Downed On The Farm: Top WWE Developmental Prospects That Never Made It…Part 99

Brian Damage

The WWF/WWE has had some type of developmental system for years now. Whether it was the USWA, Ohio Valley, Power Pro, Heartland, Deep South, Florida Championship Wrestling or NXT…many of the company’s top superstars got their start in at least one of them. While some developmental names like John Cena, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, The Miz, Brock Lesnar and Charlotte Flair all made big stars of themselves by first training in developmental, others never got to see the light of day. This series will focus on those wrestlers…the ones that at some point were a lock to get called up to the main roster and never quite made it. What once was hot, suddenly became a “not” as a WWE superstar.

Charles ‘The Hammer’ Evans

Charles Alford began his career in pro wrestling in 2000. He was initially trained by Ivan Putski, but said Putski quit the school three months into Evans training. Alford sought out other schools to complete his training and briefly ended up with Dory Funk Jr. Evans was still an active member of the United States Army while in training, but once his enlistment ended…he focused 100% on becoming a pro wrestler.

Alford had a tryout in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and ended up getting invited to train and wrestle with them. His initial training was done by Rip Rogers, who bestowed the nickname of Charles “The Hammer” Evans on to him as an inside joke. According to Rogers, the name Hammer was in regards to Evan’s rather large package down below. The nickname stuck and he soon became a regular at OVW events.

Charles Evans eventually was offered a WWE developmental contract and was managed by Kenny Bolin. He would win the OVW TV title on two occasions. Evans would also team with fellow WWE developmental wrestler Justin ‘The Ox’ LaRoche, winning the OVW tag team titles on one occasion. The team of Ox and Hammer split up after Laroche was called up to the main roster under the name Bam Neeley. Evans would make appearances as enhancement talent on WWE Sunday Night Heat while still under a developmental contract.

When WWE decided to end their partnership with OVW, Evans was transferred to Florida Championship Wrestling based in Tampa, Florida. He remained under contract until 2008, when he was ultimately released. Charles Evans continued his wrestling career by competing on independent shows, as well as wrestling in places like Puerto Rico and Japan. Evans would retire from pro wrestling in 2010.

Charles Alford now works privately and resides in his home in Fort Worth, Texas. He has indicated recently the wrestling bug has begun biting him once again and has lined up tryouts with Billy Corgan’s NWA and also indicated a desire to work for Impact Wrestling.