WWE pushing people... who deserve it?

[CYCLOPTERSAURUS]

We often complain about WWE pushing the wrong people, but there have been a few times that they have pushed somebody I would have never thought would end up as anything, and it turned out to be a good decision.

For example, Shelton Benjamin. He was great as a tag wrestler with Haas and I thought it was stupid to split them, and I didn't think either of them would make it as a singles wrestler, but Shelton really imperssed me. I didn't know he had it in him.

And of course JBL. I still think he's shit in the ring, but he's a promo genius. From his APA days I thought he was just another useless musclehead, and their initial attempts to push him as "Bradshaw" seemed absolutely insane. With JBL, they struck gold, and JBL really ended up being much, much more than I ever thought he'd be.

Any other ideas?

[Dave Youell]

Yet somehow you miss Jeff Hardy off that list?

Anyway, given the time of year I wouldn’t get excited about any pushes, it’s before the rumble, mania matches don’t take shape for a few weeks yet.

And this JBL/Jericho feud has me worried, as they are both ‘new’ so someone is going to lose some momentum, which is a bad thing. Unless they don’t conclude this at the Rumble and give it legs until Mania, so have JBL go over at the Rumble, then Y2J get the big win back. But it’s a strange situation

And I wouldn’t call Shelton only wrestling on ECW a push form being on Raw each week. Yes he can wrestle, but he has the charisma and mic skills of a damp squid, he can put on good matches sometimes though, I’ll grant you that, would look forward to seeing him vs Punk, I just think he’s too ‘Spoty’ to be a heel, as a face it worked well, but his moveset is all over the place as a heel

[.44 Magdalene]

Yet somehow you miss Jeff Hardy off that list?

[Dorkchop]

JBL has tits

[Mr. Nerfect]

Shelton Benjamin does work better as a babyface, in my opinion, but he can work as a heel. His work on SmackDown! was great heel stuff. He just seemed so sinister. When he's trying to be anything but a soulless robot as a heel, it just doesn't work, in my opinion.

[CYCLOPTERSAURUS]

I meant in HISTORY, not necessarilly right now. Right now, Jeff Hardy, sure. But he's always been pretty over, and WWE responded to the overness by pushing him. JBL (when he first got the gimmick) and Shelton (when he was FIRST split from WGTT and moved to Raw) came out of nowhere, WWE saw their potential and pushed them, regardless of how popular they were at the moment. Not usually a recipe for success, but WWE has done it before. Surely there have been others I am forgetting.

[Kane Knight]

Shelton Benjamin does work better as a babyface, in my opinion, but he can work as a heel. His work on SmackDown! was great heel stuff. He just seemed so sinister. When he's trying to be anything but a soulless robot as a heel, it just doesn't work, in my opinion.

He can, but he needs more work before he can be too much with it as a heel.

[The Gold Standard]

Shelton has gotten a lot better at promos. He has always been a top wrestler, but never a great man on the mic. Everytime he talks now he gets better and better.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've honestly never thought Shelton was that bad on the mic. Some of his stuff with Charlie Haas has been great, and the man is hilarious in certain skits. People argue consistency, but a lot of guys come nowhere near being as entertaining as Shelton in his best moments.

[The Optimist]

He needs his momma back, honestly.

[Jeritron]

How about Austin, Triple H and The Rock. In 1996, these guys were more dead in the water and boring (going nowhere) than JBL and Shelton ever were.

By 1998, they were the biggest stars..well...ever.

[.44 Magdalene]

He needs his momma back, honestly.

[TerranRich]

Stone Cold was one that really surprised me at the time. Around 1996 I stopped watching wrestling for a short time. When I had last watched it, Austin had just been re-named Stone Cold (from Ringmaster), and I thought he was still boring. When I came back, he was fucking HUGE, and had this insane following (3:16 and all that). I actually never got the 3:16 reference until I watched KotR '96 on VHS a year or two later.

Matt Hardy's V1 push was deserved as well, where he had this on-screen following (Crash, Moore) and new catchy theme song (where he can slap/slam a tornado).

I didn't really think they'd push RVD properly either. I mean, his push wasn't what it could have been, but it was more than I thought it would be.

[ttetf]

I would have to say Mankind. Like Austin, Rock, and HHH, Mankind in 1996 was really nothing special. I remember when he got a title match against HBK at the pay-per-view Mind Games like four months into his contract and thinking, why the fuck is this guy in the main event? Granted he had some history as Cactus Jack, but still. Yet in 2.5 short years the guy gets what was easily the biggest pop I've ever experienced when he wins the title from the Rock on Raw...