Best angles that turned out horrible?

[PullMyFinger]

What are some angles that you thought had GREAT potential and were looking good...then were just horribly brought out?

For some reason, when I think of periods in WWE...I would think that from late 2002-2003 had the WORST angles. When Vince brought in the nWo...I was excited to see them in WWE battling against WWE stars...then it just plain flopped. Hall was a joke. Nash would disappear and re-appear. Hogan turned into old school Hogan..then Mr. America..then disappeared.

nWo WWE is my vote for a great angle that went NOWHERE.

[MVP]

One word...Invasion. Reasons why? Read the epilogue in the Death of WCW.

[PullMyFinger]

Yeah..after the fall of WCW...till just about last year...I see the WWE as like 2 years in limbo with shitty angles that were dropped, horribly done, and just plain sloppy.

[Taker Fan]

Well last year when Paul Heyman seemed to be re-forming some sort of ECW stable with the Dudleyz, after he had a promo saying that he's going to bring back their ruthlessness that they once had, etc. I thought that they would have Heyman bring in wrestlers such as RVD, and give them all sort of a character change..but they did nothing with it, and just had the Undertaker beat the Dudleyz in a 2 on 1 match at Great American Bash.

[Stickman]

The hummer in WCW

[RemyRed]

Yeah the Extreme Ministry stable would've been great if they followed through with it.

[Crashnburn]

I think I have to agree with MVP. The Invasion angle was what wrestling fans had been wanting to see for years. WWF vs WCW. The problem was a lot of the main players were not there. HHH was out with a quad injury. Goldberg was long gone. Sting never signed with WWF. So I have to say the Invasion angle was the one with the most potential that was the biggest let down.

[foodstampchamp]

Easily the Invasion angle. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it in the summer months; but after Summerslam it was abolute trash. Even though I really enjoyed the Invasion, It could have been 10 times better. If the Invasion would have had Flair, The NWO, Goldberg, etc; the Invasion would have easily been the best angle in wrestling history. They also should have kept ECW as a seperate entity and had people like The Sandman in on it.

[MVP]

As soon as the Invasion became the McMahon show was when it was doomed to fail. It was a combination of that, the surplus of WWF guys jumping ship to the alliance, the lack of established WCW stars in the alliance, and WWF getting the advantage from the beginning is what screwed the Invasion.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

I definatly agree with the Invasion. But another great let down was the Undertaker return at WMXX. Everyone was hyped about the big return. All the video clips indicated that the 98/99 appearance was gonna be there. They did everything right, from the flaming symbols and the lightning to the floating ring and casket. We get to WM and what do we find? The 'American Badass' with a leather jacket and a cowboy hat. Same attire. Then to completly botch it all up, he fights like the badass with the boxing jabs etc. very big let down......... in fact i wouldnt have been much more disapointed if he came down on the bike with Paul Bearer in a side car

[Savio]

:lol: great^

[Loose Cannon]

Batista/HHH. They build Batista up slowly and it finally seemed like the WWE would do us right and put Batista over at Mania. But no, they tease another Flair turn, have him turn on Batista and give HHH the win. WTF?

[Shadow]

Batista/HHH. They build Batista up slowly and it finally seemed like the WWE would do us right and put Batista over at Mania. But no, they tease another Flair turn, have him turn on Batista and give HHH the win. WTF?

That hasn't happened yet.

[Thriller]

I definatly agree with the Invasion. But another great let down was the Undertaker return at WMXX. Everyone was hyped about the big return. All the video clips indicated that the 98/99 appearance was gonna be there. They did everything right, from the flaming symbols and the lightning to the floating ring and casket. We get to WM and what do we find? The 'American Badass' with a leather jacket and a cowboy hat. Same attire. Then to completly botch it all up, he fights like the badass with the boxing jabs etc. very big let down......... in fact i wouldnt have been much more disapointed if he came down on the bike with Paul Bearer in a side car
The Undertaker character wasnt based on te way he dressed,it was the way he acted.

[Fox]

Orton becoming bigger than Evolution

He was way, way over as a cocky heel; the Intercontinental Champion and the prodigy of The Game himself. The turn was going to be tremendous, and the match at WrestleMania could very well have had that underdog feel that we hadn't seen in a main event in a long time. Orton vs. HHH had a lot of promise.

Then, they went and pulled the pin before unhitching the grenade and blew the whole thing to shit. Orton won the World Title and turned face WAY too early, and the Orton/HHH match was done on a low profile PPV, RAW, and again at the Royal Rumble. Today, less than five weeks away from WrestleMania XXI, Orton has no real feud and is playing a concussion angle (the equivalent of cheap heel heat for a face).

Fuck up? Oh yeah.

[KayfabeMan]

Austin being hit with the car....by Rikishi.

[KayfabeMan]

Oh, and I say that because they could have made it ANYONE THAT THEY WANTED TO, but they made it Rikishi - bad right there - and then instead of even trying to make the angle work, they just totally destroy it and make it the shits.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Great poin there KayfabeMan. Just out of interest, who do you think should have been the culprit, and what should have the out come been?

Thriller - i didnt say that the Undertaker character was 'based' on how he dressed. I just stated that it was a huge let down that he came out with so much hype, and ended up looking exactly the same as he did when he left.

[Kane Knight]

The Undertaker character wasnt based on te way he dressed,it was the way he acted.
Hey moron:

The Undertaker didn't really ACT like he was hyped either. I don't know if you noticed, but his demeanor as the American Badass still did not fit with the buildup.

[V]

Orton's face turn...

i miss liking orton =\

[KayfabeMan]

There could have been a million things there.

I believe if WWF were smart, they would have taken DDP then. They should have took him out of his WCW contract (they did have interest in him back then as well - as did he) and brought him in for the angle. It would have been perfect. Page and Austin had a history with each other going back quite a while, and it would have been cool to let Page play off an angle where he was tired of hearing so much about Austin being the top wrestler in the world, Austin being so great, etc.. - while he was a Champion over in WCW.

They also could have went for Jarrett, who also had a history with Austin going back to Memphis / Texas. Bill Gunn was yet another option, as like him or not, he did put on some solid matches with Austin. I mention them (and again, there could be others) for the fact that:
*I'm keeping it under the assumption that the driver wasn't wearing a wig, or did not dye his hair to have it blonde at the time he hit Austin....and also because...

*The angle was done to not only sideline Austin, but to create a new main event guy, which didn't work for Rikishi. It would have worked for any of the guys above - IF - it were done properly. Nothing against Rikishi, because I do like him, but he's not main eventer.

On a side note, honestly - I had really wished Owen Hart was still alive to be used for the angle. I definitely could have seen that being an angle that would've shot Owen to the top of the card, and he would have made that work 110%. That wasn't an option, obviously, but I just wanted to mention that I would have loved to have seen that.

[VJW]

I was extremely dissapointed by The American Fat Ass's return at WXX.

[The CyNick]

Batista/HHH. They build Batista up slowly and it finally seemed like the WWE would do us right and put Batista over at Mania. But no, they tease another Flair turn, have him turn on Batista and give HHH the win. WTF?

I'm very scared of that actually happening.

[Savio]

I liked that role for rikishi they should have kept it going.

[The CyNick]

The Invasion is obviously #1.

But more specifically I thought the whole ECW thing was the worst of the worst.

The ECW deal could have done so much good.

I would have loved to see ECW and WCW team up to beat the WWE in order to get control of RAW. Then with WWE gone, Paul E would reveal he worked Shane and start a WCW vs ECW fued on RAW. That would have kicked all kinds of ass. Tazz and RVD could have been put in top spots....

I hate doing this, makes me so sad.

[Shadow]

They didn't drop the ball on Orton. HHH dropped the ball on Orton. They could've had a huge build-up where HHH just sat in the background, gnawing on his liver, getting more and more jelous and Orton won more and more matches cleanly, without HHH's help. Then at Mania, well before Mania, HHH turns on Orton, kicks him out of Evolution and challenges him for the World Title. That's how they should've done it. But did they? Noooooooooooooo.

[I-Hate-You]

I think I have to agree with MVP. The Invasion angle was what wrestling fans had been wanting to see for years. WWF vs WCW. The problem was a lot of the main players were not there. HHH was out with a quad injury. Goldberg was long gone. Sting never signed with WWF. So I have to say the Invasion angle was the one with the most potential that was the biggest let down.
Not to mention you had guys like Flair, Hogan, Nash, Hall, and Rey Jr. all come in after the Invasion was over.

[PullMyFinger]

I definatly agree with the Invasion. But another great let down was the Undertaker return at WMXX. Everyone was hyped about the big return. All the video clips indicated that the 98/99 appearance was gonna be there. They did everything right, from the flaming symbols and the lightning to the floating ring and casket. We get to WM and what do we find? The 'American Badass' with a leather jacket and a cowboy hat. Same attire. Then to completly botch it all up, he fights like the badass with the boxing jabs etc. very big let down......... in fact i wouldnt have been much more disapointed if he came down on the bike with Paul Bearer in a side car
hahahah that made me laugh! good call.

[diamondcutter]

[QUOTE=KayfabeMan]There could have been a million things there.

I believe if WWF were smart, they would have taken DDP then. They should have took him out of his WCW contract (they did have interest in him back then as well - as did he) and brought him in for the angle. It would have been perfect. Page and Austin had a history with each other going back quite a while, and it would have been cool to let Page play off an angle where he was tired of hearing so much about Austin being the top wrestler in the world, Austin being so great, etc.. - while he was a Champion over in WCW.

Ever since the Monday Night Wars began, I had wanted to see Page vs. Austin---mainly because they had (and still have) two of the hottest finishers in wrestling. During the invasion storyline, it almost looked like the then-WWF was going in that direction. On the Smackdown! before the Invasion PPV, there was a closing segment that had DDP grabbing Debra.

[Wildcat789]

Draft Lottery. The only and perfect way to fix Smackdown turned out to be a way to bolster Raw and flush Smackdown right down the shitter.

[PullMyFinger]

Draft Lottery. The only and perfect way to fix Smackdown turned out to be a way to bolster Raw and flush Smackdown right down the shitter.
It also established the fact that Triple H was the equivalent of three wrestlers...Dudleys and Booker T.

[Gouda]

BILLY KIDMAN AND PAUL LONDON.

YES. IT DESERVES ALL CAPS.

[Aussie Skier]

The Invasion is obviously #1.

But more specifically I thought the whole ECW thing was the worst of the worst.

The ECW deal could have done so much good.

I would have loved to see ECW and WCW team up to beat the WWE in order to get control of RAW. Then with WWE gone, Paul E would reveal he worked Shane and start a WCW vs ECW fued on RAW. That would have kicked all kinds of ass. Tazz and RVD could have been put in top spots....

I hate doing this, makes me so sad.

You gotta remember, this is a business..and the business is not gonna shoot itself in the foot, making itself look weak. realisitically, this could never have happened, and what would have been the point anyway?

Personally, I thought it was done ok, i just wish some bigger WCW guys were there to be involved

[Aussie Skier]

OK,when angles turn bad:


John Cena VS Kurt Angle: Right, you might say huh, what angle. But remember, Cena lost the US title because Kurt stripped him of it. Suddenly, Kurt is revealed to not have a broken leg, and Cena does nothing about it!!! I MEAN, WTF!!!! Assuming they both stay on Smackdown now, they will feud eventally...but, it won't have the smae feeling (to me at least) as if they had feuded right when kurt got back from injury.

Booker T VS RVD: Booker has turned on his tag team partner, so what does RVD do about...ABSOLTULY nothing! ::nono:

Dudleyz and Paul Heyman: Heyman wants to see the Dudleyz old intensity, and what o they do...they loose a 2-0n-1 match the undertaker, then, they start getting bossed around by Spike Dudley. Seriously, wtf is wrong with the WWE.



My point of these is that they all had the capacity to be good stories, but they just turned into poop, i cant understand how hard it is to get a few decent stories into the WWE

[RGWhat316]

BILLY KIDMAN AND PAUL LONDON.

YES. IT DESERVES ALL CAPS.
I was gonna mention this myself. But they were just gaining momentum as a team, winning the tag titles. It seems that they were only together a few months, had like a month or so long title reign, then they get split up way way too early. The storyline split itself was good, but since it was done to early, they really haven't done anything since then.

[Azriel]

The whole Higher Power scenario. Was just a huge letdown when it was revealed to be Vince.

[SuperSlim]

man man man.

Invasion takes the cake

Taker was a real real let down since I am a huge Taker fan. I was lookin for Taker of old. or at least late 90's. Not ministry style but the one before that. Ya know the one that still talked but beat you up. The entrance music was cool.

ECW was shat upon when they added Steph as the owner. If it would have stayed with Paul as their owner then ti woulda been perfect. Shane as teh WCW owner was actually a cool thing. But makin it Steph ruined it.

NWO in WWE had huge huge potential. Then they screwed that up. Then they had a small shot when there was Nash, HBK, and whoever else but that was screwed when Nash was goin to try to hit someone and tore his quad.

Numerous other stuff as well.

[The Icon of Elisim]

Jericho vs HHH at Wrestlemania 17 i think. The one that turned into Steph vs HHH

Could have been built up great given the history with the two but instead it was the worst build up to a WM mainevent event ever.

This was the one where they killed HHH's dog

[Loose Cannon]

You gotta remember, this is a business..and the business is not gonna shoot itself in the foot, making itself look weak. realisitically, this could never have happened, and what would have been the point anyway?

Personally, I thought it was done ok, i just wish some bigger WCW guys were there to be involved

Your first comment is the exact ignorance that promoters have had towards invasion angles. You have to make your company look a little "weak" for the invasion to work. Do you know how much money the WWF could of made if they would of put there egos behind them? I mean where talking a ton, and I emphasize "ton" of money lost here. Realistically it can and has happened with other promotions before.

[SuperSlim]

Jericho vs HHH at Wrestlemania 17 i think. The one that turned into Steph vs HHH

Could have been built up great given the history with the two but instead it was the worst build up to a WM mainevent event ever.

This was the one where they killed HHH's dog

it was Wrestlemania X-8

[Disturbed316]

Rikishi being the one who run over Austin. It was the absolute perfect angle, then they turned it into a shit one by making Rikishi the guy who done it.

[SuperSlim]

that angle could have literally made anybody. They gave the ball to Rikishi and he could have run with it.

"I did it. I did it for the Rock."

Then they dropped the ball with him instead of making him. They could have atleast changed his attire when he turned heel.

[Disturbed316]

I wish they made it Test who was the one who done it. I've always thought if they pushed him right he could have made one hell of a main event guy.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

First, Test woulda had to have been a solid midcard guy though.

[Innovator]

It should have been the Rock who ran over Austin, there.

As much as everyone loved Rock back then, no way in hell they'd pick him over Stone Cold.

Also, Rikishi did get one of the lamest theme songs ever...."I'm a bad man"

[Crashnburn]

OK,when angles turn bad:


John Cena VS Kurt Angle: Right, you might say huh, what angle. But remember, Cena lost the US title because Kurt stripped him of it. Suddenly, Kurt is revealed to not have a broken leg, and Cena does nothing about it!!! I MEAN, WTF!!!! Assuming they both stay on Smackdown now, they will feud eventally...but, it won't have the smae feeling (to me at least) as if they had feuded right when kurt got back from injury.



I totally agree with this one and I was thinking the same thing at the time. I was so sure as soon as it was discovered that Angle could walk Cena would be all over him, but no, instead Eddie forgets about JBL and his title and goes after Angle. It made very little sense.

Another storyline I thought they kind of dropped the ball on was centered around Booker T. Remember when he was traded to Smackdown how he was saying that SD was the minor leagues and etc.? Remember how Eddie and him got into a confrontation in the locker room? I thought it would of been a great story for Eddie and Booker to start a feud over the title just for Booker to win the title in the end and to act like he could care less. I could just see him walking out to the ring the next Smackdown dragging the belt behind him as he holds it by the end of one of the straps. He could give interviews that when asked how it felt to hold the title he would be like, "Yeah, I'm the champ minor leagues. So what?" This of course would cause all the other talent on SD to try and take Booker out so that they can have a champ that isn't always putting down their show and title. I just think it would of been a lot more interesting then giving the belt to JBL.

[Gouda]

On the subject of Angle as GM... do not forget... it is because of HIM that JBL is the champion. He made the ruling in the bullrope match thing. Yet not a word of this was brought up during his little title run last month. It could have made some great stuff.

[Disturbed316]

First, Test woulda had to have been a solid midcard guy though.

I think if they had pushed him in the weeks leading up to finding out who it was, getting some victories over upper-mid card guys or whatever, then I think it would have worked.

[John la Rock]

The INVASION angle would have been succesfull if WCW used it's top stars: Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, and Sting. It could have rocked :(

[RGWhat316]

I always wondered why they never went back to Austin/Rock in 2001. After Austin turned heel at WM X-7, I waited all year for the Rock to come back and feud with Austin and get his rematch, but they gave Rock......Booker T. And the only time Rock and Austin faced each other afterwards was when they were the final two at the Survivor Series. Then they were both face, and no chance until Rock came back as a heel.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

I beg to differ. When the Rock 1st came back that year, there was speculation as to whether he was going 2 WWF or WCW. Simply because it was Vince who indefinatly suspended him the night after WMX7. And before the Survivor Series, The Rock and Austin sang Margarittaville, and at the end they shook hands. Rock pulls Austin in and says 'The Rock will never, EVER forget' and gives him the Rock Bottom. Which showed that the Rock was still hot about the turn. So technically they didnt drop the ball

[SuperSlim]

http://img30.exs.cx/img30/9746/0923cf.jpg

potential to be somethin big but instead it was forgotten. :nono:

[John la Rock]

They didn't drop the ball on Orton. HHH dropped the ball on Orton. They could've had a huge build-up where HHH just sat in the background, gnawing on his liver, getting more and more jelous and Orton won more and more matches cleanly, without HHH's help. Then at Mania, well before Mania, HHH turns on Orton, kicks him out of Evolution and challenges him for the World Title. That's how they should've done it. But did they? Noooooooooooooo.

how did HHH drop the ball on Orton and not the WWE?

[Jaded-Dragon]

Anything after the close of WCW, to present time. Invasion, nWo, Draft lottery, Jericho's main event push, Guerrero's title run, turning Orton face too quickly, not pushing guys who aren't 6'4"+ 300+lbs., etc. etc.

The invasion and the nWo were two of the lowest points for me. The invasion was every wrestling fans wet dream, and seemed damn near impossible to screw up, but Vince found a way. I thought for sure that he of all people would understand that to make the angle work, the WWE had to appear weak and vulnerable. And a we all know, not having the top WCW stars from the start really hurt. Booker T and DDP were the only two main event guys that came over quickly. They should of had the Alliance taking out the WWE's top guys by sneak attack, or just interupting their match and jumping them. The alliance needed to be built up as a legit threat and it wasn't, and that is what killed the whole angle completely.

As for the nwo... it could have worked again. The main key to the groups first run was the kayfabe of it. At the time, the internet was still fairly new, a lot of us, including myself, were marks. So when two of the most recognizable WWF guys show up on WCW and say, "You want a war? You got one." everyone thought that the WWF was invading WCW. That gave WCW the early momentum to run with it. It wasn't until about a month after Scott Hall showed up that Vince acknowledged Nitro and said that Hall and Nash were not speaking for WWF. By that time it didn't matter though. And even if it did, the angle was played off so convincingly that people thought that Hall and Nash left the WWF to go war with WCW. Ahhh to be young and foolish....

Anyway, the WWE did not have the kayfabe to go off of. But the angle still could of worked. Again, the nwo had to be made to appear as a legit threat. Of course, they were not. As said already, Hall was a joke, Nash did nothing, and Hogan quickly abandoned the idea. Having Triple H or Shawn Michaels join the group early on, may have saved it. Oh well.

[Kane Knight]

http://img30.exs.cx/img30/9746/0923cf.jpg

potential to be somethin big but instead it was forgotten. :nono:
Not to mention GTV.

The biggest ball drop that I've noticed not being mentioned is Kane. There are bigger angles that were totally butchered (IE, InVasion, which is definitely my #1), but I'm surprised no-one brought it up.

First off, the smaller one IMO was Kane's "secret." Which turned out to be that he once went to a frat party (while horribly scarred and living to his basement). That alone was enough to crush the angle, so I won't get into the resulting footage.

Second off, and the real problem is the unmasking of Kane. I cringed at the notion, but it seemed like revamping him as a new psychotic engine of destruction was going to take off, and the angle built up steam. Tombstone to Linda? Awesome way to make him look sick and depraved. And who could stop him?

Oh yeah. Shane McMahon. Instant death to his badass-ness.

[Innovator]

Second off, and the real problem is the unmasking of Kane. I cringed at the notion, but it seemed like revamping him as a new psychotic engine of destruction was going to take off, and the angle built up steam. Tombstone to Linda? Awesome way to make him look sick and depraved. And who could stop him?

Oh yeah. Shane McMahon. Instant death to his badass-ness.Very true.

He chokeslams Bischoff off the ramp while Evolution runs from him. He beats down Stone Cold. He tombstones Linda. Then Shane gets the best of him. :nono:

[Drakul]

http://img30.exs.cx/img30/9746/0923cf.jpg

potential to be somethin big but instead it was forgotten. :nono:
I dunno if he's alive or retired but maybe it was Stevie Ray :shifty:
failing that, It would probably have been some crap like his parol officer or a witness to a 'crime' he did years ago and they introduce some new guy through it.:roll:

[SuperSlim]

anyway it had potential to be anything...that is where the surprise and the goodness lies. It could of been the biggest flop or one huge thing but instead we get nothing. and I agree with KK on Kane.

[PullMyFinger]

Anything after the close of WCW, to present time. Invasion, nWo, Draft lottery, Jericho's main event push, Guerrero's title run, turning Orton face too quickly, not pushing guys who aren't 6'4"+ 300+lbs., etc. etc.

The invasion and the nWo were two of the lowest points for me. The invasion was every wrestling fans wet dream, and seemed damn near impossible to screw up, but Vince found a way. I thought for sure that he of all people would understand that to make the angle work, the WWE had to appear weak and vulnerable. And a we all know, not having the top WCW stars from the start really hurt. Booker T and DDP were the only two main event guys that came over quickly. They should of had the Alliance taking out the WWE's top guys by sneak attack, or just interupting their match and jumping them. The alliance needed to be built up as a legit threat and it wasn't, and that is what killed the whole angle completely.

As for the nwo... it could have worked again. The main key to the groups first run was the kayfabe of it. At the time, the internet was still fairly new, a lot of us, including myself, were marks. So when two of the most recognizable WWF guys show up on WCW and say, "You want a war? You got one." everyone thought that the WWF was invading WCW. That gave WCW the early momentum to run with it. It wasn't until about a month after Scott Hall showed up that Vince acknowledged Nitro and said that Hall and Nash were not speaking for WWF. By that time it didn't matter though. And even if it did, the angle was played off so convincingly that people thought that Hall and Nash left the WWF to go war with WCW. Ahhh to be young and foolish....

Anyway, the WWE did not have the kayfabe to go off of. But the angle still could of worked. Again, the nwo had to be made to appear as a legit threat. Of course, they were not. As said already, Hall was a joke, Nash did nothing, and Hogan quickly abandoned the idea. Having Triple H or Shawn Michaels join the group early on, may have saved it. Oh well.
I totally agree man. Like I said...it seems like just now the WWE is sorta getting on track, but not really. After WCW closed..the WWE was in absolute limbo with storylines. They created crap, dropped most of it, and just jumped from one crap to another crap. I barely even watched it during that time period. I just started watching it against a few months ago when I was in college and say Randy Orton, Batista, Cena, and everyone else.

[PullMyFinger]

What the fuck happened to Val Venis/Chief Morley?

[Crashnburn]

What the fuck happened to Val Venis/Chief Morley?

He's jobbing away on Heat.