That was two years ago anyways, I don't think my point of posting the link was to originally push my "PE" hypothesis, but to show that alot of conversation similar to this topic has already been discussed, and try to get more new input from everyone, instead of starting over.
Sorry.
That's why I said at the start of this post that someone may have already mentioned the ring figures having a mold unto themselves. One of the reasons I am really looking forward to Veers' MUSCLE site is so we can really start to pull all the speculating/theorizing into one place -- in a refined form. As we all know, Nathan's site is an absolutely AMAZING MUSCLE resource -- just incredible really -- but he steers clear of the speculating for the most part. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a broken record and dead horse beater when it comes to MUSCLE musings.
However, I do stand by my comment that I agree with the gist of what you are saying, but I think there may be more to the story (and a little bit of me splitting hairs). For one, your theory is mainly about the Board Game and figures. Over at Nathan's site, he has two awesome pages devoted to both the Ring and Board Game. Interestingly,
the Ring box has a date of 1985 and
the Board Game a date of 1986. Going by this, it seems the Ring was created before the Board Game. So -- splitting hairs here -- rather than create the Terri-Bull figure for the Board Game, perhaps he was first created for the Ring and then either (1) was found suitable for the Board Game, (2) the Board Game was created around him, or (3) the Ring and Game Board were created at the same time. (It's notable that Terri-Bull #2 (arms down) was pictured on both the Ring box and the Board Game box -- so maybe they
were both developed before Terri-Bull #235 was created.)
Like I said, URS, I think you had the gist of the idea about why #235 Terri-Bull was created, but I envision his creation being more about the ring -- with the need for a Terri-Bull with raised arms -- than him being specially created for the Board Game because of the tree issue. I think the tree issue -- finding a tree with the right number of sculpts that were bad guys -- was definitely a "post" issue, but not the driving force behind the creation of #235 Terri-Bull.
Also, you'll notice that the boxes of both the Ring and the Board Game say they are made in Japan. Is it actually the Wrestling Belt that was made in Mexico? Or is there another source that tells us where the Ring and BG were made?