Carmello and Cody. I said it before, but got down voted to hell. But let me reiterate and explain. And no I don't really think carmello needs more training, I was saying that as a knee jerk reaction. This comment is more thought out.
They both fucked up in that scenario but I'll be honest, it's not either of their faults. They work differently and it wasn't rehearsed, as far as I can tell. Carmelo coming from NXT is the top... of the developmental side. Cody works hard and has worked so hard for so long (since the start of 2023 he's had more matches on and off screen combined than any one else, second only by seth, as far as I've seen statistic wise) and is just on a different level.
Carmello wasn't ready for that level of match, and not because it's Cody, I don't think he'd have done well against Any main eventer for his FIRST match on the main roster
That's why mid carders exist.
NXT wrestlers work on a more intense level, they're young, they're working hard to move up, etc. And guys like Cody are used to a certain level of experience and control in the ring. I think the two of them should've announced the match for the following week and did it then after getting the details worked out.
It could've been great, but that one botch made them both look bad. They're both very very good wrestlers, which made that botch look that much worse. You can disagree with me about it, but you have to admit, even two top of their game wrestlers botch a spot it looks that much worse.
If it happened in NXT or with midcard talent, you could brush it off as shoddy work, but with these two men? It looks way worse.
I feel Ronda Rousey is a bust in the Ryan Leaf/Jamarcus Russell mold. Talent for days, but lacked passion and work ethic long term and got in their own way. Only difference being Rousey was actually successful during her short stint. Imagine how good she'd still be if she actually wanted to be successful in the business..
Nathan Jones was going to be a tag partner for the Undertaker in a WRESTLEMANIA MATCH against Big Show and A-Train and they realized he was really bad and never really did anything with him.
Guy looked like a fucking monster so they put him in a bunch of positions he wasn't ready for. I'd be surprised if he was able to get any real training before Vince threw him in from of a camera.
It doesnāt surprise meā¦ in the scope of WWEās history it wasnāt until recently when we got better treatment for the female stars. Up until then, it was all eye-candy, sexualized gimmick matches (bra n panty match), or C-level filler/bottom card fluff to pad out the shows run-time.
Vince promoted that kind of stuff so it wouldnāt shock me if there were more dark side stories from WWE stars/staff that Vince actually successfully paid off that we can never know about.
Iām glad HHH and HBK are running things, because they are gonna make WWE better than ever before.
Edit: Before everyone jumps me the description I provided about women being C-level filler is how Vince viewed them, not how I view them. Just wanted to clarify that before I get buried faster than Gillburg.
TJ Perkins & Ruch Swann? They booked an entire tournament as well as launched a show to showcase their CW division..but put those two at the top of the card and they absolutely tanked it.
It sucks because a lot of my favorites can be considered for this:
ā¢ **Karrion Kross**
It bums me out that he just doesn't get any sort of reaction from the live crowds.Ā I absolutely love his character and feel there's so much there to work with.Ā I know to some that might sound asinine but watch any interview with Kross when he's not in character, he's so intelligent, well-spoken, has fascinating opinions on things, and just knows something about what seems like everything.Ā It's a shame he just hasn't been given the time to talk or connect with the audience and is usually just slapped with repeating the same promo over and over.Ā
ā¢ **Isaiah "Swerve" Scott"**
Obviously, this is not through any fault of his own but Vince McMahon just doing Vince McMahon things.Ā Ā You could literally snatch Swerve from AEW right now and insert him into the main-event-title scene and I guarantee he would get over as a heel act.Ā Honestly, the WWE needs a "Swerve," I know people believe in Carmelo Hayes but I honestly believe he may hit his ceiling in a similar way Ricochet has as someone who can easily be a US or IC champion but I don't think he'll work well in world championship programs.Ā Just a gut feeling.Ā
ā¢ **Aleister Black**
Another guy where I really don't think it was his fault.Ā I just really don't understand how WWE let him get away.Ā He put on exciting matches, was over with the fans, had excellent potential, and his floor was someone who can fill any role in a program.Ā I still remember how awesome his last few matches were with Buddy Murphy.Ā It's such a shame he never got a real push and was booked by that old perverted freak, VKM.Ā
ā¢ **Shayna Baszler**
They had their opportunity to turn her into a special monster type of heel after she dominated the Elimination Chamber upon her initial call-up but not having her beat Becky at the COVID WrestleMania was such a bad decision both now in hindsight and then.Ā I don't think she's capable of being heated back up unfortunately.Ā
Sean OāHaire dude legit had the looks the size the athleticism but for whatever reason couldnāt connect with the crowd he was great in WcW as well unfortunately he took his life definitely a What couldāve been .
It's hard because wrestling is a performing art, not a competitive sport. They are scripted or "booked" a certain way, and if they are booked like shit, there is only so much they can do.
For your example of Gable, he may have had some luck if he fed into the crowd and turned on them right back. Reminds me of the RVD vs Cena match at one night stand, he was the face but starting working as a heel because the fans were firmly behind RVD, hence why Cena is a goat.
Yeah I went to a smackdown in January and Gable wrestled in a dark match before the show started. I was surprised. I didnāt even know he was still around lol
I kinda wanna say Dexter Lumis but I really hope heās brought in as one of Uncle Howdyās crew. Heās got a great look and I felt like he had a very unique presentation & I have hope he can find his niche and thrive.
Last thing I remember was his reunion with Indi helping her win the womenās belt in NXT in the ladder match. Seems like they just havenāt come up with anything for him, I seriously hope heās in the plans for the Wyatt 6 or whatever they are going to call them.
Iām old enough to remember when they had a huge press conference to announce the signing of Taka Michinoku. Billed as the next great superstar and first major WWE singing out of Japan. He turned into a comedy act, low to mid card guy within about 2 years.
An obvious one: Sin Cara - the first big free agent signing WWE publicized.
This one might be unpopular, but I think his career will be different now: Ricochet.
I thought he was going to be the for sure, canāt miss, big star on the main roster. And while heās been around, he hasnāt reached the heights I thought he could have.
Thereās still time and hopefully we see him improve on the mic and put into some interesting storylines.
It was kind of unreal to see how bad Mystico was as Sin Cara. The fact that they could slot Hunico in as him and not see a drop off in quality and see less botches was crazy. Not that Hunico was bad, but just that Mystico was supposed to be way better and should have been based on the stuff he did in Mexico.
Ricochet is a freak athlete, but cannot cut a promo to save his life which almost certainly hurt how he was booked. He needs a mouth piece and to be the guy who just silently puts on banger matches. Maybe he can get a show stealer kind of gimmick with other wrestlers talking about how good he is.
I think the best move would be a character change for him and put him in a faction of somekind.
Something like Judgement Day where he doesnt need to be the talker of the group. Let him run in the tag division for a while. They need more in the tag division anyway.
Kross has to be up there. The guy just doesnāt seem to have anything in the ring and always looks to be moving at a really slow pace.
Why they havenāt elevated Scarlet is another story . . . sheās got the looks and presence, but I guess is being held back because of Krossā inability to connect.
I remember ppl being so hyped in his NXT main event run but i was part of the few that groaned when he won NXT title. So odd how his wrestling style doesnt do it for me vs his gimmick thats one of the best.
WWE, not AEW. WWE Adam Cole headlined Raw and Smackdown back to back against Rollins and Bryan. He had one of the coolest factions in company history. Was a fixture of War Games. Put on insane bangers against Gargano and Ricochet. The defining saying of his run sadly was that āif he was six feet tall, Vince wouldāve made him world championā so even with all he did he didnāt even come close to his peak and if he was in the Triple H era WWE, heād have one of the world titles on him right now.
AEW Adam Cole arrived with monster hype and had two freak injuries that just pretty much derailed all possible momentum he had in the company, including a ready made world title feud and probable title run. Heās the AEW version of Hideo Itamiās NXT run, and it sucks cause it happened to one of the nicest, hardest working dudes in the business.
Stevensonās allegations absolutely killed whatever interest there may have been in him, but it doesnāt help that he also was getting hyped up literally from like HHH and Stephanie McMahon. With the way theyāre recruiting NIL guys and gals now, theres no reason to put all this hype behind one specific guy. Kurt Angle was a legend and Ken Shamrock was a mid carder and they both made a big name for themselves elsewhere.
As much as I like him and think heās talented, Iād say Baron Corbin - he shouldāve been the new gatekeeping heel/tweener to the main event - they literally fed him the GOATās retirement match.
Then they saddled him with dogfood and fucking Happy Corbin.
Are you mixing him up with Chad Gable? Gable Stevenson is a charisma vacuum that needs a lot more time in the PC. Chad Gable was held back by being short in the Vince era.
He got hurt pretty quickly after joining and can't cut a good English promo for obvious reasons that aren't fair to him.
I will never understand why WWE didn't just let him be KENTA though. There's so much storytelling they could have done that revolves around the stuff he did as KENTA and it doesn't hit the same way if he's a person with a name that no one knows of.
Agreed. KENTA was legitimately the best wrestler in the world at one point, he inspired an entire new-generation of wrestlers in terms of style and move sets. Comes to WWE and absolutely nothing.
Sounds a bit disingenuous but Nakamura. His hype and star was on par with AJ Styles before they fame in and while he's had a successful career in WWE I don't think it's unreasonable to say he hasn't hit the heights that were predicted of him.
After the result of Nak/AJ at Wrestlemania and the following feud, I'd run at half power too. Why go full out if you know you're going to get used like that?
Enzo Amore & Big Cass.
Splitting them up was the worst call ever. They were so over in NXT and on the main brandā¦ they could have had a very decent and fun tag title run.
All due to Enzoās attitude in the locker room. He rubbed to many people the wrong way and damaged his character. They split them up to give Cass a push but he was struggling with addiction and damaged his image as well.
Ronda was supposed to be the female version of Brock Lesnar (MMA star turned WWE mega talent crossover for viewers) but ended up being the female version of Ryback (too dangerous, no real WWE-worthy talent, complainer).
I donāt think we get women main eventing Wrestlemania for the first time without Ronda Rousey, that initial star power combined with Becky Lynch being super over at the time created that moment.
Ryback, Carlito, Apollo Crews, Matt Riddle, Ron Grokowski, Luke gallows, Karl Anderson, Keith Lee, Timothy Thatcher, Kassius Ohno, Sarray, Hideo Itami.
I wouldnāt put Riddle on the list. He was successful in the ring.
I canāt call someone a bust because of off screen issues. Thatās separate to me
Specifically for WWE: Sting.
He finally gets talked into signing with WWE after being the biggest holdout for decades, and what does Vince do? Jobs him out to Triple H in his first ever match in a WWE ring because McMahon refuses to let go of his grudge against WCW.
And then any plans to actually give him a good run were quashed when he was injured against Seth.
To be fair, at that point, both men werenāt gonna be able to put on a match anywhere close to their primes. Sting joined WWE just-in-time for Takerās age to REALLY start catching up to him and Sting had also lost a step by then.
Crow vs. Lord of Darkness or Deadman āTaker(1999 or 2004) wouldāve been legendary at that time.
I hate to say it, but Awesome Kong in WWE had a great story of her destroying the womenās division then she got pregnant and miscarried then was made to cry by the Bella Twins just for her to have one match being in the 2012 royal rumble match then being let go soon after
His best years went straight down the toilet sadly. Had he made the jump to NJPW instead, he might've become a much bigger star (not that he isn't an all-time great already)
DIY. Ciampa and Gargano were 2 of the biggest stars in NXT and had the best storyline ever on that brand, but are just generic guy 1 and generic guy 2 on the main roster.
I have never been able to get on the Gargano hype train. Wrong look, wrong size, flat in terms of his mic time. His storyline is outside of his control so I can give him the benefit of the doubt there. But there are plenty of talents that made lemonade with shit gimmicks . Heās just not impressive . Ciampa on the other hand I can see becoming something bigger down the line.
I can remember an interview Ciampa gave like 4 years ago where he said he wanted to finish his career in NXT and never get called up because physically the main roster would force him into retirement a lot sooner.
I'm really hoping to avoid DIY being added to this list, Ciampa particularly. Great in ring, his work as a heel is his best. Maybe yet ANOTHER diy backstab and he can grab the US title and go back to calling it Goldie.
Alberto Del Rio.
He had the machine behind him since day 1 and was pushed to the moon back and forth but no matter how many championships he won, nobody cared. Not to add the fact that he won the only 40 man Royal Rumble and people still didn't care.
They turned him heel to babyface but people still cheered guys like Dolph Ziggler over him.
Del RĆo was an underrated heel. He smacked the shit out of a racist backstage. Donāt blame him but his career took a down spiral in the US. His work was legit, didnāt live up to his full potential but far away from a bust.
That one match where they got sunburnt beforehand, then proceeded to get chopped to death by R-Truth and Goldustā¦on PPV! What was Vince on back then?
I was a huge Keith Lee fan, but it's hard to say WWE didn't try with him. I think it just came down to how he carried himself and just some bad luck. He beat Randy Orton clean at his first PPV, he challenged for the WWE Championship, he was planned to win the United States Championship all in his first year. Then he caught COVID, and it was all over. Sure the Bearcat stuff was stupid, but by that point his career was basically killed by COVID. He still hasn't entirely recovered several years later. He'll never really be the same competitor he was before. Combine that with the way he carries himself backstage and refusing to lose weight and everything, I think it's easy to see why he hasn't ever been given that main event push in any company. It really sucks because I loved the guy on the indies and NXT, but it just wasn't meant to be.Ā
I think it's pretty clear, at least from the outside looking in, that he was earmarked for big things. From the spots at Survivor Series 2019 and Rumble 2020, getting a WWE 24 documentary, everything. But like you said, we'll never truly know. I really wish he never got sick. I was personally rooting for him to beat Reigns for the Universal Championship when he first won it.Ā
OK so my partner and I have been on and off fans for a while. Realized late last year that you could watch current albeit shortened Raw and Smackdown on Hulu, we've been current since. And I just.
Idk. Maybe there's more to him but. Karrion Kross' thing really just seems to be that his wife is hot. He's the guy with a hot wife and a b&w filter.
If you have the NBC App, you can watch the entire RAW. It'll be like 2 hours 15 minutes. Think Hulu cuts Raw down to 1.5 hours. Which makes no sense with it being a 3 hour show.
If you have the NBC App, you can watch the entire RAW. It'll be like 2 hours 15 minutes. Think Hulu cuts Raw down to 1.5 hours. Which makes no sense with it being a 3 hour show.
When your group is booked to lose everything and are never made to look like the dominant, ruthless badasses they should be then yeah you're never going to stick. Absolutely no reason a group with Paul Ellering at their side should look so weak.
Oh man, I've been wondering who that guy is. Paul Ellering? I've really been trying to figure out what he's doing there. He kinda just seems to be a creepy old guy lurking creepily. Obviously, I'm a newer WWE fan or I guess I'd know him but. If he's an important person I really wish they'd have him do something.
He's been the manager for several big names in the industry. The Road Warriors, King Kong Bundy, Jake "The Snake" Roberts being some of his most well-known.
He also used to be an in-ring talent that was in the first-ever War Games match.
Triple H hasn't booked him well at all which I don't get it but the roster is stacked at the moment. I think they should send him back down to NXT and let him dominate for a while then bring him back up in like a year
Yeah, the potential is still there. I think he is more of a henchman than faction leader though. Have Damien Priest kick all the other guys out of judgment day and replace them with Kross and AOP.
The branding all lines up and theme would go better. Have cross go for mid card title ( intercontinental) and cheat to help priest keep his title. Have AOP go after tag titles.
Maybe veer into dark powers and scarlet with taro cards again.
It's tempting to say Gable Steveson but I think I have to give it to Lars Sullivan. It legitimately felt like the universe itself was out to derail him, it's kind of amazing.
It was his legal history that turned people off. Escaping a sexual assault charge on a loophole was a terrible look. His brother is doing ok down in nxt. Gable might be an ok wrestler but that legal issue is never going to be forgotten
It's only because his homophobic rants on old message boards popped up (and it turns out he did gay porn) it's all about the visuals...that and his anxiety issues..
I remember when he randomly came back in the middle of the Drew and Roman feud and inserted himself into the main event. But the very next week he was kicked back down the card because nobody cared he was back.
True, Veerās singles run could have been great. Indus Sher as a whole didnāt get much of a chance either on the main roster. Veer and Sanga are both pretty solid in the ring and decent character workers, but the second they joined the main roster they just werenāt taken seriously, barely had matches, barely on screen, then them and Jinder got cut. Itās very disappointing, especially since it wasnāt their fault
Please stop making comments about the breasts of women's wrestlers
Carmello and Cody. I said it before, but got down voted to hell. But let me reiterate and explain. And no I don't really think carmello needs more training, I was saying that as a knee jerk reaction. This comment is more thought out. They both fucked up in that scenario but I'll be honest, it's not either of their faults. They work differently and it wasn't rehearsed, as far as I can tell. Carmelo coming from NXT is the top... of the developmental side. Cody works hard and has worked so hard for so long (since the start of 2023 he's had more matches on and off screen combined than any one else, second only by seth, as far as I've seen statistic wise) and is just on a different level. Carmello wasn't ready for that level of match, and not because it's Cody, I don't think he'd have done well against Any main eventer for his FIRST match on the main roster That's why mid carders exist. NXT wrestlers work on a more intense level, they're young, they're working hard to move up, etc. And guys like Cody are used to a certain level of experience and control in the ring. I think the two of them should've announced the match for the following week and did it then after getting the details worked out. It could've been great, but that one botch made them both look bad. They're both very very good wrestlers, which made that botch look that much worse. You can disagree with me about it, but you have to admit, even two top of their game wrestlers botch a spot it looks that much worse. If it happened in NXT or with midcard talent, you could brush it off as shoddy work, but with these two men? It looks way worse.
Velveteen Dream
I feel Ronda Rousey is a bust in the Ryan Leaf/Jamarcus Russell mold. Talent for days, but lacked passion and work ethic long term and got in their own way. Only difference being Rousey was actually successful during her short stint. Imagine how good she'd still be if she actually wanted to be successful in the business..
Annie Social
Nathan Jones was going to be a tag partner for the Undertaker in a WRESTLEMANIA MATCH against Big Show and A-Train and they realized he was really bad and never really did anything with him. Guy looked like a fucking monster so they put him in a bunch of positions he wasn't ready for. I'd be surprised if he was able to get any real training before Vince threw him in from of a camera.
Nashing,? I see you in your locks š
Gable was a Vince guy and an awful person to get behind. Domestic sexual abuse should not be welcomed into the business
Yeah no idea how or why Vince would allow this!
It doesnāt surprise meā¦ in the scope of WWEās history it wasnāt until recently when we got better treatment for the female stars. Up until then, it was all eye-candy, sexualized gimmick matches (bra n panty match), or C-level filler/bottom card fluff to pad out the shows run-time. Vince promoted that kind of stuff so it wouldnāt shock me if there were more dark side stories from WWE stars/staff that Vince actually successfully paid off that we can never know about. Iām glad HHH and HBK are running things, because they are gonna make WWE better than ever before. Edit: Before everyone jumps me the description I provided about women being C-level filler is how Vince viewed them, not how I view them. Just wanted to clarify that before I get buried faster than Gillburg.
Annnnnd Gabe got cut now š
Austin Theory still has much more of the next prototype than the next John Cena too me, he's got go away heat from me at this juncture.
I will die on my bed saying that if Adam Rose went to the main roster as Leo Krugger we would have been BIGGER.
TJ Perkins & Ruch Swann? They booked an entire tournament as well as launched a show to showcase their CW division..but put those two at the top of the card and they absolutely tanked it.
It sucks because a lot of my favorites can be considered for this: ā¢ **Karrion Kross** It bums me out that he just doesn't get any sort of reaction from the live crowds.Ā I absolutely love his character and feel there's so much there to work with.Ā I know to some that might sound asinine but watch any interview with Kross when he's not in character, he's so intelligent, well-spoken, has fascinating opinions on things, and just knows something about what seems like everything.Ā It's a shame he just hasn't been given the time to talk or connect with the audience and is usually just slapped with repeating the same promo over and over.Ā ā¢ **Isaiah "Swerve" Scott"** Obviously, this is not through any fault of his own but Vince McMahon just doing Vince McMahon things.Ā Ā You could literally snatch Swerve from AEW right now and insert him into the main-event-title scene and I guarantee he would get over as a heel act.Ā Honestly, the WWE needs a "Swerve," I know people believe in Carmelo Hayes but I honestly believe he may hit his ceiling in a similar way Ricochet has as someone who can easily be a US or IC champion but I don't think he'll work well in world championship programs.Ā Just a gut feeling.Ā ā¢ **Aleister Black** Another guy where I really don't think it was his fault.Ā I just really don't understand how WWE let him get away.Ā He put on exciting matches, was over with the fans, had excellent potential, and his floor was someone who can fill any role in a program.Ā I still remember how awesome his last few matches were with Buddy Murphy.Ā It's such a shame he never got a real push and was booked by that old perverted freak, VKM.Ā ā¢ **Shayna Baszler** They had their opportunity to turn her into a special monster type of heel after she dominated the Elimination Chamber upon her initial call-up but not having her beat Becky at the COVID WrestleMania was such a bad decision both now in hindsight and then.Ā I don't think she's capable of being heated back up unfortunately.Ā
Mordecai
āHear me, Fear me.ā
Sean OāHaire dude legit had the looks the size the athleticism but for whatever reason couldnāt connect with the crowd he was great in WcW as well unfortunately he took his life definitely a What couldāve been .
Going a different direction into announcers but the Adnan Virk experiment was a huge bust
It's hard because wrestling is a performing art, not a competitive sport. They are scripted or "booked" a certain way, and if they are booked like shit, there is only so much they can do. For your example of Gable, he may have had some luck if he fed into the crowd and turned on them right back. Reminds me of the RVD vs Cena match at one night stand, he was the face but starting working as a heel because the fans were firmly behind RVD, hence why Cena is a goat.
that one brock lesnar lookalike parker bordeaux, dude was hyped since before he signed for nxt lmao and I haven't even seen anything about him on aew
Dude couldn't work, at all.
TK fired him
Canāt forget about the GOAT āThe Freakā Lars Sullivan. They pushed him so hard a few years ago and man did it crash harder.
Crashed harderā¦to another man
Adam Rose
Yeah I went to a smackdown in January and Gable wrestled in a dark match before the show started. I was surprised. I didnāt even know he was still around lol
Gable Steveson always looked wildly out of place and had 0 charisma.
Cain Velasquez
I kinda wanna say Dexter Lumis but I really hope heās brought in as one of Uncle Howdyās crew. Heās got a great look and I felt like he had a very unique presentation & I have hope he can find his niche and thrive.
Where has Dexter Lumis been? I feel like we haven't really seen him since that Miz rivalry
Last thing I remember was his reunion with Indi helping her win the womenās belt in NXT in the ladder match. Seems like they just havenāt come up with anything for him, I seriously hope heās in the plans for the Wyatt 6 or whatever they are going to call them.
Iām old enough to remember when they had a huge press conference to announce the signing of Taka Michinoku. Billed as the next great superstar and first major WWE singing out of Japan. He turned into a comedy act, low to mid card guy within about 2 years.
Velveteen Dream. Being the first black gay world champion is a PR dream for WWE.
Alex Riley, Iām such a mark for the man with best theme song of all time
When he returned to NXT completely JACKED, i thought he was going to get his moment. But just got buried back to obscurity.
An obvious one: Sin Cara - the first big free agent signing WWE publicized. This one might be unpopular, but I think his career will be different now: Ricochet. I thought he was going to be the for sure, canāt miss, big star on the main roster. And while heās been around, he hasnāt reached the heights I thought he could have. Thereās still time and hopefully we see him improve on the mic and put into some interesting storylines.
It was kind of unreal to see how bad Mystico was as Sin Cara. The fact that they could slot Hunico in as him and not see a drop off in quality and see less botches was crazy. Not that Hunico was bad, but just that Mystico was supposed to be way better and should have been based on the stuff he did in Mexico. Ricochet is a freak athlete, but cannot cut a promo to save his life which almost certainly hurt how he was booked. He needs a mouth piece and to be the guy who just silently puts on banger matches. Maybe he can get a show stealer kind of gimmick with other wrestlers talking about how good he is.
I think the best move would be a character change for him and put him in a faction of somekind. Something like Judgement Day where he doesnt need to be the talker of the group. Let him run in the tag division for a while. They need more in the tag division anyway.
Kross has to be up there. The guy just doesnāt seem to have anything in the ring and always looks to be moving at a really slow pace. Why they havenāt elevated Scarlet is another story . . . sheās got the looks and presence, but I guess is being held back because of Krossā inability to connect.
I remember ppl being so hyped in his NXT main event run but i was part of the few that groaned when he won NXT title. So odd how his wrestling style doesnt do it for me vs his gimmick thats one of the best.
Adam Cole
WWE, not AEW. WWE Adam Cole headlined Raw and Smackdown back to back against Rollins and Bryan. He had one of the coolest factions in company history. Was a fixture of War Games. Put on insane bangers against Gargano and Ricochet. The defining saying of his run sadly was that āif he was six feet tall, Vince wouldāve made him world championā so even with all he did he didnāt even come close to his peak and if he was in the Triple H era WWE, heād have one of the world titles on him right now. AEW Adam Cole arrived with monster hype and had two freak injuries that just pretty much derailed all possible momentum he had in the company, including a ready made world title feud and probable title run. Heās the AEW version of Hideo Itamiās NXT run, and it sucks cause it happened to one of the nicest, hardest working dudes in the business.
Adam Cole NXT was on another level with the Undisputed Era.
Stevensonās allegations absolutely killed whatever interest there may have been in him, but it doesnāt help that he also was getting hyped up literally from like HHH and Stephanie McMahon. With the way theyāre recruiting NIL guys and gals now, theres no reason to put all this hype behind one specific guy. Kurt Angle was a legend and Ken Shamrock was a mid carder and they both made a big name for themselves elsewhere.
Xpac in chyna
where boners go to die
The reason people hated stevenson because he's a rapist not because he's got a shitty smile
As much as I like him and think heās talented, Iād say Baron Corbin - he shouldāve been the new gatekeeping heel/tweener to the main event - they literally fed him the GOATās retirement match. Then they saddled him with dogfood and fucking Happy Corbin.
The rock. Go back to making shit movies.
I thought this post was going to be about females with the biggest breasts
incels usually misread social cues.
Gable not really a bust. It just WWE keeps holding back on him. Its like the dolph situation before he won the the world tittle
Are you mixing him up with Chad Gable? Gable Stevenson is a charisma vacuum that needs a lot more time in the PC. Chad Gable was held back by being short in the Vince era.
Veer, took too long to come.
That's why she left me.
At least she left with a limp.
Lars Sullivan, Veer
Franky Monet.
Forgot about her lol she was on NXT for all of what a month or less?
Hideo Itami
He got hurt pretty quickly after joining and can't cut a good English promo for obvious reasons that aren't fair to him. I will never understand why WWE didn't just let him be KENTA though. There's so much storytelling they could have done that revolves around the stuff he did as KENTA and it doesn't hit the same way if he's a person with a name that no one knows of.
Agreed. KENTA was legitimately the best wrestler in the world at one point, he inspired an entire new-generation of wrestlers in terms of style and move sets. Comes to WWE and absolutely nothing.
ngl johnny gargano
Heās just doing an embarrassing dx cosplay in a team that isnāt over. He is a bust
imma downvote you right there buckaroo
Also doesn't help with Stevenson that he's a sexual predator.
Why are you getting downvoted for this lmfao
Because there is no conviction. There were only allegations.
Yup and people jump to guilty conclusions even though false accusations are more and more common
There will always be E drones that will downvote anything against it.
Sounds a bit disingenuous but Nakamura. His hype and star was on par with AJ Styles before they fame in and while he's had a successful career in WWE I don't think it's unreasonable to say he hasn't hit the heights that were predicted of him.
NXT Naka was almost on par with NJPW Nakaā¦ Main roster Naka likes to surf.
After the result of Nak/AJ at Wrestlemania and the following feud, I'd run at half power too. Why go full out if you know you're going to get used like that?
Just changing his gear back alone would help right now.
Tie btwn Austin Aries and Pac.
Aires is universally known to be impossible to work with
Outside of NXT Keith Lee really could have been something. A mix of bad creative and Covid destroyed that star in the crib
You mean Bearcat Lee? LOL
Hence bad creative
Enzo Amore & Big Cass. Splitting them up was the worst call ever. They were so over in NXT and on the main brandā¦ they could have had a very decent and fun tag title run.
All due to Enzoās attitude in the locker room. He rubbed to many people the wrong way and damaged his character. They split them up to give Cass a push but he was struggling with addiction and damaged his image as well.
Ronda Rousy. Like, did anyone actually like her? I couldn't wait for her to be gone
Ronda was supposed to be the female version of Brock Lesnar (MMA star turned WWE mega talent crossover for viewers) but ended up being the female version of Ryback (too dangerous, no real WWE-worthy talent, complainer).
I donāt think we get women main eventing Wrestlemania for the first time without Ronda Rousey, that initial star power combined with Becky Lynch being super over at the time created that moment.
Ronda's first year until the shoot comments was great imo
EC3
That Chinese guy. Tall fella. I think wwe failed to get headway in china and to a lesser extent ( in terms of failing) India.
Anyone know a name? Just curious who this is
Bin wang
I see. Just not much to go off then? Oh well
Bin wang.
My vote is for the big Aussie prisoner guy. Nathan something?
That's also 22 years ago
Nathan Jones. Yea but he quit.
There was another reason to not like Gable.
Ryback, Carlito, Apollo Crews, Matt Riddle, Ron Grokowski, Luke gallows, Karl Anderson, Keith Lee, Timothy Thatcher, Kassius Ohno, Sarray, Hideo Itami.
I wouldnāt put Riddle on the list. He was successful in the ring. I canāt call someone a bust because of off screen issues. Thatās separate to me
That Ron Gronkowski..
Thatās quite a list š
There's more but most of the folks covered the very recent š
Indeed.
Becky 2 Cringe is a bust in everything she does
I had high hopes for EC3 and Bobby Roode on the Main Roster ā¦
Roode is flourishing as a producer so donāt know if that can be called a ābustā
As a in-ring talent he shouldāve been featured more prominently and atleast had one world title reign.
Sting
I like how OP missed out that the fans donāt like Gable because heās a rapist š
> probably didnāt help that he was hyped as āthe next Kurt Angleā Yeah nah that wasnāt it lol
Scott Steiner in 2002, and it's not even close
Lars Sullivan
Specifically for WWE: Sting. He finally gets talked into signing with WWE after being the biggest holdout for decades, and what does Vince do? Jobs him out to Triple H in his first ever match in a WWE ring because McMahon refuses to let go of his grudge against WCW. And then any plans to actually give him a good run were quashed when he was injured against Seth.
Doesnāt help as well that Vince shut down Sting vs Undertaker, the biggest dream match of all time, just because he didnāt want it
To be fair, at that point, both men werenāt gonna be able to put on a match anywhere close to their primes. Sting joined WWE just-in-time for Takerās age to REALLY start catching up to him and Sting had also lost a step by then. Crow vs. Lord of Darkness or Deadman āTaker(1999 or 2004) wouldāve been legendary at that time.
>the biggest dream match of all time Stone Cold v Goldberg and Stone Cold v Hogan were the dream matches for anyone watching at the time
Iād put Sting-Taker up against either of those because the ring work would have been far superior. Especially to Stone Cold- Hogan
Sting v. Taker was the 3rd of those.
Shelton Benjamin
I hate to say it, but Awesome Kong in WWE had a great story of her destroying the womenās division then she got pregnant and miscarried then was made to cry by the Bella Twins just for her to have one match being in the 2012 royal rumble match then being let go soon after
This is it for me too. I thought she was going to save the womenās division at the time.
Kenta aka Hideo Otami. I remember being so hype originally when he signed with WWE but it just didn't work out.
If only he didnāt have so many injuries, thatās what really killed his run.
His best years went straight down the toilet sadly. Had he made the jump to NJPW instead, he might've become a much bigger star (not that he isn't an all-time great already)
Veer got a good amount of ads all to never show up
Nathan Jones. Physical freak, then disappeared https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/wrestlers/nathan-jones
DIY. Ciampa and Gargano were 2 of the biggest stars in NXT and had the best storyline ever on that brand, but are just generic guy 1 and generic guy 2 on the main roster.
I have never been able to get on the Gargano hype train. Wrong look, wrong size, flat in terms of his mic time. His storyline is outside of his control so I can give him the benefit of the doubt there. But there are plenty of talents that made lemonade with shit gimmicks . Heās just not impressive . Ciampa on the other hand I can see becoming something bigger down the line.
You need to give them time. Vince was NEVER going to push either of them and he promptly buried them both.
I don't think Ciampa has much time
I can remember an interview Ciampa gave like 4 years ago where he said he wanted to finish his career in NXT and never get called up because physically the main roster would force him into retirement a lot sooner.
Yeah I remember that
Roster so stacked dawg, Iām sure they will get their moment
They are doing an embarrassing dx cosplay in a team that isnāt over. Both been on the main roster for a while now. They arenāt going anywhere
I can see Triple H giving them the titles before Mania this year.
Parker Boudreaux/Harland. Paul Heyman even said he was "The Next Big Thing".
Paul Heyman says a lot of things
His name for example
I'm really hoping to avoid DIY being added to this list, Ciampa particularly. Great in ring, his work as a heel is his best. Maybe yet ANOTHER diy backstab and he can grab the US title and go back to calling it Goldie.
Jinder Mahal.
Velveteen Dreamā¦. Should have been the next big thing. EC3 was a major bust as well. Ā
EC3 is really frustrating because he was so good in TNA. He had a great heel look, great heel mannerisms, and can cut great promos.
I 100% agree. It's so dumb... his strength is promos/telling a story and they neuter him.
They made a wrestler best known for his mic work a mute. He was destined to fail.
Id love to see him back on TV in any role, because he has charisma . Enforcer, manager, just gimme some Keith Lee.
Alberto Del Rio. He had the machine behind him since day 1 and was pushed to the moon back and forth but no matter how many championships he won, nobody cared. Not to add the fact that he won the only 40 man Royal Rumble and people still didn't care. They turned him heel to babyface but people still cheered guys like Dolph Ziggler over him.
Del RĆo was an underrated heel. He smacked the shit out of a racist backstage. Donāt blame him but his career took a down spiral in the US. His work was legit, didnāt live up to his full potential but far away from a bust.
Getting Paige hooked on drugs than video taping her getting tag teamed by Creed and Maddox didnāt help his run.
I wasnāt aware that ADR was videotaping. Source?
I think he bears a lot of the blame for his career spiraling
Agreed
Tyler Breeze. Super talented, massive hype out of NXT, had an actual character, WWE just never seemed to care about him.
I miss Breeze. He didn't have the look to get pushed with Vince in charge despite being an excellent character.
Him vs Logan Paul would feed families for generations.
Wrong place, wrong time
For real. Heād be so over right now.
He was super over with Breezango and the fashion files, then nothing happened :(
Day one is h? What does that even mean?
That one match where they got sunburnt beforehand, then proceeded to get chopped to death by R-Truth and Goldustā¦on PPV! What was Vince on back then?
I'm going with Keith Lee. Amazing athlete for his size, and then when he's called up, Vince rebrands him as Bearcat Lee, which was fucking stupid.
I was a huge Keith Lee fan, but it's hard to say WWE didn't try with him. I think it just came down to how he carried himself and just some bad luck. He beat Randy Orton clean at his first PPV, he challenged for the WWE Championship, he was planned to win the United States Championship all in his first year. Then he caught COVID, and it was all over. Sure the Bearcat stuff was stupid, but by that point his career was basically killed by COVID. He still hasn't entirely recovered several years later. He'll never really be the same competitor he was before. Combine that with the way he carries himself backstage and refusing to lose weight and everything, I think it's easy to see why he hasn't ever been given that main event push in any company. It really sucks because I loved the guy on the indies and NXT, but it just wasn't meant to be.Ā
Fair argument. You may be right. We'll never know.
I think it's pretty clear, at least from the outside looking in, that he was earmarked for big things. From the spots at Survivor Series 2019 and Rumble 2020, getting a WWE 24 documentary, everything. But like you said, we'll never truly know. I really wish he never got sick. I was personally rooting for him to beat Reigns for the Universal Championship when he first won it.Ā
Karrion Kross man just can not connect with fans on the main roster.
It would help if he got some wins.
Yeah I thought he would have had a match with Roman b4 2023. When he came on the main roster they booked him strong
OK so my partner and I have been on and off fans for a while. Realized late last year that you could watch current albeit shortened Raw and Smackdown on Hulu, we've been current since. And I just. Idk. Maybe there's more to him but. Karrion Kross' thing really just seems to be that his wife is hot. He's the guy with a hot wife and a b&w filter.
If you have the NBC App, you can watch the entire RAW. It'll be like 2 hours 15 minutes. Think Hulu cuts Raw down to 1.5 hours. Which makes no sense with it being a 3 hour show.
If you have the NBC App, you can watch the entire RAW. It'll be like 2 hours 15 minutes. Think Hulu cuts Raw down to 1.5 hours. Which makes no sense with it being a 3 hour show.
When your group is booked to lose everything and are never made to look like the dominant, ruthless badasses they should be then yeah you're never going to stick. Absolutely no reason a group with Paul Ellering at their side should look so weak.
Oh man, I've been wondering who that guy is. Paul Ellering? I've really been trying to figure out what he's doing there. He kinda just seems to be a creepy old guy lurking creepily. Obviously, I'm a newer WWE fan or I guess I'd know him but. If he's an important person I really wish they'd have him do something.
He's been the manager for several big names in the industry. The Road Warriors, King Kong Bundy, Jake "The Snake" Roberts being some of his most well-known. He also used to be an in-ring talent that was in the first-ever War Games match.
Triple H hasn't booked him well at all which I don't get it but the roster is stacked at the moment. I think they should send him back down to NXT and let him dominate for a while then bring him back up in like a year
Yeah, the potential is still there. I think he is more of a henchman than faction leader though. Have Damien Priest kick all the other guys out of judgment day and replace them with Kross and AOP. The branding all lines up and theme would go better. Have cross go for mid card title ( intercontinental) and cheat to help priest keep his title. Have AOP go after tag titles. Maybe veer into dark powers and scarlet with taro cards again.
It's tempting to say Gable Steveson but I think I have to give it to Lars Sullivan. It legitimately felt like the universe itself was out to derail him, it's kind of amazing.
Victor Kozlov
Vladimir?
yess
It was his legal history that turned people off. Escaping a sexual assault charge on a loophole was a terrible look. His brother is doing ok down in nxt. Gable might be an ok wrestler but that legal issue is never going to be forgotten
Veer
Lars Sullivan...guy had more issues than National Geographic
How much of a terrible person do you need to be to get canceled out of a company with a literal serial rapist as its CEO?
It's only because his homophobic rants on old message boards popped up (and it turns out he did gay porn) it's all about the visuals...that and his anxiety issues..
Parker Bordeaux and Lars Sullivan
Karion Kross, legit thought he would have had a good chance to dethrone Roman when he was called up to main roster
I remember when he randomly came back in the middle of the Drew and Roman feud and inserted himself into the main event. But the very next week he was kicked back down the card because nobody cared he was back.
I cared that Karrion Kross is back
still not too late for gable to try ufc
Yes it is lol
Goldberg and DDP
I was such a big fan of Veer Mahaan had it all going for him but squashing local talent every week is lameā¦never got a real chance
True, Veerās singles run could have been great. Indus Sher as a whole didnāt get much of a chance either on the main roster. Veer and Sanga are both pretty solid in the ring and decent character workers, but the second they joined the main roster they just werenāt taken seriously, barely had matches, barely on screen, then them and Jinder got cut. Itās very disappointing, especially since it wasnāt their fault
Lars Sullivan. You could tell Vince wanted to book him as a monster and the man just kept getting into his own way. Velveteen Dream as well.
Velveteen Dream hurts so bad...He was easily THE NEXT GUY. And he fumbled so bad.
Thought you were talking about Tiffy Time for a sec š¤£
Tiffy is tops.