Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Top Ten Foreign Bad Guys Of All Time In WWE

In honor of the WWE finally sort of getting the Rusev gimmick right it got me thinking of all the bad foreign heels that caused fans to chant U.S.A. It was some of the cheapest heat you can get in wrestling but it works there is no denying it So in WWE what foreign acts got you mad as heck?


10. Dino Bravo: He was brought in as the French Canadian strong man who replaced Brutus Beefcake in the “Dream Team” after that he would move on to singles career with a new manager Frenchy Martin. He would try to set the bench press record on what would turn out to be the first ever Royal Rumble in Hamilton, Ontario my hometown. Jessie Ventura assisted and the record lift would be disputed. 

 9. Sika: You might know his son Roman Reigns. But old school wrestling fans remember the Wild Samoans and were a three-time tag-team Champion. He also had a run leading up to a match with Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event. He was known at the time for eating live animals. This was a real old school crazy savage gimmick that in 2014 would never pass the politically correct test.

8. Muhammad Hassan: Technically speaking Hassan was an American and should not be on such a list. However in the post 9/11 world this was a gimmick that perhaps touched way to close to home on many levels. Hassan was a Muslim American that claimed he was mistreated by America in a post 9/11 world. It was a very edgy gimmick when it started but by the end of it became a comic foil for an aging Hulk Hogan. This was an angle that really was one of the more edgy things WWE did since the Slaughter angle during the Iraq war.

7. Mr Fuji: He managed a host of both people from outside of the U.S as well as American’s as well. Fuji was also a foreign bad guy himself in the ring in his younger days. He was always the man with the cane and Master Fuji loved to watch his men’s opposition suffer. Outside of his character in WWE he was known as being one of the bigger backstage jokesters.

6. The Mountie: We could have gone with both Jacques and Raymond as the Rougeau brothers. But honestly The Mountie was that campy 80’s heel long after that had gone out of fashion. It would lead to former a tag-team called the Quebecers as well managed by Johnny Polo who later would be known to the world as Raven. The most famous Mountie Moments were him losing the I-C Title to Roddy Piper for his only title run in WWE. He also lost a jailhouse match to the Big Boss Man in which the loser would have to spend the night in jail. He lost and the fun of what happened after showed how funny Jacques could be. Jacques also was the first trainer for one Kevin Steen who is on his way to WWE soon.

5. Yokozuna: A former WWE Champion and one of the biggest men to ever be in a WWE Ring. He never said much and had mangers like Fuji who during this run forgot how to speak English and Jim Cornette to back up the massive man. He really didn’t need the help. He was used in the angle to try and get Lex Luger over by having him slam him on a U.S Warship on July the fourth. It didn’t work and WWE decided to keep the belt on Yokozuna even with the plan originally being him losing at Summerslam that year. He also was a winner of the Royal Rumble and holds a rare win over Hulk Hogan in WWE.

4. Sergeant Slaughter Iraqi Sympathizer: WWE had an idea to cash in on the tension between Iraq and world as a whole in the 90’s. They just never expected things in real life to escalate as fast as they did. Sergeant Slaughter turned his back on America calling the nation weak and he now followed a new leader Saddam Hassan. He would beat the Warrior with some help from Randy Savage and become the WWF World Champion. Around the same time the real war with U.S and Iraq had broken out in real life. It caused the WWF to change plans for Wrestlemania. Slaughter was getting legit death threats and that is not a work it was very much real. Hogan would save America and win the title at Wrestlmania and feud would go on to Summerslam and go far to long as the War ended before this feud leading to some awkwardness and a low point for WWF.

3. Bret Hart: Yes for most of his career he was a beloved baby face. It did for a period of time become very clear that he was from Canada. He became a Canadian Hero and one of the most hated people in the U.S. It was one of the most interesting times in wrestling where a wrestler being heel or face was literally based on what country the show was in.

2. Nikolai Volkoff: He was the tag-team partner of the Iron Sheik and his singing of the Russian National Anthem is one of the most memorable gimmicks in the history of wrestling. If Rusev could get over half as well as Volkoff WWE should be thrilled. He didn’t have a hot blonde with him he had the legendary Classy Freddie Blassie as his manger. He would later be paired with the doctor of style Slick.

1. Iron Sheik: Ask him on twitter he will tell you he is a legend. I am not going to argue with him so he will want to make me humble. He truly is the classic 80’s foreign heel. He said every single time what he thought of the U.S and more importantly for me Canada. He was the heel champion that launched Hulk-a-Mania. He has become a social media icon in modern times and started to reclaim his fame with appearance on the Howard Stern Show. But perhaps his best moment was winning the Gimmick Battle Royal based on the simple face he could not take the bump to go out of the ring. Fans loved the result though and booed Slaughter for putting him in the Cobra Clutch.

So how did we do? There is a long list of guys you could include. One name I considered was Andre the Giant but it was never really played up the fact he was from France as much as the fact he turned his back on the fans. Killer Kahn, Orient Express, Akeem the African Dream, Kamala we could go on for days. Hope you enjoyed the list.


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