Ken Shamrock recently described his debut with WWE as “confusing,” reflecting on the pressure of entering the ring alongside legends during his first major outing.
Ken Shamrock, in an interview with Wrestling Life Online, said the memory that stands out most is his appearance at WrestleMania 13, a submission match between Bret Hart and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, where he served as special guest referee.
“It was pretty confusing going into that match, for me personally, I hadn’t had the experience to be in there with those two guys at that level. I mean, these are icons, guys that are just, as we know now, just greatness.”
At the time, Shamrock said he doubted whether he could “keep up” with two of wrestling’s biggest stars, given his background in mixed martial arts rather than traditional pro wrestling.
He explained that WWE brought him in not for traditional wrestling, with hip-tosses or leap-frogs, but as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” a moniker rooted in his MMA reputation. Being thrust into that environment, under the brightest lights and alongside seasoned veterans, made that debut especially daunting for him. But Shamrock says he owes a lot of his knowledge of the business that he learned to Bret Hart.
“I credit a lot of my understanding of the character which I was supposed to be. I credit a lot of that to Bret in helping me understand that I’m not a pro wrestler. They brought me in as this ‘World’s Most Dangerous Man.’ And to go out there and do hip tosses and leapfrogs and, you know, these things that’s just not me, that’s not who they brought me in for; they brought me in for what I was famous for, and that was submitting guys.”
How Long Was Ken Shamrock In WWE?
Ken Shamrock’s main run in WWE lasted from 1997 to 1999, beginning with his debut as the special guest referee for the Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin Submission Match at WrestleMania 13. Over the next two years, he became a fixture of the Attitude Era, working high-profile feuds with The Rock, Owen Hart and the Nation of Domination.
Shamrock left the company in late 1999 to return to mixed martial arts, marking the end of his full-time WWE stint. He made a brief one-night appearance in 2018 for Raw’s 25th anniversary, but his recognised in-ring run remains those two intense years from 1997 to 1999.
