Wrestlers who felt out of place in certain eras

[The Blue Nova]

What are some wrestlers who felt out of place in certain eras or years of wrestling.
RVD in 2014 WWE. I found it very lackluster and I am a massive RVD Fan he just seemed very out of place and seemed more of a product of days gone by.

Ahmad Johnson 1998 WWF. I know Ahmad is sort of a punchline but there is no denying he was massively over in 1995 1996 pre injury. by 1998 he just seemed super out of place I couldn't really imagine him adapting like a al snow godfather or rikishi who were also new generation guys. who had memorable mid card runs. which is crazy since Ahmad was pushed way more in 1996


Dlo Brown in 2008 WWE I always liked Dlo but his 2008 run is very forgettable.

Bob Backlund 1992 to early 1994 run. I am talking pre heel Bob Backlund his initial return in 1992 to 1993 he just seemed very out of place compared to guys like Bret Hart and Undertaker. He just came across as a bland babyface from a by gone era and 8 years off tv is like 80 years for wrestling fans.

Tommy Rich NWA 1989. Tommy was a great wrestler and pretty over in the late 70s especially 78 to 81 but by the time he got to NWA he was past his peak of drawing power. and with veterans like Flair and Steamboat who still had plenty of drawing power. and younger talent like Sting Sid Muta Luger Pillman and Steiners. Tommy didn't seem like a big deal

Rock and Roll Express WWF 1998. Love Ricky and Robert but them being in the attitude era enough said.

Qubecers WWF 1998. They returned to the WWF during the early part of the attitude era in early winter to spring 1998. It was just very random and they were more of a throwback to the cartoony era.

[nakedmideon]

Not so much a wrestler but i always felt the first Undertaker Kane fued was out of place for the Attitude Era.I thought it was a great fued,with great storytelling but the whole shooting fire and morgue stuff would have fit in to the 80s/early 90s much better

[Deleted]

Goldberg in the current era.

A one and done feud with Brock maybe. But even so, this guy in his mid 50s has no business beating young talent like Wyatt, Owens and others.

[The Legendary Ring Troll {BLM}]

People like Tatanka, Dugan and Mr Perfect coming back post-2000 felt really weird.

[Instant Classic]

Stone Cold wrestling in 2002.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Warrior in 1996. He was one of those guys who could only really work in one era. In the late 80's-early 90's it was the perfect storm. Put him in any other period and he wasn't going to fit.

[ISO Mid Thigh Pull]

Bald Val Venis in 2005 is real and can hurt you

[wildojinx]

Jeff Jarrett using the country music gimmick in the attitude era.

[tafkaga]

Rick Martel in WCW 1998
Scott Hall in the AWA
Marty Jannetty after 1994
Greg Valentine after 1992
Crush in NOD always felt weird

[government mule]

Hakushi didn't feel like a New Gen era guy

[fg]

Andre the Giant in 1991. Sure he wrestled at WM6, the year prior but less than a full year later, he looked like a relic.

[Cvslfc123]

Road Warrior Animal in 2006.

Big Show and Kane being a part of The Authority in 2015.

[Triangle Lancer]

One of my life's joys was seeing the Iron Sheik at a live WCW event January 11, 1990.
Did he belong there? Hell no. Was his match any good? He faced Norman the Lunatic, take a guess how good it was.

[James Fabiano]

Patriot in WWF 1997.
Bunkhouse Buck apparently appeared up into the nWo era.

[jason1980s]

Nov 20, 2022 10:56:06 GMT -5 fg said:

Andre the Giant in 1991. Sure he wrestled at WM6, the year prior but less than a full year later, he looked like a relic.

Same for Valentine in 91. He is a natural heel in matches. He's pretty grumpy in person, though not mean, but I think it translated well for him as a heel but not as a face. I personally am a huge Greg fan so I liked seeing him "good" and coming out to that awesome theme but his heart just wasn't in it. He'd slap a few hands down the aisle but it didn't seem intentional. He'd get his hand close enough and if the fan was lucky he would connect. Most of those guys who had been around for so long seemed out of place like Haku and Barbarian in 91. If Orndorff, Muraco or Orton were around it would have been just like Valentine. It helped having a UWF for them to go to as fans knew they were stars but they were a bit fresh coming into a new promotion.

[ISO Mid Thigh Pull]

Nov 20, 2022 9:34:25 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Jeff Jarrett using the country music gimmick in the attitude era.

Honestly the weird spaceman outfit afterwards was somehow SO much worse. Was he still doing that when he had that outfit?

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Nov 20, 2022 11:48:26 GMT -5 Triangle Lancer said:

One of my life's joys was seeing the Iron Sheik at a live WCW event January 11, 1990.
Did he belong there? Hell no. Was his match any good? He faced Norman the Lunatic, take a guess how good it was.

Dutch Mantell has a great Iron Sheik story from that era. Dutch was riding with Sid Vicious, and Sid invited Sheik along for the entertainment value. Sheik was basically jobbing to Sting every night, and would gripe about it from the backseat.

“I cahnt believe….Sheiky Baby, former WWF chompion…haffing to job to Stink!”

Then came a show in Knoxville, TN, and Sheik was paired with Doug Furnas instead. Sheik was excited because he thought he’d be going over until it was explained that Doug had been a football star at the University of Tennessee and it was homecoming weekend.

Sheik was to do a promo before the match, and Dutch was assigned to help him with it. Sheik could not say, “Furnas.” It kept coming out, “f***nas.” Dutch basically spent all the time they had to work on the promo getting Sheik to properly pronounce Doug’s name one time.

The time comes, Sheik goes to the ring, grabs the mic and immediately says, “Doug f***nas!”

That night in the car, it was, “I cahnt believe…Sheiky Baby, former WWF chompion….haffing to job to Doug f***nas!”

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Nov 20, 2022 12:15:57 GMT -5 ISO Mid Thigh Pull said:

Nov 20, 2022 9:34:25 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Jeff Jarrett using the country music gimmick in the attitude era.

Honestly the weird spaceman outfit afterwards was somehow SO much worse. Was he still doing that when he had that outfit?

The Spaceman stuff came before after he returned from WCW. He wasn't doing the country music stuff than. He was doing this "work shoot" on the WWF with the NWA angle than went nowhere. Than by WM 14 He was the Country music gimmick again until Summerslam.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Nov 20, 2022 4:06:28 GMT -5 ISO Mid Thigh Pull said:

Bald Val Venis in 2005 is real and can hurt you

And doing the hello ladies pornstar gimmick still like bruh go back to Chief Morley

[Instant Classic]

John Cena felt out of place around 2017