5 Forgotten WWE Debuts Of ECW Icons
3. Balls Mahoney - 1992
Balls Mahoney will forever be remembered by ECW fans as the crazed, chair-swinging maniac that made a name for himself taking wrestling to the extreme; from fire to barbed wire and everything in between. But before he became the lovable chairman of extreme, he - like so many other superstars before and after him - was first an enhancement talent for Vince McMahon.
Wrestling under his real name of Jon Rechner, Balls would find himself on WWF Superstars in September of ‘92 facing off against Papa Shango. From the get go, the bout would require him to sell a leg injury brought on by a mysterious "voodoo curse" from Shango, involving no physical contact whatsoever...WrestleCrap at it’s finest, right here.
After the Shango debacle, Rechner would appear three more times in 1992, sharing the ring with Marty Jannetty, The Nasty Boys and Virgil; with all bouts lasting less than three minutes. He would resurface a year later, teaming with Glen Ruth (aka Headbanger Thrasher) in a losing effort against Men On A Mission (Mabel and Mo), before making his final enhancement duty tagging with Phil Apollo as opposition for the Smoking Gunns in October of '95.
However, things would pick up for Mahoney in December that year, when he would receive a mini-push as part of Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation...under a heel Santa gimmick named Xanta Klaus. Xanta Klaus debuted at In Your House 5, making one more TV appearance on Raw defeating the future Scotty 2 Hotty before disappearing without a trace. Merry Xmas, Balls...
Mahoney wouldn’t return to the WWE for another ten years, as part of the hugely successful ECW One Night Stand of 2005. Following WWE’s decision to revive ECW as third brand, he would eventually find a regular spot on the roster in 2006, thankfully under his most successful persona, Balls Mahoney.