10 Wrestlers Who Got Over By Losing

8. Barry Horowitz

Dustin Rhodes
WWE

You know, it's f*cking incredible comparing the WWF of 1995 with the WWE of 2021.

WWE in 2021 is blessed with a just ridiculously stacked roster loaded with guys who used to get over everywhere they worked. That's why they got signed. And, at best, a handful of the 200+ Theoretical All-Star team make the slightest bit of damn difference. Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre...

...do two fingers count as a handful? Sasha Banks and Bayley were moving the needle to an extent in 2020, but their star power has dimmed considerably. Rhea Ripley is popular down in NXT, but they mishandled her badly.

The WWF of 1995 was not as blessed, not at all, and yet it was booked by a man who at least made his unfashionable product make sense. He was resourceful, canny, which led him to book a fondly remembered underdog prevails tale for lowly Barry Horowitz, who was so earnestly endearing and quietly skilled that he got it over.

Horowitz was a *Bret Hart voice* loser. He was stigmatised as one, too, which made the storyline and differentiated it nicely from the 123 Kid deal. He was just that guy who lost all the time, until he won at the expense of the egotistical gym rat Skip in a three-match series.

It was nice undercard fare crafted more lovingly than the desperation to make any matches would suggest.

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 current Undisputed WWE 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!