I think Dom looks fine now, I don't know why the hell they didn't put and keep him under a hood until the heel turn with that literal baby face but for a cocky chickenshit heel I think his look actually works. In kayfabe I think It's less that hes suddenly tough as that hes more street smart and willing to go further or cheat more. And I can't dock the kid for having shitty tats simply because I would have to similarly dock like 70% of the workers under the age of 30. I feel like an ugly sleeve and long tights is 2023's version of a mullet and face paint.
There's an interesting story about wrestling nepotism in the 70s that actually directly ties in to modern AEW and recent events. So historically speaking, Tennessee was promoted by a Nashville guy named Nick Gulas (along with the Welch/Fuller family) who actually kinda built the bedrock that the legendary Memphis territory sat on. All through the 50s, 60s and most of the 70s, he was basically the VKM of Memphis. I'm a little fuzzy in some parts and going to leave a ton out before and after to keep this somewhat brief, but definitely look it up because it's quite interesting and had a huge ripple effect on wrestling as a whole.
Anyways... Nick had a son named George, who was 6'5 but gangly as hell and just the most uncoordinated, goofy, unimposing, childlike dude imaginable. He once got busted for solicitation twice, in the same day, by the same cop. He's often called the worst wrestler of all time by those who worked with him. Nick also employed a handsome and charismatic young blonde promoter-turned-wrestler named Jerry Jarrett. Guess who Nick wanted to put the belt on and push? The fans predictably hated George, so much so that he was once attacked by one and had to be saved by Harley Race, and even through the filter of stringent kayfabe it was obvious that he was getting preferential treatment over the guys the fans actually wanted to see. Crowds started to dwindle, but Nick kept on with a stubbornness that would make Vince blink. So Jerry (and most of the boys) can obviously see this is going to kill what was one of the most lucrative territories in the country and hatch a plan. They moved out on their own, with Lance Russell and the TV contract jumping ship with them. I forget exactly how long, but I want to say in under a year Gulas was out of business and the upstart Memphis promotion was drawing huge crowds to the mid south coliseum to see this kid everyone was talking about named Lawler.
Hilariously, Jerry's son turned out to be a natural baby face that got over with the Memphis fans right away and is still entertaining us to this day as one of the few who can throw a proper worked punch. Choke on that slap nuts.
Topic: The Official Professional Wrestling Thread (Read 42717 times)