Every wrestling promotion will encounter a few names that wrestle there for a while and then seemingly either retire or just completely vanish from the sport after their run. WCW had a handful of names like this. Most of these wrestlers are still found out in the world doing regular jobs while a couple others might be insanely hard to find anything out about them.
There seems to be a common thread that some of these names share in that they just weren’t the biggest stars in WCW, so maybe they just didn’t want to keep working in a career that didn’t benefit them the way they needed it to. Let’s take a moment to highlight some of these superstars that disappeared from wrestling after their work with WCW finished.
10 Paul Roma
Pretty Paul Roma might be a small stretch as he didn’t completely vanish from wrestling entirely, he just never got a big contract with a huge promotion again. He decided to retire in 1998 after he left WCW and failed to get picked up by the WWE and instead focused on bodybuilding and other ventures.
Roma did make a return to wrestling in 2006 working in a small independent promotion called Connecticut Championship Wrestling where he served as their commissioner. As of writing, Roma’s latest match was in 2021 with the EWF where he lost to Vladimir Moskayev.
9 Horace Hogan
Famously the nephew of Hulk Hogan, Horace Hogan primarily wrestled with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the early 90s before securing a job in World Championship Wrestling alongside his uncle. Horace would leave the promotion alongside Hulk after the infamous Bash at the Beach 2000 PPV.
After leaving WCW, Horace tried his hand with WWE and was assigned to their Heartland Wrestling Association development territory before getting released in September 2002. Horace would then retire from wrestling and started working in construction.
8 Pez Whatley
Pez Whatley made history when he started his wrestling career as he was the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s first-ever African-American wrestler. He worked with Jim Crockett Promotions during the height of his career before becoming an enhancement talent for companies like WWE and WCW.
Whatley’s final stint in wrestling was with WCW whereas mentioned he was an enhancement talent and also worked backstage as an assistant trainer in the WCW Power Plant. Pez would sadly pass away from a heart attack in 2005 and would get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as a legacy member.
7 Kwee Wee
Kwee Wee’s longest tenure with any promotion was the four years he worked with WCW and even appeared on the final WCW PPV, Greed. His contract was bought out by WWE after their purchase of WCW, but he never made an appearance on television before being released.
Kwee Wee would then work in promotions like All Japan Pro Wrestling and Impact Wrestling for a year each before leaving. His last known wrestling matches were with Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors in 2010 and 2011 before retiring.
6 Steve McMichael
Steve McMichael would make his name popular by playing in the NFL as a part of the Chicago Bears from 1981-1993. Steve during this time would win a Superbowl alongside the Bears in 1986 against the New England Patriots.
His wrestling career started with a brief appearance at WrestleMania 11 during the Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow match before he signed with WCW. After a few years with the promotion, he would stop wrestling and made one final outing with Impact Wrestling to be the special guest referee during a Monster’s Ball match at Bound for Glory in 2008.
5 Air Paris
Air Paris made his wrestling debut in 1996 mostly working in smaller promotions and eventually NWA Wildside. After some time on the independent scene, Air Paris got a deal with WCW in 2000 and would debut alongside his tag partner AJ Styles.
Paris and Styles stayed with WCW until their buyout, but neither contract was picked up by WWE. Paris then went back to working on the indies where his last match so far was in 2021 during the Lariato Pro Sizzlin’ Summer Tour.
4 Mike Sanders
Mike Sanders had a small but decent career with WCW where he started as a jobber losing to names like Chavo Guerrero before becoming “Above Average” Mike Sanders. During this time he became a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Champion before the company was bought out by the WWE.
Sanders did get his contract picked up and was sent down to the HWA developmental brand. After his release in 2002, Sanders then tried his hand at Impact Wrestling where he stayed for a few months. Sanders now works in comedy and runs a DJ and entertainment company.
3 Evan Karagias
Evan Karagias joined WCW in 1997 starting in their Power Plant before working as a jobber before forming 3 Count in 1999 alongside Shane Helms and Shannon Moore. Karagias would become a Hardcore, and Cruiserweight Champion before WCW folded.
After WCW ended, Karagias worked with WWE in the HWA but was released after a concussion put him on the sidelines. He then worked on the indy scene before seemingly retiring in 2010.
2 Stevie Ray
Despite being a highly decorated tag team wrestler alongside his brother Booker T, Stevie Ray didn’t decide to keep wrestling much after WCW folded. His career after the promotion equals a total of 23 matches with promotions like ROW and WWA, most also involving Buff Bagwell.
Stevie Ray left WCW after he lost a Title vs. Career match against WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner on Nitro in 2000. Stevie would get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside his brother in 2019.
1 Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg was a flash-in-the-pan type of wrestler with WCW as he put on some really incredible performances but quickly decided to retire from the sport. Pro Wrestling Illustrated rated him as #99 on their Top 500 in 1999.
He would retire after his final WCW match but had a one-off match against Jack Evans who was inspired to wrestle because of Blitzkrieg and even gave him the gimmick and attire of the character. The man under the mask, Jeremiah Ross now works as a registered nurse in Texas.