There are certain fans who can look at a picture of any wrestler who set foot in the WWE and instantly name them and even perhaps recall their one signature moment in WWE. However, there are certain WWE Superstars that have a very forgettable stint in the company and naming them without the benefit of Google, proves to be very difficult.
We’ll be using the term “star” very loosely here. But as all wrestling fans and those within the industry know, not everyone could be a top guy, or even a mid-card guy. Some of the people on this list would barely make journeyman status in any era. But there’s always a roster full of memorable names that we die-hard fans remember, or, God help us, think of fondly in an ironic way. The rest of the mainstream WWE fan base however wouldn’t have a clue about who the rest of these guys and gals are.
That’s the beautiful thing about wrestling fans. For the most part, we are all diehard fans. The level of that fandom ranges from lifelong fan who knows everything and continues to watch anything and everything the WWE puts out; all the way down to a casual fan nowadays who remembers the supposed good ol’ days but can fall asleep during any given Raw and needs to watch the recap videos to catch up on storylines. With that said, let’s recap our list of 10 obscure WWE superstars from the '90s, and another 10 from the 2000s.
20 '90s – Tekno Team 2000
The early '90s in wrestling were a unique time in the business. Hulkamania was still running wild, but not drawing nearly as much. The flashy lights of the '80s were still bleeding neon, but a lot of people were looking towards the future. WWE tried to capitalize on this as well.
Enter Travis and Troy, the Tekno Team 2000. Clad in the oh-so-futuristic silver and maroon, these two were going to bring the New Generation into the 21st century. Thankfully for us, all that didn’t happen. They were sent down to USWA for some more seasoning, only to be brought back up as jobber team to the stars.
19 2000s – Mordecai
Whether he was portraying a weird religious zealot guy or a vampire guy, Kevin Fertig was missing something. Who knows what that was, but there was always something off about the guy, and not in a good way. His Mordecai character was supposedly to be a foil for The Undertaker. When it was apparent he was nowhere near Taker’s level, Fertig was released.
To his credit, he worked hard to get back to the WWE, who then cast him a vampire gimmick as Kevin Thorn and put him on ECW with Ariel. That, like the rest of WWECW didn’t work either, and Thorn soon found himself released again.
18 '90s – Duke “The Dumpster” Droese
The New Generation, from a certain point of view, was all about wrestlers getting out into the workforce. Except for the top of the card (Bret, Shawn, Taker), just about everyone else had a day job before they came to the ring. Pig farmers, taxmen, fitness gurus, baseball players, name the profession and chances are they was a wrestling version of it.
Not only was Duke Droese the garbageman of the WWE, but the guy actually dreamt up this silly nonsense himself. He used it on the indie circuit for a few years before Vince came calling...and sheesh, even he thought that a rasslin’ garbage man was a good idea.
17 2000s – Ezekiel Jackson
What a strange, brief run this guy had. Ezekiel Jackson, or Big Zeke as he was often known, was a heavy for THE Brian Kendrick. A member of the weak Corre faction, he was also the last ECW champion, though he never even defended the ugly looking strap.
He’s another guy with a lot of upside to him, but no one seemed to know how to tap into it. His best bet was probably going to be with Kendrick, as the pair were getting over, thanks to Kendrick’s HBK–meets–flighty rock star style. But before the duo could truly get over, they were split up and both guys sunk like stones.
16 '90s – Brakkus
It’s been well documented that Vince McMahon loves his big, strong guys with Herculean like physiques. The guy even tried to create a bodybuilding federation based on that love. But a good portion of the time when Vince finds a tremendously barrel-chested man with arms bigger than the Chairman’s head, he tends to salivate at the thought of signing the guy.
In the '90s, that big, sweaty bodybuilder was Brakkus. Once fans looked past the Mr. Universe physique, the dude couldn’t grasp it in the ring. According to one story, a wrestler had him in a headlock and suggested that they “listen to the people.” Brakkus broke off the headlock and started stomping around the ring, wondering what they were saying.
15 2000s – Bull Buchanan
Bull could actually be on both sides of this list – he was part of the ill-fated Truth Commission as Recon back in the late '90s. When that stable was disbanded, Bull was eventually sent down to OVW for some more training. He wouldn’t return until 2000, as a partner for the Big Bossman.
His biggest (?!) claim to fame would come with the latter two gimmicks of his career. First, he was an enforcer type as part of the Right To Censor. His final run in WWE cast him as a bodyguard for John Cena, B–Squared, who added the occasional “Boo-yah” to the end of Cena’s raps.
14 '90s – Just Joe
Imagine the pitch meeting for Just Joe’s name -
Vince - Hey pal, I got an idea. What if we had a guy named Just Joe running around? That’d be money.
Underling - Just Joe? No last name? Is Just short for Justin?
Vince - Nope, he’ll be Just Joe and that’s that.
Underling - Not even Average Joe? I mean, it sounds like that’s where you’re going with this.
Vince - Pal, this is the World Wrestling Federation, nothing about us is Average. That’s why he’s Just Joe.
You get the idea. Joe E. Legend was part of the Edge and Christian crew. Once on the main stage, he was there just to stir the pot between wrestlers. Just Joe was just a gossip monger, and was so forgettable under that gimmick.
13 2000s – Cherry Pie
For the time (early 2000s), Kara Slice was well-known on the Indy circuit. She would join the WWE to manage Deuce N’ Domino as Cherry Pie. All three stars were packaged as a 1950s throwback group. Cherry would even rock poodle skirts and roller skates.
The tag team actually accomplished more than many would have imagined. She managed them to the tag team titles, but the duo would eventually get rid of her for Maryse. She was soon cast aside by the WWE too. She was released shortly thereafter. Throwback gimmicks could work, even in today’s WWE, but the way she played it was too Memphis.
12 1990s – Essa Rios
Say what you will about the foibles of WCW, but they introduced Cruiserweights from all over the world in a big way. Rey Mysterio, Justin Thunder Liger, Eddie, Malenko - these guys and more all became household names in WCW. WWE tried to catch up with their own light heavyweight division, and they tried with Essa Rios. Simply put, the WWE's answer to WCW's cruiserweight division was a failure.
Rios, while talented was nowhere near the level of his WCW counterparts. The only thing Rios wound up becoming was a footnote in Lita's career, as the future WWE Hall of Famer debuted as his valet.
11 2000s – Ryan Braddock
During the SmackDown / ECW talent swap error, if you took a moment to get a glass of water, you might have missed a few superstars. Guys like Jesse, Festus, Caylen Croft, and Ricky Ortiz come to mind. Out of all of these guys though, Ryan Braddock takes the trophy.
No, he isn’t Baron Corbin’s little brother, but just another inked wannabe tough guy. The guy got smashed by Big Show, lost to Ricky Ortiz, and was wrapped up in bubble wrap by Jesse and Festus. So clearly, the WWE had high hopes for the guy and his release in March of ’09 was probably just an oversight.
10 '90s – Sal Sincere
The memorable career of a stereotype. That’s the story of Salvatore Sincere, the WWE’s answer to the ECW’s F.B.I. While that comparison is ridiculous, the second you look at Tom Brandi (Sincere) and Little Guido, what is sad is that the guy’s most memorable WWE moments came by being an admirer of Sable (real original) and getting called a jobber by Marc Mero.
Getting called a jobber on live TV by anyone could be a little out there, but when Marc Mero does it...you get the idea. What’s more interesting about Brandi is the history of how he supposedly bought the Patriot gimmick from Del Wilkes.
9 2000s – Muffy
If you’ve seen movies like AI, Collateral, and Pirates Of The Caribbean, you might have seen the work of stuntwoman Caryn Mower. Eagle-eyed rasslin’ fans might even remember her as Muffy, Stephanie McMahon’s personal trainer.
She had learned her craft in UPW before being brought in. Originally, she was supposed to debut with Trish Stratus as a pair of fitness gurus (that could’ve been either intriguing or groan-inducing), but she instead debuted on her own, ripping into the audience for being out of shape. After two brief appearances, she was released shortly after, with nothing really there for her.
8 '90s – Nicole Bass
Of all the strange characters that came through the WWE during the Attitude Era, Howard Stern’s Wack Pack would have to take the cake. Writer Vince Russo was a big Stern fan and got some of these strange characters booked to hang with the Oddities.
Nicole Bass was probably the most famous member of the group, or at least the only one with a (very) limited wrestling background. She got the most spotlight of the group, first appearing as a bodyguard for Sable at WrestleMania XV before having ever so brief angles with Debra and Val Venis. A product of crash TV at its finest, Bass was unsurprisingly released in mid 1999.
7 2000s - Nathan Jones
What do Bill Goldberg and Nathan Jones have in common? A lot more than one would think. They’re both big bald tough guys who didn’t really know how to work. They also both trounced Hugh Morrus/Bill DeMott in their first matches.
Vince would have loved to push Jones to the forefront of the entire company, but the Colossus of Boggo Road just had no interest in getting better in the ring, or the ever-hectic schedule of the road life. He ended up moving on to an acting career. Basically, getting defeated by Brad Pitt in Troy remains Jones’ best match ever.
6 '90s – Mr. Hughes
Mr. Hughes has actually done several in and out stints with ECW, WCW, and WWE. He was more or less always playing a bodyguard type of character, first with the York Foundation, then with a heel Lex Luger. He feuded with The Undertaker and seconded ECW champ Shane Douglas to the ring.
But a lesser-known run for Mr. Hughes was the blink-and-you-missed-him role as a bodyguard for Chris Jericho in 1999. Instead of his trademark white shirt and fedora, Hughes wore one of Jericho’s old sparkly shirts. Yep, it’s as memorable as it sounds, and it didn't last long.
5 2000s - Shaniqua
Considering how bad Jackie Gayda’s first match was (it might be the worst match a fan ever see), it’s easy to see how her Tough Enough co-winner Linda Miles doesn’t get any “forgotten star” love. Until now.
Miles was aspiring to be a basketball star when she tried out for and won season two of Tough Enough. She was repackaged as Shaniqua, who managed The Basham Brothers. How forgettable was her time in WWE? Well, she took a Clothesline From Hell and was on the shelf for some time to get an operation, which was explained as permanent swelling from the clothesline. Nope…that was not a Vince Russo or Attitude Era idea.
4 '90s – Ryan Shamrock
During the Vince Russo era, a lot of WWE storylines were just all over the place. When Val Venis has a brief feud with Ken Shamrock, they decided to give the Shamrock a sister that the Big Valbowski could pursue.
Enter Alicia Webb, a svelte and lovely blond who was renamed Ryan Shamrock by WWE. After a stint with Val Venis, she was soon aligned with Goldust. But Ryan didn’t have any of the charisma needed to be a star in WWE. That, and sending her all of over the place - Undertaker’s sacrifice, member of PMS - didn’t help endear Ryan to most fans. She was released pretty quick to head to WCW as Symphony and didn’t fare much better there either.
3 2000s - Marcus Cor Von
Had things been a little different, Marcus Cor Von could have been the first real star from TNA who came to WWE and broke out. Down in Nashville, the former Monty Brown had built himself up into a name in the early PPV days of the brand, and before that, he played linebacker in the NFL. He would debut on ECW as the Alpha Male, Marcus Cor Von.
Like several other members of the New Breed, he was getting a mild push. He even faced CM Punk in the ECW title tournament, which was his last match for the company. He left to deal with issues at home. He was eventually released and now is out of the business altogether.
2 '90s – Ahmed Johnson
Ahmed Johnson was the top guy that never was. As an imposing specimen that Vince could admire, the guy was given a pretty decent push right away. He was put into programs with Goldust and Faarooq, and even Shawn Michaels. Somehow, he was even getting over having eight million elbow pads.
The guy managed to have one of the more impressive WWE 'rookie' years in history, winning the IC Title. But he was also another guy that had the look, but didn’t have “it.” Then he had some backstage issues with Faarooq, who was trying to help the guy. As his old WCW song said, “Don’t step to Ron,” the guy didn’t last much longer once everyone realized he wasn’t very safe in the ring.
1 2000s - Vladimir Kozlov
THIS is what a foreign heel should look like. While that was the name for Nikita Koloff, he certainly didn’t look like Kozlov looks nowadays. Perhaps if he was built the way he is now when he worked for the WWE, he might have had a more memorable career in the company.
But instead, he was able to at least earn a steady paycheck for a year or so, hanging around ECW or having tea parties with Santino Marella. He even got to work Triple H at the 2008 Survivor Series. Interestingly enough for Kozlov, is the guy is ridiculously trained in several different fighting styles and could have been presented a way bigger deal than he was.