10 Wrestlers You Didn't Realize Wrestled For WWE In 2003
WWE was still riding off the success from the Attitude Era just a couple of years prior to 2003 and took advantage of that by keeping some of the big names from that period and having them work with much younger and newer names to build up the company's future. 2003 was highlighted by performances from Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio, just to name a few.
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While the company had its main-stay talents that were on every show and PPV, WWE still had help from names that would be more popular later or even more closely tied to other promotions. Here are some of the wrestlers that fans might not have known worked with WWE in 2003.
10 The Brooklyn Brawler
Vengeance 2003 had the APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl which featured multiple names that were either on the undercard or a few special guest returns. One of those returns was that of The Brooklyn Brawler, who was decently popular in the late 80s and early 90s of WWE.
By 1998 The Brawler would retire from full-time competition, and has since made a few random appearances for WWE during matches like the WrestleMania 17 Battle Royal and against Kurt Angle in ECW.
9 Eugene
Another name that arrived during that APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl was that of Eugene, who appeared dressed as Doink The Clown. This wouldn't be the first time that Nick Dinsmore donned the clown paint and suit as he wrestled as Doink a few times around 1999 and 2000 as well.
His biggest break with WWE would come later in 2004 when Dinsmore made his main roster debut as Eugene, who was positioned as Eric Bischoff's nephew. Dinsmore would depart with WWE in 2007 but has kept the Eugene character alive on the indies ever since.
8 The S.A.T.
Any fans that recall the early days of Ring of Honor will remember the tag team of The S.A.T. (Spanish Announce Team). Jose and Joel Maximo competed in other indie shows around the time like CZW and the start of Impact Wrestling.
The duo worked a match against The Basham Brothers in late 2003 on WWE's minor show at the time, Velocity. The brothers still perform and team together appearing on GCW events and often teamed with their cousin, Amazing Red.
7 Damien Sandow
Long before he started appearing on NWA Power or even before he was the man who dressed like The Miz and acted as his stunt double, Damien Sandow was making his name on WWE's minor shows under the name Aron Stevens.
Some of his earliest WWE appearances were on shows like Heat where he faced Rico, Raven, and Steven Richards. His biggest match in that time frame was when he got a match on SmackDown against Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, to a losing effort.
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6 Eric Young
A handful of Impact Wrestling legends made their way around other promotions before settling on one company. One of these names was Eric Young who right before making his Impact Wrestling debut in 2003 wrestled on Velocity against Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli.
After debuting with Impact, Young still worked another match against Sean O'Haire on Velocity before joining Impact full-time. Young's next WWE outing wouldn't come until 2016 when he joined the NXT brand and faced another Impact alumni, Samoa Joe. Young did attempt to re-join WWE but asked for his release recently before appearing on television again.
5 Bobby Roode
More of those big names from Impact Wrestling, Bobby Roode was also working on Velocity in 2003 before settling in with Impact. He would work under the name Bobby Rude, and had a few matches alongside Eric Young during this time.
His other matches included names like Billy Kidman, Rhyno, A-Train, and Tyson Dux before he and Young started working in Impact as Team Canada in 2004. Much like Young, Roode would return to WWE under the NXT brand and even became the NXT Champion in 2017.
4 Davey Boy Smith Jr.
The son of the legendary British Bulldog and one-half of the former WWE Tag Team Champion duo, The Hart Dynasty, David Hart Smith made his first WWE appearances long before Tyson Kidd, Natalya, and himself were teaming on Raw and SmackDown.
2003 saw him have two matches on Heat and Velocity against Randy Anderson and Buddy Wayne, which he would win both. His debut however was the year prior when he beat Teddy Hart on a SmackDown house show.
3 John Morrison
John Hennigan, Nitro, Morrison, Impact, Mundo...whatever name he has this week, was one-half of the Tough Enough season 3 winners and would get a WWE contract for his efforts on the reality show.
His first match would be against his season 3 co-winner Matt Cappotelli on Monday Night Raw in early 2003. After that debut, he would continue to appear on OVW, Heat, and Velocity before forming the MNM stable with Melina and Joey Matthews and working on the SmackDown roster.
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2 Mr. Kennedy
Before finally settling into the WWE in 2005, Ken Anderson received quite a few matches on shows like Velocity, Heat, and even Jakked before getting the coveted contract. Just a couple of years into his career he was working on WWE television against Essa Rios and Billy Gunn.
2003 saw him make a handful of appearances against names like Rodney Mack and Sean O'Haire on Heat and Velocity. Anderson then joined the OVW roster in 2005 and was there for a short stint before going to the main roster and becoming Mr. Kennedy.
1 Carlito
Fans might remember Carlito winning the WWE United States Championship in his debut against John Cena back in 2004, but Carlito was putting in time with WWE long before that match happened.
Like everyone else before and after him, he was mostly down in OVW and working on Velocity and Heat. 2003 saw him still working in WWC but still made a few appearances against stars like Matt Morgan and Tommy Dreamer before finally putting pen to paper and signing with the WWE.
