Mike Rotunda

[10.0] "For my money, I.R.S. was the consummate heel. Long before it was the nWo era of "badguys are cool! " it took a lot to get the audience to hate you and cheer a face they may not necessarily like. Mike managed to do this while wrestling in full accountant gear, suspenders and all, and was crisp doing it. He has a solid workrate, and best of all was a great cheater. Rotunda was great at the ab stretch by the ropes, where he could cheat using them for extra leverage. I never tired of watching him lie to the ref before inevitably getting caught. His pairing with Ted DiBiase seemed as natural as you'd expect, leading to many great (IMHO) matches with Money, Inc. desperately trying to cheat their way to victory. Rotunda's work waned a bit in later years. V.K. Wallstreet wasn't the same, but the man could go. He was great in Survivor Series matches, tag teams, or singles. I think he did the best he could with his station in the wrestling world, and I love him for it."

[7.0] "There's a few tax dodgers on here giving Irwin low ratings. Not ideal wrestling in office wear with braces and clip on tie, so no surprise he was often soaked through with sweat but a reliable 90s heel and Money Inc were decent. Maybe a little overly fond of restholds though. Played it deadpan whilst provoking the crowd, his SummerSlam 92 declaration of "If you British tax cheats paid your fair share, you wouldn't put such a burden on the Royal Family" was hilarious then & still is."

[8.0] "Rotundo will mostly be remembered as the IRS but truthfully I felt his work in the US Express and Varsity club was better. He was a guy who definitely worked better as a tag wrestler. He had success as a tag guy everywhere he went and put on good matches."

[6.0] "Mike Rotunda as a tag team wrestler is an easy 7 or 8 but as a singles guy...He doesn't really stand out. He's been in the NWA, WWF/E, WCW, AWA, NJPW, SMW, AJPW, NJPW. He's been all over the world and seen this and done that. I'd say Mid 80s to Late 80s Mike Rotunda was his best work in-ring wise. After that, his workrate seemed to fall off a cliff in the early 90s in WCW but seemed to recover a bit with the IRS character in Mid '92 to Early '94. After that, he spiraled and joined WCW. Once a nice heel tag team act was slowly turned into a lower midcarder heel who had little to no interest. He managed to have bad match after bad match in his return to WCW with dumb names such as M. Wallstreet, VK Wallstreet, Michael Wallstreet, Mr. Wallstreet. He left WCW around June 1997 and mostly stayed in Japan before returning to WCW in Late '99 to Early 00' in an even more forgettable run before fading into Japan."

[2.0] "Mike Rotunda is one of the most boring wrestlers I have ever seen. he's a bad promo, but not in a way like Sid Vicious or Von Wagner where it loops around to being funny, he's just dry and charismaless. His in-ring work is also incredibly dull, lots of crappy looking holds, basic moves and a lack of fluidity that makes him just so boring. IRS was a shit gimmick and you cannot convince me otherwise, how this man gave us Bray Wyatt is beyond me, with his captivating drawl that drew in wrestling fans young and old, with such a creative mind that really thought outside of the box about what wrestling can present (RIP), and even Bo Dallas was charismatic (I still Bo-lieve)"

[8.0] "Probably the only cool thing that ever involved the initials I.R.S. A very dry but utterly hilarious promo, extremely solid but not flashy worker, could be kind of lazy at times tbh but he could rassle. Solid physique in prime. Well suited to tag work and heeling though early career he was surprisingly over as a face. The IRS gimmick had my father falling out of his chair as a kid. I didn't get 75% of the jokes until I started paying taxes years later. The guy made a heel gimmick that was a caricature of the Internal Revenue Service a career. He's good. Some of the critique about him getting hilariously sweaty and gassed in some matches is true. And his NWO era WCW run was, admittedly, lackluster. I think a lot of the non-Americans probably are missing 90% of the jokes in his IRS era promos. I doubt tax agency jokes translate. Also, this man drew nuclear heat in the US with that gimmick."

[4.0] "I have seen a ton fo Mike Rotundo matches that I enjoyed. But I've never seen a good promo from him, not even when he was IRS. This man was devoid of personality his whole career. When I first saw him, he was teaming with Barry Windham in the WWF as the US Express. They were a great tag team and this was the only period where he didn't bore me to tears. Then, he was teaming with Dan Spivey and that's when he suddenly felt so boring. When he left the WWF to go join Kevin Sullivan and The Varsity Club, he was given a pretty decent storyline with Rick Steiner. I actually kind of liked The Varsity Club at the time, but it has not held up well in retrospect.. Then he was a boat captain or something as "Captain" Mike Rotundo before becoming Michael Wallstreet, a Gordon Gekko wanna-be, a less charismatic Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase, with Terri Runnels as his manager before heading back to the WWF to team with the guy he was impersonating, Ted Dibiase. He spent his last few years as a member of the nWo, although he left and no one noticed. I don't know where his son, Bray Wyatt, got all of his charisma, but Rotundo will best be remembered as Wyatt's dad. Not a great career, but one that got him taken care of..."

[2.0] "I've barely seen any good IRS matches, this man is one of the most boring wrestlers of all time. I'm not gonna give him a full on zero because he wasn't godawful but he's definitely one of my least favorite wrestlers of all time. He's competent but he's super rest hold heavy and his offense is too basic to be exciting. His promo skill? TERRIBLE! He has zero charisma, it's a small wonder how Bray Wyatt & Bo Dallas got where they are with their mic skills, because they surpass their father by a million miles. I'm sure he was okay in the U.S. Express, but I think once you watch his fed run and then his NWO run; you see a washed, boring, terrible wrestler."

[5.0] "Pretty average wrestler who was best served as a tag team guy and was in quite a few decent ones. IRS is still one of my favorite "wrestler with a day job" gimmicks."

[5.0] "One of the best pure wrestlers that ever came through the NWA/WCW/WWF but he didn't have the charisma to go far on his own and he seemed to be getting stuck constantly with bad gimmicks. His best stuff was in the Varsity Club, and somehow, he made the IRS gimmick work! He complimented Dibiase in Money Inc very well but after going back to WCW, he was just "there" as Wallstreet and that terrible short attendance in the nWo."

[7.0] "I really liked Mike Rotunda. Especially his IRS character. He really adapted well to it and adopted the character seriously. Also, he was very good and technical in the ring."

[8.0] "I will always maintain his run in the late 80s was the most perfect mid card heel you can possibly fine. Nothing showy, knew his job and always presented as a threat that up and coming heels needed to beat."

[7.0] "I didn't mind his early face runs for Crockett or the F at all, he served the role well and I rooted for him because he looked like an older cousin at the time. You have to enjoy the team with Barry Windham - great chemistry. Buuut by the time he arrived back to Crockett in '87 (as a face) he wasn't that great or compelling anymore. I wanted to like him but other baby faces there had my heart by then. Here is where I think we got peak Mike Rotunda though: The Varsity Club heel turn, guided by Kevin Sullivan (also one of Sullivan's better outings) as the Television Champion, sometimes teaming with Rick Steiner or Sullivan. Great stuff here, house shows were a fun time with the southern crowd bellowing "SYRACUSE SUCKS! " at the native Orangeman. Unfortunately Jim Herd didn't understand "Captain" Mike referred to the "captain of the VARSITY TEAM" and made him "ThE cApTaIn Of A bOat DRrrRRr! ". *sigh* Anyway, he rechristened himself as "Michael Wallstreet" and I liked that gimmick. He quickly leapt back up to New York with a reworking of said Wallstreet gimmick and became the infamous Irwin R Shyster. That name IS AWFUL. Anyway, Julius flippin cheeseburger he put on some BOREDOM CLINICS as this character... but that tag team with Ted Dibiase was pretty good! His return to WCW as now "VK Wallstreet" quickly became T H E "just another body" nWo guy, until he was sent to Japan. Said role was then filled by 12 people at once. And can you bloody believe it, he even reprised The Varsity Club gimmick before WCW croaked...stunning, but also pointless (and meritless). Kinda hard to rate to be honest, we'll go with 7.25 rounded down. also of note: man what a super sweaty guy! *drip drip drip*"

[5.0] "I've never really sympathized with the IRS and their in-ring material didn't surprise me too much. it was solid at best and a little below at worst"

[5.0] "Was okay with Windham or in the varsity club. To me I will always associate him as IRS a guy that wrestled in suspenders and a tie."

[5.0] "A relatively decent worker when put into a tag team with someone who can fill in the gaps for him, but he had a rather rough habit of gassing up mid match (another reason why he was more of a tag specialist than anything else: he needed time to recover) hence why a lot of his singles work isn't very good, usually only putting out a properly good bout when paired with someone who can work with that style without killing the crowd. His IRS gimmick was obviously quite goofy, but I think he made it work remarkably well for himself and he was a natural fit to DiBiase at the time. His Varsity Club is pretty underrated and easily has his best matches work wise: even those don't really put him beyond being slightly above average."

[3.0] "He was a good heel that could easily get heat but he lacks charisma , didn't have good promos & he wasn't good in the ring ."

[7.0] "Seemed decent to me in the ring. He had a great solid build. His early days with the Varsity Club were excellent. Teaming with his brother in law Barry Windham was great too. The York Foundation he was great too. In WWF he was Irwin R Schyster and had a great heel gimmick. Excellent on the mic especially during the early 90's. he also say taxes. After leaving WWF, he went downhill. In WCW when he was VK Wallstreet he was okay during the first year then after that he was terrible. He was more of a tag team specialist during his career. Was not as great as a singles competitor."

[6.0] "An example of only being to climb the ladder so far with such an on-the-nose gimmick. IRS was insanely hatable in a good way. He's one of the most memorable characters from the time & worked well along side DiBiase."

[6.0] "Mike Rotundo was a solid wrestler and a decent talker, but his lack of charisma meant that he did far better when put in a tag team situation, with a partner who could be the colourful one."

[4.0] "I never got excited about a Mike Rotunda match. Good look, boring interviews, and efficient but blah ring work. His many gimmicks ran together as the same uneventful package."