Tired
Legend
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2011
- Messages
- 4,768
- Reaction score
- 0
The WWE website has revise it's 'Loveable Losers' list. It is mainly a listing of the best enhancement talents.
The difference this time is that the researchers have made more of an effort to find past superstars that have never (or rarely) won matches.
[NOTE: The revised article incorrectly states that Duane Gill lost the WWF Lightheavyweight Championship to Dean Malenko. He actually lost it to fellow enhancement talent Essa Rios, and Rios lost the title to Malenko).
15. Rad Radford
Radford was heavily based on grunge band Nirvana. But contrary to the personality type, he was obsessed with joining the Bodydonnas. His looks and inability to gain important wins saw him get constantly rejected. And then he disappeared.
14. Virgil
Virgil spent four years as the bodyguard and servant for 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase. DiBiase started blaming all of his own losses and set backs on Virgil. Virgil eventually turned on DiBiase, and won his Million Dollar Championship. But in the instant that DiBiase won the title back, Virgil struggled to win any matches. About a year later, he was released. Virgil recently returned to serve as the bodyguard for DiBiase's son Ted DiBiase (Jr.). But he was quickly dismissed in favour of the younger and better looking Maryse.
13. Who
Who was a masked wrestler who had the strength and size to make it. But his gimmick instantly turned him into a bad joke. The whole point to Who was that no-one knew anything about him. Which made it very difficult for commentators to take calling his matches seriously. He left the WWE without ever winning a match. Strangely, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart was inactive when Who was around.
12. The Young Stallions
Jim Powers and Paul Roma had all the skills that they needed to become huge names in the industry. The one thing that they didn't have was the support of management. The WWE never found anything serious for either man, so they were simply put together as a tag team. And then the WWE continued to do little with them. They were the first in a very long line of similar tag teams (think Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel).
11. Outback Jack
Outback Jack was one of the very few Austrailian wrestlers to ever be signed by the WWE. He was heavily based on the titular character of the 'Crocodile Dundee' movies. After a good start, opponents realised that Jack didn't have much offense. Then it became really easy to prepare for a match against him.
10. Barry O
Barry O was from a well-known wrestling family. Sometimes second-generation superstars are taught to embrace their heritage. Other times they are told to distance themselves as much as possible. Barry O was an example of that. And as a result, he failed to get over. Barry O was better known as Barry Orton, the uncle of Randy Orton, and brother of 'Cowboy' Bob Orton.
9. Sam Houston
Houston was another Texan with a cowboy based gimmick. The only unique element was that he danced on the way to the ring. The WWE thought that he was similar to the Von Erich sons. But most of his matches were against much larger opponents who were in the middle of main-event pushes. The novelty of Houston's speed quickly wore off.
8. 'Iron' Mike Sharpe
Sharpe was a second-generation powerhouse from Canada. He came to the WWE as a serious challenger to Bob Backlund's WWE Championship. But Sharpe was too nice in real-life to make it as a heel. In the end, he slowly climbed down the ladder of success until he parted ways with the WWE.
7. 'Playboy' Buddy Rose
Buddy Rose, like many heels of his era, had a gimmick similar to the "Nature Boy" gimmick. He was one of many challengers brought in especially to feud with Bob Backlund during Backlund's time as WWE Champion. And like the others, he was dismissed when his feud was done. Rose came back to the WWE years later, having gained a lot of weight and lost his toned physique. He (in character) was in denial about his weight gain, but was constantly outclassed by younger and faster stars.
6. 'Leaping' Lanny Poffo
People used to know him as The Genius. Many people know him today as the reason why 'Macho Man' Randy Savage is not in the Hall of Fame (he insists that Randy did not want to be inducted unless it was part of a group with Lanny and their father too). But before all that, he was 'Leaping' Lanny Poffo. He was a tall guy who had a unique flying ability. He would write poetry and attach them to frisbees, and then would launch them out into the crowd. Those frisbees are now collector's items.
5. Duane Gill
Gill was so happy to be in the WWE that he did not care if he made it to the top or not. Just like Steve Lombardi, he did a series of odd jobs and dark matches until eventually he found a gimmick that worked. For his last few years in the WWE, he became Gillberg. Gillberg was a parody of Goldberg which almost became as popular as the real thing. Despite the insistance that Gillberg never won a match, he was the longest reigning Lightheavyweight Champion, and retired Marc Mero from the company.
4. Barry Horowitz
Horowitz was very proud of his Jewish heritage. But he went several years in the WWE without gaining a single win. However, he did once beat
Boddydonna Skip in under 1 minute. When this happened, Jim Ross gave out one of his most excitable reactions in his broadcasting career.
3. Colin Delaney
Delaney was heavily based on ECW's Mikey Whipwreck. He would get destroyed by superstars without getting so much as a single punch in. Also like Mikey, he would instantly transform into a toughened brawler when a Hardcore Legend chose him to be his tag partner in a Tag Team title match. The major difference is that WWE did not wait long enough to do the transformation. Worse still, he took a bizarre heel turn only a month
later. And then he was done.
2. S.D. Jones
Unlike everyone else on this list, Jones was a big star. Most of his matches were high-profile and were against big name opponents. But he very rarely got the victory. With that being said, Edge lost over 150 matches the year that he won the WWE Championship for the very first time.
1. Brooklyn Brawler
Just like Duane Gill, Steve Lombardi was so happy to be in the WWE that he did not care about making it to the top. But the major difference is that Lombardi found a character that made him a star. Lombardi has also played a large number of roles, backstage and onscreen. He is also one of the company's longest serving employees. Even longer than the Undertaker.
The difference this time is that the researchers have made more of an effort to find past superstars that have never (or rarely) won matches.
[NOTE: The revised article incorrectly states that Duane Gill lost the WWF Lightheavyweight Championship to Dean Malenko. He actually lost it to fellow enhancement talent Essa Rios, and Rios lost the title to Malenko).
15. Rad Radford
Radford was heavily based on grunge band Nirvana. But contrary to the personality type, he was obsessed with joining the Bodydonnas. His looks and inability to gain important wins saw him get constantly rejected. And then he disappeared.
14. Virgil
Virgil spent four years as the bodyguard and servant for 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase. DiBiase started blaming all of his own losses and set backs on Virgil. Virgil eventually turned on DiBiase, and won his Million Dollar Championship. But in the instant that DiBiase won the title back, Virgil struggled to win any matches. About a year later, he was released. Virgil recently returned to serve as the bodyguard for DiBiase's son Ted DiBiase (Jr.). But he was quickly dismissed in favour of the younger and better looking Maryse.
13. Who
Who was a masked wrestler who had the strength and size to make it. But his gimmick instantly turned him into a bad joke. The whole point to Who was that no-one knew anything about him. Which made it very difficult for commentators to take calling his matches seriously. He left the WWE without ever winning a match. Strangely, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart was inactive when Who was around.
12. The Young Stallions
Jim Powers and Paul Roma had all the skills that they needed to become huge names in the industry. The one thing that they didn't have was the support of management. The WWE never found anything serious for either man, so they were simply put together as a tag team. And then the WWE continued to do little with them. They were the first in a very long line of similar tag teams (think Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel).
11. Outback Jack
Outback Jack was one of the very few Austrailian wrestlers to ever be signed by the WWE. He was heavily based on the titular character of the 'Crocodile Dundee' movies. After a good start, opponents realised that Jack didn't have much offense. Then it became really easy to prepare for a match against him.
10. Barry O
Barry O was from a well-known wrestling family. Sometimes second-generation superstars are taught to embrace their heritage. Other times they are told to distance themselves as much as possible. Barry O was an example of that. And as a result, he failed to get over. Barry O was better known as Barry Orton, the uncle of Randy Orton, and brother of 'Cowboy' Bob Orton.
9. Sam Houston
Houston was another Texan with a cowboy based gimmick. The only unique element was that he danced on the way to the ring. The WWE thought that he was similar to the Von Erich sons. But most of his matches were against much larger opponents who were in the middle of main-event pushes. The novelty of Houston's speed quickly wore off.
8. 'Iron' Mike Sharpe
Sharpe was a second-generation powerhouse from Canada. He came to the WWE as a serious challenger to Bob Backlund's WWE Championship. But Sharpe was too nice in real-life to make it as a heel. In the end, he slowly climbed down the ladder of success until he parted ways with the WWE.
7. 'Playboy' Buddy Rose
Buddy Rose, like many heels of his era, had a gimmick similar to the "Nature Boy" gimmick. He was one of many challengers brought in especially to feud with Bob Backlund during Backlund's time as WWE Champion. And like the others, he was dismissed when his feud was done. Rose came back to the WWE years later, having gained a lot of weight and lost his toned physique. He (in character) was in denial about his weight gain, but was constantly outclassed by younger and faster stars.
6. 'Leaping' Lanny Poffo
People used to know him as The Genius. Many people know him today as the reason why 'Macho Man' Randy Savage is not in the Hall of Fame (he insists that Randy did not want to be inducted unless it was part of a group with Lanny and their father too). But before all that, he was 'Leaping' Lanny Poffo. He was a tall guy who had a unique flying ability. He would write poetry and attach them to frisbees, and then would launch them out into the crowd. Those frisbees are now collector's items.
5. Duane Gill
Gill was so happy to be in the WWE that he did not care if he made it to the top or not. Just like Steve Lombardi, he did a series of odd jobs and dark matches until eventually he found a gimmick that worked. For his last few years in the WWE, he became Gillberg. Gillberg was a parody of Goldberg which almost became as popular as the real thing. Despite the insistance that Gillberg never won a match, he was the longest reigning Lightheavyweight Champion, and retired Marc Mero from the company.
4. Barry Horowitz
Horowitz was very proud of his Jewish heritage. But he went several years in the WWE without gaining a single win. However, he did once beat
Boddydonna Skip in under 1 minute. When this happened, Jim Ross gave out one of his most excitable reactions in his broadcasting career.
3. Colin Delaney
Delaney was heavily based on ECW's Mikey Whipwreck. He would get destroyed by superstars without getting so much as a single punch in. Also like Mikey, he would instantly transform into a toughened brawler when a Hardcore Legend chose him to be his tag partner in a Tag Team title match. The major difference is that WWE did not wait long enough to do the transformation. Worse still, he took a bizarre heel turn only a month
later. And then he was done.
2. S.D. Jones
Unlike everyone else on this list, Jones was a big star. Most of his matches were high-profile and were against big name opponents. But he very rarely got the victory. With that being said, Edge lost over 150 matches the year that he won the WWE Championship for the very first time.
1. Brooklyn Brawler
Just like Duane Gill, Steve Lombardi was so happy to be in the WWE that he did not care about making it to the top. But the major difference is that Lombardi found a character that made him a star. Lombardi has also played a large number of roles, backstage and onscreen. He is also one of the company's longest serving employees. Even longer than the Undertaker.