10 Wrestlers Who Vanished When WWF Became WWE
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00:00 When the WWF became the WWE in 2002, it was more than just a name change.
00:06 Not sure we thought this at the time, but looking back it did indeed serve as the catalyst
00:10 for a bunch of wrestlers to just disappear.
00:13 Given some of these were never explained, if we are keeping it kayfabe, it means they
00:17 are literally missing person.
00:19 So let us find out what really did happen to them, because I am Simon from WhatCulture,
00:23 please hit that subscribe button for more glorious content, and this is 10 Wrestlers
00:27 Who Vanished When The WWF Became WWE.
00:30 10.
00:31 Shawn Stasiak Or Meat, and as he has come up I will tell
00:34 you my story quick.
00:36 Because when me and a friend went to WCW over here in the UK and were basically both kids,
00:40 we decided to shout "Meat" at Shawn as loud as we could.
00:44 He saw, looked sad, walked off, I still regret it.
00:48 It is kinda nuts that this gimmick and that of Planet Stasiak were all WWE had for him,
00:53 because look at the guy, he is 6 foot 4, jacked, his dad was a star, he looked like Vince McMahon
00:58 made him in a lab.
00:59 This all really did come to a head when he returned to the company after World Championship
01:02 Wrestling had been bought out, because not only did Stasiak let slip secret plans when
01:07 it came to the invasion angle, but once done, he lost 15 matches in a row on Sunday Night
01:12 Heat.
01:13 It didn't look good.
01:14 I think Shawn knew that too, so asked for his release, but on TV, poof, he just wasn't
01:18 there anymore.
01:19 It seems like he was just done because he only wrestled 4 independent shows before becoming
01:23 a very successful chiropractor.
01:25 Stasiak is still doing the rounds as well as I saw him at WrestleCon during WrestleMania
01:29 38 weekend, so good for him, he got out, and he is happy.
01:34 9.
01:35 DEBRA DEBRA had two significant runs both in WCW
01:38 and the WWF.
01:39 A combined 6 years meant she was a mainstay on TV, and while she didn't wrestle that much,
01:44 she would pop up all the time most famously alongside Jeff Jarrett before teaming up with
01:48 then husband Stone Cold Steve Austin.
01:50 Zoom forward to 2002 though, and things did indeed get weird.
01:54 After bunning heads with Stephanie McMahon before the Raw Rumble where a brawl broke
01:58 out, which seemed like a big angle, by June, she was shown the door.
02:03 At the time, people were baffled, but once again, it was never addressed on the show.
02:06 We were soon going to find out why.
02:08 Shortly after, it was revealed that Debra's marriage with Austin was falling apart, including
02:12 a charge over domestic abuse.
02:14 For the record, Steve pleaded no contest to these charges and was given a year's probation
02:18 as well as a fine, but it's all out there from both sides.
02:22 You can hear the stories.
02:23 This was around the same time The Rattlesnake was also gone from the company, and whereas
02:27 he returned in 2003, Debra would never be seen again.
02:31 The pair officially divorced that year too, and ever since, I don't even know, as long
02:35 as she's doing okay.
02:36 8.
02:37 STEVE BLACKMAN The greatest thing to happen recently was
02:39 a photo curtsy of the Hardys where they were posing with Steve Blackman.
02:43 We haven't seen him in years, and yet there he was, looking great, and like he could still
02:47 kick your ass.
02:48 Let's make it very clear, I love that guy.
02:50 Don't even know why.
02:52 He was also one tough SOB, and you don't need to read any autobiography from his peers
02:56 to hear the stories.
02:57 Hardcore Holly once told a tale about how he was ready to kill Bradshaw after he deliberately
03:01 wound him up, which makes the fact Al Snow convinced him to wear a piece of cheese on
03:06 his head even more mad.
03:08 What powers does that guy have?
03:10 I always felt like Blackman could be one of those dudes that floated around for ages,
03:13 but sadly it was the other way around.
03:15 WWE had teamed Steve up with Grandmaster Sexay, because why not, and when he got released,
03:21 the martial artist was sent down to HWA, which at the time was considered developmental.
03:25 You tell me.
03:26 This is why when his contract expired in October 2002, he decided he was done, and I think
03:31 we've seen him once since then during the 15th anniversary of Raw.
03:35 He also never really made that many indie appearances, and literally decided that was
03:39 it, and went and beat up a tree or something.
03:42 I dunno, he definitely could.
03:44 7.
03:45 Perry Saturn
03:46 What a year 2002 was for Perry Saturn.
03:48 When it began, he had just finished his Moppy storyline, so WWE decided to try and turn
03:55 him into a serious warrior again.
03:57 Given that he had just been in love with a cleaning utensil, I don't really know what
04:01 they thought was going to happen.
04:02 Just before the big initial change, Saturn was drafted to Smackdown during the first
04:06 roster split, and it was bad instantly because he was the last person to be named.
04:11 It then got worse when he injured his ACL, and four months later, when it was time to
04:15 let guys go, Perry was told he was on the list.
04:18 That is a mad turnaround, given a year prior, the Radicals had been the coolest thing ever.
04:22 Following this, it didn't really click either, because after a small stint in TNA, a few
04:26 New Japan dates and some indie bookings, Saturn was just gone, barely even with a word.
04:31 Very sadly, as we soon learned, Saturn had some very serious personal issues with drugs
04:35 and ended up being homeless.
04:36 The good news is today he has overcome all that and is back on his feet, but it goes
04:40 to show.
04:41 Take every day as it comes, you really never know.
04:44 6.
04:45 Terry Runnels
04:46 If you watched the ad shoot era, you know almost every single Raw featured Terry Runnels.
04:50 Literally nearly every one of them.
04:52 She was a backstage interviewer, a wrestler, a manager, a sometimes girlfriend, turned
04:56 up as Melina every now and then.
04:58 She was a fixture of WWF TV as we headed towards the millennium, and then we had the name change,
05:03 but to the end of 2002, nobody knew where she was.
05:06 Now Terry must have had some goodwill built up, because despite barely ever getting into
05:09 a story, she wasn't released until March 2004.
05:12 It really did feel like after the influx of new women, after WCW was done, she got bumped
05:17 down the card, and when other projects such as the WWF XS show dwindled, there wasn't
05:22 much else for her to do.
05:23 It got even more strange as 15 months after not doing a whole lot, she teamed with Lita
05:27 to lose to Molly Holly and Gal Kim, and then fell off the wrestling map.
05:32 Terry was on Raw 25 in 2018 and a talking head on Dark Side of the Ring, but otherwise,
05:36 she had clearly had her fill.
05:38 5.
05:39 The Godfather
05:40 So Charles Wright hasn't gone anywhere.
05:41 We see him all the time, usually talking about The Undertaker, but in terms of that 2002
05:46 period, it was a proper 180.
05:48 We all know the deal with the Godfather character too, but look, it was crazy over and got reactions
05:52 every single night, which is why when the newly found WWE decided to fire him in December,
05:58 some people went huh.
05:59 It was such a rollercoaster too, as he had spent 6 months as the Godfather alongside
06:02 Wright to Censor, which he has since admitted he hated, before he got to the Raw Rumble
06:06 and boom, the pimp was back.
06:08 What a sentence that is.
06:09 It can't have been the ultimate plan however, as while he did get a little run, as soon
06:13 as the World Wrestling Federation was gone one month later, so was he.
06:17 Wright basically retired after this, although did do some matches here and there, but look,
06:20 he's married, he's got kids, he's in the Hall of Fame, he has a successful business,
06:24 so it ain't all bad.
06:25 It did feel like he'd get a bigger send off than this though.
06:28 4.
06:29 Ron Waterman
06:30 Forget Brock Lesnar.
06:31 In the early 2000s, everyone was saying that Ron Waterman was the next big thing.
06:36 He was thrown around in the same breath as The Beast given they were tagging together,
06:39 and was in the same developmental class that housed John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton.
06:44 It really did feel like Waterman was going to be the guy, especially as he was a high
06:47 school wrestling coach who had done MMA, this is the stuff that WWE loves.
06:52 So you may now be saying, well I've never heard of the guy, and that's because it
06:56 all went weird.
06:57 After being called up in 2002 and working some Raw and Smackdown Dark matches, he was
07:01 fired before he even got on TV.
07:05 Happening in July 2002, just as we were getting the F out, I don't think anyone knows why.
07:10 I suppose they just figured he didn't have it, or they were too busy looking at Brock.
07:14 Ron soon returned to mixed martial arts and was in New Japan for a bit in 2005, although
07:19 mostly he started to fight fires, so fair play to that guy out there saving lives and
07:24 helping cats and trees.
07:26 3.
07:27 The Big Boss Man
07:28 The Big Boss Man was and is one of the most underrated wrestlers ever.
07:31 I don't think we realise how smoothly he moved around the ring given how big he was,
07:35 and the worst part is that in 2004 at just 41 years old, he passed away from a heart
07:40 attack.
07:41 It was horrible.
07:42 His final days in the WWE were odd too.
07:44 The Boss Man returned towards the end of 2001 after an injury, got in the Raw Rumble, had
07:49 a brief tag team with Mr Perfect and then found himself lounging around on Sunday Night
07:53 Heat.
07:54 We then got to May when he lost to Tommy Dreamer and very sadly got hurt again.
07:57 As this is what had kept him out for a lot of 2001, both parties wanted to find something
08:01 for him to do, so the real life Raid trailer went down to OVW to help the new generation
08:06 of wrestlers.
08:07 It really did feel like sooner or later he would be brought back before his tragic end,
08:10 because I tell you, he is great that man.
08:12 We do not respect him enough.
08:14 2.
08:15 X-Pac
08:16 Somehow, X-Pac left WWE in July 2002 and hasn't competed in a Vince McMahon owned ring since.
08:23 I mean, how?
08:24 It's even more nuts because by September that year, Shawn Walton was already back in
08:27 the ring, and even in 2022 he was having matches against Joey Janela, so he can still go and
08:33 yet nobody is ringing his damn phone.
08:34 The relationship is still intact as X-Pac is a two time Hall of Famer these days and
08:38 pops up a lot as a face to wave when needed, but this is a dude who changed the game in
08:42 many ways.
08:43 Surely we can come up with something.
08:45 Waltman too seems game as he has mentioned it during the odd interview here and there,
08:49 and the craziest that is that he has been around forever and yet is only 49 years old.
08:54 Doesn't make any sense.
08:55 So at the very least, let's get him as a special surprise in the Rumble.
08:59 Not sure why we went off on this tagent given it's nothing to do with the video, but still,
09:03 I am very passionate about this.
09:05 1.
09:06 Bill Buchanan
09:07 Are you ready for this?
09:08 Bill Buchanan spent 8 years under WWE employment.
09:12 Mad, right?
09:13 Originally signed to a developmental deal in 1995, his first major role was with the
09:17 Truth Commission.
09:18 The less said about that the better, but then he just bumped around the place.
09:22 Had a tag team called Armageddon alongside Sniper, became friends with the Big Boss Man,
09:26 won the tag titles alongside The Good Father and was even John Cena's lackey when he was
09:30 a rapper.
09:31 So the man did everything and anything he could to survive, but as ever when that E
09:34 came into focus, he was screwed.
09:36 He was able to make it through to 2003, but in early February got the chop which wasn't
09:41 a major surprise.
09:42 Bill hadn't done much other than appear on Velocity.
09:45 Buchanan was busy after this with All Japan and Pro Wrestling Nowhere and worked indie
09:48 dates all the way through to 2014, so that's nothing to sniff at.
09:52 What's really interesting is in 2006 WWE invited him back for a tryout before an episode of
09:57 Smackdown.
09:58 I suppose it didn't work out.
10:00 To tie all this in, and in case you don't know, he still does have ties to WWE.
10:05 If you go and watch NXT 2.0 and lay your eyes on Brooks Jensen, yep, that is his son, The
10:11 Circle of Life.
10:12 Know of any other wrestlers who vanished when the WWF became the WWE?
10:16 Make sure you let us know in the comments below and don't forget to like the video,
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10:29 My name is Simon from WhatCulture, thank you for watching me as always.
10:32 Know that I will forever be in your life, even when you don't want me to be and I will
10:36 talk to you again soon.