One Man Gang

[6.0] "Seems to be a degree of prejudice in some of these ratings. Some people don't like Akeem cos he hails from Africa. Shameful behaviour. Rarely has a man the size of a wardrobe worn a pullover so splendidly. Twin Towers were decent, as was the subsequent feud and only a genuine moron would refute that One Man Gang is a anything less than a magnificent monicker."

[6.0] "Am I the only guy that liked Akeem? Anyway, One Man Gang was obviously the superior character and this guy was amazing to me for his size. I thought he was a good wrestler and a believable heel. And a 32 year career is super impressive."

[8.0] "One Man Gang was great because he felt genuinely dangerous in a way very few big men ever did. His size wasn't just visual, it shaped how matches unfolded One Man Gang understood how to move like a monster. He also had a strong sense of character, whether as the wild, uncontrollable brawler or later with more defined personas, and he committed fully to whatever role he was given. Most importantly, he knew how to make others shine by being the immovable obstacle, giving babyfaces something real to fight against and making victories over him feel earned and meaningful. I think anybody giving him a rating lower than 5 don't really understand he didn't pick his gimmick, but at least he committed to it. He wrestled exactly how he was supposed to wrestle."

[7.0] "One of the biggest baddest wrestlers. Scared me when i was younger. Moved well and bumped well for a man of his size. Good champion in the territories. Did well in wwf. Always entertained by his matches. Simply put he did what he was supposed to do. And that's what matters."

[2.0] "As One Man Gang he was an OK big man but the Akeem gimmick was just horrendous, then as he got slower he just became more and more painful to watch. Increasingly bad in ring and was never particularly good and him jittering around in the background during promos as Akeem always made me laugh as it was just so silly."

[9.0] "One Man Gang / Akeem is was a great territory wrestler who had success and worked on top everywhere he was as a heel. Mid South, WCCW vs Von Erichs. In WWF One Man Gang and Hulk Hogan headlined all over and The Twin Towers vs The Mega Powers have prominent roles at Survivor Series, Royal Rumble and a iconic Saturday Night Main Event (one of the most viewed matches ever). His matches arent ***** classics, but If you like 80s southern wrestling or the Hogan Era of the WWF hes a memorable part of the story and by all accounts a great dude."

[5.0] "One Man Gang was a good gimmick but Akeem the African Dream was not a bad and offensive gimmick. In the ring the One Man Gang was alright but was behind some of the other big men in the company at the time. He played the One Man Gang gimmick well."

[5.0] "Slightly below average big man although they made him look like a bad ass when he first came to the WWF and immediately got suspended for a few weeks for beating up a referee. The Akeem gimmick killed his momentum and although he still had high profile matches with Bossman in the Twin Towers, once Bossman went baby face, he had nowhere to go and was just another big guy pseudo jobber."

[8.0] "Edited for errors, and some additional commentary: Loved his territory work under the One Man Gang moniker, he was a monster heel who was always a credible threat and a main event lock. Confession: with his long haired look - he was kinda cute! The tenure in World Class was the first shift in his presentation: here is where the iconic biker look was born, and claims of being from Halsted Street in Chicago (Thanks Gary Hart! ). His early WWF work was good enough, but then he was transformed into... My #1 all time favorite guilty pleasure gimmick. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE AKEEM. I know so many hate it, and I won't act like it was "legitimately great" No no - understand my affinity for cheese/tongue in cheek, so long as it's done with both feet so to speak. After slimming down to the best shape of his career, in '91 he resumed the One Man Gang character in WCW. Unfortunately, WCW was a mess and the Gang never got the push he deserved until *off tune fan fair* His return to the national stage, which came with a brief run as WCW's US champion in 1996. Unfortunately, by then his better years were quit far in the rear view, additionally the fans were utterly lukewarm to him (ouch). Now, I must fully admit - when he faced opposition near is height, his punches looked bad. He took a notably terrible over the top rope bump for Jimmy Snuka in Royal Rumble 1990. But I have an obvious soft spot for the guy. His 80's work is enjoyable if you know what you're getting into: the pure embodiment of an 80's style monster heel."

[3.0] "Typical lardy Wrestler from the 80s. Repackaged as Akeem in WWF was one of the stupidest gimmicks ever."

[7.0] "His gimmick was bad ass and he could actually have a good match for how big he was. The problem was he wrestled in an era when dudes would hold the heavyweight title for years on end. I don? t like the hot potatoing that happens with the titles in today? s day and age but I do like to see it change hands a few times a year and if the one man gang was in his prime in the late 90? s he would have won the belt. I enjoy quite a few of his matches and would recommend going back and checking him out."

[5.0] "Typical big man of the pre-Undertaker era, meaning he didn't bear much to the ring than sheer size and the fact he looked real tough. It may sound terrible nowadays but in those days that's exactly what was expected from big men. He knew his limits and kept to them, including choosing to be managed by excellent talkers (Gary Hart, Skandor Akbar etc) instead of cutting his own promos which added to his menacing and tough persona. His WWF run was marked by the now infamous "discovery of his African roots" (I think those were the exact words used by Slick), otherwise he would have been a solid if unremarkable midcard big guy. Akeem run aside he was a solid and reliable but otherwise unremarkable old fashioned big man, so he gets an average rating."

[4.0] "I don't remember doing anything he really did in his career. Maybe winning the WCW US title or being his ealry days in the Mid-South or WWE. He was a great brawler and could punch opponents very well. He had the size and was a great heel. One Man Gang gimmick was great. He did not do much main events except have a few matches with Hulk Hogan. Akeem gimmick was terrible."

[4.0] "One Man Gang was decent but limited, and he needed to be in with a good, smaller worker, someone who could bump and sell, to be in anything approaching a good match."

[5.0] "This Akeem gimmick is one of the dumbest of all times but along with Slick he was quite funny and he certainly had size. I loved him jiving while Slick did a promo. Not a great. wrestler but also not awful. Is responsible for one of the greatest moments, the Mega Powers explode; but his botch in the match overshadows that entire storyline for greatness."

[7.0] "He was never a favorite of mine but I was already impressed with how well he moved for his size. He some good matches but just didn't have what it took to be a star for me."

[5.0] "I gave him a 5 because he is just.... ok. not bad, not great. just whatevs. I was always mre entertained by his manager, Slick."

[7.0] "I always felt he never got the true push that he deserved. The biker gimmick was unique, which combined with his size, made him impressive both on his way to the ring and inside the squared circle. He sold his opponents moves well. He was not a Road Warriors rip off. He was a biker, they were from the Apocalypse. He was hurt with the Akeem gimmick. He became a comic character instead of the menacing biker, who was a gang all by himself. He deserved a King Kong Bundy like run, but never got it. This clearly hurts his ranking, despite being a favorite of mine."