In North American professional wrestling in the 1990s, there were the unofficial big 3: ECW, WCW and WWF. All peaking in the latter half of the 1990s, they all had a vastly different outputs to each other. Ragging on each other, the competition could be heated but each had the talent to back it up. Yet despite this, some made their way to all 3.
Please note for this list, we will be looking at rather bizarre entries whether they were seemingly faithful to a singular promotion, did little of note or had little reason being there – here are the wrestlers who surprisingly got to all 3. For this, we obviously will not be looking at well-known examples such as Chris Jericho, Terry Funk, Mick Foley, Shane Douglas, or Raven.
Tracy Smothers
One of the most underrated athletes of the 1990s, Tracy Smothers made his debut in WCW in 1990 alongside partner Steve Armstrong. Together The Southern Boys (aka The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys and The Young Pistols) were a strong white-meat babyface tag team, donning golden tassels and waving the Confederate flag when both of those things were much more acceptable. The team feuded with the likes of The Midnight Express and Fabulous Freebirds whilst picking up the WCW United States tag titles.
Smothers stumbled his way into the WWF in 1996, as a part of a crossover talent exchange with Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling. In a massive rib to The Brisco Brothers, Smothers was renamed Freddie Joe Floyd. He garnered a huge upset win over the future JBL, in a deliberately sloppy ending as a result of Bradshaw refusing to be beaten by a non-shoot pin from the Tennessean. Largely though, FJF was little more than enhancement talent, often putting over top-level stars such as Mankind, Vader, and Steve Austin.
Arguably, Smothers’ best success came in ECW. “The Main Man” Tracy Smothers had an unlikely career renaissance as a faux Italian in the Fully Blooded Italians despite constant portrayal throughout his career as a stereotypical American southerner. Largely there for comedy value, especially for his dancing ‘style’, Smothers did actually win the ECW World Tag Team titles. With a 61.8% loss record, he was good value for his exploits elsewhere even though he often ended up staring at the lights. Smothers certainly seemed a weird signing for ECW but soon found himself fitting right in for the Philadelphia-based promotion.
Jim Neidhart
Neidhart may seem like a WWF-lifer but in reality, he wrestled here, there, and everywhere sandwiched between runs in the Fed.
Neidhart’s WWF days are well-documented but its worth the quick recap. Treading water under the management of Mr Fuji, Neidhart formed a team with Bret Hart: the legendary Hart Foundation. As well as two World Tag title reigns with “The Hitman”, Neidhart had a prominent run in the 1997-era instalment of the group. He also had a run in between as Who – a week excuse to use a half a century-old Abbott and Costello routine – although that is best unspoken about.
As mentioned in a previous article, Neidhart’s first ECW run was briefly after his WWF leave. Jim “The Anvil” traded wins with “Wildman” Salvatore Bellomo after his debut in late 1992 and drew with The Sandman at the inaugural edition of flagship event November To Remember. During his 1995 stay, he could not secure a win – losing to Ron Simmons as well as both a lost to and no-contest result against Marty Jannetty.
Neidhart’s first time in WCW was in 1993, where he was largely kept off-camera when not on C-/B-show programming. Neidhart’s later run in 1998 was more memorable, with the powerhouse forming a team alongside The British Bulldog. Neidhart got shots at the Television title held by both Chris Jericho and Finlay on top. “The Anvil” shared matches with some top WCW stars like Bret Hart, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and Scott Hall; Neidhart lost to all of them.
Tully Blanchard
A founding member of The Four Horsemen, Blanchard had less famous runs outside of the NWA’s Jim Crockett Promotions such as his stints in the WWF, WCW, and ECW.
The WWF run was the most famous. In this, Blanchard jumped to the promotion with Horsemen stablemate Arn Anderson to form The Brain Busters. Feuding with The Rockers and performing a distinctive spike piledriver, the duo made a quick and sudden impact after joining the WWF. The team ended the 478-day reign of Demolition as World Tag Team champions, emerging victorious in a two-out-of-three-falls match at Saturday Night’s Main Event XXII. On his way out, he failed a drug test to which the NWA reacted by pulling offers for a return.
Blanchard was offered $500 per appearance to reform The Four Horsemen in WCW but refused; the role instead went to Paul Roma. Blanchard made a one-off return at Slamboree 1994: A Legend’s Reunion in which he wrestled Terry Funk to a double DQ, to which I ask: “Who books Terry Funk in anything other than a match with no disqualifications?”
Similarly short was his ECW run. Blanchard had a trio of world title challenges against “The Franchise” Shane Douglas in 1995. This includes a 60-minute time limit and two losses – one of which was at the Double Tables supercard. As for why his forgotten run was so short, Blanchard seemed somewhat disgruntled at the overbooked run-ins among other factors, remarking: “It was done and that was the end of my ECW career. And they never called back and I never called them in the first place.” Blanchard, a symbol of the traditional old guard, in ECW still seems so strange.
The Harris Twins
Perhaps unsurprisingly The Bruiser Brothers made their way to ECW, wrestling there in both 1994 and 1996. The group feuded with Shane Douglas and challenged for the tag straps against Kevin Sullivan & The Tazmaniac, Public Enemy, and The Eliminators although never won the belts. They also joined Raven’s Nest during this time, which had legs but never really went to the lengths it could of.
In 1995, the duo – now renamed The Blu Brothers – found themselves in the WWF under the management of Uncle Zebekiah (Dutch Mantell). The most memorable part of their run was losing to The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog) in the opening match of WrestleMania XI, perhaps the worst ‘Mania opener of all time. The group’s stay was odd, with the brother piecing out by the time the year was out. In 1997, they became Skull and 8-Ball in The Disciples Of Apocalypse fighting during the ‘Gang Wars’ era; nobody cared. Vince Russo claimed there were fired for not taking marching orders to legitimately batter The Legion Of Doom, a claim Jim Cornette called “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard”.
Renamed individually to Patrick and Gerald, the duo were known as Creative Control in latter-day WCW. A thinly-veiled jibe at the first-ever Intercontinental champion and ex-NWA Junior Heavyweight champion, the duo were three-time WCW World Tag Team champions. The henchmen for on-screen authority figure Russo did tangle with top stars but were not picked up when WCW was bought out. The team were pretty bad in WCW because they were practically a walking rib who just so happened to represent the apparent ‘best’ of WCW tag teams in this era. In an unrelated question, why did WCW die again?
Johnny Gunn
Remember Johnny Gunn? No? Maybe Tom Brandi or Salvatore Sincere would ring a bell? If not, then it shows how successful his runs across all the big three North American promotions were.
Gunn’s WCW career was most notable for a six-man tag match at Halloween Havoc in 1992 in which he, Shane Douglas (who seems to be a common thread in this piece), and Tom Zenk tagged to face Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, and Michael P.S. Hayes. Not only did his team win but Gunn pinned the “Pretty Sexy” ex-Freebirds leader clean. Gunn formed a team with “The Z-Man” and even challenged for Barry Windham’s NWA World Heavyweight title on an episode of Saturday Night.
Gunn subsequently jumped to Eastern Championship Wrestling. Gunn actually picked up a belt, winning the ECW World Tag Team titles alongside Tommy Dreamer. After beating then-champions The Suicide Blondes in nine seconds, Gunn got an injury from which he would never return. His place was taken by – you’ll never guess who. Yes, Shane Douglas! Douglas turned on Dreamer, hitting him with a chain and causing the duo to lose the tag straps.
Gunn became Salvatore Sincere when jumping to the WWF in 1996. Dressed in white and pink, the faux Italian wrestled on some PPVs but only in dark matches. He did feud with Marc Mero over Sable during which Mero revealed Sincere’s real name as Tom Brandi. He continued under his real name, memorably entering as the third entrant in the 1998 Royal Rumble; he lasted seconds before elimination (by Terry Funk (Chainsaw Charlie) & Mick Foley (Cactus Jack)). He gained notoriety for doing signings and matches under the name The Patriot, without the permission of original Patriot Del Wilkes.
A wrestler can rarely appear in all three promotions without their career and name status propelling through the roof.
Steve Williams
If there were one promotion “Dr Death” is synonymous with, it is All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) although he stepped into WCW, WWF, and ECW rings too.
Most infamously, Williams stepped into WWF under the pretence of winning the shoot Brawl For All tournament. Supposedly a tool to put over Williams, a hamstring tear hampered him and saw his early elimination. Bart Gunn won whilst Jim Ross commented: “not a single soul was made” as Gunn was rewarded with what the WWE Attitude Era book by Jon Robinson a “cringe-inducing shot” which knocked him out in a boxing match against Butterbean. Williams could not recover after being knocked out by a long-irrelevant faux cowboy.
Williams had been present as Jim Crockett Promotions bled into WCW. Originally in The Varsity Club, Williams brought over his All Japan team The Miracle Violence Connection alongside Terry Gordy. The team had constant hard-hitting and lengthy WCW encounters which aided Williams even to challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight title. Williams was always protected in WCW and billed like a top star. The same cannot be said for his return run in 1999 in which he was managed by the abysmal Oklahoma and even lost to The Misfits’ Jerry Only.
Less spoken of than either of his runs in WCW or WWF is his time in ECW. Debuting at The Doctor Is In 1996 to team with Tommy Dreamer against Taz and Brian Lee, Williams went on to solo wins over established stars. At Crossing The Line Again, Williams took his first US pinfall loss in nearly a decade when falling to ECW World Heavyweight champion Raven. He made one more appearance afterwards in this strange ECW run.
Mr. Hughes
Curtis Hughes cut an imposing build at 6’6, 300lbs, likely a contributing factor to regular and large-stage employment for the ex-American footballer, even if admittedly he was not all that great. That said, he was of good value, especially when cutting a menacing figure with his constant frown and eyes covered with dark shades.
Hughes’ biggest run was in ECW. Here, “The Ruffneck” was the bodyguard of Shane Douglas during “The Franchise”’s first and second ECW World Heavyweight title reign. This meant Hughes had a run in which he was a high-calibre player in the promotion, acting as the muscle defence for Douglas whilst also managed by Jason. This spot got him matches with everyone from Terry Funk to Road Warrior Hawk to Sabu.
This role was not dissimilar to his WCW run. In the Atlanta-based organisation, Hughes played a bodyguard to Lex Luger, working alongside Harley Race to ensure “The Total Package” would retain his NWA World Heavyweight title. Hughes’ in-ring career largely saw him in house show action although he did compete on some Pay-Per-Views. Hughes also worked in tag action with Vader, Cactus Jack, and Junkyard Dog.
In the WWF, Hughes had limited success. He reached the first round of the King Of The Ring but was eliminated by Curt Hennig in a match that should have been billed as a “Battle Of The Misters” match as Hughes fought Perfect. Hughes also stole The Undertaker’s urn amidst a feud that never really went anywhere before, as the WWE Encyclopedia puts it: “Surprisingly…made a quick exit…in the summer of 1993.” He briefly returned in 1999 as Chris Jericho’s bodyguard which was rather unnecessary.
Matt Borne
At WrestleMania I, traditional ‘80s-looking blonde-haired and dark-bearded grappler Matt Borne locked horns with Ricky Steamboat. Few could have guessed that in a few years he would become Doink, the evil clown. Doink was a great character for the short time it lasted, a deliberately malicious and deceitful clown who played dark and harsh pranks on unsuspecting bystanders. It was a strong character but ended abruptly when Borne left before replacement by a watered-down face Doink played by Ray Apollo.
Under the name Borne Again, Matt landed in ECW. Here, it was criticised that a talented performer should be put under the strain of a comic gimmick. Borne appeared with a face half-painted, an unshaven face, and frazzle-haired mess who suffered from some personality disorder, driven to insanity by his time as Doink. Even dressing up fallen opponents in his clown attire, the concept was performed brilliantly by Borne and had legs but Borne did not stick around for too long due to personal demons plaguing his real life.
As Monty Python would say “And now for something completely different” as Borne’s WCW run saw him play Big Josh. A stereotypical lumberjack, Borne wrestled in jeans and plaid jacket, carried an axe handle, and – even for one occasion at SuperBrawl I in 1991 – brought two real bears down to the ring with him. He won both the WCW United States tag belts with Ron Simmons and the World Six-Man titles with Dustin Rhodes and Tom Zenk. His finisher even here was the Whoopie Cushion albeit a rope rebound rather than diving seated senton.
Badd Company
The truth of the matter is that Badd Company’s Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond are best known for their time in the AWA. Yet the duo also had runs in all of the big three.
First was the WWF run, in which Pat Tanaka originally jumped to the company solo. Together Tanaka served in The Orient Express with Sato until he was replaced with Paul Diamond with the non-Asian heritage Diamond named Kato and placed under a mask to hide his identity. This iteration had only two PPV matches but admittedly brilliant ones at the Royal Rumble PPVs in 1991 and 1992, the former of which Dave Meltzer referred to as the greatest WWF PPV match since Savage/Steamboat. Tanaka, himself “a hell of an underrated talent” in the words of Meltzer, went on to become an enhancement talent whilst Paul Diamond became Max Moon. Swings and roundabouts…I guess?
The duo jumped to ECW back under the Badd Company name. Although top contenders for the tag belts, Company criminally never won the straps during their time there. Tanaka had the more memorable run including an infamously disastrous Body Count match against Rocco Rock and teaming with The Sheik at The Night The Line Was Crossed. Both men actually returned with Tanaka returning for a solitary match; he lost to Mikey Whipwreck in 2000. Diamond had a prolonged run from late 1997-early 1998 during which he contested for Bam Bam Bigelow’s ECW World Heavyweight title.
To remember either man’s time in WCW, you would have had to have been a truly loyal WCW fan. Both challenged for Steve Austin’s US title on Saturday Night. The duo wrestled two tag matches together, still presented as Japanese but without the Express name. Tanaka-San and Haito both became enhancement talent with Tanaka-San having notably more matches at 41, almost all of which he lost across all forms of programming whilst Haito lost to the likes of Arn Anderson, Ricky Steamboat, and Brian Pillman. It makes you question why they were hired in the first place if the talented duo would be used as journeymen fodder.
Tito Santana
Cited by those who worked with him in his prime days in the WWF, Tito Santana is regarded as one of the most talented and hardest workers of all time. With that, it makes sense that other promotions would pick him up, even if the results were somewhat forgettable.
A mainstay, especially in the WWF’s “Golden Era”, Tito Santana was a two-time Intercontinental champion, a two-time WWF World Tag Team champion (in a team with Ivan Putski and in Strike Force alongside Rick Martel), a former King Of The Ring, and 2004 Hall Of Famer. A permanent face, the reliable worker, during his time as “El Matador”, he was even considered to be WWE champion. Highlights include his feud with Greg Valentine, fun team with Rick Martel, and contributions to the business (such as firsts, like the first person to wrestle a match at WrestleMania, first Royal Rumble participant, and first wrestler to pin The Undertaker) which goes to show how trusted the Mexican-American performer was under Vince McMahon.
On the 20th edition of ECW Hardcore TV in August 1993, Tito Santana beat Don Muraco to win the ECW World Heavyweight championship. Yes, Tito Santana: ECW champion – certainly a million miles away from the years of Raven crucifying The Sandman and Sabu’s bicep falling out, both over the same belt. Tito teamed with Stan Hansen to win a tag match soon after. Tito had no defences and could not fulfil commitments before forfeiting the belt to….Shane Douglas! Tito said he disagreed with the new booker Dangerously, saying: “I’ve never been a fan of his and he’s probably never been a fan of mine. And once I met him the first night, I knew I didn’t want to work for him again.”
Another place in which Santana could not get on with the behind the scene situation was WCW. Santana wrestled one match there: a Dungeon match in which he beat Jeff Jarrett on Nitro in 2000. Because this is not batshit crazy enough already, Chris Benoit was the guest referee and the match lasted just over two minutes. I don’t know how to justify this other than: WCW in 2000, folks! It sure was a different (and crazy) time.
It may be clear from above that anybody who was anybody was signed in wrestling in the 1990s, especially those who had recently left another one of the big three North American promotions at the time.
For some, they seemed to pass through all without much notice whilst others only succeeded in one company thus their appearance in all three promotions is surprising in their obscurity.
It is certainly good to “eat [all] the fruit of all the trees in the garden of the world” as Oscar Wilde put it but for these – some fruits were more memorable in taste, others more successful in find, whilst some just seem utter bananas!