RIP Mr. Wonderful

[Regan MacNeil]

 

[TigerVols]

Not who I was expecting.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Not who I was expecting.

Does the one you were expecting look a lot like the mortician who did the funeral for this one?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

As I said on the wrestling thread, Orndorff's heel turn in ‘86 was awesome, even though you could see it coming. I remember being a little confused since he had just been a heel the year before. It was the first heel turn that I remember seeing. The storyline of him wanting to be as popular as Hogan was solid, to the point of him coming out to “Real American” and doing the cupped hand for the cheers. And I still think his feet touched the floor first during the SNME cage match. (Imagine that being dissected on Twitter if it happened today).

He also memorably main evented the first WM with Hogan, Piper and Mr. T.

His later career was OK, although his WCW run was mainly known for beating up Vader backstage and his Pretty Wonderful team with Paul Roma (that song, ugh!) RIP.

 

[Songbird]

I was WWF first and foremost but would watch WCW on TBS if nothing else was on. Always enjoyed his shtick. He played a good heel.

 

[Tarheel316]

As I said on the wrestling thread, Orndorff's heel turn in ‘86 was awesome, even though you could see it coming. I remember being a little confused since he had just been a heel the year before. It was the first heel turn that I remember seeing. The storyline of him wanting to be as popular as Hogan was solid, to the point of him coming out to “Real American” and doing the cupped hand for the cheers. And I still think his feet touched the floor first during the SNME cage match. (Imagine that being dissected on Twitter if it happened today).

He also memorably main evented the first WM with Hogan, Piper and Mr. T.

His later career was OK, although his WCW run was mainly known for beating up Vader backstage and his Pretty Wonderful team with Paul Roma (that song, ugh!) RIP.

That was a phenomenal heel turn, one of the best. I can picture him delivering that piledriver on Hogan.

 

[Starman]

Here's Mr. Wonderful with a dozen red roses for ... you.

 

[Splendid Splinter]

Didn’t he beat the crap out of Leon White one time?

 

[mpcincal]

I started following pro wrestling right about the time they had Cyndi Lauper getting involved, and the "War to Settle the Score" on MTV, which led to Wrestlemania, and of course, Orndorff was a big part of that. It was his attack on Hulk Hogan later and then Roddy Piper's triumphant return that began to introduce to me the concept of heel and face turns, so Mr. Wonderful was a huge part of me understanding the whole crazy business.
Wrestling fans might look at him now and consider him a nondescript musclehead, but he was a good worker and could tell a story in the ring. And his rants were rather entertaining (I always loved his second firing of Heenan). He had to do some silly stuff in WCW, but he was able to drag some semblance of entertainment out of it.
Speaking of WCW, Mick Foley had a cool story in his first book. Management decided to do a program with Foley and Orndorff; it was kind of a minor thing and didn't last long, but Foley did his usual excellent job of selling for Orndorff and they had a pretty good feud. A short time after the program ended, Orndorff approached Foley to tell him he had just signed a new contract with WCW. Orndorff said it would probably be his last run (I think it was), and he thanked Foley because he probably wouldn't have gotten an offer if he and Foley hadn't worked together so well.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Didn’t he beat the crap out of Leon White one time?

Yep, Orndorff beat the hell out of him. Something you wouldn’t expect when you see each other’s size.

Paul Orndorff and Vader | The Messy Fight That Led to WCW Departure