20 Most Underrated WWE Stars Of The Past 20 Years
5. Hardcore Holly
Bob ‘Hardcore Holly’ Howard was - and still is - all about respect. It’s an old school mentality that’s kept plenty of wrestlers in one piece over the last century or so. If pride was the force that kept them making towns and angling to improve their spot, then respect was the force that kept them from each other’s throats.
A lot of rubbish gets talked about Holly’s so-called bullying ways: so much drama over nothing at all. It’s not as though Rene Dupree and Matt Cappotelli received a prison beating with a foot of lead pipe - a thick lip and a black eye aren’t exactly career ending injuries.
With the rose tinted glasses typical of wrestling fans, it’s conveniently forgotten that Bob Holly wasn’t the only man hauling up cheeky rookies or potatoing repeat offenders. Crowd favourites like the Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Andre The Giant, Rick Rude, Chris Jericho and many others have all done likewise. Recently, even CM Punk has mentioned that the WWE roster misses a guy like Holly right now.
All of which is to say that ‘Hardcore’ Holly is legit: an old school, talented worker with a great, intimidating look and a genuine badass aura. Tough, stiff and dynamic (remember that world class dropkick?), he never really received the attention he deserved in his WWF/E career.
At home in any kind of match with any kind of opponent, Holly could (and did) work with everyone, putting over the next generation of superstars and making them look like a million bucks for being able to take down the imposing veteran with the wrecking ball punch.
Incredibly, despite his massive physical upside and ferocious commitment to the company and the sport, Holly never held any WWF/E singles title in fifteen years except the Hardcore Championship - an undercard belt that jumped from person to person faster than bird flu.
Bob Holly is the wrestler’s wrestler. He held up the midcard in WWF/E through the New Generation Era, the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression Era and the first flush of the PG Era. A cheerfully straight talking, no bullsh*t kind of guy, his memoir The Hardcore Truth is a candid, no-nonsense look at the life of a pro wrestling lifer, and comes highly recommended by everyone who’s read it.
He genuinely wrestled a bear once. How’d you like him now?