Since 1979, the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Awards have been among the most notable around. Voted by the fans, the PWI awards are seen as an honor by those who win them and that includes Rookie of the Year. Often, winners of that award have gone on to become some of the biggest stars in the business: Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, and Charlotte among others. Sadly, not every winner succeeds as well.
RELATED: Ranking Every Pro Wrestling Illustrated #1 Wrestlers Of The 2010s
It’s one thing for a Rookie of the Year who has an okay but not great career (Alex Wright or Tommy Rich). It’s another for someone whose career was ruined by bad breaks, like Monty Brown. But some winners stand out for how their careers never came close to stardom and are forgettable today. It’s also notable for how they beat out people who did become huge stars. These are ten of the worst PWI Rookie of the Year winners to show how tough it can be picking future stardom.
10 The Boogeyman, 2006
To his credit, Marty Wright made the character of the Boogeyman work much better than it should have. He threw himself into the part from gyrating to worm-eating and more, and that captivated fans. It covered that the Boogeyman was a poor worker when the match started and relied more on his bizarre mannerisms.
He was also prone to injury and out for much of 2006 when he won the award. Meanwhile, the third runner-up that year was none other than Cody Rhodes, who most will agree has gone on to have a far better career.
9 911, 1994
Paul Heyman was always a genius at making the guys in ECW look better than they were. 911 was a classic case as this giant monster got over huge with fans. With his biker looks and Chokeslamming anyone in sight, 911 was a good sight but never a good wrestler.
RELATED: 10 ECW Characters That Made No Sense
His later attempts in WCW showed his shortcomings and how he suffered without Heyman’s guidance. The three runners-up that year (Bob Holly, Balls Mahoney and Mikey Whipwreck) all had much better careers, as 911 never dialed up the stardom beyond ECW that year.
8 Nord The Barbarian, 1985
With his tall build and wild antics, it was little wonder John Nord got pushed as a wildman character. Yet his winning Rookie of the Year honors seemed a bit much.
He was presented as a Barbarian in the AWA and later World Class, even challenging for their World titles but never a great worker. In WWE, he became known as the Berserker, continuing his wilder ways. He never won any major titles and vanished from the business in the 1990s, making his pick as Rookie of the Year an odd one for PWI.
7 Ace Hawkins, 2011
It was impressive back in 2011 when Ace Hawkins won the award when all of his time was on the indies. A lot of votes that year came from fans of ROH and other places who saw Hawkins as a star in the making. However, the man never rose higher than that level, held back a bit by his 175-pound weight and smaller frame.
He had a few titles in some promotions but still seemed ignored too much. Once more, he’s more notable for who he beat as the second runner-up was Leakee, better known today as Roman Reigns, with Hawkins never becoming an ace in stardom.
6 David Sammartino, 1981
It’s often amazing to see what stars don’t win Rookie of the Year. In 1984, Curt Hennig ended up second runner-up to David Sammartino. David had going for him the fact he was the son of WWE icon Bruno Sammartino, who actually never wanted his son in the business.
David did get a push teaming with his dad and a match at the first WrestleMania. But he never had Bruno’s skills or charisma to make up for his shortcomings and without his dad’s support, his star faded fast. He’s been pretty rough on his tenure in WWE since, as David couldn’t escape his dad’s shadow.
5 Tim Zbyszko, 2013
PWI must have loved the symmetry of Larry Zbyszko's son winning Rookie of the Year in 2013 as the “Living Legend” claimed the honor in 1974. It’s too bad that Tim couldn’t come close to his dad’s legacy. In the decade since this award, Zbyszko has wallowed in the indies with a brief shot in AEW, but not much else going for him.
While that famous name may open a few doors, it hasn’t been enough to get him more attention from the bigger promotions. Tim is sadly among the list of second-generation stars overshadowed by their fathers.
4 Hornswoggle, 2007
Even PWI themselves summed up how Hornswoggle winning in 2007 showed a bad batch of rookies. That was despite how both Ted DiBiase Jr. and brother Mike were among the runners-up. Yes, he won the Cruiserweight Title but then was its last champion for years.
He was involved in the stupid “Vince’s secret son” storyline and his “matches” were treated as pure comedy.
In his defense, he could be good in the role for some laughs and last a while but him being voted as a serious wrestler for this award was an indictment to the poor rookie class that year.
3 Angelo Mosca Jr., 1983
Yet another entry in the list of second-generation stars overshadowed by their fathers, Angelo Mosca Jr. had one of the worst stints. His dad was a great worker and a top star with scores of titles. While Junior had some promise, he couldn’t come close to his dad’s stardom.
RELATED: 10 Second And Third Generation Wrestlers Who Competed In Impact Wrestling
He had a couple of brief reigns as Mid-Atlantic champion before slumping down to jobber status. Even some teaming with his dad couldn’t get him over, and he was out of the wrestling business in a few years. It’s another case of a famous name being a burden to a young worker.
2 Zach Gowen, 2003
No one can deny Zach Gowen’s bravery in overcoming the loss of a leg to become a wrestler. But that didn’t take away from how he wasn’t that good a worker and came off far too much a gimmick attraction.
His feud with Vince McMahon involving Hulk Hogan was a big deal and Gowen was popular but soon stuck on a big losing streak on TV shows before leaving. It wasn’t helped by Gowen having a big ego backstage and other problems that led him to leave wrestling altogether. He may have fit for Inspirational Wrestler in 2003 but not Rookie.
1 Erik Watts, 1992
There were many things wrong with Erik Watts being named Rookie of the Year in 1992. For one thing, he didn’t debut until August, just before the voting period that year ended. Second, he hadn’t shown much flash in the ring and was pretty bland on the mic. More importantly, everyone knew the only reason Watts was getting a push was that his father Bill was running WCW at the time.
With almost no training, Watts was given this bad push and his career cratered when his father was fired. Even more ridiculous was that the first runner-up Watts beat out was Diamond Dallas Page, proving fans in 1992 missed who was the real future WCW star.
