10 Wrestlers WWE Should Have Pushed More

This American football star-turned professional wrestling menace was a colossal heat magnet throughout the '70s. One of the first ever African American heels, the trailblazing Ladd cut to the heart of the matter with brutally insensitive, trash talk-laden promos and antics.

The politically incorrect 'Big Cat' employed a host of astoundingly unlikable character traits to further crank up the crowd's hatred. One such classic was to simply call it quits and leave when an opponent was getting the better of him. Ladd would take the count-out loss over a potential pinfall as the ferocious fans (seriously, the crowds from the good old kayfabe-focused days are just brutal) avalanched him with jeers.

Another common trope from the big man was his recurring issues with incredibly questionable "injuries". His subsequent complaints of the pain he was in, normally just in time for a match-up with a babyface out to humble him, only served to tick viewers off all the more.

While Ernie Ladd was a respectable star during his time in the WWWF, he was never fully given the ball to roll with. Had he been the promotion's top heel, he would've been the perfect nemesis for the wholesome Bob Backlund during his title reign. While the imposing Ladd did work some title bouts with the man who's never eaten marijuana, an extended blood feud never came. Sadly for 'Big Cat', an extended run at the top never came at all.

Given his charisma, hulking presence and explosive, highly influential character work, Ladd deserved more.