10. Tank Abbott - From Bad Fighter To Worse Professional Wrestler
A mixed martial arts fighter who made his debut at UFC VI, David Lee "Tank" Abbott was one of the biggest stars of the early UFC era. Actually a fairly good amateur wrestler, he was marketed as a "Pit Fighting" (read: street fighting) legend from southern California. His opponent, John Matua, proudly represented the ancient Hawaiian martial art of Kapu Kuialua by stiffening up and going into convulsions when Abbott knocked him out seconds into their fight. Abbott made it all the way to the finals of the night's tournament, getting choked out by Oleg Taktarov, but he worked the Russian so hard that Oleg needed to wear an oxygen mask as soon as the fight ended. Tank become one of the UFC's top attractions in its early years, parlaying his fame into an appearance on Friends in the episode where Monica's boyfriend, played by Jon Favreau, decided to start fighting in the UFC after the barest minimum of martial arts training. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdmtr6_tank-abbott-vs-goldberg_sport In 1999, he ended up in WCW, where he went from a potential Goldberg opponent to Vince Russo's choice for WCW Champion when every main eventer was injured to pulling a knife on his opponent live on pay-per-view to a comedy wrestler who had a strange fascination with 3 Count, the wrestling boy band. Cost: $650,000 per year guaranteed, with no appearance fees for individual events. For comparison, Mark Coleman, who was a much better fighter and also a fairly big name, was offered $104,000 plus $1,250 per appearance in March of 2000 to join the proposed "Knockout Club" stable. He turned them down.
Formerly the site manager of Cageside Seats and the WWE Team Leader at Bleacher Report, David Bixenspan has been writing professionally about WWE, UFC, and other pop culture since 2009. He's currently WhatCulture's U.S. Editor and also serves as the lead writer of Figure Four Weekly and a monthly contributor to Fighting Spirit Magazine.
Cost: $650,000 per year guaranteed, with no appearance fees for individual events. For comparison, Mark Coleman, who was a much better fighter and also a fairly big name, was offered $104,000 plus $1,250 per appearance in March of 2000 to join the proposed "Knockout Club" stable. 
He turned them down.