gold star for USAHOF

298. Buff Bagwell

Buff Bagwell’s one week stint in the WWE may have been a disaster, but Buff Bagwell had a ten year run in WCW where he won many titles, became an entertaining performer and was on the cusp of main event stardom. It didn’t happen, but he did a lot more in World Championship Wrestling than most people remember.

107. Konnan

Should Konnan ever get into the WWE Hall of Fame, it certainly won’t be for his handful of matches as the original Max Moon.  The Cuban born wrestler achieved his first level of super stardom in the AAA promotion of Mexico where he excelled as both a heel and a face.  He would later join WCW and after a few years there became one of the more popular stars there.  Konnan has always been outspoken and though his has caused him issues in the past, he often raises questions that should be brought to the forefront.  It will be interesting to see if there will ever be a groundswell of Hall support for one of the most over Latin wrestlers of all time.

226. Crush/Brian Adams

Brian Adams was brought in as “Crush” to replace an ailing Ax in Demolition.  The last incarnation of Demolition just wasn’t the same, but Brian Adams would remain tied to the WWE for years after with various incarnations of the Crush gimmick and had a stable role in mid card feuds.  He was big enough to work as a monster yet not too big to work effectively with smaller wrestlers in even give and take contests.  Adams would later go to WCW where he languished until his Kronik pairing with Bryan Clarke.  That tandem had a failed final run in WWE and Adams wasn’t seen after.  He has since passed away, but he had a very solid career in pro wrestling.  It may not be Hall of Fame material though.

275. Scott Norton

How did Scott Norton never work for the WWE?  With his size and power, he would have seemed like he would have fit in brilliantly with some of the other power based wrestlers that Vince had.  Don’t weep for Scott Norton though…although he was not pushed to the extent of his abilities in WCW, he reached the highest level in New Japan Pro Wrestling winning the World Title there and becoming one of the top American draws for that company.  Still, would Norton have been one of those many wrestlers that the WWE would make into a huge American star, or would he have been in the lot that saw the WWE turn a brilliant performer into a laughable cartoon?  Looks like Scott Norton feared the latter, as he never got a paycheck from Stamford.

154. Masa Chono

Finally wrestling a reduced schedule, unlike many of the stars of the 1990’s from New Japan had more than just an appearance or two in the United States.  The Japanese star wrestled frequently for WCW and was even the NWA World Heavyweight Champion while the legendary promotion was endorsed by WCW.