- 10 hours ago
10 Wrestlers Who Vanished When WWF Became WWE
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00When the WWF became the WWE in 2002, it was more than just a name change.
00:06Not sure we thought this at the time, but looking back, it did indeed serve as the catalyst
00:10for a bunch of wrestlers to just disappear.
00:13Given some of these were never explained, if we are keeping it kayfabe,
00:16it means they are literally missing persons.
00:19So let us find out what really did happen to them, because I am Siren from WhatCulture.
00:23Please hit that subscribe button for more glorious content.
00:25And this is 10 wrestlers who vanished when the WWF became WWE.
00:31Number 10, Sean Stasiak, or Meat.
00:33And as he has come up, I will tell you my story quick.
00:36Because when me and a friend went to WCW over here in the UK and were basically both kids,
00:41we decided to shout Meat at Sean as loud as we could.
00:44He saw, looked sad, walked off.
00:47I still regret it.
00:48It is kind of nuts that this gimmick and that of Planet Stasiak were all WWE had for him,
00:53because look at the guy.
00:54He is 6'4", jacked.
00:55His dad was a star.
00:57He looked like Vince McMahon made him in a lab.
00:59This already did come to a head when he returned to the company after World Championship Wrestling
01:03had been bought out, because not only did Stasiak let slip secret plans when it came
01:07to the invasion angle, but once done, he lost 15 matches in a row on Sunday Night Heat.
01:13It didn't look good.
01:14I think Sean knew that Tuzer asked for his release, but on TV, poof, he just wasn't there anymore.
01:19It seems like he was just done, because he only wrestled four independent shows before
01:23becoming a very successful chiropractor.
01:25Stasiak is still doing the rounds as well, as I saw him at WrestleCon during WrestleMania
01:2938 weekend, so good for him.
01:32He got out, and he is happy.
01:34Number 9, Debra.
01:35Debra had two significant runs, both in WCW and the WWF.
01:40A combined six years meant she was a mainstay on TV, and while she didn't wrestle that much,
01:44she would pop up all the time, most famously, alongside Jeff Jarrett, before teaming up with
01:49then-husband Stone Cold Steve Austin.
01:51Zoom forward to 2002, though, and things did indeed get weird.
01:54After bunting heads with Stephanie McMahon before the Royal Rumble where a brawl broke
01:58out, which seemed like a big angle, by June, she was shown the door.
02:03At the time, people were baffled, but once again it was never addressed on the show.
02:06We were soon going to find out why.
02:08Shortly after, it was revealed that Debra's marriage with Austin was falling apart, including
02:12a charge over domestic abuse.
02:14For the record, Steve pleaded no contest to these charges and was given a year's probation
02:18as well as a fine, but it's all out there from both sides.
02:22You can hear the stories.
02:23This was around the same time the rattlesnake was also gone from the company, and whereas
02:27he returned in 2003, Debra would never be seen again.
02:31The pair officially divorced that year too, and ever since, I don't even know, as long
02:35as she's doing okay.
02:36Number 8, Steve Blackman.
02:38The greatest thing to happen recently was a photo courtesy of the Hardys where they were
02:41posing with Steve Blackman.
02:43We haven't seen him in years, and yet there he was, looking great, and like he could still
02:47kick your ass.
02:48Let's make it very clear, I love that guy.
02:51Don't even know why.
02:52He was also one tough SOB, and you don't need to read any autobiography from his peers
02:56to hear the stories.
02:57Hardcore Holly once told a tale about how he was ready to kill Bradshaw after he deliberately
03:02wound him up, which makes the fact Al Snow convinced him to wear a piece of cheese
03:06on his head even more mad.
03:08What powers does that guy have?
03:10I always felt like Blackman could be one of those dudes that floated around for ages,
03:13but sadly it was the other way around.
03:16WWE had teamed Steve up with Grandmaster Sexy, because why not, and when he got released,
03:21the martial artist was sent down to HWA, which at the time was considered developmental,
03:25you tell me.
03:27This is why when his contract expired in October 2002, he decided he was done, and I think we've
03:32seen him once since then during the 15th anniversary of Raw.
03:35He also never really made that many indie appearances, and literally decided that was
03:39that, and went and beat up a tree or something.
03:42I don't know.
03:43He definitely could.
03:44Number 7, Perry Saturn.
03:45What a year 2002 was for Perry Saturn.
03:48When it began, he had just finished his Moppy storyline, and if you don't know, Google it
03:52right now.
03:53So WWE decided to try and turn him into a serious warrior again.
03:57Given that he had just been in love with a cleaning utensil, I don't really know what
04:01they thought was going to happen.
04:02Just before the big initial change, Saturn was drafted to SmackDown during the first
04:06roster split, and it was bad instantly because he was the last person to be named.
04:11It then got worse when he injured his ACL, and four months later, when it was time to
04:15let guys go, Perry was told he was on the list.
04:18That is a mad turnaround, given a year prior, the Radicals had been the coolest thing ever.
04:23Following this, it didn't really click either, because after a small stint in TNA, a few
04:26New Japan dates, and some indie bookings, Saturn was just gone, barely even with a word.
04:31Very sadly, as we soon learned, Saturn had some very serious personal issues with drugs
04:35and ended up being homeless.
04:37The good news is, today, he has overcome all that and is back on his feet, but it goes
04:40to show.
04:41Take every day as it comes, you really never know.
04:44Number 6, Terry Runnels.
04:46If you watch the attitude era, you know almost every single Raw featured Terry Runnels, literally
04:51nearly every one of them.
04:52She was a backstage interviewer, a wrestler, a manager, a sometimes girlfriend, turned up
04:56as Melina every now and then.
04:57And she was a fixture of WWF TV as we headed towards the millennium, and then we had the
05:02name change, got to the end of 2002, and nobody knew where she was.
05:06Now, Terry must have had some goodwill built up, because despite barely ever getting into
05:10a story, she wasn't released until March 2004.
05:13It really did feel, though, like after the influx of new women, after WCW was done, she
05:17got bumped down the card.
05:18And when other projects, such as the WWF XS show dwindled, there wasn't much else for
05:22her to do.
05:23It got even more strange as 15 months after not doing a whole lot, she teamed with Lita
05:27to lose to Molly, Holly, and Gail Kim, and then fell off the wrestling map.
05:32Terry was on Raw 25 in 2018 and a talking head on Dark Side of the Ring, but otherwise, she
05:37had clearly had her fill.
05:38Number 5, The Godfather.
05:39So Charles Wright hasn't gone anywhere.
05:41We see him all the time, usually talking about The Undertaker, but in terms of that 2002
05:46period, it was a proper 180.
05:48We all know the deal with The Godfather character too, but look, it was crazy over and got reactions
05:52every single night, which is why when the newly found WWE decided to fire him in December,
05:58some people went, huh.
05:59It was such a rollercoaster too, as he had spent six months as the Goodfather alongside
06:02Wright to censor, which he has since admitted he hated, before he got to the Royal Rumble
06:06and boom, the pimp was back.
06:08What a sentence that is.
06:10It can't have been the ultimate plan, however, as while he did get a little run, as soon
06:13as the World Wrestling Federation was gone one month later, so was he.
06:17Wright basically retired after this, although did do some matches here and there, but look,
06:21he's married, he's got kids, he's in the Hall of Fame, he has a successful business,
06:24so it ain't all bad.
06:25Kinda did feel like he'd get a bigger send-off than this, though.
06:28Number 4, Ron Waterman.
06:30Forget Brock Lesnar.
06:31In the early 2000s, everybody was saying that Ron Waterman was the next big thing.
06:36He was thrown around in the same breath as The Beast, given they were tagging together,
06:40and was in the same developmental class that housed John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton.
06:44It really did feel like Waterman was gonna be the guy, especially as he was a high school
06:48wrestling coach who had done MMA.
06:50This is the stuff that WWE loves.
06:52So you may now be saying, well, I've never heard of the guy, and that's because it all
06:56went weird.
06:57After being called up in 2002 and working some Raw and SmackDown Dark matches, he was fired
07:02before he even got on TV.
07:04Yep.
07:05Happening in July 2002, just as we were getting the F out, I don't think anybody knows why.
07:10I suppose they just figured he didn't have it, or they were too busy looking at Brock.
07:14Ron soon returned to mixed martial arts and was in New Japan for a bit in 2005, although
07:19mostly he started to fight fires.
07:21So fair play to that guy, out there saving lives and helping cats in trees.
07:26Number 3, The Big Boss Man.
07:28The Big Boss Man was and is one of the most underrated wrestlers ever.
07:32I don't think we realize how smoothly he moved around the ring given how big he was.
07:35The worst part is that in 2004, at just 41 years old, he passed away from a heart attack.
07:41It was horrible.
07:42His final days in the WWE were odd too.
07:45The Boss Man returned towards the end of 2001 after an injury, got in the Royal Rumble,
07:49had a brief tag team with Mr. Perfect, and then found himself lounging around on Sunday
07:53Night Heat.
07:53We then got to May when he lost to Tommy Dreamer, and very sadly got hurt again.
07:57As this is what had kept him out for a lot of 2001, both parties wanted to find something
08:01for him to do, so the real-life Raid trailer went down to OVW to help the new generation
08:06of wrestlers.
08:06It really did feel like sooner or later he would be brought back before his tragic end,
08:10because I tell ya, he is great, that man.
08:13We do not respect him enough.
08:14Number 2, X-Pac.
08:15Somehow, X-Pac left WWE in July 2002, and hasn't competed in a Vince McMahon-owned ring
08:22since.
08:23I mean, how?
08:24It's even more nuts because by September that year, Sean Waltman was already back in the
08:28ring, and even in 2022, he was having matches against Joey Janela, so he can still go,
08:33and yet nobody is ringing his damn phone.
08:35The relationship is still intact, as X-Pac is a two-time Hall of Famer these days, and
08:38pops up a lot as a face to wave when needed, but this is a dude who changed the game in
08:42many ways.
08:43Surely, we can come up with something.
08:45Waltman 2 seems game, as he has mentioned it during the odd interview here and there,
08:49and the craziest stat is that he has been around forever, and yet is only 49 years old.
08:54Does not make any sense.
08:55So, at the very least, let's get him as a special surprise in the Rumble.
08:59Not sure why we went off on this tangent, given it's nothing to do with the video, but still,
09:03I am very passionate about this.
09:05Number 1, Bill Buchanan.
09:07Are you ready for this?
09:08Bill Buchanan spent 8 years under WWE employment.
09:13Mad, right?
09:13Originally signed to a developmental deal in 1995, his first major role was with the Truth
09:18Commission.
09:19The less said about that, the better.
09:20But then he just bumped around the place.
09:22Had a tag team called Armageddon alongside Sniper, became friends with the Big Boss Man,
09:26won the tag titles alongside The Good Father, and was even John Cena's lackey when he was
09:30a rapper.
09:31So the man did everything and anything he could to survive, but as ever, when that E came
09:35into focus, he was screwed.
09:37He was able to make it through to 2003, but in early February, got the chop, which wasn't
09:41an amazing surprise.
09:42Bull hadn't done much other than appear on Velocity.
09:45Buchanan was busy after this with All Japan and Pro Wrestling Noah, and worked indie dates all
09:49the way through to 2014, so that's nothing to sniff at.
09:52What's really interesting is in 2006, WWE invited him back for a tryout before an episode
09:57of SmackDown.
09:58I suppose it didn't work out.
10:00To tie all this in, and in case you don't know, he still does have ties to WWE.
10:05If you go and watch NXT 2.0 and lay your eyes on Brooks Jensen, yep, that is his son,
10:11the Circle of Life.
10:12Know of any other wrestlers who vanished when the WWF became the WWE?
10:16Make sure you let us know in the comments below, and don't forget to like the video,
10:19share the video, and subscribe.
10:20Then head over to WhatCulture.com where you can read articles like this with your eyes.
10:23Make sure you come follow us on social media, and we have some other videos.
10:27Why don't you go and check one out?
10:29My name is Simon from WhatCulture.
10:30Thank you for watching me as always.
10:32Know that I will forever be in your life, even when you don't want me to be, and I will
10:36talk to you again soon.
Be the first to comment