10 WWE Wrestlers Who Went From JOBBERS To STARS

[@JSchaffer214]

"A particularly unhappy Dynamite Kid" Was there any other kind of Dynamite Kid?

[@user-so4gp2sf1o]

I met Dynamite Kid back in 1986 along with Davey Boy in Vancouver, BC after a show. The Kid was very rude and told us to F**k off. Davey seemed nice.

[@tyrone5969]

A particularly intoxicated Dynamite Kid?

[@chrisbg99]

See a young Mick Foley before bulking up and physically intact is a wild thing.

[@jafardblegends360]

Yeah he was still training then. That match he faced the Steiner brothers and he said they beat the hell out of him. Read Mick Foley's book have a nice day he talks about it.

[@chrisbg99]

@@jafardblegends360 I have but it is still pretty wild seeing him in the early days.

[@JM1993951]

Before he cultivated mass, you mean.

[@danger2bananas]

He was intact up untill he took that vicious clothesline of Dynamite Kid

[@Mackenziegurl101]

he was kinda cute then ngl 👀

[@AngelRasmus3]

LMFAO that pink hair Ambrose looks like he's wearing a Stephanie from Lazytown wig

[@josephhoward9631]

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake

[@MrBeardsley]

Steve Lombardi wasn’t just a jobber with a gimmick, he was a jobber with like five gimmicks. In addition to the Brooklyn Brawler he also appeared under a mask as Kamala’s “handler” Kim Chee, baseball enthusiast Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz during the Major League Baseball players’ strike, under another mask as the Black Knight (who wasn’t just a one-off for Survivor Series ‘93, Lombardi continued the gimmick as a house show tag team jobber alongside Barry “Red Knight” Horowitz), and portrayed Doink the Clown after Matt Borne was fired but before the gimmick was given to Ray Apollo.

[@andrewdrennan9436]

Lombardi and Horowitz were definitely JTTS guys who every once in a while would get tag or singles wins against guys like Poffo or Jerry Allen et al in mostly dark or the occasional televised match.

[@BusinessMan1619]

Is Steve Lombard the Brooklyn Brawler in WWE HOF? As a fan watching wresting since way back in 1980, I say If he's not in it then I think he should be. He always seemed like a loyal worker.

[@kellywiebe646]

I always thought he should have had a football coach gimmick. Named 'Lombardi' and all.

[@TheWard1ne]

The fact you remember Abe "Knuckle ball" Schwartz! I totally remember all those characters and I knew it was Brooklyn Brawler then

[@leighlowe1069]

He had a shot at HBK for the world title in 96 too

[@stevenrose86]

I remember the billboard story and Pacitti being interviewed on tv, but I had no idea it was him, and have literally only just found out he's that guy. Congratulations on your job Adam!

[@joedaniels1426]

Can you link me to what you’re referring to?

[@stevenrose86]

@@joedaniels1426 It was ITV news. I've just found it on his KZbin channel! watch?v=XrXyRS5Q4g0

[@DarthSmirnoff]

The Hardy Boys Vs Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon has some terrifying spots to watch.

[@andresmartin67]

That moonsault...

[@bwareist]

I'm surprised Jinder wasn't on this list.

[@fredrickbeondo8695]

same

[@fredrickbeondo8695]

@@zevenenzeta TOO TRUE

[@alshareeffrazier609]

Well Jinder is on another list called Jobber to star to jobber

[@tyrone5969]

@@alshareeffrazier609 😂😂😂😂

[@tyrone5969]

Still amazing that 3MB birthed two world heavyweight champions.

[@zanyhd2985]

I don't know why, but I never liked James Ellsworth. I guess my gut feeling was right 🤷‍♂️

[@outlaw2747]

Ellsworth was a plague.

[@joshmercer9109]

I remember when reading in Fighting Spirit Magazine someone said that Bryan Danielson was never going to be a world champion in WWE. Very glad he proved that person wrong!

[@rodrigoodonsalcedocisneros9266]

But he became a champ due to the fans backing, not because of management anyways.

[@mehe6526]

Daniel Bryant trash

[@DarkwyndPT]

As a Portuguese 90s kid, I remember the Aldo Montoya gimmick. The 1st question my friends and I asked was, "why does he have a Mexican name?". At least, he spoke actual Portuguese in promos (although I remember him speaking Spanish for some reason).

[@elc1960]

The downside was they had Montoya wear that stupid yellow jockstrap on his head. The poor bastard was too good to be saddled with that. And he proved it in ECW.

[@jnwoodard8764]

Mick didn’t job; he was assaulted

[@adamrasmussen9939]

I remember being like 8 or 9 years old seeing and being amazed at this 1-2-3 Kid doing all kinds of crazy moves I'd never seen before in my young life.

[@Thor-Orion]

His match with Bret on Raw is SO fucking good.

[@doctormasterdevil]

Was one of the first mainstream americans showing their mexican style lucha style

[@davidparkes7741]

To be fair, Sean Waltman's backstage connections with the Kliq also helped him escape being a career jobber.

[@Brndn350Z]

@Greg Bailey they were all traveling together and knew one another by this point. The "kliq" just wasnt a thing yet.

[@Sockcucker96]

Damn you Pacitti, you made me do a double take with the Bobby Roode part.

[@attiepollard7847]

This is my first time knowing about this lol

[@llydrsn]

Growing up with only Superstars available in our TVs will make one very familiar with PJ Walker, Barry Horowitz, heck - even Reno Riggins!

[@arinleoczko1250]

I never thought I'd say that I miss Braun Strowman.

[@DJDoubleCee]

I remember hearing about how The Hardy Boyz where treated like crap in the beginning of their wrestling careers. Good to see how they eventually moved up the ranks.

[@benpezzot8805]

They were attacked by kane on his raw debut

[@mikesnodgrass3618]

And now they still get treating like crap wwe

[@bmoviefanatic]

Surprised they didn't mention them being glorified "door openers" at KOTR '95 lol.

[@ArthurKillingsworthJr]

Yup they were jobbers

[@kellywiebe646]

When I was at Ft Bragg, they were on EVERY WW(then)F card that came through and, yeah, they were jobbing on dark squash matches to, like, the New Midnight Express.

[@BadCaseOfSerpes]

Young Mick Foley out here looking like Benedict Cumberbatch

[@JaimeD.]

Bryan Danielson is a true G.O.A.T of professional wrestling. The NXT 1.0 ERA wasn't the best introduction for BD, but his journey later led to Immortality at Mania 30, doing good opening of Mania 31, put over Kofi Kingston at Mania 35, and his last big match at Mania 37.

[@sadetwizelve]

That doesn't make him a "true G.O.A.T." he's not even top 10

[@kmajorleague]

@@sadetwizelve okay kevin nash

[@stoneharper7038]

He’s not even remotely close to the GOAT

[@stoneharper7038]

@@kmajorleague nah, he just understands that there have been better wrestlers in the business, it’s not an insult to Bryan, he’s one of the greatest to ever do it, just not the greatest to ever do it

[@jimbo_1312]

He's not the GOAT.... he's probably worthy of being in the conversation but he's comfortably not the actual goat

[@ianrosshughes]

I remember seeing the Hardy Boys in a dark match when they still wore the plaid. They were fighting against Too Cool. My friend I was there with, knows a lot more about wrestling than myself, got excited and told me Too Cool was going to blow up and be the next big thing. Immediately the Hardy Boys started doing there thing of flying around the ring and the high flying to the outside. I was like, are you kidding me, The Hardy Boys are the next big thing, I’d rather watch wrestlers fly around like that than some dudes dancing. Haha, of course I was right and enjoy reminding him every time their name is mentioned.

[@diggadirt393]

I think I heard the Hardy's lied about their age because they wanted to wrestle so bad. Chances are if you see videos of them jobbing in WWF before they blew up, they were minors

[@nelsonward7981]

Mick Foley was wrestling as Cactus Jack in Skandor Akbar's Army in the NWA in the mid 80's against the Von Erick's.

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

The way Kane threw the Hardy Boys out of the ring was insane when he debuted on Raw

[@nicktaylor2657]

Damn Brooklyn Brawler had 2 wins against former WWE champions Who knew?

[@ChalkInTheLand]

Barry Horowitz and the Brooklyn Brawler are the 🐐's when it comes to jobbers. I still remember Horowitz coming to the ring wearing a robe that had a handprint on the back of it because his thing was always patting himself on the back

[@DP-gt7sr]

I thought 90% of talent started off as jobbers? You do not start wrestling then start winning right away.

[@allym999]

Exactly. This should be renamed as Future stars who had early matches in WWE. It's really nothing special.

[@louiscsanko3673]

I didn't know Mick Foley was a skinny jibber, Long before he became Cactus Jack.🤣🤣😅😆

[@kageakuma3009]

When I was in high school the Hardyz, when they were jobbers, stopped by the restaurant I worked at as there was a house show in town (It was a Chick Fil A in Fayetteville, NC) they were pretty hyped and because I was the big wrestling fan the front counter staff who didn't know anything about wrestling asked me if they were big stars .I answered "no, but they are still starting off, they are talented and I think they'll be stars down the road. A few weeks later they got their first big win against the new LOD on Sunday Night Heat.

[@davidb3155]

Jeff Hardy was a 17 year old when he got his first jobber match against Razor Ramon

[@garyjskadra1180]

There were 2 jobbers in the late 80's I always thought would be stars one day. Rocky King and Brady Boone

[@andrewdrennan9436]

If Boone would have stayed healthy against certain douchebag stiff-style-accident-specialists, he would have gotten a much better push than that terrible Battle-Kat gimmick.

[@gqloc6768]

@@andrewdrennan9436 - I kinda know who you're referring to but at the same time I'm not too sure. Hint.

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

Rocky King's only star run came when he acted as the face painted runt manager of the Freebirds Little Richard Marley back in 1990.

[@cryptonema]

@@andrewdrennan9436 Whos you refering to?

[@kellywiebe646]

Back in the early '90s there was a guy - Steve [some city in Texas - Steve San Antonio? Steve Dallas?] who was one of WCW's stronger mid-carders, as evidenced by the fact that he held every one of their titles aside from the World Title - which, itself, would have made sense - but his last year or so Bischopf just kept jobbing him out to their headliners and then fired him via voicemail. I wonder whatever happened to Steve Houston.

[@needer123]

I think he went by Steve Laredo in ECW for awhile.

[@Paulthompson9942]

Yeah I remember him "Stunning" Steve Houston

[@JUVI9596]

Hulk hogan

[@andrewdrennan9436]

I don’t think Steve Amarillo was any lower than JTTS in his career.

[@ricardonb6375]

@@andrewdrennan9436 Okay, we all know who you guys are referring to. So stop with the lame Texas jokes.

[@Alicious_Al]

Cool! Now do one where Stars became Jobbers. 🥲👍

[@mrexeptionel9530]

Jeff hardy went from jobber to star to jobber

[@jtp2007]

Big Show Big Show Big Show

[@andrewdrennan9436]

There’s a whole lotta lists for that. Some recovered (Triple H). Some didn’t (Paul London/Brian Kendrick)

[@craiggodwin5960]

123 kid was tiny compared to the 90s wrestlers but is so much bigger than the wrestlers of today

[@thebrandolorian9037]

I almost went total boomer when Adam started talking about Bobby Roode being related to Rick Rude. I thought I had a stroke. Almost had me guys.

[@attiepollard7847]

This is the first time I have known about that they being related. No wonder he had so much swag when he showed up an NXT

[@heyrelife]

Amazed you didn’t have Jack narrate the video on jobbers

[@MicBain]

I don't know how Daniel Bryan ever became a star, he's such a weird and goofy looking dude 😆

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

The Brooklyn Brawler was also a Doink and regularly played him during the mid 2000's and played him on Saturday Night's Main Event special back in 2007.

[@supermanco8919]

Mick Foley for us fans was a star because he gave everything for wrestling exposing his body and his health to the fullest but wwe always underestimated him

[@Thor-Orion]

They put the world title on him. And Mick was the type who didn’t need a title to get over and stay over.

[@robertclark2253]

How about Al Snow ? After bouncing around the independent scene he was an enhancement for WWE under several gimmicks including Shinobi and Avatar then tagging with Marty Jannetty as Leif Cassidy after the team split Leif was an enhancement guy again until going to ECW as Al Snow and finding Head before coming back to WWE and competing in the newly formed Hardcore division .

[@joshthemediocre7824]

As a young kid i can remember getting behind Barry Horowitz when he finally won a match...i can tell you me and all my friends popped...we all pulled for him and woulda easily became a Horowitz fan if they woulda kept pushing him..I remember thinking they might actually make a Horowitz action figure..He could have been a ironic star if the wwf would have allowed it.

[@robertclark2253]

His victory against Skip wasn't his first it was his first win on TV . He previously had tag team wins teaming with Brooklyn Brawler and in singles action against Scott Taylor who went onto becoming Light Heavyweight champion and Tag Team champion as Scotty 2 Hotty and against pre-UFC Ken Shamrock on the house show circuit . Shamrock and Scotty should also be on this list or at least honorable mentions because they started as jobbers as well .

[@stevegallo8483]

They show Shawn Waltman wearing trunks with lightning bolts on them and the name "L Kid" on the back and say he was billed as "The Kid" at the time. Looks more like he was the "Lightning Kid" to me. Also, his connection with the Clique helped him escape being a career jobber.

[@Mr_Oggie]

Weird. Its almost like you are saying rookies have to start at the bottom and work their way up in the company...

[@impalaman9707]

The "early" Mick Foley looked like such a scrub! You knew he was going to show no offense in the ring whatsoever!🤣🤣🤣

[@williamosborne2208]

This title could apply to almost every wrestler pre 2k. Back when wrestlers worked their way up and learned their craft. Now a days a lit of them are trained and package from the start. So hard for an indy wrestler to get a real break anymore. Possible yes but much harder than it used to be.

[@m_affan_q]

I thought Jinder would be no. 1

[@trajectoryunown]

7:44 Sorry, I thought you were talking about Jake the Snake for a second. Easy mistake to make.

[@jamdude13]

Oh man. When I was about 16 years old I got arrested for something stupid. My public defender was a clone of Steve Lombardi. to the point I started calling him "The Brooklyn Lawyer" 😂

[@stankingzton3564]

Al Snow wrestled under the name "Steve Moore" in 1994-1995 long before the Avatar appearance. Recon from Truth Commission wrestled in 80s WWF during Canadian house shows,shows under his real name Luc Poirier Dean Malenko at one point was a referee during mid 80s WWF. Gary Wolf & Anthony Durante ECW's Pitbulls wrestled against the Hart Foundation on tv in the 80s. FMW & Canadian Star "Hannibal Lector" wrestled in a squash match for the Federation in the early 90s.

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

You guys forgot Paul Roma who jobbed in WWF with Jim Powers to then become somewhat a successful tag team called the Young Stallions, then a heel tag team with Hercules called Power and Glory, a run in WCW as Pretty Wonderful with Paul Orndorff, and lastly as a member of the Four Horseman!

[@turtlehead2]

I didn’t realize that 1-2-3 Kid/Razor match was on Raw. I remember seeing it.

[@attiepollard7847]

If I'm getting that confused but I also think they had a match on either Superstars or wrestling challenge

[@turtlehead2]

@@attiepollard7847 that’s what I thought it was on too. Maybe they replayed it on Superstars or something. I don’t recall watching Raw until like 96

[@andrewdrennan9436]

@@attiepollard7847 that was the rematch (Ramon won I think, but it turned Ramon face also in the storyline, and the Kid would best Dibiase and a bunch of others on the way to that epic IC title fight.

[@attiepollard7847]

@@andrewdrennan9436 oh yeah I forgot the wrestling challenge was between DiBiase and the one two three kids. Because that's when Ramon laughed at DiBiase for losing

[@tak1984]

How about that? Jeff Hardy lied to get his first contract in WWE, then lied to get out of his last contract with WWE.

[@garyedwardgray7549]

How about a video of jobbers who were actually stars AS jobbers. Not sure you can find 10 of them. That’s a pretty rare breed. But Iron Mike Sharpe comes to mind. Who doesn’t love him? Always acted like an idiot and always wearing that trademark leather forearm band. Everyone who was a 1980s wrestling fan (me) knows and loves Iron Mike.

[@jeffreymark475]

You put Brawler and Horowitz on this list but not Drew McIntyre. Seems odd to me

[@philipbolin6776]

Cause he didn't start as a jobber

[@necessaryevile]

LMAO no bruh, and I was a fan of his.....but waltman was never a star. He got better ranked and all sure, but stars are good enough imo to get shit done alone. Xpac always needed atleast Kane or the outlaws to do so. Sure he got more pop, but so did alot of divas, and that didn't make them a star

[@robertclark2253]

Barry Horowitz beat Scott Taylor and pre-UFC Ken Shamrock in WWF and held several independent titles before beating Skip after beating Skip 3 times he beat Hakushi by pin twice then scored wins over Owen Hart and Isaac Yankem on reverse decisions and somehow ended up getting a shot at Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental title .

[@Emann-yc7cv]

What about that jobber called Mean Mark? Didn't he have a pretty okay streak under his other name, The Undertaler?

[@enderlain385]

Mick Foley probably just ate at McDonalds for a couple of months then thought up a gimmick. Much easier than most stars who have to work out. Hehe

[@MCWAY1]

The Hardy Boys also got the thankless job of carting around King Mabel on that sedan (at least, Jeff Hardy did).

[@jeffosborn3018]

Rick Rude. Was a jobber back in the Georgia State Championship Wrestling days.

[@Rockhound6165]

I'm surprised there's no mention of Curt Hennig. I was watching old Spectrum Wrestling shows on KZbin and in one of them from the early 80's Hennig lost a match to Jose Estrada. He had some success but he was hardly a star. Then he went to the AWA and the rest is history.

[@TheHark-qs4hv]

I remember when Mike Rotunda aka I.R.S. was a jobber too. He was a tag teamed with another jobber named Charlie Fulton.

[@DjStiv3]

Hardy boys.. full of spunk huh? Where you come from thats a whole other meaning isnt it? Lmao

[@tzvikrasner6073]

"The always mellow Perry Saturn" I f-kin died.

[@MasterSartorius]

The Miz

[@TheRealDarrylStrawberry]

Gotta love Razor for helpin "the kid" out like that.

[@joelkysenius4442]

Why wasn't Jinder Mahal featured?

[@wolvie667]

I feel the title for Foley of most unlikely superstar could also go for Otis

[@JagerLange]

Today I realised how James Ellsworth looks a bit like DarkSydePhil (and they're both allegedly alleged to have allegedly done allegation things (d00d))

[@alainmallette2265]

Steve Austin,Ray Taylor (Big boss man),Shawn Michaels,Ect... All stated as jobbers.

[@Vegitunks0]

I thought bobby roode was rick rude son as well

[@claymitt2652]

AJ STYLES should have made the list

[@GrandMasterKai]

Biggest Jobber is Bob Holly always be a Jobber hahaha

[@robertclark6192]

Curt Hennig certainly warrants inclusion on this list.

[@kennethbressler3451]

I learned of Brooklyn brawler because of 5 questions with the champ tbh

[@konahrikbolin8359]

On Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story, I saw some clips of some of their first matches in WWE/F including one with Kane. Anyone else who has or has had the dvd would probably already know that the Hardyz were jobbers back then before watching this video.

[@ktaplet]

When I was a lil boy, Mick Foley was my favorite jobber before he became 🌵Jack back in Mid-South; with his passion & desire to win as a jobber, I knew he would break out eventually....

[@claymathewselevator8121]

PJ Walker was also the name of a quarterback in the 2020 XFL

[@samuelwoods164]

That James Ellsworth promo was brilliant, I rarely watch but that was one of the most memorable things I've seen in the last few years.

[@neoplante]

if there is an opposite list kane would be on top of it.

[@avenger1888]

Update. The 1,2 3 kid ( X-Pac) was known as the lightening kid before coming to WWF/E.

[@rockvilleraven]

He wrestled a lot on the Indie circuit in Mayland.

[@jamesgabioud6654]

The hardyz end with bigger names. But the Brooklyn Brawler will always be the #1 jobber of all time.

[@jeremyk4378]

That's right... seventy bucks. 🤣

[@Bsfnelz20]

Yo you are fucking hilarious DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT BOBBY ROODE DID NOT COME OUT OF THE HIPS OF THE RAVISHING ONE 😂😂😂 GREAT 👍 FUCKING AWESOME 😎

[@Budner]

No iron Mike Sharpe?

[@Heavymetallord1]

Im thinking James Elsworth is an Offspring fan

[@cmoney1928]

I gave you a like for that Rick Rude chuckle.

[@scottyawesomesauce]

You had me going there for a second. When you said Robert Roode was the son of Rick Rude I was like, "whaaat?"

[@robertclark2253]

How about Virgil ? During his run as bodyguard to Ted DiBiase he would sometimes step in for his boss and more often than not get pummeled by his opponent then came Royal Rumble 1991 when he split from DiBiase after a tag match against Dusty and Dustin Rhodes . Not only did Virgil beat DiBiase at Wrestlemania 7 but also beat him for the Million Dollar belt at SummerSlam 1991 . DiBiase got the belt back with some help from Repo Man but Virgil did manage more wins than usual he even got a few shots at the Intercontinental title held by Shawn Michaels in 1992 and 1993 and was in the 1994 Royal Rumble match .

[@michealperez1102]

Bruh where is Leon ruff at??? On this list

[@ThePeachTube]

No shark boy? 😂

[@jackwebster9246]

I've watched a lot of wrestling. Hulk fan since mid eighties. On and off during the 2000s due to adult hood but, Daniel Bryan to me is the best I've ever seen and my all time favourite.

[@titanhades4331]

You keep using that word. I'm not sure you know what it means.

[@martinrubio9412]

Bobby roode longest tna champion

[@nunyabidness3554]

The IT factor of professional wrestling and one of the best heel runs of the decade.

[@gbrooks2]

I feel like I’m gonna have nightmares over Braun the Tank Engine.

[@The4cp]

Everyone was a jobber once. EVERYONE.

[@StageRight123]

That's not gonna work for the Hulkster brother.

[@caseycarmack33]

I gotta see a Ross mimics Von Wagner promo bit 😆

[@eriklarson7023]

Don’t forget Steve Blackman, who was a WWF jobber in the late 80’s before getting really sick and taking years off to recover before returning during the Attitude Era. Also, probably beside the point but when the Hardys started teaming together, they briefly performed under masks as Wildo & Ingus Jinx in ‘96.

[@robertclark2253]

Ken Shamrock was a jobber as well wrestling under the name Vince Torelli before going to UFC and on of his non televised losses was against Barry Horowitz .

[@tyrone5969]

Wait, they wrestled in WWF/E under masks? If so, I did not know that. They’ve had a hell of an adventure through pro-wrestling to become two of the most influential and popular performers in all of modern pro-wrestling. I guarantee that even they didn’t think back then that they’d end up shaping the entire future of professional wrestling, but that’s exactly what they did and the industry hasn’t been the same ever since.

[@Suleiman2000]

Its really good when james elsworth Got a wwe title match and then go to the independent scene He deserve a hall of fame 😅😂😂

[@Zombieshark420x]

Someone forgot about Elsworth sending spicy texts to underage girls... You know, the whole reason people stopped talking about him...

[@glenbartram5362]

I remember when Curt Hennig was a jobber back around ‘83. He was a high end face jobber that would seem to have a fighting chance against high ranked heels, but eventually take a fall. I was glad to see him get more respect as Mr. Perfect, but his jobber past plus a somewhat uninspired gimmick made it hard to really get behind him.

[@ryanmoore8645]

Barry Horowitz was my all-time favorite jobber!! S.D Jones was a great jobber too , but he did win a couple matches

[@rockvilleraven]

SD Jones once billed himself as from Philadelphia, because that where he won his last match.

[@andrewblanchard2398]

WWE shouldn't have made the following guys WWE CHAMPION ROMAN REIGNS DREW MCINTYRE AJ STYLES BOBBY LASHLEY ROBERT ROODE CM PUNK SETH ROLLINS and many others