10 Most Damaging Figures In The History Of Wrestling

5. Ole Anderson / Jim Herd

Tripel H Stephanie McMahon Wrestlemania 33
WWE.com

To get an insight into Ole Anderson's acumen, he refused to push The Undertaker in WCW because he didn't think he could draw a dime.

One time WCW power brokers Ole and Jim Herd somehow contrived to take the NWA of 1989 - one of if not the greatest year-long runs in wrestling history - and turn it into something more gaudy and naff than the WWF. Ole thought the idea of dressing up a Z-list actor in the attire of Robocop was an acceptable means of scaring away the Four Horsemen. He also created the Black Scorpion - a horrendously cheesy ghost of Sting's past ("Sting...how has your week been?") and buried the Z-Man, hot young prospect Tom Zenk, so far underground he shared a cemetery companion slot with DDP circa 2001.

Ole had past form; his booking of Georgia Championship Wrestling was so polarising that it allowed Vince McMahon to purchase the company in the early 1980s. His fellow owners were simply fed up of him.

Jim Herd had no past form. He was completely inexperienced in and spectacularly unsuited to the world of professional wrestling. He thought Ric Flair was passé. To move with the heady times of 1990 - a year removed from Flair's (any anybody else's) greatest in-ring annum ever - Herd suggested Flair play the role of Spartacus, borrowed from the historical Hollywood epic of 1960.

Flair was having none of this. He soon left, naturally.

Contributor
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!