NXT Minus 6: Wrestlers Misremembered

Bradley Jay brings you a special NXT Minus 6, where he takes a look at wrestlers horribly misremembered by today’s fans, including two that impact NXT!

I wrote this when I was still posting stuff to a Facebook page, long before I had a column. Although I have edited the content, the original order has not been tampered with. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and look at six wrestlers horribly misremembered by current wrestling fans.

Honorable mention: Dusty Rhodes. My friend and collaborator, Other Brad, thinks modern fans only remember Dusty as the dancing, fat guy in polka dots. I think his memory is more secure, if only for his “son of a plumber” promo.

6. Terry Taylor: I’m not claiming he was world champion material, but the guy should have been a star. He was good looking, athletic and solid in ring. Then he became the Red Rooster, and the rest is history. If you think I’m wrong, go ask Kerwin White how hard it is to outlive a bad gimmick.

5. Bushwackers/Sheepherders: They began their career as violent, hardcore lunatics and are now remembered more for how they walked to the ring than what they did in it. Along with the Moon Dogs, they deserve to be recognized as two of the godfathers of hardcore wrestling. 

4. Jerry Lawler: Back in the day, the only person in Memphis bigger than the King was the other King. Every Monday night he packed the Mid-South Coliseum and battled every top heel Jimmy Hart recruited to take him down. He was the pile driving, fire throwing King of the ring with one of the most lethal right fists you’ve ever seen. He is rightly remembered as one of the best color commentators ever, and a lover of puppies, but if people only knew…

3. Jimmy Hart: The Mouth of the South began his career as the prototype of a deeply-hated chicken shit manager. Death threat riot causing hatred. His long-running feud with Jerry Lawler ranks as one of the best ever. Now he’s more widely remembered as a hyper happy face, Scrappy Doo to Hulk Hogan’s Scooby.

2. Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco: They are legit hall of famers, accomplished champions and serious in-ring technicians. Aaaaaand they’re also Vince’s stooges best remembered for slapstick incompetence and wrestling in evening gowns. Hey Vince, the NFL would never ask Dan Marino to wear a F$#%ing dress!!!

1. Kamala: Yes, it was racist. No, the gimmick would never happen today. But in the 80’s, Kamala was scary AF. I’m talking “be afraid when he walks to the ring & you have an aisle seat” scary. He’s #1 because the belly slapping goofball he became is as far removed from an African savage as you could possibly be…so much so that the two characters never should have had the same name. This is the Kimala I remember. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdKGdacb_oU

RIP James “Kamala” Harris, 08/08/2020