Some wrestling storylines involve simply a protagonist and an antagonist, while others include ancillary side pieces for enhancement purposes. In many cases, a wrestling storyline boils down to a personal issue between two competitors that leads to an in-ring clash. In other cases, the side pieces contribute to the storyline in some form, leading to an interaction between two performers.
Some side characters simply play their part and provide no real significant stand-alone value. However, in some rare cases, a side character can stand out, shine, and add a lot more to an angle or storyline than originally planned.
7 Judy Bagwell
The last couple of years of WCW's existence have a horrible reputation with wrestling fans. Unfortunately, Judy Bagwell's involvement with the promotion predates that. As the mother of Buff Bagwell, Judy was inexplicably inserted into multiple storylines over the years. Perhaps Judy's most memorable cameo came as a part of a feud between Buff Bagwell and Rick Steiner.
After Bagwell turned on Steiner shortly after the pair won the WCW World Tag Team Championships, Steiner was tasked with finding a new partner. After his original choice was injured, Steiner shocked Bagwell and the WCW audience by selecting Buff's mother, Judy. The storyline got over about as well as one could expect. Judy would famously go on to be placed atop a forklift in the infamous "Judy Bagwell On A Pole Match," but her stint as Rick Steiner's partner is the instance wrestling fans remember the most. After all, a middle-aged housewife winning a World Tag Team Championship isn't a common occurrence.
6 Peggy Sue
The 80s was undoubtedly the peak for flamboyant wrestling gimmicks. One such gimmick was the Elvis Presley impersonator known as The Honky Tonk Man. Shockingly, the character that most of us remember as a dastardly heel originally debuted as a babyface for WWE. It wouldn't take long to realize that wasn't his true calling. Honky would soon turn and become one of the era's classic heels.
In the early days of the gimmick, Honky often had a lovesick fan named Peggy Sue, who would always hang around him. Peggy Sue was often played by Sherri Martel and contributed very little to storylines but was always an excellent complement to The Honky Tonk Man's character. The gimmick had enough momentum to carry forward but WWE decided against it and Peggy Sue was eventually fazed out.
5 Little Jimmy
Ron Killings has had a couple of significant runs with WWE. Originally debuting in 2000 as K-Kwik, Killings was immediately thrust into a tag team with Road Dogg. After a couple of mediocre years, Killings was released by WWE in 2002. He rejoined WWE in 2008 and was renamed R-Truth. Killings' second run with WWE went a lot better than his first. Killings would become a mid-card fixture for years, even winning the WWE U.S. Championship on multiple occasions.
In 2011, while working as a heel, Killings introduced the WWE audience to Little Jimmy, an invisible representation of a pre-pubescent WWE fan. Killings claimed that he was done entertaining WWE fans such as Little Jimmy because it didn't help win him any championships. Killings would continue with the Little Jimmy gimmick even after eventually turning back babyface. Little Jimmy would be somewhat of a folk hero to WWE fans, becoming a semi-popular character until eventually being completely dropped.
4 Yurple
In the controlled chaos that was WWE's Attitude Era, a clown named Yurple shared the screen with some of pro wrestling's heaviest hitters on multiple occasions. The first such occasion came in 1998 when Yurple accompanied an overzealous Mankind to pay Mr. McMahon a visit in the hospital. Mankind visibly annoyed McMahon while Yurple made balloon animals in the background. In classic McMahon fashion, both Mankind and Yurple were ordered to leave the room.
Yurple would re-emerge the following year, once again in a segment involving Mankind. This time she would be a part of the infamous "This Is Your Life" segment. Yurple would enter the ring to put a sticker on The Rock and place a lei around his neck. The Rock would respond by asking her what her name was, only to interrupt her with his "It doesn't matter!" catchphrase. Both segments are amongst the most memorable of the era.
3 Cheryl Roberts
In the 80s, "Ravishing" Rick Rude might quite possibly have been the biggest heat magnet in the business. Playing the role of a womanizer to perfection, Rude often antagonized the men in the live crowd by focusing his attention on the unavailable women in the arena. Rude would tell the men in the audience to be quiet while he took off his robe and showed the ladies what a "real man" looked like.
In 1988, Rude went into his regular schtick after winning a match, inviting a woman from the crowd who caught his eye into the ring. The woman refused and revealed herself to be the wife of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Cheryl Roberts would become the catalyst in a classic feud between Rude and Roberts. So much so that Rude airbrushed her likeness onto his ring gear. In the end, Jake and Cheryl would get the last laugh on Rude. Cheryl would even get to slap Rude during the culmination of the feud.
2 Dr. Shelby
In an era that hadn't necessarily utilized the wrestling vignette to its full capability, came some of the best vignettes in WWE history. When WWE's resident demon, Kane, found himself at odds with WWE's perennial underdog, Daniel Bryan, a professional was called upon to help settle their differences. When Bryan and Kane were ordered by Monday Night Raw General Manager, AJ Lee, to undergo Anger Management, the pair was assigned to Dr. Shelby.
What ensued was some of the best comedic skits that WWE had produced in a long time, possibly ever. Shelby's straight man act perfectly complimented Kane and Bryan's comedic hijinks. Dr. Shelby's Anger Management was such a successful series of segments that WWE attempted to go back to the well in 2018 with Sasha Banks and Bayley. The experiment was not as successful the second time around but that doesn't take anything away from the quality of Dr. Shelby's original vignettes.
1 Dominik Mysterio
In 2005, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero were in the middle of an extremely personal feud. The rivalry was taken to the next level when Guerrero claimed to be the biological father of Rey's son, Dominik. It wouldn't be long before WWE brought Dominik in to be part of the storyline. As a young boy, Dominik endeared himself to the WWE audience and built a connection that would prove to be long lasting.
At SummerSlam 2005, in an unprecedented encounter, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero met in a Ladder Match for the custody of Dominik. The match and stipulation became infamous among pro wrestling fans. 15 years after being a side character in one of the most memorable SummerSlam matches ever, Dominik made his WWE debut at SummerSlam 2020, bringing his pro wrestling journey full circle and solidifying him as the best side character in wrestling history.