8 Sharpest Hustlers In Wrestling
8. The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris, better known as the Honky Tonk Man, has managed to build a reputation as one of the best backstage politicians in the biz. Saddled with an Elvis impersonator gimmick, no one would ever have expected Farris to make it to the Intercontinental Championship level. This was in 1987, back when the title actually meant something. No matter what you think of Farris (and he has more enemies than Flair has feathered robes), that's a genuine achievement.
Not only that, but Honky held onto the Intercontinental strap for an incredible 454 days. That's still the longest reign of all-time, nearly thirty years later. This was partly because of Farris gift for manipulating the office. Scuttlebutt (like gossip with a gimmicked guitar) says that Farris was booked to lose the title three separate times during that fifteen month period, and each time managed to persuade the powers that be that now wasn't the right time.
In fairness to Farris, he'd have needed to be a hypnotist if he couldn't deliver when his music hit and, although he wasn't much of a wrestler, the Honky Tonk Man was one of the best heels in the business back then, gifted with a big mouth and a connection to the audience that worked in an inverse manner to Hulk Hogan's own crowd voodoo - he could make the vicar's wife spit blood and scream for his legs to be broken.
The Honky Tonk Man had the audience in the palm of his hand, desperate to see him get beaten. By summer 1988, Hitler himself could have gotten over as a babyface if hed pinned the Honky Tonk Man. Sadly, the WWF would waste all that glorious heat when the Ultimate Warrior replaced Brutus the Barber Beefcake to challenge for the title at SummerSlam. The substitution occurred on the night, at the event itself, preventing the match-up from drawing money on the card.