10 Sons Of Wrestling Legends Who Failed To Fill Their Father's Boots

Nepotism and wrestling go together like a Brexit beer mat in a Weatherspoons.

For decades, grappling progenitors have been a steady source of producing aspiring wrestling talent

While many sons of famed wrestlers, such as Greg Valentine and Tully Blanchard, went on to have significant careers of their own in the wrestling boom period of the 1980s, the 1990s led to an increased growth in the number of father-son wrestling connections - to varying degrees of success.

While second generation stars such as Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and The Rock have undoubtedly eclipsed the wrestling achievements of their patriarchs, countless more have dramatically failed to replicate their father's success in the industry.

Whether bowing to the pressure of their family name or simply lacking the ability to step out of their father's shadow, the burden of carrying a legendary surname has frequently led to career re-appraisal and early retirement among sons of venerable wrestlers.

Here are ten cases of wrestlers who were never able to come close to achieving the feats of their famous fathers.

A founding member of the Fabulous Freebirds, Terry Gordy and his travelling tribe were territorial stalwarts long before they incited riots in Dallas.

Becoming Bill Watt's first choice of world champion when he took the UWF national in 1986, Gordy would go on to establish himself as a headline attraction in Japan.

Forming epic tag-teams with both Stan Hansen and Steve Williams, Gordy became a 7-time AJPW tag-team champion in addition to capturing the distinguished Triple Crown on two occasions.

All before turning 31.

When his son Ray debuted in WWE in 2007, hopes were high that Gordy Jr. might follow in his father's footsteps. However, with no mention of his family name, Ray debuted in WWE as hillbilly Jesse in tandem with a pre-Luke Gallows, Festus.

As WWE's version of Of Mice and Men, the duo toiled on the SmackDown undercard for the best part of two years before Festus was drafted to Raw in 2009.

With the spotlight on him, Ray re-debuted as white rapper Slam Master J, but the writing was already on the wall.

Being thrown together with Japanese hick Jimmy Wang Yang was Gordy's last act of note before being released in 2010 and retiring to became a police officer.

All before turning 31.