World Wrestling Entertainment/Characters/Attitude

Lists the various WWE wrestlers active during the Attitude Era, from 1997 through 2001. Please limit associated tropes to that wrestler's time in the WWE.

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Al Snow (Allen Ray Sarven) 1995-1997, 1998-2007

• Badass Beard
• Badass Long Hair
• Badass Teacher: To the Tough Enough kids on seasons 1-4.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: With Steve Blackman.
• Butt Monkey: As a Face in general, to Mick Foley personally.
• Cloudcuckoolander
• Companion Cube: Head, a decapitated mannequin head. Temporarily replaced with Pierre, a stuffed deer head, when Head had a Face Heel Turn (in Al's mind, anyway).
• Consulting Head
• I Have Many Names: Leif Cassidy, Steve Moore, Shinobi, Avatar…
• Joke Character: Head in one of the video games.
  • Heck, Al himself in the eyes of some fans.
• Mask of Power: The entire point of the Avatar character was he would wear a mask that gave him his athletic abilities.
  • He'd wear it to and from the ring, but take it off to wrestle.
• My Friends and Zoidberg: Mick Foley managed to do this to him twice.
• Pungeon Master: Especially on twitter.
• Replacement Scrappy: Originally teamed with Marty Jannetty as the New Rockers. Fans didn't take to it.
  • Actually the Leif Cassidy character was In-Universe example of this. While his original tag team partner had moved on to headlining Wrestlemania, Marty was desperately trying to recreate his 80s Glory Days and could only find a messed up Former Child Star to team with.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Mick Foley
• Yandere: Toward Mick Foley during the Rock 'n' Sock Connection angle.

Albert/A-Train (Matt Bloom) 1999-2004, Tensai 2012

• Ambiguously Gay: In his early days.
• Bald of Evil
• The Big Guy: As a face.
• The Brute:As a heel.
• Carpet of Virility: And it was HORRIFYING. It often caused the crowd to chant "Shave your back!"
  • He finally shaved it in his time away in Japan before coming back as Lord Tensai.
• Continuity Nod / Shout-Out: The "Tensai ICHIBAN!" shout before his chokebomb finisher isn't just a new character quirk. Nor is it a reference to an obscure lipstick sold by Joey from Friends. Watch a New Japan Giant Bernard match on YouTube. Most likely if he wins, he'll get on the microphone and give a short promo concluding with "Shin Nihon (New Japan) Pro Wrestling ICHIBAN!"
• Face Palm of Doom: Has been using one as Lord Tensai.
• Japan Loves Giant Bernard: Went to Japan once his WWE contract expired and became massively over.
  • Lampshaded during his return as Lord Tensai.
• Lightning Bruiser: He can move pretty fast for a big guy, which made his 'A-Train' ring name all the more apt, as he often came at his opponents like one.
• Retool: Is currently undergoing one, so far they've dropped the Lord part of his name, the robe, as higher ups haven't been all that impressed by him.
• Screaming Warrior
• Sobriquet: "Prince" Albert, Baldo, Giant Bernard, A-Train before he left the WWE the first time.
  • Let's not forget "Hip-Hop Hippo" when he teamed with Scotty Too Hotty, though Lord know we'd like to.
• Tattooed Crook

The Big Show (Paul Randall Wight Jr.) 1999-

• Badass Beard
• Badass Long Hair: Until it was shaved off by Kurt Angle in late 2004.
  • His hair had been short since mid-2000. That incident just made him go from short to bald.
• Bald of Awesome/Bald of Evil: Currently. It varies depending on his face/heel status.
• Bigger Is Better
• The Big Guy (Face)
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Boring but Practical: Uses a punch as a finisher
• The Brute (Heel)
• Death From Above: Dear God do NOT let him do a missile dropkick.
• Do Not Call Me Paul: Half the Trope Namer. Seriously, do not call him Paul.
• Dumb Muscle: Sometimes, depending on the booking.
• Finishing Move: Choke Slam (sometimes called The Showstopper); Final Cut (Spinning Inverted Headlock Elbow Drop); WMD (Right Hook Knockout Punch)
• Genius Bruiser: If he wants to be.
• Gentle Giant: As a Face and in Real Life.
• The Giant: Literally. In fact, it was what they called him in WCW.
• Heel Face Revolving Door
• Heroic Bastard: Part of his past storylines.
• Lightning Bruiser: During his days in WCW.
  • While he never was particularly swift, he was very agile in his early days, often throwing dropkicks in his matches.
• Mighty Glacier

Chris Benoit (Christopher Michael Benoit) 2000-2007

• Bus Crash
• Canon Discontinuity: What WWE are doing to him after his incident - literally acting as though he never existed.
  • They've since relaxed this somewhat, as he received a half-page entry in the WWE Encyclopedia.
• Determinator: As a Face, he was the guy that never gives up and pushes himself beyond all limits. As a Heel, he was the pitbull that clamps on to your leg and never lets go no matter what you do to try to get away.
• Fallen Hero: Many considered and treated him as such in Real Life.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: AND HOW!
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko, calling themselves "the Three Amigos".
• Memetic Mutation: Thanks to the way Howard Finkel would pronounce his name, we get "Crispin WAH"
• Moral Event Horizon
• My God, What Have I Done?: He spent many of the last hours of his life researching a bible story in which a boy was returned to life.
• Pater Familicide
• Sanity Slippage: Which started when he returned from his year-long neck injury.
  • If it was slipping at that point, then it downright plummeted after Eddie Guerrero's death.
• The Scottish Trope
• Suplex Finisher: A Dragon Suplex (full-nelson back suplex); mostly in Japan
• To Be a Master: Wrestlemania XX: "Chris Benoit's 18-year odyssey has come to an end tonight!"
• Unperson: Again, after his incident.
• Whatever: His theme music by Our Lady Peace.

Chris Jericho (Christopher Keith Irvine) 1999-2005, 2007-2010, 2012-

• Biseinen
• Crucified Hero Shot: During his entrance.
• Draco in Leather Pants
• Important Haircut: Maybe just as important as his Underwear of Power...
• The Hero: Of his Real Life Five-Man Band Fozzy
• Hot Dad
• Jerkass (Heel)
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold (Face)
• Large Ham
• Long List: His 1004 holds.
  • And his list of defeated opponents.
• Memetic Mutation: Introduced the term "assclown" to the common lexicon.
  • #148, Armbar!
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: He may be a petulant, whiny Jerkass, but as he likes to remind us, he is the guy who beat both The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the Undisputed Championship on the same night.
• Overly Long Gag: Also, a Crowning Moment of Funny - "#1, Armdrag! #2, ArmBar! #3, The Moss-Covered Three-Handled Family Grendunzel! #4, Armbar!..."
  • While that one was during his WCW tenure, he'd revisit the joke years later in WWE with everyone he'd ever beaten...including listing the same person under different names! ("Kevin Nash, Diesel, Oz...")
• A Saint Am I: Also, A Savior Am I
• Small Name, Big Ego
• Smug Snake (If he's Heel)
• Underwear of Power: Heck, he won the World Heavyweight title three more times, broke his record of winning the most Intercontinental title (for the 9th time), became a Unified tag team champion and won the 2008 Superstar of the Year when he started wearing one!

Christian (William Jason Reso) 1998-2005, 2009-

• Agent Peacock: During the Era of Awesomeness
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Just ask Trish Stratus.
• Anti-Hero: Type III.
• Ascended Fanboy: in Real Life.
• Badass Long Hair
• Bare Your Midriff: A rather unusual case. ^{[dead link]}
• Bash Brothers: With Edge back in their days as a tag team.
• Blond Guys Are Evil (If he's a heel)
• Catchphrase Spouting Duo: During his E&C days with Edge - "for the benefit of those with flash photography", "reeks of awesome!", "extreme heinousity".
• Chairman of the Brawl
• Determinator (If he's a face.)
• Dirty Coward (If he's a Heel)
• Draco in Leather Pants
• Evil Foreigner: As part of the UnAmericans. "America Sucks," indeed.
• Evil Is Cool
• Green-Eyed Monster: The reason he turned on Edge back in 2001.
• Hijacked by Ganon: What he did to ECW upon his 2009 return.
• Holy Shit Quotient
• Important Haircut: Cuts his Badass Long Hair after winning his second IC Title in 2003, the time his single career took off.
• In the Hood
• Jerkass (If he's a Heel)
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold (If he's a Face)
• Kid Appeal Character
• Perma-Stubble
• Small Name, Big Ego
• Took a Level in Badass: Upon his return from TNA
• Wangst: Used for comedy.

Crash Holly (Michael Lockwood) 1999-2003

• Blatant Lies: Considers himself a 400-pound Superheavyweight! Really!
• Bus Crash: He died in 2003.
• Butt Monkey
• Celebrity Resemblance: To Elroy Jetson, which led to his nickname, Elroy.
• It Runs in The Family: Kayfabe since Hardcore and Molly Holly aren't his real cousins.
• Kid Appeal Character
• Small Name, Big Ego
• Underwear of Power

D'Lo Brown (Accie I. Conner) 1997-2003, 2008-2009

• Arch Enemy: X-Pac before it was cool.
• Bald of Awesome
• Catch Phrase: "Oh you better recognize just who the hell I am"
• Combat Pragmatist: For a time he used a chest protector, for a torn pectoral muscle, in matches. He still used it, even after his muscle had healed to make the Lo' Down (his variation on the Frog Splash) more effective.
• Fake Nationality: A Running Gag whenever D'Lo had the European title, where he would be billed from different European cities.
• Finishing Move: Lo' Down (Frog Splash); Sky High (Twisting Sit-Out Hangman Power Bomb)
• Genius Bruiser: Is a Certified Public Accountant; this isn't Wrestling Doesn't Pay, because he never brings it up in the WWF/E.
• My God, What Have I Done?/Heroic BSOD: Accidentally crippled Darren "Droz" Drozdov in a match, and didn't get over that fact for a while.
• Hot-Blooded
• Jive Turkey
• Lightning Bruiser
• Leotard of Power: During his later singles career.
• Malcolm Xerox: With Theodore Long.
• Small Name, Big Ego: As a Heel

Droz (Darren Drozdov) 1998-

• Alliterative Name: Darren Drozdov
• Casualty in the Ring: Suffered quadriplegia after accidentally being dropped on his neck in a match with D'Lo Brown. His arms work now, but he's been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
• I Know Madden Kombat: His three-point stance into a tackle.
• Handicapped Badass / Retired Badass
• Tattooed Crook
• Underwear of Power
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Part of Drozdov's. "Puke" gimmick.

Eddie Guerrero (Eduardo Gori Guerrero Llanes) 2000-2005

• Anti-Hero: Type IV, arguably -> III.
• Badass Family
• Badass Spaniard
• Big Brother Mentor: To his nephew Chavo, Rey Mysterio, Jr., and John Cena.
• Bus Crash
• The Casanova
• Combat Pragmatist: And proud of it!
• Cool Car: His Low Riders
• Dominic I'm your Papi: A storyline with Rey Mysterio back in 2005.
• Draco in Leather Pants
• Evil Is Cool: He's proud of lying, cheating, and stealing.
• Funny Foreigner
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With his other two amigos, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, as well as his nephew, Chavo.
• Hot-Blooded: Why do you think he's called Latino Heat?
• Hot Dad
• I Have the High Ground
• I Lied, holmes!
• Ill Boy (It killed him sadly)
• It Runs in The Family: His father and brothers were all wrestlers, his widow still currently works for WWE.
  • Also has a daughter in WWE's developmental program.
• Lovable Coward
• Loveable Rogue: He lied, He cheated and He stole victories, and our hearts.
• Moral Myopia: Played for laughs.
• Narm: "Dominic... I'm your papi!" Made even worse once it appeared on his T-shirt.
• Posthumous Wrestler: Unfortunately, the WWE still used him as part of storylines and promos immediately after his death. It lasted about more than a year or so, and it involved his family.
• Really Dead Montage: WWE made two for him, one is Hurt by Johnny Cash, and the other is called Here Without You by 3 Doors Down.
• Three Amigos: His Suplex Finisher.
• Too Cool to Live
• Verbal Tic: Holmes, Esse
• Wild Card: The poster boy.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The incarnation of the trope - who can forget Eddie bringing a chair in the ring, throwing the chair for his opponent to catch, screaming bloody murder, then dropping to the canvas while the ref sees his opponent with a chair?

Edge (Adam Joseph Copeland) 1998-2011

• Agent Peacock: During the Era of Awesomeness.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Just ask Lita and Vickie Guerrero.
• Anti-Hero: IV in his last face tweener run.
• Ascended Fanboy: In Real Life.
• Ax Crazy: Regardless of his face/heel status in later years.
• Badass
• Badass Longcoat
• Badass Long Hair
• Bash Brothers: With Christian everytime they team-up.
• Blond Guys Are Evil: If he's a heel.
• The Casanova: Rated-R Superstar gimmick.
• Catchphrase Spouting Duo: During his E&C days with Christian - "for the benefit of those with flash photography", "reeks of awesome!".
• Chairman of the Brawl
• Cool Shades: Sports them in his early career.
• Cut Short: His career due to Game-Breaking Injury.
• Delinquents: He was originally billed/introduced as beating strangers on the streets. Becomes this again (sans his stoic persona) during his Rated-R Superstar gimmick.
• Dented Iron: He was forced to retire due to his neck and back injuries.
• Determinator: Standard version if he's a face. Violent version if he's a heel.
• Dirty Coward: If he's a Heel.
• Draco in Leather Pants: All the time, but especially with his return at the 2010 Royal Rumble.
• Ear Worm: You think you know me. ON THIS DAY, I SEE CLEARLY, EVERYTHING HAS COME TO LIFE!
• Evil Is Cool
• Game-Breaking Injury: Had to retire due an old neck injury making it impossible for him to continue wrestle or he'd suffer paralysis or worse, death.
• Handsome Lech: Rated-R Superstar gimmick.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: A picture in his autobiography is captioned, "A good way to get heat from the fans is to spear Lita".
• Holy Shit Quotient
• Jerkass: If he's a Heel.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: If he's a Face.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: His last WWE run.
• No Shirt, Long Jacket
• Mad Eye
• Magnificent Bastard: He is the Ultimate Opportunist.
• Manipulative Bastard: During his last heel run, when he is known as The Master Manipulator.
• Narm: The faces he makes when "psyching himself up" before hitting his Spear.
• Never My Fault: Blamed Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder for losing his World Heavyweight Title to CM Punk in June 2008.
• Ominous Fog: His entrance during his early career.
• Perma-Stubble
• Ramming Always Works: SPEAR!!!
• Small Name, Big Ego
• Smug Snake: If things don't come out as planned.
• The Stoic: He was originally introduced as this.

Faarooq (Ron Simmons) 1996-2010

• Angry Black Man: All the way up to his Heel Face Turn in the APA, but especially notable during his time as leader of the Nation.
• The Alcoholic: During his APA days.
• Atomic D Bomb: DAMN!!! So powerful that the people he shouts it at jump even when they know it's coming.
• Badass
  • Badass Beard
  • Retired Badass
• Beergasm: During his APA days.
• Blood Knight: During his APA days.
• Bottle Fairy: Male version during his APA days.
• Catch Phrase: "DAMN!!!"
• Cool Old Guy: In the latter years.
• Crowning Moment of Funny: Had a ton of them in the APA. Layfield and Simmons had some of the best chemistry in WWE history.
• Demoted to Extra: After the APA broke up.
• Garfunkel: Arguably to Bradshaw, who despite having a huge Breakup Breakout, didn't really dwarf all of Faarooq's past accomplishments in WCW or in the Nation.
• Hired Guns: Acolyte Protection Agency(APA)
• Ho Yay: Lots with Bradshaw. They even joked that APA stands for "Ass Poundin' Agency".
  • EW.
• Jerkass: As the leader of the Nation of Domination.
• Leotard of Power: During his gladiator-like gimmick.
• Malcolm Xerox: During his time as leader of the Nation of Domination stable, with a whole lot more violent tendencies.
• Nice Hat: Subverted with the stupid gladiator helmet he had initially, played straight with the hat he wore in the Nation.
• Only One Name: He had a last name, Asad, but it was soon dropped.
• Pec Flex: Once intimidated an interviewer by simply looking bored and standing still and doing this.
• The Quiet One: Only saying "DAMN!!!" after his semi-retirement. It's the only thing he says on WWE programing now.
• Running Gag: "DAMN!!!"
• Scary Black Man
• Smoking Is Cool: During his APA gimmick.
• Smug Snake: As leader of the Nation.
• Verbal Tic: "DAMN!!!"

Gangrel (David Heath) 1998-2001

• Big Entrance: And how! It ties with The Undertaker's as one of the best ones as he's actually rising from a ring of fire.
• Blond Guys Are Evil: Or not; we don't really know the deal with this guy.
• Blood Bath: There was even something called a Blood Bath Match prior to Edge and Christian leaving the Brood.
• Cool Shades
• Creepy Cool Crosses: Wore one around his neck (or sometimes it was an ankh), and his entrances added these.
• Cute Little Fangs: Those things are sharp, and make him even more like a vampire.
• Dark Messiah: Or as much as we can get from him.
• Finishing Move: Implant DDT (sometimes called The Impaler)
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: And we're using the term "friendly" loosely.
• Garfunkel: To Edge and Christian, as well as both Hardys. See Overshadowed by Awesome.
• Glass Cannon: He's very powerful, and can do a great variety of suplexes for someone his size. Unfortunately, he admits that constantly getting hurt kept him from going anywhere in the WWF.
• Homage: According to Edge's biography, his gimmick was based on The Lost Boys at the time.
• Noodle Incident: Can anyone get him to ask what his relationship with Edge and Christian were back when they were in the Brood?
• Overshadowed by Awesome: He's got a great moveset, had one of the best entrances and gimmicks in the WWF and many multiple chances to get the Intercontinental Championship, but unfortunately this was around the time where names like Chris Jericho, the Hardys, E & C, etc. were coming in. Vampires, apparently, were out of style in 2000.
• Our Vampires Are Different: He rises from a ring of fire and drinks blood from a goblet.
• Power Stable: The Brood (with Edge and Christian) and The New Brood (Matt and Jeff Hardy).
• The Quiet One: Except for an interview or two, this guy is silent.
• Vampire Vannabe: Subverted. He is a vampire, but all the commentators kept saying he lived a "Gothic Lifestyle".
• White Wolf Owns This Name: The name Gangrel comes from Vampire: The Masquerade.
  • Did Not Do the Research: A wrestler is a very unlikely profession for a Gangrel. A Brujah, on the other hand...

Gerald Brisco (Floyd Gerald Brisco) 1997-2009

• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: For Vince McMahon in the Attitude Era.
• Those Two Guys: With Pat Patterson as Vince McMahon's stooges.
• Underwear of Power
• Wrestling Family: A long time celebrated tag team with brother, Jack Brisco.
• Yes-Man: To Vince McMahon in the Attitude Era.

Jeff Hardy (Jeffrey Nero Hardy) 1998-2003, 2006-2009

• Always Someone Better: The reason for Matt's Face Heel Turn in 2009.
• Ascended Fanboy: In Real Life.
• Badass Long Hair: It's even colored!
• Bash Brothers: He and Matt in a literal sense.
• Bro Yay: Lots with Matt.
• Cain and Abel: With Matt if they're on opposite sides.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Though less so than in Real Life; the writers keep his stranger personality traits in check.
• Crazy Awesome
• Crowning Music of Awesome
• Determinator
• Dye Hard: Dear lord. One week he'll have blue hair, another will be purple. Another will be bright pink!
• Facial Markings: He's got some sort of tiger stripes down his chin.
• Holy Shit Quotient
• I Have the High Ground
• Kid Appeal Character
• Memetic Mutation: Thanks to Tony Chimel pronouncing a "j" as a "ch", giving rise to CHEFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF HARDY
  • And let's not forget "Jeff Harvey", as Mike Adamle famously called him.
• Tempting Fate: And Twisting it is his Finishing Move.
• Took a Level in Badass: Jeff was always a good wrestler, but until his Ladder Match with The Undertaker - which he just narrowly lost? No one would have thought of him as a main-eventer.

John "Bradshaw" Layfield (John Charles Layfield) 1996-2009

• The Alcoholic: During his APA days.
• Badass.
• Badass Boast: During his JBL gimmick.
• Beergasm: During his APA days.
• Blood Knight: During his APA days.
• Bottle Fairy: Male version during his APA days.
• Breakup Breakout: From the APA (Ron "Faarooq" Simmons is arguably his Garfunkel).
• Catch Phrase: "Outstanding" as JBL.
• Clotheslined Across The Room: During both of his gimmicks. Anyone unfortunate to be hit by his Clothesline From Hell would either drop straightaway or cartwheel in midair before hitting the ground.
• Cool Car: During his JBL gimmick.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Crowning Moment of Funny: Had a ton of them in the APA. Layfield and Simmons had some of the best chemistry in WWE history.
• Dirty Coward: During his JBL gimmick.
• Expy: Patterned his early in-ring style after Stan Hansen, right down to the finisher. Also, the JBL gimmick has been described as an updated version of Ted DiBiase's "Million Dollar Man" gimmick.
  • The JBL gimmick borrowed a lot of mannerisms and even some quotes from (then-President) George W. Bush.

JBL: Since I have become WWE Champion there have been no terrorist strikes in the United States.

• Genius Bruiser
• Hired Guns: Acolyte Protection Agency (APA)
• Ho Yay: Lots with Faarooq. They even joked that APA stands for "Ass Poundin' Agency".
  • EW.
• Hypocrite: In his return in on the March 7th, 2011 edition of Raw, he told Michael Cole that he hates bullies. JBL has be known to be a bully both in-character and Real Life. Just ask the Blue Meanie. And The Miz.
• I Have Many Names: Johnny Hawk, Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, Blackjack Bradshaw, Bradshaw, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield
• It Runs in The Family: Nephew of "Blackjack" Jack Lanza
• Jerkass: During his JBL gimmick.
• Nice Hat: During his early career. Reused in his JBL gimmick.
• Rich Bastard: During his JBL gimmick.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money
• Small Name, Big Ego: During his JBL gimmick.
• Smoking Is Cool: Subverted during his JBL gimmick.
• Smug Snake: During his JBL gimmick.
• Stealth Pun/Sdrawkcab Name: JBL is the reverse of LBJ
• Tall, Dark and Snarky
• Underwear of Power: During his early career. Reused in his JBL gimmick.
• Villain with Good Publicity: During his JBL gimmick. Or so he claims.
• A Wrestling God Am I: Just ask him. He'll tell you, repeatedly.

Kane (Glenn Thomas Jacobs) 1995-

• Anti-Hero: Type V.
• Ax Crazy
• Badass
• Bald of Evil
• Boisterous Bruiser: After losing the mask.
• Cain and Abel: With Undertaker.
• Complete Monster
• Cool Mask: Discards it. Brings it back in late 2011.
• Crossing the Line Twice: Fought The Undertaker at Wrestlemania twice and lost both times.
• Death From Above: Goes up top for a flying clothesline, about once a match. Keep in mind that Kane is over 300 pounds.
• Demoted to Extra
• Depraved Dentist: First came to the WWE as the wrestling dentist, Isaac Yankem DDS.
• Discontinuity Nod: Acknowledged Katie Vick incident when Kane and Triple H were on the same team with Kane calling Trips out on it. His response? "My bad."
• Draco in Leather Pants
• Evil Laugh
• Faux Symbolism: 13 years later he finally gets the big win over The Undertaker.
• Genius Bruiser: Won a special WWF episode of The Weakest Link.
  • Also a Bunny Ears Teacher and a noted political blogger.
• He Changed, Now He Sucks: Many fans site the loss of Kane's mask as the start of his Badass Decay, forgetting that the removal of the mask was part of reviving the monster in Kane.
• He's Just Hiding: Several times when he was injured.
• Hellfire
• Kill It with Fire: He attempted to do this to Jim Ross back in 2003.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority
• Lightning Bruiser: By far one of the most athletic 'Super Heavyweights' of his generation.
• Magnificent Bastard: Revealed himself to be this after using both the feuds and times he teamed up with The Undertaker for over a decade as a way to exploit his weaknesses and then playing the role of the avenging brother in 2010 all the way to the World Heavyweight Championship.
• Mismatched Eyes
• Name of Cain
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Well... Used to be...
• No One Could Survive That
• The Other Darrin: As Diesel II.
• Our Demons Are Different
• Out of the Inferno
• Playing with Fire
• Red and Black and Evil All Over
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: To The Undertaker, by their entrances, lighting, and "powers".
• Ryu and Ken: Again, with The Undertaker.
• Sociopathic Hero
• Tall, Dark and Snarky
• Thirteen Is Unlucky Thirteen Is Lucky: Thirteen years later after his debut as Kane, He not only wins the Money in the bank match, but he also wins the World Heavyweight Championship and defeats The Undertaker.
• Token Evil Teammate: So many times.
  • His subversion of this in a 2002 tag-team match with The Rock and Hulk Hogan was a Crowning Moment of Funny.
• The Voiceless: In his early career.

Ken Shamrock (Kenneth Wayne Shamrock, born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick) 1997-1999

• Badass
• The Big Guy
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Determinator
• Genius Bruiser
• Fingerless Gloves
• Hot-Blooded
• I Know MMA
• Knight Templar Big Brother: To Ryan Shamrock, who luckily didn't like to travel.
• Perma-Stubble
• Screaming Warrior
• Underwear of Power
• Unstoppable Rage

Kurt Angle (Kurt Steven Angle) 1998-2006

• The Ace: Oh it's true! It's damn true!
• All-American Face: Played straight when he's a face; inverted when he's a heel, as he becomes the personification of American arrogance.
• Audience Participation: The audience loves chanting "You Suck" during his entrance.
• Bald of Awesome / Bald of Evil: Depending on his face / heel status starting in 2002.
• Determinator: If he's a Face.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Thanks to his legit talent.
• Dirty Coward: If he's a Heel.
• Eagle Land: Type 1 as a face; Type 2 as a heel.
• Hot Dad
• Holy Shit Quotient
• Jack of All Stats
• Jerk Jock: If he's a Heel.
• Small Name, Big Ego: After his defection to TNA.
• Suplex Finisher
• Unstoppable Rage: His finisher, the Ankle Lock, pretty much consists of Angle screaming his head off and legitimately trying to break someone's ankle. Frequently, he has to be pulled off his defeated opponent when the match is over.
  • TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!
• Wearing A Flag As A Wrestling Attire

Mark Henry (Mark Jerrold Henry) 1996-

• Angry Black Man
• Badass Beard
• Big Beautiful Man: Apparently.
• The Big Guy (Face)
• The Brute (Heel)
• Charles Atlas Superpower: In Real Life. Dude lifted a Hummer.
• Likes Older Women: Mae Young.
• Mighty Glacier
• Scary Black Man
• Thirteen Is Unlucky: Technically, he is The Undertaker's 13th Wrestlemania opponent victim (At the time, Undertaker had fought Kane twice).
• Unstoppable Rage: GOD DAMN!!!!
• World's Strongest Man: The Trope Namer.

Matt Hardy (Matthew Moore Hardy) 1998-2010

• Ascended Fanboy: In Real Life.
• Badass Longcoat: Sports one starting 2009.
• Bash Brothers: He and Jeff in a literal sense.
• Big Brother Mentor: To Jeff in Real Life and in his persona.
• Bro Yay: Lots with Jeff
• Cain and Abel: With Jeff if they're on opposite sides.
• Celebrity Resemblance: Looks like the long-lost brother of Jason David Frank (Tommy Oliver in Power Rangers)
• Crazy Awesome
• Determinator: Matt Hardy will not die indeed..
• Dirty Coward: As a Heel in 2002-2004 and 2009.
• Green-Eyed Monster: The reason for his Face Heel Turn in 2009. He got better in August that same year.
• Hollywood Pudgy: Fat Hardy, Matt Fatty
• Holy Shit Quotient
• I Have the High Ground
• Kid Appeal Character
• Large Ham: "VEE-ONEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~.."
• Man Scorned: SO, SO much in 2005.
• Never Say "Die": One of his catchphrases.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: His famous feud with Edge and Lita.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Again, as a Heel in 2002-2004.
• The Master: Of Mattitude.
• Tempting Fate: And Twisting it is his Finishing Move.

Mick Foley (Michael Francis Foley) 1996-2008, 2011-

• Adult Child: Mankind
• Alter Ego Acting: The "Three Faces of Foley".
• Anti-Hero: Type IV -> III (Cactus Jack); Type IV (Dude Love); Type IV -> III -> II (Mankind).
• Ascended Fanboy: In Real Life.
• Ax Crazy: Mankind and Cactus Jack.
• Badass: Cactus Jack.
• Badass Adorable: Mankind.
• Badass Beard
• Badass Bookworm
• Batter Up: Cactus Jack's Weapon of Choice.
• Catch Phrase: "Have a nice day." (as Mankind) "Ow! Have mercy!" (as Dude Love), and "Bang Bang!" (as Cactus Jack)
• Cheap Heat: Famous for it, as well as lampshading when he uses the inverse Cheap Pops.
• Chivalrous Pervert (Dude Love)
• Cloudcuckoolander (Mankind)
• Combat Pragmatist
• Cool Mask (Mankind)
• Cool Shades (Dude Love)
• Cute and Psycho (Mankind)
• Delinquents (Cactus Jack)
• Fridge Logic: Dude Love's theme was a disco song. Why would a hippie from the 60's be listening to disco?!
• Garbage Wrestler: And a Legend at that!
• Genius Bruiser: He's a writer, but he can definitely kick ass.
• Holy Shit Quotient
• I Call It Vera: Mankind uses a sock puppet named "Mr. Socko." Cactus Jack uses a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire that he calls "Barbie".
• Iconic Wrestler
• Improbable Weapon User: Mankind uses a Dirty sock as a weapon.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold (Cactus Jack)
• Kill It with Fire: Cactus Jack often lights Barbie on fire, for that extra punch.
• Lovable Sex Maniac (Dude Love)
• Loveable Rogue (Cactus Jack)
• Made of Iron: Seriously, watch the Hell In A Cell match between him and The Undertaker; Holy Shit Quotient...
• New Age Retro Hippie (Dude Love)
• Psychopathic Manchild (Mankind)
• Split Personality
  • Split Personality Merge: When he's fighting as himself.
• Toothy Issue
• Ugly Cute
• Wild Mass Guessing: He could be GOD for all we know! (Emphasis on the "Wild' part...)

Mideon (Dennis Knight) 1996-2000

• Badass Decay: Naked…Mideon shudders.
• But You Screw One Goat! / Shout-Out: Mideon asking the Godfather (a wrestling pimp) for farm animals instead of hoes could be either trope, the latter may reference his pig farmer gimmick.
• Eye Scream: The eye in the jar.
• Facial Markings
• Fun with Acronyms: He was pig farmer Phineas I. Godwinn. As a bonus his partner was Henry O. Godwinn.
• Mad Oracle: The Undertaker's soothsayer in the Ministry of Darkness.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming
• Spell My Name with an "S": Mideon was spelled Midian initially.
• Touched by Vorlons: After being indoctrinated into the Ministry of Darkness, he gains psychic powers.
• Unrelated Brothers: With Mark Canterbury as the Godwinns.
• Wrestling Doesn't Pay: First as wrestling hog farmer, Phineas I. Godwinn, then as one of Jeff Jarrett's bodyguards named Southern Justice.

Perry Saturn (Perry Arthur Satullo) 2000-2002

• Badass Bystander: In Real Life, not only did he stopped three thugs from raping a woman, he didn't even know he had been shot in the fight.
• Badass Mustache
• Bald of Evil: Pre-crazy Saturn
• Catch Phrase: "YOU'RE WELCOME!"
• Companion Cube: Moppy, a mop with a crudely drawn face on it.
• Consulting Moppy
• Identity Amnesia: Due to a series of blows to the head.
• Lightning Bruiser
• The Ditz: Went from a hard-nosed brawler/submission expert to this who was in love with a mop.
• Suplex Finisher
• Underwear of Power

The Rock (Dwayne Douglas Johnson) 1996-2003, 2011

• Animal Motifs: The Brahma Bull.
• Anti-Hero: Type III.
• Badass Family
• Breakup Breakout: One of the best examples. What do you mean he was in the Nation of Domination?
• But Not Too Black : After leaving the Nation of Domination. Many fans forget that his father was Rocky Johnson.
• But Not Too Foreign: He is of Samoan and Canadian heritage born in the USA.
• Cherry Tapping: The people's elbow generally came after the Rock Bottom which did look like it hurts enough to finish a fight, though see Combined Energy Attack below.
• Combined Energy Attack: The People's Elbow is used this way according to fans. Huh!?
• Cool Shades
• Covert Pervert
• Crowning Moment of Funny: If The Rock is on your television screen, it's guaranteed to contain at least one, if not several, of these.
• Determinator
• Draco in Leather Pants
• Ear Worm: Can YOU smell what The Rock is cooking?
• Ensemble Darkhorse
• Fan Nickname: The Dwayne, since he left the WWE to pursue a full-time acting career.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Pretty much the incarnation of the trope.
• Handsome Lech: Especially towards Lillian.
• Hot Dad
• Iconic Wrestler
• It Runs in The Family
• Jerk Jock
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Keet: He electrifies scenes with just his mere presence.
• Memetic Mutation: The Rock could probably make an entire 5 minute-long promo out of JUST his Catch Phrases.
• Precision F-Strike
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: One of, if not, the most impressive example.
• Rock Bottom: His Finishing Move.
• Schmuck Bait: "What's your name?" "Jobber Num-" "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!"
• Sir Swearsalot
• Small Name, Big Ego
• The Starscream: To Farooq during the Nation era.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome
• Tall, Dark and Snarky: Professional Wrestling's quintessential example.
• Third Person Person: So, so much.
• Underwear of Power

Sho Funaki (船木 勝一 Funaki Shoichi) 1998-2010

• Dark Horse Victory: Few expected him to become number one contender to the cruiser weight championship. Fewer expected him to win it yet he did, held on to it, and successfully defended it in Tokyo.
• Gratuitous English: "Smackdown announcer number one!" He got better.
  • INNNNNNNNNNDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDD!!!!
• Jobber: One of the more well known examples, has lost to the lowest of the low, which was probably why Stephanie made him an interviewer.
• Laughably Evil: As part of Kaientai.
• Rising Sun: One of his finishing moves.
• Sobriquet: "Kung Fu" Naki

Spike Dudley (Matthew "Matt" Hyson) 2001-2005

• Determinator
• Fragile Speedster
• Hair of Gold
• Kid Appeal Character
• Muscles Are Meaningless
• One-Hit Kill: The Acid Drop Dudley Dog.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse
• Unrelated Brothers: To the Dudley Boyz

Steve Blackman 1997-2002

• Badass
• Badass Mustache
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: With Al Snow.
• The Comically Serious
• Determinator: In Real Life, he almost died after contracting malaria and dysentery while wrestling in South Africa. He not only recovered, but the martial arts that would help cement his gimmick in the WWE, helped him with his physical therapy.
• I Know Shotokan Karate: and escrima, and tae kwon do, and pro wrestling.
• Red Herring Shirt
• Sobriquet: "The Lethal Weapon".
• The Stoic
• Straight Man: To everyone, but especially Grand Master Sexay and Al Snow.
• Weapon of Choice: So many choices… he mainly used a pair of kama for his ring entrances, but he's also used kendo sticks and esckrima sticks. He even whipped out nunchucks on Kurt Angle.

Stevie Richards (Michael Manna) 1999-2008

• Affectionate Parody: Of the New World Order, calling it the Blue World Order.
• Costume Copycat
• Catch Phrase: "I'll show you, you'll see!"
• Crossdresser: At least once, to support Victoria.
• Media Watchdog / Moral Guardians: Leader of the Right to Censor stable that blocked everything they saw derogatory.
  • Also intended as a Take That towards the Parents Television Council, who were very critical of WWE at the time.
• Name of Power: Stevie Kick, Stevie Sault, StevieT
• Psycho Supporter: To Victoria
• Underwear of Power
• Would Hit a Girl: Trish Stratus, Jacqueline, and Jazz learned this the hard way

Stone Cold Steve Austin (Steven Austin FKA Steven James Anderson and Steve James Williams) 1995-2003

• The Alcoholic
• And the Fandom Rejoiced: Listen to how loud the crowd pops any time his entrance plays.
• Animal Motifs: The Texas Rattlesnake
• Anti-Hero: Type V -> IV.
• Ax Crazy
• Badass
• Badass Beard
• Badass Driver
• Badass Teacher: To the newest batch of Tough Enough prospects.
• Bald of Awesome
• Beergasm
• Big Damn Heroes
• Bottle Fairy: A Male example.
• Catch Phrase: Perhaps the most awesome line in Wrestling history! You can talk about your Psalms, talk about your John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I Just Whooped Your Ass!
• 'Cause Stone Cold Said So!
• Crowning Music of Awesome: Disturbed did his theme once.
• Delinquents
• Dem Bones: His merchandises and logo have these.
• Determinator: Who can forget his match with Bret Hart at WM 13, when he lost consciousness, blood running down his face, rather than submit to the Sharpshooter?
• Draco in Leather Pants
• Drives Like Crazy: If you see him driving trucks, pickups, ATVs, bulldozers, or anything at all, JUST. RUN. AWAY.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: In Real Life, too. He asked Vince McMahon in early 1996 if he could get more "Stone Cold" merchandise on the shelves, and Vince told him it would never happen, he'd never outsell Marc Mero. Barely two weeks later, after the "Austin 3:16" promo? Austin's merchandise was outselling Mero's 250 to 1.
• Flipping the Bird: The Stone Cold Salute
• Hot-Blooded
• Iconic Wrestler
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk
• Loveable Rogue
• Most Wonderful Sound: *glass shatters*
• Precision F-Strike
• Sir Swearsalot
• Third Person Person: "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!" and "And that's the bottom line, 'cause Stone Cold says so..!"
• Underwear of Power
• WHAT!?
  • Originated the use of this trope in professional wrestling. It's still heard today, several years after he first started it. He's even apologized for it.

Test (Andrew Martin) 1998-2004, 2006-2007

• The Big Guy: Face.
• Blond Guys Are Evil: Heel.
• The Brute: Heel.
• Bus Crash
• Demoted to Extra: Courtesy of Triple H swiping both his push and his onscreen girlfriend.
• Domestic Abuser
• Evil Foreigner: As part of the UnAmericans. "America Sucks," indeed.
• Important Haircut
• Mondegreen: And how.
• Punched Across the Room: Test kickedhard.
• Sinister Shades: Early in his career.
• Solar and Lunar: Part of his 'T' logo featured a sun and moon motif.
• Underwear of Power
• Ungrateful Bastard: Kayfabe-wise, Stacy attempted to help his career. And how is she rewarded?
• What Could Have Been: RAW's Across the Nation theme was originally commissioned to be Test's new theme. It ended up being so good, they used it as the show's intro. Too good to even exist.

Val Venis (Sean Allen Morley) 1998-2009

• Alliterative Name
• The Casanova
• Catch Phrase: Hello Ladies
• Da Chief: During his run as Chief Morley.
• Demoted to Extra: After his Chief Morley gimmick, he became Val again, but lost his hair, his charm, and rarely was allowed to use the mic. He was buried as a result.
• Double Entendre: So many during his porn star gimmick.
• Kavorka Man: He wasn't a bad looking guy, but he wasn't a pretty boy either.
• I Call Him "Mister Happy": "The Big Valbowski"
• Lovable Sex Maniac
• A Man Is Not a Virgin
• Modesty Towel: In his entrance.
• Parallel Porn Titles: From Saving Private Ryan to Saving Ryan's Privates (i.e. Ryan was a woman in his movie).
• Sexophone
• Something Else Also Rises: Very subtle.
• Underwear of Power
• Wrestling Doesn't Pay: A wrestling porn star.
• Wrestling Psychology: He was good at long term selling and had good timing for spots

William Regal (Darren Kenneth Matthews) 1998-1999, 2000-

• Affably Evil
• Anti-Hero: Self identifies as a type one. Actually a type three as a face.
• Ass in Ambassador: Despite being a "Goodwill Ambassador".
• Combat Pragmatist: One of the best cheaters in the business.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In Regal's case, this stands out: During the time Regal was mentoring Eugene, Triple H took advantage of Eugene's "special" nature to try and regain the World Title, and left him beaten and bloodied when it backfired. A week after Eugene comes back and costs Triple H the belt in an Iron Man match, Regal confronts him, revealing (or reminding) to us that he mentored Triple H in WCW and said that if it had been anyone else he manipulated, Regal would've been proud. Eugene, however? That was something that pissed Regal off enough to sneak Eugene into the building and cost Triple H the World Title.
• Evil Brit
• Follow the Leader: Credited with inventing the Cutter (or RKO) and Stunner.
• The Mentor: While he hasn't trained that many wrestlers, those he has trained have gone on to have excellent careers, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and Chris Hero being the top of the heap.
• Morality Pet: Eugene.
• My Name Is Not Durwood: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Umaga) and Triple Haitch (Triple H).
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Regal's character is a stereotypical British gentleman with a mean streak, but William Regal was one of the best wrestlers in the world in his prime.
• Older Than They Think: He's been wrestling since 1983; that's longer than Cody Rhodes has been alive.
• Power Fist: The brass knuckles.
• Preppy Name
• Quintessential British Gentleman
• Retired Badass: He seems to be trying to get out of the wrestling game, and stick to announcing, but jackass young punks keep challenging him to fights.
  • He seems to be very happy to oblige them, as shown by his response to Dean Ambrose in FCW.
• Smug Snake
• Stiff Upper Lip
• Testosterone Poisoning: The short lived Real Man's Man gimmick.
• Underwear of Power

X-Pac (Sean Michael Waltman) 1993-1996, 1998-2002

• Badass Beard
• Badass Long Hair
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Just ask Razor Ramon and Kane.
• Flat Character
• Kid Appeal Character
• Lightning Bruiser
• Older Than They Think: A lot of people didn't realize (at the time) that Pac used to be the 1-2-3 Kid, and was actually a pretty popular face back in the early 90s, basically being the Rey Mysterio of his day.
• Tagalong Kid: His role in the Five-Man Band of the Kliq. His nickname is even "Kid" (from his former ring name of "The 1-2-3 Kid").
• True Companions: Everyone forgets that he was a part of the Kliq, too.
• X Makes Anything Cool
• X-Pac Heat: The Trope Namer.