Saddled with one of the worst gimmicks in WWE history (which says a lot), Bob Holly was going nowhere as the happy race car driver, Thurman “Sparky” Plugg.  As the Attitude Era emerged, Holly was allowed to develop a more hardcore style thus becoming the aptly named Hardcore Holly.  Holly’s take no prisoners attitude seemed like a natural fit and he became a solid performer on the mid card for nearly a decade.

His appearance on WWE television may have been a brief and forgettable appearance as Mr. Perfect’s manager, Coach, but in Los Angeles, John Tolos was a brutally savage wrestler who was a title taking machine in the West Coast.  The Golden Greek was feared and the rough style he showed was often imitated by others.  Tolos captured numerous titles as both a single and as a team in his many years in the ring.  It is a shame that he is best known to most wrestling fans for his thirty days as one of the most colorless managers in wrestling history.

Many foreign heels in wrestling are not foreign at all.  Lawrence Simon was one such athlete, but as opposed to playing the role with a shaved head and little words, he developed a character named Boris Malenko with multiple levels that was more sinister than stereotypically foreign.

Finally wrestling a reduced schedule, unlike many of the stars of the 1990’s from New Japan had more than just an appearance or two in the United States.  The Japanese star wrestled frequently for WCW and was even the NWA World Heavyweight Champion while the legendary promotion was endorsed by WCW.