Favorite "Cup Of Coffee" Wrestlers

[The Brain]

Over the years there have been several wrestlers who have come into the WWF/E only to be gone a few months later. Most of the time, but not always, these are guys that had some sort of goofy gimmick. Mantaur, Max Moon, and Bastion Booger are some examples. My question is who are your favorite guys that were only with WWF/E for a cup of coffee. This is someone who was around for about a year or less and isn’t particularly memorable to most people. This doesn’t have to be someone who you thought was going to succeed or someone who deserved a big push. Just someone that you liked to watch for some reason even though you knew he wasn’t likely to go anywhere. There are a few on my list.

I always liked Ludvig Borga. I don’t know if he was or not, but he just seemed like a legit badass. He wasn’t flashy. He just went in the ring and beat people up. I also thought his promos mocking the Lex Express tour were awesome.

My next guy is Hakushi. I thought he had a unique look and an innovative style. He brought an arsenal of moves to the WWF that were only seen in Japan and Mexico at the time. It wouldn’t be long at all until that became a more common style in the states too.

Next up is Waylon Mercy. I think this was an underrated gimmick that had a lot of potential. Some of his promos were downright creepy. The polite southern gentleman who was really a creepy psycho was intriguing to me.

I am probably one of the few guys who liked Dean Douglas. I know Shane Douglas had a long and somewhat successful career, but I’m speaking specifically of Dean Douglas. I like the heels who have reason to believe they’re better than everyone else. Dibiase did it with his money, Rude did it with his body, and Douglas did it with his intelligence. I think this failed because so many people knew Douglas as the foul mouthed rebel from ECW. The transition to a mid 90’s WWF gimmick did not go over well. I also love his entrance music. It fit the character well.

So those are some of my favorite “cup of coffee” wrestlers. Who are some of yours?

 

[johnnyblaze3:16]

i have to say one of my fav's would be duke the dumpster drose, dont know why but always liked him. second would be repo man and nailz. can't really say why but it was cool how repo man would hang people with a rope i think i herd he played a few different charechters great topic

 

[Vintage]

Mordecai. I don't know what the issue was, but he sold me on the gimmick.

The Genius. I was just a kid and I think his in ring work sucked but he knew how to do a promo.

Skinner. I thought he was creepy

 

[Mr_billy]

Skinner was kind of fun, a gross tobacco spitting ass kicker with an alligator, just kind of Jake the snake meets Cousin Cooter

 

[MasterShakeIz4Real]

Probably Marcus Cor Von AKA Monty Brown. I dunno why I liked the guy, but I did. The Alpha Male in TNA was one of the things that attracted me to TNA when it first showed up on SPIKE, an' when he went to WWE it seemed like they were leaning on lettin' him do the whole thing again. But he got released. [Also on a sidenote, I don't think he was in WWE for over a year, but if he was, my bad.]

 

[matman8540]

These wrestlers didn't just have a "cup of coffee", they had a "shot of espresso", and we're talking about some legit people. One was The Fabulous Freebirds. They had a few matches right when the "Rock n Wrestling" connection hit, but left as quickly as they came. I've heard Michael Hayes mention it before, but I can't remember why they didn't stick around. (Along with Hayes playfully kicking himself for not staying.) Also, around the same time; Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer. If memory serves, he was being managed by Captain Lou Albano around 1983 or 1984, and quickly made a bee-line back to Georgia. That one I've heard less about.

 

[DaBadGuy]

Chris Harris: I had high hopes for him in WWE but when they gave him the Braden Walker gimmick I knew he wasn't going to be around to long.

The Patriot: I actually kind of liked this guy but I didn't know what the WWE was thinking trying to make the guy into a main eventer though. The main thing I liked about him was his theme we may know it as today as Kurt angles WWE theme but it's originally The Patriot's.

Eugene: I actually likeded his stupid little gimmick when he first arrived but it wasn't until later on when it started to get on my nerves.

 

[finneycom1]

Muhamed Hassan- I know he has been talked about quite often on these forums. I recently watched some Raw episodes from a couple of years back. Even back then, I enjoyed his promos, his work in the ring, and he had a great look.

The Patriot- A bigger guy that wore a mask. I also thought his in-ring work was pretty good. Not too mention he wore a mask when usually luchadors and cruiserweights wore masks. Pretty good program with Bret Hart too in later '97.

Big Bully Busick- A bigger guy with a handlebar mustache, derby hat and Harvey Wippleman as his manager. Total throwback from the late-1800's/early 1900's.

Meat(Shawn Stasiak)- Gotta like a guy whose wrestling trunks look like Fruit of the Looms!!!

 

[O Shiz BP]

Tops In My Opinion-

Mordecai: Thought he sold his character as well. In-ring skills weren't anything to write home about, but decent enough to be enjoyed. With a push he could have had an interesting feud with The Undertaker.

Nathan Jones: This man was a beast. Didn't like him as a face but as a heel exploiting his past in prison, it was definitely an interesting concept. Always wanted to see him in a big match against one of WWE's other "vicious" monsters.

 

[Via Armbar]

I'm going to go with Sean O'Haire. He had been around for a while during and following the Invasion angle but hadn't been used much as a singles competitor. After he had stopped teaming with Palumbo and spent some time in OVW, he returned with a new gimmick. It was that of a devils advocate. He made the viewer feel like all the vices they had were nothing to worry about. He was the opposite of C.M. Punk's character.

O'Haire had an incredible look. He was tall, muscular and honestly just a creepy looking guy. The gimmick fit his look incredibly well, even his in ring style. All around he was a total package after being repackaged with this new gimmick. Unfortunately it didn't last very long and we never got to see what could become of him. He went on to associate himself with Roddy Piper and looked good doing that for a while, but I longed to see his advocate gimmick. Very few gimmicks can talk personally to the audience/viewer and truely get inside their head. This gimmick had that potential. Credit needs to go to O'Haire himself and not just creative because he really made it work.

 

[Caitiff]

The Genius wasn't a "cup of coffee" guy. That was just a new character for "Leaping" Lanny Poffo. He'd been around for a few years.

My favorite guy like this was Phantasio. Not because he was good or anything, but because I can win prety much any trivia contest when I bring his name up.

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of guys from WWE's past that I wish had been around longer than they were. "Widowmaker" Barry Windham is one of them, even though he got a second run in WWE at the end of his career. Also, the Brain Busters should have been bigger than they were in WWE. Tully and Arn, today, could probably outwork most tag teams in American wrestling. (Yes, I know about Arn's neck and arm. That's the point, actually.)

 

[TheBestThereNevaWas]

The Zombie, Phantasio, Mordecai and I.R.S come to mind.

I believe I.R.S. was around for way more than a cup of coffee. Heck, he's still using the gimmick. See this past RAW.

Dunno if anybody remembers Barry Windham as the Widowmaker. I liked the name, but always felt it should've been given to a vicious or monster heel.

 

[wwediehardmark]

well i would have to say ravishing rick rude juss becuz the guy was a good wrestler and good on the mic (for all u fat internet haters) lol, but really he should already be in the hall of fame and have a dvd made about him, but yea i would say rick rude, he was never a main eventer besides summer slam 90 but he was one of my favorites growing up

 

[The Brain]

well i would have to say ravishing rick rude juss becuz the guy was a good wrestler and good on the mic (for all u fat internet haters) lol, but really he should already be in the hall of fame and have a dvd made about him, but yea i would say rick rude, he was never a main eventer besides summer slam 90 but he was one of my favorites growing up

Rick Rude is not the type of guy I mean when I say "cup of coffee" wrestler. He was in the WWF for three years. He feuded with top stars such as Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, and The Ultimate Warrior. He had a five month IC reign and as you mentioned main evented SummerSlam 90. I love Rick Rude too. He was awesome. Thanks for participating, but I just think you misunderstood the topic.

 

[mreastbay]

First off, I gotta say....great question. Its one i never really though about..but now that i have, my mind is blowing up with diffrent examples of who id pick.

There are ones I cant use, like Isaac Yankem, DDS for instance, cuz.....well, itd just feel wrong. The Aldo Montoyas, Leif Cassidys, etc, that automatically get tossed cuz they went on to be something more solid.

Then there are examples like The Truth Commision (excluding Kuurgan), the Dicks, and The Goon....who really just sucked.

Then there are guys like Kaz....who is undefeated in WWE (3-0 last time I looked), but the "cup of coffee" scenario is a little to literal for me to think of. I f cup of coffe means under a year.....than id have to go with a suprising choice.

Diamond Dallas Page.....keep in mind im just talking about WWE/WWF here....he was with the WWE for under a year....did great things in wrestling outside of WWE and his last gimmick was tired....I always enjoyed his "ring work". It also came during a cructial era when the 2 organizations had to mold together and make it work (which he did as much as he could). ANd the only thing about the Taker-stalker feud that didnt work was how over the top it got....not how convincing it was. DDP was down right creepy for a minute there.

Very few have made that sort of immediate impact yet left so soon afterwards....so for my "Cup of Coffee award"...I give it to DDP in the WWE. and solely that.

 

[Ibi34DDT]

Sean O'Haire. I agree with an above post that said the guy was just down right creepy. He was! I was a fan of his in WCW and had big hopes for him after the invasion. He had a so-so match with Rikishi at Backlash 2003, which was mainly Rikishi's fault, and was released after that.

Another guy I haven't seen mentioned is Blitzkrieg. I remember him jobbing in the cruiser weight division in WCW for a little bit before getting a mini-cruiserweight title push around 99. The guy was awesome in the ring. Evan Borne really reminds me of him.

 

[tnarage2]

My favorite had too be Marcus Cor Von. I had High hopes for this guy. After what I saw in TNA I thought he would be a top midcarder. But he wasn't , The WWE could at least gave a Tag team championship with Elija Burke. Plus I remember to this day when he debuted the fans were chanting TNA.

 

[ramblinroy68]

Joey Abs: I saw this guy wrestle in SCW as Venom. Loved him. Thought of the guys in the mean street posse he could have been a decent wrestler. Too bad they never gave him a chance.

 

[London_RKO]

ADAM BOMB!!!!

I thought he had a great look, the whole red and and yellow exploding tights and the big 'bomb' proof glasses - they were brilliant! He was a big guy who looked like he could go places and had Harvey Wippleman as a mouthpiece but the WWF never did anything with the gimmick.

I think Bryan Clark had a great look in general, I liked him as Wrath and in Kronik in WCW.

 

[1C3-M4N]

Three Minute Warning.

The team was made up of Jamal(Umaga) and Rosie. Who were brought in by Eric Bischoff who was the current Raw GM. The gimmick was basically set up that they were his enforcers and Eric would bring up three minutes into a conversation and then he would say "Did I just hear three minutes?" And these two guys would just walk out to the ring and destroy the opposition. It didn't last long though because Jamal was fired and later brought back to become Umaga and Rosie joined up with the Hurricane to become a S.H.I.T.(super hero in training). But for the time they lasted I really enjoyed them because it was just two Samoan powerhouses destroying people and they did just what they were brought in to do which was be enforcers.

 

[baken1942]

Ok I came in here with 1 in mind then read the previous posts and 4 came to mind now that I liked.

Muhammad Hassan - Greatest Heel of All Time
Nathan Jones - Big Man, very intimidating, had the WWE look
Sean O'Haire - I loved the Devil's advocate gimmick he was doing that was very short lived before he was released
and Mordecai, I love those weird gimmicks, Mordecai was awesome!!

From TNA id have to say Rellik too just cuz of the gimmick and the look

 

[Klown_Karnage]

Personally, I enjoyed Quang from what little I saw of him. The ninja thing wasn't bad and could have gone somewhere, at least in that time, although nowadays it might just be too silly. Not certain if he counts here or if he was just too much before my time for me to know his history.

I also liked Isaac Yankem, at least as a gimmick, although I have to say I much prefer when he left and came back as Kane. Still, as a somewhat silly and occasionally frightening character, Yankem is definately worth the mention.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Muhammed Haasan is the obvious choice for me, a truly compelling character before WWE really dropped the ball with him. When he first arrived he was the misunderstood American who was being unjustly persecuted and discriminated against because of his Arab background (kayfabe of course). He dressed like the average American, spoke like one, and acted like one, yet still got heel heat due to his ancestry. Once they turned him terrorist-like, with Arab clothing and the like, he became too controversial and he had to go. If they had kept him as he originally was, he'd still be around and still be a great heel.

I also really liked Isaac Yankem, D.D.S, the concept made me laugh and he was pretty good, as Kane has since showed us.

Finally, the original version of Doink the Clown. The "evil" clown, before he became the comedic face lumped in with Dink and all that nonsense. I realize he was around more than a year, but he was only the heel Doink for the beginning of his tenure in the WWE. He was one of my favorites at the time, creepy and brutal in the ring. Once he changed though he had to go.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Talk about brief: I really enjoyed the work of Scott Putski, the son of Ivan Putski.

He was Jamie Noble-sized, but with a fine muscular build and a move set that was truly superior for such a young talent. He had name recognition because of his father (Polish Power!) and I thought his future looked bright.

It seemed as if he was headed for a push after wrestling a few dues-paying matches, but he got injured and never was seen again in WWE.

In fact, I never saw him anywhere after that. Does anyone know what happened to him?

 

[Reddannihilation]

Mordecai is definitely my pick. Especially in retrospect when I see so many threads about someone who could replace the Undertaker. The guy was big, his gimmick was over the top but not cheesy. He was pretty solid in the ring and a feud with Taker would've put him on the map. For some reason WWE ditched him only to have him come back as a Gangrel wannabe on ECW only to give him the boot again. Major missed opportunity.