20 Most Underrated WWE Stars Of The Past 20 Years

Trained by technical virtuoso Dean Malenko and debuting in 1997, Nora ‘Molly Holly’ Greenwald (now Benshoof) made her name in the WWF after a short run in WCW, arriving to join storyline brothers Hardcore and Crash Holly in late 2000 after a short run as William Regal’s valet in developmental territory OVW.

People who weren’t actually watching the WWF product at the time - and there are many that weren’t that still claim to know all about it - tend to think of WWF women’s wrestling from 2001 to 2005 as the Trish Stratus and Lita show. However, Molly Holly was the glue that held the women’s division together, the tough, no-nonsense workhorse that picked up all the slack.

Never a bikini model knockout like Trish or an alternative icon like Lita, Greenwald (as was) considered her role to be glorified enhancement talent, even as the Women’s Champion. In her view, her function was to be the dependable go-to-gal for the women’s division. She excelled at it: she made everyone look good and everything look easy, and was instrumental in helping Stratus develop into the worker she became.

Nora Greenwald is, from all reports, a complete sweetheart and actually hated being a heel, despite her talent for it - but then, she had a talent for everything in the ring. Stories of her kindness and unselfishness are commonplace, but pro wrestling isn’t necessarily a business for lovely people.

Had Greenwald had the drive and the ruthlessness to go for stardom over steadiness, Molly Holly could have been the women’s wrestling icon of the Attitude Era. If there’s any justice, she should be a consideration for next year’s WWE Hall Of Fame… but then it’s possible she’s simply spent too long flying under the radar.