WWF Wrestlers Who Had a Bad 1995

WWF Wrestlers Who Had a Bad 1995
December 17, 2025
By Ryan Porzl

Anybody who knows wrestling history knows 1995 was not the best year for the WWF. In fact, many would consider it one of the worse in the promotion's 70 year history. It's not hard to understand why with an outdated approach to wrestling, bad booking, lackluster events, and cartoonish gimmicks, 1995 didn't have much to look forward to. Unfortunately, there were several wrestlers who really had a worse year than others and we'll take a look at them. 

Two years ago, I did a list similar to this regarding 1998 and have been thinking of doing it with other years as maybe a series.

Note: I don't own any pictures. Credit to WWE.

10. Crush- We'll start with a man who's 1995 ended before it even got started. 1994 was a decent to good year for Crush as the man from Kona, Hawaii saw his stock rise with feuds and matches against "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and The Undertaker while teaming with Yokozuna to challenge for the WWF Tag Team Championship. He even scored an upset win over Bret Hart prior to Bret's title win at Wrestlemania X. 1995 looked like Crush had a chance to take that next step but bad mistakes outside the ring would derail everything and kill all his momentum. Crush began 1995 on a big note as he entered the 1995 Royal Rumble and made it to the final 3 alongside Shawn Michaels and British Bulldog. Things looked good but then in February, everything came crashing down when Crush was arrested for possession of steroids and several unregistered handguns. With this being a serious incident and the WWF coming off the steroids scandal less than a year ago, it's no surprise Crush was fired. The firing would result in Crush taking a year and a half off from wrestling not returning until he returned to the WWF in July 1996. Sadly, the firing and time off would kill all of Crush's momentum and he lost a year of his career. 

9. IRS- IRS was always a talented and good hand for the WWF during the early to mid 90s. He enjoyed a lot of success as part of Money Inc. with Ted Dibiase and later had some highlights as a singles feuding with Razor Ramon. However, by 1995, IRS began to lose steam and he would be one of many on this list who wouldn't make it through the year. IRS' year peaked in January when he entered the year in a feud with The Undertaker. The two met at Royal Rumble 1995 with IRS losing. However, a distraction from King Kong Bundy allowed IRS to repossess Paul Bearer's urn thus kicking off that dreadful feud. After that, IRS drifted aimlessly for most of the year including being in Bam Bam Bigelow's corner at Wrestlemania XI and a lumberjack in the main event of In Your House 2. His last major moment was competing in the King of the Ring 1995 pre show losing to Savio Vega in a KOTR qualifying match to replace an injured Razor Ramon. Eventually, he left the WWF in July 1995 and jumped to WCW. 

8. King Kong Bundy- King Kong Bundy's 1994-1995 run was truly an interesting sight. Bundy will rightfully go down as one of the all time greats, especially when it comes to monster heels. However, his return just didn't work. Throughout Bundy's return, he always felt like a relic of a bygone era. His generic monster look worked great in the 80s but seemed out of place in 1995. On top of that, Bundy wasn't the most athletic big man and usually worked a slow pace. Again, fine in the 1980s but by 1995 when the WWF had super heavyweights like Yokozuna, Mabel, and Bam Bam Bigelow who could move and bump, it just didn't work. Along with these issues, Bundy's 1995 was just lackluster. He was billed as a potential favorite for the 1995 Royal Rumble but only lasted about three minutes only eliminating Mo from the match. His only real highlight was being one of several Million Dollar Corporation members to feud with The Undertaker and even returned to Wrestlemania at Wrestlemania XI where he became one of many to fall to the Man from the Darkside at the showcase of the immortals. After this, Bundy was rudderless for the remainder of his run with his only other notable moment would be a loss to Shawn Michaels in a King of the Ring Qualifier match on the 5/22 RAW and serving as a lumberjack for the main event of In Your House 2 on 7/23. In the end, Bundy would be another not to finish the year as he would be released in October.

7. Adam Bomb- Adam Bomb was a guy who seemed to be a great fit for the WWF. He was big, athletic, and had a great look. Yet for some reason, he never got his footing in the Federation. Like many, Bomb began his year by competing in the 1995 Royal Rumble lasting a few minutes. After that, Bomb had a quiet 1995 as he didn't have any feuds and was mostly used at live events. His only other note worthy moment was losing a short King of the Ring qualifier match against Mabel at the first In Your House in May. By August, Bomb would finish up and left the WWF after a two year run. Again, Bomb seemed like someone who could've been a great asset for WWF during this time but instead felt wasted his entire run with 1995 being the bottom of the barrel.

6. Dean Douglas- Hard to believe a man who held WWF gold and only lasted six months would make this list but that's the case with Dean Douglas. Shane Douglas was always a talented individual who had potential but like any wrestler, needed the right platform. After working the territories and runs in the WWF and WCW, he finally found it with ECW. During his two years there, Douglas became one of wrestling's hottest heels and a cornerstone to ECW. When he signed with the WWF, it looked like the WWF would get a boost on their roster as someone who could work the main event or at least the upper midcard. Instead, the WWF would give Douglas the lame gimmick of an evil school teacher named "Dean Douglas" who carried a paddle board called his "board of education". Douglas would debut in August 1995 and it didn't take long for the wheels to fall off with a lackluster gimmick and being one of many who ran afoul with the Kliq (Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley). The end result saw Douglas' having a six month run, a fifteen minute run with the Intercontinental Title which he didn't win but got on a forfeit from Shawn Michaels, and then suffered a back injury. Once again, Douglas wouldn't see the year through and was gone by mid December.

5. Jean-Pierre LaFitte- Pierre is another on this list who had potential to be a great asset for the WWF in 1995 but bad luck derailed his potential as he happened to suffer from the two things that would damage any WWF career in 1995: a lousy gimmick and problems with the Kliq. Pierre was no stranger to WWF prior to this as he was part of the successful tag team The Quebecers with Jacques Rougeau where they won the WWF Tag Team Titles three times. With Jacques briefly retiring in late 1994, it looked like Pierre would take that next step. Pierre's 1995 would largely be uneventful outside a brief feud with Bret Hart where he stole The Hitman's jacket which, while mocked, did lead to a praised match at In Your House III. Aside from that, there's not much else as he didn't have another big match or feud or even another PPV appearance. The only other thing memorable of Pierre's 1995 was his famous run-in with the Kliq. In September 1995, Pierre was scheduled to challenge Diesel for the WWF Championship in Montreal. However, the finish was argued as the Kliq felt Diesel should win while Pierre wanted a different finish in order to reportedly return with a rematch that could draw more. After the incident, Pierre was buried and gone from the WWF by November. Again, Pierre could've been a good asset for the WWF at a time when they needed more stars with potential but instead a lousy gimmick, backstage politics, and bad booking derailed him.

4. Tatanka- By the dawn of 1995, the potential Tatanka seemed to have in 1992-1993 was long gone and it wouldn't get better as 1995 wore on. Once considered a good up and comer for the WWF in 1992/1993, Tatanka began trending water in late 1993 after his near 2 year undefeated streak ended against Ludvig Borga. Tatanka's stock was hurting during 1994 and he eventually turned heel at Summerslam 1994 but instead of reigniting his career, it probably made things worse. As seen in 1995, Tatanka never seemed to work in the heel role and as many have pointed out, he seemed to gain weight and his in-ring work got bad. Tatanka began 1995 on a decent note feuding with Lex Luger and making it to the finals of the WWF Tag Team Championship tournament at Royal Rumble 1995. However, he and Bam Bam Bigelow would lose in the finals to the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly while Tatanka lost his feud to Luger at the March Sunday Night Slam special. After this, Tatanka largely fell down the cards and like many in Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Corporation, would not compete at Wrestlemania XI but was in Bigelow's corner. He would get one more big moment teaming with Sid in the main event of King of the Ring 1995 against Diesel and Bigelow which resulted in a loss. By the end of the summer, things got worse when Tatanka was suspended after being a suspect in an incident involving a woman in a hotel back in late 1994 and while he would be acquitted of the charges, it ended his 1995 prematurely as he wouldn't return until early 1996.

3. Mr. Bob Backlund- After enjoying a 15 minutes of a comeback during the second half of 1994 including a short but shocking WWF Championship victory, 1995 would see Backlund crash back down to Earth. After failing to regain the WWF Championship at house shows, Backlund entered the 1995 Royal Rumble but lasted a few seconds thanks to Bret Hart (as payment for costing Bret a chance to win the championship earlier in the show). After that, he renewed his feud with Bret which culminated in a disastrous I Quit match at Wrestlemania XI which Backlund lost. After that, Backlund mostly was exclusively used for House Shows while rarely competing on TV or PPV. Along with this, Backlund began a lousy angle where he announced he would run for President. The whole angle proved to be a waste of time as Backlund did terrible vignettes and spent most of WWF TV in the crowd talking to audience members pretending to be "campaigning". Ultimately, the angle went no where and it didn't help either Backlund or the WWF and I'm not sure how it was supposed to. All in all, Backlund's was past his expiration date by 1995 and it felt like WWF knew it but for some reason wanted to keep him around for some reason.

2. Bam Bam Bigelow- Like Shawn Michaels in 1998, it's hard to believe a guy who main evented Wrestlemania could be high on this list but here we are. Bigelow began 1995 ok making it to the finals of the Tag Team Championship tournament at Royal Rumble 1995 with Tatanka before losing to the Kid and Holly. From there, Bigelow got one of the biggest feuds and moments of his career feuding with football legend Lawrence Taylor which led to him main eventing Wrestlemania XI. After WM, Bigelow would get a minor push turning babyface and briefly aligning with Diesel and Shawn Michaels while main eventing King of the Ring 1995 teaming with Diesel in a win over Sid and Tatanka. After that, his stock dropped and he returned to the midcard directionless. Once again, Bigelow was reportedly not getting along with the Kliq and they reportedly sabotaged his push. Whatever the case may be, Bigelow continued to wander aimlessly for the second half of 1995 until leaving after losing to Goldust at Survivor Series 1995 in November. Once again, another talent didn't make it through the year. 

1. The Undertaker- The early to mid 1990s were not a kind time for the Phenom and 1995 may have been rock bottom for The Undertaker and I say this knowing he spent most of 1993 feuding with Giant Gonzalez. 1995 saw Taker spend 2/3rds of the year in an awful feud with Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Corporation as he engaged in lackluster feud after lackluster feud with members like IRS, King Kong Bundy, and Kama resulting in lame segments and bored to lousy matches. The story of the Corporation stealing Paul Bearer's urn and making Taker more vulnerable was not a bad idea but it came off lame. After that feud ended, Taker ended his year in a feud with King Mabel who not only also stole the urn but would see Taker get injured as Mabel, who was earning a reputation of being careless, broke Taker's orbital bone. The injury would result in Taker wearing his famous Phantom of the Opera mask that he wore at the time. Overall, better days were coming for The Man From The Darkside but 1995 was nowhere near his best year in-ring or storytelling. Add an injury and you have the ingredients for a bad year.