10 Wrestlers Who Should Never Have Signed With WWE
1. ‘Dr Death’ Steve Williams
‘Dr Death’ Steve Williams was a legitimate hard bastard and decorated All Japan Pro Wrestling star. He also went unpinned in North America for a decade.
Add to this a backstage friendship with JR and he was closest you could get to a sure thing. WWE knew what they had and they weren’t about to saddle Williams with a terrible gimmick or hide him away in the midcard. Vince McMahon wanted to build him up as a challenger to WWE champion Stone Cold Steve Austin.
They were gonna bring ‘Dr Death’ in a star and they even had a plan for how to do it. Unfortunately that plan involved the notorious Brawl For All tournament. A shoot boxing tournament both more dangerous and less entertaining than pro wrestling, it also lacked the typical benefits of pre-determined contests. McMahon and his cohorts didn’t book Williams to win; they just assumed that he would.
A second round knockout loss to midcarder Bart Gunn saw ‘Dr. Death’ injure not just a hamstring but also his reputation and aura.
His name will forever be associated with one of WWE’s worst ideas ever.