5 Wrestlers who wrestled without being in prototypical shape

Wrestling is a profession where wrestlers are expected to be sculpted figures like Greek Gods. This is not always the case, however, and sometimes wrestlers who don’t look the part are able to rise to the top.

There are many wrestlers who have had successful careers even-though they were considered to be out of shape. With that being said, let's take a look at five WWE Superstars that were not in prototypical shape when wrestling.

#5 Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens is one of the quicker wrestlers in the ring!

A current WWE star who cannot be called fit is Kevin Owens. Never having been a wrestler for whom the focus was his body, Kevin is anything but slow in the ring. He has been made the centre of a number of jokes in WWE by the fans for his chubby appearance but has never let that stop him.

He is one of the best wrestlers in the world and the fact that he is in the main event scene in a company like WWE where your body is everything goes to prove that. He has made a living out of proving the doubters wrong and will likely continue to do so.

#4 Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt is one of those wrestlers who has never looked like he has been thin. He came into the public eye as Husky Harris, a part of Nexus, the invading faction of former NXT talents. He would wrestle for a long time in this gimmick, but it became obvious that he was not going to be successful in this form. His weight and combined lack of Charisma was working against him.

Wyatt then took up a completely different gimmick as Bray Wyatt, an unhinged man with voices in his head and a mysterious Sister Abigail. Together with Rowan and Harper, they formed a vicious faction as they ruled NXT before coming to the main roster. While not as successful in the main roster, the fans loved his gimmick and gave him a chance to win them over.

Although he did, the way WWE have booked him to lose innumerable matches has hurt the mystique of the character that was Bray Wyatt. He is not a wrestler who is ripped with six pack abs, but he is flexible and has shown his acrobatic skills despite being considerably overweight. He was one of the first wrestlers to show the audience that there is no need to be a sculpted Randy Orton to have a fierce persona and be successful in WWE.

#3 Rikishi

The Anoa’I family had problems with their weight, but if any one of them can truly be said to have made their weight their gimmick, it was Rikishi. A top wrestler during his 12 years with WWE, Rikishi is one of the most well-known faces from that period. He took a long time to come to actual prominence, but his run as the Headshrinkers, showed signs that there was a lot more to come from the Samoan.

He truly rose in the public eye during a segment with the Rock and Stone Cold where he claimed to have driven over Stone Cold to do the Rock a favour. It was a silly gimmick but helped his rise nonetheless. His dancing gimmick as part of ‘Too Cool’ and his famous Stink Face would all help in building an image for the fans. One of the most over stars in his later years, Rikishi was an amazing wrestler and incredibly agile for his size.

Unfortunately, his weight was seen by WWE as a possible future health issue, and following repeated requests to reduce his weight, Rikishi was released from the company later. Thankfully, Rikishi is healthy to this day and continues to be able to watch his two sons, Jimmy and Jey Uso do their thing in WWE as they rule the Tag Team Divisions.

#2 Viscera

Possibly one of the most intimidating looking men to ever enter a WWE ring, Viscera, or Big Daddy V was one of the largest men as well. He main-evented Summerslam in 1995, after having won the King of the Ring pay-per-view that year. Viscera was best known for his work in WWE and his run as one of the minions of the Undertaker, though he would later go on to feud with the Dead Man later.

He was immensely overweight with a height of 6 foot 9 inches. While ultimately never really successful as a wrestler, it was the look that he brought into wrestling with his massive bulk that was his claim to fame. Not fast in the ring, and not really capable of doing too many moves, he was overexposed and the fans got tired of him fast.

Unfortunately for him, it was his weight that claimed his life after he died in the shower of a heart attack at 43 years of age. He died too soon and never lived up to the obvious potential that he had.

#1 Yokozuna

Members of the Anoa’I family have always had a big place in WWE history. For Yokozuna, that was both figuratively and literally. The number of wrestlers who have been successful in WWE that the Anoa’I family has produced has proved to be massive with the likes of the Rock, Roman Reigns, The Usos, Nia Jax, Rikishi, Yokozuna, Rosey, Umaga etc all coming from that family.

Yokozuna had the gimmick of a Sumo Wrestler during his time in WWE and he was billed at 600 pounds. He was successful during his short time with the company, as he would win the WWE Championship a number of times, and is most famously remembered for his win over Bret Hart.

Yokozuna was too overweight, and towards the latter part of his career was not at all speedy in a ring. Managed by Mr Fuji, he would use underhanded means to win the matches he took part in.

While he accomplished a lot during his four years with the company, it was blatantly obvious that Yokozuna was going to face health problems due to his weight. He passed away at 34 years old at 589 pounds in the year 2000 too soon.

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