BANKIE'S HOT TAKE #42 - Legends of Hamburg Stars #1
On September 16, 2023, the Legends of Hamburg Fanfest is coming to the Historic Hamburg Field House in beautiful Hamburg, PA, bringing together wrestling’s past, present, and future under one roof.
In the next several Hot Takes, we will give the list of names, one-by-one, coming to the Legends of Hamburg event. There is no better way to kick things off than with the first man announced back in April!
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1996 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST KURT ANGLE!!!
Mr. Angle, after winning the Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, made his professional wrestling debut in 1999 and never looked back.
A four-time WWE champion, Angle also won the WCW World Heavyweight title, the World Heavyweight title, the TNA World Heavyweight champion six times over, the IWGP Heavyweight championship, and countless other titles. He is also inducted into three Hall of Fames - the International Sports Hall of Fame, the TNA Hall of Fame, and the WWE Hall of Fame.
Angle is considered to be the greatest technical wrestler of all time. His battles with Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar, the Undertaker, Samoa Joe, and AJ Styles are considered to be some of the most artistic and authentic matches of all time.
We are honored to have Kurt Angle as a part of our Legends of Hamburg Fanfest on September 16, 2023.
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The next big name announced for the Fanfest, you could say, might be the Whole Dam Fanfest!
“MR. PAY-PER-VIEW” ROB VAN DAM!
RVD might be the best all-around performer ever to come out of the revolutionary Extreme Championship Wrestling. Mixing his martial arts, high-flying, and insane agility, Van Dam was able to cultivate his unique style and integrate it throughout the wrestling industry.
“Mr. Monday Night” had the longest, and many say greatest, reign as ECW World Television Champion for 23 months, defending his gold against the best in ECW, including his legendary series of wars with “the New F’N Show” Jerry Lynn. He was also a two-time ECW World Tag Team champion with “the Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death-Dyfing” Sabu.
In 2001, RVD took his career to new heights as a part of the WWE, simultaneously holding both the WWE and ECW World Heavyweight titles at the same time. He is also a six-time Intercontinental champion, a four time Hardcore champion, a three-time Tag Team champion, and the last European champion.
In the early 2010s, Van Dam migrated to TNA, where he held the TNA World Heavyweight championship and the X-Division gold. Within a two-year span, RVD was also inducted into the Hardcore and WWE Hall of Fames respectively.
Van Dam has even been in the Guinness Book of World Records for his innovative Van Dam Lift, a weight lifting technique where he did a split onto two chairs and lifted a 165 pound dumbbell!
Vince McMahon was quoted as saying that Rob Van Dam “changed the style of wrestling” with his One of a Kind attributes. And there’s no doubting that. We are honored to have Rob Van Dam as a part of our Legends of Hamburg Fanfest on September 16, 2023.
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The next big name announced for the Fanfest might just be “too cool” for this event.
SCOTTY 2 HOTTY!
Scotty 2 Hotty might have one of the more interesting careers in the legacy of the “Attitude Era”. Originally signed to WWF as an addition to the budding Light-Heavyweight division, the self-trained Scott Taylor evolved and grew into a versatile performer, finding himself as a part of Too Much with “Too Sexy” Brian Christopher.
However, in the Summer of 1999, everything changed. Christopher and Taylor “found themselves”, discovered their real identities, and officially became Too Cool! Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty quickly became beloved as fan favorites, and once Rikishi was added to the tandem in December, Too Cool rode the rocket to superstardom!
Scotty broke through the mold by the Royal Rumble in 2000, unleashing a devastating dance move simply known as “the Worm”! To this day, many performers have attempted to mimic it, but no one holds a candle to the originator.
Character aside, Scotty 2 Hotty has had an epic in-ring career. A former Light Heavyweight champion, his matches with Dean Malenko were show-stealers, particularly one at Backlash 2000. Also, he has won the WWE Tag Team championships twice, once with Grand Master in 2000 and the other with Rikishi in 2004!
After a long career, Scotty helped mentor and develop the future of wrestling down at the WWE Performance Center from 2016 to 2021.
Scotty 2 Hotty, with his hard work, determination, and unreal charisma, became one of the most beloved performers in the history of WWE. That is why it is our distinct privilege to have him at the Legends of Hamburg Fan Fest!
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This man, just like this event, is a revolutionary in the world of professional wrestling.
“THE HOMICIDAL, SUICIDAL, GENOCIDAL, DEATH-DEFYING” SABU!
Sabu is truly one of the foundations of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Making his debut in Eastern Championship Wrestling on October 1, 1993, Sabu stood out among the rest of the roster, completely tearing apart the ECW Arena, throwing chairs, tables, and everything not nailed down. He also threw his body around with reckless abandon and defined the term “hardcore” to a blood-thirsty and hungry Philadelphia fan base. Mixing his own unique style of aerial assault and the techniques shown to him by Detroit legend and WWE Hall of Famer the Original Sheik, Sabu became a cult favorite.
Quickly, Sabu’s talents helped put ECW on the map. He was a part of the original Three Way Dance in February 1994 against Terry Funk and “the Franchise” Shane Douglas. His matches with Cactus Jack, Chris Benoit, and the Public Enemy helped usher in “the Extreme” to Extreme Championship Wrestling.
But Sabu’s biggest moment came on April 13, 1997, culminating his year-long feud with Taz on ECW’s critically acclaimed and first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, in the “Match of the Century”.
Sabu won the ECW World Heavyweight championship on August 9, 1997 in the most gruesome war in the history of the promotion; the “Born To Be Wired” barbed-wire match against Terry Funk. He also held the ECW Tag Team titles three times, once with Taz and twice with his best friend Rob Van Dam.
A true independent, Sabu had short stints in WCW, WWE, TNA, and XPW. He also made his presence felt in Japan over his three decade career, performing for New Japan, All Japan, and, most notably, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling.
Sabu’s influence in professional wrestling cannot be understated. He completely changed the game and has ushered in future generations of state-of-the-art performers. It is an indeed an honor and a privilege to have a true legend in the world of wrestling join us for the Legends of Hamburg Fan Fest!
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More names have been announced and will be discussed in future Hot Takes. Stay tuned!
Tickets on sale at http://legendsfanfest.com!
