In this “Wrestling Salvage Yard” we see if Ken Shamrock was salvageable in WWE. The MMA crossovers from the 90s and early 2000s are really the easiest to do since their careers in a company tend to be much shorter than you’d remember. Let’s get into Shamrock!
An Explosive 2-Year Run in WWE
“The World’s Most Dangerous Man” was in WWE from February 1997 until September 1999. He’s one of those Attitude Era stars that I remember being around longer. I believe the reason is that WWE didn’t run branded shows between 1997 and 1999. That meant that storylines continued organically.
As for Ken Shamrock, he came in during a time when the UFC was gaining more exposure. MMA still wasn’t fully accepted as a sport and still experienced trouble with athletic regulation in several states.
Given that this was the XTREME 90s, that narrative was right up WWE’s alley for the Attitude Era. For the most part, Shamrock was a perfect fit for the WWE during this period and probably would’ve been fine into the early 2000s depending on the brand.
His position was pretty much the same as Owen Hart, DX, Goldust, and post-HBK Triple H. Shamrock was definitely in the midcard but he was at the top of the midcard.
WWE’s midcard at this time was very clear. You had the midcard talent that wasn’t really involved in anything big. Uninteresting storylines but they were at least involved in something. Then you had talent who were firmly in the midcard but WWE saw something in them.
As a result, they often flirted with the main event as support in storylines. Shamrock’s run in WWE garnered a World Tag Team title, an Intercontinental title run, and a King of the Ring victory. He won the Tag Team title with Big Boss Man, something I’d forgotten about even though I knew both of them were in the Corporation.
However, it’s easy to forget many WWE title reigns from the Attitude Era since championships rarely stayed on talent for lengthy periods of time. When Shamrock’s run ended, he had lost a feud with Chris Jericho in late 1999.
Salvaging Ken Shamrock
This is a super easy one because Ken Shamrock had the tools to be a main event attraction during the Attitude Era and a floating main eventer-upper midcarder in the Ruthless Aggression Era. Hell, even if he remained at his card position in the Attitude Era, had he remained with WWE into the 2000s, he would’ve eventually gotten his World title reign on the SmackDown brand.
“The World’s Most Dangerous Man” had legitimacy to him, he would work with others in the ring to deliver a good match here and there, and more unlikely wrestlers who didn’t look that impressive during the Attitude Era would go on to become champions on the brand.
The other reason this one is super easy is that Ken Shamrock was Ken Shamrock. He’s always been Shamrock. His selling point wasn’t solid wrestling, it was him being a legit fighter with a temper who could force an opponent to tap out.
While he wasn’t going to be a regular main event attraction, he was one of those Attitude Era stars who could float into the main event if WWE needed to spice things up or give a heel a threat that would be hard to avoid.
I’d say that even with limited directions to take his gimmick, Shamrock was very salvageable during his in-ring peak.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neP5mgRygO8
