What These Famous 2000s Wrestlers Are Doing Today

Despite the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties arguably being more famous than any time frame for wrestling, lots of the celebs from the 2000s have gone on to develop into as famous as those that they grew up watching. That is largely to the web rapidly evolving to the purpose where mainly any and all wrestling was available to observe in the event you looked hard enough, with hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage being digitally archived for the world to see.

It has been well established at this point that the 2000s were an odd time to be a wrestling fan. WCW and ECW were dead and buried, with ECW being resurrected after which killed again, causing non-WWE fans to look outwards and find firms comparable to Ring of Honor, TNA, and CZW. As for WWE fans, there are those that obviously who’ve a nostalgic fondness for the Ruthless Aggression era as that is what they grew up on, but as compared to the peak of the Attitude Era in 2000 and 2001, WWE were badly struggling when it got here to TV rankings, live attendance, and overall creative juices.

Nevertheless, that did not stop them from producing a few of the biggest stars within the history of the corporate, some who’ve gone on to be as influential those that proceeded them. The likes of John Cena, Kurt Angle, and Randy Orton are all household names in WWE folklore, as is CM Punk who got here through the long-lasting indie scene of the 2000s with the likes of Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and AJ Styles. Then are those that have faded into the memory of only probably the most loyal wrestling fan, and today, we have comprised a small list that hopefully covers the names you understand and love, and others that you just won’t have considered in a while.

So sit back, loosen up, and join me once more on a journey to the primary decade of the twenty first century to see what these five wrestlers who made their name in that 10 yr timeframe are doing now!

After catching Paul Heyman’s eye together with his work in Big Japan Wrestling, Yoshihiro Tajiri was delivered to Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1998 as a white-meat babyface, complete with blue trunks, a polite smile, and a high-flying offense that dropped the jaws of everyone who saw him within the ECW Arena. By the top of 1999, the blue trunks had been replaced by long baggy leather pants, his smile was loads more sinister than before, and if any of his opponents thought they could be getting the upper hand, they’d be met with green mist and a kick to the pinnacle so hard they might forget what their very own birthday was. The Japanese Buzzsaw was born.

2000 was Tajiri’s breakout yr in ECW, and you actually are doing yourself a disservice in the event you have not seen his matches against the likes of Steve Corino and Psicosis, while his Mexican Death Match (and his feud as a complete) with Super Crazy really must be seen to be believed. WWE fans were then introduced to Tajiri in 2001 when he joined after ECW went out of business, where he showcased his comedic chops while also still being a force to be reckoned with in between the ropes. He won the WCW United States and WWE Light Heavyweight Championships in the course of the Invasion storyline, enjoy three separate reigns with the Cruiserweight Championship, perhaps the one man to carry the title thrice while it had three different names (WCW, WWF, and WWE respectively), and even had two stints as a WWE Tag Team Champion alongside Eddie Guerrero and William Regal.

While he can have had a temporary return to WWE as a part of the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic tournament, it’s his work within the 2000s that’s most fondly remembered, and as of late, he can still be found wrestling in Japan for Kyushu Pro Wrestling, where he recently surpassed the 30 yr mark as an in-ring performer. Tajiri has also featured in some more well-known promotions as recently as this yr, reuniting together with his ECW rivals/friends Super Crazy and Little Guido at GCW’s “The People vs. GCW” pay-per-view in January 2025, and as a part of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement tour at Recent Japan Pro Wrestling’s “Wrestling Dontaku” event in May.

From 2001 to 2005, Maven Huffman had the perfect job on the planet; he was a WWE Superstar. That is a phrase you have probably heard loads over the past few years, but Maven was genuinely living the dream due to a reality TV show that modified his life.

Maven was one in all the winners of the inaugural season of “WWE Tough Enough,” the corporate’s reality TV show that was created to piggyback off the success of shows like “Survivor” and “Big Brother,” and was immediately granted a multi-year contract with WWE because of this. He would begin life being managed by Al Snow, one in all the trainers on the show, while routinely mixing it up with veterans like Tazz, Raven, and Booker T. Nevertheless, it was in 2002 where Maven truly made a reputation for himself by eliminating The Undertaker from that yr’s Royal Rumble match, one of the crucial memorable moments in Rumble history, and as a reward, he was given a very nasty unprotected chair shot the pinnacle and thrown right into a popcorn machine.

It did improve for Maven over the next months, difficult for the WWE Undisputed Championship, the WWE Tag Team Championships, and even winning the WWE Hardcore Championship on three separate occasions, including a pinfall win over The Undertaker (who should have hated him at this point), and at WrestleMania 18. His profession in WWE can be halted in May 2002 as he broke his leg in a match on “WWE SmackDown” and after recovering, he never found the success of his initial post-“Tough Enough” glory days.

As of late, Maven has arguably develop into more well-known and more popular than when he was an lively wrestler. He runs his own YouTube channel that currently boasts over 700,000 subscribers, where he is incredibly open about his time in wrestling, even exposing hidden secrets of the business comparable to how WWE wrestlers receives a commission and the way lots of them used steroids. His channel has led to him appearing on various podcasts and radio shows, and on the rarest of occasions, he’ll lace up his boots and get back within the ring for cameo appearances, last wrestling for Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling promotion in March 2024.

In the event you were a young man growing up within the 2000s and also you happened to catch an episode of WWE programming, chances are high you ended up having an enormous crush on no less than one WWE Diva, and as time has gone on, most individuals, including a few of those within the business, that Stacy Keibler is probably probably the most beautiful woman to ever step right into a wrestling ring.

Debuting in WCW in 1999 as Miss Hancock, Keibler became a member of the WWE roster as a part of the Invasion angle in 2001 where, like most ladies were forced to on the time, she ended up appearing in additional “Bra and Panties” matches and lingerie contests than she did wrestling matches. Nevertheless, that did not stop her from becoming a beloved member of the Divas division by the fans, as she ended up managing the likes of The Dudley Boyz, Test, and Scott Steiner, in addition to being Vince McMahon’s personal assistant for a temporary period, producing the now iconic meme of Vince falling out of his chair with a delirious look on his face.

It was clear as day that Stacy had more crossover potential than most WWE Superstars, as she was routinely voted as one in all the sexiest women on the planet by Maxim magazine, was one of the crucial requested women in history to seem on the quilt of Playboy, which she turned down twice, and even finished third on the second season of “Dancing with the Stars,” something that caused uproar on the show on the time as many tipped her to win. She would go on to have a successful acting profession, return to modelling for a temporary time, and even lived out many girls dreams of dating George Clooney.

After being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023 by her close friend Torrie Wilson (who Keibler inducted back in 2019) many questioned what Stacy had been doing since leaving wrestling. The reply is solely specializing in her family and being the perfect possible mother to her three children that she will possibly be. When she’s not being a mother, she’s being an influencer and brand ambassador on social media, with most fans with the ability to sustain together with her goings on via her Instagram page. 

Not every WWE profession seems to be successful, with a few of them being remembered as such catastrophic failures that they remained etched in people’s memories eternally. That is unfortunately what happened to Muhammad Hassan, who was portrayed by Marc Copani, a Recent York native of Italian descent, who signed a developmental contract with WWE in 2002 and spent the youth of his profession in OVW. In 2004, WWE were trying to have an Arab-American character featured on television, and after being offered the chance to maneuver as much as the fundamental roster, Copani agreed, and Muhammad Hassan arrived on the scene in December of that yr.

To say Hassan wasn’t received well can be like saying the sky is blue or the sun is hot. Obviously portraying a heel within the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 and the start of the Iraq war in 2003, Hassan was loathed by virtually everyone, but was receiving a sustained push on TV and mixing it up with a few of WWE’s biggest names. In any case, his attack on Eugene at WrestleMania 21 was interrupted by none aside from Hulk Hogan. He was even on the right track to have a feud with The Undertaker throughout the summer, but that is where things went horribly fallacious for Hassan’s character.

On July 4, 2005, Hasaan ordered five men in black ski masks and camo pants to attack The Undertaker with clubs and piano wire. It was bad enough that the angle ran on July 4 of all days, but it surely was even worse when the episode of “WWE SmackDown” it was taped for aired on July 7, mere hours after a really real terrorist attack in London, England that killed 56 people. Obviously WWE weren’t to know something like that might occur, but people were so outraged that the segment aired unedited that WWE scrapped Hassan’s character on the behest of the UPN network, and Copani was released by the top of September.

Fortunately, Copani landed on his feet after his release and went back to varsity to develop into an educator. After a time frame where he was a world history teacher at Hannibal High School in Hannibal, Recent York, he would go on to be the Assistant Principal, and eventually the Principal of Fulton Junior High School in Fulton Recent York. His profession in education has only grown more vital over time as Copani is now the Director of Human Resources for the Fulton City School District, and as one would imagine, has no real interest in getting back within the ring any time soon.

Rounding out our fab five with one of the crucial famous wrestlers to ever step foot in a wrestling ring. Dave Bautista got here through the famous Ohio Valley Wrestling class of 2002 that included John Cena, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar, and for a temporary time frame, in genuinely looked like “The Animal” was going to develop into the most important success story out of those 4.

After having the advantage of learning from the likes of Triple H and Ric Flair in Evolution, Batista progressively became an increasing number of popular to the purpose where the night he decided to decide on “The Game’s” World Heavyweight Championship over JBL’s WWE Championship within the lead-up to WrestleMania 21 is one in all WWE’s finest hours. In three short years, Batista had gone from being Reverend D-Von’s deacon to a WrestleMania fundamental eventer, where he dethroned Triple H in 2005. For the subsequent 4 years, Batista would go on to win the World Heavyweight Championship 4 times, the WWE Championship twice, and have become a Tag Team Champion with the likes of John Cena and Rey Mysterio. He was one of the crucial popular stars of all the decade, but eventually called time on his wrestling profession in 2010 after not liking the direction WWE was going, in addition to having plenty of nagging injuries.

As for what Batista is doing now, all you might want to do is go right down to your local movie show and you’ll likely have the ability to identify the previous WWE Champion’s face somewhere. While some would say Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has had a more successful movie profession, Batista might need had the more critically acclaimed profession to date. He’s a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Drax The Destroyer, he appeared within the James Bond franchise as Mr. Hinx in 2015’s “Spectre,” and had a starring role in each “Dune” movies that are widely considered two of the perfect movies of the trendy era. On the subject of what’s next, Batista has various roles on the horizon, including the newest try and reboot Nickelodeon’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series with 2026’s “The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.”