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In WWE, just as wrestling everywhere around the world, major surprises are only ever just around the corner.
They say 'anything can happen in WWE' and, in our latest feature, we set out to prove that this adage is bang on the money. We're detailing just a handful of the times that enhancement talent scored major upset wins over established WWE Superstars.
Enhancement talents, if you didn't already know, are wrestlers who are largely unknown to the audience, and often without any real, established wrestling history to speak of. They've taken many forms over the years.
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WWE Enhancement talents: The biggest losers
In WWE in the present day, enhancement talents or, to use the modern term, local competitors, tend to be youngsters from the WWE Performance Cente. The likes of Denzel Dejournette, for instance, has featured on RAW and SmackDown in recent weeks in matches against more established talents.
In previous years, however, older more grizzled wrestling veterans like Barry Horowitz and Duane Gill (prior to his Gillberg years, of course...) have been utilized to help up-and-coming WWE starlets get victories under their belts.
Whatever the type of enhancement talent, the unifying factor between them all is that they almost always lose. After all, that's their job - to enhance the talent they're working within that particular match. They show up, get in a few moves of their own if they're lucky, and then put over the other man or woman they're up against.
That said, while I said they almost always lose, there are exceptions. Given the fact that many thousands of enhancement talents have been pinned or made to tap out within a few minutes over the years, any instance where they've been booked by WWE to pick up a win has been a big, big deal.
Here, we take a look at some of those moments.
#5. The Kid defeats Razor Ramon
Arguably the biggest, or at least the most well-known victory for an enhancement talent in WWE history was the one scored by the wrestler now known as X Pac.
But before he was a member of D-Generation X, before he was a Hall of Famer, and before he was even X Pac, he was The Kid.
Back in 1993, Razor Ramon stepped into the ring against a fresh-faced, unknown wrestler for what looked to be another routine RAW match. Back then, it was rare for established stars to face each other in the way they do now - it was almost always the case that a match would pit one big name against someone they'd swiftly defeat.
The Kid turned that on its head, though, and pinned Ramon with a 1-2-3 count to secure one of the biggest WWE wins of the year. As a result, The Kid went on to be dubbed the 1-2-3 Kid and for him, the rest was history.
#4. PJ Walker defeats IRS
IRS is the father of current WWE Superstars, Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas.
Back in the early '90s, he was one of WWE's most hated heels, a character based on the US Inland Revenue Service (hence the acronym IRS). Regularly chastising fans and his fellow WWE competitors as tax cheats, he'd order that they pay their fair share, or face the consequences!
IRS: WWE's resident tax man's career remembered
As well as being one half of the tag team Money Inc. alongside Ted DiBiase, IRS also enjoyed several years in WWE as a singles star - even winning the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble 1994, only for the decision to be reversed seconds later.
However, IRS was actually a victim of a major upset in WWE in 1993. At the time he was feuding against Razor Ramon, who made his way to ringside during IRS's match against unknown wrestler PJ Walker.
Ramon proved to be a major distraction to IRS during the encounter, and Walker - who later had a successful career as Justin Credible - took advantage by rolling him up for the pin and the win!
#3. Barry Horowitz defeats Skip
In WWE history, Barry Horowitz is likely to be the most well-known name amongst the realms of enhancement talents.
Horowitz spent years losing matches in WWE, first joining the company in 1990 and spending the better part of ten years there. For the most part, he was beaten in any singles or tag team match in which he featured, though he did occasionally pick up a win against a low-level wrestler on live events here and there.
Barry Horowitz: WWE's biggest loser?
While he likely lost many hundreds of matches whilst with WWE, it's Horowitz who can actually lay claim to one of the biggest upsets in the history of the company, too. It came in the summer of 1995 against the cocky and arrogant Skip of the Body Donnas.
A fitness freak, Skip would often taunt his opponent by stopping mid-match to undertake his exercise routines. He took this one step too far, however, when choosing to do a set of push-ups during a match with Horowitz, and paid the price when the underdog rolled him up for the pin!
It started the first and only push of Horowitz's WWE career, and even led to a high-profile SummerSlam match that year, too!
#2 Kevin Greeno defeats Ted DiBiase
The Million Dollar man may just be one of the greatest heels in WWE history.
Ted DiBiase Sr. was a major feature in WWE throughout the late '80s and early-to-mid '90s, and even won the WWE Championship (rather Andre The Giant handed it to him) fleetingly.
As you may recall from one of our previous slides, he was also one half of the very successful Money Inc. alongside IRS, the team who were WWE tag team champions multiple times.
The Million Dollar Man's most embarrassing WWE defeats
Just as IRS was the victim of an upset win by an enhancement talent, so too was DiBiase. Weeks after Razor Ramon was defeated by The Kid, DiBiase suffered the same fate, albeit with the help of The Bad Guy along the way.
However, that wasn't the only embarrassing defeat of DiBiase's career. Back in 1991, he was facing Kevin Greeno on a seemingly innocuous, run-of-the-mill WWE broadcast when his rival at the time, Virgil, came to the ring to provide the distraction. It worked too - much to his chagrin, DiBiase lost all sense of concentration with Virgil and ringside and was counted out.
It was a rare, fleeting moment of success for Greeno in WWE, who otherwise worked a fairly ordinary career.
#1. Eddie Jackie & Jason Ahrndt defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin
Remember WWE legend and Hall of Fame Superstar, Stone Cold Steve Austin? Of course you do.
The Texas Rattlesnake is one of the biggest Superstars of his generation and a man who defined a generation and inspired millions of fans around the world. His rivalry with WWE owner, Mr. McMahon is one of the finest of all time, and his beer-swilling, finger gesturing persona is arguably unparalleled.
However, you may not know that Austin himself was also once a victim of an almighty upset at the hands of enhancement talents, thanks to one episode of WWE Superstars that aired in early 1997. Around that time, Austin was slowly starting to build himself a WWE fanbase that was aided in part thanks to his feud with The Hart Foundation.
WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin beaten by enhancement talent
On the show in question, Austin was taking on the duo Eddie Jackie & Jason Ahrndt in a handicap match. Despite the odds, it was one that Austin was sure to win, right? Well, not quite. One of the Foundation members, the British Bulldog was looking to cause trouble and thanks to his interference, the two young upstarts managed to score a major win by pinning Austin.
Granted, this was before Austin became the WWE icon and legend that we now know, but it was quite the moment nonetheless.
