Eric Bischoff. Went from backstage announcer reject to controlling WCW and making it the number 1 organisation for a while. Massively over achieved no matter what way you see it. And he's a made man for life because of it
Great list, but I would add.. Ed "The Beefcake Barber Zodiac Butcher Disciple" Leslie. The man squeezed a 40 year career out of being Hulk Hogan's friend, because god knows it wasnt because of his wrestling or promos. Imagine having an awesome job your whole adult life just because you knew one dude. So for the first time in my life I can confidently say "Ed Leslie belongs at the top of this list."
Trish Stratus has got to be up there. From hood ornament fitness model to pretty much the face of '00s women's wrestling and the launching point for the women's revolution of today.
Yeah she had NO RIGHT being as good as she became, especially in a time where someone like Sable got off solely off of her look. She actually seemed to respect the art of professional wrestling, and it showed.
@@SteRDLK John Laurinaitis was the reason they carried on hiring models to be wrestlers. Like it or not, the critically acclaimed women's wrestlers of today grew up in a world where Trish was the standard bearer for women's wrestling. Was she Manami Toyota? No, but she worked her ass off to have good matches and keep the division afloat..
Random fun fact: Rey Mysterio wrestled the opening match at '96 Bash at the Beach, which as you all know was the site of Hulk Hogan's famous heel turn. But what you probably didn't know is that if you look at Dominic Mysterio's birthday and do the math Rey conceived Dominic right around that time, maybe that very night. You're welcome.
During the monday night wars, I was a WCW watcher. I loved their midcard and cruiserweight talent. DDP was on the midcard forever and he was one of the few reasons I stayed with WCW for so long. That and the fact that he was so awesome without having to join one of the 5072 different NWO factions.....I've hated NWO from inception to present...
@@Supervillain725 and also "ARM BAAAARRRRR" I wish they hadn't gone to commercial during that rant, I'd love to see how many times headlock and arm Bar were on that list ROFL
@@brettt141 I think Zane is becoming one of the top wrestling channels. A clip of his review of a David Arquette match was shown in the 2020 Doc. "You cannot kill David Arquette".
@@billythekid22220 Not in terms of likes and views, no. Not yet. But there are two wrestling channels worth watching. Brian Zane, and "Dave Knows Wrestling", and sadly, hardly anyone knows the other guy. Most of these channels just chuck out the same crap as everyone else. These two actually care enough about their viewers to put out GOOD content.
I remember when Miz and 'cold blooded' Matt Hardy were 1a and 1b for worst wrestler of the year. A couple of years later Maryse and Final Deletion made them HoF bound.
So you basically just want a list of juiced up blonde tall muscle? i doubt we can find a way to shorten Vince's muscle tussle to not overcrowd that list
Kevin Nash. Undisputed king of doing the least amount humanly possible. For god’s sake, he found a way to win a powerbomb match against Sid, without actually powerbombing him.
Kofi should have been on the list. The fact he's won almost every title in the company as a Black man with his look, who historically don't get pushed to the top, and he got over organically, he should be on the list.
If achievements outside of wrestling were a big factor, i'd put The Rock on that list. From the hated Rocky Maivia gimmick, to the face of the company, to one of the most successfull and beloved hollywood action star. And he's not done yet and isn't slowing down either.
@@errdaykam4662 Vince saw Hogan as a star. Hogan was expected to become what he did. Thats achievement. His movie career was not particularly successful. B movies at best with the exception of Rocky 3. The Rock became one of the top draws ever, AND has a more-than-successful movie career that isnt done yet. Thats over-acheiving.
@@gsesquire3441 I would beg to differ, because he has had a movie career like no other wrestler before him. Hogan was in a handful of crapfests, but Johnson has starred in blockbuster after blockbuster. No one could really expect him to do that, since no other wrestler, including Hogan or Piper, who both had some middling success on the screen achieved that kind of success. It's a bit like saying the Beatles knew precisely how crazy things would get for them. How could they?
As someone who watched him on the Real World:Back to New York, he has definitely grown up and matured. He was a loud, obnoxious, tad bit racist, and annoying dude. Over the years, he took his work ethic and spun it into the dynamic you see now.
I know he has not as known in the mainstream wrestling world as the people on this list but for me as a wXw Fan the biggest overachiever in Wrestling will always be Karsten Beck. He used to be a fan who went to wXw shows, who then started to get involved in Shows as the ring crew ( you read that correctly he wasn´t a part of the ring crew he was the whole and did everything by himself) and then began to train as a wrestler. He was chubby and unatheltic and really not good when he started in 2006 with a very strange gimmick as Diego Latino. But he worked as hard as you can imagine and became better and better and became one of the most entertaining Wrestlers in Europe and pretty much synonymous with wXw and in January of 2015 the guy who used to be a fan who no one thought could be a wrestler became the champion - with the help of Vince Russo of all people ( who worked for wXw at that time). But in 2016 he got diagnosed with cancer, which forced him to end his career at the age 29. He came back as an authority figure a couple times even until early this year he was involved in storylines. But this october he lost his fight against cancer and died at the age of 33. He was a true inspiration and his whole career was a fairytale that seemed to cliché to be true.
I just want to say thank you for sharing Karsten's story. I may not have ever known of him beforehand, but you're keeping his memory alive and that means a ton. Such passion certainly deserves to be celebrated!
Kofi? Nope. If anything during his first 1/2 years he was being built for a potential main event status but prodded around in lower midcard for almost all of the decade barring 6 months.
Jericho was an even bigger trendsetter in that case. First wrestler to have created his official website back when he was in WCW. Had a forum that consisted of some of the earliest wrestling shitposters engaging with each other
I am 5'8", so 5'4(?) Rey was more relatable to me. He was booed out of the building at the 2014 Royal Rumble for not being Daniel Bryan. Rey's knee was shot, so he had get that fixed. Find Rey's matches in Lucha Underground. He was treated like a deity. There is a Mysterio versus Prince Puma (Ricochet) match that is amazing. Rey was the foundation for every high flyer you see in modern American wrestling. Mysterio's surprise return at the 2018 Royal Rumble is one of my happiest moments of the last few years.
I have used Rey jr.'s match against Psicosis at Bash at the Beach 96 several times to show non-fans. The two came out to next to no reaction, but strickly through their in-ring and character work they had the crowd standing at the end. I think it is a super display of what pro-wrestling can be.
It's safe to say without Jarrett creating TNA/Impact many former WWE, ECW and WCW stars not to mention future stars in the business would probably never of gotten the chance to prove themselves following the end of the Monday Night War
I was a late bloomer to the Miz. He's such an annoying shit, and that makes a great heel. Having grown up in the early eighties, I miss the jobbers. Also, HHH has the greatest theme song ever and ever will. Motorhead!
I would've put Becky Lynch on the list, when she first showed up on NXT doing that Irish jig, I don't know if anyone could've predicted that she'd become one of the biggest stars in all of wrestling over the last few years. If you weren't going to have her on the main list, at least have her as an honourable mention. Also it's awesome to see The Miz on here, he's so underappreciated.
When Miz did the Calgary Kid angle to get his job back and then telling off Maryse in a promo in 09, that's when I got on board with him AND was legit glad when he beat Orton for MitB
Neither of them are over-achievers. They got popular in ONE field, and were never at the top of the Food Chain. Even Edge with title reigns was never the "top guy". Thats having a successful career. Not over achieving. To over-achieve, one has to find success outside of wrestling. Like the Rock, with an on-going successful hollywood movie star.
@dagiftofgab247 HHH is two steps above a trash bag wrestler, who held back better talent for years with the Kliq, and continued to bury people more talented than him during the "reign of terror" which drove away millions of fans and they never came back. He personally drove the ratings down and down week after week. He's never been a financial draw like The Rock, Hogan, and Austin. The best thing he ever "achieved" is marrying the bosses daughter. Thats his biggest contribution to the buisiness. You? You're obviously HHH mark, and probably 12 years old.
Coming from the Reality Show background I was skeptical of the Miz. But Miz and Morrison and The Dirt Sheet web show made me realize he was a charismatic and funny guy. His singles push and US title runs actually made me a big fan. I think he overcame a big stigma, but dude climbed the Ranks. Also even if it doesn't lead to awesome matches, he may be one of the safest workers in the Company!
He's a hell of a worker now and probably one of if not the best guy on the mike in WWE right now. This coming from someone who hated his guts when he debuted back in the day.
I was happy to see the Miz win Zane. Genuinely, I do not think I would have gotten into wrestling without the Miz. He was the first wrestler I became a genuine fan of as a kid.
Two things about the Miz: That promo before the Cena match, the "you can hate me now" one, is brilliant. Secondly, his intercontinental run was while Brock was champion. So he managed to elevate the IC title to basically act as a proxy world title since the actual one never appeared on tv. He did this really, really well.
Probably would have to put Vince McMahon in his own category for this list. Say what you want about him now (and there is PLENTY), but he had very humble beginnings, even after finding his estranged father, he was held back and was not allowed to wrestle, he bought the company off his father (not inherit it like his kids will), built up a wrestling empire and brought wrestling into the main stream twice (once in the 80s and then again in the late 90s/early 00s), and cemented it as a global well known brand, and for the last 40 odd years has overseen every aspect of WWE (for better or worse), and still does have a passion for the business (in his own weird Vince way).
Christian should've been on here imo, survived for decades and won big titles (and was in one of the most beloved tag-teams of all time), despite never really being seen as a top guy by the company
I’m a huge Christian fan but I don’t think he’s an overachiever. In WWE he was always seen as a sidekick to bigger personalities like Jericho and Edge. In TNA despite being booked so strong early on, as soon as Kurt Angle debuted Christian Cage was all be forgotten (Kurt even changed The Christian Coalition intoTeam Angle). What’s worse is that when he returned to WWE his World title reigns were booked so weak and almost as pity for the fact his best friend had to retire.
The man lived in a trailer out in a park if I'm not mistaken. He started out with very few. Crazy to think that he didn't inherit the company from his father, he BOUGHT it.
Can't agree more with Matt. He was always seen as the 'other Hardy' and when Jeff was shot to the stars, Matt was... elsewhere. Doing whatever. The storyline with him becoming Big Money Matt and then Broken Matt in Impact was just nothing short of amazing. The fact that he outshone his brother despite years of big titles and legions of fans.
It doesn’t get talked about enough but the Rock/Jericho rivalry from late 2001 to about early 2002 was damn good in my opinion and the two had great chemistry with each other
Maybe I'm old, or a hometown guy, but Mikey Whipwreck in ECW. Was a ring crew guy who took payments by rolling around in the ring, got over with the fans. Was tag champ with Cactus Jack and was ECW Champ with a victory over Steve Austin! Not a huge name in wrestling lore, but had made his mark. Later managed by friend of your page Sinister Minister.
Waltman is still active in wrestling and is in great shape, dude has hella longevity and he hasn’t even spent a significant time in one of the big two companies in years. He deserves more respect says I.
Add a certain skinny, spectacled guy from Reno who began a channel on youtube reviewing professional wrestling...going on to become a fan favourite with perhaps the most entertaining wrestling channel on RU-vid! Kudos to the Z man Brian Zane !
@@DubZ3r.O True, but looking at his work he's more of a underachiver. He had the Potential of a Edge-like career, he had all what is necessary just not the trust of the boss.
@@gandalfthegrey7135 which is why he was an overachiever, they told him he was just a tag team guy so he left and went to TNA, killed it, came back and they finally saw his potential
I was at Wrestlemania 28 and the Raw after. The “Yes” and “Daniel Bryan” chants dominated both those nights. During the Dark Main Event, Bryan said if kept chanting “Yes!” a new shirt would be made, and it came out about 2 weeks later.
I will always have massive respect for Mick Foley, definitely broke the mold when they made him. He's a real standup guy too outside the ring. God bless Mick Foley
Brock Lesnar, by knowing his worth and not taking any bullshit + pure work ethic he continiously raised his own value to became the highest paid person per match/appearance and even one of the highest paid persons in general that the buisness has ever had, also he never really played any role outside of the main event scene
Paige earned his push. The crowds went nuts for him anytime he did anything and was believable from 97 til WCW closed. He also had Goldberg's best match ever. Dude is amazing.
Page was one of the few main eventers WCW had at the time who could actually go in the ring. If anything they took too long to pull the trigger on him being world champion.
Have to add in Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Hangman Adam Page. They took the risk to leave NJPW, hold a independent wrestling PPV, and it led to the birth of AEW, propelling themselves to being the #2 wrestling company in the US, and making them the only true competitor to WWE.
15:20 Could've been the online circles I was running in, but Miz seemed to have a bit of a cult following online in 09-10, such that a ton of people went crazy when he won the title. Really, it wasn't until Punk buried him on his DVD that I noticed a big backlash against him as a main eventer.
Honestly, Kofi Kingston. When he debuted on ECW with his Jamaican gimmick and of course after his feud with Randy Orton in 2009 which ruined his main event push for 10 years, he didn't even get a singles match against Orton during their feud for Orton's title, who would've thought he'd amount to anything like he has and stay employed for as long as he has? After 11 years in the company he became WWE Champion at Wrestlemania when he wasn't even slated to do so even after his incredible gauntlet and Elimination Chamber performances. Lest we forget Kofi is a 4x Intercontinental Champion, 3x United States Champion and 13x and the longest reigning Tag Team Champion in WWE history and apart of one of the best factions of all time in New Day. He's also a grand slam and triple crown champion and the first fully black and African born WWE Champion. To achieve all that after his first few years in the company is very impressive.
This. Kofi belongs on this list more than at least half the people that were on it. His steady work ethic and accolades are honestly insane. He's also been a title holder for over 1500 days, one of very few to do that, and I think has been a champion for roughly half his entire WWE career.
@@streamofthesky That's completely possible, that record breaking Tag Title reign contributes to that most likely. He was even WWE Champion for 180 days and barely lost while he held the title, shame how it all ended.
Nice video! I expected all of the wrestlers you talked about to be guys with bad physiques, but you were able to think about the idea of an "overachiever" more creatively. Good job.
Jarrett, disadvantaged? His dad owned a territory which let him get started and got him a job in WWF, he was friends with Vince Russo so got pushed into the main event and won the title multiple times despite never being over, then again created his own promotion allowing him to push himself. He had everything going for him and still everyone hates him.
I'd throw Becky Lynch on this list when you consider her start, her exodus, her comeback and how close she was to being cut and how much of a non-factor she was for most of her main-roster run, to basically becoming one of the most over, historically-significant women in wrestling history.
@@mitchcolburn1216 The ratings have been consistently going down in WWF/E since about 2001, no matter who was on top, including people on this list. Also, I don't recall the video ever mentioning business reasons being a criterion for overachieving.
Was thinking Asuka. She was in her mid 30's when she got signed and spoke little to no English. You think fast forward 5 years she would have the longest women's reign behind Moolah, main event 2 PPVs and won, winner of almost every title,first women's Royal Rumble winner, money in the bank winner and current double champ at almost 40 years old
Booker T deserves one everyone thought he would be a life-long tag team wrestler when Stevie Ray got injured everyone thought he would be doomed and would never get over as a singles star.
From a physical standpoint, Matt Hardy must be one of the most average wrestlers ever. Outside of the TLC matches, how many classic Matt Hardy matches are there? Yet he made it as a WWE wrestler, and has had insane longevity. Maybe even more impressive is that when he left WWE, fans had a sort of negative perception of him for a variety of reasons. He certainly was not the star that he was upon his WWE return. Post-WCW, how many wrestlers can you name who left WWE and became bigger superstars while they were gone? That pop for the Hardy Boyz when they returned at WM was an unforgettable moment, and his creative work in TNA was a significant reason that people were so pumped to see those guys back. Add to the list the fact that he seems to have overcome a lot of serious issues that were highlighted after his breakup with Lita and during his first TNA run, and I think you have a really good case for him being on this list. Glad he was at least mentioned.
>I'm surprised you didn't cut to DBry choking Justin Roberts with a tie when you referenced his release. >I wonder if Jericho holds a position in the company due to that. >I'm surprised DDPYoga didn't make an appearance. It has been touted as part of the career/physical resurrection of a lot of stars, from the well-known ones like Roberts and Hall to others citing it as helping them regain what they thought they'd lost due to years of injuries. >Foley is another who deserves every accolade. Purely for the amount of shit he put his body through over the years. He's got enough of that everyman charisma that, even without all the spots, he'd have no doubt gotten over regardless. >That is one way to describe wCw Rey. He's deserved a better hand than he's been dealt but he's managed to have a long storied career despite what wCw and WWE have tried to do to him. >Was the Austin 3:16 commentary on camera or off-camera? Regardless, that honestly sounds like a great setup for a feud if you ask me. Austin going after Jarrett for attacking his catchphrase, Jarrett playing the proud religious man. On the TNA topic, he'd probably still be running it if Dixie Carter and his personal demons didn't get in the way.
To anyone who thinks DDP being World Champ was a political move or something else negative: go watch the crowd reactions he got at the time. He deserved it.
@@TravJam317 Definitely. Go watch the crowd reaction when he tricked the NWO into thinking he was joining and then hit the Diamond Cutter on Scott Hall. That crowd lost their damn minds. He was over and earned his spot at the top.
Calling Jeff Jarrett an overachiever is hilarious. The most adversity he faced was trying to find any semblance of charisma and personality beyond calling people slapnuts and being a misogynist. Dude was given opportunity after opportunity because of who he knew. He underachieved based on his opportunities received. I guess he overachieved based on his talent level?
I was thinking the same thing Jarret was literally born into the business with a silver spoon and was fed opportunity after opportunity and was still average to below average in everything. Maybe he over achieved in a business since but as a wrestler he under achieved big time.
Ummm Ric Flair? Broke his back twice and barely slowed down for thirty some years? How about Hulk Hogan? Came back from a Matsuda broken leg to invent Hulkamania, George Lucas the hell out of it, and cement pro wrestling in modern pop culture for multiple generations? I can't say that I LIKE those two guys, but they probably deserve mention among pro wrestling overachievers. I'd also be tempted to include Undertaker, best and most enduring character, and maybe even Shawn Michaels for longevity, bumps and overall ability.
