10 Small Wrestlers Who Had Huge Wins Over Larger Opponents
When WWE was known as the land of giants, there was hardly an instance of a sub-200-pound wrestler being considered for the main event. The situation has improved during the last decade or so with more focus on the in-ring prowess of the Superstar. Current NXT and former Universal Champion Finn Balor is billed at just 190 pounds, but that hasn't stopped fans from cheering for him or the WWE from giving him a strong push in the main event scene.
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While having an imposing figure is still the best way to get Vince McMahon's approval, that did not prevent the following superstars from gaining huge victories over their much bigger colleagues.
10 The Hurricane
Billed at 6 ft 200 pounds, Gregory 'Hurricane' Helms is not the smallest wrestler to compete in a major wrestling promotion, but he is certainly one of the most accomplished. The Hurricane is a former European, Hardcore, Cruiserweight and Tag team Champion in the WWE in addition to stints in WCW and Impact Wrestling.
In 2003, he had an entertaining mini-feud with the Rock after the latter called him 'The Hamburglar'. In the main event of RAW, Helms scored the biggest victory of his career when he beat the Great One with a roll up after a distraction by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
9 Billy Kidman
With seven Cruiserweight Title reigns, Billy Kidman is second only to Rey Mysterio as the most decorated Cruiserweight in history. During his WCW days, Kidman was involved in a high-profile angle with Hulk Hogan, even pinning The Hulkster multiple times as WCW desperately tried to build new stars during the early 2000s. It eventually went nowhere as Hogan buried Kidman with the infamous 'He couldn't sell out a flea market on his best day' rant.
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Kidman moved on to the WWE and scored another iconic victory when he beat a young John Cena on SmackDown and again at Rebellion 2002 in a mixed tag match also involving Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie.
8 Orange Cassidy
Despite a billed weight of 180 pounds, Orange Cassidy has become a true superstar in AEW. 'The King of Sloth Style' is the most over homegrown AEW talent and his hungover slacker persona ensures that he is an underdog in any match that he competes in.
But unlike other popular up-and-comers in AEW like Jungle Boy and Darby Allin, Cassidy's stock has skyrocketed due to his feud with Chris Jericho. Fans expected Cassidy to put up a strong fight before the eventual loss, but AEW surprised everyone by having Cassidy go over Jericho in the rubber match to win the feud.
7 Spike Dudley
ECW portrayed little Spike Dudley as the runt of the Dudley family, instantly giving him an underdog persona. After the Dudley family split, Spike earned the nickname 'Giant Killer' as he was booked to score quick upset victories over much larger opponents, beginning with Bam Bam Bigelow.
This persona continued after Spike joined the WWE and was the go-to person for a main event superstar to get a squash win over. Spike rallied on crowd support to land a WWE Championship match against Stone Cold Steve Austin and even proceeded to win the European Title from William Regal in a stunning upset.
6 Riho
When the 99-pound Riho beat the 185-pound Nyla Rose to become the first-ever AEW Women's Champion, it was hard not to feel elated for the diminutive Japanese superstar. Her tiny frame ensures that she walks in as the underdog in any feud that she is part of and the way she overcame challenger after challenger to remain champion for over four months ensured that she was the most featured female competitor during the early days of AEW.
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The reemergence of Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker, coupled with travel restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced her time in the spotlight, but expect a huge pop when Riho returns to Jacksonville in the future.
5 AJ Lee
With three reigns with the Divas Championship to her credit, AJ Lee was the face of the WWE Divas division from 2012 - '14. She has had memorable rivalries with the likes of Paige and Nikki Bella in addition to being involved in main event angles involving John Cena, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan.
What made her 'crazy chick' persona work was the fact that at 5'2 and 115 pounds, she was one of the smallest wrestlers on the roster at the time which gave her an undeniable aura. AJ would beat the entire women's division during her time in the WWE, including the likes of larger opponents like Kaitlyn and Tamina.
4 Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss has won every available women's title on the main roster at least twice and is one of the pillars of the WWE Women's Division. Her superb character work means that WWE fans don't bat an eyelid when they see the 5'1, 102 pound 'Little Ms.Bliss' beat the likes of the 5'10 Charlotte and 5'6 Becky Lynch, something Alexa has done multiple times.
'Five Feet Of Fury' has even won the RAW Women's Title from Nia Jax who weighs nearly thrice as Bliss. She was also the first high profile singles opponent for UFC star Ronda Rousey during the latter's WWE run.
3 Hornswoggle
Jamie Noble had to be psychologically scarred after getting booked to lose his Cruiserweight title to little Hornswoggle at the 2007 Great American Bash. This was just one of several victories that the 4'5'' Hornswoggle has scored over WWE main roster superstars.
He beat Chavo Guerrero multiple times during their feud and also ended up on the winning side in multiple tag team matches where he partnered with D-X. Additionally, Hornswoggle had a penchant for eliminating larger opponents from battle royals with the likes of Sheamus, current AEW tag team champion Dash Wilder and Heath Slater getting embarrassed by the little guy over the years.
2 X-Pac
Before his time in D-X and the nWo, X-Pac spent the first two years of his WWE career as The 1-2-3 Kid. The whole gimmick was based on X-Pac scoring an upset win over Razor Ramon on RAW and gaining the reputation of a giant killer. He would proceed to upset other featured stars like Ted Dibiase, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Tatanka, as well as gaining two runs with the WWE Tag Team Titles.
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'The Kid' would turn heel in 1995 and leave for WCW, quietly shedding his underdog persona in Atlanta, where he proceeded to have classic matches with similar sized wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko.
1 Rey Mysterio
No wrestler can claim to hold a candle to Rey Mysterio when it comes to being a persevering underdog. Despite being stuck in the Cruiserweight Division during his WCW days, Mysterio scored upset victories over much larger opponents, such as Kevin Nash and Scott Norton before his move to the WWE in 2002.
At Stamford, Mysterio initially turned heads in a stacked tag team division on SmackDown before capturing the Cruiserweight Title a further three times. However, he wouldn't compete in the Cruiserweight division post-2004, instead moving on to the World Heavyweight Title scene.
Mysterio would win three world titles in WWE, as well as the Intercontinental and US Title twice each and the WWE Tag Team Title four times in the WWE, regularly beating superstars who towered over him in size.
