mainstream.


So, are you saying a guy like Tommy Rich or Austin Idol are not legends?
 
#6 ·
Off the top of my head...and this is pretty easy because most of the other posters around here simply weren't around or don't care to look backwards.

Thunderbolt Patterson
The Crusher
Kamala
Mad Dog Vachon
Ray Stevens (for the love of god kids, look up Ray Stevens)


I could go on.
 
#9 ·
Austin GOAT

What does that have to do with this conversation?

50 years from now, I won't remember Leo Messi for shit because I don't know who the hell he is.

We're talking about wrestling, forgotten legends in wrestling and because you didn't start watching until 1998, you have this weird way of thinking that guys are only legends if they worked Wrestlemania or drew massive ratings. Ever cross your mind that wrestling wasn't always a global attraction and many memorable moments took place in these territories that Vince has since bought all rights to, which likely eliminates the chance of younger fans to ever witness it?

Besides, you can't say 50 years from now who people will remember. Can't even say what you'll remember.





Can't be a legend if you're forgotten? What the hell kind of thinking is that?
 
#20 · (Edited)
You just proved my point. You have no clue who some of these guys are? I can assure you as someone who actually watched Hickerson he is a legend and wrestled more main events than 90% of guys in the history of the business .

No offense but this is the kind of attitude that drives longtime fans insane.
 
#14 ·
Arguable depending on the POV. Sweet Daddy Siki is for sure a legend who provided inspiration for the likes of Superstar Billy Graham and broke colour barriers as a black man being well received by fans and working ME slots.
 
#18 ·
But who say every guy who competed in the 60s and 70s is a legend?

The fact that you only became familiar with Flair in 01-02 leads me to believe you know nothing about wrestling before 1998. And it has nothing to do with age. I don't know, I figure the internet, Youtube and torrents is the perfect way to find out about a particular wrestler and what he was like. And by 2001, Flair had become a mockery of what he originally was. He pissed on his legacy because he needed the money.

The fact is, and you did this in the Peter Maivia thread, your knowledge of certain guys is limited to whatever WWE says. Nobody is saying every guy in the 60s or 70s is a legend but I'd bet my left nut that you know nothing about the guys me, 777 or the OP are even naming. Because if you did, you would realize that they were not mid card talents, but accomplished wrestlers back in a time where professional wrestling wasn't limited to 3 companies. We're talking guys from the territorial days and unless you experienced it, you can't say whether they are legends or not just because you've heard of them. Not to mention, many of them passed away before you even know what wrestling was.
 
#21 ·
austin316 G.O.A.T is ignorant to the history of wrestling (although he's not alone on that point) and probably not worth time debating wrestling before the late 90s (not sure if I'd want to debate late 90s - present wrestling with him either), I found that out a while ago. Shame so many users on this forum can only talk about the 3 or 4 most pushed wrestlers ever. Guys like Bill Dundee, Austin Idol, Jake Roberts, Nick Bockwinkel, The Free Birds, Dick Murdoch, and many others who never were the main event of WrestleMania ARE professional wrestling legends. And YES there are legends who performed under the main event.
 
#28 ·
1980s-Tito Santana
2000s-Kofi Kingston
.......Words cannot describe how hard that hit me.

People may call Road Dogg a legend in thirty years time as he was one half of a generation defining tag team which to be fair is pretty impressive.

Can't mention any stars from before the 80's as I've never paid much attention to that era bar the obvious pop culture osmosis of Sammartino, Thesz,Buddy Rogers Etc. But from the 1980's I'd like to mention Don Muraco, Magnum T.A. Nikita Koloff, Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff and Stan Hansen(Not in Japan though). All pretty big names who now are little more than afterthoughts because they don't get rolled out for "Legends Battle Royale" and the like. I often wonder had T.A. not been in the car crash would Sting have made it?
Tag teams that get very little love are the Midnight Express (Condrey&Eaton/Lane&Eaton), The Rock&Roll Express(DAT HOT TAG!) and The Freebirds(considering "P.S." Hayes is so in with the McMahons this is frightening). It's a shame tag team wrestling has gotten so bad recently as these guys were draws in their day.
 
#29 ·
1980s-Tito Santana
2000s-Kofi Kingston
.......Words cannot describe how hard that hit me.

People may call Road Dogg a legend in thirty years time as he was one half of a generation defining tag team which to be fair is pretty impressive.

Can't mention any stars from before the 80's as I've never paid much attention to that era bar the obvious pop culture osmosis of Sammartino, Thesz,Buddy Rogers Etc. But from the 1980's I'd like to mention Don Muraco, Magnum T.A. Nikita Koloff, Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff and Stan Hansen(Not in Japan though). All pretty big names who now are little more than afterthoughts because they don't get rolled out for "Legends Battle Royale" and the like. I often wonder had T.A. not been in the car crash would Sting have made it?
Tag teams that get very little love are the Midnight Express (Condrey&Eaton/Lane&Eaton), The Rock&Roll Express(DAT HOT TAG!) and The Freebirds(considering "P.S." Hayes is so in with the McMahons this is frightening). It's a shame tag team wrestling has gotten so bad recently as these guys were draws in their day.

Im really tired so I might have misread your post but did you call Kofi a legend?
 
#33 · (Edited)
I am not sure if most of these guys would classify as legends.Sure they gave us many great moments but legends?I am not really sure.

Bill Jack Haynes wrestled at the greatest PPV of all time(IMO)
Scicluna was a WWE hall of Famer long time back
Tojo-Haven't seen him live but I have read he was the dirtiest player ever


Ed 'The Strangler' Lewis-I have always been fascinated by him.My great-grandfather believed if he could have booked Ed in atleast a few matches,he would have made it big.Too bad,our family left the business but the interest in pro-wrestling runs in our veins.
 
#35 ·
I am not sure if most of these guys would classify as legends.Sure they gave us many great moments but legends?I am not really sure.

Bill Jack Haynes wrestled at the greatest PPV of all time(IMO)
Scicluna was a WWE hall of Famer long time back
Tojo-Haven't seen him live but I have read he was the dirtiest player ever
Each and every one of these guys had a major impact on the biz. Heck I can go on and on about every one of these guys. What really baffles me is this...if you don't know much about these guys how the heck do you know if they are a legend or not? I do and I grew up watching them, every one of them is a legend. Case closed. Why are we so snobby about the term? It's a freakin figure of speech.
 
#41 · (Edited)
I'm going to go with Dick the Bruiser. I know he's a decently big name with older fans here in Indiana. But other than that I've never really seen/heard a lot of people talk about the guy.

Georg Hackenschmidt was another name to come to mind. Him and Frank Gotch deserve a shout out. Simply historic names.
 
#49 ·
I was going to say Dick the Bruiser, too!

I think the problem with this is that unless you experienced wrestling live, most times these guys are just names on fuzzy video. It's really the connections to the characters that makes someone feel like this guy or that guy is a legend, but you don't get that connection unless you lived through their era.
 
#42 ·
Freddie Blassie
Jake Roberts
Billy Graham
Tito Santana
Dick Murdoch

And to some extent... BOB BACKLUND
 
#44 ·
I've been recently working my way through the various Portland wrestling videos, and two guys who definitely were Portland legends, but not regarded that high in other areas were Rip Oliver and Playboy Buddy Rose.
 
#46 ·
When talking about the biggest stars of all time or the best ever Terry Funk is a name that always seems to be missing on the lists and then you could name people like Nick Bockwinkel, Barry Windham, The Great Muta, Bobby Eaton, Stan Hansen, Nikita Koloff and Tommy Rich as forgotten legends.
 
#53 ·
its quite simple... the guys with the biggest fan bases in the present will be remembered the most in the future... bigger fan base = more topics in the future, more references, more likely to get video packages, more likely to be mentioned or brought back to shows = there candle will burn longer as people who dont know these guys or are too young to have been around will do the research going by seeing topics on them, seeing recaps of them on shows or them being brought back as BIG TIME PLAYERs.

big example being The Rock most young wrestling fans tuning in from say 2005 onwards wont have a clue who many of the big names are from the past, but the WWE will name drop there biggest past stars who they know had a huge fanbase to get interest or bring them back or release a dvd knowing it will sell. kids well see this and check them out then become new fans... the ball keeps rolling.
 
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