Hello and welcome to the latest installment of Houston Wrestling here at Kayfabe Memories. 

In this edition of Houston Wrestling memories, we conclude a two part series of the Best of the Best of Houston Wrestling over the past twenty years.  Last month, we examined the Best of the Best, and honestly, forgot some great heels and faces.  So, for this edition, we will continue a look at the Best of the Best with some “honorable mentions,” and then we will turn our attention to the Worst of the Worst.

Again, in this examination, we are hindered by two very important things:  my faulty memories and my faulty opinions.  However, thanks to the magic of old wrestling tapes, we can relive some great memories of our favorite performers, no matter if we are “babyface” fans, or “heel” fans.  

Today we round out the best of the best, and look at the worst of the worst.  Again, if you see someone who should be on a list, but is not, post your response on the Kayfabe Memories message board and let your voice be heard!!  Onto some honorable mentions: 

Best of the Best:  Honorable Mentions 

Baby Face: 

Steve Williams:  The man who took over the torch after Hacksaw Duggan left the WWF, “Doc” was a great face after his heel run ended in 1985.  Doc was helped with aligning himself with Ted DiBiase after DiBiase’s memorable turn, and was further augmented with his great matches for the UWF title against Terry Gordy in 1986-7.  While not the drawing card of other great faces, Doc had plenty of vocal support from us Houstonians.    

Butch Reed:  They say that the best heels can make the best faces, and for Reed, we got to see that, albeit not enough.  After Reed’s turn (chronicled excellently by Scott Williams’ recent Mid-South columns) in 1985, he feuded with Akbar’s Army and Dick Murdoch, and finished up with Dick Slater before becoming “the Natural” in the WWF.  Reed was a good face for Houston fans to get behind. 

Jake Roberts:  See above for Butch Reed.  When Jake turned in 1985 to feud with Humongous, he really played up fan support for all it was worth.  Jake finished his UWF career as a face, including a memorable series with Dick Slater where Roberts actually won the North American title for a short while.

The Fantastics:  Many have buried Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton as Rock-n-Roll Express wannabes, and one could make a strong case for them.  However, thanks to their feud with the Sheepherders, the Fantastics were THE team for Houston fans for most of 1986.  Rogers and Fulton always worked hard, and worked hard for crowd support. 

Best Heel:

Nikolai Volkoff:  Although mostly due to the times, and the character he played as a Russian sympathizer, Volkoff was a monster heel in late 1983-84, helping Hacksaw Duggan emerge as a full fledged top babyface.  Also, his programs with JYD and Terry Taylor were well done, and helped elevate Taylor in the eyes of the fans.  More...