Some pro wrestlers just fit a certain promotion perfectly, so much so that they look like aliens who have crash-landed when they jump to another and start anew. There are exceptions, of course. For example, Steve Austin quickly looked more at home in the WWF/WWE than he ever did as a promising midcarder who was held back in WCW. Similarly, Rob Van Dam took to WWE life like he’d been there forever once the original ECW folded.
Arguably, the advent of the nWo saved Hulk Hogan from gracing this list. His red and yellow Hulkamania vibes were so World Wrestling Federation between 1994-1996 that WCW fans struggled to get onboard. They were even booing Hulkster before he joined forces with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to revolutionise the biz and reshape what was expected from heel factions at the top of the card.
Ric Flair is another absentee. Sure, he was ‘Mr. NWA/WCW’ to many, but he did impress during multiple stints with Vince McMahon’s organisation, and he “retired” on WWE’s side too. Thus, there’s no space (mountain) for the ‘Nature Boy’, but some heavy hitters will feature on these pages. Rest assured of that.
Some of wrestling’s brightest, best, most dangerous and most technically proficient will be included, and you might be left surprised by a few of them. Everything from WWF/WWE and WCW to AEW, TNA and Paul Heyman’s little promotion that could get a look in as well, so there’s definitely something for every kind of fan out there.
“Out there” perfectly describes how it felt when these guys showed up elsewhere looking totally out of place.
