WWE Hall of Shame: The 25 Fakest Tough Guys in the Company's History

In WWE history, there are two kinds of tough guys. There are the true ones and the fake ones.

The true tough guys usually became legendary or at least very successful. In that category, we have The Undertaker, Andre The Giant, Brock Lesnar and Steve Austin for example. 

In the other category of tough guys, there are those who are fake or, in other words, those who are billed as unbeatable, with usually super size and super strength. And you guessed right: they are the chosen 25 who are featured on the following list. 

Keep in mind that the list is only for the way the wrestlers were used in their runs with WWE exclusively. Some of them had great careers in other promotions, but they were misused and wasted by the WWE creative. 

So, with no more introduction, let's see who are the unlucky ones who made the cut.

25. The Great Khali

He's so high on the list because he's the only World Heavyweight Champion who made the cut. However, he is the worst wrestler to have ever won a world title in WWE history.

The 7'3", 400-pound-plus, over-sized monster is atrocious to watch in the ring since he can barely move.

From his initial push to the World Heavyweight Championship to his de-push, he was always been presented as an unstoppable force, but it was only true some years ago. He quickly became a jobber to the top superstars and he is far from being unbeatable. 

24. Vader

I hate to put Vader on this list, but the WWE misused him so much that he was not even the shadow of his former self when he was with WCW.

When we talk about Vader, we talk about a multiple-time World Heavyweight Champion and the 1993 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestler of the Year. We also talk about a 450-pound behemoth who can perform a moonsault and other moves from the top turnbuckle.

Unfortunately, despite the hype surrounding his iconic explosive character and his legacy built on a unique path of destruction, they found nothing better for him than a main event jobber status.

It's a shame how they used him because he was actually the opposite of a fake tough guy outside the WWE, but they managed to ruin his run with them.   

23. Mark Henry

Things might change at Night Of Champions, but for now, he belongs on this list without a doubt. After nearly 15 years with the WWE, the 400-pound behemoth, who is rightfully billed as the World's Strongest Man, never reached the top of the mountain.

Henry destroyed a lot of people on his path of destruction, but it never led him to a world title, despite his superhuman strength and his impressive size. 

22. King Kong Bundy

The King Kong Bundy we saw in the '90s was miles away from the beast who headlined WrestleMania II in a cage match against Hulk Hogan.

When he came back with the company, it was only to become a monster jobber as a part of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. His most famous loss was probably against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XI.

His first run was one of a main-event jobber, but still he had some success. It was even worse when he came back. He was an over 450-pound squashing machine, and he was always presented that way by the announcers. However, despite him being an iconic behemoth, he never reached actual success and he left the WWE without any championships to add on his resume. 

21. Kama and Papa Shango

Once upon a time, Kama, The Supreme Fighting Machine, was built to become The Undertaker's ultimate nemesis.

He was a prominent member of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation and he was involved in a storyline in which he stole The Phenom's urn and melted it to form a huge necklace. Without the mythic object in Paul Bearer's hands, the WWE almost made the fans believe it could be the end of The Deadman, but it ended into another one-way feud.

Kama was a bit better than Papa Shango, Charles Wright's previous character, but still it was very bad, especially when he joined the Nation Of Domination, with a new look to job even more. The man behind all those gimmicks would be higher on the list if he didn't eventually become The Godfather.  

20. Vladimir Kozlov

For several months, when he debuted, The Moscow Mauler ran with an undefeated streak against jobbers and some mid-card division wrestlers. He even pinned The Undertaker before losing his first match against Shawn Michaels the following week.

After his first official loss, he never made it out of the mid-card division and he became a jobber to the main-event status wrestlers. He eventually teamed up with Santino Marella and embraced some success, but it was not enough to avoid being released this year.

19. Snitsky

The announcers always presented him as a dangerous psychotic man, but as soon as his music ended, he became nothing more than a huge jobber.

Except the times he attacked and destroyed wrestlers outside the ring to give more credibility to his character, Snitsky never managed to have actual success in the ring. He mostly crushed jobbers and he never touched any gold in WWE despite his impressive physique. 

18. Bam Bam Bigelow

The Beast From The East lost a WrestleMania high-profile match against a football player. Only that should be enough to understand why he is on the current list.

At 6'3" and nearly 400 pounds, he was one of the rare big men to perform moves from the top turnbuckles, and he was very agile for his size. He crushed each and every jobber on his path and, during his first run in the late '80s, he was almost on top.

However, when he came back in the '90s, he was relegated to an enhancement talent role, and he suffered his most humiliating loss against Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI. 

17. One Man Gang

Just his name should inflict fear into everyone's mind, but the man who was meant to be as strong as a gang was nothing more than a high-profile jobber.

He squashed all the low-card jobbers and some other in the mid-card division, but that was about it. At nearly seven-feet tall and over 450 pounds, he had all the attributes to back up his name, but it never happened.

Then it was even worse when he became Akeem, The African Dream.

16. Big Daddy V

He once received a push in the '90s when he portrayed Mabel and he became the worst King Of The Ring ever. Then, he was de-pushed to ultimately become a nearly seven-foot, 500-pound mountain of fat used to put over other talents.

Despite the fact that he was relegated to the bottom of the mid-card, he was always presented as a super powerhouse no one was meant to stop. And the rest is history: He became the largest jobber in WWE history. 

15. Skinner

The WWE crocodile hunter, who was used to spit his signature tobacco chew, was billed as a tough man, but it was only the commentators at the announce table saw him that way.

Skinner was only a mid-card jobber who had his biggest match at WrestleMania VIII against Owen Hart, who squashed him in less than two minutes.

Like many others on the current list, he had an undefeated streak when he debuted, but it only lasted until he faced serious competition. 

14. Hercules

As his name suggests, he was a powerhouse, but he never broke out of the mid-card division. If he was indeed a true strongman, it was not enough to be a great wrestler or to generate permanent actual heat.

He was always billed as a dangerous powerhouse, with his chains and his full nelson. If he got some low-profile matches on the big cards, he was mostly on the losing end and it didn't work better when he teamed up with Paul Roma to form Power & Glory.

His biggest match in singles competition was a loss against The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania IV and, in the tag team division, he and Paul Roma were squashed in less than one minute by Legion Of Doom at WrestleMania VII. 

13. Nailz

The psychotic ex-prisoner was huge and powerful, but it was not enough to move out of the mid-card division, despite the fact that he was presented as unstoppable after he squashed a bunch of jobbers.

However, when he started his program against The Big Boss Man, he proved to be nothing more than a high-profile jobber. He was meant to enter into a feud against The Undertaker, but he was released before it could happen and no one complained it never happened. 

12. Dino Bravo

The self-proclaimed Canada's strongest man had an interesting run in the tag team division in the late '70s, but when he came back with the company in the '80s, he was nothing more than a super strong jobber. However, all of his strength feats were illusions.

At the 1988 Royal Rumble, he even bench pressed 715 pounds, a world record at the time, without noticing he got some help from Jesse Ventura. He celebrated his success in front of a booing crowd. Then he claimed he was the world's strongest man and played that gimmick for several months.

In addition, to display his amazing strength and to generate even more heat, he performed push-ups in the middle of the ring with the 450-pound Earthquake on his back. 

11. Crush

It would make sense to think that the third member of Demolition should have had a successful career after the team disbanded, but he was nothing more than a replacement for Ax, who had health issues and was the weakest link of the team. 

He was tall (6'5") and big (315 pounds), but size is not everything in the business and he proved it. After his run with Demolition, his singles career never lifted. When he was not a face (Hawaiian boring surfer), he was a generic heel, simply billed as the mighty Crush or, even worse, as a member of the infamous Disciples Of Apocalypse stable. 

10. Chris Masters

The Masterpiece, who used the Masterlock, his own version of the swinging full nelson, was a muscular powerhouse with no charisma and with very limited in-ring abilities.

His arsenal was only composed of power moves, and he always roamed in the mid-card division despite the WWE often making a big deal of his Masterlock Challenge. And just a quick look (I guarantee you it will be quick) at his list of championships will confirm why he was a fake tough guy.  

9. Mike Knox

The 6'6", 295-pound monster heel had an interesting early push with a weird angle involving Kelly Kelly, but that was about it; and it didn't prevent him to lose a series of matches against CM Punk.

During his first run with the company, he was even sent back to developmental territories for several months with the hope he could improve and ignite the fans' interest.

His run in the "minor leagues" didn't help much and he was still a failure, despite his attempt to convince he could inflict infinite pain because of his knowledge of the human anatomy. After four years, the WWE realized there was nothing good to do with him and he was released in 2010. 

8. Ludvig Borga

In the summer of 1993, the brute from Finland was the one who officially ended Tatanka's two-year undefeated streak. He was launched in just a few weeks in the main-event picture in a feud against Lex Luger.

With his Anti-American gimmick and his impressive physique, he was the perfect opponent for the All-American Luger and, obviously, USA emerged victorious in that patriotic feud. The rivalry was probably not as intense as creative hoped, but it's maybe simply because there was no actual tension between Finland and the USA.

After his loss against Luger at Survivor Series, he was relegated to mid-card status and, following an injury, he left the company in January 1994 to become a vague souvenir in fans' minds. 

7. Giant Gonzales

In 1993, The Undertaker was unbeatable, but the WWE didn't want to put the world title on him to give Bret Hart and Yokozuna the top spot.

So, creative had the brilliant idea to hire Giant Gonzales, a nearly eight-foot, 460-pound monster, to cement The Deadman's unstoppable reputation in a one-way feud.

After many squash matches against jobbers and a series of losses against his only true opponent, Gonzales suddenly vanished with zero accomplishments, an odd thing for someone his size. 

6. Kurrgan

At nearly seven feet tall and over 340 pounds, Kurrgan, also known as The Interrogator, crushed many no-name jobbers. His biggest feud was against The Disciples Of Apocalypse, so it shows how lame his run really was.

He had all the makings of a monster heel, but all he could do was to be on the losing end in most of his matches in the mid-card division to put over some rising stars. 

5. The Berzerker

In the early '90s, he was meant to be a tough viking, but the only wrestlers he defeated were the low-card jobbers. And when the time came to face serious opposition such as The Undertaker or The British Bulldog, he was always on the losing end.

He was just another big and tall performer with a bad gimmick who spent less than two years with the company after they finally realized he was a complete failure. 

4. Bam Neely

The uncharismatic bodyguard working for Chavo Guerrero and The Familia was only a part of the furniture in WWE since he brought absolutely nothing to the table.

He was maybe a 6'7" and 275-pound big man, but he was one of the many others who proved that size is not everything to break through in the business.

Just to watch him walking to the ring was a borefest and it was even worse when he was in action. It took less than one year for the WWE to realize the failure he was and to have his name on the "future endeavoured" list. 

3. The Warlord

The Warlord and The Barbarian formed a tag team that mostly jobbed to the biggest tandems in the division after their awaited debut. The best they could do was to give some hard time to Demolition in a betrayal angle involving Mr. Fuji.

The team never came close to their expected success and they never achieved the goal of putting their hands on the Tag Team Championship. They eventually parted ways and The Warlord was put in singles competition.

He was shown as a dominating wrestler and he had a program with another powerhouse, The British Bulldog. The Warlord lost his match at WrestleMania VII and he faded away in the following year before being released in 1992. He was meant to be the ultimate powerhouse and Bulldog's nemesis, but a lack of charisma and actual talent relegated him to the bottom of the card. 

2. Mantaur

Was he a man? Was he a Minotaur? No one can tell and no one actually cared. With his attire, his size (over 400 pounds) and his Minotaur animalistic mannerisms, he was meant to be a mega heel. However, he went nowhere except out of the company after a few months, which is no wonder why when you look at his picture.

He had an undefeated streak against a bunch of no-name jobbers until he faced serious competition such as Razor Ramon and (hmmm!) Bob "Spark Plug" Holly. His biggest accomplishment was to have lasted nearly 10 minutes in the 1995 Royal Rumble match.

1. Zeus

Just like in the movie No Holds Barred, Zeus was built as an invincible mega heel who didn't sell his opponents' attacks, unless if it was against Hulk Hogan (of course). 

The storyline, involving the movie character brought to "real" life, was promising, but it quickly turned into a one-way feud in favour of The Hulkster. 

The angle lasted from April to November 1989 and, ironically, the beast who was meant to be unbeatable lost all his matches. He never squashed jobbers and he only took part in three matches, all of them in tag team action, always with Hogan as one of his opponents. 

Conclusion

As you could see, most of the wrestlers on the list were heels with a short stint in WWE. 

Some wrestlers, like Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow, don't really deserve to be on such a list but, with the way they were used by creative, they had to be mentioned. 

That being said, it's now time to start the discussion. Who doesn't belong on the list and who should make the cut? Do you agree with the order?