When Mattel acquired the WWE license, it immediately made some waves with its legends line in getting legends made that previous licensee Jakks wasn’t able to in its decade-plus run.
These weren’t fringe characters either. We got “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and the Von Erichs — pivotal characters to any worthwhile wrestling collection.
But while wrestling is typically a “never say never” kind of business, there’s a number of stars and legends that Mattel won’t be able to come close to being able to put on shelves for collectors. If you or someone you know customizes, you’re pretty safe spending the money to make/order these stars.
For simplicity’s sake, I didn’t bother including Owen Hart and Chris Benoit, since it shouldn’t come as any surprise to collectors that we won’t ever see figures of them from any company again.
Billy Jack Haynes
Haynes’ bad blood with the WWE dates back to his quitting/firing from the promotion in 1988. Haynes hasn’t let the issue die down all these years later as last year he filed a federal lawsuit against the WWE seeking that the promotion establish a medical trust fun for former wrestlers coping with injuries that occurred in a WWE ring. So if you want the Oregon superstar, break out your yellow and green paint and get to work because he’s definitely not getting back in the WWE’s good graces any time soon.
Chyna
There are few superstars the WWE tries to act as if they never existed more than Chyna. Even if the powers that be decided they could overlook her sex tape past (much like her partner Sean “X-Pac” Waltman who got a figure in Elite 33), it’s a safe bet her past relationship with Triple H, who’s happily married to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, makes her pretty much a lock to never get another figure in a WWE line.
Dino Bravo
Despite being a major midcard player in feuds with stars like Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, and more, The Canadian Strongman has never had a figure released. Not from Hasbro, Jakks, or Mattel. Bravo was allegedly gunned down for crossing the Canadian mafia for his alleged role in cigarette smuggling. Just like no one in the WWE wants to cross Mr. McMahon, no one wants to run afoul of the mafia for trying to get a Dino Bravo figure made.
Ludvig Borga
For a time in the mid-’90s, Borga seem poised to be one of the most dominant wrestlers in the WWF for years to come. But apparently he was a nightmare behind the scenes, to the point that Jim Ross, a guy who seems to always be able to find positives to say about wrestlers, said in an interview with The Sun that Borga was “somewhat obnoxious and he could be a bully if allowed to be such. Guys like Halme don’t mix well in any locker room and need to be removed from the ‘team’ sooner than later.” Combined with Borga’s short stint in the WWF and untimely demise due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, there’s little reason to expect a Borga figure for your Elite 30 Lex Luger to battle.
Nailz
More than any other person on this list, you can take to the bank there will never be another Nailz figure. Nailz, aka Kevin Walcholz, actually got into a physical altercation with WWE CEO Vince McMahon over money before getting into a series of lawsuits with the WWE and alleging McMahon gave him steroids.
Jeff Jarrett
More than anyone else on the list, Jarrett didn’t shrink into irrelevancy upon the end of his WWE tenure. Instead, Jarrett refuses to be a footnote in wrestling history going on to co-found Total Nonstop Action and now Global Force Wrestling.
Unlike the others, Jarrett isn’t just blackballed — he’s doing his own thing and seemingly has no interest being beholden to the WWE or the McMahons ever again, meaning he’s the least likely to ever see a Mattel WWE figure.
Click here for my full list of unlikely stars to ever get the Mattel figure treatment.
