Welcome back, I appreciate everyone who gave feedback on the first half of the countdown and we’re going to keep it rolling with the final half as well as some honorable mentions. Don’t forget to fire off your thoughts down below !
10. Konnan –
“ ¡ÒRALE! ¡ARIBBA LA RAZA!, Yoyoyoyo let me speak on this !” Just hearing that intro from K-Dawg would get the crowd hype no matter what city he was in. Behind the scenes in WCW, he was very instrumental in bringing over alot of the luchadores that would make up the Cruiserweight division and provide as a liaison between AAA and WCW for a time. He would later join the nWo and later the nWo Wolfpac before being kicked out by Kevin Nash and Lex Luger for sticking up for Rey Jr, this betrayal would later lead to the formation of The Filthy Animals.
9. Billy Kidman –
From his time in The Flock to his time in WWE, Kidman has soared his way into the hearts of fans both old and young. A mainstay fixture of WCW’s Cruiserweight division, Billy Kidman would go on to capture the crown of the division a remarkable three times, as well as two reigns as World Tag Team champions, and the final Cruiserweight Tag Team champions with fellow Filthy Animals Member, Rey Mysterio Jr. Joining WWF (later WWE) in 2001 as apart of the Invasion, he would win the Cruiserweight championship another four times and the WWE Tag Team championship one time with Paul London before retiring and becoming a road agent.
8. Dean Malenko –
Whether known as The Iceman, or The Man of 1000 Holds; Dean Malenko was known as one of the most technically gifted wrestlers of his generation. He would find international success with his brother Joe in various tours of Japan before emerging in ECW in the summer of ‘94. There he would become known as The Shooter and would go on to win the ECW Television and Tag Team Championships before leaving for WCW in 1995 where he would later become a member of the revamped Four Horsemen as well as capturing every singles championship sans the World Heavyweight title.
7. The Eliminators –
The Eliminators: Perry Saturn and John Kronus laid waste to ECW’s tag team division in the mid 90s with their innovative offense and no nonsense attitude. Cutting their teeth in the USWA as well as Japan’s WAR promotion, they brought technical ability matched with hard hitting strikes, and once they hit Total Elimination? You knew it was over. As a team they boast four tag team title reigns across ECW and USWA. They split in 1997 when Saturn left for WCW with Raven.
6. D’Lo Brown –
The Nation’s longest tenured member not named Ron Simmons. Watching D’Lo Brown during the Attitude Era was a real treat because he could do it all. Not only that he had the swagger and smack talk to back it up proving to be “The Real Deal” indeed. He wasn’t the first Euro-Continental Champion for nothing ya know?!
5. Monty Brown/Marcus Cor Von –
The former NFL player burst on the Pro Wrestling Serengeti in the year 2000 after training with Sabu and Dan Severn. He wouldn’t really make his mark until he returned to TNA in 2004 thus birthing “The Alpha Male”. Capturing the hearts of fans no matter if he was face or heel whether it was his promo ability or his finisher ‘the Pounce’, he became an integral part of the TNA roster until joining the WWE briefly in 2007 as apart of the ECW New Breed before quietly retiring to handle some family business .
4. Jeff Jarrett –
What more can be said about perennial wrestling legend Jeff Jarrett? One of the last holdouts from the late days of the territory era, Double J has wrestled just about everywhere there is to wrestle as far as major companies go. One of the easiest heels to cheer against in my opinion, that’s just a testament to his work. I believe my favorite run of his would be in 1999. The “Don’t Piss Me Off” era was full of moments that sort of had Jeff just about to break through. But WCW’s Chosen One brought him to World Championship glory and you really can’t deny how over he was at this time either. Deuces Up, and a Fargo strut for Double J! Ain’t he great?
3. Mike Awesome –
After spending the better part of the 90s in Japan wreaking havoc as The Gladiator in FMW and All Japan. Mike Awesome arrived in ECW full time and set out on a path of destruction. Most notably feuding with Masato Tanaka during this run; he captured the ECW World Heavyweight Championship defeating Taz and Masato Tanaka in a three way dance in 1999. He would later lose it in controversial fashion to Tazz who was contracted by the WWF at the time and Awesome had jumped to WCW whilst still champion making for an interesting moment in history.
2. Raven –
As a kid the only other wrestler that hit that cool factor for me in 2000 was Raven. Fresh off of a short stay in ECW, he debuted in the WWF aligning himself with Tazz. In my eyes everything about him was different from what I was used to seeing on WWF tv at tbe time. He hasn’t been featured in a game proper since WWE Smackdown!:Shut Your Mouth, and I think it would be a great time to reintroduce him to a new generation of fans.
1. Buff Bagwell –
Some may be surprised but, Buff is actually the reason this list even came to be. While listening to an episode of the Deadlock podcast it was mentioned that he has never been featured in any WWE games as a character ever. With his recent resurgence with the help of Hall of Famer and all around LEGEND, Diamond Dallas Page & DDPYoga I felt that it was the time to start the campaign for Buff Bagwell and WWE to mend that broken relationship that’s left the fans out in the cold for almost 25 years.
(Honorable Mentions)
the Mean Street Posse, Gillberg, Droz & Prince Albert, Too Much, and The Blue Meanie/BWO