10 Wrestlers Who Only Worked ONE WWE Match
WWE didn't ask these wrestlers back for another match. They only got ONE!
Working for WWE isn't every wrestler's dream.
Sure, most born from the 1980s onwards have grown up watching the product, but that doesn't necessarily mean WWE is everyone's end goal. Some are content to ply their trade elsewhere, and renewed competition in the market from AEW means the oodles of cash Triple H can chuck their way isn't exclusive either.
That was the case when the NWA was hot pre-WWF revolution too, and WCW kept things burning for another generation after that. Still, it is remarkable when one factors in just how many top tier workers sidestepped what Vince McMahon and (latterly) Triple H built.
You might be surprised by some of the names included here. There are celebrated World Champions who thumbed their nose at the "sports entertainment" branding, unlikely extremists who only got a look in because it fit storylines of the time, and a female wrestler most have totally forgotten about.
All of them have one thing in common regardless of success or failure in the biz: WWE only came knocking once, and they didn't enter company rings actively again.
One. And. Done!
10. Lou Thesz (1987)
Behold a well past-his-prime Lou Thesz embracing fellow stalwart pro Pat O'Connor in front of WWF fans on a house show in 1987. No, Vince McMahon didn't expect Lou and Pat to wrestle a singles bout on the same show as matches like Randy Savage vs. Harley Race or Ted DiBiase vs. Ricky Steamboat, don't worry.
The pair entered a legends Battle Royal on the night instead.
Thesz beat the likes of O'Connor, Killer Kowalski, Chief Jay Strongbow, The Crusher and more. Someone else will also be included on this list shortly - he was another man best-known for his work elsewhere, not the "sports entertainment" giant McMahon had popularised.
Three-time NWA World Champ Thesz was posthumously inducted into WWE's Hall Of Fame in 2016. He was outspoken about the company's take on pro wrestling, which is probably why he only popped up as a one-off in '87. Hulkamania was already running wild by then, brother.