Time for yet another WrestleMania list, and while we covered the biggies, this one is again going to be fun, as it’s our list of “one Hit Wonders” at WrestleMania. Some maybe wrestlers, others may be matches or gimmicks that simply didn’t last. Whatever the case, I think you’ll find this list a lot of fun as we run through the “Top 10 One-Hit Wonders of WrestleMania.”
1. Having WrestleMania II Held in 3 Different Venues – This is an idea that I am sure if you ask Vince McMahon about today he wishes he would have ignored. Having the biggest event of the year in three different cities on the same night (only time Mania was held on a Monday as well), was not only tough, it was weird with three different announcing crews, as well as just the whole feel of the show seemed off. It also left a lot of fans feeling the same way, as the event was overall not attended as well as other Mania’s.
2. SD Jones – Ah yes, Special Delivery Jones, as he was known, lasted a whopping 9 seconds (really was 23 seconds, but we’ll go with the WWE’s version) against King Kong Bundy in the first WrestleMania. Poor SD basically wasn’t heard from again till he inducted Tony Atlas into the WWE Hall of Fame some 21 years later in Rosemont.
3. WrestleMania IV’s 14-Man Championship Tourney – The entire WrestleMania IV event really cricled around the 14-man tournment that was on the show to determine a new WWF Champion. The focus was on Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, who kicked off the second round with a bye, and after they were both DQ’ed, the event lost a lot of luster, as everyone knew it would come down to Ted Dibiase and Randy Savage. Overall, too long of an event and the tourney itself was pretty lackluster.
4. George Wells – Another one hit wonder, Wells took on Jake “The Snake” Roberts early in WM II from Uniondale NY. Wells, who really never was much more than a jobber in the WWF, lasted 3:15 before the dreaded DDT and a visit from Jake’s snake – Dameon.
5. Men on a Mission – The large team of Mabel and Mo made their only WM outing at Mania X in NYC, taking on The Quebecers for the tag belts, and while they actually won via countout, there were yet another team in the mix that never really deserved their due on such a big show.
6. Giant Gonzalez – Ugh, this large “wrestler” seemed to be nothing more than a past version of The Great Khali, as he lumbered around in a match vs The Undertaker in WM IX in Las Vegas. Gonzalez also had one of the worst outfits in Mania history, a body suit that had airbrushed muscles and hair attached to it. Thankfully, we only had to see him at one Mania before he was gone.
7. Bart Gunn – Good old Bart Gunn had one of the more memorable one-hit moments in Mania history, as he was hit hard – once – by pro boxer Butterbean, and knocked out cold during a real boxing match at Mania 15 in Philly. The “Brawl for All” was as real as it could get, and he lasted all of :35 seconds before falling to one of Butterbeans powerful punches that sent him into la-la land.
8. Skinner – Otherwise known as Steve Keirn, Skinner was a outback type character that was known more for his chew than his in-ring skills. He took on Owen Hart, as the Blue Blazer, in WrestleMania VIII, and lasted a whopping 1:11 after spitting tobacco at Hart, then finding himself getting rolled up for a quick pin moments later. Let’s just say another character that never got over.
9. The ECW Originals (Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, The Sandman and Rob Van Dam) – Yes, hard to believe less than a year later, all but one of these men are gone from the WWE. Even harder to believe it’s actually Dreamer, who was the least pushed out of the bunch. You knew the writing was pretty much on the wall for these four, and while Dreamer is still around, for the most part, their involvement in Mania 23 was nothing more than a throw away in a match vs the equally as bad New Breed.
10. Sgt. Slaughter – The poor Sarge gets the last notch on our list, as he was by far the worst in a main event role, being the stepping stone for another Hulk Hogan title regin during his match with him at WM VII in Los Angeles. The storyline of him embracing Iraq during the Gulf War never got over in the least, and by the time he and Hogan went at it, Sarge was so far out of his prime it wasn’t even funny.
Labels: blue blazer, ecw, george wells, sgt.slaughter, skinner
