10 Wrestlers Who Flirted With Other Careers (And Then Came Back)

2. Bob Holly

Lex Luger WBF
Twitter, @TheBobHolly

For anyone who's read Bob Holly's The Hardcore Truth book, you'll be well aware of his love of anything with an engine in it. And for those of you who haven't read The Hardcore Truth, it's a fascinating must-read from Holly.

Holly first began training back in 1987, and during that time he brought in money by working as a mechanic and by competing in bar fights. Yep, bar fights. Those stories you hear about Hardcore Holly being one of the toughest SOBs in the business? They're all true.

Having worked as an enhancement talent for both WCW and the then-WWF, not to mention a stint with Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling, Holly decided to pursue his passion of fast cars as he tired of waiting for his big break in professional wrestling. Not just did Bob Holly professionally compete in the auto car game, he actually won the 1993 season of Mobile, Alabama's Mobile International Speedway.

Bob's first real big break came in 1994, when he signed for the WWF and became the Thurman 'Sparky' Plugg/Bob 'Spark Plug' Holly NASCAR character. In 1995, the company actually sponsored a state-of-the-art car for Holly to compete in the All Pro Series. And while WWF would eventually pull their sponsorship, they allowed Bob to keep the gear and compete in races for his own sh*ts 'n' giggles. That was until Holly was brought back to main WWF TV in early 1998 as one half of the New Midnight Express.

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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, Jamie Hayer, 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.