If You Can't Name All These 90s Wrestlers, You're Not A Real WWE Fan
- by Clayton Leir
- – on
- in Sports
Alright, here's the thing. Back in the 90s, World Wrestling Entertainment was referred to as the World Wrestling Federation. Of course, if you're a real WWE fan, you'd already know that. It had to be changed because of the conflict between that WWF and the World Wildlife Fund. Which is funny since I'm pretty sure the wrestling superpower has way more money than the Wildlife Fund, but it was good of them to rebrand.
Either way, we'll refer to the 90s era wrestlers still as WWE wrestlers. And there are a ton of WWE wrestlers from the 90s. Not all of them were very popular and most of them have now faded into the background of the giant landscape that is the WWE but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still remember them. Now, to be fair to some of you, I actually went pretty easy on you for some of these questions.
That being said, it's your time to prove whether or not you're a real WWE fan. If you are, then you'll have no trouble at naming all of these wrestlers from the 90s. It doesn't matter if you're a millennial who became a WWE fan in the unfortunate John Cena era. If you're a real fan then you'll have done your homework. And since you know that I've taken it easy on you, you should be able to ace this...otherwise, someone might have to lay the smackdown on your candy ass.
Who is this high-flying wrestler?
This guy might be a pretty obvious one to open up with just given the way that his life panned out for him. He was famous for his move the Crippler Crossface as well as his Flying Headbutt. It's that last move that many people believe caused some severe brain damage in the poor wrestler who then ended up killing both his wife and child before he finally took his own life. It took a number of days before any of them were found and there is still much controversy over the incident and how the WWE handled it.
Who is this wrestler with multiple personalities?
This wrestler actually still works with the WWE but only as a GM. And in actual fact, he's technically been "fired" as GM in order to take some time away from the business. Which is understandable. This guy has broken himself in many ways over the years and in under the guise of several different characters. Three characters this guy is well known for would be Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind. He's a bit of a deranged wrestler but still brilliant in the ring.
Who is this buff massage therapist?
This wrestler started out as a baseball player. Then he moved on to work with his family's lumber company. Then he started a boxing career. After that, and in order to make more money, he became a certified massage therapist. Once he eventually joined up with professional wrestling, he started out in the WCW. He was part of a bunch of tag teams, he joined the NWO, and he spent one year in the WWE before he was released due to complaints and constant nagging from his mother (not kidding). He came back a couple of times.
Who is the British Bulldog?
Oh, come on. You didn't think I was going to make this question so easy did you? You can clearly see that he is British and has a bulldog with him. I'm not going to give away the answer. I want you to answer with the British Bulldog's real name. This wrestler has a pretty decent career under his belt. Speaking of belt, he was winning titles from the 80s all the way through the early 2000s. It's amazing he lasted that long.
Who is this former football player?
This guy was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and the WCW, ECW, and WWE in the 1990s. He was known as "The Loose Cannon", a wrestling gimmick that would see him do a series of worked shoots that would gain him a degree of infamy for his unpredictable character. He was also known for being extremely agile in the ring, although a car accident in April 1996 from which he received extensive ankle injuries limited his in-ring ability.
Who is this hitman?
This guy is one of the most famous wrestlers of the 80s and 90s and he is still one of the most famous in some regards. Sure, he's not talked about near as much as he used to but he is one of the biggest parts of WWE history in terms of a flash character who really divided a crowd and knew how to work them. And it doesn't hurt that when he was meant to finish his career as the champion he was screwed out of it by the owner and a fellow wrestler. Big news!
Who is this well known brawler?
After debuting in 1990, this guy worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and other independent promotions, before joining WWE full-time in 1994. debuting as Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, he soon just became "Spark Plug". In 1998, he formed a team with Bart Gunn, known as The New Midnight Express. In 1999, he was joined by two of his cousins to form another team. He then broke his neck and was out of commission for about a year. When he came back, he feuded with Brock Lesnar.
Who is this large Samoan?
That's right. If you know the character name of this guy then you might very well think that this guy was actually Japanese but that is most certainly not the case. He was a very gimmicky character wrestler who was actually Samoan. He had feuds with some of the biggest superstars of the time. Obviously, this guy was technically bigger than all of them, but that's beside the point. In fact, the WWE tried to get this guy to bring down his weight and that was at a time when the WWE didn't have a wellness program and didn't care much about health.
Who is this awful womanizer?
If you actually don't know this guy then you cannot call yourself a fan of the WWE at all. That, or you have a philosophical point of view where you love the WWE and think he's ruining it...which isn't all that far from the truth sometimes. But this guy did make wrestling entertainment a real superpower in the world. It sucks to have to credit this guy with so much when he's been such a horrible human to so many people. Remember Trish Stratus barking like a dog? 'Nuff said.
Who is this dancing German?
Alright, so this guy didn't always dance but when he started out in the WCW he played a German techno dancer...which was interesting at least. But he learned pretty quickly that the American audience wasn't a big fan of the music he tried to bring to the ring. Eventually, somehow, he found his way in the Four Horseman with Ric Flair and Chris Benoit. He wasn't an awful wrestler, but it still is kind of strange that he ended up wrestling alongside such great wrestlers.
Who is this big boy?
Unfortunately, he is no longer with us thanks to substance abuse. He was a hit in the then WWF and was perhaps the most agile wrestler of his size (and even compared to some pretty small guys). That was his claim to fame. But, because of some issues with other wrestlers backstage, this star left the WWF and moved to ECW. He then moved on over the WCW eventually where he finished his professional career. I mean, he did go to the independent circuit for a time but who watches that?
Who is this trucker?
When he first hit the ring back in the day, he really gave off this dirty trucker vibe with his undershirt and jeans and his long hair. He really appealed to the redneck crowd...which I guess wasn't all that hard, but people loved him anyway. He's one of the biggest boys that the WWE has ever had. Probably because he suffers from gigantism. Anyway, he was a pretty awesome force to be reckoned with...at least until he started blubbering and crying for his job at the knees of Stephanie McMahon.
Who is this list-maker?
To be fair, when he was wrestling back in the 90s this guy didn't have a list to make and wasn't hosting the Festival of Friendship. He was still a real arrogant ass but he manages to always keep that with all of his style changes. He's reinvented himself a number of times and each and every time really does manage to make him relevant to a new audience. He's probably one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the industry.
Who is this yoga master?
This guy was probably a bigger hit in WCW than he ever was in the WWE but considering that WCW was eventually bought by the WWE, it doesn't really matter in which organization he became famous. His theme song was Pearl Jam's Evenflow, which was always one of my favourite intros to listen to. And his finisher was a DDT...which is crazy to think about since that move is used in every match now like it's just a basic move. It was his finisher!
Who is this Iceman?
Although never a world champion, this wrestler achieved championship success in ECW, WCW and the WWF, winning 11 total titles between the three organizations. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him the #1 wrestler in the world in 1997, and he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame in 2015. Four-time WWE world champion Daniel Bryan said that his "number one guy, growing up, was Dean Malenko". The technical skill of this wrestler with his stony character quality led him to be nicknamed The Iceman.
Who is this trash-talking wrestler?
This wrestler was a pretty underhanded guy. Not as a real person (well I don't know for sure anyway) but his character was very cheap and did anything he could to win because he was a coward underneath it all. At one point, he received an injury to his ribs. When he returned to the ring, he was wearing a vest to protect his ribs which he used to advantage to damage other wrestlers with his high-flying antics. Eventually, he was found out and beaten down for it.
Who is this beloved Latino?
This guy performed in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions, and in the United States, worked for WCW, ECW, and the WWE. Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat," a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!" and was used in one of his entrance themes; he partly used this phrase in the title of his 2005 autobiography, Cheating Death, Stealing Life. Unfortunately, he couldn't cheat death forever and passed from a heart attack years ago. They used his death in a storyline that was pretty bad.
Who is this Canadian wrestler?
This wrestler is from Toronto...or rather he's from somewhere in southern Ontario in Canada so they decided to say Toronto because Americans sort of know that place as a Canadian city. Anyway, this guy was wicked with delivering spears to people from on the matt to from the tops of ladders. He and his real-life best friend Christian became in-ring brothers (until they changed the backstory years later). They then joined forces with the very strange wrestler Gangrel to form The Brood.
Who is this legend?
This guy actually very recently had a comeback in the form of a feud with Brock Lesnar where he schooled Lesnar a couple of times in very short matches (less than two minutes) in order to win the WWE championship...just for him to lose it again later just so he could say that before he fully retired he won the belt again. This wrestler was a force to be reckoned with back in the day with his brutal spear and his Jackhammer finisher (a mix of suplex and powerslam).
Who is this cowboy?
This guy used to walk into the ring with the flashiest of awful and tacky cowboy outfits. They would be complete with frills, studs, rhinestones and all sorts of other garbage. To go along with his silly redneck gimmick, he would pull out a guitar and smash it over his opponent's head in order to win a match. He never played the guitar like Elias does today, but he definitely could swing the instrument. The best part of this guy was Deborah McMichael.
Who is this Big Red Machine?
Yes, this monstrous wrestler's nickname was the Big Red Machine. The machine part came mainly from his need to use a mechanical assistant in order to speak. The story being that he was in a fire as a child and was horribly scarred (hence the mask) and could no longer speak with his own voice. Of course, the WWE ruined this when they finally unmasked him years after he was an infamous character. They didn't use burn makeup at all and gave up on the backstory of the fire. He could even talk normally too. He's a joke now.
Who is this technical wrestler?
This guy was perhaps one of the craziest and yet simultaneously technically skilled wrestlers to have ever competed in the ring in the 90s. He would go ballistic at the drop of a hat but the way that he moved in the ring was astonishing. A lot of people didn't like him because he wasn't really flashy...but that's what made him so great to watch. He was just really good at what he did. It was always brutal to watch his finishing ankle lock move.
Who is this "vampire"?
This guy was always interesting...even when he really let himself go near the end of his wrestling career with the WWE. Either way, when he first entered wrestling entertainment, he would rise up from out of the floor near the top of the ramp with a chalice of "blood" in his hands. He would drink it, then spit it out into a mist that would land all over his white dress shirt so he would look all bloody for his fights. He recruited Edge and Christian to form The Brood.
Who is this cool wrestler?
This guy has had a few names in the ring throughout his years in the WWE. He was also a member of WCW for quite some time. He was known as Diesel once upon a time. He was also known as Big Daddy Cool. Then he decided to just go with his real name which I'm obviously not going to give away here in the description. He was a big part of the NWO, especially when it became "too sweet" with the creation of the Wolf Pack.
Who is this very popular wrestler?
I have to admit that when I was a kid I had a watch that had this wrestler on the cover. The watch opened up to reveal the time but there was a little figurine of this guy on the lid...the 90's were definitely a very different time. He was a two-time WCW Champion and one-time WWA Champion. He is also a five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion. Although he never won a championship in the WWF, he challenged for every title in the organization. Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year in 1993.
Who is this vibrant wrestler?
There is no mistaking just who this guy is. At least...there really shouldn't be. I can't imagine anyone who calls themselves a wrestling fan not knowing who this is. He used to come to the ring with Miss Elizabeth in tow...and while he might have been the flashier dressed, everyone knew who the better of the two was. Either way, this guy made a huge name for himself with his "oh yeah" catchphrase as well as his "snap into a Slim Jim" catchphrase!
Who is this marvellous wrestler?
No, I'm not talking about Marvellous Marc Mero. I'm talking about the beautiful woman he's holding onto...the one he tried to hold onto all the time because he couldn't stand the idea that anyone else would look at her body...which is what everyone did when they came out together. Anyway, she was one of the biggest draws in the 90s and was one of the best female wrestlers in terms of character and execution. Unfortunately, she's not a nice person and she married someone who's worse...Brock Lesnar.
Who is this "perfect" wrestler?
The name Mr. Perfect should be known to anyone who considers themselves a wrestling fan. Even if you weren't yet alive when he was still wrestling. He, unfortunately, died too young and even worse...Mach Man Randy Savage recorded an awful rap song to lament his passing. While he was dearly missed, his legacy sort of lived on in the work of his son, Curtis Axel. It's too bad that his son couldn't rise to fame quite like he did but...well, his son isn't perfect.
Who is this legendary Canadian wrestler?
This wrestler was part of one of the biggest wrestling families in the business. A Canadian family as it happens and they still have a partial member working in the WWE in the form of Natalya. Anyway, this specific wrestler was a great villain in the ring and let people get under his skin easily. There was an ongoing insult of people calling him a nugget and he would freak when someone called him it. He had another persona as the Blue Blazer...he died during a pay-per-view when coming to the ring on a zip line. I remember when I found out the next morning.
Who is this grungy wrestler?
Championships held by this wrestler over the course of his career include the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Tag Team Championship, NWA World Heavyweight Championship, WCW Light Heavyweight Championship, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, WCW World Tag Team Championship and WWE Hardcore Championship. He is recognized as the most decorated wrestler in the history of WWE with 32 separate title reigns under the WWE, WCW and ECW banners, including a record 27 reigns as WWF/E Hardcore Champion.But most people have forgotten this guy.
Who is this masked luchador?
This guy is known for his high-flying Lucha libre wrestling style, which is credited with having helped kick-start the emergence of cruiserweight wrestling in the United States in the mid-1990's. Championships held by this wrestler over the course of his career include WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, the WWE Championship, WCW/WWE Cruiserweight Championship, WCW World Tag Team Championship, WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship, WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship, and WWE Intercontinental Championship. He is also the twenty-first WWE Triple Crown Champion and the winner of the 2006 Royal Rumble match.
Who is this flashy wrestler?
This guy is perhaps one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He was definitely one of the greatest wrestlers of the 90's anyway. He used to do an amazing spinning move at the corner of the ring to enter and intimidate his opponents. It was really cool. He's been the leader of a couple of versions of The Four Horsemen. His daughter is now wrestling in the WWE and she has been the queen of wrestling since she first won the women's belt.
Who is this ravishing wrestler?
This guy wrestled from 1982 until his 1994 retirement due to injury, with a final match following in 1997. Among other accolades, he was a four-time world champion, a one-time Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion. In 1997, he co-founded the influential D-Generation X stable, along with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna. On November 17 of that year, he became the only person to appear on the WWE's Raw Is War and WCW's Monday Nitro on the same night, as the former was pre-recorded and Rude had left for WCW in the interim.
Who is this rowdy wrestler?
This guy is probably one of the coolest wrestlers from the 90s. He actually came second in the world for playing his bagpipes and always came to the ring in a kilt and a leather jacket. His nickname was Hotrod because of how hot-headed he was. He really knew how to speak on the mic and because of how good he was playing his character, he landed some films roles. He was the lead in John Carpenter's They Live which was a big late 80s hit.
Who is this dominating wrestler?
This guy often went by the name Faarooq. He was the leader of the Nation of Domination. Some notable members include Kama Mustafa (who would become The Godfather), Mark Henry, Owen Hart, Rocky Maiavia, Crush, Ahmed Johnson, and D'Lo Brown. Of course, while he founded the Nation, he was betrayed by The Rock who was just about to emerge as a superstar in the WWE before moving on to be an incredibly successful actor as well. This guy ended up forming a tag team with Bradshaw.
Who is this very agile wrestler?
Ok, you know what? No matter what you think about how crappy or silly this wrestler's character is or has been...you cannot deny that he is incredibly talented and gifted. He might not be good on the mic and he might not have much of a personality but he can move, unlike most any other wrestler. He can do all sorts of agile tricks with his body that you could hardly imagine anyone doing. I don't know how his body can still do those things.
Who is this greasy wrestler?
Party of Razor Ramone's shtick was that he was a greasy, old-school sort of guy who had some strange attempt at a New York/Cuban accent that seemed to always sort of change...which was mainly because the accent was often based on just how much this wrestler had to drink before coming out to the ring to talk or fight. This guy is clean now but he was getting wrecked backstage long before the WWE had a wellness program to help him.
Who is this hooded wrestler?
I don't know why this became a thing but once this wrestler broke off from the tag team he had with his brother, he started really jacking up his muscles and wearing a stupid chainmail hood. I'm not sure what he was trying to prove with it but he was pretty out of place even with some of the stranger wrestlers who existed back in the 90s. Either way, Big Papa Pump was one of the biggest and most arrogant wrestlers of his time.
Who is this bad boy?
This guy is perhaps one of the best-known wrestlers of all the WWE. He's been in the business for quite some time. He might not be wrestling anymore (probably because of the incredible way his eyes seem to be going more and more crossed as the years go on) but he's still involved with quite a few things that the company does. Back in the day, he had an incredible feud with Bret Hart which ended with Hart being screwed out of the Championship for real!
Who is this crazy character?
Alright, for those of you who think you might know this guy's name, I have to tell you that he's really not the lead singer of the Sex Pistols. You just have to know that off the bat before you go mixing up the two. I don't know how you could, but just in case. He wrestled for both the WCW and WWE organizations and was a wonderfully crazy energy to have in the ring. He's gone by several names, but can you pick the right one?
Who is this painted wrestler?
This is probably one of the greatest wrestlers of the 90's. Even though he never got the one match he always wanted before retirement (a final match with The Undertaker), there is still a chance he and Taker may come out of retirement to have a first and final meeting. It's not likely, but there's a chance. This guy used to come into the ring from a zip line and was very handy with a baseball bat. He used to work alone but eventually joined the NWO and changed the facepaint to red and black.
Who is this beer-guzzling wrestler?
This guy has got to be still one of the most popular wrestlers. He's probably one of the biggest names that fans want to see back in the ring. He wouldn't take any crap from anyone. He was a redneck Texan who drank beer, swore, and beat up the boss. Everyone loved him. He made an appearance not long ago for RAW's 25th anniversary where he gave his finishing move "The Stunner" to both Vince and Shane McMahon. Then he guzzled a bunch of beer.
Who is this million dollar man?
The Million Dollar Man was one of the flashiest wrestlers in the 90s. I think for obvious reasons given that he had dollar signs all over the place with some ritzy gold bling...especially on his belt. His son who shares the same name has also become a wrestler though, much like Mr. Perfect's son, the Million Dollar Man's son has just not made near as big a name for himself. But that's understandable. The 90s were a different time where certain gimmicks could work very well.
Who is this hardcore wrestler?
This guy is known for the longevity of his career – which has spanned 50 years and includes multiple short-lived retirements – and the influential hardcore wrestling style he pioneered in the latter part of his career. Over the course of his career, he has wrestled for numerous major promotions, among them All Japan Pro Wrestling, ECW, the International Wrestling Association of Japan, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Association, WCW, the WWE and multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories including Big Time Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling. promotion.
Who is this people's champ?
Look...realistically, this is basically a freebie. If you can't come up with the name of this wrestler then you have no idea about the WWE and you are definitely not a wrestling fan. This guy started making it big as Rocky Maiavia when he took over the Nation of Domination and started going by The Rock. He feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin a bunch and would beat on Vince McMahon as well. He then went on to become a huge action-film star in a way that John Cena never could be. Because this guy is hilarious and talented.
Who is this game player?
He wasn't always known as The Game. Before he got Lemmy to write theme songs for him he was a totally different sort of character. He was one of the leaders of DX which was a rebel group of guys (and Chyna) who would go battle WCW with a tank and do anything they could to help each other win matches. They loved to break rules. And before that, this guy would walk into the ring in a flashy dress gown. Now he helps run the show and sometimes hits people.
Who is this dead man?
This guy has always been The Phenom! While I think it was stupid to have him lose his WrestleMania matches to Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, his WrestleMania streak will not likely ever be beaten by any other wrestler. I imagine nuclear armageddon will likely happen before someone else even gets close to beating him out on this one. He was styled as the older brother of Kane (before Kane was unmasked and turned into a crappy character). He formed The Ministry, and even turned biker for a while.
Who is this masked wrestler?
I never quite understood the strange, almost gimp mask that this character wears but either way, this character is pretty well a giveaway. He's definitely not the most famous wrestler of the 90s. Not by a long shot. And he's certainly not the best actor or technical wrestler either. But somehow, he managed to feud with a bunch of the greats. It was almost like he was a good guy to throw at superstars because he was at least big and could seem to pose a threat.
Who is this lady's man?
This guy was probably one of the worst characters in the 90s...and that's saying a lot. I mean, don't get me wrong he had a pretty huge following of ladies who loved that he came out in a towel, just a little wet, trying to pick up by grinding his hips and putting on a seductive voice. But his gimmick was pretty silly. And it was made even worse when he was taken into an office backstage where he had his...sausage chopped. I literally mean sausage (as you eventually see in the episode). Very silly.
Who is this degenerate?
This guy was one of the constant and most hilarious members of Degeneration X which was a supergroup formed mainly by Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Billy Gunn and Road Dogg were also members. Anyway, this particular wrestler's main finisher was called the bucking bronco where he would put his opponent into the corner, then run and jump on them and ride them like a horse...except...one time when he did the move he ended up ripping a whole lot of important stuff between his legs...