WWE reckons itself as sports entertainment, and for professional wrestling to be entertaining enough for viewers, the backstage staff play a significant role in telling any story to thrill the fans. These producers are key figures in bringing out the best of professional wrestling.
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About 80% of today's WWE producers were former wrestlers. We rarely have to discuss the likes of Mark Henry, Road Dogg, and D-Von Dudley. Other names here might surprise you. Without further ado, here's a look at the top current 10 WWE producers that many fans never knew were great wrestlers.
10 Pat Patterson
Patterson is the oldest former wrestler to still be employed as a producer, and he is also the oldest person to ever win a title in the history of WWE. The 79-year-old is one of the "backbones" of WWE, though not popular among the younger generations of WWE fans. However, he is one of the most successful Canadian wrestlers to have made it to WWE.
He began his wrestling career far back in 1958 and retired (for the most part) in 1984, after an impressive career that involved performances in different wrestling divisions, including debuting for WWF (now WWE) in 1979. He's had backstage positions ever since then and was made a permanent producer before 1990. Paterson had won countless championships as a wrestler, and, mind you, he was the first WWF Intercontinental Champion.
9 Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett was more of a promoter-wrestler during his prime-time. Most of his success came during his stint with TNA, WCW, and WWE. He was a wrestler to be reckon with, with 81 championship titles to his name.
Jarrett has been an esteemed figure in World Wrestling Entertainment for his many championship wins during the 90s and for his great success in other promotions, specifically founding TNA Impact Wrestling. Double J signed as a producer in January 2019 with many spectacular achievements, he happens not to be popular among many wrestling fans, popularly rumored to have held up WWE for money over 20 years ago.
8 John Laurinaitis (Johnny Ace)
Fans of Japanese wrestling are fond of Johnny Ace from his runs in tag team matches. He had his best moments in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he won eight championships. He was the "King of the Cutter" before it became Randy Orton's finishing move. He became a WWE producer in March 2001, following his retirement in 2000.
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He started his career as a tag team wrestler with his brother, 'The Terminator,' wrestling for NWA from 1986-1990. His brief stint in the NWA was followed by another short-lived spell in the WCW, leaving the latter after losing to Mean Mark Callous (The Undertaker.)
7 Steve Corino
Steve Corino is famous for his works with WWE, ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling), and Ring Of Honor.
Corino - a tall, gifted and technical wrestler, who could wrestle a variety of styles - eventually joined WWE in November 2016 as a guest trainer (producer). He was made a permanent trainer the following year. His works include teaching and instructing the advanced class of the WWE performance center.
6 James Gibson (Jamie Noble)
A dependable worker believed never to have gotten his fair share of backing from WWE for showcasing his talent, Gibson fought under the ring name "Jamie Noble" between 2002 and 2009. In an era dominated by the big guys, he had an exceptional understanding of the business. Gibson wore a mask between the years 1995 and 1999 in WCW, adopting the ring name "Jamie Howard." He removed his mask at the turn of the century, taking up the character of a trailer park redneck in WWE.
Noble captured one reign with the Cruiserweight Championship in 2002. After many years in the ring, he signed as a producer in 2009. During his in-ring career, he also performed for NJPW and ROH, winning the ROH World Championship.
5 Michael Seitz (Michael P.S. Hayes)
Seitz, popularly known as Michael Hayes, was a multi-talented professional wrestler and musician. The de facto head of The Fabulous Freebirds had a flamboyant wrestling prowess and knew how to work the crowd. Whether moonwalking like Michael Jackson before and after a fight or delivering a hell of a promo, Hayes' contributions to wrestling are hard to ignore.
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However, his ties to the Confederate flag leave his fanbase divided. It's his great southern charisma that paved his way to multiple tag accomplishments with the NWA. The man, who once claimed Carmella stole his pro-wrestling gimmick, officially became a producer in 2009 following a previous spell in the mid-90s. His character development is likewise impeccable, and he has helped young talent hone their craft, including The Hardy Boyz.
4 Adam Pearce
Pearce solidified a notable reputation in the NWA, where he held the world title on five different occasions. He was way more competent as a wrestler and booker before becoming a sound hand backstage for WWE.
His style stood out among the other wrestlers of his time. Known by ring names like "Scrap iron Adam", and "Tommy Lee", he also wrestled in ECW and ACW and was a great addition to the ROH/CZW conflict.
3 Sylvain Grenier
Grenier is currently one of the newest faces to grace the list of WWE producers, since putting pen to paper on January 19, 2020. He quit professional wrestling over a year earlier, after a successful career on the independent scene of his home province of Quebec.
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He was part of La Resistance, who won the World tag team Championship four consecutive times. He never quite caught on as a singles performer, owing to his not-so-impeccable in-ring prowess, unlike his team-mates Rene Dupree and Rob Conway.
2 Theodore James Wilson (Tyson Kidd)
This Canadian-American former professional wrestler is currently one of WWE's producers at just 39 years of age. He was featured under the ring name "Tyson Kidd" in WWE and was among The Hart Dynasty tag-team trio.
The 39-year-old spouse of Natalya Neidhart debuted as a wrestler in 1995 and worked in WWE between 2006 and 2009. Nicknamed "The Stampede Kid," he worked with different WWE wrestling development divisions, especially with NXT. Kidd signed as a road agent in 2017.
1 Christopher Joseph Park (Abyss)
Park almost spent his entire career in TNA. He starred with "The Revolution" and "Decay, twice winning the TNA World Tag Team Championship on either side. The hardcore wrestler never bagged the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, despite his lengthy run. He enjoyed a 56-day reign as NWA World Champ in 2006-2007 before the promotion abandoned that title's lineage.
He began his wrestling career in the year 1995 with NWF (Northern Wrestling Federation). He went on to work in NWA and IWA under different ring names such as "Chris Justice," "Joseph Park," "Terminator," and "The Monster." Abbys became a WWE producer in early 2019.
