David Arquette is a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Being a World Champion normally means you’re a big star. Vince Russo was a former World Champion. The Great Khali is a former World Heavyweight Champion. Just so we understand each other, these guys, in my opinion, are not among the biggest stars in the history of pro wrestling.
Do we understand the formula?
Today, we are going to look at five legends of the ring who were without a doubt top stars in their prime. At one point or another, each person on this list could be considered “the guy” in the business. All were top stars who reached Championship-level success at one time or another, however they all shared one key factor in common — they pretty much sucked in the ring.
A lot of people have different ideas of what a “good worker” really is. Generally speaking, if you’re in the business, a good worker is someone who can take the live crowd on an emotional journey. Most of the people on this list were able to do that, however if you’re a die-hard fan of the sport, you have a different opinion of what a “good worker” is. To those people, a good worker is someone who took the time to perfect the craft, the art and skill of what goes on inside the squared circle. Guys who have matches that are considered “match of the year” candidates. Guys who could have what die-hard fans call “five-star matches.”
That is who we are looking at today. Guys who by die-hard fan standards would be considered god-awful workers. Guys who couldn’t have a classic, five-star match to save their life, even if they’re able — usually due to star power and enthusiasm — to pop a crowd during a match.
With all of thr explanation out of the way, let’s take a look at who made the list of the top five biggest stars who weren’t good workers.
#5. Hulk Hogan
The guy knows how to have a classic match. His WrestleMania VI clash with Ultimate Warrior, who we’ll be talking about later, surprised many. Still, if you examine the match with your “worker” glasses on you’ll notice that it wasn’t exactly a catch-as-catch-can classic by any means.
It was a great match though in the sense that the crowd was totally invested. A lot of that had to do with the promotional build-up to the match and the characters involved. The same can be said for Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8.
A Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat classic it was not.
But the response from the fans was about as passionate as things get. Hogan can have great matches when everything falls into place, but you can’t put just anybody in the ring with him and expect a great match. As far as his star-power is concerned, Hogan is one of — if not the biggest — stars in the history of the sport.
Hulk Hogan comes in at number five.
#4. Andre the Giant
Andre The Giant is one of the biggest and most recognizable stars in professional wrestling history. In his prime as a young wrestler he would come off of the top-rope, he could throw a pretty impressive dropkick and was a lot more agile than he became later in his career.
Most will remember the run Andre The Giant had in WWE in the 1980s, but prior to that he was actually a pretty solid in-ring worker. His most famous years, however, saw a number of rest-holds killing the majority of the time in his matches. It was almost a sure thing that there would be a few bear-hugs, nerve-grip holds and the ever-popular butt-smash in the corner spot.
So again, Andre wasn’t the best in-ring technician, but he was a huge star — literally — and could elicit a great reaction from the crowd from bell-to-bell when matched with the right guy.
Regardless, Andre comes in at number four.
#3. Kevin Nash
Outside of a few matches with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, better known to WWE-exclusive fans as “Diesel,” rarely had a match above a two-star rating. He was one of the first workers to be labeled as a guy with “five moves of doom,” long before that torch was passed to John Cena.
However, Nash was a big ingredient in the pro wrestling explosion of the late 1990s. His move to WCW, which led to the formation of the nWo, was arguably the jumping-off point of the Monday Night Wars, which ultimately led to WWE’s “Attitude Era.” WWE was forced to switch gears and change the way they do business, and Nash, along with Scott Hall, were two key players at the root of all of these changes.
Despite his importance level in the business, his work level earns him the bronze medal as one of the biggest stars who wasn’t a “good worker.”
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