WWE Superstars: Then and Now

When you’ve been watching wrestling as long as I have, you get a chance to see not only the evolution not only of the industry as a whole, but of the individual superstars, as well, I remember a kid called, appropriately enough, the 1-2-3 Kid, making his debut and upsetting ‘The Bad Guy’, Razor Ramon. Ramon, of course, would eventually become Scott Hall of NWO fame. The 1-2-3 Kid? He would one day join DX as Xpac. Any long time wrestling fan will be able to tell you similar stories; Viscera was once a rapper named Mabel, Kane was a Dentist, and Triple H was… well, I’ll let you see for yourself. Here are some of your favorite WWE superstars, once upon a time…

The Undertaker

This was one of the Undertaker’s early roles…. that of “Mean Mark’. (And eventually, Mean Mark Callous). He would, in time, become half of tag team gold in this role as part of the ‘New Skyscrapers’. And the manager accompanying him to the ring? No other than current Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long.

His other major role was that of the masked “Punisher’. You may recognize the guy he’s wrestling here…

Kane

This was one of the worst gimmicks ever, but seeing Kane with that mullet thingy is worth a look.

Trple H

You’d probably be surprised at how many younger viewers know what the three H’s in triple H stood for; fewer still would remember that he used to strut around like this and speak in a bogus british accent. That’s where the name of the ‘pedigree’ came from… he was a ‘blue blood’. And yes, he is really married to Stephanie McMahon.

Hardcore Holly

Before he was Hardcore, he was Thurman ‘Sparky’ Plugg, a race car driver. Good Grief.

Kurt Angle

Kurt’s WWE debut. Notice the hair… for another great flashback, look up when he lost it.

Edge

Back here he was the tortured soul, not just ‘Edge’ but ‘The Edge’.

The Rock

Before Dwayne Johnson, before the People’s anything… there was just ‘Rocky Maivia’, Kid N Play fro and all.

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold didn’t say anything to begin with; the Million Dollar Man said it for him.

John Cena

Not ‘The Champ’; just a kid making a name for himself.

Santino Marella

The way this went down was actually pretty cool to see.