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Barry Windham

Been following you since before the yellow TheSmarks message board, I always enjoy your rants.  That being said...

I just got a gig writing shoot interview reviews for an upstart website, and I'd like your opinion or even a plug if possible.

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/kayfabe-lies-and-alibis-shoot-interview-reviews/

This one covers Barry Windham reflecting on WCW in 1991. I also have a Lanny Poffo review that coversp why Randy isn't in the HOF. It's linked at the bottom of the
page above.

Hope you enjoy - from one fan to another!

Yeah, Barry is one of my favorite wrestlers ever from that era, but he's a guy who lost ALL passion for the business a long time ago, so I can see why an interview like this would be a disappointment.  He really should have been a WWE producer ala Michael Hayes by now because he had a brilliant mind for THIS BUSINESS and all the right connections.

Comments

  1. I really love the Barry Windham vs Ric Flair matches from 87. Good stuff.

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  2. And Ric was MORE than willing to let Barry have the title... if only.

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  3. God, that 1991 WCW timeline shoot was horrible. Barry looked hungover as could be and the host had to pry just about every single answer out of him. With the exception of the second London and Kendrick shoot interview, this was one of the worst I've seen in the past year.

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  4. Anyone know what WWF's plan for him was when he came in as "The Widowmaker" in what '89? He was in great shape then and should have been a big star coming off that hot NWA run

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  5. Why did he think Flair was fired in 91? The review implies he had an alternate opinion from the norm.

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  6. Scream09_HartKillerApril 23, 2013 at 12:27 PM

    It's Flair - if he's talking there's a 50/50 chance he's lying.

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  7. You can always make some sort of argument to push new stars and Barry hanging with Flair for 60 minutes across Everytown, USA did just that. However, as far as putting the title on him, no way he was ready to carry the promotion and all of the obligations that came attached with it in those days.

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  8. Not even with all the help he'd have gotten in 87? Both Flair and Dusty LOVED him. I'm not saying make Barry the face of the NWA, but a good 4-6 month title run (instead of Garvin?) would've cemented him up top.

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  9. You used the G-word, eeek! I hated Garvin's reign, so I'll give you that. I've always read that Barry just wasn't motivated to be "the man" as Flair says. You have to be a willing participant.

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  10. Yeah. That's why I use "if only"... I'm not thinking Barry would've become a legend, but he'd have fit in quite well in the late 80s-early 90s NWA main event scene. And made Flair's sudden departure (if he doesn't leave with Flair) a bit more bearable.


    Barry never was able to regain that full credibility after leaving the Horsemen... yeah, great worker, maybe a threat to a main guy, but never again the favorite to win any big match.

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  11. He sure does, but I was only referring to the part that says "the man". Windham not being motivated I've read in different articles from Metlzer and shoot interviews. Grain of salt of course, we are talking pro wrestling.

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  12. Very true. I guess I just don't see much of a difference in what Flair was doing and what Windham was doing at the time. Ric was wrestling 45 minutes and Barry 30, and Ric of course cut better promos, but still. Has Barry himself ever addressed this topic?

    Dude sure was awesome at the time.

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  13. I loved Barry and actually was happy when he turned on Luger to join the Horsemen. I guess at 13 I was already growing up to be a smark.


    Back to your original point, there's a huge difference between the two. First of all, the nwa champion was traditionally more of a heel. Flair worked great as heel, Barry was just ok, but better as the young pretty boy babyface. Secondly, promos as you said. Windham was terrible and couldn't sell a match with promo alone. The nwa champion had to sell matches around the country and having those mic skills were pretty important.


    Either way, we both agree, Barry was the shiznit in the ring in those days.

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  14. You should do the Kevin Nash youshoot. Hysterical stuff.
    "And then I told Scott, 'I'm in'. And he almost went to hug me, but he realized he was in the shower and we were both naked..."

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  15. He does... but when he goes positive, it's USUALLY truthful. And all he has for Barry is praise...

    (paraphrased) "Only man that could match me move for move, drink for drink, woman for woman..." That's exceptional praise from Naitch.

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  16. Scream09_HartKillerApril 23, 2013 at 2:17 PM

    If you pick up his bar tab he'll praise you in his next book.

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  17. Scream09_HartKillerApril 23, 2013 at 2:21 PM

    I still laugh at his Vince impression on the phone...."Big D!"

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  18. Certainly didn't grow up in that era and even watching some of his NWA/WCW stuff I just don't care for him. Maybe it's the mindset that I know he never got to the top level that shapes my view, but whatever.

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  19. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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  20. I bet that Windham drives some people nuts. Good reputation in the business, great look, hugely talented in the ring, well liked, able to get over as a face or a heel.... and just such a hugely chill guy that he never even seemed to be trying. For people who had to bust ass in the ring, play all the politics, and roid themselves up to try to have a good look, Windham had to have made it all look too easy.

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  21. I used to love the US Express. As a young fan, I got so mad when Volkoff and Sheik cheated to win the titles. Ah, good times.

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  22. Man, he was a work horse. His matches with Flair in 86/87 were great, but if the Flair Formula isn't your bag, check his heel work in 88 or his tag stuff with Rhodes and Pillman.

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  23. Yep, I think Nash is full of crap a lot of the time, but damn if he's not hilarious in the process. I could listen to him talk about anything out of character for hours.


    Blows my mind that we got "Serious angry Kevin Nash" in his WWE runs instead of "laid back awesome Kevin Nash" like we got in TNA and WCW.

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  24. He also has varied between calling himself, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan and Triple H the greatest of all time.

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  25. That may depend on how many beers deep he's in. I'm sure by the 12th beer, he's slurring his way to HHH being GOAT...you'd have to be drunk to think that.

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  26. So true. It's weird, because I readily acknowledge Hunter as a very good, even great, pro wrestler, but he's not close to the top tier, IMO.

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  27. Other than HHH, is that a really bad list?

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  28. I was about 10 then, and I really liked him the first time I saw him squash a jobber on Superstars. It probably helped that it was the first time I'd seen the Superplex and it blew my mind. I kept waiting for them to give him a feud (so I could actually see him against a 'name' guy) but then it never happened and he quietly disappeared and returned to WCW. I'm not sure he ever even had a non-squash match during that entire tenure.
    His best stuff from that period, though, was challenging Flair and then turning on Luger and joining the 4 Horseman. He never established a strong solo heel character, and you could arguably say that was true of his later career as well. Maybe they should have given him Jimmy Hart or Bobby Heenan as a manager and let him do a 'hired-gun' gimmick. That actually could have worked really well.

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  29. Yeah, seriously a chore to sit through. I love the timelines, too. Cornette's WWF '97 one is my favorite and Nash's '95 is a close 2nd. This one was such a piece of shit I almost couldn't be bothered to finish it.

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  30. Scream09_HartKillerApril 23, 2013 at 9:04 PM

    But if you want to kiss the ass of the hand that feeds you, saying Triple H is the greatest of all time isn't a bad idea.

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  31. He said Flair was more responsible than Herd in the scenario. IIRC He thought Flair should've just took his 350K a year offer and be done with it.

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