Impairments in pro wrestling

[jerichofan720]

In pro wrestling, everything is about perfection. Many promoters want a wrestler to be big and muscular without any imperfections. A lot of wrestlers have imperfections that hinder their career. These problems cause them to have trouble getting anywhere in a business. However, on the flip side of the coin, some wrestlers overcome the odds and are able to breakthrough their impairments. In some instances, a wrestler is only able to make it to the midcard, such as the case of Matt Morgan who looked past his ADHD and somewhat lisp (i guess that's what it is). While others are able to make it to a major storyline or championship, like Zach Gowen who overcame having only one leg or Jack Swagger and his speech impediment.

My question is, are there any more wrestlers that you know of that have made it far in a company with a physical or mental impairment?

 

[gd]

I don't think any wreslter is "perfect". Much like anything else in life, they have to deal with their shortcomings if they want to be successful. Matt Morgan however, is not a good example of a successful wreslter. Staying on the speech thing I'd go with Dusty Rhodes though.

 

[ztwhite]

Certain impairments are actually an advantage.

I'll use the same example you did - Zach Gowen. Lets face it, the fact he has one leg actually helped put him in the main event level. I could most certainly be wrong, but I don't see him even making the roster if he didn't have the peg leg.

Other wrestlers have actually feined impairments in order to get over with the crowd - Eugene and Festus come to mind. Even though they were / are o.k. both physically and mentally, they became major players (at least Nick Dinsmore did) because they act handicapped, or to use your word, impaired.

GeneralDisarray makes a quality point with Dusty Rhodes. Cody seems to have been plagued with the same lisp, but his physique, name and legacy (no pun intended) are obviously helping.