Top 50 WWF Singles Wrestlers of the 90s

[Mickey Massuco]

I'm a huge Waltman fan. Same with Ron SImmons, and only later watching WCW did I realized how badly WWE fucked up his singles run. His fiery babyface promos were out of this world, I got amped up just watching at home.

 

[Valeyard]

Waltman is probably one of the most solid guys there is, when he feels like it. The Kid had some many great matches, X-Pac had a bunch of really good ones. He might have been the only one to ever benefit from the Million Dollar Corporation, too; he became HATED after turning on Razor, one of the top heels, and it somehow worked that the Kid would sell out more than anyone else. I think he might've been a bigger star if they'd dropped the 123 Kid name and gone with almost anything else. One of the big letdowns from the magazine leaking cards was he and Sid being the top heel team of 1996 and then it never happening.

I like X-Pac much more than I used to because he was allowed to work with certain guys (Jarrett or D-Lo, for instance) he was great. Just sad he was in such an odd place where he could've definitely broken out a little more but the entire upper card was in the Austin/McMahon logjam. I really wanted him to have a singles run with Taker instead of the tag feud with Taker and Show, but I'll say forever that he and Kane were the perfect tag team. But singles, he didn't have as much to work with as he did, and the booking didn't lend itself to showcasing how good he could be, I feel like.

 

[AA484]

30. Roddy Piper

Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion (1990–1992)
Piper started the decade in a feud with Rick Rude, winning the majority of their matches including a win over Bobby Heenan.[32] He then feuded with Bad News Brown who was upset at being eliminated by Piper at the 1990 Royal Rumble. Brown would go on to mock Piper for wearing a "skirt". At WrestleMania VI in April 1990, Piper cut a promo towards his opponent Bad News Brown before the match with half his face and body painted black. Bad News would take this as being offensive behind the scenes.[28][33] Subsequently, the match would end in a Double Count Out, with the issue between the two never being resolved despite plans to the contrary. According to a behind the scenes interview, neither man was willing to lose to the other.[34] In 1991, he supported Virgil in his feud against "The Million Dollar Man" (Ted DiBiase). Later in 1991 Piper was involved in a motorcycle accident,[35] but was still present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam. He renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.[19] He lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII.[36] Following his title loss to Hart, Piper made a handful of appearances at television tapings for Wrestling Challenge and WWF Superstars. Four Piper's Pit segments were recorded - two with Steve Lombardi and two with Shawn Michaels.[37] None aired, and Piper disappeared from the WWF. He made his return playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam.[38]

Return and The Bottom Line (1994–1996)[edit]
He reemerged once again in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna.[39] During the match, commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler remarked that he hated Piper and continued to taunt Piper on his King's Court segment on Monday Night Raw, eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a young, skinny impersonator in a Piper T-shirt and kilt and forcing him to kiss his feet.[40] Enraged, Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Piper emerged victorious. Piper wrestled as a fan favorite, and adding to the face attitude by donating part of his purse from the fight with Lawler to a children's hospital in Ontario.[40] In spring 1994, Piper began hosting a regular weekly segment on All-American Wrestling called "The Bottom Line" where he commented on various happenings in the WWF, as well as on his feud with Lawler.[41] Piper's segment aired regularly until the Summer of 1994, when Piper would disappear again.

Leaving the WWF again, he briefly returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund.[42] After this match Piper became the host for the replay editions of WWF pay-per-views for a brief period of time, commenting on the matches that had just happened, before disappearing again a few months later.

President of the WWF (1996)[edit]
On the January 29, 1996 episode of Monday Night RAW, Piper returned for another regular role, as he was named as interim WWF President after Gorilla Monsoon had to take a leave of absence due to an attack by Vader.[43] On February 24 at a house show at East Rutherford, New Jersey he made his first match appearance in almost two years. As a substitute for Razor Ramon, Piper defeated The 1-2-3 Kid after hitting him with a ring bell. He wrestled twice more against the Kid on house shows that month.[44]

As president, one of Piper's first acts was to reinstate The Ultimate Warrior back into the WWF after a letter campaign written in by fans. Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII.[45] The match, dubbed a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl", began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, but Goldust jumped into his gold Cadillac and ran Piper over, ultimately escaping (allegedly) onto the highways of Anaheim. Piper pursued in his white Ford Bronco, the aerial footage shown was actually that of the O. J. Simpson "low-speed" chase from two years prior. This was made clear by Piper himself, who recalled the event on an episode of Pipers Pit the Podcast. The two eventually returned to the arena, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of the night, Piper once again left the company.[46] His final appearance came the September 6, 1996 edition of Monday Night RAW, where footage was shown of him participating with other WWF wrestlers at the CNE "Experience" in Toronto.[44]

 

[Valeyard]

I really wish I could argue with that placing, but if anything it's too high. I don't think Piper was even full time when he won the IC title. I love his runs with Flair and the Bret match is one of my all time favorites, but he didn't seem to do much, and you could argue each appearance after the shitty Lawler match repeatedly hurt that period. I think his last match during the early 90s run, or at least last taped, was with the Barbarian on one of the world tour videos, and I remember it literally putting me to sleep. Not that it has anything to do with anything.

Backlot Brawl is half a classic. Wrestlemania 12 was my first pay-per-view and it was all about Piper beating the fuck outta Goldust in a backlot. The actual backlot stuff was awesome, too. What I won't forgive to this day is how Regal and Finlay had the exact kind of parking lot fight I expected out of Piper and Goldust, and fuck those WCW guys.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I can't argue with that placement. Piper was still doing some great stuff even in that era but he was clearly being phased out and cast in a Living Legend type roll. '90-'91 he was a part timer. '92 was his best year of the '90s. '94-'95 guest apppearances---I don't really want talk about. I thought he was kind of underrated as Commissioner and almost wish he'd stayed in WWF in that role instead of his mostly lame WCW run. Piper would've fit like a glove in Attitude Era instead of being square peg in round hole in nWo era WCW.

 

[Valeyard]

This is the most realistic case so far where it just seems too high. I love Piper, he's one of my all time favorites and one of the very few I really miss, but I don't think it's out of the question to swap him and Jake based on that same two year period alone.

 

[alfdogg]

I think the list from here on is a little more predictable as far as the names that will appear, not so much the order. I have a list of guys who I think will make up the top 29, and I see maybe 3 or 4 potential surprise omissions out of that

 

[SFH]

Piper is one of the guys that appeared on my first ever wrestling show, and drew me in. I recognized him from the WWF toy commercials and he was cutting a promo on Dibiase (same show had the match I shared with Jake and Duggan about hooking me, Jake under a mask as "El Diablo"). So I caught him as fired up baby face and didn't have the context of his 80s run. For my own nostalgia 90s Piper is a top face, but looking back objectively, I'd offer that this is a fair placement. My inner child is kicking and screaming but fair is fair.

 

[AA484]

29. Sgt. Slaughter

Iraqi sympathizer (1990–1991)[edit]
After WrestleMania VI, Slaughter sent a letter to Vince McMahon saying he loved the program and was interested in returning. McMahon told Slaughter he wanted a heel, and his new gimmick would be that Slaughter turned on the United States due to its acceptance of the Russian Nikolai Volkoff. According to Slaughter, he found it difficult to do the anti-American promos associated with this gimmick.[citation needed]

The August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Ba'athist Iraq triggered a political crisis that would lead to the 1991 Gulf War, in which Kuwait was freed by a U.S.-led military coalition. A decision was made to have Slaughter support the Iraqi cause, not for the actual political reasons, but more for the fact that Slaughter liked "brutality" and the Iraqi government was "brutal" while the US regime was said by Slaughter to have become "soft" and "weak". Slaughter aligned himself with a kayfabe Iraqi military general, General Adnan (his old rival who left the AWA shortly after Slaughter did), and entered a feud with Volkoff (which saw Slaughter win the majority of their encounters at house shows), leading to a match at that year's Survivor Series which saw The Alliance (Volkoff, Tito Santana, and The Bushwhackers) defeat The Mercenaries (Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, and The Orient Express). As part of his character change, Slaughter began wearing Arab headdresses to the ring, adopted the Camel Clutch as one of his finishers, and was (kayfabe) photographed meeting with Saddam Hussein. Slaughter also infamously adopted a move where he would grind the tip of one of his knuckles into his opponent's temple (the childhood noogie). It was reported that while Slaughter was portraying a turncoat, he had received numerous death threats and could not go anywhere in public without wearing a bullet-proof vest[11] and had to be surrounded with security personnel at all times. According to Slaughter, Vince asked him to burn the American flag, but Slaughter refused to, so Slaughter suggested he burn Hulk Hogan's shirt.

As 1990 ended, Slaughter began challenging for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship that had been held by The Ultimate Warrior since WrestleMania VI. Slaughter got his chance at the Royal Rumble in January 1991, days after the Gulf War air campaign had begun. He defeated the Warrior when "Macho King" Randy Savage, who had also been feuding with the Warrior at the time, struck the champion in the head with his royal scepter. Slaughter thus became the thirteenth WWF World Heavyweight Champion and was immediately challenged by Royal Rumble winner Hulk Hogan, who was furious that Slaughter had (kayfabe) desecrated the American flag (off-screen) as part of his victory celebration. Hogan demanded a match against Slaughter at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, California, and Slaughter accepted. Slaughter was defeated by Hogan, thus losing his championship. After WrestleMania Slaughter introduced his newest ally, Colonel Mustafa (The Iron Sheik, Slaughter's old nemesis). Slaughter and company went on to feud with Hogan for months, including having a three-on-two handicap match at SummerSlam 1991, which saw the team of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior prevail over Slaughter, Adnan, and Mustafa.

Various feuds (1991-1994)[edit]
After finishing the Hogan feud, Slaughter became a face again, appearing in vignettes next to American landmarks, saying, "I want my country back".[2] During an episode of Superstars, Jim Duggan was under attack from The Nasty Boys, and Slaughter made the save. Duggan and Slaughter teamed up to defeat the Nasty Boys and continued to team over the next several months. Slaughter's last regular WWF match, which was against Nailz, was in October 1992 and ended in no contest when Nailz viciously attacked Slaughter before the match could begin.[citation needed]

Slaughter started appearing as an on-air official from October 1992 to June 1994. He made his first wrestling appearance in over a year when he appeared on a house show version of a Royal Rumble that was held on January 17, 1994, at Madison Square Garden. After helping to eliminate Adam Bomb he, in turn, was tossed out by Crush. Later that year he would wrestle on four house shows in July in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, facing and defeating Quebecer Pierre. He left the company in September.[12]

WWF Commissioner and sporadic appearances (1997–2009)[edit]
After a hiatus, he returned to WWF television on the August 4, 1997, episode of Raw Is War to assume the role of on-air commissioner by (kayfabe) President Gorilla Monsoon who in reality retired from being on camera due to health issues. Initially popular, he eventually became the target of D-Generation X, who called him "Sgt. Slobber". On an episode of Raw Is War, he put Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a match for Michaels' European Championship. Michaels dropped the belt to Helmsley, by lying down in the ring. Slaughter challenged Triple H to a Boot Camp match at the December pay-per-view, which he lost. His feud with Triple H continued into WrestleMania XIV where he handcuffed himself to Chyna to prevent her from interfering with Helmsley's match against Owen Hart. But Slaughter's efforts ultimately proved futile, as Chyna threw powder into his eyes, interfered with the match anyway, and hurled Slaughter into the front row.

In 1998, Slaughter turned heel, joined Vince McMahon along with Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson, and became the on-screen lackeys of McMahon; running errands for him and dishing out punishment to McMahon's rivals, namely Steve Austin. In late 1998, Slaughter relinquished the role of commissioner to Shawn Michaels and largely disappeared from television.

 

[AA484]

28. Ahmed Johnson

Debut (1995–1996)[edit]
Norris made his first appearance on July 15, 1995, wrestling on a house show in Houston, TX. Competing as Tony Norris he defeated Rico Suave.[10] After being signed and given the ring name "Ahmed Johnson", he made his pre-television debut at In Your House 3 on September 24, 1995, in Saginaw, MI. Wrestling as a face, Johnson beat Skip in a non-televised match. His televised debut came on the October 23, 1995, episode of Raw. Prior to his first televised match, he appeared at the end of a Raw taping by entering a post-match brawl and slamming Yokozuna. He made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series, as the team of Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and Dean Douglas took on the team of Johnson, Shawn Michaels, Sid, and The British Bulldog. In the end, Johnson, Michaels, and Bulldog won the match as the survivors of their team, with Johnson eliminating both Owen Hart and Yokozuna by pinfall. At Season's Beatings on December 17, Johnson defeated Buddy Landel (who replaced Dean Douglas) in only 42 seconds. After the match, Johnson was interviewed by Jerry Lawler, at which time Lawler distracted him in order for Jeff Jarrett to attack him, starting a feud between the two in the process. At the 1996 Royal Rumble, Johnson defeated Jarrett by disqualification after Jarrett struck him with a guitar (causing Johnson to be hospitalized for a concussion). At WrestleMania XII, Camp Cornette (Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog) took on the team of Johnson, Yokozuna, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Camp Cornette won when Vader pinned Roberts with the Vader Bomb. At Good Friends, Better Enemies on April 28, Roberts and Johnson teamed up to take on Hart and Bulldog. While Jim Cornette had the referee distracted, Bulldog hit him in the knee with Cornette's tennis racket; he then forced Roberts to submit with a single leg Boston crab. After the match, Roberts and Johnson attempted to put Roberts' python, Revelations, on Cornette, but Hart pulled Cornette out of the ring.

Intercontinental Champion (1996)[edit]
At King of the Ring, Johnson defeated Goldust to win the Intercontinental Championship.[11][12] As the first African American Intercontinental Champion, most assumed it was only a matter of time before he climbed to main event status. He was soon paired on-screen with Shawn Michaels in several tag team matches and often helped Michaels against Jim Cornette and his men, known as Camp Cornette. At International Incident, Johnson, along with Sycho Sid and Michaels, lost to Vader, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog.[13]

On the July 22 edition of Raw, Michaels and Johnson teamed again and challenged The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) for the Tag Team Championship. During the match, Faarooq Asad debuted and attacked Johnson.[14] This was supposed to lead to a match at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Title. On the August 5 edition of Raw, Johnson won an 11-man battle royal, last eliminating the man whom he beat for the Intercontinental title, Goldust, to be the #1 contender for the WWF Championship for the day after SummerSlam.[14] However, Johnson was diagnosed with legit kidney problems, and was forced to miss both SummerSlam and his scheduled WWF Championship match the following night.[2] As a result, he was out for four months and in order to keep the angle going, the attack by Farooq was said to be the cause of the kidney damage.[2] The news was made public on WWF programming by incorporating it into the 11-man battle royal which Johnson won. Voice-over commentary was added so that Johnson's participation in the battle royal was said to be against doctors' orders, when in reality his kidney problem had yet to be discovered at the time of taping. The injury forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship, which was subsequently won in a tournament by Marc Mero.[2]

Feud with the Nation of Domination (1996–1998)[edit]
Main article: The Nation of Domination
Johnson returned later in 1996 to enter a feud with Farooq (who by then had a new gimmick and formed his own stable, the Nation of Domination). Finally, the two had an encounter at Royal Rumble 1997, where Johnson won by disqualification.[15] Two days later, Johnson and The Undertaker defeated Faarooq and Nation member Crush in a No Holds Barred match at the Triple Threat event.[16] He began teaming with Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) and the three fought the entire Nation at WrestleMania 13 in a Chicago Street Fight.[17] At A Cold Day in Hell, he defeated Crush and Savio Vega in a gauntlet match before losing to Faarooq.[18]

In June 1997, Johnson turned on WWF Champion The Undertaker and joined the New Nation, with Kama Mustafa, D'Lo Brown, and Faarooq.[14] Johnson was injured soon after this; he was scheduled to face Undertaker at Canadian Stampede for the WWF Title, but was plagued by injuries and was replaced by Vader.

The Nation turned on him after he recovered and returned in August 1997, which resulted in Johnson turning face once more. He restarted his feud with the Nation, and would reunite with the Legion of Doom as well as join forces with Ken Shamrock during the feud. At Survivor Series 1997, they defeated the Nation in a Survivor Series match.[19]

Departure from WWF[edit]
Johnson's last WWF appearance was at the pay-per-view No Way Out of Texas in February 1998, alongside Shamrock and the Disciples of Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull, and 8-Ball) against the Nation.[20] While still in Texas, Johnson was booked to appear in a segment with The Truth Commission where he was to be beaten and dragged up the entrance ramp.[21] Unbeknownst to WWF management, Johnson's sister - an avid fan of WWF - was battling cancer. Johnson knew his sister watched WWF each week and didn't want her to have the image of her brother being beaten and dragged by the neck while she was gravely ill.

According to Johnson, 15 minutes before he was scheduled for the match which would end in his being attacked, he received a call that his sister was "doing really bad" and that he should come immediately to her hospital in Florida. Johnson then met with Vince McMahon and told him he "had some things to deal with" and immediately left WWF and flew to Florida, where his sister died the following week. Johnson has stated subsequently that he did not tell WWF management the reason for his departure at the time because he "didn't like to burden people with his problems" and didn't want to give the impression that he was "telling them something for sympathy".[21][22]

 

[Valeyard]

Sarge could still go but is another guy hurt by having very little in the variety of opponents. The Hogan matches are fine, and the Desert Storm Match is a forgotten gem, but it felt like some combination of Hogan, Warrior, Volkoff, or Duggan was always happening. Always thought he deserved the belt over his career, at least briefly, but I go back and forth on him getting it with the traitor gimmick. Shoulda been Dusty, man.

But yeah, he's about where he should be on the list. It's just frustrating knowing Bret was breaking out and them never having a match, frankly.

 

[Valeyard]

Ahmed 20 spaces too low imo. He's top ten.

 

[claydude14]

I marked hard for Ahmed as a child.

 

[alfdogg]

Initial reaction to Slaughter was maybe a few spots too low, but yeah, he did pretty much nothing as a single after the Hogan stuff ran its course.

 

[muzzington]

Favourite entrance of the 90's.

 

[SFH]

Ahmed looked like the perfect model for a 1980s action figure, in the 1990s. I marked out hard, thought he was THE prototype. I know I've mentioned this elsewhere on the forum so I'll pipe down.

 

[Valeyard]

Dude if Ahmed had beaten Goldust like Warrior beat HTM, he'd be a bigger legend.

I know he gets thought of as a joke but Ahmed could've been something special, at least until he hurt a clique guy or something. But he had the Goldberg vibe, but felt like a way more legit badass to me. I'll never forget his debut: saving Shawn and slamming peak-WWF-fat Yokozuna like it was nothing. Made him in one night. But he and Faarooq being tethered together most of their run just sucks. Like, you give Ahmed a month long feud with Foley, you make the guy.

Never got the thigh pads.

 

[SFH]

I really feel like throwing most (all) of the black talent into one stable fucked most of their respective potentials. Helped The Rock develop, took nearly a decade for Mark Henry to start being upper card. Ahmed in/out of Nation sucked and made no sense to young mark SFH. Farooq should have had time with one of the 3 midcard titles at minimum. DLO being Euro/Continental is the highlight for Attitude Era nation members not named Dwayne Johnson. Godfather was IC for what? A month? Pretty shit creative if the only thing they could come up with was group them all together.

I could just be ranting with bad memory too, though.

 

[OG]

Good thing WWE doesn't still stick all the black guys together.....

 

[SFH]

Modern wrestling is a new day, yes, it is.

 

[muzzington]

Pretty sure Ahmed got injured the night he joined the Nation.

 

[AA484]

27. Earthquake

Various feuds (1989–1991)[edit]
Tenta began the decade pushed as The Canadian Earthquake — and by WrestleMania VI, simply Earthquake — an unstoppable monster heel who often sent his opponents out on a stretcher after repeatedly hitting them with his sitdown splash. He made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VI, defeating Hercules.[17]

Tenta's career peaked when he entered a feud with Hulk Hogan. The feud exploded in May 1990, when Earthquake snuck up on Hogan from behind during a segment of The Brother Love Show (on WWF Superstars of Wrestling) and repeatedly crushed Hogan's ribs with his "Earthquake splash." Eventually, Hogan recovered and gained revenge on Earthquake and defeated him in a series of matches across the country, starting with Hogan's countout victory at SummerSlam 1990.[18] Hogan and Earthquake were the final two participants in the 1991 Royal Rumble, with Hogan getting the victory.[19]

After his stint with Hogan, Earthquake attained another WrestleMania victory, defeating former Hart stable mate Greg Valentine at WrestleMania VII.[20] On April 1, 1991, WWF held a joint show in Kobe with Japanese promotion Super World of Sports called SWS Wrestle Dream. Earthquake appeared to face Kōji Kitao, in a battle of two former sumo wrestlers. Kitao and Tenta broke kayfabe by being uncooperative with each other. Kitao didn't sell Earthquake's attacks and shot on him. The match ended when Kitao was disqualified for kicking the referee. After the match, Kitao immediately grabbed a microphone and began telling the audience that wrestling is fake and that Tenta never could really beat him, as other Japanese wrestlers attempted to restrain him. The incident led to Kitao being fired from SWS.[21][22]

After WrestleMania VII, Earthquake instigated a feud with Jake "the Snake" Roberts, when in their match that aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling, he "squashed" Damien with his Earthquake splashes; Earthquake had tied up Roberts in the ropes before going on his rampage. In reality, Roberts' bag — one of two left at ringside for the match — contained pantyhose stuffed with hamburger, and a small motor to simulate a "live snake." When the match aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling, footage of Earthquake landing on Damien was interrupted with cutaway shots to that show's "Events Center," although the incident aired uninterrupted and uncensored during WWF Prime Time Wrestling the following week. Later, Earthquake participated in a skit on WWF Prime Time Wrestling where he cooked "Quakeburgers" on a grill and served them to co-hosts Vince McMahon, Bobby The Brain Heenan, and Lord Alfred Hayes; later, Earthquake revealed that the meat was ground from Damien's carcass. Heenan had already eaten three or four of the Burgers and Hayes was curious about the meat. Earthquake mentioned the animal from which the meat was taken rhymed with quake and Hayes said they were snake burgers. Hayes got sick and nearly threw up. Vince was angry over this and knocked the tray out of Earthquake's hands which knocked all the burgers onto the floor. Roberts and Earthquake feuded throughout most of late-spring and into the summer.

Natural Disasters (1991–1993)[edit]
Main article: The Natural Disasters
Later in 1991, Earthquake formed a tag team with Typhoon (Tenta's friend, Fred Ottman, who had previously wrestled as Tugboat before turning heel) called The Natural Disasters, managed by Jimmy Hart. Initially a heel tag team, the duo feuded with the Legion of Doom over the WWF World Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. Later, the Disasters turned face when Jimmy Hart betrayed them and joined forces with Money Inc., a team composed of Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase; Money Inc. had just won the tag titles from the Legion of Doom, and at WrestleMania VIII, they defeated Money Inc. by count-out but did not win the titles. Although Earthquake and Typhoon eventually won the tag titles (and defeated the Beverly Brothers at the 1992 SummerSlam pay-per-view to retain the titles), it wasn't long before Money Inc. regained the belts.

Tenta left the WWF in January 1993 after losing via count-out to Bam Bam Bigelow the night after the Royal Rumble for a spell in Japan for WAR. He also had a brief stint in CMLL in late 1993.

Singles run and departure (1994)[edit]
He returned to the WWF in January 1994 when he assisted Bret Hart in a match with Shawn Michaels by countering Diesel's interference. He defeated Adam Bomb in a quick squash match at WrestleMania X.[23] He then engaged in a short feud with Yokozuna, with whom he had a sumo match on Raw (the early days of Tenta's Sumo training were also revealed). Tenta won the sumo match.

Earthquake was scheduled to face Owen Hart in a King of the Ring qualifying match. However, during a May 14, 1994 house show in San Jose, California, Earthquake had been injured by Yokozuna and Crush. Footage of Yokozuna hitting a Banzai Drop at the show was televised before the qualifying match to explain his absence in which Doink the Clown was his replacement. He again disappeared from WWF thereafter and returned to Japan for WAR.[24]

Return to the WWF (1998-1999)[edit]
Main article: The Oddities
Tenta resurfaced in the WWF on the May 25, 1998, episode of Raw is War under the name Golga. He wrestled under a mask as one of the Oddities and the character had a fascination with Eric Cartman from the TV series South Park. The gimmick was given to Tenta because he lost a considerable amount of weight, so much so that the WWF thought it wouldn't be believable for Tenta to reprise the Earthquake gimmick with the weight loss. At SummerSlam, The Oddities defeated Kaientai (Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, Mens Teioh and Sho Funaki) in a Handicap match, on September 5 edition of Saturday Night Raw, The Oddities defeated the L.O.D and Droz in a six-man tag team match, on the September 12 edition of Raw Saturday Night, The Oddities faced The Disciples of Apocalypse which ended in a No Contest when the top ring rope fell off, on the October 4 edition of Heat, The Oddities defeated The Headbangers, on the October 17 edition of Shotgun Saturday Night, Golga and Kurrgan defeated Too Much, on the October 18 edition of Heat, The Oddities defeated Los Boricuas (Jose Estrada, Miguel Pérez, Jr. and Jesus Castillo) on October 25 edition of Heat, Golga lost to Jeff Jarrett. on the October 26 edition of Raw, The Oddities and ICP lost to Kaientai in an 8-man tag team match by DQ when ICP shoved the referee, on November 16 edition of Raw, The Oddities lost to DX (New Age Outlaws and X Pac). on the November 23 edition of Raw, The Oddities were defeated by The Headbangers when the Insane Clown Posse turned on them, at Rock Bottom: In Your House, which took place in Tenta's hometown of Vancouver. The Oddities (Golga and Kurrgan) lost to The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) at the 1999 Royal Rumble, Golga competed in the 30-wrestler Royal Rumble match entering number 3 but got quickly eliminated by Steve Austin, the Oddities disappeared in the beginning of 1999 with all the members released.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I just listened to STWW on Quake a few days back and my main takeaway from his career recap is it was kind of weird how quickly and kind of suddenly he was shunted down to being a midcarder/tag team guy after debuting with feuds against two biggest names of the era. Not even sure if there were injury issues or anything but he was washed up by the time he headed to WCW and he was only 31!

 

[alfdogg]

Quake is one of the guys I hinted at above as not being sure he would get on the list, but to me the Hogan feud alone is enough to warrant his placement.

 

[Hawk 34]

the greatest heel act of the 90s was and always will be this

 

[AA484]

the greatest heel act of the 90s was and always will be this

I always thought it funny how furious Vince got at Quake here lol

 

[AA484]

26. Big Boss Man

Singles competition (1990–1993)[edit]
The Big Boss Man turned face on the February 24, 1990 episode of Superstars, when Ted DiBiase had paid Slick to have Boss Man retrieve the Million Dollar Championship belt from Jake Roberts, who had stolen it. Boss Man retrieved a bag containing both the belt and Roberts' pet python, Damien. On The Brother Love Show, he refused to accept DiBiase's money for the bag, and returned it to Roberts.[13]

Boss Man then feuded with former partner Akeem, defeating him in less than two minutes at WrestleMania VI. As part of his face turn, he later stopped handcuffing and beating jobbers after matches. He made peace with Hogan, appearing in his corner in his match against Earthquake at Summerslam 1990, and teaming with him at the 1990 Survivor Series, along with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Tugboat, to defeat Earthquake's team.

In the fall of 1990, Boss Man began feuding with Bobby Heenan and The Heenan Family after Heenan continually insulted Boss Man's mother. He won a series of matches against Heenan Family members in 1991, including The Barbarian at the Royal Rumble and Mr. Perfect (via disqualification) at WrestleMania VII in an Intercontinental Championship match, which featured the return of André the Giant. At SummerSlam, he defeated The Mountie in a Jailhouse Match, a match in which the loser must spend a night in jail. This was the only such match ever held by the promotion. Boss Man then briefly feuded with Irwin R. Schyster.

In 1992, Boss Man began feuding with Nailz, an ex-convict character who, in a series of promos aired before his debut, claimed Boss Man had been his abusive Officer in prison, and warned he was seeking revenge. On the May 30 episode of WWF Superstars, Nailz – clad in an orange prison jumpsuit – ran into the ring and attacked Boss Man, handcuffing him to the top rope and repeatedly choking and beating him with the nightstick. Boss Man took time off TV to sell his (kayfabe) injuries, eventually returning and having a series of matches with Nailz in the latter half of 1992. The feud culminated at Survivor Series, when Boss Man defeated Nailz in a Nightstick on a Pole match. This was the final push for the Boss Man during this run, as he was subsequently used as enhancement talent against Razor Ramon, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Yokozuna on the house show circuit.

The Big Boss Man's last pay-per-view match of this run came at the 1993 Royal Rumble, where he suffered his first clean loss on a WWF Pay-per-view to Bam Bam Bigelow. He left the WWF shortly after a house show in Gatineau, Quebec defeating Doink the Clown on March 14.[14] During the next few months he made appearances in the USWA and SMW. On December 4 he made a one-time return to the WWF as a special guest referee to officiate the main event of a house show in Anaheim, California between Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett. Boss Man was expected to rejoin the WWF but elected to sign with WCW instead.[15]

Return to WWF and Hardcore Championship pursuit (1998–1999)[edit]
See also: The Corporation
Traylor rejoined the WWF shortly after his WCW release and once again became "Big Boss Man". On October 12, 1998, he returned to television with a new look, abandoning his blue police shirt for an all-black SWAT-style uniform, including a tactical vest and gloves. He served as Vince McMahon's bodyguard during his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin and his later feud with D-Generation X. He briefly wore a mask, before his identity was revealed.

Boss Man was one of the first members of McMahon's heel stable, The Corporation, and served as a bodyguard for other members, such as Vince's son Shane. While in The Corporation, Boss Man won the Tag Team Championship with Ken Shamrock, won the Hardcore Championship four times, and lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XV in a Hell in a Cell match. After this match, The Undertaker hanged him from the roof of the cage (an illusion made possible by a body harness concealed under Traylor's outfit).

In the WWF's Hardcore division, Boss Man's major feud was with Al Snow, a feud that eventually involved Snow's pet chihuahua, Pepper. At SummerSlam, the two had a Falls Count Anywhere match that spilled into the backstage area, the street and, finally, into a nearby bar. Just prior to the match, Snow had set Pepper's pet carrier near the entranceway. Minutes into the match, Boss Man picked it up, taunted Pepper, struck Snow with the carrier and carelessly tossed it behind him. Commentator Jim Ross immediately apologized to viewers for the act, and stated that Pepper had been removed from the box before the match.

Two weeks later, Boss Man kidnapped and ransomed Pepper, arranging a meeting in which he fed Snow a meat dish supposedly made from Pepper's remains. The two settled their feud in a Kennel from Hell match at Unforgiven, in which a blue solid steel cage surrounded the ring, itself and ringside surrounded by the chain-link fenced "cell". The object of the match was to escape from the cage and the cell while avoiding "attack dogs" (which turned out to be disappointingly docile) positioned outside the ring. Snow won the match and retained the Hardcore title, which had been returned to him by Davey Boy Smith, who had defeated Boss Man for it. Boss Man would later win back the Hardcore title in a triple threat match involving Al Snow and The Big Show, and would hold it until January 2000, when he lost it to Test.

Boss Man then feuded with The Big Show over the WWF Championship. During the feud, Boss Man showed up at Big Show's father's funeral, made some disrespectful remarks, then chained the casket to the back of his car and drove off. The Big Show attempted to save the coffin by jumping on it, riding it for a few yards before losing his grip and tumbling off, the feud also included a segment in which Boss Man invaded the home of Big Show's mother and forced her on camera to admit her son was born an illegitimate child. Boss Man became the #1 contender for the WWF Championship by defeating The Rock on the November 15, 1999 episode of Raw. At Armageddon, The Big Show defeated him to retain the title and end the feud.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

It is baffling to me that Bossman didn't have a main event run outside of a few cups of coffee in the late '80s and late '90s. Even then he seemed like more of a supporting character than one of the leads (behind the Mega Powers EXPLODE angle in '80s and Austin Vs McMahon in '90s).

He was agile as hell, was a decent enough promo. Not sure why he never seemed to break the glass ceiling or even get an IC Title run.

 

[Valeyard]

Quake and Bossman were really parallel in a lot of ways, if you think about it. Big dudes who made money with Hogan in matches that were pretty good only to get lost in the abyss of the midcard right after. Bossman was a better worker, but Quake was still a very good big man. I remember Quake killing Hogan and thinking he was awesome because he actually was able to kill Hogan, even though I knew how it'd play out. If I had to put someone in the Slaughter spot of beating Warrior and headlining Wrestlemania with Hogan, it'd be him by far. He deserved it, and deserved the career renaissance Bossman got later on. Corporate Quake would've worked. I mean I became a retroactive Oddities mark when I learned he was Golga.

Bossman should have won some title that first run. He had to be have been the number three face for a while there, at least. He was always on the cusp and it sucked for me as a fan that he never got his real due. One of those guys I wish they hung onto for a couple more years, too; you can tell even at the end, when Bigelow beat him at the Rumble, that he was still seen as a top guy in an era that had a lot of uncertainty. Also "perfect guy for Diesel blah blah blah." He was one of the first guys I saw when I finally got access to WCW, too, and I was on the Bubba train until the nWo.

Man, I forgot how much I liked those guys.

 

[alfdogg]

Reading the above post made me wonder if Boss Man and Warrior ever worked together, and after a search it turns out they did have a few house show matches between Rumble and WM in 89. He also worked one house show with Bret just days before his face turn aired.