In 2009, WWE closed out the first decade of the 21st century with moments like the legendary WrestleMania 25 classic between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, not to mention prominent stars like John Cena and Randy Orton. But those are just the things that fans most likely remember — beyond that are loads of things that fans have likely forgotten or even missed due to WWE producing countless hours of television programming every week.
As a result, there are loads of recognizable wrestlers that fans likely have forgotten wrestled for WWE in 2009 — if they noticed them at all. Let’s take a look at 10 of these wrestlers who surprisingly stepped into a WWE ring that year, which includes international stars, beloved legends, and at least one celebrity.
10 Tony Atlas
Notable as one-half of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history (with Rocky Johnson), Tony Atlas’ heyday was in the 1970s and 1980s, though he still surprisingly wrestles today. Brought back to WWE television to manage Mark Henry in ECW in 2008, Tony Atlas wrestled for WWE for the first time since 1991 in that same year, a tag team match alongside Henry. In 2009, Atlas surprisingly wrestled a singles match, losing to Evan Bourne on an early June episode of ECW on Sci-Fi.
9 Mr. Kennedy
One of WWE’s what-could-have-beens, Mr. Kennedy seemed destined for great things before a number of factors — injuries, heat with bigger stars — resulted in his release from the company. In the summer of 2008, Kennedy suffered a dislocated shoulder that put him out of action for months, though his WWE produced direct-to-video film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia came out in early 2009. Mr. Kennedy was released in May 2009, but not before wrestling only one match in WWE that year: a 10-man basketball-themed tag team match where Mr. Kennedy’s team represented the LA Lakers.
8 Scott Armstrong
The Armstrong family produced some memorable wrestlers like Road Dogg and Brad Armstrong, while Scott Armstrong is best known to modern fans as a referee for WWE from 2006 to 2022. Armstrong pretty much retired from wrestling when he signed to the company, but he did have one match in WWE.
In October 2009, Armstrong wrestled in a two-minute losing effort against CM Punk. This was one of those bouts that happened for plot reasons, as Punk was angry at Scott Armstrong over a loss at a pay-per-view days earlier.
7 CIMA
Best known for his run in Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling, Japanese veteran CIMA is no stranger to wrestling in America, having wrestled for AEW, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and even WCW over the course of his career. In February 2009, the future three-time Open The Dream Gate Champion had temporarily stepped away from Dragon Gate and ended up wrestling an untelevised tryout match before an episode of SmackDown. In this dark match, CIMA was defeated by Jamie Noble.
6 Sunny
During her mid-to-late 1990s run in WWE, Sunny — a.k.a. Tammy Lynnn Sytch — made an impression on fans as the manager of The Bodydonnas and other tag teams, but in more recent years is known for her run-ins with the law. While Sunny was never really a wrestler, she stepped into the ring on dozens of occasions, including her last in-ring effort, which was for WWE in 2009. This (probable) final match was for the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal at WrestleMania 25, which was infamously won by Santino Marella in drag.
5 Rob Van Dam
Of course, ECW legend Rob Van Dam also had a memorable run in WWE, where he most notably defeated John Cena in front of one of the most hostile wrestling crowds of the 21st century. After his release in 2007, RVD resurfaced in Impact Wrestling a few years later, but before that he actually made a surprise return to WWE before that. It was at Royal Rumble 2009 that showed up in the Rumble itself, entering at #25 and later getting eliminated by Chris Jericho.
4 Marty Jannetty
One half of The Rockers tag team with Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty’s biggest claims to fame for many fans are getting superkicked and hurled through a window, and getting overshadowed by his former tag team partner. Over the years, he made a number of returns to WWE, including a one-night stint in 2009.
On the SmackDown before the 10/19/2009 episode of Raw, The Miz made some comments about Marty Jannetty that resulted in Jannetty returning on Raw to challenge him. It wasn’t much of a match, however, lasting less than three minutes.
3 Trish Stratus
Since seemingly retiring in 2006, Trish Stratus has made several returns to WWE, including one that’s still going on in 2023. As a result, it’s easy to forget that Trish returned to the ring on 9/14/2009 — for two matches on the same night, no less. While guest hosting that episode of Raw, Beth Phoenix and Chris Jericho came out to harass her, resulting in Stratus booking herself and MVP against the two in a mixed tag team match. The match ended in a DQ, but then Trish restarted the match as a three-on-three bout with Stratus and MVP joined by Mark Henry while Jericho and Phoenix had The Big Show on their side.
2 Seth Green
In the Summer of 2009, WWE decided to start having special guests host Raw in what many fans consider one of the worst periods of Raw history. WWE legends and celebrities alike hosted the show, including the initiative’s third-ever guest host, actor and Robot Chicken creator Seth Green. In addition to booking a six-woman tag match dubbed the “Summer Swimsuit Spectacular,” an altercation with Randy Orton led to Green setting up a match for himself as well. In it, Green, Triple H, and John Cena successfully put away Orton and his Legacy buddies Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.
1 Ricky Steamboat
Wrestling fans have seen Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat — one of the greatest pure babyfaces of all time — recently return to wrestling television to make sure CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks on AEW Collision went by-the-book. However, 2009 marked Steamboat’s return to active wrestling, which he had not done since 1994. Reintroduced to WWE via a Hall of Fame induction in 2009, Steamboat entered a feud with Chris Jericho, which led to several matches in WWE. In addition to a forgotten gem against Jericho at Backlash, Steamboat stuck around for a couple of months, wrestling Drew McIntyre, Chris Jericho, and Sheamus at select house shows.
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