10 Forgotten Wrestlers Who Played A Major Part In A Legend's Career

There are a number of key ingredients to make it to the top of any profession. Talent plays a big role but as Stephen King famously said 'Talent is cheaper than table salt.' King lists hard work as another ingredient and while that is certainly true, the bit of luck that is needed also plays a role. Being in the right place at the right time is something that can rarely be planned. Finally, there are the helpers: the people that surround you and help you along the way. Whether it is the person hiring for a position or a coach that counts on a player: most people can't do it by themselves and profit from the help of others.

The wrestling business is no exception to that rule. The Rock, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, The Undertaker - while all these names managed to get over and become WWE icons, they wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of others. Following are ten examples of forgotten wrestlers who played a major part in the career of some of the biggest names in wrestling history, whether as trainers, opponents, or inspirations.

10 Ken Shamrock: The Rock's First Big Rival

The Rock v Ken Shamrock WrestleMania 14 Cropped

When The Rock debuted as Rocky Maivia, his gimmick was that of a smiling, nice-guy, third generation wrestler - and fans hated it. As WWE turned towards a more adult program in the late nineties, Rocky's gimmick seemed completely out of place. Thankfully, WWE realized this and turned Rocky heel just months later. He joined the Nation of Domination and began acting more and more cocky, referring to himself in the third person. The Rock was born.

After 'winning' the Intercontinental Title from Steve Austin via forfeit, The Rock needed a challenger. The choice fell on Ken Shamrock who had been in contention for the WWE Title in the latter half of 1997. Rock and Shamrock had good chemistry and faced each other throughout 1998. Shamrock's positioning just below the main event and the quality of their matches helped elevate The Rock in the eyes of the fans and by the end of year, The Rock was WWE Champion.

9 The Stomper: Bret Hart's Nightmare

Bret Hart is largely regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. Coming from a wrestling family, it would seem that Bret's biggest inspiration came from his father Stu and his brothers. However, one other notable inspiration for Bret's wrestling career was Archie Gouldie, better known as The Stomper. The Stomper was known as a brutal heel and once even threatened to piledrive Bret's mother Helen. His believability was a great inspiration to the Hitman who, to this day, considers the Stomper as the greatest Canadian wrestler in history.

8 Tojo Yamamoto: Teaching Steve Austin

Tojo Yamamoto was a staple of Memphis wrestling for almost thirty years. While he trained both Jerry and Jeff Jarrett, as well as Bobby Eaton, he may have had the biggest influence on a certain Steve Austin. As a rookie, Austin wrestled for Jerry Jarrett's USWA in Texas and Memphis. One day, Tojo told Austin that he wasn't selling enough. He then asked Austin to grab his ear. Steve did as told and Tojo winced in pain. He then smiled at Austin and said 'You get it?' Austin understood and never forgot Tojo's brief lesson.

7 Psychosis: Rey Mysterio's Partner

Luchadores like Rey Fenix, Bandido, or even Santos Escobar are commonplace in modern American mainstream wrestling. However, there was a time when high-flying luchadores were new to American audiences. In 1995 and 1996, Psychosis and Rey Mysterio, along Juventud Guerrera, brought their high-flying style to the US - first to ECW, then to WCW. Especially Psychosis and Mysterio tore houses down, most notably in the opening contest of WCW's Bash at the Beach PPV. While Mysterio is still active today and considered one of the biggest stars of WWE, his counterpart Psychosis is often overlooked. But Psychosis played a big part in helping to build Mysterio's legacy.

6 Eddie Sharkey: Trainer of Legends

The seventies and eighties saw an incredible influx of talent from Minnesota: Ric Flair, the Iron Sheik, Bob Backlund, the Road Warriors, Rick Rude, Jesse Ventura, Jerry Lynn and a whole line of others not only entered the wrestling business, but excelled in it. What all of those had in common was going through Verne Gagne's school (or rather: barn) of wrestling. However, Verne had less to do with it than one of his former employees: Eddie Sharkey. Sharkey, who had wrestled in the AWA as a babyface to mild success, is probably the most prolific trainer in wrestling history.

5 Ray Stevens: A Tag Team Master

Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens with the AWA Tag Team Championship

For years, Ray Stevens was a household name of San Francisco and AWA wrestling and considered as one of the best in-ring talents of his day. Unfortunately, he is nowadays often overlooked compared to his more famous tag team partners Pat Patterson and Nick Bockwinkel. However, it is hard to overstate his influence on both of his legendary partners. Further, his in-ring style and especially his corner upside-down bump would later influence the likes of Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

4 Bill Watts: Wrestling's Football Coach

Today's promoters are mostly seen as creative minds, roster managers, and, well, promoters. However, few people probably expects Tony Khan to teach wrestlers about in-ring psychology or how to act out their gimmick. As recently as the early nineties though, Bill Watts did exactly that. His management style was likened by people like Jim Ross and Jim Cornette to that of a football coach: Watts was the boss and his players had to obey orders. At the same time, Watts was an accomplished former wrestler and many of his former employees came away learning a lot about the business and how to present themselves, including Magnum T.A., the Junkyard Dog, Jim Duggan, or Ted DiBiase.

3 Dutch Mantell: The Real Father Of The 'Brothers Of Destruction'

In 1989, WCW's Skyscrapers tag team found themselves a man down when Sid Vicious got injured. He had been getting too popular to continue in the team anyway, so the company was looking to replace him. Jim Cornette, who was on the booking team at the time, called Dutch Mantell who was booking Memphis. Dutch suggested Mark Calaway who went on to become the Undertaker just a year later. History repeated itself in 1995. Cornette, now running Smoky Mountain Wrestling, called Mantell - now booking Puerto Rico. Mantell suggested Glen Jacobs, who was looking to leave Puerto Rico and head back to the States. Jacobs went to SMW as the Unabomber and later joined WWE where he would eventually become Kane.

2 Dominic DeNucci: Trainer And Booker

DeNucci was a wrestler who mostly found success in the early WWE (as a tag team wrestler) and in Australia's WCW in the sixties. After his active in-ring career, DeNucci became a trainer. His two most famous students were Mick Foley and Shane Douglas. This was during a time when wrestling training was often a nightmare with trainers intentionally hurting students in order to scare them away. DeNucci was the opposite. When Foley couldn't afford to pay the fee, DeNucci lowered it from $100 to $25. He even sold Mick his first pair of wrestling boots for $25 and helped Mick get booked during the first few years of his career.

1 Danny Davis: The Father Of OVW

From 1999 to 2008, Ohio Valley Wrestling served as the developmental promotion for WWE. Its founder was Danny Davis - a veteran wrestler from Memphis and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (not to be confused with the WWE's heel referee from the late eighties). Together with booker and business partner Jim Cornette, Davis trained the likes of Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, and Shelton Benjamin - a class that would shape WWE's success from 2002 until today.