Wrestlers youve come to appreciate as youve gotten older

[Techniec]

Alot of us who grew up as wrestling fans obviously had different criterias for loving/hating a wrestler as a child, compared to when youre more older, and even compared to once youre an adult and you come to appreciate the more subtle nuances of wrestling away from the story lines

Who are some wrestlers that when you were younger, you hated/didnt care for, but now have really come to appreciate their work (mic/ring etc) and what they brought to the industry

For me, a few come to mind

I always liked DDP, thought he was decent, but ever since hes taken a step back from the industry and Ive been checking his youtube videos, Ive really come to appreciate him not only as a person (no homo) but also some of the angles he was involved in and his ring work

Another name that comes to mind is Rick Rude. I used to hate this guy as a kid, for his promiscous shameful ways ( i grew up in a conservative afghan household that loved wrestling, we alllll hated rude lol), but man, looking back at his in ring work, psychology and his promos, dude is easily a top 10 fav of mine

 

[CJ]

Bam Bam and Vader. As a youngin they were just fat bad guys to me, but looking back as I got older I appreciated that they were very good workers, agile as hell for their size, and just overall solid wrestlers.

 

[Riley Escobar]

JBL
Regal
Goldust
Cena
Umaga

 

[Doctor Wily]

Cololnel Debeers.

 

[malbaker86]

Bam Bam and Vader. As a youngin they were just fat bad guys to me, but looking back as I got older I appreciated that they were very good workers, agile as hell for their size, and just overall solid wrestlers.

Came in here to post these two. It's a shame the people who never got to see Vader in WCW missed out on how he was the prototypical monster heel. Him and Harley Race are underrated as a manager and heel combo.

WCW:
Rey Mysterio Jr. (liked em in WCW, but REALLY started to miss his WCW work when he came to the E)

Basically the Cruiserweight division as a whole

Raven


WWF:
Ted Dibiase
Razor Ramon
Mr. Perfect
Bob Backlund

 

[ML29]

William Regal, I use to clown him all the time when I younger. Didn't start to like him til started watching older matches in my 20's.

 

[Kang Deezy]

Big Show

 

[Black White Sox Hat]

I won't lie i HATED perfect as a kid and i hated him when i got a little older with the west texas rednecks.But i look at him as one of my all time favorites now.Since i have a better understanding for the game and his matches with Bret.One of the greatest heels of all time,i HATED him.

 

[So UnThotful]

William Regal, growing up i honestly thought dude was the biggest peice of ever, now im like 'dude deserve that title run'

and way over mid carders of the attitude era

 

[Silkk]

Cena
Edge
Mark henry

 

[bear27]

Millon Dollar Man.Hated this dude as a kid,looking back now,great worker and got lots of his mid south stuff,amazing.Harley Race same thing,seen him in wwf and was like fukk this dude,went and seen some of his NWA stuff,brilliant.

 

[NYChase718]

X-Pac..... hes an excellent worker, but that phase from 2000-2001 he was kinda annoying minus that feud with jericho

 

[idontbeonherenomore]

JBL
Regal
Goldust
Cena
Umaga

This and Finlay.

 

[Jmare007]

Jerry Lawler
Andre The Giant
Sgt. Slaughter
Jim Duggan
Bob Backlund

 

[NYChase718]

sid vicious as well...good for a big guy

and early Luger wasnt too shabby