10 Wrestlers You Didn’t Realise Wrestled For WWE In 1999

1. Bubba The Love Sponge

George The Animal Steele
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Long before he'd briefly become one of the most despised figures in professional wrestling thanks to a nepotistic run in TNA, Bubba The Love Sponge was a Howard Stern-lite sideshow attraction WWE could turn to during shows in the Tampa, Florida area.

The shock-jock was a popular figure across Florida in 1999 by virtue of his morning drive slot on commercial station WXTB 98 Rock, and fit the mould as a rebellious and silly sidekick for Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco during their run as babyfaces in May that year.

Interfering in a comedy bout pitting 'The Stooges' against Shane McMahon's Mean Street Posse, Bubba's involvement in the match was designed to inject local flavour into the Tampa house show, but became the first sequence of a two-part angle when the company returned to the building in December.

At the winter TV taping, Gerald Brisco and Bubba had a brief match for the live crowd only, which went to a draw when the Posse interfered. The contest became an impromptu tag which ended when the DJ hit a Vader Bomb onto Pete Gas for the victory.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett