'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgf/2gAIAQEAAAAAgZb/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAECEAAAAH//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAEDEAAAAG//xAAeEAACAgICAwAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwERAAQFBhMhYf/aAAgBAQABPwDiErb1LmXBoapQk0MNrGn5KgoGgr1FyWEMSUzdfKz/xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABABH/2gAIAQIBAT8ATL//xAAZEQACAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgASccH/2gAIAQMBAT8AdRVM6Z//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
There's no doubt that WWE benefits from some of the best wrestling talent from all around the globe.
In truth, though, that has been the case for many decades now. In true 'Fantasy Football' style, fans are forever wishing they could handpick their favourites of yesteryear and have them in the present day.
To that end, we've compiled a handy list of 5 WWE/WWF superstars of the 1990s era who we feel would thrive in the modern day - from big men, to technical wizards, tag teams and beyond.
Here's our take:
#1 The 1-2-3 Kid
Back in the mid-1990s, what was then the WWF was busy trumpeting the success of its so-called ‘New Generation’, so heralded due to the company’s desire to distance themselves from the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and others who departed.
Before Sean Waltman became a staple part of the nWo in WCW, or a cornerstone of WWE’s D-Generation X, he made his breakthrough in the WWF years as the 1-2-3 Kid. Having succeeded in a trial with the company just after WrestleMania in 1993, he was brought to Monday Night RAW where he scored a monumental upset over Razor Ramon.
The two would feud back and forth for much of the rest of the year before becoming allies and, for a time, tag team partners. The ‘kid’ would then turn on Ramon 1994 turned, but not before Waltman excelled himself in the ring with some standout performances that would stand him in great stead in the present day.
He was a star of the 1994 King of the Ring with efforts against Double J, Jeff Jarrett, and Owen Hart, and his bout with Bret Hart for the WWF Championship around the same time was one of that year’s best.
Put the 1-2-3 Kid of 1994 in the WWE of today and you’d have a fan favourite.
#2 Adam Bomb
Adam Bomb may, to many, be a little more than a footnote in the history of 1990s WWE.
To me, though, he was a massively underrated and underused Superstar that would thrive in the current era.
Standing 6’6 and weighing in at almost 300lbs, Bryan Clark toiled around the wrestling scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s before being introduced as Adam Bomb in the WWF in 1993, managed by the irritating, yet successful, Johnny Polo.
Essentially, his character was a not-so-subtle nudge to an Atom Bomb, the man himself supposedly having survived such a disaster and hailing from Three Mile Island. Sporting coloured contact lenses, usually green or red, Bomb cut a menacing figure on his way to the ring. Yet despite his impressive look and size, the character never really took off in the company.
He made notable appearances at Survivor Series in 1993 and 1994 in losing efforts, likewise at Wrestlemania X when he was squashed by Earthquake in near-record time as WWE struggled to squeeze in matches on the night due to time constraints.
His WWF run came to an end in the summer of 1995 with his potential unfulfilled. He would go on to have moderate runs again in WCW and back with WWE before the end of his career, but there’s little doubt in my mind that Adam Bomb could excel if repackaged and represented as a new version of his 1990s self.
#3 The Steiner Brothers
Having competed together, on and off, for the last 30 years, there’s little doubt that The Steiner Brothers are one of the greatest tag teams of all time.
It is perhaps one of the biggest shames, then, that Rick and Scott never truly shone as well as they might have done during their WWF run in the 1990s.
Having already wrestled and established themselves in WCW for four years prior to their ‘Federation’ debut in 1992, much was expected of the highly-athletic and finely-tuned tag team. Making their pay per view debut with the company at the Royal Rumble, they continued with momentum and some real popularity into Wrestlemania XI, where they defeated the Headshrinkers in one of the best matches of the day.
That summer, they secured the WWF tag team championships from Money Inc, but it would proved to be a short title reign – symptomatic of their time with the company in general, when they were unseated by the Quebeckers.
Come the start of 1994, Rick and Scott featured less and less before eventually leaving the company altogether come late Spring.
With so much focus on tag team wrestling these days in WWE and its undoubted popularity, who wouldn’t want to see the 1990s Steiner Brothers lock up with The Revival in an ultimate showdown for the purists?
#4 Bret Hart
While some of the names on our list were, unquestionably, talented wrestlers who perhaps never got their chance in the WWE back in the 1990s, the same could not be said for Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart.
A former five-time WWE Champion, the Excellence of Execution was arguably the biggest name in the company around the 1993-1995 era, thanks to his feuds with the likes of Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, Diesel and plenty more besides.
But it’s difficult to recollect Bret’s stellar career without considering how it might have played out in the present day if he were a WWE Superstar in this age. With a great technical ability in the ring and unwavering popularity for much of his time in the company, he appeared to be the complete package in respect of what ticks boxes with fans today.
For instance; imagine a two-out-of-three falls match between Johnny Gargano and Bret Hart on an episode of NXT? Or picture a classic for a championship of some sort on Monday Night Raw between Bret and AJ Styles. The possibilities are truly endless.
So yes, as a former WWE Champion, intercontinental champion, tag team champion and King of the Ring winner, its hard to say that Bret Hart didn’t pretty much dominate the squared circle in the 1990s.
Just imagine what he could do today.
#5 Giant Gonzalez
It could be said that no company has produced, developed or showcased more big men in wrestling than the WWE.
From Diesel to the Great Khali, and from Yokozuna to Kane and The Undertaker, there has always been a place both on the roster and on the company’s television output for a giant or two.
But looking back to the 1990s, while his run in the company was fleeting, was there any greater big man than the Giant Gonzalez?
He debuted at the 1993 Royal Rumble where he visciously attacked The Undertaker, beginning a feud that ran throughout much of the year. Billed at 8 feet all (though realistically he was a good half-foot shorter than that), he would glide over the top rope to enter the ring and destroy his opponents with clubbing blows of his massive fists.
Sadly, the presentation of the Gonzalez character left a little bit to be desired. He was packaged, so to speak, in a full body suit with faux hair stuck to it – a look that is only really remembered as a source of ridicule for many fans. It did, ultimately, detract from the rest of the character, which may well have succeeded in another era.
Now while you couldn’t entertain the Gonzalez of that particular appearance faring well in the present WWE product, surely there could be a story to be told for a such a towering, dominant figure?
WWE chief Vince McMahon has forever had a fondness for giant Superstars – might it just be that one of the tallest of them all was simply in the right place at the wrong time?
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
