20 WWE Superstars And Their 80s Counterparts
As the classic saying goes, what's old is now new again.
The wrestling industry is a funny, odd business in the sense that what was totally, totally old and redundant one week will suddenly become cool and new again at the drop of a hat. Whether it's characters, attitudes, in-ring styles, promo techniques or even production values, wrestling tends to operate on a cyclical basis.
In a creative world of characters, creations and drama, it's hard to always be fresh or to be a truly unique performer in a landscape that has been so well-tread before. As such, for each generation there's always going to be the clean cut good guys, the nefarious rogues, the hulking monsters, the draw-dropping athletes, the one-off attractions, the lunatics, the true in-ring technicians and a whole host of been-there-seen-it stereotypes.
That's not to say that it's necessarily a bad thing that what was once old is now new again, although some could easily argue that the repetitive nature of the business and its talent is an indication of Vince McMahon's resisting of change or his inability to look outside the box and take risks these days.
Either way, in an industry that so often throws up similarities to the decades of yesteryear and performers of the past, let's look at 20 current WWE talents and their counterparts from the 1980s wrestling landscape.
20. Zack Ryder/Brutus Beefcake
Need a lower card babyface who’ll garner a reaction? Well The Broski and The Barber are your men. But it’s not only there that the similarities between Zack Ryder and Brutus Beefcake end.
From making his WWF debut up until early 1987, Beefcake was portrayed as a cocky heel who eventually captured the Tag Team Championships with Greg Valentine. After debuting as one half of the Edgeheads, Ryder also won himself some Tag Team gold alongside Curt Hawkins. And much like Ryder spent part of his career at the side of Edge and was even at one point tied to John Cena, the career of Brutus Beefcake is so often tied to that of Hulk Hogan.
After moving out of the tag ranks, both Beefcake and Ryder would find their niche as lower card superstars who could get over with fans and were proficient in the ring. As is often said, not everybody is a main event talent. For Beefcake and Ryder, this was (and is) certainly the case.
Woo, woo, woo. You know it.