Most Forgotten Main Eventers Of The 1990s, Ranked

Monday Night Raw made its debut in January 1993, and it’s been WWE’s flagship show ever since. Throughout the years, Raw has experienced various changes, which include length and the booking style of every show.

During the 1990s, WWE’s biggest stars weren’t always in the main event of every episode of Raw. Multiple wrestlers had the opportunity to wrestle in Raw’s main event, but some of them have been forgotten by fans, as their careers didn’t exactly turn out as planned.

10 Waylon Mercy Is Seen As The Bray Wyatt Of The 1990s

He Had A Short-Lived Run In 1995

In 1995, WWE experimented with a lot of new gimmicks, some which succeeded and some which failed. One of the new gimmicks introduced was that of Waylon Mercy, who portrayed a cult-like figure, similar to Bray Wyatt in future years. The gimmick had a lot of potential, but it was ahead of its time and Mercy’s injury problems certainly didn’t help things.

Waylon Mercy wrestled against the likes of Diesel and Bret Hart, but he was never featured in a definitive angle, as he was still in the process of developing his character and trying to make it connect with fans. He wrestled in numerous squash matches, most notably against a young Jeff Hardy to end an episode of Raw in July 1995.

9 Bertha Faye Was One Of The Main Faces In WWE’s Women’s Division During The Mid 1990s

She Had A Lengthy Feud With Alundra Blayze In 1995

Before the Women’s Revolution in the 2010s, WWE featured various versions of women’s wrestling throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. After the women’s title was deactivated in 1990, it made a resurgence in 1993 due to the rise of women’s wrestling in Japan. Alundra Blayze became the new champion and WWE promoted her as the face of their women’s division.

Alundra Blayze had notable rivalries with Bull Nakano and Bertha Faye in 1994 and 1995 respectively. In 1995, Alundra Blayze was nearing the end of her WWE career, and it looked like Bertha Faye was going to end her dominance in the women’s division. Their feud began on the Raw after WrestleMania 11, and they would wrestle on the house show circuit throughout the year. At SummerSlam 1995, Bertha Faye captured the women’s title for the first time, but on an episode of Raw in October, Blayze won the title for a third time. The title was later vacated after Blayze’s shocking appearance in WCW, where she threw the WWE Women’s title in the trash.

8 Salvatore Sincere Was One Of WWE’s Main Jobber Gimmicks In 1996

He Later Became Tom Brandi

While some fans may view Salvatore Sincere as another forgotten wrestler from the New Generation Era, he was still able to achieve a lot of things in his time in WWE, as he wrestled in matches against some of the company’s biggest names. Sincere was The Rock’s first ever opponent on Raw and also wrestled The Undertaker in the main event of an episode of Raw in September 1996.

It was a glorified squash at 9 minutes long, as The Undertaker was mostly dominant. Sincere would continue to put the company’s stars over, but in 1997, he had a gimmick change and became Tom Brandi. He had a short feud with Marc Mero before officially leaving WWE in April 1998.

7 Barry Windham Returned To WWE In 1996 As The Stalker

He Had A Lackluster Run Before Leaving For WCW In 1998

Barry Windham made his WWE debut in 1984 as one half of the US Express alongside Mike Rotunda. The tag team would experience decent championship success during their time with the company, as they won the tag team titles twice and even wrestled in the first WrestleMania. Windham left the company in 1985 and spent the next decade of his career in WCW, where he would find moderate success.

Windham came back to WWE as The Stalker in 1996. The gimmick didn’t adhere to Windham’s qualities, and he would be presented in the undercard throughout this run. He did get to main event an episode of Raw against Hunter Hearst Helmsley, with Windham getting a win over the future 14-time world champion.

6 Bastion Booger Was One Of The Goofiest Gimmicks Of That Decade

He Originally Debuted As Friar Ferguson But The Gimmick Was Quickly Scrapped

Bastion Booger is one of the New Generation Era’s most memorable gimmicks, but for all the wrong reasons. After his initial gimmick, Friar Ferguson, had to be scrapped due to outside complaints, WWE repackaged him as Bastion Booger, and the gimmick had failure written all over it since day one.

Booger was used as an undercard comedy talent, but he did have a significant rivalry with Bam Bam Bigelow. Both men feuded over the interests of Luna Vachon, and their rivalry culminated in the main event of the January 10th 1994 edition of Raw, as Bigelow scored a 2 minute win over Bastion Booger. A few months later, Bastion Booger would be written off television and would leave the company altogether.

5 The Godwinns Won The Tag Team Championship Twice

The Team Turned Heel In 1997

During the mid 1990s, WWE didn’t feature a strong tag team division, as they had a significant lack of tag teams that could connect with audiences. One of the most prominent tag teams during that time were The Godwinns, who portrayed hog farmers from Arkansas.

They won the tag team titles twice during their run, with their second stint with the titles being extremely short-lived. They won the titles at In Your House: Badd Blood and dropped it 2 days later to the Legion Of Doom in the main event of an episode of Raw.

4 Skinner Was A Lower Card Gimmick In The Early 1990s

His Biggest Match Was Against Bret Hart At This Tuesday In Texas 1991

After working across various territories in North America, Steve Keirn made his way to WWE in 1991. He made his debut in the company as Skinner, an aligator hunter who would constantly chew tobacco and spit it out on opponents.

Skinner wrestled in notable matches against Randy Savage on an episode of Prime Time Wrestling and Owen Hart at WrestleMania 8. He was featured in the undercard throughout his run, and one of his last matches in the company was against The Undertaker. Raw was running out of time during this match so the show ended abruptly, with Undertaker pinning Skinner after the show had gone off the air.

3 Steve Blackman Was A Notorious Midcarder During The Attitude Era

He Had A Unique In-Ring Style

During the late 1990s, Steve Blackman was one of the most legitimate figures in wrestling, as his martial arts background gave him the opportunity to stand out within a world full of larger than life characters.

He had a solid run in the Attitude Era, as he was consistently booked in the midcard and had significant feuds against the likes of Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart. He was a household name in the Hardcore title division, as he won the belt 6 times. In the summer of 1999, he was involved in a feud with Ken Shamrock. He main evented an episode of Raw against Val Venis, which ended in a no contest due to Shamrock’s interference.

2 Howard Finkel Had A Few Matches In The 1990s

He Had A Long Feud With Harvey Wippleman

Howard Finkel is arguably the greatest ring announcer in wrestling history. As the voice behind many of wrestling’s most iconic moments, “The Fink” has garnered a huge legacy in the business. Even though he was a great ring announcer, WWE often insisted on having Finkel get in the ring and compete against other personalities or even the fiercest wrestlers in the company.

In the mid 1990s, Howard Finkel was involved in a feud with Harvey Wippleman, who managed some of WWE’s midcard heels. They wrestled each other on 3 different house shows in 1994, and their rivalry finally culminated in a tuxedo match. Both men main evented Raw’s second anniversary show, with Finkel getting the win over Wippleman.

1 Jose Lothario Was Prominently Featured On WWE Television In 1996

He Was Shawn Michaels’ Trainer

During Shawn Michaels’ babyface run in 1996, WWE booked him alongside Jose Lothario, his real life wrestling trainer. It was a weird fit, as Jose didn’t match Shawn’s mannerisms, and it was made worse by the fact that Shawn treated Jose like he was worthless, according to a few sources at the time.

In the summer of 1996, the 62 year old Jose Lothario made a return to in-ring action during Shawn Michaels’ feud with Vader. He stepped in the ring with Jim Cornette, who was Vader’s manager at the time, at In Your House: Mind Games. The match only lasted a minute due to both men’s limitations, but WWE decided to book them in another match together, this time in a tag team match alongside their associates. Vader and Cornette defeated Shawn and Jose, in a match where Shawn and Vader did most of the heavy lifting.