Chapter 1: What is the main focus of the podcast episode?
Welcome to the Busted Open Podcast. This is Dave LaGreca. On today's episode, myself and Bully Ray talk Monday Night Raw and Oba Femi. And has the WWE gotten Oba wrong?
Chapter 2: Did WWE miss an opportunity with Oba Femi?
We'll explain right now on the Busted Open Podcast. This is the Busted Open Podcast. You asked two great questions, Bully. And the one question we'll tackle first is Obafemi. Because we talked about it. Do you go the long route or do you do the Hogan route? Where Hogan just came on the scene and at the snap of a finger, he's in the ring at Madison Square Garden against the Iron Sheik.
He caught lightning in a bottle. And it changed. That changed pro wrestling. I mean, if that moment doesn't happen, do we have WrestleMania? Does WWE go national? Like, that moment truly changed the landscape of professional wrestling.
Vince McMahon went all in on that. They talk about how WrestleMania was the big gamble. Vince McMahon went all in at the Garden on pulling the trigger that quickly on Hogan. And it was an overnight thing. Like, legit overnight. Austin wasn't overnight. Like, Austin said the 316 thing, but it took a couple more months. Hogan, overnight.
Yeah, and Vince McMahon pretty much went against everything that his dad was doing at the time. His dad wanted that uber white meat baby face, which he had with Bob Backlund. I think if it was up to Vince McMahon Jr., it would have been Superstar Billy Graham because Superstar Billy Graham was the very over-the-top charismatic personality plus.
Chapter 3: How did Hulk Hogan's rise impact WWE's direction?
Vince McMahon Sr. said goodbye to Hulk Hogan because he was doing Rocky III. Vince McMahon Jr. is like, I want Hogan back because he did Rocky III. Because now the mainstream, now the average show, everybody saw that movie. It was the number one box office movie that year. Why would I not want to bring him into the WWF? And he also went against his father's wishes where everything was territory.
You had your certain barriers that you did not cross. A line you did not cross. And Vince McMahon Jr. had no problem crossing those boundaries.
We talk about football sometimes, and you and Mark are the real football guys, about these head coaches today. What do they call, Dave, the numbers guys? They're analytical. Analytics. As opposed to like when a John Madden was a coach or, you know, any of those hard, you know, a Chuck Knoll back in the day, a Tom Landry. They went with their gut, you know?
If they felt like throwing that Hail Mary on first down was the deep pass, they went with their gut. Vince McMahon went with his gut. When was the last time, and we don't have to get into this whole conversation, when was the last time that pro wrestling really went all in on a gut feeling? And should Obafemi have been that all-in guy?
And maybe they are going to go all in maybe at SummerSlam and they're just stretching it. But there's something about Oba that if I'm sitting in the room, I would have already said this. Pull the trigger now. Pull the trigger now. If it doesn't work, we can get back on track.
Well, I think the question to ask is, all right, Oba Femi is hot. Lightning in a bottle. We have it with Oba Femi. Like, the biggest reaction probably the entire WrestleMania weekend was Oba Femi. I think the question you have to ask is, can Oba get any bigger? Can Oba Femi get any bigger? And if so, how? How does he get bigger? Does he get bigger by keeping the championship off of him?
Or does he get bigger by putting the championship title on him? I mean, I think that's the question you have to ask.
Dave, there are so many arguments for Oba. And all of them are right. If one of the boys were to call in right now and go, Bubba, if we would have put the championship on him already, where do you go from there? You're absolutely right. I understand that train of thought. But I also understand the train of thought of, holy shit, this guy is unique. It worked one time.
Is Obafemi the worker that Hulk Hogan was? No.
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Chapter 4: What does it mean to go 'all in' on a wrestling talent?
Ultimately, it didn't work because it's not what the WWF wanted with the Ultimate Warrior. They wanted much bigger things for the Ultimate Warrior. But the Ultimate Warrior is a Hall of Famer. He's a household name. Everybody knows who the Ultimate Warrior is. was without question. And it didn't work out.
But because they put so much into the Ultimate Warrior, dude, there's people who became wrestling fans because of the Ultimate Warrior.
And the Ultimate Warrior was considerably less talented, God rest his soul, no disrespect, less talented with his in-ring wrestling ability than Obafemi, by far.
And there was a moment, and the moment came last night, where this whole time, I thought I would agree that they were going the right direction with Obafemi. Don't put him right away against Roman Reigns. Don't have him win the title right away. Let's wait and see. Let's give it some time.
As I was watching that segment last night with Otis and the way he was tossing Otis around, I was like, you know what? Maybe they should have put the title around his waist. If you wanted a showcase, to me, that was a showcase. That's Otis.
He was tossing him around like he was a toy. I don't think Oba's... And I want to talk about Oba tossing around Otis. But I don't think Oba tossing around Otis is reason enough or even a valid... I wouldn't add it to the positive list of why you make him a world champion.
I think you did a much better job a couple minutes ago of giving all the reasons why you go all in and pull the trigger on Oba.
No, no, it's not a reason why, but watching him in the ring last night, I was like, this guy is...
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Chapter 5: Can Oba Femi's popularity be leveraged for WWE's success?
I have never seen Otis thrown around like I saw Otis thrown around last night. And you don't just throw Otis around. It has nothing to do with his weight. Obviously, 335-pound man. but he's also short and dense and low to the ground, and Otis is a wrestler wrestler. He knows how to make that 335 feel like 500. It's like Tommy Dreamer syndrome. He knows how to make that weight feel even heavier.
The powerbomb at the end... Difficult. tossing him the way he did out of the belly to back. Holy shit. And if you don't believe me, ask the expert on this show, Mark Henry.
He'll tell you what it's like to have unbalanced weight that high up on your body and then be able to throw it and propel it outwards as opposed to just dropping it because gravity is pulling Otis straight down and Oba is fighting gravity with his muscles and Oba beat Otis.
Gravity last night. Otis had hang time. I'm watching and he had hang time. When I'm saying bully, I saw that particular moment that you just described. I was like, this is a once in a generation athlete. Like, this is a guy that's not going to come around every day. And that moment when I saw him do that, I was like, I think I would have put the strap around his waist.
There's a term for that kind of strength. I don't want to use the term on the show, but it starts with a C. C-strong. I think you might know what I'm talking about. That's what Obafemi is.
I just, he has all the tools. Vince McMahon wanted to go national with the WWF, but he needed the right guy to go national with the product. Hogan was the guy. Why? Because Hogan had all the tools, the look, the presence, the charisma, the talk factor. He had everything. Larger than life. He was larger than life.
You look at old Hogan, you're like, this is like, it's like a superhero, like a comic book character come to life. I have that same feeling with Obafemi. I don't feel that way when I see Roman Reigns. I don't feel that way when I see Cody Rhodes. I love both those guys. Obafemi is one of those guys that comes around like once in a generation.
He has a certain aura to him.
God, he really does bully. Like... You build a team around Obafemi. You know, like certain football teams. You know, we're going to draft him number one because we can build a team around this guy. The WWE could build a brand around Obafemi. Now, is there a chance it doesn't work? Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What comparisons are made between Oba Femi and past wrestling stars?
Put him in the main event. Make him the star. Make him the face of the company. And put him out there to every possible show we possibly can.
I'm going to cut a quick little, I'm going to give you a quick little one-liner as part of a promo. Just let me know if you would be okay with this or not. If Oba were to say, with all due respect to Hulk Hogan, Hulkamania is no more, and Obafemi, and Obamania is running wild.
I wouldn't go there.
Fine.
Just because of the connotation with Hulk? No, just because I would want to make... I like Obamania. I don't want to compare him to anybody. I wouldn't compare him to anybody in the past. No problem. I would just make... I don't know what it is. I don't know what that... Like you said, that Hulkamania... And again, I'll say this for the thousandth time on this show.
There is no WrestleMania without Hulkamania.
I don't feel like anybody has become that... I'll just say the word mania. There was no Rockamania. There was no Austinamania. And I'm talking about quickly. There's no... Oba mania right now, or I don't know about right now, but two weeks ago, yes, there was an opportunity there. I would have loved to have seen them take a chance, take a risk.
Listen, I'm somebody who came on the air and said, let's give it time. I said that like, and understand that you add lightning in a bottle and But now that I'm watching it play out, especially what I saw last night and just the crowd reactions like we had in Vegas for Oba. But imagine if they made him the guy. During Mania Week, Oba was everywhere. Did you see Oba everywhere Mania Week?
Did you see him on all the talk shows and all? I didn't. But I think if they would have put Oba in that position and then coming out do the same thing, I'm telling you, I think you could get as close to Hogan as you possibly could with Obafemi.
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