Posted in: Mr. Tito
MR. TITO STRIKES BACK - The Top 25 Greatest Free Agent Signings in Pro Wrestling
By Mr. Tito
Sep 6, 2014 - 2:01:03 PM

FOLLOW Mr. Tito on Twitter: @titowrestling

Welcome to the "Excellence in Column Writing". Today, I'm digging up an unfinished column and finally completing it to post. On March 2nd, 2014, I wrote The FINAL COUNTDOWN - The Top 10 WORST Free Agent Signings in Pro Wrestling and I had full intentions of writing its follow up for "Best" free agent signings. That Top 10 list soon became a Top 25 list and it became overwhelming to write with the amount of details that need to be researched and just writing 25 sections on each wrestler. Then, things like Netflix, Nintendo, NBA Playoffs, and utter laziness got in the way to complete. Plus, after writing Top 10 lists for about 4 years now, the theme was getting old and I have about covered everything that needed a countdown.

On Thursday, I did post a column around 10pm which was a direct response to Vince Russo's "Open Letter" to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. I've been following his podcast appearances and reading his columns, and some of the things that he's said lately have infuriated me. The parts where he takes zero responsibility for WCW and TNA not succeeding drove me up the wall and for him to call out Stephanie/HHH prompted me to write the column... After I posted it, I thought about the column and how personal it seemed in comparison to my other columns. It packed a pretty good punch, but I guess my age and wisdom thought about the impact that this column could have. I'll just let Russo rehab his own image and let WCW/TNA's issues speak for his post-WWE career. Actually, I ended the column with a suggestion that he should be added to the WWE Creative Team.

I made the decision to remove it and did so about 2am later that night... My call... Apologies to my many readers who may have wanted to read that. It's only the 2nd column that has been pulled in my 16 year "career" as Mr. Tito. The first was in 1999 and not of my choice... Acting on a tip from a few independent sources close to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) that were telling me about some early financial issues, I posted a column titled "ECW is Doomed" beyond my daily column responsibilities (meaning that I wrote 2 columns that day). LoP shot that down... Ironically, several other sources close to ECW would give fellow LoP news reporter Marc Middleton (he's still here too!) a tip about ECW actually closing later that year. Myself and Marc were onto the right story as hindsight showed that the TNN television deal kept the lights on for another year before the promotion ultimately died in 2001.

Like I said, my apologies for pulling the column... I just didn't feel right about the column. As an older guy with kids myself, I think about things like "will their kids eventually read this stuff". The Russo column just didn't feel right to keep posted and seeing his early responses to my column on Twitter, I just didn't feel like getting into an online fight over the matter. To quote Danny Glover, "I'm getting too old for this shit". For those who did read the column before it was removed, I hope that you enjoyed it...

To make up for my column removal, I have revived the Top 25 Best Free Agent Signings in Pro Wrestling column as a replacement column. Through April, I had completed 15 of 25 and completed 3 additional ones when I tried to revive this column in June. I finished the last 7 just moments ago... Enjoy and I'll be back on schedule next week discussing current WWE topics.

What counts as a free agent signing you ask? They MUST move from one legitimate wrestling promotion to another. Moving between WWE, NWA/WCW, ECW, World Class, AWA, or TNA counts as free agent signings in my book. Guys like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar weren't previously employed by a pro wrestling promotion when they joined WWE, thus I won't count them. Think of it like the NFL... Angle/Lesnar would be like Rookies whereas Angle signing with TNA was definitely a free agent signing because he left WWE behind (moving from team to team) and potentially harmed them with his void. I'm excluding Ring of Honor from the column only because they are still just under the radar as a big promotion. No national television contract will be the decider...

On to the countdown...

MR. TITO'S TOP 25 BEST FREE AGENT SIGNINGS IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Hulk Hogan to WWE during 2002 was a solid signing as many Hulkamania fans were happy to have the guy back. Scott Hall ("Diamond Stud") and Kevin Nash ("Oz" and "Vinnie Vegas") both bolted from WCW to become big stars in the WWE. Mr. Perfect made big exits from AWA, WWE, WCW, and later WWE again, but his career since AWA was always hampered by injury or circumstance. Curt Hennig was very talented but luck never went his way. There are many wrestlers and personalities raided from AWA by WWE that could also be included here and WWE had many "flash in the pan" WCW signings during the early 1990's that didn't last long (Sid, Steiners, Road Warriors, etc.). Paul Wight (Big Show) was a solid free agent signing during 1999 for the WWE and they've received 15 years ot of him. But provided his size and hype coming in, he's been slightly underwhelming and Vince LOVES hosses. Considering the many chances Big Show had to succeed as a main eventer, including recently, he doesn't have too much to show for it unfortunately. TNA have brought in many former WWE/WCW/ECW guys but many were past their prime. With time, the Dudleys proved to be good signings with TNA but as singles wrestlers with Bubba having a good heel run as a main eventer.

#25 - CHRISTIAN, WWE to TNA, 2005 After Christian turned on his longtime tag team partner Edge, Christian tried a singles career... He was rising as a heel singles star but when opportunity knocked during 2005 to feud with John Cena, Cena bolted to RAW and Christian was just another brick in the wall for Smackdown. When his contract came up, he tested the market and TNA immediately signed him. Now called "Christian Cage", he had a solid career there and was a 2 time TNA champion. TNA got 3 solid years out of Christian and he had some great matches there. His TNA success speaks for itself... WWE wanted him back and signed him through early 2009 where he remains to this day.

#24 - Ron Simmons, WCW/ECW to WWE, 1996 DAMN! Granted, Simmons did briefly work in ECW in between, but Simmons was thought to be a bust after his 1992 WCW World Title reign. Problem was that WCW didn't build Simmons up to be a great champion... He floundered in WCW through 1994 and eventually made his way to WWE as "Faarooq Asad" where he wore gladiator clothing and looked absolutely stupid. In a much needed gimmick change, Simmons adopted a gimmick much like the NFL's Jim Brown after football as an activist and formed the "Nation of Domination" stable. Overall, it was a successful heel stable and gave the vehicle for the Rock to eventually become a star. But Faarooq's career in WWE was not done yet... After the Nation, Simmons teamed up with Bradshaw to form the Acolytes and eventually the Acolyte Protection Agency (APA). Easily, one of the toughest tag teams in history... Simmons was able to continue working for the WWE by appearing backstage and saying "DAMN!". WWE seriously pulled over a decade's worth of work out of the guy that was worthwhile.

#23 - Raven/Perry Saturn, ECW to WCW, 1997 I'm including Raven and Saturn together because they practically left together and worked together closely. ECW was hit with talent raids by WCW through 1996 but another wave was about to hit them and pick off Raven, Perry Saturn, and Stevie Richards. Reportedly, there was an inside "mole" within ECW that was communicating with ECW wrestlers about WCW opportunities. Raven's star was growing rapidly, even in the smaller ECW... Magazines covered him regularly. Meanwhile, Perry Saturn was growing unsatisfied with being just a tag team wrestler. He used time off from a leg injury to assess his situation and took an offer with WCW. Raven and Saturn gave WCW unique wrestlers for the midcard during 1997 and Raven's flock was a very successful stable until Bill Goldberg mowed through them in 1998.

#22 - Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, WWE to NWA/WCW 1989 Many know Steamboat from defeating "Macho Man" Randy Savage at Wrestlemania 3 for the Intercontinental Title. But he didn't rise up the ranks in the WWE after this huge win. In fact, Steamboat reportedly asked for time off to spend time with his family. With the WWE running strong and capitalizing on momentum from Wrestlemania 3, Vince punished Steamboat for his request and soon made him lose his Intercontinental Title and kept him in midcard hell until his contact expired through 1988. He would resurface in NWA/WCW during early 1989 as "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert's tag team partner against Barry Windham and Ric Flair. This tag match set up the classic Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat feud over the WCW Title which remains the best trilogy of matches ever seen and assisted with NWA/WCW presenting one of the best in-ring products ever during 1989.

#21 - The Radicalz, WCW to WWE, 2000 During late 1999, WCW was in chaos. They had just hired former WWE lead writer Vince Russo to take over booking during late October but WCW executives wanted results FAST. After all, WCW was losing money from all of the excessive spending that occurred during 1995-1998 to challenge and beat the WWE. They were getting nervous and expected instant results by adding Vince Russo. When Russo didn't have the likes of Steve Austin, the Rock, or Mick Foley to book along with Vince McMahon supervising, he was suddenly exposed when booking the WCW roster which had really thinned out during the course of 1999 without much developmental replenishment. The nails in Russo's first WCW run were hammered when both Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett were unable to wrestle at WCW Souled Out 2000 and WCW executives disagreed with Russo's back-up plan (making Tank Abbott WCW Champion).

Russo left WCW briefly after AOL/Time Warner officials wanted to demote him from Lead Writer to just being a member of a Creative committee and then put regular WCW Creative Staff member, Kevin Sullivan, as the creative lead. This upset a group of midcarders, particularly those close with Chris Benoit. Benoit, after all, stole Kevin Sullivan's wife, Nancy Sullivan. During a wrestling angle where Benoit and Sullivan were feuding during 1995-1996, Sullivan booked a storyline where Chris Benoit would act like he was dating Nancy (then called "Woman") to infuriate Sullivan. However, what really happened is that Chris Benoit and Nancy Sullivan got close and a divorce was soon to follow. Nancy and Chris would get married and sadly, about 10 years later would meet a very unfortunate ending to their lives when Benoit snapped.

During 2000, Benoit had fears of getting screwed by Kevin Sullivan as revenge for the stealing Kevin's wife. Ditto for Benoit's friends. Chris Benoit and many other WCW wrestlers went to AOL/Time Warner executives overseeing WCW and protested the creative lead move. Probably as a surprise to them, WCW actually offered the disgruntled wrestlers their FULL releases. Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero were all released by WCW and would immediately join the WWE as "the Radicalz". Reportedly, the dirt sheets at the time suggested Konnan, Billy Kidman, and Shane Douglas were set to join them but either had cold feet or may have earned themselves new WCW deals. The Radicalz thickened up the WWE's midcard for one of the best in-ring years with 2000 and Chris Benoit/Eddie Guerrero would be World Champions by 2004. Meanwhile, WCW's talent roster was thinner and they didn't have a good developmental system to replenish. Helped to doom them further for 2000-2001.

#20 - "Macho Man" Randy Savage, 1994 As Randy Savage got older, Vince McMahon wanted to take care of one of the key superstars that helped build the WWE. Hence why Randy Savage was put in the announcer's booth and kept out of the ring. 1993-1994, after a very active and successful 1992 year for Savage, saw Savage's in-ring work drop significantly. After his match with Crush at Wrestlemania 10, Savage couldn't get out of that announcer booth. Still wanting to wrestle, Savage began hearing offers from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) who had just signed Hulk Hogan and many other former WWE stars during 1994. Vince wanted to keep Savage in the announcer's booth instead. Thus, when Savage's contract expired as 1994 wound down, he signed with WCW and Vince professionally wished Savage the best on an edition of RAW for departing (NO, SAVAGE DIDN'T LEAVE FOR OTHER REASONS, IWC!!!).

Overall, Savage had a successful WCW career. He had a great WCW Title feud with Ric Flair but his best work of all may be his feud with Diamond Dallas Page. Turning heel and joining Hulk Hogan and the NWO, Savage's role was to cut down any upper midcarders challenging the NWO while Hogan was taking on the main eventers. DDP caught fire quick with his Diamond Cutter finisher getting over and with his great personality. Savage went after him and drew lots of heat by even involving DDP's real life wife at the time, Kimberly Page. Macho even held Kim's Playboy spread and mocked DDP in a promo! The heat for this feud was huge during 1997. Macho's work with DDP legitimized DDP as a legitimate WCW superstar and Page would ride that wave for the next few years. Sadly, the WWE and Savage could never come to terms as the issue was always money and not some other goofy reason that the internet keeps pushing.

#19 - Kurt Angle, WWE to TNA, 2006 This one SHOULD be higher. The bigger "impact" was during 2006 when Kurt Angle burned the WWE and jumped ship to TNA. However, TNA's booking staff and management, as usual, fumbled the ball. However, that's not to say that Kurt Angle hasn't been productive at TNA wrestling. He's been a solid competitor there even with a few health and personal problems that have occurred. Over 7 years now, he's still with the company.

This was supposed to be the "splash move" of TNA wrestling. From his WWE years, Kurt Angle was having serious health issues with his neck injury throughout 2006. He wanted time off but it appeared that the WWE thought otherwise. Obviously, to wrestle through the pain, things were probably taken and Angle is quoted that if he didn't leave WWE, he might be dead. WWE and Angle, given health concerns, mutually agreed to dissolve the WWE contract through August 2006. 1 month later, TNA announces the signing of Kurt Angle. It was a HOT topic on the internet at the time and many were trumpeting TNA as legitimate competition to the WWE. Wrong... In my opinion, it started off badly by TNA electing to use Samoa Joe as the sacrificial lamb. Joe had an 18 month undefeated streak heading into TNA Genesis and Angle ended it. He was never the same after that... From there, Angle was just another TNA wrestler and by 2006, he was actually in his late 30's. He had good matches, but the age began to show especially due to his mounting injuries. Who (besides Barry Bonds) gets better with age in athletics?

#18 - Rob Van Dam, ECW to WWE, 2001 The sad part about this free agent is how he threw his WWE Title reign away during 2006 when he and Sabu were pulled over by police for speeding but found drugs in the vehicle as well. Duuuuuude! But from the WCW/ECW Invasion angle of mid-2001 through July 2006, Rob Van Dam just kept growing and growing with popularity and it baffled WWE management. This guy was an ECW wrestler who wore airbrushed tights (Ryback has the same guy making his tights, too) and retains the shaved sides with a pony tail that was a fad for a few months during maybe 1994. But wrestling fans love the guy... They love his care free personality and his moves are fun to watch.

Rob Van Dam just seemed like a random talent who could do impressive acrobatic kicks. Little did ECW know what they had when they gave RVD the mic. Through 1996 and you'll see it later in this FINAL COUNTDOWN, but WCW was raiding ECW of its talent heavily. Rob Van Dam used that legitimate event to help promote himself as a heel and it worked BIGTIME. He began calling himself "Mr. Monday Night" and boasted that both WWE/WCW were bidding for his talents and that he could leave ECW at any second! This infuriated the loyal ECW fanbase and got him over instantly as a heel. As it usually happens, the very over heel earns the love and respect from the fanbase and turns babyface. And that awesome ECW Television Title reign, too. ECW died in early 2001 and RVD made his way to WWE. They tried to keep him in the midcard but fans loved the guy.

If there was ever a show to watch on WWE Network, it's ECW's One Night Stand 2006. It is a true way on how wrestlers SHOULD cash-in the Money in the Bank briefcase. At least a week in advance, maybe 2-3 (can't remember), Rob Van Dam announced his cash-in on RAW and was able to pick a date. The beauty of that cash-in is that RVD gave himself "home court advantage" by wrestling in front of a rabid ECW audience who verbally thrashed John Cena. It's easily one of the most unique matches in wrestling. RVD would win the WWE Title at that event, was declared the ECW Champion by Paul Heyman for the rebooted ECW brand, and was then pulled over with Sabu. What a shame, as RVD could have taken himself to new heights not just as WWE champion, but possibly boosting the ECW brand significantly from the start. Instead, his failure to stay out of trouble allowed Vince McMahon to lose confidence in the ECW brand under RVD/Paul Heyman and began to morph it into another WWE light brand.

#17 - The Rockers, AWA to WWE, 1988 WWE actually acquired the Rockers during 1987 but fired the tag team of Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty due to excessive partying. Rockers then returned to the American Wrestling Association (AWA) only to be picked up by the WWE again through 1988. This time, their behavior was a bit better. The Rockers were a solid midcard sensation tag team but were never WWE Champions (had a title decision reversed against the Hart Foundation). Through late 1991, it was very evident that the younger Shawn Michaels had serious upside as a singles performer. Thus, on a December 1991 airing of the Barber Shop interview segment with Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, Michaels turned heel by tossing Marty Janetty through the barbershop window. Amazing stuff to see for 1991.

From 1992 through 1996, Michaels climbed the WWE ladder until he was crowned WWE champion. It's a beautiful thing to watch as you can see Michaels morph into an incredible bump machine and a worker who could make about anybody look great in the ring. By 1996, it was his time to become WWE Champion by beating Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12. Though he did not draw well as WWE Champion then, it was his 1997-1998 work with Degeneration X as a heel that helped the WWE rebound as a promotion. Sadly, a back injury sustained at Royal Rumble 1998 ended that run but Michaels would make an inspiring comeback through SummerSlam 2002. From there, we were blessed with an incredible second run by Michaels that gave us piles of 5 star matches to enjoy, especially at Wrestlemania. The Wrestlemania 21 match against Kurt Angle and the Wrestlemania 25 match against the Undertaker are considered some of the best matches of all time. WWE got major bang for their buck by bringing in the Rockers tag team from AWA. AWA seemed to have all of the all-time greats under contract at one point... See later in this countdown!

#16 - Rey Mysterio Jr., WCW to WWE, 2002 If you were to ask me who was the most successful post-WCW closure acquisition by the WWE, I would have a hard time debating against Rey Mysterio. And yes, that's even compared to Hulk Hogan whom the WWE made nice money from the comeback. Mysterio must have signed a nice extension with WCW during the end of his career because he didn't appear during the 2001 invasions. Mysterio first appeared for the Smackdown brand during the initial brand extensions. WWE hyped his arrival for weeks and wisely put the mask back on Mysterio. As you watch some of the later WCW Pay Per Views, Mysterio is actually working unmasked! Sometimes with horns glued to his head (seriously).

WWE, however, wanted the mask back on and knew it would be a merchandise sensation. And they were right... But not without properly booking Mysterio, first. In addition to putting on the mask, WWE gave him cool music and an entrance where Mysterio jumps out of the stage entrance. Then, they wisely tagged him up with Edge to do incredible tag matches with Kurt Angle/Chris Benoit and the Guerreros. He was over quickly... WWE has enjoyed over 10 years of the guy and has sold a nice amount of Mysterio masks in the process. It's fair to call him the 2nd best babyface draw for the last 12 years behind only John Cena.

#15 - The Great ECW Talent Raid of 1995-1996 by WCW WCW had a good working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling through late 1995. Wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Dean Malenko were working between Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Thus, WCW was get exposure to their talents and the transition to WCW was smooth because of the good working relationship with New Japan. Eddie Guerrero became a midcard fan favorite, Chris Benoit joined the Four Horsemen (one of my favorite incarnations with Pillman, Flair, and Anderson), while Dean Malenko would put the Cruiserweight Division on his back as the "man of 1,000 moves or holds". Three extremely talented wrestlers that instantly solidified WCW's midcard for years to come.

Better yet, WCW kept their eyes on ECW... During early 1996, they acquired Konnan. He would go on to have a decent career with WCW, but it was his connections to fellow Mexican wrestlers (also working in ECW) that mattered. Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, and many other wrestlers would soon follow. Once other International wrestlers saw that WCW was legitimately using them on their midcard, the influx of talent to WCW became overwhelming. Arguably, WCW had the most talented midcard of all time from 1996-1998 thanks to this talent raid of performers who were working with ECW through 1995. WCW would also give wrestlers like Sabu and Public Enemy tryouts, with Public Enemy doing quite well as a tag team (not so much with Sabu). To ECW's credit, they lost all of this talent and kept going. It could be easily argued that the 1997 WCW talent raids hurt ECW much more (Raven, Perry Saturn, Stevie Richards).

#14 - Sean Waltman (X-Pac), WCW to WWE, 1998 Sean Waltman joining WCW during 1996 was quite the free agent signing, too. He followed Hall and Nash into WWE and gave the New World Order a legitimate Cruiserweight wrestler with the name of "Syxx". However, with time and growing backstage tensions between the Clique camp (Hall, Nash, Waltman) and the Hogan camp, it seemed that Waltman became an easy target for Eric Bischoff. After all, Bischoff was paying a higher rate to Hall and Nash. By early 1998, Waltman became available after WCW terminated via FedEx letter (could have been late 1997).

Enraged, Waltman found himself rejoining the WWE. Timing is everything and the WWE held off his debut until the RAW following Wrestlemania 14. With Shawn Michaels sidelined with injury, Waltman joined Degeneration X as "X-Pac" and cut a scathing promo against Eric Bischoff. He was shooting that Hall and Nash would join WWE if they could and ripped Eric Bischoff as an executive. He finished off the promo with "put that in your pipe and smoke it". X-Pac was a great member of DX and would go on to have a decent career again with the WWE through 2002.

#13 - The Ultimate Warrior, World Class to WWE, 1987 Through 1987, World Class began to realize that they had a decent talent in Jim Helwig, the Dingo Warrior. He looked like a built rockstar and he had facepaint that was the rage with younger wrestling fans during the 1980's. Just as World Class was beginning to push the Dingo Warrior, the WWE lured him away. However, Vince McMahon did not like the Dingo Warrior name. WWE renamed him to the Ultimate Warrior and then WWE composer, Jim Johnston, gave him awesome entrance music. When that music hit, you know that all hell was about to break loose! Warrior quickly got over based on the way he was marketed and only exploded with growth after his SummerSlam 1988 victory over Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Title. Less than 2 years later at Wrestlemania 6, Warrior was WWE Champion. The Ultimate Warrior gave the WWE another bigtime draw in addition to Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.

#12 - Mick Foley, WCW/ECW to WWE, 1996 At the very least, ECW was unable to keep Mick Foley because of their resources and WWE's desire to sign him because of a need for talent in 1996. Between 1994-1996, Foley had a great run with ECW and had some very dangerous matches there which are still legendary to this day. ECW obtained him because WCW just let him go... Foley was stuck with the Cactus Jack gimmick, which I can easily agree is not marketable. While Foley could always cut a great promo, it was his look that just didn't let him grow as a WCW wrestler. Through 1994, WCW had other ideas on who would be pushed (Hogan and his boys) and Foley was let go.

WWE, in need of talent during 1996 with Diesel/Razor Ramon gone, brought in Mick Foley. However, Vince McMahon wanted to repackage him. They gave him a Hannibal Lecter gimmick and called him "Mankind". The promos leading up to Mankind's debut were disturbing as was his mandible claw sleeper move. But it was effective... Foley looked legitimately scary and he could back it up in the ring. Foley was able to be an effective Pay Per View opponent for the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels during 1996 and actually pushed both wrestlers into some of their best matches at the time. Go check out the WWE Mind Games Pay Per View during 1996 to see the awesome Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind match. Foley's character would only get better. We'd see Dude Love, a returning Cactus Jack for hardcore matches, and the revamped Corporate Mankind that would become a repeat WWE Champion.

#11 - Dudley Boyz, ECW to WWE, 1999 Bubba Ray Dudley and Devon Dudley pretty much accomplished everything possible in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). They were the best tag team, by far, and nobody could beat them. Furthermore, ECW was about to be televised on The National Network (TNN) and reportedly, TNN officials were worried about the Dudley's language on promos. Whether that played a role in free agency or not didn't matter because the WWE took them with open arms. To the WWE's surprise, the Dudleys were very talented in the ring and helped push the Hardy Boyz and Edge/Christian to their limits in great matches. In my opinion, the incredible success in the WWE helped solidify the Dudleys as the greatest tag team of all time.

#10 - Triple H, WCW to WWE, 1995 Triple H had some potential in WCW as Terra Ryzing and then Jean Paul Levesque. He wasn't exactly winning titles quickly, like many of his developmental wrestlers now, but had a decent snob gimmick and a good pairing with Lord Steven Regal (or William Regal now). But Triple H wanted more and loathed being a tag team wrestler. Thus, he took an offer from the WWE.

Little did the WWE know during 1995 that they'd be hiring their eventual replacement for Vince McMahon. Triple H remained in the WWE midcard for the next 4 years and it was great for him. He not only became polished as an in-ring wrestler and character, but by late 1999, he was hungry to be the top guy. Thanks to a GREAT storyline with the marriage to Stephanie McMahon, Triple H had storyline momentum that only needed a great in-ring presence as World Champion to breakout. Royal Rumble 2000 match with Mick Foley happened and the rest was history. From January 2000 through May 2001, it's hard to find another wrestler who had a better in-ring run during that same timeframe. HHH tore his quad muscle and he was never the same. However, as luck would have it, he began dating Stephanie McMahon in real life and then married her. Now, he's an Executive Vice President in the WWE Corporation.

#9 - "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, WCW to WWE, 1991 If there was ever a legitimate case of age discrimination in pro wrestling, it was clearly with NWA/WCW and Ric Flair. As Ric Flair approached 40, Turner officials now in charge of NWA/WCW seemed to have a desire for a younger main eventer on top. Repeatedly, WCW officials tried to push Lex Luger as that top guy when Flair and many other wrestlers backstage cringed at the prospect. Furthermore, Turner officials wanted to change Ric Flair's look and gimmick to freshen him up a bit. Things came to a head through Great American Bash 1991 when Flair was actually terminated from WCW. With WCW still operating under NWA rules, Ric Flair actually had a large cash deposit on the NWA Title at the time. Flair said that if WCW wanted the belt back, they would have to pay that sum back (either $20,000 or $40,000, can't remember). WCW officials refused and were fine with Ric Flair taking the belt with him. Idiotic... Vince McMahon was glad to sign Flair especially with that WCW/NWA Title still in his possession. Flair debuted with the WWE with the WCW/NWA Title and it was incredibly embarrassing to WCW. To WWE's credit, they actually did something with Ric Flair. He won the 1992 Royal Rumble with the WWE Title on the line and was able co-headline Wrestlemania 8 with Randy Savage. Flair would eventually win his 2nd title reign later during 1992. WWE legitimized Ric Flair with their respect showed towards him although we never got a Hogan vs. Flair WWE match during 1991-1992 aside from a houseshow or 2. That should have headlined Wrestlemania 8.

#8 - "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, WWE to WCW, 1994 This one could be higher on the list but Hogan needed major life support in the form of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash joining WCW. Additionally, the awesome creative idea of the New World Order. But Hogan wasn't the first choice to be the 3rd mystery man. Bret Hart's WWE contract was expiring after Wrestlemania 12 and WCW inquired Hart to join WCW. However, Bret Hart wanted time off and thus took the whole summer off during 1996. The next option was turning Sting heel to become the third man. For whatever reason, that idea didn't pan out. Then, it was Hulk Hogan and he turned heel by revealing himself as the 3rd Outsider at WCW Bash at the Beach 1996.

Hogan was brought in during 1994 but things didn't exactly blossom with the Red and Yellow for Hogan. Southern WCW fans weren't fond of WWE products but Hogan was worse because he immediately dominated everybody in the promotion. Southern fans loved Ric Flair and Hogan pretty much steamrolled over him. Then, WCW redid the Megapowers tag team with Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. For over a year, WCW fans had to endure Hogan and Macho overcoming everything that the promotion had to offer. It came to an absolute head at the horrible WCW Uncensored 1996 Pay Per View. For those who have the WWE Network, go check out the "Doomsday Cage Match" main event from that show. The NWO and heel turned saved not only Hogan's career, but Eric Bischoff's as well.

#7 - "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, AWA to NWA/WCW, 1974 Little did American Wrestling Association know that they had the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair on their roster during the 1970's. He wasn't that in the beginning as AWA trained Ric Flair intially and he didn't quite have the look he'd eventually obtain working in the NWA. He didn't quite look like the "Nature Boy" in the AWA which would later have the bleached hair and the beautiful robes. AWA still let a prospect go and in hindsight, Flair became one of the top wrestling superstars of all time. Just think where AWA would be if they kept developing Flair during the 1970's and could hand the torch off to him during the 1980's from their longtime veterans. NWA/WCW had a solid 17 years with Ric Flair and then WCW got him back during 1993 for 8 more years. This countdown would have Flair's NWA move higher but Flair's move in 1974 wasn't a big ripple in the industry until years later. As this countdown will also show, Flair wasn't the only top star that AWA couldn't retain.

#6 - Chris Jericho, WCW to WWE, 1999 BREAK THE WALLS DOWN!!! Chris Jericho joined WCW during 1996 and became an instant midcard sensation. He had charisma and was a great talker, on top of being a very energetic wrestler. He was getting over quickly with the fans and appeared to be a threat to many older veterans at the top of WCW. Jericho seemed to put heat himself when he started mocking Bill Goldberg during 1998 on-air and the glass ceiling was firmly put in place on top of him. He had no chance of succeeding beyond the WCW Television Title. When Jericho's contract expired during 1999, he left...

You've seen his debut... Arguably, the best debut of all time. Chris Jericho interrupted a Rock promo and cut a great promo to firmly introduce himself to WWE fans. Wrestling fans knew that he was getting screwed by booking in WCW and were very welcome of his WWE debut. Perfect entrance, perfect theme music, and perfect moment... Jericho quickly caught on to the WWE scene and was an asset that the WWE could rely on for 15 years. He was the first Undisputed WWE Champion and became a very important role player for the WWE for years to come. Though he was never pushed as the absolute top guy, he was always there if the WWE needed him. His work with John Cena during 2005 was very important to Cena's early career as a main eventer. Jericho's success in the WWE has opened so many doors in other entertainment realms. But he always returns to the WWE...

#5 - Lex Luger, WWE to WCW, 1995 In the WWE, Luger was limited by his gimmicks. During his prior years in WCW during the late 1980's and early 1990's, they kept Luger simple. He looked like a million bucks with his muscles and WCW sold his Human Torture Rack submission hold strong. It worked... With WWE, they first tried to use him with the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF), then the Narcissist, and then the All American gimmick. They didn't let the look and the Human Torture Rack finisher do the talking. The worst was the All American gimmick because the WWE tried to push him to be the next Hulk Hogan, which Luger was not. By Wrestlemania 10, it was obvious... WWE couldn't draw with the guy.

During mid-1995, Eric Bischoff came up with a new Monday Night show called WCW Monday Nitro to air opposite of Monday Night RAW. WWE officials thought nothing of Nitro, particularly since the event was held in a mall, until one of their recent employees showed up... On the night after his last official WWE commitment under contract, Luger appeared at the end of the first WCW Nitro to challenge Hulk Hogan for the WCW Title. Holy cow... The first SHOTS FIRED in the Monday Night Wars. It immediately established WCW as serious competition and put WCW Nitro on the map as a must-watch show for "anything that can happen". Returning to WCW presented a rebirth in Luger's career. Just 2 years later, he actually beat Hogan to win the WCW Title. The momentum Luger had in 1997 was incredible and fans went bonkers when he made Hogan submit to the Torture Rack. Once again, WCW just kept Luger simple whereas the WWE just had to give him stupid gimmicks.

#4 - The Undertaker - WCW to WWE, 1990 Debuting in 1989 as "Mean Mark Callous", the Undertaker and he was brought in to sub for Sid Vicious's spot for the Skyscrapers tag team with Danny Spivey. As you watched the Mean Mark Callous work, he actually walked the ropes as he later would as the Undertaker and showed great mobility as a big man. He briefly tried singles action later and was even managed by Paul Heyman (Paul E Dangerously at the time). If it's on WWE Network, you can see Mean Mark Callous wrestling Lex Luger for the US Title at Great American Bash 1990. WCW didn't think much of Callous after that and just didn't renew his contract.

As luck would have it, Callous would get a small role in Hulk Hogan's film, Suburban Commando. That connection was important and later during 1990, WWE signed Callous to a deal and renamed him "Kane the Undertaker". The "Kane" part was quickly dropped and recycled for when Glenn Jacobs became the Undertaker's brother about 7 years later. The gimmick caught on quickly, as the Undertaker looked legitimately scary and would put his defeated opponents in bodybags. 1 year later, the Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWE Title at Survivor Series 1991.

As you know now, the Undertaker remains with the WWE and has become a major part of the Wrestlemania tradition with his undefeated streak at that event. Seriously, the WWE has enjoyed over 23 years of great matches, money drawn, and helping to make Wrestlemania an even bigger event when other WWE Pay Per Views aren't drawing as well. Why did WCW let him walk in 1990? What did they not see?

#3 - Steve Austin - WCW/ECW to WWE, 1995 Through early 1994, things were looking up for Steve Austin in WCW. He was one his way to being a strong United States Champion and reportedly being groomed to become a main eventer. "Stunning" Steve Austin, however, would see his WCW career fall apart when Eric Bischoff signed Hulk Hogan during the Summer of 1994. Hogan signed a big contract and not only that, he had full creative control over his character. The bigger issue was that Eric Bischoff listened to everything Hulk Hogan said... So when Hogan recommended to Bischoff to not only sign all of Hogan's older WWE buddies but to push them too, any WCW veteran in the way was screwed.

Austin went from a strong United States champion and being groomed for the main event to jobbing to Hacksaw Jim Duggan. He was done! Through early 1995, Austin was recovering from an injury and Eric Bischoff fired Austin over the telephone. This lit a fire under Austin and he would soon join Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) where he'd cut the promos that helped shape his future Stone Cold character. He did parodies of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff which remain classics to this day. Austin, to this day, wears the scars of his WCW firing and while he could do business with Bischoff during 2003, he is unable to even be around Hulk Hogan.

Austin would first join the WWE as the "Ringmaster", an apprentice of Ted Dibiase and he was actually the new Million Dollar Champion. As that didn't catch on, Austin reformed his character by shaving off his blonde hair, growing the goatee, and pushing a redneck like gimmick. "Stone Cold" was born. He was quickly climbing the ladder when he made his famous "Austin 3:16" speech at King of the Ring 1996. He grew like fire after that. Thanks to a great program with Bret Hart, Austin was firmly established as the guy to carry the WWE back to the #1 promotion. Quite funny how the guy that WCW thought couldn't become a draw like Hogan would join the WWE to become the next Hulk Hogan.

#2 - (TIE) Scott Hall & Kevin Nash, 1996 Very difficult to split these two apart... This signing was a crushing blow to the WWE but also a major talent acquisition for WCW. Conveniently for both Scott Hall, then wrestling as Razor Ramon, and Kevin Nash, then wrestling as Diesel, their WWE contracts came up roughly at the same time. WCW couldn't directly negotiate with Hall and Nash but Scott Hall had a friend in Diamond Dallas Page to speak directly to Eric Bischoff. DDP and Bischoff were neighbors and it made negotiations, while still under WWE contract, quite easy. Bischoff offered the pair guaranteed contracts with a significant pay increase from what they were receiving in WWE. Both reportedly came to Vince with their WCW offers and Vince could not match. Both were off to WCW...

But it's the way that WCW creatively booked Scott Hall and Kevin Nash that made them bigtime free agent signings. Both wrestlers came in nameless and were hinting at retaliating against WCW for their many shots at WWE programming. Hall and Nash acted like they were still under WWE contract and the WWE lawyers immediately filed suit. If you watch Great American Bash 1996, you'll see that Hall and Nash have to admit on camera that they no longer work for WWE. WWE sued for character infringement and actually won the lawsuit years later that gave WWE the right to match any offer to buy WCW. To prove that the WWE owned the Diesel and Razor characters, they had other wrestlers portray the characters. The one wrestler who portrayed Diesel would go on to become Kane in the WWE... How about that? Go watch WWE Pay Per Views during late 1996 and early 1997 and Kane is there as Big Daddy Cool!

WCW didn't care about being sued... They cared about winning and acquiring Hall & Nash to be outside invaders was the perfect storyline. WCW never looked back in the ratings for almost the next 2 years from the time Hall first appeared and when WCW revealed Hulk Hogan was the third outsider, they made history. The New World Order was formed and millions upon millions were made instantly. Without Hall and Nash both jumping at the same time and how they were creatively booked, who knows how the Monday Night Wars would have gone. The NWO grew the pro wrestling fanbase significantly and later pushed the WWE product to evolve to further expand the fanbase.

#1 - Hulk Hogan - AWA to WWE, 1983 The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was a company based out of Minnesota and pretty much ruled the Midwest states as the premiere wrestling promotion. Through the early 1980's, they were loaded with talent. Verne Gagne, the man in charge, had a good eye for talent and helped break many great wrestlers in. He also took advantage of many talents that Vince McMahon Sr. did not like or discarded. One such wrestler was Hulk Hogan. Vince Sr. was upset that Hogan took time off to film his "Thunderlips" scene for the Sylvester Stallone movie, Rocky 3. In fact, Vince Sr. fired him from the WWE...

Rocky 3 would go on to gross $270 Million and make both Hulk Hogan and Mr. T household names globally. Lucky for AWA, they acquired Hulk Hogan in 1981 before Rocky 3 would hit theaters in 1982. The movie's success make Hulk Hogan instantly popular in AWA and they had no choice to push Hogan as a babyface wrestler. Prior to this run, most promotions tried pushing Hogan as a heel. Hogan's quick rise ruined AWA's plans, however. Gagne wanted to keep his loyal friend, Nick Bockwinkel, on top as AWA Champion... But the fans grew restless... Gagne had multiple "Dusty finishes" in which it appeared Hogan won the AWA Title but the decision was later reversed (almost causing fan riots in the process). Backstage, too, Gagne and Hogan were having money issues. It almost seemed that AWA was blind at how big of a star Hogan was becoming.

In December 1983, Hulk Hogan signed an offer sheet from the new WWE owner, Vince McMahon Jr. who bought the company from his dad in 1982. About a month later in January 1984, Hulk Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik to become WWE Champion. The rest is history... Business would only explode with growth after this. Furthermore, WWE was wise to keep cashing in on the Rocky 3 fame. They brought in Mr. T to help headline Wrestlemania 1 and Mr. T would also appear at Wrestlemania 2 for a boxing match with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Hulk Hogan would go on to wrestle Andre "the Giant" through Wrestlemania 3, arguably the biggest single wrestling event of all time, and then the money seriously flowed in and WWE became the top promotion by a mile.

Could you imagine if AWA threw money at Hulk Hogan and then decided to go national with Hogan on top of their promotion as the WWE later did? The whole wrestling landscape changed forever when Hogan jumped ship. Later, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) would continue to ride Hogan's momentum. The signing of Hulk Hogan in 1994 and then turning him heel creatively in 1996 made WCW the #1 promotion in the world. Hogan has done it twice!

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