Wrestlers before and after

By Scott Keith on 17 July 2023

Hi Scott,

I really enjoyed the Adrian Adonis “Dark Side” this week, since I've never really given much attention to his body of work in totality. I only knew him as a kid in the WWF Adorable package, and since he never seemed more to me during my rise to watching wrestling than a mid-card heel, I guess I left his archives out for some reason. It was cool to learn more about his early days for sure.

For someone new to wrestling back then, mostly from a youth perspective, who do you rank as the biggest cases of not being that impressive in the current presented format versus man, you should have seen them before? The Bushwackers and Dusty Rhodes certainly come to mind, but I'm sure there are many other great examples. Are there any that come to mind today from your kids' eyes? My kids are 13 and 15 now and couldn't believe Kurt Angle now versus 20 years ago, aleit for different reasons.

Also, if they ever bring back Bray and decide to go back to his roots, they should bring along Waylon Mercy as part of the Family. He looks like a cross between Mr. Clean and Red Skull now and that's frightening.

Terry Gordy as the Executioner in 1996 is a big one. Or Barry Windham as anything after 1994. Who could watch “Blackjack Windham” and picture him flying around the ring with Ric Flair?