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Wrestling fans are, just like any other demographic, prone to nostalgia. Sometimes it seems like everything that is old is better, whether it's the new Ghostbusters or late model cars. One of the truisms that gets bandied about by wrestling fans on social media goes like this; WWE hasn't been truly great since the Attitude Era.
It is true that the Attitude Era gave us many great superstars and many classic moments that will be treasured forever. Who can forget Stone Cold Steve Austin's memorable 3:16 speech, which many recognize as the birth of the Attitude Era? And let's not forget Vince McMahon transitioning from a beloved babface announcer to becoming on of the most despicable villains pro wrestling has ever seen.
Not to mention that a certain third generation wrestler comes from the Attitude Era, the same one that's now the highest paid star in the world. Rhymes with 'sock.'
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While there are many things from the Attitude Era which are looked back upon fondly with justification, there are also many things that the fans seem to have amnesia about. Not every wrestler is going to be a hall of famer, and these ten superstars are barely remembered in the modern era.
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Here are ten Attitude Era wrestlers the fans have largely forgotten about.
#1 Tiger Ali Singh
Tiger Ali Singh is the son of international wrestling superstar Tiger Jeet Singh. But while the senior Tiger is well known for his in ring skills and ability to work a crowd, his son just didn't have the same it factor.
Tiger Ali Singh's career began prodigiously enough. He was trained at the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo for six months, and made his debut tag teaming with his father.
Singh would be signed by the WWE, who treated his acquisition as if it were a huge deal, even holding a press conference for the sole purpose of announcing that Tiger Ali Singh was now a WWE employee.
His biggest accolade was probably winning the second, and final, Kuwait Cup, followed closely by the time he beat future world champion Edge at a pay per view. Singh would be sent to Puerto Rico to improve his in ring abilities, but when he returned--briefly--was used as a manager of D'Lo Brown and Chazz.
Why no one remembers him: Tiger Ali Singh basically had the Indian version of Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase's gimmick. It hadn't been that long since Dibiase was an active wrestler in WWE, and fans didn't warm up to the copycat gimmick. Also, in terms of wrestling ability, Tiger Ali Singh is on the lower end of the spectrum.
#2 Gangrel
avid William Heath was trained by one of the greatest ring technicians in wrestling history; Professor Boris Malenko (father of Man of a thousand holds Dean Malenko.) he spent some time wrestling under a mask using the name Destruction.
Heath would go on to achieve some success on the independent and Japanese circuits. Eventually, he met his future wife Luna Vachon--who ironically was involved with his tag team partner--and the two of them developed a new gimmick based on The Lost Boys film.
Now calling himself the Vampire Warrior, Heath had a brief run in ECW before being signed with WWE for a second time (during his first tenure he was used as an enhancement talent.) This time, he would be groomed for an upper mid card role and given his own stable of lackeys, who turned out to be Edge and Christian, known collectively as the Brood.
While a skilled wrestler, Heath was more well known for his groovy entrance through a ring of fire and spitting 'a mysterious red fluid' into the eyes of his opponents.
Why no one remembers him: Gangrel's vampire gimmick was a definite throwback to an earlier era of wrestling, while the Attitude Era was more about wrestlers being more 'realistic' characters. Also, people into vampire fandom usually don't watch pro wrestling, so the gimmick didn't appeal to the exact demographic it had been designed for.
#3 D'Lo Brown
D'Lo Brown was one of the most athletic, gifted, and skilled in ring performers of the Attitude Era. Unfortunately, the Attitude Era was more about the appeal of characters and interview skills than technical wrestling ability.
In spite of being thought of as 'boring' by the WWE management, D'Lo managed to become a dual champion in WWE, capturing both the European and Intercontinental championships and holding both simultaneously.
A tragedy marred D'Lo Brown's career during this point of his life, as he accidentally dropped Darren "Droz" Drozdov on his head during a failed running powerbomb attempt. Droz would be paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the accident.
D'Lo's WWE career eventually came to an end, but he did work for TNA wrestling as well as All Japan Wrestling.
Why no one remembers him: It's all about the timing. If D'Lo Brown were in his prime and joined NXT today, he would be a major star on that brand. Unfortunately, he just wasn't the right fit for the Attitude Era.
#4 The Godfather
Charles Wright, the man who would eventually be known as the Godfather in WWE, got his start in the industry in an unusual way. He was tending bar while the film crew for Over the Top (a forgotten Sylvester Stone arm wrestling vehicle) when he was spotted by several wrestlers working on the production as extras. They advised Wright that a big man like himself would make a natural pro wrestler.
Wright trained for the ring and developed several personas before the WWE christened him Papa Shango. The voodoo priest character was relatively over, and had a memorable feud with Ultimate Warrior in which Shango 'cursed' the face painted champion.
Other tricks Shango pulled included setting his opponents on fire (it's not as cool as it sounds.) Over time, the Papa Shango character was retired, and after spending a brief period as Kama Mustafa, Wright happened upon the Godfather gimmick, basically a wrestling pimp. He won the Intercontinental championship and had a few reigns as tag team champion before his tenure was done. Ironically, he would be repackaged as the Right to Censor Goodfather when WWE switched to a PG format.
Why no one remembers him: Much of the blame falls on WWE's shoulders for revisionist history. Because the company is now PG and family friendly, a wrestling pimp just won't fly in today's market. Thus, Godfather is almost never mentioned on WWE programming, leading to many fans being unaware of who he was.
#5 The Mean Street Posse
Rodney, Pete Gas, and Joey Abs made up the Mean Street Posse. Pete Gas and Rodney were childhood friends of Shane McMahon in real life, and they also played college football together. Neither were trained for the ring upon their initial debut, being used mostly as glorified valets for Shane McMahon.
Eventually, Joey Abs was added into the group. Abs had been a trained wrestler and was meant to be the chief 'worker' of the Mean Street Posse. Eventually Pete Gas and Rodney also received more formal training.
The Posse probably peaked when they faced the Hardy Boys for the WWE tag team championship, a match they lost.
Why no one remembers them: The Mean Street Posse were brought in to help Shane McMahon get over, but once their job was done there wasn't much for them to do in the WWE.
#6 Sunny
Tammy Lynn Stych, better known as Sunny, was a fixture in the WWE Attitude Era, though she began her start during the New Generation era.
The wife of former WWE and ECW wrestler Chris Candido, Sunny wasn't trained to perform in the ring but did take bumps on occasion. For most of her tenure, Sunny was used mostly as a glorified merchandise seller. She would enter the ring wearing official WWE wrestler t-shirts and carry props as well.
Eventually, Sunny was paired with Hawk and Animal as part of the ill fated LOD 2000 team. The role didn't last long, as she was let go from the company because of numerous personal issues. These days Sunny is more known for being tabloid fodder than for her career in wrestling.
Why no one remembers her: At the end of the day, Sytch wasn't terribly charismatic, and certainly wasn't a skilled wrestler, or even a trained one. She really was just another pretty face.
#7 Brakkus
Achim Albrecht was a former bodybuilder and Mr. Universe who was part of Joe Weider's body building promotion before making the transition to pro wrestling.
Brakkus stood at six feet tall and weighed over three hundred pounds, and was certainly imposing in the ring. However, he made the transition to pro wrestling later in his life and was no where near his physical prime.
He wasn't a bad in ring performer, but neither was he a good one. In an attempt to get him over, he was put in the Brawl for it All shoot tournament, where he was defeated on points by a much smaller man, perennial jobber to the stars Savio Vega. Vega would later claim that Brakkus was unaware the Brawl for All was not a worked match until after the first round, which is why he was defeated.
Brakkus was sent to ECW during a period when that promotion exchanged talent with the WWE, but an injury would force his early retirement.
Why no one remembers him: With no title victories, no memorable feuds, and a limited and short career, it's no wonder Brakkus is a mere footnote to wrestling history.
#8 Kurrgan the Interrogator
French actor Robert Maillet hasn't wrestled in many years, but at one point he was a major presence during the Attitude Era.
As part of Jackyl's 'Truth Commission' stable, he portrayed a neo-militant enforcer who was meant to evoke images of brutal dictatorial regimes. His gimmick as 'interrogator' comes from this time as well.
Maillet wrestled for the WWE while also pursuing an acting career. Most of his roles were the big thug who the main protagonist has to overcome through guile and bravery.
Eventually, Jackyl would leave WWE for ECW, and Kurggan would be repackaged into the Oddities stable along with the Insane Clown Posse. His dancing antics actually seemed to endear him to the WWE Universe, but he would leave the company to pursue acting full time.
Why no one remembers him: His WWE career was quite brief and involved no interesting feuds or titles. Most people today know him from his roles in the Robert Downey Junior Sherlock Holmes or the 300 film and have no idea he used to wrestle.
#9 Beaver Cleavage
Charles Warrington was trained as a pro wrestler under the late, great Larry Sharpe and his future Headbangers tag team partner, Glenn Ruth. He and Ruth would initially wrestle as the Spiders, a masked team who relied upon the 'masked confusion' gimmick made famous by the Conquistadors and the Killer Bees.
When they joined WWE, they initially competed as the cross dressing Flying Nuns. The gimmick didn't last long, and the duo would become known as the Headbangers.
Despite being a somewhat weak gimmick, the natural charisma of Ruth and Warrington, now know as Thrasher and Mosh, actually made them one of the more popular New Generation tag team acts. Though the Headbangers didn't mind being used as glorified enhancement talent, the WWE wanted them to move upward on the card and split the team up.
Mosh was re-christened Beaver Cleavage, a parody of classic television character the Beaver from the program Leave it to Beaver. Yes, the WWE thought that turning a beloved childhood icon into a lusty pseudo pornographic parody would be a good idea.
The gimmick flopped hard, and soon Warrington started wrestling under the name Chazz before being released from the company.
Why no one remembers him: As previously stated, many fans loved the Headbangers, but the ludicrous Beaver Cleavage gimmick proved to be a career killer for Warrington.
#10 Leif Cassidy
Sharp eyed Attitude Era fans will recognize Leif Cassidy under his other, much more well known ring name of Al Snow. However, when he made his debut for the WWE it was as the much less well received Leif Cassidy.
Taking his name from two 1970s children's pop rock icons--namely Leif Garret (who you may remember from the World's Dumbest series on Tru TV) and Butch Cassidy, who no one of any consequence remembers at all.
Leif Cassidy was teamed with Marty Jannety as the "New Rockers." The gimmick was generally well received by fans, but then Marty Jannety left the company. Now bereft of his new Rockers gimmick, Leif Cassidy became a glorified enhancement talent before being sent to ECW as part of a talent exchange. It was in ECW that he became Al Snow and the rest is history.
The gimmick was so lame that most people are unaware that Snow previously wrestled in the WWE as Leif Cassidy.
Why no one remembers him: Al Snow is a great in ring performer but there's nothing you can do with a gimmick this bad.
There you have it; Ten Attitude Era stars no fan remembers. Questions or comments? Please let us know after the article, and as always thanks for reading.
