10 Wrestlers You Didn’t Realise Wrestled For WWE In 1999
They were dreaming when they wrote this, forgive them if it goes astray.
There are few years in WWE history as divisive as 1999. Then considered cutting edge and contemporary, time quickly dampened enthusiasm as much of the 'Crash TV' initiated by a Vince Russo-led creative team became untenable. The breakneck pace was unsustainable, with twists and turns abused at such a rate that the Chris Kreski's storyboarding methodology took months to bear fruits in early 2000 following Russo's October exit to WCW.
The cards are notable however, for the amount of supremely over stars on every show. It's to the controversial New Yorker's credit that there has never been a time where quite as many performers had discernible personas regardless of their position on the card. An opening match wrestler was often just as popular as his contemporaries going on last, thanks in large part to the explosion of ideas from Russo's writing working from the bottom up.
Subsequently, the cards felt almost entirely star-laden. For a brief spell, even the losers were winners, as literally evidenced by Al Snow's 'J.O.B Squad' attaining success as characters completely centred around never getting to win.
This unusual equality froze out many positions normally held for the rookies, local talent and potential stars that would normally fill out house show and TV taping line-ups. However, amongst the charismatic crew, some old-timers, future breakouts and even one-time-only performers made it onto the white hot cards.
10. Scott D'Amore
Now the Vice President of International Relations for Impact Wrestling, Scott D'Amore's complex and varied career in professional wrestling started off more simplistically as a wannabe in-ring star in the early 1990s.
The bulky Canadian worked extensively across the independent scene North of the border, co-founding the still-active Border City Wrestling in 1993. Juggling his time between his own career and the promotion, he'd work select tryout dates for WWE and ECW throughout the rest of the decade before signing on with TNA as a road agent in 2003.
His lone 1999 appearance would have been relatively inconspicuous had it not been in front of the company's biggest crowd of the year. Falling to The Acolytes alongside partner Larry Brun, D'Amore worked in front of a whopping 41,432 ahead of WWE's monstrous Toronto Skydome Raw taping in February.
Having since spent the bulk of his career in behind-the-scenes roles, it would remain the largest audience D'Amore would ever perform in front of, dwarfing even the mammoth Wrestle Kingdom 9 Tokyo Dome crowd he appeared before during his brief spell as a Bullet Club member in New Japan Pro Wrestling.