Jimmy Wheeler
Team Name: NWA World Champions
Well, you may have noticed we’re all posting our Survivor Series Dream Teams here on The Wrestling Mania. Well, you’ve probably gathered by now…I don’t exactly play with the modern era too well. So, here is my version with that all important old-school flavor.
I’m going to have an exclusively National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship team. Comprised of some of the greatest and most forgotten wrestlers to have held what was at one time the most prestigious championship in all of the world. Also given the fact I really liked the Wild Card format used in 1995, it makes for an interesting array of friends and foes.
Dick Hutton
Any team would be lucky to have this man as a part of it. With training from the likes of Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis, then winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and holding it for over 400 days after beating Lou Thesz. Hutton may not bring any flare to the team, but, if you want a solid competitor who can go the distance if it came down to a two-on-one or three-on-one situation, you’d want a man who could handle himself. Hutton is that man. The straight up no nonsense kind of wrestler that is so valuable. Some might think Hutton could double cross the team as he had intense feuds with other members, however, Hutton would want the win too bad.
‘Whipper’ Billy Watson
The second man on our list is the first Canadian born NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Normally when he is remembered though, it’s as the man who ended Lou Thesz’s six-year long streak. Watson held onto the gold for over 200 days before losing to Thesz. For a number of years Watson wrestled in England where he picked up their style of wrestling and incorporated it into his arsenal. Thus making him a very deadly opponent with a versatile array of moves. I shouldn’t forget to mention his amazing ability to connect with the audience, making it almost certain the fans will be solidly behind him. Better have eyes in the back of his head though, just in case one of his old feuds should rear it’s ugly head.
Édouard Carpentier
This man adds a real international dose of wrestling to this team, along with a bit of controversy. When this Frenchman won the title some states refused to recognize the change. In a rematch with Thesz the man he’d won it off still nothing was settled and recognition was split. The majority of minds were made up for them when Carpentier walked out on the NWA shortly after. He was known as the ‘Flying Frenchman’ as he brought a whole range of acrobatic moves to the ring keeping the fans entertained with them and his natural charisma. There’s no doubt Carpentier brings a real unique skill set in the midst of the other competitors on here and possibly could be the guy to throw whoever their opponents are off their game.
Gene Kiniski
To most modern fans he is probably just the referee who was locked in the cage with Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair in 1983. Of the five men on this team, Kiniski is without a doubt the wildest card of the group. There opponents could find they actually have an ally in him as he had intense feuds with three of his four team mates. Kiniski was a tag-team partner with Hutton though so they would have good chemistry and may-be enough of a connection to keep the consummate heel from walking out on his team. Then again like Hutton, Kiniski would want the win, but, that question would always linger. Over 1,100 days was the length of the ‘Canada’s Greatest Athlete.’
Orville Brown
We started with an American, and we’re ending with one. From Kansas Brown would be the first man to hold the NWA Title and he never lost it, unfortunately injuries would end his career. At his peak Brown was among the best, if not the best wrestler in the country. It was actually Brown who started unifying all the various World Heavyweight Championships, a job that Lou Thesz would finish off. Brown was also a great promoter and had a real mind for the business, in 1948 he was actually one of the six founding members of the NWA. With his incredible catch wrestling knowledge, his farm work strength, and his ability to head a promotion, Orville would have to be the leader of the team. The one who tried to get everyone on the same page and form a strategy. Having no real connection with any of the other members he would also have to play peace maker and act as the glue holding them together.
That would be my Survivor Series team. I would really hate to be apart of whatever team was facing them. Whoever it that team would be, I’d really hate to face them. Formidable just does not seem to sum up what this group of wrestlers would bring to the ring. Make your Grumpy Historian happy and tell us what your ‘Old-School Survivor Series Dream Team’ would be on the Facebook page or in the comments section.
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