5 Major stars who played sidekicks to mid-carders that fans forgot about
The wrestling world is nothing if not changeable. Someone who is a top star today, may well have been a supporting cast member in their past, or be on their way to a background role in the twilight of their career.
Particularly with the WWE Hall of Fame growing into such an institution, fans tend to remember wrestlers for their best, high profile work. It can be difficult to remember how far they’ve come or fallen, though.
This article takes a look back at five major stars who played sidekicks to mid-card acts, that fans tend to usually forget.
In some cases, it could be that the company never saw the potential, or, they put a budding young talent under the tutelage of someone more experienced who nonetheless, wasn't a major star in their own right.
#5 Deacon Batista
After a vaunted run as a Leviathan in the WWE developmental system, when Batista showed up on the main roster, he was first cast as D-Von Dudley’s sidekick—a deacon to Dudley’s new reverend gimmick.
The pairing made some sense. Dudley was certainly a talented veteran who could have mentor the young stud. Moreover, having such a physically imposing sidekick bolstered Dudley in his new singles run after the WWE audience had only known him as a tag team wrestler.
Dudley’s heel character never really took off, though, and in retrospect WWE was squandering The Animal’s potential by wedging him into this silly role that did not organically fit his personality.
Batista would go on to a better fit playing Evolution’s big man, en route to his main event level career. By contrast, WWE wound up putting the Dudley Boyz back together, recognizing that they had their greatest value teamed as a unit.