Wes Murray-Bushwacker Luke
What exactly do any of us know about Wes? Nothing. What did anyone know about Bushwacker Luke? Nothing. Like Bushwacker Luke in the WWF, Murray has been in the fold in his respected sport for quite some time. Both have been fan favorites since day 1, for reasons completely unknown to all involved. Murray's craft on the court is as a super teammate who will does whatever his team asks of him. Luke's craft, similarly, is to give whatever the fans want for entertainment. Because of their ability to do that so well, they have hidden from the fact that both never anything positive in their respected sports, mostly because neither are the least bit interested in them (Murray's negative productivity % in PCTI3 and Luke from the video above). I compare Bushwacker Luke's legendary performance in this Royal Rumble to Murray's legendary PCTI 2 performance, both of which left fans and peers wondering if Luke knew he was going in the ring for an opportunity to compete for the WWF Championship, and if Wes knew he was showing up to play basketball.
Who was Rocky Maivia? A nobody. Who was Pat Higdon? An even bigger nobody. Who is The Rock? A legend. Who is The Spotlight? A legend. These two men are the poster children for what a nickname and speaking in the third person can do to a person's popularity. The similarities don't end there, however. Both do a legendary job at riding their wave of popularity to the top, despite being very mediocre in their respected sports. Both The Rock and The Spotlight survive on two specific moves, the set up (People's Elbow and The People's Backdoor Cut) and the finisher (Rock Bottom and the Spot(light) Up 3). My favorite comparison between the two though is how they are viewed among their fan base. The Rock, for the better part of his career has actually been a bad guy. For whatever reason, the fan base is so obsessed with him that they don't care, screaming and cheering on his behalf no matter what the situation is. Watch the video for instance. The Rock is verbally attacking one of the all time most popular wrestlers, the Undertaker, in this promo. Spotlight is similar in that sense. Ultra popular among his peers, Spotlight is actually a true villain at heart. Let's not forget, before meeting anyone, Spotlight immediately went on the attack, verbally berating one of (If not the) most popular member of PCTI, Ben Wilson. To both their credit, they have launched themselves into legend via a bad attitude, speaking in the third person, and having a great nickname.
Dan The Boy-Scott Hall
Eric Bischoff would be the obvious choice, but hear me out. Scott Hall is a career big mouth who made up for lack of skill in ring skill by being the organizer of the most dominant faction in wrestling history, the nWo. Scott Hall masterfully crafted the nWo and as the first member, was able to put together his unit with whomever he wanted, similar to what The Boy has done in regards to PCTI. Hall and Krow, because of their status as figureheads in their groups along with their big mouths, have been overhyped throughout most of their career (Hall winning the IC belt/Krow consistently picked higher in the draft than his pro % suggests), and look to be on the downside of their careers. Hall has been jailed numerous times and has gone on record saying he can't believe he is still alive. Krow has consistently said he feels his game has deteriorated from not very good in his prime to really bad, leading to question's as to if his career can continue to move on (Watch the video of Hall's life these days and think me after my PCTI 4 performance). Lastly, both Hall and Krow live off two unorthodox specialties that are out of the box, but ultimately very low % finishers-Hall with his "Razor's Edge" and Krow with his mid range jump shot. More people slipped off and out of the Razor's Edge more than any wrestler's finisher of all time. Krow's mid range, despite being his specialty, is a 30% shot at best. One thing you can't deny from either of these guy's-Both are very, very cool.
For the record, the first Scott Hall video is a GREAT vid if you have never seen it. They did an ESPN documentary stick of him and his pathetic life.
One would think a life lived as a popular figurehead that everyone loves would be enough to keep one happy. Despite being extremely mediocre in the ring, Hulk Hogan is the most popular wrestler of all time. For whatever reason, that wasn't enough to keep Hulk from turning on all the Hulkumaniacs at Bash at the Beach. Like Hogan, BC loves all the fame he receives from hosting the first two PCTI's, having history with many other players, and also having the big job interview pre-PCTI 3. After moving the tip time back an hour to accomodate his schedule, BC did not receive enough time to warm up, get loose, etc. His short memory resulted in forgetting the efforts made to make sure he could fully partipate, and immediately turned on everyone (Namely Krow and Murray), ridiculing and deamening them despite their efforts to support him. Additionally, neither Hogan nor BC really add much value in the ring and on the court. I would compare Hogan's big boot to BC's right hand (The two worst set up moves of all time), then the finisher of Hogan's leg drop and BC's back to the basket game (The two worst finishers of all time). The similarities are off the charts. More than anything, Hogan didn't mind turning his back on his fans, and neither does BC.
You can say two specific things to really compare the two-They were both born in the south.. And born to perform. Ric Flair made a living in wrestling with his ability to master his craft, despite some limitations. He was equally fantastic in front of the camera delivering a promo as he was an in ring entertainer. Not the best technician, however he mastered his craft in the ring with four moves that kept the crowd poppin'-The chop, the figure four, the cheap shot and best of all, the walk three steps after getting beaten up and faceplanting. Thompson is similar in the sense that he delivers great humor in his interviews, is constantly entertaining the camera during game's with his antics, and does four things on the court very well that make him a top candidate for consistent PCTI accolades-Shoot 3's, get offensive rebounds, shoot passing lanes, and infuriate the opposing team.
Anthony Hopkins-"The Enforcer" Arn Anderson.
There are so many similarities between these two I don't know where to start. Arn made a career off success as a team player and leader in the most popular stable of all time, the 4 Horseman. Similarly, Hops is the glue that holds PCTI's only stable together, the Quad Pod. Arn never wowed you in any facet of what he did outside of one thing-ENFORCING. Every success (There were a lot of them over the years) that Arn had was done uglier than it's ever been done before. His punches were ugly. His promo's were ugly. His spinebuster was uglier. He was ugly. Outside of looks, Hops basketball career couldn't be more similar. His shot is ugly. His defense is ugly. His game is ugly. All that being said, both catapulted their lack of skill in any facet of life into immense success and popularity. Arn had a stint as GM of WCW wrestling personnel. Hops is PCTI's director of player personnel. On top of everything, both are Enforcer's in their respected industries that tell it like it is and let people know where they stand.
There is one, and only one difference between Ravishing Rick Rude and Scott Donley. That difference is that Rude promotes his appeal to anyone that will listen. Donley takes a back seat (Or pays people) to promote his. Rude and Donley both LOVE the camera and think the camera loves them much more. To their credit, both athlete's deliver good promo's and are quality in the ring/on the court. Both take a completely different approaches when in the midst of competition than they do the pretty boy persona they portray. Donley plays hard nosed with very little prettiness in his game, despite being to produce in most facets. Rude is a natural street fighter with skills as a technician. Rude's ceiling was always a quality interconinental champ that never made the leap to World Champ. Donley's might be as an All-Tournament team guy. Whether or not Donley can make the leap to MVP remains to be seen, but the similarities are uncanny, stick.
Josh Stephens-Mr. Perfect
Four years ago, the last thing anyone would be doing was extending a compliment to Josh Stephens in any way, shape or form. However, in the past year, Stephens has gone from heavily criticized and extremely hated to intensely loved and envied by all. It has been said repeatedly that there is no player in PCTI as talented or as complete as Josh Stephens. He has been called superhuman at times for his ability to go out all night, perform in a girl, then come out and drop 30 pts on no sleep. Because of all that, he reminds me of Mr. Perfect, the man who, as the vignettes show, can do it all. Both are great at delivering promo's, however defer to their better half (Flair for Perfect/Hopkins for Abe) to do the talking for them. One thing I will say though off the record-For a guy with decent throwing form in football, Mr. Perfect had the most busted shooting/swinging form I have ever seen. In the wrestling ring, Perfect is even more similar to Stephens in the sense that everytime he stepped in the ring, he was the best in it. Although he didn't receive the same success levels that Stephen's did (Direct comparison is WWF Championship=PCTI MVP), Perfect was the top talent in any wrestling faction he competed in. RIP Curt Henning.
The obvious comment to this comparison is the ladies man persona that both HBK and Beas have received for good reason over the years. However, there is much more to this than the sterotype. When you talk about the sports of professional wrestling and basketball, one would think there would be a ton of athletes involved in each, respectively. Not so much. Beas in PCTI sticks out like a sore thumb athetically, a lot like Michaels did while he ran the WWF for much of the late 90's and early 2000's. Michael's used to run circles around guys like Diesel (Who played college hoops at University of Tennessee by the way), Razor Ramon (One of my all time favorites but a terrible technical wrestler), and Yokozuna, not only bringing athletic credibility to the matches, but carrying his opponent along with it. Beas is similar. When watching guy's like Krow, Murray, Hopkins and Orr struggle to dribble and run at the same time, hit wide open layups, and make a conventional inbounds pass, it helps to have a Beasley making circus shots around the goal, grabbing athletic rebounds at it's highest point, dribbling behind his back without it going off his back out of bounds, and most importantly-Showcasing legitimate body control. Both Michaels and Beasley have gone through phases of being huge heart guy's, shown by Michaels when Jose Lothario trained him to be prepared for his first title shot, which was hyped up as a "Boyhood Dream." Although a little different than a WWF World Championship, Beas made a living in HS football as a hard hitting, heart guy who left it all on the field. Different scenerio's, but can't deny the passion. Now that all that's over, let's be serious... It's really because they are both hearthrobs in their respected industries.
There are so many comparisons between these two it's not even funny. For those of you that don't know "The Man They Call Vader," I encourage you to watch the video of his world class moonsault, a move that is difficult for any wrestler, no matter what the size. Vader's ability to do this move at 450 lbs. showcased the natural athleticism that you're not used to seeing from a big man. Ben Wilson is no different. A very unassuming athlete, Wilson thrives on smooth, athletic moves that most from the opposition are not expecting, and should not be able to overcome. Vader's moonsault is a perfect comparison to Wilson's spin move because it combines a difficult move for any big, along with the fact that the both men's body size makes their move that much more effective, if no unstoppable. In addition to their athleticism, both men are terrible actors on the court/in the ring. Vader's inability to act when getting beat up kept him away from ever being a dominant in ring performer (In wrestling you have to execute offensively and defensively). Wilson's inability to convince refs he is getting fouled when he goes one on five to the lane has hampered him, along with the fact that he can't/won't/doesn't play defense. For those specific reasons, both are slightly overrated considering their natural abilities. Take Vader for instance-The biggest, strongest, meanest wrestler in the sport could match any guy half his size in athleticism. How could he not be the best? Has anyone ever seen "The Mastadon's" body punches he hands out? That alone is something no wrestler should be able to recover from. Now, let's look at Wilson. Dude is supposedly a knock down shooter with great size, athleticism, handle, passing and rebounding ability, and instincts. Why was Vader not a 5 time world champ? Why isn't Wilson an MVP candidate? It's confusing for all, but no one is to blame but Vader/Wilson themselves.
When you look at McKinney and Goldberg there are absolutely zero similarities whatsoever. Goldberg is a rugged and tough dude with a mean mug like no other. He is outrageously muscular with the biggest neck I've ever seen. Enter McKinney. He is pretty and finesse looking. He has a lean, in shape build with absolutely zero neck muscles (Or any muscles for that matter). All that being said, there are similarities. Unfortunately, McKinney stripped his reputation as a silent wonder in PCTI 3. Let's compare Goldberg's debut and fantastic post match interview with Mean Gene. Would anyone have been surprised if McKinney's response would have been similar if BC approached him for an interview in PCTI 2? There is also an uncanny resemblance between McKinney and Goldberg's in ring/on court skills. Both are ultra athletic guy's that make absolutely everything look HIDEOUS. Both of them only have one part of their games that is pretty (McKinney's shooting form/Goldberg's spear), which makes absolutely no sense why the rest is so hideous because both truly are great natural athletes. In Goldberg's case, it can be debated that the reason his is so ugly is because his lack of in ring experience. I'm still wondering what McKinney's is since he has been playing basketball since he was a child, and at this point I don't think I will ever have an answer for it. Both are equally as indimidating, too.
I'm going to preface this by giving a little Smo/Wrestling background to understand a little further why I chose Sting for him. This was partly emotional. I spent the better part of my life (Agest 7-16) obsessively following wrestling. For any of you that haven't recognized it, when I get into something, I won't rest until all of my friends are equally as into it as I am. Smo put my efforts to the test for most of those nine years by continuously refusing professional wrestling in every way possible. He wouldn't budge no matter what I told him. I could invite him over for a pay per view and offer pizza, donuts... Anything. He would say no just to spite me. Then came the nWo terrorizing STING. I'm not sure how it began, but once Smo caught wind of the black crow character, he would call me every Monday night before Nitro with the same comment of "Do you think Sting will be on Nitro tonight?" Keep in mind, we were no longer kids at this point. At 15 years old, Smo was like a kid in the candy store everytime Sting's name came up. It was a man crush. His decision to watch on Monday night 100% hinged on if I thought Sting would show up (I always said yes because I wanted him to watch). Now that the history lesson is over, let's get into some reasons why the comparison is similar. First off, Sting is the only wrestler, possibly of all time that made a LONG career in wrestling always being a face (Or good guy for you idiots). The closest thing he came to a bad guy was when he felt betrayed and walked away from Team WCW in Fall Brawl War Games, because Luger didn't believe that the Imposter Sting was really an imposter. Smo is similar. Never, in the history of this guy's life has he ever not been popular amongst his peers. He has plenty of rivalaries, but all of them are because he doesn't like the person, not the other way around. Enjoy the video knowing that on this night at that very moment, Smo was grinning ear to ear watching his favorite athlete in action. Compare Hogan's face when the real Sting shows up to BC's face when Smo punks him out. BC (Who by the way was compared to Hogan) fears Smo the way Hogan feared Sting. BC and Hogan always had a comment for everything, making a living on constant babble and quantity trash talk to berate opponents. It was refreshing for Hogan to meet his match with Sting, a guy that chose to punk him out repeatedly with little, but quality words and actions. This is no different than the way Smo has consistently made BC look like the chump that he is, exposing him for everything in a way that the Bambi can't fire back at. Thank you Sting and Smo for your efforts in piping down two of the world's all time big mouths. Lastly, there are absolutely no similarities in their on court/in ring games outside of the fact that Sting made a living taking on more than one opponent, something Smo repeatedly does with his obsession with protecting the rim and stopping fast breaks. Oh yeah, and a Smo Splash is just as lethal as the Stinger Splash.
This concludes my week long and favorite write up. Thank you to everyone in PCTI for being ridiculous enough to deserve comparison sticks with fake, steroid induced, physcotic entertainers.
