Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock perhaps deserve an award for pulling the wool over the eyes of both WCW and the WWF. Hired due to their success in the original ECW, The Public Enemy were incredibly limited inside the ring, but they made up for it by having an awesome connection to the ECW faithful. Paul Heyman knew how to book them, but the wheels would fall off their careers once they left the company. Before then, there was a brief honeymoon period where the faux-white gangsters were perceived as the next big thing in tag-team wrestling, which is quite stunning to think of now. Joining WCW in 1996, Grunge and Rock actually turned down an offer from the WWF to be there, and would bag the WCW Tag-Team Titles from Harlem Heat in September, 1996. The reign would only last 8 days, and it quickly became apparent that a lot of the hype surrounding The Public Enemy in ECW had been exactly that, and little else. The team were exactly the kind of thing Heyman was so good at doing, hiding weaknesses and accentuating strengths so well that perception became positive about performers.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
