He may have not won the big one, but he has had a remarkable career that has surpassed a lot of the careers some previous World Champions have had. Not to mention how much more talent he had compared to previous World Champs.

Your argument for Hennig over Bret for the big push is null due to the fact that Bret wasn't a good heel, Perfect was. They needed the next big babyface and I am sure Perfect could have done well, but when you have Bret mixed in, it was only logical.

 

Its amazing what can be found online if you look and read!!!

(1991–1992)After losing the Intercontinental Championship, Hennig spent the next year plus, trying to recuperate from his injuries. While recovering, he acted as Ric Flair's "executive consultant" during Flair's two WWF Championship reigns. He also worked as a color commentator on WWF Superstars of Wrestling following Survivor Series 1991 until the Superstars before the next Survivor Series, acting as a suitable heel foil to Vince McMahon's play-by-play.

This can also explain why WWF chose to then put the IC title on Bret Hart at Summerslam.

In 94 Perfect was set to start another feud with Luger (this time with Perfect as the heel) following WrestleMania, but plans were changed when Perfect's back problems flared up again. He left the WWF in the spring of 1994

With constant issues it is hard to get a real run going and to be given that first push to world title glory.

Hennig had minor rolls after that but no momentum like he could in the late 88's.

On February 10, 2003, Hennig was found dead in a Florida hotel room. He was 44 years old. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office declared acute cocaine intoxication to be the cause of his death.[29] His father said that steroids and painkillers also contributed to his death

The honest truth is in his prime he was comparing to the likes of Warrior and Hogan and was never going to get a real reign in this time even though he was used to match up against them on Superstars and sat night main event and such, as WWF knew he could carry a match but not look inferier to the likes of hulk.

It all comes down to timing and that did work for hennig. When he went to WCW the main event was filled with Flair, Hogan, Sting, Savage, Giant, Goldberg, Hall and Nash just for starts. So nowhere for him to fit!

 

serious back problems - there is your one reasonable argument.

 

Said it before and I'll say it again: Curt Hennig was the greatest wrestler to have never won the WWF Title.

I always thought he was just a little bit ahead of his time. He came in while Hogan was still numero uno and when it was still all about the musclehead freaks, but there was perhaps no better heel than Mr. Perfect because he could back it up all the time. He played a chickenshit heel when things called for it, but he could work circles around the best in the WWF at the time.

In my mind, the only thing that killed Curt's chances at being a top guy was the back injury he suffered at the turn of the 90's. I think if he was given a run with the Title, and if it was timed with Bret's own babyface rise, we'd be YouTubing a few other classic Hitman/Perfect matches over the WWF Title instead of just the Intercontinental and KOTR crowns.

There was one match he had with Hogan in 1990 that's on the Mr. Perfect DVD set. He works his ass off to make Hogan look good.

 

Said it before and I'll say it again: Curt Hennig was the greatest wrestler to have never won the WWF Title.

Wow fun debate. You are probably right but DiBiase and Rick Rude are not far behind. I have said this before on here Perfect, DiBiase or Rick Rude should have had a run with the winged eagle if only for a few months. I think a Hogan/Perfect or Hogan/Rude or Hogan/DiBiase main event at WM 6 would have been awesome. As great as Hogan/Warrior was at the time (I was 9 years old so I loved it) looking back that match was God awful. One of my loudest pops ever was when Taker beat Hogan at Survior Series in 1991.

 

Curt Hennig didn't achieve more whilst in the WWF/WCW because of his injury problems, I believe the main injury which hindered him was a back injury which retired him on numerous occasions. I think he was one of the wrestlers who had insurance policies with Lloyds of London and he cashed in on it at a point where doctors told him to retire. Then after getting a settlement, he came back out of retirement. This led to Lloyd's stopping all insurance on pro-wrestlers.

The thing about drugs is a tough one to call because although his death was credited to a cocaine over-dose and it being widely accepted that steroids and painkillers added to his demise, there was never anything to suggest that drugs affected his work or that his bosses knew about it or had a problem with it.

An interesting side note to all of this is that he actually held the AWA world title, a belt that has largely been forgotten by the modern pro-wrestling fan.

 

I think Hennig would've got a world title run in the mid 90's especially in the WWF if it wasn't for his back issues. it's hard to say about WCW later in his career though. too many big names, but the title did get passed around like a hot potato. still hard to say, Hennig was really bad at that point due to his back problems, but who knows what could've been without them.

 

Also not everyone needs to be pushed at the top if they're good. Back then the midcard meant something and that was because of credible stars being there for long periods of time. It was the best place for him

 

My favorite AWA and WWE wrestler of all time. It sucks that he had so many problems. R.I.P.

 

Didn't know Hennig had injuries. I guess that's reasonable enough to believe why he never held a World Title. Also I guess he was just in the business at the wrong time as well.

 

Combination of being primarily active during the 'Hogan' era and of course the injuries which have already been detailed.

 

There is quite a simple explanation and that is Curt Hennig was at his peak at a time when Vince McMahon loved the type of wrestler who was a big, bodybuilder type regardless of actual in ring ability like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Had Curt Hennig been in his prime in between 1993 and 1995 rather than 1989 and 1991 and at a time when WWE were pushing smaller wrestlers with in ring ability like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart over bigger wrestlers then he would have been a multi time WWE champion.

It says a lot when a wrestler can be the top heel in WWE but yet also be a mid carder as Curt Hennig was but much like Jake Roberts, Ted DiBiase and Rick Rude he was a truly great heel that unfortunately worked in the wrong era for him to truly shine. Can you imagine how WWE could have been in The New Generation Era with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker as the top faces but with Jake Roberts, Rick Rude and Curt Hennig around as top heels to work with and imagine how those heels would have shone.

I've always believed that had Curt Hennig have come back in 1994 and gone through with his planned feud with Lex Luger then he would have probably have been the one to take the WWE title from Bret Hart before losing it to Kevin Nash although i don't believe it would have been booked the same way as Nash/Backlund was. It was a shame that when Curt Hennig did finally get a decent run without injury again it was in WCW as it was at a time when The New World Order were at their peak and Sting/Hogan was the one and only main focus for a year and a half going into Starrcade.

 

Good post and great points. Hennig with a healthy back in 1994, even if it was technically passed his prime, would have still be much better than most of the roster at that time... Bret - Hennig had brilliant matches (Summerslam 91 is amazing, as well as KOTR 93). I can only imagine how awesome a WWF Title feud between them could have been.

 

He was supposed to main event Wrestlemania 6 vs Warrior. He would beat Hogan for the title and then drop it to Warrior as a traditional transition champ

Unfortunately, the Hogan vs Perfect main events did pretty lousy in terms of drawing ability, so they just said fuck it, ended the Hogan vs Perfect feud and decided to have the first ever face vs face main event

 

That is simply not true. In mid 1989, Vince started to build Warrior towards Hogan, by having him face Andre to make Warrior even more credible. Both Bret, Hogan and Warrior have claimed that the plan for Hogan vs Warrior was laid out well in advance. PErfect just did not fit at the time, he was being pushed as job fodder to hogan and Warrior, first given credible wins on the road over Bret, Tito among others

 

Perfect did some great stuff as a performer and a broadcaster, he was one of the greatest IC champs ever and brought real prestige to the belt. That's a pretty good achievement in the top wrestling fed in the world back in a really popular era. Not everyone should be compared to the Hogans and Warriors when you look back on them.

Plus you can't judge someone retrospectively on the amount of titles they won. Guys like Jake and Piper didn't need titles to be over and sell tickets.

Perfect made everyone he was in the ring with look awesome with his tremendous selling, and he put over Bret Hart big time at Summerslam even though his back was killing him.

As others have said, it was his big back injury and drug problems that screwed him.

Besides, we still got the greatness that was 'Rap is Crap' and Hennig totally owning the ridiculous 'Master P'.

 

arguably the greatest worker ever, but because he didn't have the "look" vince put a glass ceiling over his head that he was never able to shatter

 

Hogan vs Warrior was basically the equivalent of a 9 year old playing with two action figures. Except the older action figure just barely puts the younger action figure over.

 

Fantastic quote.

 

Hulk Hogan flexing those political muscles of his in the back. Hennig was supposed to win the Rumble of 91

 

Could be, but Meltzer himself was the guy who came up with the figures that explained why Perfect wasnt the champ at the time

And you can probably figure out who Meltzer prefers

 

He is one of my all time favorites. Loved watching him come to Memphis to fued with Lawler for the AWA title.

 

If Hennig hadn't been plagued with back problems, I think he could have been a WWF Champion. He was a popular performer (with fans and other wrestlers), talented and incredibly versatile. Personally, I think that Hennig should've been given the WWF title in 1993. After his feud with Ric Flair in January 1993, he should've won the Royal Rumble and faced Bret at Wrestlemania IX. I'd have loved to have seen Mr. Perfect against Randy Savage in 1993. That could've been one Helluva feud.

 

Savage or Henning V Bret Hart for the winged eagle at Mania would have been epic.

 

The title actually meant something back then and guys held it for long periods of time. hennig might have deserved it as much as anybody but between mania 5 and 9 how many guys actually held the title?

 

Back problems and Hogan's politics. I think he absolutely should have been champ. Well at least I have my Mr. Perfect Mattel Figure on display with the Winged Eagle around his waist.