10 Wrestlers Who Were Cut From Video Games
9. WWF King Of The Ring – The Undertaker
One of the better offering of the notoriously cursed LJN games line-up, WWF King Of The Ring was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in 1993. Being the more powerful system of the two, the NES version had an impressive (for the time) roster of ten: Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Randy Savage, The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, Bam Bam Bigelow, Yokozuna, and Lex Luger. However, the less powerful hand-held console required two cuts, one of which was surprising.
The first, and most obvious cut, was Bigelow, who around the game's November 1993 release date was feuding with Doink the Clown. The second choice was 'Taker. While our sense of hindsight finds cutting one of wrestling's most innovative and popular figures surprising, in 1993 'The Phenom' was stuck feuding with Giant González whose inexperience and clumsiness dragged 'Taker down in a succession of stinkers. Despite this, and a credit to Mark Calaway, the gimmick remained popular, particularly with young fans.
To retrospectively weigh-up the in-game roster for data-saving cuts, Yokozuna and Luger seem the better options, but in 1993 the former was WWF Champion, and the latter was being primed as Hogan's replacement.