In the WWE, much like the rest of pro-wrestling business, is built on creating new stars and there is no better way to make an upcoming wrestler prominent than by giving that person a victory over an established main eventer.
Sean Waltman has to be the perfect example as an upset victory over Razor Ramon in 1993 made him a household name overnight. Shelton Benjamin’s initial WWE singles run was built on the multiple victories he scored over a dominant Triple H in the mid-2000s.
On the other side of the coin, some superstars were given shock victories over established names – but for one reason or the other, those wins did not result in a sustained push. This list takes a look at five such superstars who surprised fans by scoring an upset victory over a WWE main eventer but soon found themselves back in wrestling purgatory.
Test – beat Kevin Nash
It has been 14 years since the former Intercontinental, European, and Tag team Champion Test passed away after an accidental overdose of a prescription pain medication. While he is hardly talked about nowadays, Test had been on the verge of a strong push multiple times during his near decade-long WWE run.
While he has scored singles victories over Kane and Triple H in his career, he gradually became a lower mid-card talent in 2003. However, he started getting featured again, albeit as part of a misogynistic angle that saw him mistreat female members of the roster like Stacy Keibler, Victoria, and Trish Stratus.
Test’s actions led to a match with former World Champion Kevin Nash who had recently been in a World Heavyweight title program against Triple H. Test proceeded to gain the victory with his Big Boot finisher after Trish Stratus inadvertently distracted Nash. The victory did not lead to a sustained push for Test, who would soon find himself relegated to WWE B-shows, getting beat by Steven Richards on multiple occasions.
The Hurricane – beat the Rock
Heading into WrestleMania 19, RAW’s main program was a third WrestleMania match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. With Austin recently returning to the company after a controversial decision to walk out a few months earlier and the Rock about to embark on a full-time Hollywood career, the build for the match didn’t match their previous WrestleMania feuds.
The buildup was largely devoid of physical action from the side of Stone Cold who would eventually retire from professional wrestling after the WrestleMania bout – so the Rock found himself in a min-feud with The Hurricane instead. Their program started with The Hurricane disparaging the Rock’s movie career and the People’s champion retaliating by calling him the ‘hamburglar’.
It led to a singles match on RAW which was surprisingly competitive, with the Hurricane taking the Rock’s best moves and surviving. The crowd was eating up the match and when it seemed like the Rock would finally put the Hurricane away with the People’s Elbow, Austin’s music hit. A distracted Rock was then rolled up by the cruiserweight for a famous victory.
Hurricane’s momentum fizzled out almost immediately as the Rock beat him up the next week and the masked superstar did not even have a spot on WrestleMania 19 despite his big win.
Maven – beat the Undertaker
It is no mean feat to eliminate a legend like The Undertaker from the Royal Rumble or take a title off him, and during his four-year stint in the WWE, young Maven achieved both. However, Maven’s WWE career failed to kick off and he has been in the wrestling wilderness for over 15 years now.
But back in 2001, Maven had won the first-ever WWE Tough Enough reality competition which landed him a spot on the main roster. His initial feud was with Tazz, but he made his mark when he dropkicked a dominant Undertaker out of the 2002 Royal Rumble match. The Deadman proceeded to beat Maven up after returning to the ring, but their feud resulted in Maven challenging The Undertaker for the latter’s Hardcore Championship.
Taker had finally made the Hardcore Championship prominent by having a sustained title run and it came as a shock when Maven beat him for the belt on RAW. It took some help from The Rock to keep The Undertaker down, but Maven seemed to be on track for a singles push.
But he soon found himself relegated to the lower card and lost the Hardcore title to Raven not long after. By the time of his release in 2005, Maven was firmly established as a jobber to the stars.
Rico – beat Ric Flair
Rico Constantino had a largely uneventful WWE career in the early 2000s, winning the tag team titles twice in forgotten tandems with Rikishi and later, Charlie Haas. His best singles moment came on a 2002 episode of RAW when he beat the legendary Ric Flair clean in the middle of the ring.
The result was significant as it led to an angle between Ric Flair and Triple H which eventually resulted in the formation of the Evolution stable, but Rico did not gain anything from the upset win. He remained in lower mid-card status on RAW and eventually moved to SmackDown.
He was released from his two-year main roster run in 2004. After a short run in Japan, Rico decided to exit the professional wrestling game and is currently a police officer.
D-Von Dudley – beat Triple H
2002 saw D-Von Dudley embark on a forgotten singles run as Reverend D-Von, the heel spiritual advisor to Vince McMahon. On the May 9, 2002, edition of SmackDown, the Reverend took on Triple H in a singles match. The night was also memorable for the debut of one ‘Deacon Batista‘ who came out in D-Von’s corner against his future Evolution teammate.
The match lasted barely six minutes and Triple H was in the ascendancy, getting ready to deliver the Pedigree to D-Von. However, Triple H’s opponent at the upcoming Judgement Day PPV – Chris Jericho – came out to the ring and clocked Hunter with D-Von’s collection box. D-Von would proceed to cover Triple H for the 1-2-3.
Even though the victory was monumental, D-Von did not stay in the singles division for long. He found himself betrayed by Batista not long after and soon reformed the Dudley Boyz tag team with Bubba Ray Dudley. D-Von would never have a singles run in the WWE again.
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