20 Most Underrated WWE Stars Of The Past 20 Years

People tend to forget that before Ken Shamrock gained his fearsome reputation as ‘the world’s most dangerous man’ in mixed martial arts, he was a professional wrestler. He debuted in Atlantic Coast Wrestling around 1990 as Wayne Shamrock, before transitioning to work as Vince Torelli, aka one of the many men who’ve appropriated the ‘Mr. Wrestling’ moniker over the years.

Always a shooter, Shamrock was instrumental in starting the Pancrase MMA promotion in 1993 in Japan, and became one of the very first UFC superstars shortly afterwards. It’s said that Vince McMahon had seen Taz working the shooter gimmick in ECW and decided he wanted one of his own.

Whatever the truth of that, Shamrock was looking to return to pro wrestling and debuted in the WWF in 1997 wearing MMA gloves and effortlessly projecting the aura of the flatheaded killer he’d become in Pancrase and the early days of the UFC. More muscular than before, he incorporated worked versions of many legitimate strikes and holds into his moveset.

Ken Shamrock may be an MMA legend, but he doesn’t get the respect he deserves in pro wrestling. Many will point out that he didn’t have anything resembling the kind of mic skills required to go higher, especially in the Attitude Era when competition for the main event was the fiercest the company has ever seen, and showcased some of the greatest talkers in the business.

Regardless, Shamrock was a believable - and scary - threat to anyone on in the company, and a former Intercontinental Champion, tag team champion and King of the Ring. In many ways, he was the Attitude Era’s prototypical Brock Lesnar: fearsome and credible like few others on the roster before or since.