Although Mark Lewin never really had much to do with the WWE, he had a twenty five year plus career that saw him acquire many belts over many territories. Lewin’s start in wrestling actually dates back to the late 50’s and with his good looks he was a natural for the baby face role. Like so many wrestlers, Lewin wanted to be a heel and he developed a “Maniac” character that drew him money. He would also book in New Zealand and was a mentor to many younger wrestlers. Had Lewin’s modern televised era gone beyond his “Purple Haze” character he may be more on the radar despite his lack of direct WWE exposure.
Say what you want about Sable’s limited wrestling ability, but she is one of the select few who at her peak was more over than 95 percent of the male roster. She was the female face of the Attitude Era, and had the Women’s Championship belt reinstated essentially for her. Rena Mero will never be confused for any great (or even good) female wrestler, but they never put asses in arenas like she did. And make no mistake; a lot of people in that era DID go to see her.
There is a long list of wrestling “cowboys” who used their Texas brand of brutality to scare opponents in the ring. Bobby Duncum Sr. was one of those men, but he seemed to be overshadowed by others who had similar gimmicks. Duncum competed all over the NWA and had a run in the WWE going after Bruno Sammartino and later Bob Backlund for their respective World Heavyweight Titles. Duncum was good at what he did, but he was one of a few who looked and wrestled the same. Sadly, this makes what was a very good wrestler easy to forget.
We actually liked Papa Shango when he debuted and as corny as the gimmick was, we know we are not the only ones who had a soft spot for the voodoo man. Charles Wright would later be repackaged multiple times before he struck gold as the “Godfather”, a lovable pimp. This character allowed Wright to use charisma that was muted in other personas and was a great fit for the attitude era. If only he was given a chance to be more of himself earlier his career.