Virgil appreciation thread?
Just saw it reported by TSN. That’s too bad, he was one of the most prominent characters on TV when I was a kid. RIP.
Virgil was a staple of WWF VHS tapes and Superstars when I was a young kid and getting into wrestling. I mean he was on my beloved and well-used bootleg VHS copy of WrestleMania V. He was on the second live show I attended. I lol’d and thought “the nWo storyline is dead” when he was revealed as a member 
. However, it didn’t take long as a child and learning about the world to become very troubled by the racism I was learning about from so many angles, and rewatching some of the Virgil storyline (again, bootleg VHS tapes) was a part of that youthful awakening.
A worker through and through, but not great in the ring, and likely only cut one or two good promos in his life. Yet, wrestling fans and nostalgia never let Virgil go or disappear, like so many other performers. He wasn’t great, but he meant something and something far more important that helped him endure. Let’s hope his legacy is more along the lines of memories like @TAnthonyAuld’s comments in the news post about Virgil’s death and less about being a punchline and joke (which he was for some and clearly leaned into).
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Yeah he’s slow building feud with Ted Dibiase was awesome. They tried to repeat it with Diesel and Shaun in a third of the time and it never hit like this did.
Always just seemed like a decent bloke
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That Virgil/DiBiase feud is an all-timer. In the current era, that’s a three-month feud from the Rumble to a minor Mania match with a dozen six-man tags in between. But to have Virgil turn at the Rumble and not get the big win until Summerslam makes it something still memorable over 30 years later for those of us in a certain age bracket.
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The face turn when he hit Ted in the face with the belt was one of the best turns I’ve ever seen in my life. That crowd fricken exploded!
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