The O’Really Report – The Fruit of Our Loins: Father’s Day Edition

Bodies have been bruised.
How does he learn to fall off a 20ft ladder?
Yes this is entertainment, but the hazards are real.
Trainers, EMT’s, referees down

Welcome to The O’Really Report, I am your host Rhett Davis and this week’s O’Really Report is brought to you by the holiday Father’s Day.  Therefore my host for this week’s column is none other than my father Greg Davis.

The most Electrifying Dad in sports entertainment.

Hmmm… I don’t know about that one.  This week we decided to split from just talking down the big topics of the week and reflect on year’s past and the fruit of it’s loins. A few years ago there was a stable/faction by the name of Legacy.  They prided themselves on the fact that they were ‘born greater’ as all of the members’ fathers were wrestlers before them.  Lead by Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase slowly grew into Superstars on the show and would claim the Tag Team Championship a couple of times.  Randy would eventually win the WWE Title as well thanks to Legacy.  This week in light of Father’s Day, we will break down the three members and observe them as well as their fathers.  I will discuss the Sons while my father discusses the Fathers.  So without further adieu, the first contenders on the list for Father-Son Greatness are the DiBiases.

Father:  Since we live 50 miles from where Mid South Wrestling was originated from, Im very familiar with Ted DiBiase.  MSW came to our town about 3 times a year when I was a youngun with the likes of the JunkYardDog, the Samoans, Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Hacksaw Duggan, Kamala, Rock-n-Roll Express, Bossman, One Man Gang, etc. Ted was a regular.  When he turned heel on the Dog, I knew he was on to something special. As a face he was a sound wrestler with descent charisma, but as leader of the Rat Pack…..WOW!!!  He was great at getting under your skin. He made stars out of two jobbers, Hacksaw Duggan and Matt Bourne (Doink the Clown).  As the Million Dollar Man, he should have had a title run.  He was one of the best guys Ive ever seen at carrying a match.  He knew how to take a butt whipping.  Great mic skills and his bit with Andre was great.

Son:  Junior on the other hand… is quite a disappointment.  Ted Jr. started out coming in as an arrogant wealthy son-of-a-CEO type persona and soon transitioned into a Tag Team with Cody Rhodes.  They would later mold into Randy Orton’s Legacy faction that irrevocably did nothing.  I mean what came from Legacy?  Orton turned face, Cody went to SmackDown to where he would do nothing pertaining the Legacy angle until he changed personas completely and transformed into the Dashing One Cody Rhodes, and Ted.. well he gained some eye candy with Maryse and become a twin of his father as he began a persona almost identical to his father.  On Raw after the Legacy failure, he walked around with a Million Dollar Title and even with Virgil!  For the past year, he hasn’t done much and the highlight of the year definitely has been his feud with Daniel Bryan if for nothing else than the match quality.  After that… he had some minor feuds with the likes of Yoshi Tatsu on NXT and even got beat up by Jerry Lawler.  It seems he finally has found his place on SmackDown… making Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan look good.

Conclusion:  Ted DiBiase Sr. is one of the greatest heels of all-time, but Ted Jr. hasn’t done much to make himself shine amongst the current crop of talent.

The next father-son duo on the list is none other than the Rhodes family. Dusty and Cody Rhodes.

Father: The American Dream was a big fan favorite on TBS.  Georgia Championship wrestling was probably the beginning of big time wrestling since it was broadcast all over the country. I think people forget that and think WWE started everything.  Rhodes was one of the best on the mic in those days with his “Kings,Queens, Pork-n Beans” trash talking self. Like Kane today,
he was in tons of big matches but was given only a handful of short title reigns. His feuds with the horsemen, Flair, and Harley Race are memorable.  Great charisma.  IMO Vince did him a disservice when he brought him to WWE in the loud polka dots and horrible sidekick manager, although it appears he has rewarded today with his current position with the company.

Son:  The Son of a wrestling son of a plumber is Cody Rhodes.  As I said in the Legacy angle, Cody didn’t really have much of a persona until he transformed into The Dashing One.  In this angle he sort of developed as his brother (Dustin/Goldust) did with his increase in care about making himself ‘dashing’ or more hygienic.  He began with promos every week advising the viewers how to become more dashing until he received a 619 from Rey that would transform him into the Mysteriously Maniacal superstar he is today.  After a big win at WrestleMania, Cody seems to be in a rut, but I believe it’s only for the time being.

Conclusion:  Dusty Rhodes has huge outside of the WWE and Cody has been successful in WWE, but neither the sons nor Dusty have held the WWE Heavyweight Championship.

The final combination on our list of great Father-Son Legacy duos is The Orton Family.

Father:  Bob “Ace” Orton was another regular in Mid South that I had the opportunity to see.
He was much more of a technical wrestler with a mean streak back then than the cast wearing cheater that he was in the WWE.   I never thought much of his promos back then and with Piper doing most of his talking in the WWE, Vince had that figured out.  He did hold the North American Championship but never was a serious contender to the Hulkster.  More like a side kick.

Son:  Randal  Keith Orton.  Randy Orton started out as just a young rookie until picked up by Evolution and under the tutelage of Triple H and Ric Flair he learned what it took.  After he won the World Heavyweight Championship, he was excommunicated from the group and sent into a downfall spiral of a Face run.  Finally he would resort back to his heel tendancies that worked so well for him and would eventually earn another World title before attempting an unpredictable serpent that attacked anyone… sound familiar?  It’s very Austinesque, but it’s apparently working as he is currently the World Heavyweight Champion.

Conclusion:  No other father-son duo in the Legacy quite lives up to the legacy of the Orton family.  Ace was in the first WrestleMania and Orton has been in the most recent annual event.

Alright now it’s time for Dad to get his 5 Minutes of Fame.  He’ll ask me any 3 questions and I’ll ask him 3 questions.  Go ahead Pops.

OK, kiddo, #1- What is your favorite match of all time?

My favorite match of all time would have to be Mankind/Undertaker Hell in a Cell match.  That was the match that really brought wrestling to my attention and how tough these guys actually were.  He went through an announce table from two stories up, hit his head on a steel monitor that was on the table, went through the the top of the cell and hit his mouth on a steel chair at the bottom that knocked some teeth out, and then took a tombstone on a pile of tacks.  If that isn’t insane and tough as hell, I don’t know what is.

I agree with you on that one, Mic Foley is one tough SOB.  Don’t forget the “I Quit” match with The Rock.  How many chair shots did the guy take?  #2 What is the Dream match up that you wish you could have seen?

Well the dream match that probably would’ve stunk up the joint if it ever happened would definitely have been Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Goldberg.  Both men were the epitome of tough SOBs in their respective industries.  Steve Austin lead the Attitude era in WWE while Goldberg led WCW with his lengthy, albeit incorrect, undefeated streak.

I’d probably said Hogan vs Austin but that actually might have been a better pairing.  #3 Biggest shocker moment in wrestling that you’ve witnessed?

Easily the biggest shocker moment  in wrestling that I’ve ever witnessed is when Edge cashed in his Money In The Bank contract to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career.  That was a huge emotional moment for Edge and it was totally unexpected.

Hogan heel turn and Bischolff showing up on Raw would have been my answer. OK Rhettster, your turn……….

Question #1:  What was your favorite dark match that you saw live?

Well you know the answer to this one.  For your birthday, we surprised you and took you to a Smackdown taping.  The Dark match that night was between two unknowns named Brock Lesner and Randy Orton.  Orton did a flying cross-body off the top rope that was beautiful. But Brock hit the F-5 to get the win.  Had never seen that finish before and was impressed.  (if you watch The Rock’s DVD on Disc 3 “Camera Guy” promo, we were there…cheap pop Mick Foley would be proud)

That match was pretty awesome, even if it was two rookies.  I was pleasantly surprised by it, but I’m sure that Nunzio match that we saw at another show was much better.  Hey I got on film with that Camera Guy promo.  Question #2:  Growing up… who was your favorite wrestler?

Jake Roberts, before the snake.  He cut great promos and had the best finisher.  Jake fought Paul Orndorff one night in town and we followed him all the way to his car after the match. Being the heel in the main event he had to job, and I remember asking him why he didn’t use the DDT, “You’d have won Jake if you’d used the DDT.”  He looked at me like I was an idiot as he got in the car with Orndorff of all people.  Didn’t see that often in the Kayfabe days.

That sounds like a plot for a movie.  ‘Jake! Use the DDT!’  Jake is still one of the greats when it came to his persona and way in which he created matches using his personality.  Question #3:  What was your favorite angle in the WWF(E)?

I think the invasion angle was probably the most exciting even though after a few weeks they totally blew it.  I mean they TOTALLY BLEW IT.  But each week a new guy showing up to screw up a match was way cool.  And that was before the Internet days where we don’t really get too many surprises.  The NWO angle of course was solid for a while and the Nexus angle even got me interested again after a couple of forgettable seasons.

It’s funny you mention those three because all of them started out great and went straight down the tubes.  Invasion became pointless after a month or two.  The nWo angle in the WWE only really built up Hulk Hogan and then the rest of the guys either disappeared or were downgraded into the lower mid-card.  The Nexus angle went well at first and was really well done until Wade and The Corre went to SmackDown.  It became pointless then.  Well that about wraps it up for this edition of The O’Really Report.  Any last words pops?

Thanks for the invite. The question now that you are headed to college, who am I going to watch wrestling with? Your mom sure isn’t!!

Well I’m sure you can go to the auditorium and see the PPVs.  They still do that right?  Like back in the day?

Well that’s going to wrap it up, thanks for coming Dad, and feel free to leave a comment/insult/suggestion/compliment/etc in the comment section below…

And quite frankly my dear… that’s a wrap!