Favorite Terrible Wrestlers
 

I was just thinking a bit about all the wrestlers that have provided me with entertainment and joy. I began to realize, many of those people were terrible in the ring.

Here's my Top 5 ( in no particular order)

5. Ernest Miller

I remember not enjoying any of this guy's matches, but loving him all the same. Felt like watching a guy with a big personality and no actual wrestling training whatsoever get a shot on TV. He was golden dookie.

4. 90% of ECW wrestlers

Going to lump the Tommy Dreamers, Balls Mahoneys, and New Jacks into the same category. Many of them earned my love after sacrificing their bodies, being entertaining and whatnot. However, watching entire ECW matches with a lot of these guys is a bit underwhelming. Paul was good at cutting out the shit and leaving in the highlights.

3. David Flair

I still don't understand why Ric didn't properly train his son. Flair looked less like a wrestler than CM Punk and Matt Hardy too, just some average looking college kid in the ring. Got saddled with a crazy gimmick and generally only had forgettable matches, but for some reason I liked him. Partly because I loved his dad, but he had a charm to him as well. Plus his hot ass manager.

2.Blue Meanie

bWo 4 lyfe! That is all. Stevie was actually a good wrestler otherwise he'd be here.

1. Al Snow

Mick Foley was average at best, but worked with his physical limitations and advantages to create a unique style. Al Snow was a half-assed version of that without the same advantages of Foley, but I really did and do love him. He may have had some good matches in ECW I never saw, but generally every match with him in it was a disappointing affair. The Head stuff was golde, but if I'm being honest his best match was wrestling by himself in the ring as people watched on.

Your turn. Go.

I thought Al was good tbh

I want to believe that, but I can't think of any good "big" matches he had. I remember dislikung his matches with Mankind and hating his dog cell match.

Mankind was battered and broken when Al wrestled him. The kennel from hell was an unmitigated disaster but it could have been Benoit vs Tiger Mask and it'd have been dog shit (pun intended).

He actually had some really good hardcore matches. Just didn't belong in a main even spot. Really fun mid-card act when he was firing on all cylinders and a solid hand. Doesn't deserve to be talked about in the same light as David Flair. Have a feeling he was also quite good in SMW. Wrestle his first match in like 1986 or something.

Mick Foley was also an amazing worker. Very fast for a guy his size, and unorthodox and a fantastic story teller. Dunno how that makes him "average at best"

Kevin Nash
Ahmed Johnson
Eva Marie
Steve (WHOOO) Mongo Mcmichaels

I'm a huge Foley mark. At one point I owned 5-6 Cactus Jack DVDs with his early matches etc, watched all his ECW stuff religiously. However, I've come to realize a lot of my love was because of my rose colored glasses. Going back to a lot of his work, he was unique, had a great look, but wasn't exactly great. Kevin Owens does what Foley was trying to do as a husky guy but way better and without all the hardcore stuff.

I truly love Foley, but I couldn't make the case for him as particularly good in the ring. He was known for his spots, his ability to absorb punishment, his amazing talent on the mic, and for just being a swell guy to work with.

I loved Mongo too.

I like Owens but he's no Foley.

Was Ed Leslie actually terrible or just Hogans booty call?
Cause I was gonna put him on my list

Sid!

Loved Sid Justice as a child and loved Psycho Sid even more.

Exactly right. Foley had magic and charisma and stood out in the field. He knew how to make a spot catch fire.

However, he wasn't anywhere as technically sound as Owens. Similar body types, Owens is way stronger and more agile though...yet...no magic.

Disco Inferno

Dude went out with the stupidest gimmick every night and usually got his but kicked but he stayed with it.

I love Disco all around.

Disco got pretty good at around 1999.

Viscera is my favourite terrible wrestler.

AL Snow was really good, especially in ECW. Balls Mahoney was a tremendous wrestler when he was actually allowed to have a straight up match. Great matches with RVD.

I don't think he's terrible, but alot of people do : Sid.

I fucking LOVE Sid.

Disco. .../ .../ .../

The Cat. He's the greatest, punks! He'll whoop anybody!

Sgt. Craig Pitbull Pitman. Loved his Cross-Arm Breaker.

The Gambler.

:y: big Sid fan

Nailz

https://giant.gfycat.com/VelvetyDrea...arterhorse.gif

Everything he did looked like shit & he knew a grand total of 1 wrestling move (the Greco-Roman Chokehold popularized by Homer Simpson), but there was something incredibly endearing about how intense & legit unhinged he was, + that "kid on elementary school picture day" haircut that made me root for him :lol: Those promos also, his voice sounded like the Dateline digital voice scrambler, perfect for a Convict

Maven
I still to this day, Mark out like a kid at his Dropkick, and how he eliminated the Undertaker at the Royal Rumble in 2002. Also loved his theme.

Speaking of Dropkicks
Hardcore Holly - I hate Bob Holly the human being, but I was actually quite fond of his matches, before I knew all about that. I know he isn't terrible, but he was exactly standing out besides his dropkick and 400 pound Superheavyweight Stuff he did.

Bubba Ray Dudley - I'm throwing this in, and not Bully Ray, I'm talking about his Singles WWE Stuff, I actually found him entertaining for some odd reason but everyone always talks about D'Von being the better of the two, but never actually cared for D'Von much for some odd reason.

Wrath - Always marked out for him, before his Kronik Stuff, never really watched much of Adam Bomb but I remember being one of the guys I wanted to see when I watched WCW, Loved his Meltdown.

Test - I never quite understood why Test was called Shit in the ring. I mean I saw it in his 2006-2007 ECW Run, But before then from like 2000-2003 I liked his work. Maybe I was just amazed by a 6'6 Dude who hit a picture perfect Elbow Drop.

It really depends on your definition of "Bad" in the sense of professional wrestling, or even to how you view professional wrestling itself.

But by most standards, I'd say Great Khali. Just because I enjoy saying "Her Sister is a Bitch!"

I will have to watch Al in ECW.

I enjoyed Balls live in 99. He was very fun, but it was a lot of cheese graders and forks.

You son of a bitch. You're lucky it's not Nashvember yet, or I'd be rooting SO HARD for you to tear your quads! :shifty:

3 Count

I'm with you @Helmsphere on Maven. Hardcore Holly just had the misfortune of being in some ridiculous, LOLWTF moments, like that one SD! when he tried to pick a fight/brawl with Brock. He was an extremely solid hand in the mid-card though.

Too Cool

Yeah, but I liked when Balls would have a straight up match every once in a while. Very good amateur wrestler.

Gangrel.

Guess also the Bushwackers during their WWF years.

I had the phrase "shut your whore mouth" ready but you pretty much covered it.

Honestly the closest thing to "bad" wrestlers I've ever particularly liked were the Natural Disasters, and honestly I don't even think it's fair to call them bad. Earthquake was exceptional at being a big vicious monster and Tugboat/Typhoon was decent enough at it.

Val Venis: Not that he was terrible in the ring or anything, but he was clunky when he was pushed and actually made people change the channel.

Billy Gunn: One of my favorites when I started watching. I've got no clue why.

Test: Same with Billy Gunn.

Hardcore Holly: Again, he's probably not considered "terrible," but I always found him more interesting than he really deserved to be labeled with.

If you're really looking for guys that are "worse" than that, I'd probably go with...Bull Buchanan? I always liked his clothesline spot. I had this soft spot for Snitsky too, lol. Viscera is a good shout out too.

SOMEBODY CALL MY MOMMA!

I really enjoyed Heidenreich and was even disappointed at one point that after an interaction backstage at some PPV, they never feuded or fought each other, LOL. Hindsight is a hell of a thing sometimes.

During Nashvember I refrain from any and all Nash bashing so I had to get it all out before then.

Billy Gunn and Test are in there for me.

Brodus Clay / Tyrus is also one of my fave terrible wrestlers.

Gangrel
Ellsworth

Gangrelsworth

Scotty 2 Hotty
Viscera
Hardcore Holly
Test
Tommy Dreamer

Definitely Test, and I also remember a time that I really enjoyed Hardcore Holly. As far as people who haven't been mentioned yet, Rodney and Pete Gas come to mind. Huge MSP mark for some reason.

Test
Mike Shaw
Gangrel
Val Venis
annnd
Brian Pilman wwf ONLY wcw he was fantastic but his WWf run .....

He was hurt AF. That doesn't make him a terrible wrestler.

All the jobber guys in Raven's Flock. Lodi and Riggs in particular.

Even Reece?

I don't think I ever saw him work a match, all I remember of him was carrying Billy Kidman on his back like a small child so I guess he was ok.

Now that you mention it though, I would like to clarify I do not like Van Hammer.

Who did?

I don't think Van Hammer even liked Van Hammer.

Ultimate Warrior

Oh yeah, that's a good one for me too.

You better tread lightly on that one

Jim Duggan

Virgil

Awww Duggan wasn't that bad lol

Adam Bomb/Wrath/Bryan Clark

For some reason there was a small window of time in WCW where I found myself liking Bryan (Crush)Adams and even more odd it was while he was in the NWO.....god he sucked at ...everything.

I loved them though.

Always had a soft spot for Grand Master Sexay. Not saying he's terrible, but he's far from even Scotty 2 Hotty, let alone his father.

Ooh, a more modern answer: Alex Riley

I thought he had something there. Presence, charisma -- whatever you want to call it. Nope. I was wrong, sorry.

I was an A-Ry fan too.

He did an angle with steen in nxt. Was the only thing steen has even done that i liked that didnt invole generico getting him over

Yeah, Riley was looking really intense for a second there. Then I believe he was released.

Raaaaaaage, Riley! Raaaaage!

I think it was a last ditch attempt to go somewhere with him. I liked the long hair, but it was just...eh, he's A-Ry, he's only ever going to be so good. They tried, he tried -- it just wasn't going to change the world.

I loved the MSP.

Another one from when I was younger...The Warlord!

Thought he looked awesome and couldn't understand why he lost so much.

He was likable to fans but I was never much of a patriot so that was already a dead gimmick for me all I saw was a big dumb guy who said USA and tough guy a lot then he got in the ring and did..... stuff while still yelling USA!

High Voltage

I always used to like Matt Hardy more than Jeff Hardy and Chavo more than Eddie. I have no clue why.

Christopher at his peak between 93-95 was one of the top 10 wrestlers in the world.

Really? I might have to check out some of his stuff. I sincerely didn't know that.

Checking out his Wikipedia page, I knew, intellectually, about that USWA run and how he was there but not revealed to be Jerry Lawler's son. I thought that was closer to his WWF run though. Need to go and watch more.

Nathan Jones. Was a perfect storm of strongman-turned-actor-turned-wrestler, a million-dollar gimmick (pleasantly unhinged, formerly incarcerated, and a backstory with Undertaker), an excuse for being so green (said prison stint), and checked Vince's boxes for "tall" and "looks the shit". Wasn't really anywhere as good as I wished he was, and not being able to handle the travel killed that dead.

Honestly, as hokey as it was, that "Varsity Villain" cocky asshole jock schtick wasn't bad. Then, he appeared on actual WWE TV without doing any of it in one of those "let's take away everything that works" moves.

You're probably right that they took it away, but there was enough of it that remained that I got the idea of the gimmick. He always seemed like a jock asshole.

Remember when they had Riley randomly get into a brawl with Steve Austin? They had plans for him.

They smashed him over Miz too. I mean, it wasn't exactly Triple H/Batista in terms of star-making, but it was there. And they gave him that great theme too. If only he were good enough to justify keeping it going even after he fucked up backstage or whatever happened.

Whatculture did a video recently about 2nd generation wrestlers who never made it. Apparently the story with Flair is that he never wanted to be a wrestler. The story to get David involved was pitched by Eric Bischoff, and though he went along with it and gave it a shot, David just never really wanted to be a wrestler.

If that's true, then in fairness he didn't do that terribly. Sure, he was pretty awful in the ring, but his psycho stuff at least showed promise when it came to character-work.

There was a ton of talk surrounding Christopher becoming the next HBK during that time

That I have never heard. Amazing. So he's in that line of Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler, haha. Who else has been the next HBK?

Wow. That explains a lot.

Lol he was rumored to take HBK'S spot if Michaels jumped to WCW in 92-93

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Thanks for sharing. Oh, yes, those Brian Christopher cries.

Oh man, I thought I was the only one. No idea why, though. Kenny Kaos and Rocky Rage, was it?

Matt Hardy V1 was great. Chavo during the time he had Pepe and the "EDDIE GUERRERO IS MY FAVORITE WRESTLER" t-shirt was great.

I didn't really rock too hard with either of them outside of those phases.

We've already discussed his "terribleness", and Scotty deserves none of it, but maybe in terms of "terrible" gimmicks, I enjoyed Too Much WAAAAAAAAY more than I enjoyed Too Cool.

Christopher's "Rockers", if you will. :lol:

HBK. Fuck outta here.

Yeah, I honestly loved that segment they had of him and 'Taker training...I honestly thought that though he was quite inexperienced, in that video he looked to have so much potential. Really doesn't seem like he got much of a chance to improve before being shitcanned from WWE, but maybe he would've never been any good. I'd like to think that's not the case, but I guess we'll never get to find out.

Matt Morgan in WWE...he wasn't terrible by any means, just terribly utilized and seemingly also quite underutilized. I understand he went on to be pretty great for a while in TNA, which while I've never watched them, I'm glad he found a degree of success somewhere.

Matt Morgan is tricky, because if you've got him, you should push him, but that also means you have to push him.

The problem with Christopher is that while you can take the hillbilly out of Memphis, you can't take the Memphis out of the hillbilly. Or something like that.


at the end of the day he's still gonna wanna fuck his sister.

That's not who he date-raped to get oiled up by Bradshaw was it?

I thought their music was really cool

Matt Morgan is the biggest miss in recent memory. He should have been headlining Wrestlemanias. Big, agile, good look. It just never happened

The Between the Sheets did a podcast on 93 a while back and you should have heard the stuff printed about Christopher. People really thought he was going to be a mega star

He was pretty good tbh, just eventually settled into a routine and didn't really do much other than comedy.

He was really good when the WWF brought in all those light heavyweights in 97. Great matches with TAKA and Aguila

Watched his match with Taka recently, was quite good.

Just a little too much Memphis heeling for my liking given it was a light heavyweight match, but he still kept up with Taka while being like 50-60 pounds heavier than him lol.

Lol I love Memphis heel schtick

They should have given him more than the fucking stutter, that's for sure.

I actually really like the idea of Memphis heeling in the context of a light heavyweight match. Will actually check out that Between the Sheets podcast. I gave them a go once, but they just didn't hook me for whatever reason. I'll give it another go though, since sometimes mood really affects how open you are to those first impressions.