10 Most Criminally Underrated Wrestlers In History
6. Tully Blanchard
Tully Blanchard didn't possess Ric Flair's unparalleled greatness, nor the burly, badass frame and spinebuster of doubles partner Arn Anderson - but he was a phenomenal heel at his 1980s best, as technically stunning as he was loathsome.
His method of generating heat was often dubious. He treated his valet, Baby Doll, like dirt - admonishing her for showing too much cleavage in just one of the countless studio promos he cut to cement himself as a great, understated speaker almost on the level of Jake Roberts. The best - or worst, depending on your ability to judge an angle by the standards of the time - of his work saw him slap her across the face in a shocking December 1985 segment. It was ugly, but effective - almost antithetical to his gifts as a mechanic, solidifying him as a under-appreciated all-rounder.
Exhibit A: Blanchard's reputation as a technician isn't in question, owing largely to his more widely seen work with Arn Anderson as the Brain Busters in the WWF - but it doesn't totally capture how good a worker he was at his peak.
His Steel Cage I Quit Match with Magnum TA at Starrcade '85 was one of the most believable ever wrestled. With their anguished howls, snug shots and searing hatred it remains impossible not to believe in, decades later.