8 Biggest Talent Exoduses In Wrestling History
5. WWE Clean The NWA Out
The WWF spent much of the 1980s snapping up territorial wrestlers on their mission to drag wrestling from its former status as a niche form of entertainment. Some of the company’s biggest names arrived from the territories, and while the mid-80s produced the biggest upheaval, one of the largest exoduses took place from 1988 to 1989.
With Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, and manager JJ Dillon on the roster, the WWF were just a Nature Boy away from having the whole Four Horsemen stable at one point. Ron Garvin and Terry Taylor had already jumped ship by that stage, Dusty Rhodes was on the verge of joining them, and there was even talk of Sting, who was one of the NWA’s fastest rising stars, jumping ship.
This gave the WWF's roster a strong territorial feel in 1989, but none of the above reached their old NWA heights. Windham toiled in the midcard, Blanchard and Anderson rather made up the numbers in the tag scene, while Dusty and Taylor were saddled with polka dots and the Red Rooster gimmick respectively.
Regardless, the NWA was already in deep decline by this point (Ted Turner’s WCW aside), and the last big talent exodus only accelerated their downfall.