10 Wrestlers Who Are The Worst In The World At Exactly ONE Thing

Perfecting the art of being hot garbage: featuring Shane McMahon, Kane and more...

Shane McMahon Punches Thumb
WWE

It takes some skill to be the absolute best at something.

Imagine having the ability, like Kenny Omega, to run at full explosive speed into someone's face, create a disgusting(ly beautiful) sound effect in plain sight, and contrive not to give them a concussion. It's an amazing skill that requires incredible physical timing. His reward is to be called a disgrace to the profession by brainwashed morons, but still. Takes a lot of skill!

The Young Bucks have the ability to orchestrate deafening crowd reactions. It is genuinely difficult to recall an AEW show on which their match did not receive the loudest reaction. The same is true of their runs in Ring Of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. This means that the Young Backs have spent years and years eliciting meltdowns within discerning hardcores and larger, mainstream crowds alike. Their reward, for this consistent level of objectively successful engagement, is to be accused of lacking both crowd psychology and a "real" connection with fans. What they do doesn't "count".

Now imagine what it takes to be the absolute worst at something. This is impressive too, in its own, inscrutable way...

10. Heidenreich: Selling

Shane McMahon Punches Thumb
WWE.com

The dishonourable mentions here are vast.

John Cena used to recover from major injuries at a ridiculous speed, and his powers of recuperation extended to the ring itself. The man rarely struggled through anything; deep into a big, exhausting match, he'd run through his moves of doom sequence as if performing a run-in. Selling is distinct from bumping, but if that's under discussion, Billie Kay bumped like she was on the moon. In her defence, she was attempting to play a comedy character.

Heidenreich wasn't. He was just funny.

He was funny because his approach to selling was pitiably literal. Instead of showing anguish with his facial expressions or clutching at a body part, the oafish hoss would simply scream "Owww!" and "Ouch!" very loudly.

In his defence, if someone were to belt you very stiffly across the mush, you might make a sound of some description. You don't reach out and ask for the crowd's support when you stub your toe in the living room. But still: he was a pro wrestler, or at least a jacked-up idiot who was contracted to be a wrestler.

He probably shouldn't have treated selling it was slapstick comedy.

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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!