WWE's Could Have Been's

[Providence Peep]

What former WWE Superstars do you think could have been in the main event scene during their time there, or were there but could have been there longer, if it hadn't been for creatives mistakes, or their own mistakes?

One name that pops into my mind is Elijah Burke. He's a solid worker in the ring, has the look and the mic skills, and his "Pope" gimmick could have really taken off if he had used it in the WWE. Unfortunately, now he's stuck in a clusterfuck-feud with Boring Joe in TNA.

[JimmyMess]

Lex Luger fucked himself in WWF by saying he was going to win the WWF Championship months ahead of time.

[Providence Peep]

Lex Luger fucked himself in WWF by saying he was going to win the WWF Championship months ahead of time.

Lex as a wrestler (back when that word was allowed to be used) was the drizzling shits!

But, he was always good with "ring psychology" in that he could work a crowd into a frenzy as a face AND make them despise him as a heel. Not everyone can do that.

[JimmyMess]

Oh I wasn't knocking his ability or anything. He just shot himself in the foot when he was the "next guy" to carry the company as WWF Champion.

I guess I was looking from the business side of it rather than if he was over or not.

[MoFo]

Test
Ken Shamrock
Kanyon
Bobby Lashley
Carlito
Regal
Scott Steiner

[MoFo]

Most (if not all) fucked it up themselves though.

[Seth82]

Kerry Von Erich as Texas Tornado

unfortuantely Kerry was too fucked up by the time that he came to WWE he was essentially a Jobber to the Stars after his big build up and IC title win

Vince had originally wanted Kerry to be the face of the WWE before he landed Hogan

thankfully Vince did go with Hulk as Kerry was messed up during alot of his matches in the 80's and as were his brothers

[DrCrawford]

scott hall and owen hart

[Mr. JL]

Christian back in 2005 when he was out-popping Batista (who was MASSIVELY over since his face turn against Evolution and World title victory over HHH in the Main Event at WrestleMania). The WWE could have avoided losing Christian to TNA and would by now already have another firmly established main eventer, instead of trying to establish him now in 2011.

[XCaliber]

Scott Hall

[Jordan]

Owen, I wish he would have been pushed to face Shawn at The Royal Rumble in 98 instead of The Undertaker, the world of wrestling would be completely different.

[Biggz]

Ken Doane had he gotten rid of his attitude and WWE didn't give him the name Dykstra because it was just plain lame. He had a lot of in ring talent and wasn't to bad on the mic either. I thought out of the Spirit Squad he would be the one to make it first but Nicky has kicked ass as Ziggler. Hope Doane watches Raw and realizes what he is missing and gets his shit togerher.

[NormanSmiley]

I thought Lance Cade had potential coming from shawns pedigree.
I wish i could say owen but i dont think vince would have ever put him over
is it too early to say jack swagger is a couldve been? even with the title he was hardly main eventing and dont see much happening for him in the future
lashley is a good one. and brian pillman

[Jordan]

Pillman's in ring skills weren't up to par with his WCW days by the time he was in WWE, I have been watching some of the matches and his character is unbelievable in the matches but his agility declined greatly, I feel like this is a reason he wasn't pushed too hard in WWE.

[Emperor Smeat]

RVD being both the WWE mistake and later his mistake. The WWE refused to capitalize on his huge crowd reactions when he arrived during the Invasion storyline into something bigger and later him killing his push as champion due to drugs.

The Brian Kendrick. Maybe not an actual heavyweight champion but he was getting a nice push and did win the title for a few seconds but like Jeff Hardy and RVD, him not caring about the drug policy killed his push and job.

Mohammed Hassan due to creative making one of the biggest blunders during the last decade. The writers made the huge mistake of changing Hassan from someone who was upset how America was becoming hypocrites into a fanatic using terror-like actions for his own benefit. The change managed to take place at the worst time possible and UPN threatened the WWE to remove him from the show.

[*DISCO*DAVE*]

Ken Shamrock for me had it all, He had a great look, a great gimmick, and he worked a good match. His mic work was easily passable, the WWE could have done more with him.

Apart from that you need look no further than Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Charlie Haas and Lance Storm.

How was Lance Storm never WWE Champ?

[Jordan]

Ken Shamrock for me had it all, He had a great look, a great gimmick, and he worked a good match. His mic work was easily passable, the WWE could have done more with him.

Apart from that you need look no further than Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Charlie Haas and Lance Storm.

How was Lance Storm never WWE Champ?

How was Davey Boy never WWE Champ?

Lance Storm is a great wrestler but come on, he was pretty dull in WWE for the most part.

[Tom Guycott]

I wish i could say owen but i dont think vince would have ever put him over


I know that Owen is a sacred cow around here, but I agree with this 100%.

I'm not discrediting his talents or abilities, but I've said before that hindsight is 20/20 with him in the eyes of the 'E, the IWC, and fans in general. No matter how big he could have been, I think he was doomed to get the "Matt Hardy treatment"* had that zipline stunt gone off without a hitch. I mean, my God, he was in a costume switching gimmick with Jeff Jarrett to "fool" everyone into thinking neither of them were the Blue Blazer when he died. That's not exactly "he's getting a push soon" territory.

On topic: ... dammit. Meatball beat me to Hassan. While I was typing, no less.

Nathan Jones comes to mind, had he not been such a big pussy about the travel. I mean, right off the bat they give him association with Undertaker. UNDERTAKER! That should tell you the plans they had for this guy right there. Plus, he had an interesting take with the "big man with the addled mind" gimmick, coupled with the "Colossus of Boggo Road" badass prisoner type hype he got. (Loved when 'Taker was about to lead him to the ring for his "first match", and Nathan replied: "I already had it!", revealing a mess of furniture an bodies in a locker room.)

*in that he would have been true blue loyal company man for years and years, never jumped over to WCW, the real ECW, or even now TNA or ROH, and still never gotten the nod towards the main event that everyone seems to think he was due for

[Aguakate]

Scott Hall.

My guess is Vince saw early glimpses of what would eventually be his downfall (the drinking and partying), and therefore perhaps didn't feel 100% comfortable putting the WWF Title on him. Nowadays, you don't necessarily HAVE to be the WWE Champion in order to be one of the faces of the company, but back then, the WWF Champion was THE face of the company (also the best paid), and the last thing Vince needed back then (coming off the 1992 Steroids trial), was his "top guy" to get into trouble, or prove himself to be unreliable.

[Brigstocke]

The British Bulldog was a fantastic character but his in ring work was dreadful unless he had a Bret or an Owen or a Shawn carrying him.

[Tom Guycott]

Lance Storm is a great wrestler but come on, he was pretty dull in WWE for the most part.

Do I really have to start the "play to his strengths" argument again?

They did nothing with the guy... you know they could have built something around at least that "HAT TRICK!" in WCW... or even the part of that gimmick where he "wanted competition" and was steamrolling jobbers and making them tap to a slick-ass rolling half crab... or at least kept him "uber pro Canadian" instead of "Un-American", as it were. They could have had him go up against Booker T for the <s>WCW</s> World title. Could have done better than shitty music and Heat duty. Or bumping him from every 'Mania he was scheduled to be in.

By the time JR was trying to get him over in the booth as being talented yet underrated, the damage was done. Couple that with having Austin come out and start that "Boring!" shit, and all the ensuing dumbass stunts to "connect with the crowd" a-la rehashing Al Snow and Steve Blackman and replacing them with Storm and Goldie and what do you expect?

So, the next step in this argument is when someone brings up Saturn and Moppy being stupid, but he got over from it. Think about this: if Saturn had never stiffed that kid in that match, he would have never been "punished" for it, and he would have been milling around without anything worthwhile to do. That circumstance created an opening that was likely put in place to humiliate the man (I mean the resulting "you're welcome"/Moppy storyline in addition to the beatdown from the APA), and instead people liked it.

People act like someone getting over is as easy as "Austin 3:16". Hell, that was even a happy accident that WWE took full advantage of... Austin was by and large digging at Jake Roberts to become a bigger heel, he didn't know he was coining one of the most profitable phrases in <s>wrestling</s> sports entertainment history. Imagine if they missed that boat?

[Rammsteinmad]

Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas.

[Mr. Nerfect]

There are so many guys, and we discuss this quite a lot.

I'll go back to the year I first started watching...2001:

* Triple H could have been a mammoth face in 2001, if the WWE had let his much heated feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin pick up again after WrestleMania X-7. The Rock was leaving to do movies, and I remember Austin beating down Rock inside the Steel Cage on the post-Mania RAW, and then Triple H coming out with a sledgehammer or something to a MASSIVE pop. People wanted him to kill Austin! He had beaten Austin in 3 Stages of Hell at No Way Out, too -- he had claim to a title shot (but then, so did The Undertaker).

With Austin turning heel, The Rock leaving for a while, and Triple H re-affirming his heel status, the big three were essentially neutralised post-Mania X-7, and I feel that this decision might have ultimately been what killed the Attitude era. The Game didn't need to become a baby-kissing babyface, but him feeling betrayed by Vince and wanting to smash Austin's skull would have been enough.

* Booker T came into the company as a huge babyface. People were really excited to see these WCW guys try and fit into the WWE main event picture. But the WWE quickly turned Booker T heel. Sure, he was entertaining as a heel at times, but he was much better as a likable guy you wanted to see achieve successes. Everyone from WCW essentially being a bad dude was a big ball-dropping from the WWE. DDP is another guy that fits into this category.

* Rhyno was getting over huge in 2001, partially because he was Goring people left, right and centre -- but you also had Paul Heyman on commentary -- "GORE!!!!! GORE!!!!!! GORE!!!!!" His neck injury de-railed him, but I have a feeling he would have been HUGE in late 2001 if he hadn't of been hurt.

* Rob Van Dam was so massively over in 2001, too. Now, I was never the biggest fan myself, but he was so fucking over that the WWE felt the need to insert him into at least one WWE Title match on PPV that year. The excuses might have been that it was "too soon," but you also had the mammoth push of Brock Lesnar the following year.

That's just 2001. 2005 was another year for fumbled pushes, in my opinion, with Christian and Matt Hardy being the two noticeable ones. It's a shame what Hardy became, but you have Christian in 2011 still putting on stellar matches and getting good reactions, with an entirely different character. The man was not the wrong horse to back on. It's understandable that they didn't want to put the WWE Title on him right away, or derail Cena's momentum -- but to move him to SmackDown! in an attempt to cool him, rather than push him AWAY from their pet project? That was silly, in my opinion.

[seapig4]

Owen, I wish he would have been pushed to face Shawn at The Royal Rumble in 98 instead of The Undertaker, the world of wrestling would be completely different.

Thats a good point. I remember hearing that the casket match shawn had was a large part into fucking his back up so potentially if it was owen vs shawn you'd have had owen as a main event face and shawn may have never retired between 98 and 2003.

[Providence Peep]

Vince had originally wanted Kerry to be the face of the WWE before he landed Hogan

WOW. In all the years I've been watching wrasslin' and reading the dirt sheets, I never knew that (for real). It would have made sense, though, especially considering his previous success in WCCW. Kerry had a billion dollar look, plenty of charisma that HUGELY put him over with the crowds, and he was a hell of a worker in the ring, despite his average or below-average mic skills. It's just a shame that his life was such a train wreck, which, of course, can be attributed to that damn Von Erich/Adkisson gene. I'd say Kerry Von Erich was definitely one of wrestling's biggest tragedies, on so many levels.

[Fox]

DDP.

[/thread]

[loopydate]

Hassan is the big one for me. But beyond him, what about Sean O'Haire? The "Devil's Advocate" vignettes were amazing and his first couple of weeks on tv with the gimmick (psyching Kendrick into getting himself destroyed) looked like they were building him up to something special.

Then they put him with Piper and his momentum ground to a screeching halt as he jobber out to Mr. America.

[Aguakate]

Also, my fellow countryman Carlito. Dude won the US Title on his first match against JOHN CENA, of all people...started doing Carlito's Cabanna, won the IC Title, main evented a couple of RAW's...later on he, along with his brother Primo, became the first undisputed tag team champions...

...but his work ethic left alot to be desired, as well as his attitude backstage, and...he's no longer in WWE.

[Gertner]

Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas.

lol stop it

[Gertner]

This thread begins and ends with this man, who if it were not for a back injury could have been amazing.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1bJaLmRJDCQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Hanso Amore]

DDP.

[/thread]

Yes.

One of the most over, and popular WCW stars just driven into the ground.

I loved his debut. Playing mind games with the taker, master of the mind games?

Then it hit the shits. Had they not squashed him out he was a legit main eventer.

He could have went over clean on the taker, by using his wife and shit against him. Build it up to a blowoff with the taker winning. But that would have made DDP a star again. Imagine that. Heel Main Event DDP in the WWE during that time period.

[Gertner]

Goldberg in the WWE.

[Hanso Amore]

I agree on Storm. I love him. But hes not a main eventer. But he should have been a legit IC champ during the 02-04 years. Just like in WCW. A Great worker, let him heel it up as the annoying canadian. He would have been solid in that role, The IC champ during that time were guys like Benoit, Eddie, Edge, Christian, RVD, Jericho, Kane. He could have fit in that group. Or even over on Smackdown as US champ.

[CSL]

Waylon Mercy :heart:

I don't like wrestlers touching me. And I definitely don't want them crawling on me.

[Aguakate]

I agree on Storm. I love him. But hes not a main eventer. But he should have been a legit IC champ during the 02-04 years. Just like in WCW. A Great worker, let him heel it up as the annoying canadian. He would have been solid in that role, The IC champ during that time were guys like Benoit, Eddie, Edge, Christian, RVD, Jericho, Kane. He could have fit in that group. Or even over on Smackdown as US champ.

Heck, if Orton has been a multi-time World Champion, being as bland and boring as he is, Lance Storm could've been as well...

[CSL]

No. Just no. On repeat.

[Aguakate]

...If Chris Benoit became World Champion, Lance Storm could've as well.

[Gertner]

Storm pretty much hit his ceiling.

Benoit run as champ caused him to murder his wife and kid. Hasn't enough blood been shed?

[Aguakate]

Storm pretty much hit his ceiling.

Benoit run as champ caused him to murder his wife and kid. Hasn't enough blood been shed?

Many people say Owen Hart should've been WWF Champion (and i agree), but my question is...what is the difference between Owen Hart and Lance Storm? Why should Owen have become WWF Champion, but not Lance? They're the same, in my book.

[CSL]

Owen Hart had personality falling out of his arse, his heel character was outstanding. Lance Storm actually had his personality removed during childhood.

[Aguakate]

Owen Hart had personality falling out of his arse, his heel character was outstanding. Lance Storm actually had his personality removed during childhood.

I wouldn't say Owen had personality "falling out of his arse". His character was based on him feuding with Bret for about 3 years, and then Stone Cold Steve Austin...

...I'm not shitting on the guy, I mean, he was good...but I think his "legend" has been enhanced, sadly, by the fact he died so young and tragically.

[CSL]

Of course it wasn't. He turned heel on Bret and feuded with him for a while, that was about it. He more than 'made his own way', he spent most of his heel run teaming with Yoko/Davey/Camp Cornette etc, feuding with HBK, Austin, the Nation stuff then back to tag teams and was arguably the 'MVP' of all of it. Death often enhances a guys image but Owen isn't one of those cases. He'd have had multiple world title runs if he'd been around in the current climate.

[Jordan]

If Owen was to have lived longer, I have NO DOUBT he would have held the big strap at least one time. Sure he was going to take the Intercontinental Title the night he passed away, and sure he was The Blue Blazer, it was a gimmick they were going to use to turn him heel. You may not remember but after Wrestlemania 15 there were a lot of reports on Owen getting a push soon, but everyone was like WTF he's teaming with Jarrett and doing the Blue Blazer, they were going to repackage him as "The Game".

Also, we would have only ended up seeing exactly how different and probably how much better Owen was in the ring than Bret. Well not "so much better", more accurately, how much more exciting.

Just remember when he first turned into "The Black Hart" and he was neither a babyface or a heel, someone out to injure Shawn and Triple H, the feud with The Nation, Shamrock, and of course Austin, Bulldog, and Bret.

I understand people saying "you hype him because he died tragically, he wasn't all that"" but I gotta say, I was always really attached to Owen and more than any other wrestler that has died in my lifetime, that death affected me. I grew up with Owen hart being a hilarious viscous heel on my TV, and he's one of the natural characters that progressed past the mold of a WWE wrestler in the 90's, and became a WWE trademark. Even though he was a big guy compared to normal people, he made it pretty far for his size at the time, I just so badly wish he had wrestled his last match at Wrestlemania a few years ago, or a few years from now :(.

[Aguakate]

They were going to repackage Owen as "The Game"?

[Jordan]

In the early months of spring in 1999, Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart had been building a reputation as a strong tag team, with Debra as their manager. Management had planned the team to eventually split up, and Owen begin to lust after Debra, infuriating Jarrett, which would in turn plant the seeds for a bitter and very personal feud. Owen, happily married in real life, didn't want his young children to see him cheating on his wife every Monday night, so he outright refused the angle. It was an honorable, if stubborn decision. The result, was that Owen was saddled with the Blue Blazer gimmick. It was a persona he'd donned early in his career as a glorified jobber, and one he was forced to revisit. It was punishment for declining a well thought out angle, orchestrated to humiliate Owen, who has to don a superhero persona and spend much of his time mimicking the wrestlers in WCW. While staring as the Blue Blazer, Owen Hart's talents were still obvious. And at "Over the Edge" 1999, he was booked to win the WWF Intercontinental Title. After that, Owen was booked to break free of the Blue Blazer gimmick, and would go onto be called "The Game", and enter into a program with Edge.

Source http://homepage.mac.com/knarley/owenhart/page4/page4.html

Now I remember these reports in 99 online, I know this website isn't The Torch or anything but it's what I could find of the report from 99.

[Aguakate]

Oh shit. Where's James Steele?

[Jordan]

In the early months of spring in 1999, Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart had been building a reputation as a strong tag team, with Debra as their manager. Management had planned the team to eventually split up, and Owen begin to lust after Debra, infuriating Jarrett, which would in turn plant the seeds for a bitter and very personal feud. Owen, happily married in real life, didn't want his young children to see him cheating on his wife every Monday night, so he outright refused the angle. It was an honorable, if stubborn decision. The result, was that Owen was saddled with the Blue Blazer gimmick. It was a persona he'd donned early in his career as a glorified jobber, and one he was forced to revisit. It was punishment for declining a well thought out angle, orchestrated to humiliate Owen, who has to don a superhero persona and spend much of his time mimicking the wrestlers in WCW. While staring as the Blue Blazer, Owen Hart's talents were still obvious. And at "Over the Edge" 1999, he was booked to win the WWF Intercontinental Title. After that, Owen was booked to break free of the Blue Blazer gimmick, and would go onto be called "The Game", and enter into a program with Edge.

Source http://homepage.mac.com/knarley/owenhart/page4/page4.html

Now I remember these reports in 99 online, I know this website isn't The Torch or anything but it's what I could find of the report from 99.

[CSL]

Yeah, the 'Owen was supposed to be The Game' thing has been around for some time. No idea where it came from/how much truth there was to it etc.

[Hanso Amore]

God reading that just fucking makes me sick.

Owen stuck to his morals, which I actually respect ALOT. Then he ws PUNISHED, and that gimmick lead to his death. Sad. FUCK.

[Aguakate]

...Wasn't Triple H wasn't calling himself "The Game" already? Or did he start after Owen died? 'Cause, if so...

[Nicky Fives]

Nathan Jones
Matt Morgan
Test
Rhyno
Owen Hart
Scott Hall
Albert/A-Train

[Jordan]

...Wasn't Triple H wasn't calling himself "The Game" already? Or did he start after Owen died? 'Cause, if so...

No he turned heel at Wrestlemania that year and feuded with The Rock and X-Pac for a while, I think before or after Summerslam "The Game" was born.

[Jordan]

I do think Jr. called him the "Cerebral Assassin" right as he turned heel.

[Scottness89]

I would have to say a lot of the WCW guys.

Also,
Shelton Benjamin
Carlito
Matt Hardy
Test
Val Venis
Mark Jindrak
Mordecai
CM Punk(as a face)

Although I would say that the two biggest are:

Mr. Kennedy- He was getting HUGE before his release. His catch phrase was the #1 catch phrase in all of wrestling. He was marketable as both a face or a heel. He's good in the ring, great on the mic. Imagine if he were revealed at Mr. McMahons illegitimate son(before they totally ruined that storyline) He could have taken that gimmick and ran with it. Wouldhave lead to some Ginormous feuds with HHH,HBK and Cena.

MVP- Should have been the next coming of "The Rock." He was coming into his own during the Feud with Benoit. They could have put him in high profile feuds with Batista and The Undertaker on Smackdown, then turned him face and sent him to raw. MVP/Orton could have been marvelous baqck then. What a shame

[Scottness89]

oh, and Maven. Cannot forget about Maven lol

[The Naitch]

I remember in 2001 or something, Triple H saying on 'Off The Record' that the next guy to expect big things from was Test. What ever happened to that?

[Xero]

Test died.

[The Naitch]

Rikishi. He could've been WWE's 2000 version of Yokozuna.

[The Naitch]

Test died.

I was talking about his push, asshole :)

[Tom Guycott]

Many people say Owen Hart should've been WWF Champion (and i agree), but my question is...what is the difference between Owen Hart and Lance Storm? Why should Owen have become WWF Champion, but not Lance? They're the same, in my book.

The correct answer is that Owen died, so now he's "one of the greatest EVAR", but had he lived, I'm sure we would be using him as the example instead of Lance Storm.

[Aguakate]

The correct answer is that Owen died, so now he's "one of the greatest EVAR", but had he lived, I'm sure we would be using him as the example instead of Lance Storm.

EXACTLY.

Finally someone understands reality.

It's not a knock on Owen, by the way...it's just the way it is.

[Jakob Synn]

Lex Luger fucked himself in WWF by saying he was going to win the WWF Championship months ahead of time.

Lex Lugers narcissist character was amazing and could have gone so far.

[CSL]

The correct answer is that Owen died, so now he's "one of the greatest EVAR", but had he lived, I'm sure we would be using him as the example instead of Lance Storm.

EXACTLY.

Finally someone understands reality.

It's not a knock on Owen, by the way...it's just the way it is.

Stating your opinion over and over again until somebody agrees with it does not mean it is a reality to be understood. If you both actually believe that Lance Storm was on Owen's level and that he has somehow been over-romanticized by death, go and watch his best work. Lance Storm could have hung with him in the ring for sure but that pretty much means jack shit in professional wrestling if it's your main/only strength. Outside of not 'playing the game' as much as he could have/taking every chance to get ahead, Owen was pretty much the complete package. Nobody is claiming he's Hogan or Austin or Flair but he was excellent and he never fulfilled his potential (which is saying something given everything he achieved) due to a combination of factors, the most telling and ultimately final one of course being death. And that "one of the greatest EVAR" is probably the most ridiculous thing I've seen in this forum from somebody trying to make a valid point as opposed to just being a fuckwit that I've seen in a while.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Owen Hart, from the little I have seen from him, is absolutely amazing. So is Lance Storm, but I don't think we really need to compare them, do we? Owen's career went the path his did, and Storm's went the path his did. We all enjoyed the "Lance Storm wins everything because he's just that good" angle, and I would have loved to have seen something like that play out in the WWE in 2001, with Storm winning the European Title off Eddie Guerrero and the Intercontinental Title off Chris Jericho, continuing to feud with both of them, but the thing is -- that didn't happen.

I'm of the belief that Storm could have very easily been a World Champion, by the way, in the right atmosphere, with the right character, the right push, the right timing and the right program. It just never lined up like that.

[Gertner]

Noid, you're on crack if you actually believe that.

[StevieA79]

A controversial choice for me.

The Ultimate Warrior..

Why you say? Warrior achieved a lot and that can't be denied but he was never classed in the same league in terms of winning championships as Hogan, Flair, HHH, Stone Cold, The Rock even though I believe he could have been.

What makes me say that? Well take a look at his return on WWE Raw back in 1996 below. Look at how much his character evolved, look at how badly the crowd wants him to have "one last run". He has a Stone Cold like attitude here when you compare him to the original Ultimate Warrior who grunted, snorted and spoke as if he was possessed by spirits they really are worlds apart.

This Warrior was far more thought out, more calculated, had an even bigger presence about him. He really looked ready for major things in my opinion. Some how, some way it all went pear shaped but I truly believe he would have been a multi time world champion much like The Rock and Stone Cold had he carried on in the WWE.

He really looked like a veteran of the business in his prime here and I really believe Vince had big big plans for the Warrior. Of course the Warrior made a big impression in his earlier days and will no doubt go down in history as one of the best 'superstars' of all time but he could have been so much more in my opinion and it's a shame we didn't see his character and moveset develop further you see some signs of this in the match with Owen and Cigar smoking in the match against Goldust playing mind games and such this was a much more edgy Warrior than previous versions of the character. Also let's not forget how high Vince was on this guy you can see that in the interview and during commentary!

In a nutshell I guess you could say he was evolving.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-s3nJGytD7Y" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe>


Also see the match with Owen below for a more technical Ultimate Warrior

<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hp9xYgvgXJ4" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S4tVFfBLus8" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe>

[JimmyMess]

A controversial choice for me.

The Ultimate Warrior..

Why you say? Warrior achieved a lot and that can't be denied but he was never classed in the same league in terms of winning championships as Hogan, Flair, HHH, Stone Cold, The Rock even though I believe he could have been.

What makes me say that? Well take a look at his return on WWE Raw back in 1996 below. Look at how much his character evolved, look at how badly the crowd wants him to have "one last run". He has a Stone Cold like attitude here when you compare him to the original Ultimate Warrior who grunted, snorted and spoke as if he was possessed by spirits they really are worlds apart.

This Warrior was far more thought out, more calculated, had an even bigger presence about him. He really looked ready for major things in my opinion. Some how, some way it all went pear shaped but I truly believe he would have been a multi time world champion much like The Rock and Stone Cold had he carried on in the WWE.

He really looked like a veteran of the business in his prime here and I really believe Vince had big big plans for the Warrior. Of course the Warrior made a big impression in his earlier days and will no doubt go down in history as one of the best 'superstars' of all time but he could have been so much more in my opinion and it's a shame we didn't see his character and moveset develop further. Let's not forget how high Vince was on this guy you can see that in the interview!

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-s3nJGytD7Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yep I can definitely concur that Vince wanted Warrior to be the next big thing. When Nash left for WCW Vince asked him to put Shawn & Undertaker over, which he obliged.

But apparently Kev saw the future because Vince wanted him to put Warrior over, and he wouldn't. I don't remember his exact words but he saw that Warrior wouldn't stick around and he'd fight his contract status and what not.

[Providence Peep]

I'm of the belief that Storm could have very easily been a World Champion, by the way, in the right atmosphere, with the right character, the right push, the right timing and the right program. It just never lined up like that.

In the right atmosphere, with the right character, the right push, the right timing and the right program. So basically, he "could have very easily been a World Champion" if everything about him were different. That could be said about every guy who ever got in the ring. Hell, Chyna could have become the World Champ if she knew how to work, cut a promo, and had a dick.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Lance Storm would have been a crap world champion. Sorry.

Also, Owen Hart was one of my favorites. He was the first heel that I cheered for when I was a kid.

[Providence Peep]

Lance Storm would have been a crap world champion. Sorry.

Even in the right atmosphere, with the right character, the right push, the right timing and the right program? :lol:

[Mr. Pierre]

Test - He was on fire in 1999 with his angle with the McMahons.
MVP - Had all the tools, especially as a heel.
Vader - Never realized how good he was until I watched more of his stuff. He should have been a monster heel instead of a jobber to the stars.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Even in the right atmosphere, with the right character, the right push, the right timing and the right program? :lol:

If he couldn't do it with his happy-go-lucky, cabbage-patching, please-don't-call-me-boring-Stonecold character, then it just wasn't in the cards for him. That was as close to perfect as you can get.