Just how good could Marty Jannety have been

[Vern Gagne 0]

If the personal problems hadn't gotten in the way, could Jannety of been at the same level of Shawn Micheals?

[Guest MikeSC]

In a word, no.

 

He was the Robert Gibson of the Rockers --- and not just because he has dark hair.

 

Michaels always was a significantly better in-ring performer than Jannety. Marty is a guy who is great as a tag teamer, but blah as a solo.

-=Mike

[The Buzz 0]

I think the thing that held Marty back is he has in-ring charisma, but is lacking that something special that it takes to be a significant singles superstar.

[nl5xsk1 0]

He was the Robert Gibson of the Rockers --- and not just because he has dark hair.

I actually thought that Gibson was the better worker; Morton just sold better, so would get the brunt of the ring time (while getting his ass whupped) and then Gibson would come in for the actual wrestling.

[Guest Loss]

Jannetty was always every bit as naturally talented as Michaels, but not as dedicated to his craft. He could have been as successful as he wanted to be.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Yes,

 

I believe when the Rockers split up Jannetty was considered to be the more talented of the two.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Jannetty seemed to be the most talented in the ring, but if you remember his promos... of course you don't, because none of them stood out. Also his on-and-off drug problems hurt his career significantly. By the end of his WWF tenure (1996), he seemed to have lost his fire, and the matches with him and "Leif Cassidy" were pretty boring/bad.

 

Tops, Jannetty was an IC Title Contender (which is what he was for a while). I don't think I would ever believe it if someone told me he was World Champion. I was thinking the same for Bradshaw, and well... lets forget that.

[Guest MikeSC]

He was the Robert Gibson of the Rockers --- and not just because he has dark hair.

I actually thought that Gibson was the better worker; Morton just sold better, so would get the brunt of the ring time (while getting his ass whupped) and then Gibson would come in for the actual wrestling.

Gotta disagree. Morton carried the matches and Gibson simply didn't drop the ball.

 

Compare their matches against similar opposition (say Ric Flair) and their in-ring talent differences become quite noticeable.

 

Jannety was decent, no doubt. But he was in two tag teams in his WWF stint and he was the, honestly, the weaker talent in both.

-=Mike

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

He was the Robert Gibson of the Rockers --- and not just because he has dark hair.

I actually thought that Gibson was the better worker; Morton just sold better, so would get the brunt of the ring time (while getting his ass whupped) and then Gibson would come in for the actual wrestling.

Gotta disagree. Morton carried the matches and Gibson simply didn't drop the ball.

 

Compare their matches against similar opposition (say Ric Flair) and their in-ring talent differences become quite noticeable.

 

Jannety was decent, no doubt. But he was in two tag teams in his WWF stint and he was the, honestly, the weaker talent in both.

-=Mike

Marty Jannetty and Al Snow you mean?

 

I agree with Loss on this one. He had lots of talent, but he probably didn't care too much.

[Guest Loss]

Surely, you're not saying the 1-2-3 Kid, as good as he was at that time, was a better all-around performer than Marty Jannetty.

[Guest MikeSC]

Surely, you're not saying the 1-2-3 Kid, as good as he was at that time, was a better all-around performer than Marty Jannetty.

I was referring to Snow and Jannety. Jannety and Kid were a tag team o' the month squad.

-=Mike

[Guest LooneyTune]

The Leif Cassidy gimmick really made Al Snow a joke, and rarely was able to showcase his talent other than acting like a complete nerd.

[Guest krazykat72]

Yes,

 

I believe when the Rockers split up Jannetty was considered to be the more talented of the two.

He wasn't. Michaels was the one they were giving the big push to. People were noticing Michaels back in '85-'86 (HIs HOF bio for the Observer covers it) and having wtached a ton of Rockers matches lately, in '91, he really stands out as the more charasmatic star on the team (like the '91 Rumble and Mania VII matches in particular).

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[Guest LooneyTune]

Last I heard, Michaels got the 1992 singles push because he threatened to leave to WCW, and pretty much made a B.S. story that Jannetty had already quit.

[Guest krazykat72]

There was apparently a lot going on between them at the time and they were allegedly angry about a payoff for cereal boxes or something. Each has said the other was ready to go to WCW, but given the personal problems of both at the time, I have no idea which was which.

 

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[Guest LooneyTune]

Just was commenting on Shawn getting pushed because he was better, because that wasn't the reason. Talent means nothing in wrestling, and drawing is everything. Shawn just got the heads up by whatever means necessary (won't bother with rumors), and Jannetty got left out in the cold, which was hurt even worse because of his 1992 house arrest conviction.

[pochorenella 0]

I remember reading PWI at the time of the Rockers breakup, they had a profile on Shawn Michaels that basically said he was the best technical wrestler in the WWF at the time, other than Curt Hennig and Bret Hart.

[Guest LooneyTune]

I won't dispute Shawns talent, but PWI was still very much in kayfabe back in 1992.

[strummer 0]

Marty was probably a better worker from a technical standpoint, but was not in Shawn's league when it came to charisma and promo skills.

 

As far as rumors on who was supposed to get the push, I can't believe that Vince McMahon (in 1992 mind you) would have ever given a big push to Marty Jannetty instead of Shawn, all talent aside. While Shawn didn't have the size Vince liked, he had the overt charisma and could pander to the crowd with the best of them.

[Only The Strong Survive 0]

strummer, where did your sig pic come from?

[Sass 0]

Funny enough, Jannetty was considered the better worker than HBK. Marty could have probably been a better rival for Bret Hart in the 90's than HBK was. Michaels was only able to get himself over in *his* matches, not the other guy. Marty could work as enhancement talent or as the top dog in the ring. That is crucial in getting a program over with fans. You have to be able to work either side of the coin. HBK could never do that and still can't.

 

There's really just no telling how far or how big Marty could have gotten if he had kept his head on straight and stayed clean and sober. The sky was the limit.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Shawn relies too much on "his" spots, and has no idea what ring psychology is. He can't work a slow, mat-based match to save his life (see the boring shitfest called the WM XII Iron Man with 30 minutes of chinlocks), but he does a lot of flashy things. He's basically a "saner" version of Mick Foley. He tries doing stuff people will remember him for.

 

Jannetty is much better at telling a story in the match. He's not as flashy as Michaels other than his old ring attire, and he can be used in most situations (Jobber to Midcard usually). Jannetty has never been GREAT, but he times his comebacks very well, and actually knows how to sell for something longer than 45 seconds.

 

If anyone has ever noticed, the majority of the time Jannetty was the face-in-peril as a Rocker. Usually the FIP is the better worker, because it makes sure his partner just gets his spots in and gets out.

[strummer 0]

Funny enough, Jannetty was considered the better worker than HBK. Marty could have probably been a better rival for Bret Hart in the 90's than HBK was. Michaels was only able to get himself over in *his* matches, not the other guy. Marty could work as enhancement talent or as the top dog in the ring. That is crucial in getting a program over with fans. You have to be able to work either side of the coin. HBK could never do that and still can't.

 

There's really just no telling how far or how big Marty could have gotten if he had kept his head on straight and stayed clean and sober. The sky was the limit.

I don't know about Marty working a top program with Bret, he had little to no charisma and couldn't cut heel promos. Yes he was a better, much smarter worker, but I don't know if he would have gotten as over as Shawn did

[Sass 0]

Oh yeah, you're right.

 

Marty was a better worker than Shawn but, yeah, he wasn't exactly stellar in the interview and mic skills department. But neither were Shawn or Bret. Neither guy would have outdone the other on the mic and all 3 would have really had a level playing field in that regard.

 

Marty and 1-2-3 Kid could have been a hell of a tag team though. That would have been the best situation for Marty where he can cover for someone and vice versa.

 

If booked strong, there's no telling where Marty could have gone had he stayed sober.

[Some Guy 0]

There was apparently a lot going on between them at the time and they were allegedly angry about a payoff for cereal boxes or something. Each has said the other was ready to go to WCW, but given the personal problems of both at the time, I have no idea which was which.

 

 

-Paul Jacobi-

The story Marty tells is that htey got pissed that they were being paid considerably less than other teams for a commercial. Shawn pissed and moaned and they decided that they would quit, so Marty called Patterson and gave notice for the team. Vince decided to let them leave rather quickly (after the Survivor Series 91 PPV, I think), rather than job them out, which Marty thought was pretty decent of him. Marty tells Shawn that he gave teh notice and Shawn starts flipping out and saying, "He let us quit?" as though he could not believe that Vince wouldn't beg a JTTS tag team to stay. So, Shawn calls Vince and tells him that Marty is crazy and that Shawn did not have anything to do with it. So Shawn got he push and Marty got pretty much nothing.

 

I don't know how true that is but it's what Marty says.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I'd believe Marty's version of events way before I'd buy into Michael's versions of things.

[Guest MikeSC]

Shawn relies too much on "his" spots, and has no idea what ring psychology is. He can't work a slow, mat-based match to save his life (see the boring shitfest called the WM XII Iron Man with 30 minutes of chinlocks), but he does a lot of flashy things. He's basically a "saner" version of Mick Foley. He tries doing stuff people will remember him for.

 

Jannetty is much better at telling a story in the match. He's not as flashy as Michaels other than his old ring attire, and he can be used in most situations (Jobber to Midcard usually). Jannetty has never been GREAT, but he times his comebacks very well, and actually knows how to sell for something longer than 45 seconds.

 

If anyone has ever noticed, the majority of the time Jannetty was the face-in-peril as a Rocker. Usually the FIP is the better worker, because it makes sure his partner just gets his spots in and gets out.

Shawn's house show series with Bret and his job at SSeries '92 were rather good matches --- and definitely not the usual Shawn style of match. HBK was a better seller than Jannety and I thought his spots looked better.

 

And back when the team was in their prime, I remember Shawn being the FIP most of the time.

-=Mike

[Shanghai Kid 0]

Wow, it's crazy how underrated Shawn Micheals is. I've NEVER heard the idea that Jannety was ever a better worker than Shawn until I read this thread. I honestly think some of you are making that up just because of personal dislike from Shawn. Everything I've heard from the Observer to fans over the years goes with what I thought which was Shawn was the clear standout in the group from a working stand point and a personality stand point. It was Shawn who even as a Rocker was having good matches with Ric Flair and of course once he got a chance as a singles wrestler he got himself very over and was able to CARRY alot of slugs to a good match.

 

 

And some of you go as far as to say that Jannety actually would of done more with a push than Shawn did? Crazy. Marty was never able to get the crowd into a match like Shawn did, and Shawn is the MASTER of perfectly timing his comebacks. As far as telling a story goes, I can't imagine Marty ever being able to do Hell in a Cell like Shawn did. Shawn can be a good face and a heel, Marty as a heel was a joke.

[Shanghai Kid 0]

Funny enough, Jannetty was considered the better worker than HBK. Marty could have probably been a better rival for Bret Hart in the 90's than HBK was. Michaels was only able to get himself over in *his* matches, not the other guy. Marty could work as enhancement talent or as the top dog in the ring. That is crucial in getting a program over with fans. You have to be able to work either side of the coin. HBK could never do that and still can't.

When exactly has Jannety EVER proven he can do any of that?

[Some Guy 0]

In fairness to Marty the only time I remember him being a heel was in 96 with Al Snow as teh New Rockers and his character, along with Al's was in fact a joke. We'll never really know whether Marty would have made a good serious heel because he was never given the chance. I'd be willing to bet that Shawn had some doubters in 92 after playing the bouncing babyface for his whole career up to that point. Shawn progressed and changed his style, Marty never did because he wasn't allowed to, at least in WWF. He had the pretty much the same character/gimmick from his debut in 88 till he left in 97. Other than that I pretty much agree with you about Shawn. I truely think that a alot people here don't like him because he was a prick backstage and refuse to acknowledge that he was and still is a great performer in the ring. He's not perect by any strecth but he consistantly puts on quality performances.