5 WWE Monsters You Don't Remember
The monster heel has been a staple of the wrestling business since the very inception of the pseudo-sport. For centuries, fans have piled into arenas in droves to watch the smaller underdog babyface wrestler attempt to take down the monstrous giant.
WWE is no different. In fact, WWE has historically relied on the monster heel more than any other wrestling company, due to it's penchant for booking babyfaces as their longtime World Champions whereas other territories or organisations would favour the face chasing a heel champion, believing the money was in the pursuit of the gold, not the defending of it.
Atypically, WWE promoted good guys as their long-term WWE Champions such as Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan, who would routinely clash in heavily hyped title bouts with giants that were even bigger than them.
Sammartino battled (and defeated) such behemoths as Ivan Koloff, Blackjack Mulligan and Spiros Arion, during his time as the WWE's premier performer.
Hogan clashed with a plethora of monsters such as: King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, Earthquake and Hercules Hernandez during his runs as champion.
Some of these monsters were successful; many weren't.
Names such as Andre, The Undertaker, Kane and Bigshow have all used their size to get over with the WWE Universe and used their microphone skills to build a rapport with the masses. All have endured as legendary names who have worked for WWE in excess of two decades. However, for every Undertaker and Kane, there is a Brian Adams and Giant Gonzalez who have had disastrous WWE careers for varying reasons and enjoyed precious little success in the business full stop.
In the following slideshow, SK looks back at five monsters who once adorned WWE rings who are not well remembered in 2018 and examines the reasons why.
#5 Giant Gonzalez
Why WWE signed Giant Gonzalez, a man who wrestled to zero success as El Gigante in WCW between 1989 and 1992 is anyone's guess?
But sign him (and push him) they did. Presumably, the attraction was his immense height. Standing at a legitimate 7 feet 7 inches tall, Gonzalez towered over everyone, which in WWE's mind made him the perfect foil for their resident giant, The Undertaker.
Gonzalez and Undertaker clashed in the worst match at Wrestlemania IX (which is saying something) and contested a re-match at Summerslam, later in 1993. Both bouts were disasters and the giant was cut from the company immediately afterwards.
Lacking coordination or menace and dressed in a ludicrous muscular paint brushed attire, which was designed to hide his slight frame, Gonzalez is a name that you will seldom hear wrestling historians refer to and for good reason.