To see the last installment with #15-#11, click here!
#10. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
(He’s the guy on the left.)
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (aka HHH, or Triple H) started working in the WWF in the mid-‘90s as a snobby Englishman who bowed to the audience before he wrestled. Yup, that sucked. He even had a fake British accent that was darn near unbearable.
But backstage, he hung out with Shawn Michaels (the other guy eating a banana in the above picture), and in 1997, they formed a group called “D-Generation X”, who ran around like little kids making crude jokes and generally beating the crap out of people. It was, in my opinion, one of the most entertaining groups I ever saw in wrestling. After Shawn had to temporarily retire (see below), Hunter expanded DX and led the group to new heights of hilarity. He spent much of the late ‘90s fighting for the Intercontinental Title, but in 1999, he finally won the world championship.
Today: Triple H now goes by nicknames such as “The Game” and “The King of Kings”. He’s won a bunch of world titles and has pretty much dominated this decade as the guy to beat.
#9. Hulk Hogan
If this were a “Top 15 Wrestlers of the ‘80s” list, Hogan would be at the top, hands-down. He was THE most recognizable and most popular wrestler in the ‘80s, and to this day, just about everybody knows who he is. In fact, the moustache that I sport on my face as I type this is compared to Hulk Hogan’s legendary ‘stache, which my moustache takes as an extreme compliment.
In the ‘90s, Hogan started off with a full head of steam, but by 1993, his welcome was worn out. At WrestleMania IX, he basically watched Bret Hart and Yokozuna wrestle for 15 minutes over the world title, waited for the match to end, then walked out and pinned Yokozuna and took the title, expecting the fans to go crazy. We didn’t really care – we thought it was pretty lame. So in the summer of 1993, he left.
He showed up in WCW in 1994 to a huge amount of fanfare, and won the world title in his first stinking match. Why wait around, right? He sat in WCW for a number of years, constantly in the main event, despite being one of, if not the worst wrestler on the roster. In 1996, after over a decade of being the ultimate good guy, Hogan turned into “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, and led the New World Order (nWo). That started years of Hogan giving reaallllyyyy long interviews and reaallllyyyy boring matches, all ending with him holding the world title. He was the most hated man in wrestling, but mainly because he sucked.
Today: After WCW was bought out by the WWF, Hogan jumped in – again as leader of the nWo – but after a few weeks, he went back to being a good guy. The fans went crazy for him, but again, his welcome wore out. He had a horrible show called Hogan Knows Best, and is now in the middle of a very public divorce after cheating on his wife with his teenage daughter’s friend, and he recently commented that he “understood” why O.J. Simpson killed his wife. Good work, Hulk!
#8. Yokozuna
Yokozuna OWNED the early-to-mid ‘90s. The WWF pushed him as a 550-pound sumo monster (although he was actually Samoan, not Japanese). His finisher: he sat on people. Brilliant! In 1993, after he beat Hogan to regain the world title, he was the ultimate obstacle for any wrestler to face. Lex Luger couldn’t beat him. The Undertaker couldn’t even do it. It took until WrestleMania X when Bret Hart pinned him did Yoko finally go down. But 1993-1994 were the years that Yokozuna was the classic WWF villain, holding the championship hostage from any and all challengers. People hated him for it.
After that, Yoko’s weight was spinning out of control. He got well over 600+ pounds, and took some time off to try to lose it. He came back at WrestleMania XI to team with Owen Hart and be tag team champions for a period of time. He turned “good guy” for a while, suddenly knowing perfect English. After a match with Vader, he supposedly had a broken leg, and they had to bring a forklift down to the ring to get him out. His last appearance was at Survivor Series 1996 at the end of the year.
He sat on the roster for 2 more years trying to lose weight. He dropped 100 pounds, but could not pass his physical test. He was released in 1998.
Today: In 1999, his last major appearance was in a Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view (noted for being one of the worst shows in American PPV history). He looked incredibly overweight compared to his days in the WWF. Finally, on October 23, 2000, Rodney Anoa’i (his real name) died of heart failure at the age of 34. He was 600 pounds at the time of his death.
#7. Mick Foley (Cactus Jack/Mankind/Dude Love)
Mick Foley spent the first half of the ‘90s in WCW as Cactus Jack, a wrestler with little care for his own body. He had a violent feud with Vader – which was darn fun to watch when I was a kid! – and won the tag team championship there. In 1996, he joined the WWF as Mankind (see picture). He had a brilliant feud with The Undertaker throughout 1996. In 1997, he brought back the character of Cactus Jack for a while, as well as Dude Love, which was his homemade character when he was a kid wrestling in the backyard.
In 1998, Mankind’s most famous match took place at the King of the Ring. In a “Hell in a Cell” match with The Undertaker, he was thrown off the top of the cage, falling sixteen feet and through an announcers’ table. Later he got back on top of the cage and fell through the top as one of the roof panels caved in. According to Foley’s great autobiography, this was unplanned, and a chair that was on the panel as well struck him in the face as he hit the ring and knocked out a tooth. The match made Mankind more popular than ever due to the pain he put himself through, and he began to show up in the main events.
In 1999, he beat The Rock for the world championship and they feuded over the title for a while.
Today: Foley retired, then came back, then retired, then came back, etc. for a while. He was an announcer for WWE Smackdown! for a time, but then quit. Now he is wrestling in TNA, apparently.
#6. Shawn Michaels
It was difficult to put “The Heartbreak Kid” this low on the list, but it had to be done. Michaels was my favorite wrestler when he turned good in 1995. Before then, he was a cocky bad guy who was one of the most talented wrestlers in the WWF. At WrestleMania X, he and Razor Ramon competed in a ladder match that changed the way wrestling was presented forever. The next year he lost a match against the world champion (Diesel) and turned good the next night.
In 1996, at WrestleMania XII, Michaels won the world championship and held onto it the rest of the year. He dropped it due to a knee injury (some claim it was faked), and came back in late 1997 to feud with The Undertaker, competing in the first-ever “Hell in a Cell” match. At Survivor Series 1997, he took part in the “Montreal Screwjob”, the most talked-about and well-known incident in wrestling history. His opponent, world champion Bret Hart, did not want to lose his title to Michaels. Vince McMahon, the decision-maker, told him in a private backstage meeting that he wouldn’t have to. In the middle of the match itself, McMahon came down to ringside and had the timekeeper ring the bell, awarding the match to Michaels. Hart sat in the ring, dumbfounded, spit on McMahon and destroyed the set. Afterwards, he went backstage and reportedly punch McMahon in the face, giving him a black eye and temporarily knocking him unconscious.
Michaels took the belt and was world champion again. At Royal Rumble 1998, he wrestled The Undertaker in a casket match and hit his back on the corner of the casket. This caused considerable damage to his already-hurt back, and at WrestleMania XIV, he lost the title to Steve Austin and retired, barely being able to walk because of his back pain.
Today: Michaels returned in 2002, and continues to wrestle for the WWF.
