In professional wrestling, sports entertainment has long been said to be an adult sport. WWEthe best company for over 30 years was the territory of the big man. According to people very close to Vince McMahon, the big guys who turn their heads at the airport – Hogan, Undertaker, Andre, etc. are the kind of talent he’s always been craving. Another idea is that the cream always rises up. Starting with the macho man Randy Savage, he was often the one who wasn’t a 6’6 during his Hogan days, someone as big as his home could break through the glass ceiling.
Bret Hart won the WWE Championship and Sean Michaels. More and more, the little guys were about to get it bigger, bigger, more muscular, more wood than they were about to be signed. These days, anyone of all sizes can break through as long as they have amazing talent. Those who paved the road did so. Because even though it’s under 6 feet, and in some cases, it’s still bigger than life.
twenty two
Marty Jannetty was a star of the tag team
Height: 5’11”
height | 5’11” |
date of birth | February 3, 1960 |
Year at WWE | 1988-1996; 2005-2009 |
Results | WWE InterContinental Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship |
When fans look back at tag teams from their golden days, rockers need to think of them. As a pair of high-flying, fast-moving talents, they were far ahead of their time. WWE never pushed them all the way to the top of the tag team division (except for single-non-canon title wins), but especially in hindsight, they’ve posted some of the best tag team actions the company has ever seen.
Marty Janetty’s achievements were more modest while Shawn Michaels advanced to Mega Stardome. Still, he once stolen the Intercontinental Championship from HBK himself (and in classic matches), not to mention that Janetiti ultimately attacked the 1-2-3 Kid and the tag team gold team.
twenty one
Tajiri wrestled like a buzz saw
Height: 5’9″
height | 5’9″ |
date of birth | September 29, 1970 |
Year at WWE | 1996-1997; 2001-2006; 2008; 2016-2017 |
Results | WCW US Championship, WWE Light Heavyweight Championship, WWE Cruiserweight Championship (3), WWE Tag Team Championship (2) |
Tajri was relatively short by WWE standards and never cut back on very good English promotions, but still, WWE tells him he’s hired for multiple stints.
Certainly, whether it was a tag team of a Japanese Buzz Saw strange couple with William Regal, or his own babyface and heels, his evil martial arts strike, high-flying movements, and innovative technical retention like his rope-assisted tarantula, he made him a beloved figure in the lore of wwe.
20
Neville flew to incredible heights
Height: 5’8″
height | 5’8″ |
date of birth | August 22, 1986 |
Year at WWE | 2012-2018 |
Results | WWE Cruiserweight Championship (2), NXT Championship, NXT Tag Team Championship |
The man known as PAC had greater success outside the WWE system, but when he was Adrian Neville or WWE’s Neville, he revealed it to anyone who saw him as a special talent. Neville was the early face of NXT as the brand’s champion, including the long stretches that first began airing on the WWE Network.
Neville has more success on the main roster, especially as a cruiserweight face. Unfortunately, he has largely dove holes in the role and has not been able to show everything he can. Nevertheless, he emphasized that his heels were just as impressive as his High Fries, especially during the second half of his WWE tenure.
19
Pedro Morales is a former WWE World Champion
Height: 5’11”
height | 5’11” |
date of birth | October 22, 1942 |
Year at WWE | 1965-1987 |
Results | WWE Hall of Fame (1995), WWE Championship, WWE InterContinental Heavyweight Championship (2), WWETAG Team Championship, WWE US Heavyweight Championship |
During a time when giants like Bruno Sammartino and superstar Billy Graham ruled WWE, one of the most successful WWE world champions in history, was less than six feet tall. Samartino was the face of a fan in New York, Italy, while Morales was the face of a WWE fan in Puerto Rico. He was the second most popular wrestler in the company at the time. Morales was also very successful in his time at WWE, winning all major titles.
Morales appeared in WWE in 1970 and quickly won the company’s US Championship from Freddie Brassy. Later, after Ivan Kolov shocked the world by defeating San Martino for the world title, Morales was the one who disrupted and abdicated the hated “Russian Bear” to bring the title home. Morales then continued to hold the title for 1,027 days. Morales won his second run at the company in the 1980s, winning two tag team titles with Bobbackland and IC titles.
18
Ricky Steamboat is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion
Height: 5’10”
height | 5’10” |
date of birth | February 28, 1953 |
Year at WWE | 1985-1988, 2005-2014 |
Results | WWE Hall of Fame (2009), WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship |
Many WWE fans have discussed the best matches in the company’s history, and one of the matches that is always encompassed on these lists is Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Macho Man” and Randy Savage from the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The two men got on the clinic and presented a different match than the main event (Hulk Hogan vs Giant Andre), but are spoken from the same perspective for historical reasons. As for the steamship, he only stands five feet. 10 inches.
Streamboat only won that one title in WWE, but he achieved even greater success when he returned to WCW and won the NWA World Championships for Nature Boy Ric Flair as part of what he considers to be the biggest trilogy of matches in the history of professional wrestling. The Dragon had only that one title in WWE, but the company recognized his brilliance and seduced him to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
17
Lance Storm is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion
Height: 5’11”
height | 5’11” |
date of birth | April 3, 1969 |
Year at WWE | 2001–2005 |
Results | WWE InterContinental Championship, WWE/World Tag Team Championship (4) |
Lance Storm is almost memorable for his “We Are Serious” boring character, but he was more than that. Before he headed to WWE, he was an ECW giant star as one of the best tech wrestlers in the company. He also had a huge success at WCW. There, he once held three different single titles, handing over two of them to a stable un-American companion. He then went to WWE where he succeeded, but on a small scale.
Storm held the InterContinental Championship once, with four tag team titles held at WWE. Storm has retired and is currently training wrestlers, but he is always known for his technical mastery, and is one of the best pound wrestlers working for WWE, even if he didn’t win a singles title there to prove that.
16
Ricochet is a former WWE US champion
Height: 5’9″
height | 5’9″ |
date of birth | October 11, 1988 |
Year at WWE | 2018-2024 |
Results | WWE InterContinental Championship, WWE US Championship, NXT North American Championship, WWE Speed Championship |
Ricochette was successful in the Indies for many years and eventually reached WWE. He went on to become the main event star of Lucha Underground as Prince Puma after a big run with Chikara and Pro Wrestling Guerilla. After Lucha Underground was closed, he finally headed to NXT as Ricochet and quickly won the NXT North American Championship. He quickly moved to the main roster, and it appears he never got the push he deserves while he was on TV all the time.
Ricochet won both secondary titles and was even the first WWE Speed Champion, but he was used primarily to put a bigger wrestler. He rarely got the opportunity to showcase the brilliance and speed he did before entering WWE. He has since left the company and is now working for AEW, hoping to get the attention he has always sought in WWE.
15
Callisto is a two-time US champion
Height: 5’6″
height | 5’6″ |
date of birth | November 14, 1986 |
Year at WWE | 2013-2021 |
Results | NXT Tag Team Champion, WWE Cruiserweight Champion, 2-time WWE US Champion |
Kalisto left WWE in 2021, but while he was in the company he proved to be one of the most exciting Lucador wrestlers in the business. Callisto, known as Samurey Del Sol, came to WWE with a great promise and made it happen at the championship level. He started with NXT and won the tag titles as Sin Cara and Lucha Dragons.
He was excellent at the main roster. In 2015, he appeared and beat former world champion Alberto del Rio for the US championship. He won the cruiserweight championship once, holding the title twice. Kalisto was awarded a Slammy for his shocking OMG moment in 2015 for hitting the finisher from the top of the ladder in a TLC match.
14
Big E is a former WWE champion
Height: 5’11”
height | 5’11” |
date of birth | March 1, 1986 |
Year at WWE | 2009-2022 |
Results | WWE Champion, NXT Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champion, 6-time WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion |
You might be surprised as he’s a very big guy at 285 pounds, but the big E is less than 6 feet tall. There are only 5-11 Musclemen from the Old New Day, but that never stopped him from achieving great success in WWE. He started with the NXT, where he won the NXT Championship for Seth Rollins and held it for 153 days.
However, Big E’s biggest success came on the main roster. After a stint as Dolph Ziggler’s bodyguard, Big E enjoyed the success of the single before joining for the new day. Big E is a two-time Intercontinental champion after leaving the faction once before his new day. On the new day, he was one of the best tag teams in WWE history. Facts have won the Tag Team Championship eight times. Big E broke his neck in 2022, but has not returned to WWE since.
13
Johnny Gargano is a former WWE NXT champion
Height: 5’10”
height | 5’10” |
date of birth | August 14, 1987 |
Year at WWE | 2015-Currently |
Results | NXT Champion, NXT North American Champion (3), NXT Tag Team Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion (2) |
Johnny Gargano may be the best in-ring wrestler NXT ever produced. He was a perfect babyface and stood 5-10, but never retreated from anyone. He also proved Naysayers wrong by proving he can work as an NXT heel, always picking up by delivering the nickname Johnny Takeover.
His match with Tommaso Ciampa was the best in NXT history, and he did it again when he fought Adam Cole and adjusted to the quality and intensity of those matches. Gargano is a former NXT Champion, NXT Tag Team Champion and three-time NXT North American Champion. He is also a recipient of five NXT year-end awards. Gargano is currently on the main roster and once again works with Champa in the role of the tag team.
