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WWE: Paying Respect to the Legends on the SmackDown SuperShow

Posted: Apr 12th 2012 By: mikeiles

Ah, the classic stroll down memory lane. Gotta love it.

And, no doubt many fans did on Tuesday night, as WWE gave us the ?Blast from the Past? on the SmackDown supershow. The legends from yesteryear coming back to delight the crowd, and give fans a bit of nostalgia.

It?s good for the younger fans to see the last generation, to understand where we came from in terms of the legends and what they did for the business. It was the right move, and always will be.

For me, there were some definite highlights to the program.

Jimmy Hart, who looks as though he?s ready to step right back into the thick of things, was doing what he does best, being an obnoxious, overbearing annoyance at ringside.

Besides Jim Cornette, has anyone ever done it better?

I have to say, like many fans out there, I have a hard time understanding why Jimmy has not been brought back for any significant amount of time. The WWE crowd loves him, and again, he looks like he has not missed a beat.

He fits in. Even now. Bring back Jimmy Hart, Vince. I?m going to start a petition.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan. What more can be said about a guy in shorts, carrying around a 2x4, yelling ?Ho,? amidst ?U.S.A? chants from the fans?

Love him or hate him, Jim Duggan is still over today. And, with basically no gimmick to speak of. He gets a pop every time, and let?s face facts on this one. There are many guys in the WWE locker room half Duggan?s age, who can?t get a third of the reaction that he gets. The guy just has a way of connecting, there?s no other way to explain it.

Mean Gene Okerlund, much like Jimmy Hart, is a timeless personality, a man who is just as relevant today as he was twenty years ago. His tone is instantly recognizable, and though Jim Ross is widely accepted as the legendary voice of WWE, Gene has to be considered a very close second.

Mick Foley is one of those legends who, with the right situation, could very easily step back into the WWE storyline. The truth is, he looks the same as he ever has, and he has not lost anything on the mic. Seeing him as a full time in ring performer is likely not in the cards again, but Mic has such a great mind for the business. Hard to believe he?s not being used in some way.

Cowboy Bob Orton. The moment I saw him, I thought, ?well, Kane?s going to have fun with him tonight.?

Bob is an old pro at this, he?s a guy who knows how the game is played, like all the other veterans on the program. Though we did not see the attack, which means there likely wasn?t one, that would not have stopped Orton from taking a few bumps if asked to.

After all, his son is the Viper Randy Orton, one of the biggest stars WWE has seen in the past ten years, and whatever it took to help him out in the storyline with Kane likely would have been fine with Bob.

Rowdy Roddy Piper, standing in Piper?s Pit, putting the screws to another Superstar, shining the hot lights of cynical interrogation for everyone to see.

There is only one Roddy Piper.

The spot with Daniel Bryan was a tricky thing, to be honest. After all, Bryan has suddenly caught fire with the WWE faithful, thanks in large part to his over the top celebration, in which he screams yes at the top of his lungs.

The guy may be a heel, but he is a heel who is becoming very popular, very quickly. When put on the spot, the way Piper did, fans could have easily turned on the legend in favor of the former World Champion.

But, as with Orton, this is not Piper?s first time in front of a camera. He knew precisely what to say, how to say it, and more importantly, that the timing, was critical to the moment. He did what he needed to do, and looked just as effective as he ever has.

Piper said to the SmackDown crowd, ?I miss you guys.? The feeling is mutual.

Then, we come to the man who, at one time, was helping run the company that outperformed WWE on nearly every level.

You know, the phrase ?my boy,? seems so overused, and so overdone, that it seems like we really need something new to throw out there when talking about a favorite. But, right now, I don?t really have anything, so I?ll say it anyway.

My boy, Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream, the son of a plumber from Austin Texas, was there for the party. The man who excited crowds all over the world, and along with the Four Horsemen, put the sport of professional wrestling above the spectacle, was in full effect on Tuesday night.

Of course, he was dancing in the ring, doing everything he could to embarrass his son Cody, but at least we got shades of the fighting spirit Dusty had at the end of the program.

Throwing the bionic elbow on Alberto Del Rio?s personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, Dusty once again looked like the American Dream of old, and I suddenly wished it was Arn Anderson on the receiving end, if only for old time?s sake.

All in all, the program itself was well done, nicely paced, and anytime the legends are brought to the WWE forefront, it?s a good day for fans.

For all that we as fans complain about, and for all the mistakes that we feel Vince McMahon makes with his company, the fact is, this is one aspect that he generally gets right.

The former stars of WWE deserve not only the respect of the fans, and their peers, but also the respect of the man who they worked so hard for back in the day. Giving them some TV time is not only the right thing to do for the company, it?s the right thing to do for the business.

I don?t know about you, but I for one am looking forward to Legends House on the new WWE Network.

And, this was a nice little preview.