10 Huge Pops WWE Fans Gave To Outsiders

4. Mr. T

Wrestlemania 1
WWE.com

To be fair, wrestling crowds popped for everything in the 1980s. Audiences collectively lost their sh*t for such charismatic stars as Jim Powers, Red Rooster, Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell and the rest, so referencing big pops for outsiders during this time isn’t entirely fair. A celebrity getting a big pop in the ‘80s wasn’t surprising: it was expected.

Still, the ovation received by Mr. T during his 1985 run is not to be ignored. The TV and movie star - real name Laurence Tureaud - was just about as popular as mainstream heroes got in those days, fresh off his screen-grabbing performance as Clubber Long in Rocky III and his still magnificent run as B.A. Baracus in The A-Team. He eventually segued into pro wrestling and needless to say the adoration was there.

Mr. T. went on to compete in the main event of WrestleMania I, teaming with Hulk Hogan in a victorious effort against ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. T returned for a much less exciting boxing match with Piper a year later, a bout that got the full minus five stars treatment from eminent wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. Every new Mr. T return brought a smaller pop, a clear case of diminishing returns, but the shuddering crowds of 1985 live long in the memory.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.