The future Hardcore Holly ended his WWF/WWE career in 2009 after 16 years, having become a locker room leader, respected if not necessarily liked by everyone in the company and the majority of the fans. The real life Bob Howard could wrestle a fantastic match when given the opportunity, had a drop kick better than almost anyone elses in the business, and was a legitimate tough bastard, having been a professional bar fighter long before he started working matches. And his gimmick when he began? Thurman Sparky Plugg, happy-go-lucky wrestling NASCAR driver. Now, Howard never had a massive push from the office in his entire career, and over the years he resigned himself to playing jobber to the stars making other people, often less talented people, look good to a paying crowd. Working his ass off and never complaining is what Bob Holly did, and probably still does. He managed to claw his way to a more realistic, appropriate gimmick genuine tough guy and streetfighter Hardcore Holly over years of hammering away at it, refusing to slack off, gaining the respect of everyone in management and everyone he worked with. He broke his arm when Kurt Angle botched a moonsault, carried on wrestling and finished the match, putting Angle over exactly as planned. He broke his neck when he and Brock Lesnar mistimed going up for a powerbomb, carried on wrestling (including repeating the blown spot) and finished the match, putting Lesnar over exactly as planned. He cut his back open with a foot long gash during a match with Rob Van Dam, refused point blank to stop wrestling (to the point of threatening to knock out the official who examined him if he tried to end the match) and went on another eight minutes to put Van Dam over exactly as planned. He went on a European tour as ordered, despite having a nasty staph infection: meaning that he nearly had his arm amputated when he came home. When he came back to work months and months later, he once again worked harder than everyone else. Resolutely old school, hard as nails and uncompromising in pretty much everything he does, Bob 'Hardcore' Holly is the pro wrestlers pro wrestler, and got over through sheer hardassed guts.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
