Talented Wrestlers WWE Wasted During The Golden Era (& Who They Overused)

For many wrestling fans, WWE's Golden Era - which essentially ran concurrent to Hulkamania from early 1984 through 1992-ish - was responsible for their interest in the genre. While its colorful characters and outlandish storylines were viciously derided in some traditionalist circles, many of WWE's '80s stars remain well-known today.

While Vince McMahon and company made superstars out of numerous wrestlers, same as nearly 40 years later, he didn't always get it right when choosing which talent to push. Some very talented folks didn't get nearly enough "shine" or were otherwise miscast, while on the other side, others were pushed down fans' proverbial throats to an unnecessary degree.

10 Wasted - Ricky Steamboat

Ricky Steamboat holding up the WWE Intercontinental Championship

While WWE's midcard championships' prestige has been up-and-down for decades, when Ricky '"The Dragon" Steamboat won the title from "Macho Man" Randy Savage in what still holds up as one of WrestleMania's greatest bouts, it was twice as meaningful as it seemingly has been booked recently. (Pop quiz: who is the current IC titleholder?)

Supposedly, Steamboat's reign was so short (65 days) because he requested time off to be with his wife and newborn son. McMahon was upset that he wasn't told about this before he decided to put the belt on the Dragon. It's probably not a coincidence that when Ricky returned to the company in 1991 - now a former NWA World Champion - his gimmick was much more cartoonish, and despite not losing a single televised match, he was never given a storyline or push.

9 Overused - The Honky Tonk Man

When "Honky Tonk" Wayne Farris made his way to WWE from Calgary's Stampede Wrestling in 1986, Vince treated the gimmick like it was his own creation and gave a considerable push to the Elvis impersonator.

Before long, The Honky Tonk Man was one of the company's top mid-carders, and when McMahon needed somebody stable to take the Intercontinental Championship from Ricky Steamboat in 1986, he chose the reliable cousin of Jerry Lawler. His rather vanilla, unathletic style fit his cowardly heel persona. Honky Tonk's length of a single reign record (454 days) still stands, which is puzzling.

8 Wasted - Rick Martel

We certainly didn't expect WWE to break one of its cardinal 1980s sins and acknowledge Rick Martel as a former AWA World Heavyweight Champion, but when he returned to the company in 1986 after a four-year successful stint working for Verne Gagne, you'd have been hard-pressed to remember that Martel - along with then-partner Tony Garea - was a former two-time WWE Tag Team Champion as well.

It was a completely different era for the company, and although he ended up staying for nine years, aside from an initial hot run as Strike Force with future forever foe Tito Santana, the eventual Model is probably best remembered for pulling off a surprisingly decent Blindfold Match with Jake Roberts at WrestleMania 7.

7 Overused - The Bushwhackers

In certain corners of the internet you can still find fans from the territory days who insist that Luke Williams and Butch Miller's transformation from the bloodthirsty Sheepherders to the goofy, kid-friendly Bushwhackers in WWE was a travesty.

We don't know if they were right, as the New Zealanders were happy enough licking faces and not bleeding that they stuck around through most of the New Generation. However, we see their point: Luke and Butch came to symbolize everything silly and cartoonish - even dressing up as actual clowns - and their act became one that you only really had to see once because it never changed.

6 Wasted - Rick Rude

"Ravishing" Rick Rude was - like other top Golden Era heels such as Mr. Perfect and Jake Roberts - a victim of the logjam at the top of WWE cards due to Hulkamania continuing to "run wild" through the early '90s.

Despite parallel programs with The Ultimate Warrior - one for the Intercontinental Championship in 1989, the other for the WWE Championship the following year - Rude never wore the gold, only receiving shots once his rival prevailed in the "Ultimate Challenge" at WrestleMania 6. Eventually, Rude became fed up - both with his booking and his SummerSlam payout for putting over the Warrior again - and walked out in October 1990.

5 Overused - Jimmy Snuka

If you weren't watching "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka during his first WWE run from 1982 through 1985, you might not understand why he held such legendary status. His cage match leaps - most famously against Bob Backlund and Don Muraco - and a Piper's Pit appearance (where he was famously smashed by a coconut) were career highlights, but all occurred in the nascent days of the Golden Era.

When Snuka returned in 1989 at WrestleMania 5, he still looked great, but after a stinker of a match at that year's SummerSlam with Ted DiBiase, it was clear that the Fiji Islands native's fly was no longer super. Despite this, he remained featured on PPVs and other shows, eventually earning the dubious honor of being the first victim of The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak.

4 Wasted - Wendi Richter

In the case of one of WWE's more forgotten trailblazers, Wendi Richter's stint in the company - and entire career, in many ways - is more defined by what happened to her than what she did.

Fans might forget, but during the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection era, Richter played a pivotal role in the involvement of pop star Cyndi Lauper, and ultimately an upstart music cable channel known as MTV. When she won the Women's Championship at The Brawl to End It All from Fabulous Moolah, it signaled a temporary revival of the division. Unfortunately, Richter wouldn't be around to experience much of it, as when she and Vince became embroiled in a dispute over her pay, he commissioned Moolah to don a mask as "The Spider" and assist in legitimately screwing Richter out of the title at a November '85 Madison Square Garden show.

3 Overused - Greg Valentine

honky-tonk-man-greg-valentine-rhythm-blues-wwe

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine is a true legend in wrestling, as the second-generation star bridged multiple gaps between the NWA/WWE, the 1970s/1980s and singles/tag team competition. The son of Johnny Valentine, who was a major star until a 1975 airplane crash paralyzed him (and seriously injured a young Ric Flair), Greg had success bouncing between his father's home NWA Mid-Atlantic promotion and the WWWF through the early '80s.

Although Valentine was successful upon rejoining WWE in 1984 - winning the Intercontinental Championship from Tito Santana that September and the Tag Team Championship with Dream Team partner Brutus Beefcake less than a year later - he just didn't have the charisma to sustain success in a drastically-changing wrestling landscape despite continued pushes through the remainder of the decade.

2 Wasted - Harley Race

There's no disputing the fact that Harley Race - who was one of the most decorated and well-respected wrestlers of all time - was pretty far past his athletic prime by the time he joined WWE in 1986. "Handsome Harley" and new manager Bobby Heenan were a perfect fit, and if it were even five years prior, Race should have been a legitimate contender for the WWE Championship.

The former eight-time NWA World Champion was well into his 40s by that point but found himself serving two primary functions during his several-year stint. He reigned as King - complete with crown, robe and royal music - and jobbed to Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Race even wrestled in WCW in 1990 before an injury forced him into a role he was seemingly born to play: Big Van Vader's manager. We can't help but think that Harley might have been better served by making the transition (at least for the most part) a few years sooner.

1 Overused - Hulk Hogan

Nobody's going to argue that the biggest wrestling star in North American history - it's impossible to overstate how omnipresent Hulk Hogan was for a period in the 1980s - shouldn't have been pushed as hard as he was.

Our argument, rather, is that Hogan never really passed the proverbial torch at the end of the Golden Era. The first half of the 1990s were rougher than Hogan was used to, as a few factors - especially Father Time - was wearing some luster off of Hulkamania. Also, the lure of Hollywood beckoned. Despite this, Vince McMahon until this point only knew true success under one babyface champion, as Randy Savage turned heel halfway through his WWE Championship run and The Ultimate Warrior was a failure. However, none of this helped make Hogan's last few title wins, along with his stinker of a WrestleMania 8 main event match against Sid Justice, any more entertaining.