Top 12 professional wrestlers that were never under contract to wwwf/wwf/wwe
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- Lou Thesz is one of wrestling's living legends. Thesz started wrestling in the 1930s, and from the 1930s to the 1960s, he was one of the most dominant figures in the business. Thesz won his first World Heavyweight Title in the 1930s, and went on to become a 6-time World Heavyweight Champion, many of those reigns as the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) world champion. Thesz' last reign was in the 1960s when he lost the NWA world title to Gene Kiniski. Thesz' last match was in the early 1990s when he lost via submission to one of his protoges, Masahiro Chono. Thesz has also written an autobiography.
- Producer
- Director
- Actor
An amateur and professional wrestling legend, Verne Gagne's career covers the entire period of wrestling from the "real" to "fake" to "entertainment" eras. Gagne won two NCAA wrestling championships while at the University of Minnesota, and was a member of the 1948 Olympic Wrestling team for the United States. He soon turned pro and became champion of the new American Wrestling Association (AWA). He was a nine-time heavyweight champion in the AWA, winning his first title in 1960, and retiring as champion in 1981. In between he also was a four-time AWA Tag-Team champion with various partners. One of the most beloved "scientific" i.e. "good guy" wrestlers in the AWA, Gagne had some legendary feuds with some of the greats in the sport including The Crusher, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon (both of whom he later teamed with to win the tag-team belts), "Wicked" Nick Bockwinkel, Gene Kiniski, Mr. M, and Doctor X. Gagne was never flamboyent, but he didn't really need to be as he let his wrestling do the talking. After his career, he took over the promotion of the AWA, staying in that capacity until the league folded in 1990.- Actor
- Director
Deceased Japanese professional wrestler and promoter as Giant Baba who was best known for his long career as the top star for his own All Japan Pro Wrestling. He and Antonio Inoki were the two protégés of Rikidôzan. After Rikidôzan's death, Baba went on a tour of the U.S. and had a series of time-limit draws with major Champions before returning home and defeating several big names. He established All Japan Pro Wrestling in October 1972, in response to Inoki founding New Japan Pro Wrestling. All Japan replaced Rikidôzan's Japanese Wrestling Association in the National Wrestling Alliance. Along with All Japan, he also wrestled for the American Wrestling Association and many NWA territories during the 1970s-1990s. He retired in 1998 and died in 1999. Among his in-ring achievements, he was a 12x NWA International Tag Team Champion, a 4x PWF (Pacific Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight Champion, a 3x NWA International Heavyweight Champion, a 3x NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a former All Japan Pro Wrestling All Asia Heavyweight Champion and a former NWA (Detroit) World Tag Team Champion.- Jack Brisco was born on 21 September 1941 in Blackwell, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), WCW Worldwide (1975) and Saturday Night's Main Event (1985). He was married to Jan Carol Bateman and Sandra Lee Riney. He died on 1 February 2010 in Tampa, Florida, USA.
- Dick Beyer was born on 11 July 1930 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Talk Is Jericho (2013), 18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story (2021) and WWE Hall of Fame 2010 (2010). He was married to Wilma. He died on 7 March 2019 in Akron, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
Keiji Mutô was born on 23 December 1962 in Yamanashi, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for ROH: Final Battle 2003 (2003), WCW Thunder (1998) and All Japan Pro Wrestling 2002 Real World Tag League Gaora TV Special (2002).- Masahiro Chôno was born on 17 September 1963 in Mitaka City, Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor, known for Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends - The Movie (2009), Kantoku · Banzai! (2007) and WCW Monday Nitro (1995). He has been married to Martina Carls since 28 December 1991. They have one child.
- La Parka was one of the most colorful and well known Mexican wrestlers to ever step foot in a wrestling ring. He spent his early career making a name for himself in Mexico in the early 1990s. He, like most of the other Mexican wrestling stars, wrestled in a full body costume, including a mask. His persona was that of a skeleton, looking a bit like the evil Skeletor from He-man.
La Parka finally made his way to the rings of WCW in 1996 after the likes of Rey Mysterio Jr and Konnan opened up the doors for Luchadores, as Mexican wrestlers were known. He quickly became known as a very talented wrestler, wrestling on TNT's high-profile Nitro broadcasts on Monday night. Matches with other talented high-fliers, such as Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon, Psichosis, and Juventud Guerrera, made the art of Lucha-Libre very popular. La Parka, at 6' 4" was actually the largest of the Luchadores in WCW. He was well known for bringing his trademark steel chair with him to the ring for every match, earning him the nickname the "Chairman of WCW". That, along with his trademark dance routine to taunt his opponent, made him one of the most entertaining wrestlers in WCW.
La Parka appeared on several WCW Pay Per Views, such as World War 3 '96, Superbrawl '97, Bash at the Beach '97, World War 3 '97, Souled Out '98, Superbrawl '98, and Spring Stampede '98, which only helped boost his popularity.
Unfortunately for many many closet La Parka fans out there, WCW had a terrible reputation for overlooking talented newcomers in favor of older, established stars. This led to La Parka never getting anything but a cult following in WCW, as he was never used to any real extent storyline-wise. He ended up leaving WCW in 2000 and returning to his wrestling roots in Mexico. - Yuji Nagata was born on 24 April 1968 in Japan. He is an actor, known for WCW Monday Nitro (1995), AEW Collision (2023) and AEW Dynamite (2019).
- Gary Hart was an American professional wrestler/manager/booker/promoter from the 1960s to the 1990s. He wrestled primarily around the U.S. with some appearances in Canada and Australia. As a wrestler, he held the NWA American (World Class in Dallas) Tag Team Titles twice, both times with The Spoiler (Don Jardine). He was one of the wrestlers in the infamous February 20, 1975 plane crash that killed wrestler Bobby Shane. Despite suffering several injuries, Hart was able to rescue Austin Idol and Buddy Colt, but failed to save Shane.
His first charge as a manager was The Student (George 'The Animal' Steele). He built a stable called Gary Hart's Army, which included Abdullah the Butcher, Mark Lewin, Robert Roop, Beau James (Jimmy 'Jam' Garvin), The One Man Gang (George Gray), Dusty Rhodes, King Curtis Iaukea, Dory Funk Jr., Dingo Warrior (Jim Hellwig), Giant Baba, Pak Song (Song Pak), Al Perez, Dick Slater, Dick Murdoch, Professor Toru Tanaka, The Great Kabuki (Akihisa Mera) and Kendo Nagasaki (Kazuo Sakurada).
His last major run as a manager was in the NWA/WCW in 1989-1990, as the leader of The J-Tex Corporation, which comprised The Great Muta (Keiji Mutô), Terry Funk, Sawyer, Slater and The Dragon Master (Nagasaki). His last match was Sting (Steve Borden) defeating him at a house show (non-televised event) at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia on October 8, 1989.
He made a surprise return to wrestling at "MLW Reloaded Tour 2004 Night 2", Tabu Nightclub, Orlando, FL, January 10, 2004, sending Homicide (Nelson Erazo) and Low Ki to attack Terry Funk after Funk had lost a barbed-wire match to MLW World Heavyweight Champion Steve Corino. This was meant as Hart's retribution against Funk for having lost the "I Quit" match to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout (1989). This never led to anything because of MLW closing soon after, and the promotion didn't return until 2017, and Hart passed away in 2008.
Hart's son Chad wrestled for a while in Texas during the 1990s, winning the World Class II Texas Tag Team Title, the TAP Television Title and the EPW Texas Title.
Fellow manager Sir Oliver Humperdink was the best man at Hart's 2005 wedding.
His autobiography, "My Life In Wrestling...With A Little Help From My Friends" was published posthumously in 2009.
He was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014, the NWA Hall of Fame in 2016, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2018 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020. - Producer
- Writer
Jerry Jarrett was born on 4 September 1942 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for TNA iMPACT! Wrestling (2004), TNA Wrestling: No Surrender (2005) and CWA Wrestling (1977). He was married to Deborah Marlin and Julie. He died on 14 February 2023 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.