10 Wrestlers Who Eventually Rewarded Fans For Sticking With Them

8. The Undertaker

Jon Moxley
WWE.com

Sure, the Undertaker was instantly positioned as a top tier player upon debuting in the then-WWF back in 1990 - going on to defeat Hulk Hogan to become WWF Champion just a year after arriving in Vince McMahon's company - but it wasn't always plain sailing for fans of the Phenom.

Few wrestlers in history were fed as tough a task as the Undertaker at one point in time, with the Deadman forever made to square off with the biggest, most lumbering grapplers and gimmicks of the day. Be it Giant Gonzalez, King Kong Bundy, Mabel, Sid, Kama the Supreme Fighter Machine, and even a fake Undertaker, the Death Valley native was handed so many uphill battles over the years.

Elsewhere, the aforementioned first WWF Championship reign of the Undertaker lasted for just six days before 'Taker dropped the gold back to Hogan - and then it would take the Phenom a ludicrous six years to have another run with the promotion's biggest prize.

1997 would finally allow the Deadman to showcase his actual wrestling ability as he tangled with the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, and fans would later be rewarded by the iconic undead performer putting on further classics with names like Mick Foley, Steve Austin, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Batista, Edge, Brock Lesnar, and then again with Michaels in two of the greatest WrestleMania matches in history.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.