Every Wrestling Rookie Of The Year: Where Are They Now?

19. 2004: Petey Williams

A similar vote to Chris Sabin, in that Williams was a speedy, hard-hitting technician who caught the eye working pulsating state-of-the-art matches within the Vince Russo sludge. In a weird way, the drastically awful booking actually helped workers of Petey's ilk. They couldn't make money in such a broken promotion, but in hardcore fan circles, they stood out.

Williams is one of the most influential wrestlers ever; in inventing the Canadian Destroyer, he ensured that his DNA is encoded into, what, 40% of professional wrestling to this very day?

That is only slightly snarky.

After winding down a career that was nowhere near as influential overall, Williams currently works as a road agent for WWE.

Authored by Michael Sidgwick

Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!

Posted On: 29th Jun 2023

In this post:

Ronda Rousey Adam Cole Steve Austin