Dan Kroffat

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Graham Crackers]

Those late 80s/early 90s workrate tags from AJPW are about as fun as pro wrestling gets. I can always put on the Can-Ams vs Footloose or Kobashi & Joe Malenko or Kobashi & Kikuchi and I'll have a good time. Those matches are athletically impressive in terms of their fast pace and the complexity of the action but that doesn't always lead to great matches. Those matches have a great rhythm and a great sense of escalation. Kroffat is one of the keys to those matches and deserves a lot of credit for why they work.

 

Still, I think those matches are a step below the best stuff going on at that time. I can understand why someone may love those matches and really wants Kroffat on their list but I don't think I can justify it.

 

I see Kroffat as a guy who was good but his peak wasn't at the elite level and didn't really have a great deal of longevity so it's hard for me to see him as a top 100 pick.

[funkdoc]

if i were doing this, i would strongly consider him just for getting a good match out of RVD

 

IIRC that was the *only* match in ditch's 90s AJPW top 50 that didn't have any of the big 4 in it

[Grimmas]

Does any footage of him prior to AJPW exist? That may make/break his case.

[Dylan Waco]

Minor note, but Kroffat was really good at times in dying days Montreal and Puerto Rico. When I'm looking at tie breakers that could help him

[El-P]

Calling him by his real name Phil Lafon really hurt his perception in the WWF I believe (and French just don't get over as babyfaces anyway unless you're in Montreal). He was billed from Paris, France. Oh man, I forgot about that. Another fake French guy. From Paris, of course. From where else ? Plus the name just doesn't evoke "asskicker", unlike Dan Kroffat. It's pretty amazing to watch him drop Al Snow on his head with a Cobra Clutch suplex in a competitive squash on RAW. That audience sure never saw that before. But between the dull French sounding name, the über generic music theme and working as a babyface when he was at his best as a shitbag asskicker, he was doomed. But Kroffat was an terrific worker during his peak in AJ. One of those guys like Scorp that I would have prefered to see in WCW instead of WWF at the time. I can only picture Kroffat vs Regal or Finlay...

[PeteF3]

Crazy how we're criticizing Vince for *dumping* a wrestler's gimmick name in favor of his real name. (Not that you don't raise a perfectly good point--Rocker Mike Hickenbottom wouldn't work either. I just find it amusing.) I didn't remember them billing him from Paris, either.

 

The Can-Ams were better as heels but the WWF couldn't really do that with them in late '96, because Bulldog & Owen were already around and had virtually the same dynamic. And even if they weren't as good, they were far more known and established. Meanwhile WCW was killing off its tag division. With hindsight being 20/20 they may have been better off making the jump a year earlier, but AJPW was a pretty good gig to be giving up.

[elliott]

I ranked Dan Kroffat 82nd in 2016 and I feel ok about that. I ranked him that high on the strength of his AJPW tag work and that stuff has held up really well for me even when other 90s AJPW stuff hasn't. I also really enjoyed his Dandy Dan Kroffat work in Puerto Rico. Its cool to see him working a more over the top stoogy heel style as opposed to the awesome athletic AJPW tags. It gives him more range as a worker and makes up for the lame WWF run. I feel like hes in that 80-140 range where he could make it one day or miss it the next. 

[Shrike02]

Always been a huge fan of Kroffat but haven't explored his Puerto Rico footage. I'll make that a priority. Kroffat's drop kick and snap suplex I'd take against almost anyone. Fantastic tag worker. I could see him making my list in the 75-100 range if I find more evidence of his longevity as a worker whose timing and athletic tools have always impressed me.

[Ma Stump Puller]

I got a big soft spot for the guy. Great tag specialist, solid in the fundamentals but could work a crowd incredibly well for himself and was such a gift at character work that he actively chose to hide his technical gifts in matches in order to play a more effective antagonist. The fact that he could keep up with a prime RVD while playing such a slimy heel is incredibly impressive on his part, and a true sign of his brilliance. 

For what it's worth, even when he was reduced to mostly working mostly less significant matches in his AJPW material around about the mid 90's, he still stood out from the pack with his abilities: I mean for god sake he got the crowd to chant for Giant Kimala lol. That's a momentous task to be had, especially when sharing the ring with guys like Kobashi and whatnot. People always go over his usual biggest hits but I feel like there's a lot of underrated material that doesn't always get picked up on, especially his match series with a pre Rat Boy Ogawa and whatnot. He's a lot better as a tag worker but he could still throw out some solid material in singles. Definitely has a spot on the top 100 for me. 

[khawk20]

On 4/26/2021 at 8:59 PM, Shrike02 said:

Always been a huge fan of Kroffat but haven't explored his Puerto Rico footage. I'll make that a priority. Kroffat's drop kick and snap suplex I'd take against almost anyone. Fantastic tag worker. I could see him making my list in the 75-100 range if I find more evidence of his longevity as a worker whose timing and athletic tools have always impressed me.

Puerto Rico Kroffat was a different guy, no?

 

I saw him live many times in Thunder Bay on the International Montreal circuit in 86-87. Very impressive live in comparison to the rest of the crew, who were more apt to be built for brawling and mat matches (Gilles Poisson, Steve Strong,  Abdullah, Ayala, Brito Jr., Etc.). Was billed as a local as he was apparently born in a small town just outside of here. I couldn't have envisioned him going to Japan and doing as well as he did there, much in the same way it's hard to look at Doug Furnas when he debuted in Continental and think of him being a big deal later on. Sometimes something clicks, and kudos to the folks that suggested those guys get together and make a tag team.