Which heavyweight would have made a great masked villain if he had been encouraged?

My dad was convinced that some of the masked characters in the 1980s were Skull Murphy. Having spoken to Skull at one of the reunions I'm not so sure. He would have been ideal though.

Good point Paul. Turning clean to dirty is an obvious and easy start. What if George Kidd was to pull on a mask? He's have to forget a few things.

The other possible issue would be wrestling style. As was mentioned earlier, John Elijah was reconisable instantly in a mask. A wrestler wanting a new start would perhaps have to modify their style.

I think that Billy Robinson had enough skill to change the way that he wrestled and would have made a great masked man.

I think great masked wrestlers would have been great wrestlers in their own right. I am not convinced that a mask would have added anything to the likes of John Elijah. Of course masked men were 2 a penny in the mid to late 80's, but this perhaps reflected an unwillingness to build characters and feuds in general. Bill Bromley got a small career lift as The Emperor, but was nothing special. Did the mask help the career of Paul Lincoln? Or would he have been a stellar star in his own right?

Aaaah ... John Elijah as Doctor Death! Someone more eloquent than myself years ago on here described delightfully Dr Death marching unmistakably towards the ring, with two invisible rolls of lino under his arms, the audience shouting out "Hello, John!" and Doctor John waving back.

Must have been a hoot.

I know I have had a go but what about using a big man who didn't exactly set the world on fire and put a mask on him, someone who comes to mind would be John Elijah. Pretty bland as a face, put him under a mask , change his style to out and out rulebreaker, build him up with lots of dqs. He might have made a good masked villain

With his size and power, Pat Roach.

There was never a black masked wrestler and Caswell Martin would have done a great job. Especially since he limited his appearances because he wanted (needed) to keep a low profile.

I think Ray Robinson would have made a great masked villain, because even though he wrestled within the rules, there was always that something about him that if you started taking liberties, he'd quickly show another side to him.

I think Wayne Bridges would have made a great Masked villain, the physique and strength coupled with the mask and a serious streak of villainy would have had the crowd baying for his blood.

I recently mentioned Don Vines. He would have made a great masked bad man. and not well known enough to be spotted.

Streiger was such a great heel , having a mask would not have made him any nastier.

Part of his villainy was the look on his face.

Not many people will know that Streiger sort of failed as a boxer , not that he was not tough , but he actually got disqualified , he would hold and spoil and cheat if he could not fight back against someone with real quick and slick fists.

A real favorite of mine and I have said this many times , he only spoiled bouts by getting disqualified too quick.

Steve Veidor,no one would have thought it of him.Plus a chance for Steve to dish a bit of the nasty about