The 2009 Boards.ie Draft (Picks thread)

Meltzer wrote:

"I went to a lot of shows in Mexico he was on and he always worked very hard," recalled Meltzer. "He was a better heel than the main event heels in WCW and the WWF at the time. He was one of the greatest heels I ever saw. He was a tremendous performer

Love Machine Art Barr


One of the best heels in Lucha Libre and one of the biggest wastes of talent in the history of wrestling, one half of los Gringo's Locos and the inspiration for Eddie Guerrero's character was not only a brilliant technical worker but a phenomenal overall worker. Winner of heel of the year in the 94 Observer awards as well as a 5 star match was part of the heel group of stars that launched PPV in Mexico. Delighted to have gotten my first choice opponent for Mystico so late


Second half of his mask vs. mask match with Blue Panther

Nikita Koloff and Barry Darsow



So first, a little explanation for this one. Koloff and Darsow (wrestling under the name Krusher Khrushchev) tagged in the 80s and were co holders of the NWA World Tag titles, defending them under Freebird rules with Nikita's "uncle" Ivan.

Nikita Koloff



Koloff was a much bigger star than his being selected this late in the game would suggest and as a seventh round pick I'm absolutely delighted to have him. He was really solid worker and was capable of excellent matches when in with the right opponent. He was booked in the Main Event of Starrcade 86, one of the biggest shows in wrestling, after Magnum TA's injury, which proves that hes a guy a booker can rely on no matter what the situation. Needless to say he and Flair had a really really good match that night. Whats most striking about looking back at that match is the heat that he gained that night. It was absolutely unreal and at one stage he was attacked by an irate fan. People just don't get tha kind of reaction anymore.

Perhaps the greatest indicator of Koloff's standing and the respect in which he was held in the business was the fact that Vince was constantly trying to sign him during the 80's. It was even rumoured that he was offered an imediate run as IC champion eventually culminating in a massive feud with Hulk Hogan and later he was offered a feud with Jake Roberts, at the time one of the biggest stars in the world. However Koloff showed his loyalty and integrity as a person by sticking with the NWA, believing that his run with Magnum TA would do huge business (this never materialised due to Magnum's career being cut short dur to a tragic injury). Koloff became US champion around this time as well.

Koloff's versatilty is shown in the fact that the biggest run of his career was as a face, when he and Dusty Rhodes formed an alliance for a number of years. At that time Rhodes was THE star and putting Koloff with him shows how highly the bookers thought of him. He quickly got massively over and embarked on a long run at the top where he was one of the most beloved babyfaces in the NWA and early WCW. His in-ring skills got better and better and one of he was a major part of the first Wargames matches that is one of the few matches to take place in north America to receive 5 stars from Dave Meltzer. He also had compelling feuds with all the top stars of early WCW, with the Sting feud being particularly memorable, especially for a really good chain match at Starrcade. For 3-4 years he was a main eventer with the promotion and had historic US Title (he held the belt for a record 11 months) and TV titles. Why he was never booked as NWA/WCW champion is a mystery to me , given his uniqueness at the time, but I certainly would have no problem booking a guy of his calibre in the Main Event of my show.

So there you have it, another brilliant all-rounder to add to my roster. I have several options and ideas as to how I'll book Nikita, given that hes equally adept as heel or face. With a solid match guaranteed whenever he performs he will certainly not look out of place at the top of my card and finding a natural opponent/s for him will be relatively easy.

Barry Darsow.



Darsow is a pick I'm delighted with for several reasons. Hes wrestled under a bewildering number of personas over the years. If I'm looking for a mid-card comedy heel I can have him work as Repo Man. If I want a ready made tag team I can keep him and Koloff together and have a classic foreign heel team. His most popular persona however was as one third of Demolition, wrestling as Smash and all going well thats how I'll use him. Similar to Bubs' Malenko/Saturn pick, I can make a later selection that shouldn't be too sought-after later in the game to get him the tag partner I want for him.

Adding a big man like Darsow to my steadily growing tag team scene adds another dimension to things. Certainly matches between Demolition and the Freebirds or Rock n Roll Express would be dream matches that have never bee seen before. Again they can be booked as menacing, monster heels, or ass-kicking no-nonsense babyfaces.

Steve Williams and Johnny Ace


A great tag team from All Japan in the 90's, Dr. Death and the head of talent relations are in my opinion the best dominating tag team available and I'm delighted to get them now. Steve Williams was a legit tough guy who the Braw for All was made for in the WWE to get him over. Incredibly strong and a great big man he was no slouch either. 3 5 star matches (2 with Johnny) and 4 other WON awards speak to his brilliance. Honestly, I only know Ace from his current position in the WWE but any man who's good enough to have tagged with Kenta Kobashi and Steve Williams who has a match of the year has to be great value at this stage

Dr. Death video with clips of his time with Ace


Roster
1. Hulk Hogan
2. Ultimate Warrior
3. Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid
4. Mistico
5. Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn
6. Naruki Doi and Mashato Yoshino
7. Art Barr
8. Dr. Death Steve Williams and Johnny Ace