Characters / WWE - WorldWide Wrestling Federation

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Lists the various WWE wrestlers active during the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) Era, from April 29, 1963 through January 23, 1984. Please limit associated tropes to that wrestler's time in WWE.

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A

Adrian Adonis (Keith A. Franke) 1982-1987

General Skandor Akbar (James Wehba) 1976

André the Giant (André René Roussimoff) 1973-1991

Spiros Arion (Andres Labrakis) 1966-1975, 1977-1978

• The Apprentice: To Bruno Sammartino. They were the last-ever WWWF United States Tag Team Champions.
• Carpet of Virility
• Foreign Wrestling Heel
• Red Baron: "Golden Greek".
• Underwear of Power

Tony Atlas (Anthony White) 1983-1987, 1990-1991, 2008-2010

• All-American Face: His most famous gimmick, as "Mr. USA".
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Of course. It's his freaking last name!
• Defeating the Undefeatable: He was the first man to pin Hulk Hogan. Actually Hogan had his foot on the bottom rope but the referee didn't see.
  • Note this was when Hogan was still a heel, and had not yet become The Ace.
• Red Baron: "Mr. USA"
• Underwear of Power
• Ur-Example: He and Rocky Johnson were the first black tag team champions, defeating the Wild Samoans.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: His relationship with Abraham Washington developed into this.

B

Bob Backlund (Robert Lee "Bob" Backlund) 1977-1984, 1992-1997, 2000, 2007

Johnny Barend (John R. Barend) 1962-1963

• Catchphrase: "Mirror, mirror in my hand, who's the handsomest in the land? I am, Handsome Johnny Barend."
• Cool Shades
• Grail in the Garbage: The original WWWF Heavyweight title belt worn by Buddy Rogers and a tag team title belt were discovered in his attic after he passed away.
• Red Baron: "Handsome"
• Smoking Is Cool
• Underwear of Power

Jerry 'The Crusher' Blackwell 1975-1978

Dino Bravo (Adolfo Bresciano) 1977-1978, 1986-1992

• The Brute
• Foreign Wrestling Heel: "USA is not okay."
• Human Shield: A non-lethal example from WrestleMania IV; Bravo pulled the referee in front of himself to block an attack from his opponent Don Muraco. This got Bravo defeated by disqualification.
• The Mafia: The nephew of a Canadian crime boss in Real Life and him crossing them is the suspected reason behind his murder.
• Red Baron: "Canada's Strongest Man"
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Bravo left the company for about a year when a match in Canada against Hulk Hogan was suddenly cancelled. When Bravo heard the cancellation was because the WWF feared the Canadian crowd might cheer him and boo Hogan, Bravo was apparently pissed about it.
• Suplex Finisher: He called his finisher the Side Suplex, even though it was actually a reverse sidewalk slam.
• Tag Team: The New Dream Team, with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
• Underwear of Power
• World's Strongest Man: After he lifted 715 pounds, allegedly (Jesse Ventura helped him with the lift).

Bobo Brazil (Houston Harris) 1963-1968, 1976-1977, 1984

The Brooklyn Brawler (Steve Lombardi) 1983-2016

Bruiser Brody (Frank Donald Goodish) 1976-1977

C

Bad News Brown (Allen James Coage) 1978-1979, 1988-1990

Haystacks Calhoun (William Dee Calhoun) 1958, 1964-1965, 1968-1969, 1973-1976, 1978, 1979

The Crusher (Reggie Lisowski) 1963, 1986, 1987, 1988

D

Dominic DeNucci 1967-1972, 1974-1982

• Alliterative Name
• Badass Teacher: Taught Mick Foley, Shane Douglas and and the late Brian Hildebrand how to wrestle.
• Cunning Linguist: Speaks English, French, Spanish, and Italian.
• Finishing Move: The Airplane Spin

Ted DiBiase (Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr.) 1979, 1987-1996

Johnny De Fazio (John De Fazio) 1962-1985

• Red Baron: "Jumpin"
• Retired Badass: After he left the wrestling world he became active in the United Steelworkers of America (eventually becoming the union's director in Pennsylvania) and is a councilman in Pittsburgh.
• Underwear of Power
• Ur-Example: The first smaller wrestler of note to dominate as a champion winning the WWWF/WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship four times in five years.

F

Jackie Fargo (Henry Faggart) 1956, 1957, 1963, 1967

Pampero Firpo (Juan Kachmanian) 1972

Tatsumi Fujinami (藤波 辰爾, Fujinami Tatsumi, 1978-1985)

G

Tony Garea (Anthony Garcia) 1972-present

• Action Survivor
• Demoted to Extra: As a WWE road agent.
• New Zealand
• Underwear of Power
• Wrestling Family: His brother, John Garea, who wrestled in the NWA.
• Underwear of Power

Eddie Gilbert (Thomas Edward Gilbert Jr.) 1982-1984

"Superstar" Billy Graham (Eldridge Wayne Coleman) 1975-1978, 1982-1983, 1986-1988

Eddie Graham (Edward Gossett) 1959, 1960, 1964. 1965, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973)

H

Stan Hansen (John Stanley Hansen) 1976-1977, 1980, 1981

Larry Hennig (Lawrence Henry Hennig) 1965,1973-1974

• Ax-Crazy: The reason behind his nickname.
• The Brute
• Finishing Move: The Axe (Clothesline)
• Red Baron: "The Axe"
• Wrestling Family: Father of Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig and grandfather to Joe "Curtis Axel" Hennig (formerly Michael McGillicutty of The Nexus) and Amy Hennig.

Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea) 1979-1981, 1983-1993, 2002-2003, 2005-2007, 2014-2015, 2018-

See also: The Mega Powers and New World Order

Barry Horowitz 1981-1983, 1997-1990, 1991-1997

I

King Curtis Iaukea/The Wizard (Curtis Iaukea) 1966, 1972-1973, 1986-1987

Antonio Inoki (born 猪木寛至, Inoki Kanji) late 1970s - early 1980s

The Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) 1979-1980, 1983-1987, 1988, 1991-1992, 1996-1997

J

Rocky Johnson (Wayde Douglas Bowles) 1983-1984

K

Killer Khan (小沢 正志 Ozawa Masashi;, Masashi Ozawa) 1980-1982, 1987

Ivan Koloff (Oreal Perras) 1963, 1969-1971, 1975-1976, 1978-1979, 1983

Killer Kowalski (Władek (later Walter) Kowalski) 1957-1958, 1962-1964, 1968-1970, 1974-1977

• Alliterative Name
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Badass Teacher: Taught Triple H, Chyna, Perry Saturn and Kofi Kingston how to wrestle.
• Finishing Move: The Claw
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast
• Red Baron
• Tag Team: Under masks with Big John Studd as the Executioners.
• Underwear of Power

L

Ernie Ladd (Ernest Ladd) 1964, 1968-1970, 1972, 1975-1976, 1978, 1980-1981

• Afro Asskicker
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995.
• The Giant: He was likely the biggest man in professional football when he played the game. There were plenty of professional wrestlers larger than him however.
• Large Ham: "YIK YIK YIK, YOK, YOK YOK!"
• Pet the Dog: When doing commentary.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He had some elaborate nicknames for his opponents that would likely get him tossed off the air nowadays.
• Rage Quit: He was famous for taking count out losses.
• Red Baron: "Big Cat"
• Scary Black Man
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: "Andre The Dummy"
• Underwear of Power
• Ur-Example: The first professional football player to take up pro wrestling, which he did during the off season.

M

Rick Martel (Richard Vigneault) 1980-1982, 1986-1995

Mil Máscaras (Aaron Rodríguez) 1972–1973, 1977–1978, 1981, 1997

• Alliterative Name: Mil Máscaras.
• Cool Mask: He was quite known for his wide assortment of colorful masks.
• Jack of All Stats
• Masked Luchador: One of the first ever luchadors to appear in the WWE (at the time the WWWF).
• Meaningful Name: His Name is "A Thousand Masks" in Spanish.
• No-Sell: Has been accused of this by Billy Graham, Chris Jericho and Mick Foley.
• Ur-Example: He was the inspiration for several luchardores and Japanese masked Wrestlers like Rey Mysterio and the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. He also was the first to use the flying cross chop.
  • He was the first wrestler allowed to wear a mask at Madison Square Garden (the New York State Athletic Committee forbade masked athletes).
• Wrestling Family: Brother to Dos Caras and Sicodélico and uncle to Alberto Del Rio and Sicodélico, Jr.

Chief Wahoo McDaniel (Edward McDaniel) 1965-1968

Gorilla Monsoon (Robert James "Gino" Marella) 1959-1999

Pedro Morales 1959, 1963-1964, 1970-1974, 1980-1982, 1986-1987

Mr. Perfect (Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig) 1982-1984, 1988-1996, 2002

Don Muraco (Donald Muraco) 1981-1988

O

Paul Orndorff (Paul Parlette Orndorff, Jr.) 1983-1987

Bob Orton Jr. (Robert Keith Orton) 1982, 1984-1987, 2005-2006

P

Ken Patera 1977-1978, 1980, 1984-1985, 1987-1988

Pat Patterson (Pierre Clermont) 1979-2004

Ivan Putski (Josef Bednarski) 1976–1987

• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Putski isn't a real Polish name.
• Finishing Move: Polish Hammer
• Pec Flex
• Red Baron: "Polish Power"
• Underwear of Power
• Wrestling Family: His son Scott, who wrestled for the company in 1997.

R

Antonino Rocca (Antonino Biasetton) 1952–1963,1975–1977

Johnny Rodz (Johnny Rodriguez) 1967-1985

Buddy Rogers (Herman Gregory Rohde, Jr.) 1961-1963, 1982

"Playboy" Buddy Rose (Paul Perschmann) 1982-1985, 1990-1991

S

Mr. Saito/Masa Saito (斎藤 昌典, Saitō Masanori) 1981–1984

• Beard of Evil
• Foreign Wrestling Heel
• Red Baron: "Mr.".
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Professor Tanaka as Mr. Fuji's tag team partner.
• Underwear of Power
• Ur-Example: Innovated the Saito Suplex.

Bruno Sammartino (Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino) 1959-1988

Tito Santana (Mercedes Solis) 1979-1980, 1983-1993

Mikel Scicluna 1965–1970, 1972, 1975–1983

• Combat Pragmatist: They don't give just anyone the name "master of the foreign object".
• Improbable Weapon User: A roll of coins.
• Malta
• Red Baron: "Baron".
• Underwear of Power

Larry Sharpe (Larry Weil) 1974, 1977-1982, 1985

Iron Mike Sharpe 1983-1995

The Sheik (Edward George Farhat) 1964-1969, 1973-1974

Sgt. Slaughter (Robert Remus) 1980-1984, 1990-2002, 2005-2009

See also: The Corporation

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka (James William Reiher Snuka) 1982-1985, 1989-1992, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2009

Stan Stasiak (George Stipich) 1971-1979

George Steele (William James Myers) 1968-1970, 1972, 1976, 1984-1988, 1998-1999

Chief Jay Strongbow (Joseph Luke Scarpa) 1970–1977, 1979–1984, 1993–1994

• Action Survivor
• Captain Ethnic
• Leotard of Power
• Red Baron

Big John Studd (John William Minton) 1982-1986, 1989

Kevin Sullivan 1975-1977

T

Toru Tanaka (Charles "Charlie" J. Kalani, Jr.) 1967–1968,1969–1970,1971–1974,1977–1978

• Alliterative Name
• Bald of Evil
• Foreign Wrestling Heel
• Red Baron: "Professor"
• Underwear of Power

V

Greg Valentine (John Wisniski, Jr.) 1978-1981, 1984-1992, 1993-1994

Nikolai Volkoff (Josip Nikolai Peruzović) 1968, 1970-1971, 1974, 1976-1977, 1979, 1984-1990, 1991-1992, 1994-1995

Z

Larry Zbyszko (Lawrence "Larry" Whistler) early 1974-1980

• Deceptive Disciple: To Bruno Sammartino.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Officially, his last name is spelt Zbyszko, but is sometimes misspelled like Zbysko or Zybysko.
• Red Baron: "The New Living Legend"
• Underwear of Power
• Wrestling Family: Married into the Gagne family.

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