10 Stiffest WWE Wrestlers Ever
5. Hardcore Holly
A bullish in-ring brutalitarian with heavy hands and stinging slams, notorious Attitude Era curmudgeon Bob Holly had no qualms about leaving his opponents battered and bruised - even when they weren't willing (or capable) of responding in kind.
Holly's Alabama Slam was particularly punishing. By all accounts, back bumps suck, particularly when they're being delivered by a guy whose only emotional state is grumpy, to whom the phrase "feathered touch" is an alien concept. Hardcore would snap his opponents down in the mat with unrestrained force, no matter who they are, which unquestionably made the finisher more decisive, primarily because he appeared to deliver it like a shoot.
Said Bob of his stiff style on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast in 2017:-
“The way I like to work is I like my stuff as believable as possible without being real. That is why I am rough, but I don’t hurt anybody at the same time. I have never hurt anybody to the point where they had miss any work whatsoever because I was rough. I’ve always taken care of everybody that I worked with and I don’t know where this whole thing is that I always took privileges with people and stuff like that and I don’t know where that came from.”
Renee Dupree, who Holly notoriously shot on during a 2004 tag team match resulting in swollen eyes and other bruises, would likely argue otherwise. It's impossible to talk about Holly and his hardnosed approach without mentioning examples like this and the Matt Cappotelli situation, when the trainee was left bloodied and broken after being set upon by Bob on Tough Enough.