Probably a better spin on the "worst wrestler" threads which tend to devolve into shots at wrestlers the poster hates despite clear reasons for them being pushed constantly.

 

I'm discounting the more polarizing ones like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, etc as there are different circumstances outside of their in ring performances as to why they get tons of hate despite their successes on screen.

 

Off the top a few guys that I've always seen or heard "how was this guy over, he sucked!?"

 

Lex Luger

Starting to wonder if he was the WCW version of Randy Orton all those years. He was constantly being sold as being the most "gifted" athlete, let always seemed to be on the losing end of booking plans. Obviously not a great worker, or charismatic at all, but still seemed to be over, though probably due to osmosis depending on the storyline he was involved in.

 

Jeff Jarrett

Probably should put him in the same category as I did with Michaels, Hogan, Triple H (especially), and others (it is telling when people through Jarrett at Austin fans for hypocrisy at ripping political gamesmanship of others and their response is "well, it was Jarrett after all"). But DAMN, I think he probably takes the cake for the least over guy to get a mega push in a major national wide promotion.

 

Sid Viscous

Easily the least respected wrestler to headline multiple WrestleManias. To be fair, his connections with fans was probably due to him never really staying that long, whether it was due to softball season or injury, fans in the day probably didn't have enough time to get what smarks were saying about how bad he was. Either that, or as people who aren't as harsh on Sid say, maybe it was his sloppy in ring work and bizarre promos were a cheesy part of the charm. Liking Sid would probably be akin to having an affection for crappy B-movies.

 

Mark Mero

Probably can blame other wrestlers for Mero being a successful crappy wrestler. I mean, I think a lot of the Mero hate probably does stem from him being way too overpaid as opposed to more beloved wrestlers. Of course he wasn't a great worker, didn't have much in the way of mic skills, despite his best at trying to get his Johnny B Badd and then Wildman gimmicks over, he never did get the respect that other wrestlers whom overcame crap gimmicks did.

 

I'm not saying they don't deserve the hate necessarily, its just that it seems they get way too much hate, despite being presented as title holders or successful by the promotions they are in, and at times actually were over, and I guess that's what this thread is about in terms of most hated successful wrestlers.

I have no problem with Mero to be honest. I don't think most fans, to the extent that they think of Mero at all, do either. Other wrestlers hate him because he was a smart businessman and they have a frat boy mentality.

 

Same for Lex with the boys, an irony given Luger's behavior in college.

 

List of people NOT on the top list I can't stand would be Sid and the Steiner Brothers.

I mentioned Sid.

 

And now that I think of it, Big Poppa Pump, especially since becoming that Superstar Billy Graham homage character, does fall into the Sid category of someone that gets love based on the cheese factor.

I have no problem with Mero to be honest. I don't think most fans, to the extent that they think of Mero at all, do either. Other wrestlers hate him because he was a smart businessman and they have a frat boy mentality.

 

A lot of the "hate" granted does come from after the fact stuff like re-watch podcasts done by smarky hosts who've read/heard things and just wonder out loud why Mero was ever over because he was "so bad."

Luger always seemed like a natural heel and was charismatic as one, especially back in 1989. He would lose his charisma every time they switched him to a face and was bland and awkward in that role.

I am skeptical of any "locker room leader" type because I always wonder who is policing the police. So my least favorite successful wrestlers would be guys like Andre the Giant, Undertaker and JBL.

Mero was disliked more for his ability, or lack of ability. When he went to WWF he had been trained to be Johnny B. Badd, he was protected and pushed. His matches were planned out in spots. Which drew heat for a lot of guys, others who favored working that way like Randy Savage could get away with it because he was a top guy and drew/made money for the boys.

 

When Mero went to WWF he got the stigma put on him quickly that he couldn't work, because he could not call it in the ring. And he estentially was trained to be "Johnny B Badd" and not trained as a wrestler first. He lacked the basic fundamentals that stand out quickly to the boys that have been trained.

 

Plus he got heat in WWF because he came in with guaranteed money while many of the other boys worked on the old system.

I always defend Luger as one of my all time favorites. I never thought he lacked charisma as a babyface and thought he was great in the role in both his biggest WCW pushes as such, 88 vs Flair and 97 vs the nWo. IMO Lex had a superstar vibe from the entrance on, especially in the late 80s. Also a big Sid fan. Never thought much about Mero, but enjoyed the "Wildman" character as an exciting addition to the WWE at the time.

 

I have no problem with Mero to be honest. I don't think most fans, to the extent that they think of Mero at all, do either. Other wrestlers hate him because he was a smart businessman and they have a frat boy mentality.

 

A lot of the "hate" granted does come from after the fact stuff like re-watch podcasts done by smarky hosts who've read/heard things and just wonder out loud why Mero was ever over because he was "so bad."

 

While I'd love to think that wrestlers listen to fan podcasts, umm...no.

Mero/Freddie Mercury was terrible fucking promo, a fourth rate black face Little Richard impersonator and fired a glitter gun. Nobody has a good word to say about him

just a cunt of a man really

would be guys like Andre the Giant

youre dead to me good sir

Would Muta be considered too polarizing? Kind of an interesting case because peoples negative opinions of him are based more on his choice to use his abilities, rather than his lack of ability.

 

 

 

 

I have no problem with Mero to be honest. I don't think most fans, to the extent that they think of Mero at all, do either. Other wrestlers hate him because he was a smart businessman and they have a frat boy mentality.

A lot of the "hate" granted does come from after the fact stuff like re-watch podcasts done by smarky hosts who've read/heard things and just wonder out loud why Mero was ever over because he was "so bad."

While I'd love to think that wrestlers listen to fan podcasts, umm...no.

I meant hate and lack of respect of Mero I find from fans.

 

would be guys like Andre the Giant

youre dead to me good sir

 

 

Hey, I love Andre as a worker, but the road stories about Andre present him as an alcoholic sociopath and a bully to whom the rules didn't apply.

 

 

would be guys like Andre the Giant

youre dead to me good sir

 

 

Hey, I love Andre as a worker, but the road stories about Andre present him as an alcoholic sociopath and a bully to whom the rules didn't apply.

 

 

 

Does anyone actually like Randy Orton? Does anyone miss him when he's away?

 

I don't even mind HHH as a worker, per se. But he might be my least favourite promo in the history of wrestling especially since coming back to rewatch WWE he opens every RAW by killing the crowd heat with a 10-15 minute ramble. But there's really never been a period that I've watched the company where he could talk.

He hit his stride as a top heel star in an era where scripted promos were just getting started, which suggests to me that he's one of the bigger proponents of doing them.

Andre was a sociopath, but to quote Hannibal Lecter I think he was made that way.

Great great pick on JBL. Loss hit a huge home run there. Undertaker got insufferable the moment WCW caved to the moment he became a part timer with his behind the scenes stuff.

A bit of a different spin for myself...Larry Zybysko as AWA Champion. I hated he was the Champ because of how it looked compared to the NWA/WCW Champion and the WWF Champion at the same time. I mean, there was just no comparison, and it spoke volumes to me about how far things had fallen for my favourite promotion, that I hated seeing him out with the belt week after week, knowing there was nobodyaround to beat him that could be thought of on the level Hogan, Warrior and Flair were.

 

Larry's success was a constant reminder of the failure of the AWA, and I hated that he held the title because of that.

 

Larry as the mid/upper card heel without a title was a different story entirely. Him with that belt though....fuck I hated that.

I thought Marc Mero was very good as Johnny B. Badd. He never quite found his footing in the WWF as Wildman/Marvelous Marc Mero, but I still liked him. "The boys" can all go fuck right off for "resenting" that he was a smart businessman who got guaranteed money for himself.

 

I disliked Luger for the longest time. He was always overpushed. In retrospect though, he's kind of underrated. I still don't think he ever quite fit the push he had, but he was still a valuable member of any roster he was on.

 

Sid was fun in short spurts, and Jeff Jarrett was fine as an upper midcard heel - anything more than that was too much.

 

Randy Orton is my top pick for a list like this. Wrestlers rave about how good he is, and he is smooth between the ropes, but I find him to be a colossal bore.

sid's one of the weirdest guys to me in the way he could keep organically getting over yet never sustain that when given a true main-event push

Does Mike Rotundo count as successful? I don't know if I've ever watched a good Mike Rotundo match. He worked a style that even at his best, couldn't ever ascend to a point that could be considered better than average. He isn't someone I would say was a bad worker, but he damn sure didn't ever do anything that I would describe as interesting.

Inoki

To keep with the original tone of the thread, Sheamus. I love Sheamus, but holy shit do so many people genuinely hate him for no good reason at all. He worked out with Triple H that one time! Never mind that "Triple H is down on the Johnny Ace-era guys like Barrett/Sheamus/Ziggler" is a sheet line that comes out every few months.

Was Andre considered a locker room leader or just a dude everyone was in awe of?