WWF’s Expansion Evolution
By Scott Keith on 18 January 2019
Hey, Scott:
Loving your reviews of the old Mid-South stuff and anything early 1980s in general. Question for you and the lil' Doomers: as the WWF began it's national expansion in earnest, they obviously poached several big "territory" names. Who were the guys whose in-ring reputations were most helped/hurt by jumping to the Fed? For example, Jim Duggan went from believable bad-ass brawler in Mid-South to cross-eyed, patriotic cartoon character. Meanwhile, Jim Neidhart bounced around with Butch Reed, then found perfect tag-team chemistry with the Hart Foundation.
I'd call the Sheepherders the gold standard of a character completely destroyed by the WWF marketing machine, although Luke & Butch made a ton of money off it so I doubt they're ever complaining. But they went from **** brawls with the Fantastics to bad comedy with Mean Gene.
As for who was helped the most, I'd have to say Randy Savage. He really flourished under the WWF system and went from Memphis main eventer to stadium main eventer, which are two entirely different styles of match.