wrestlers that have never reached their true potential

[Renaissance man]

Who do you think were the wrestlers that should have been legends or the like but just never made it to where they could have been?

Billy gunn
Edge (He could be so much more than he is currently)
Orton (He can put on awesome matches if he wants to)
Kane

Thoughts and comments more than welcome

[Dave Youell]

Kennedy
Matt and Jeff Hardy
Marty Jannetty

[Dave Youell]

Scott Hall

[BigDaddyCool]

Billy Gunn? BILLY GUNN!? Are you really Tovo? Billy Gunn had a million chances and every time he sucked. He did reach his full potential.

Oh, and to answer your question, if Hall could have stayed sober, he would have been brilliant.

[Destor]

Jake Roberts

[Dave Youell]

Basically anyone that went off the rails with drugs.

Although I'll argue Jake Roberts, I think he got about as far up the ladder as he was likely to get, he never screamed champ to me

[Destor]

Dunno. Pretty sure before The Warrior threw a fit when he was gonna get the strap so they stopped the plan. He was over enough to have earned it. alls I know.

[Renaissance man]

Kennedy
Matt and Jeff Hardy
Marty Jannetty

Matt i would agree with but hold the phone on Jeff- He is still going places

[Innovator]

-Scott Hall

-Kerry Von Erich (although he did wrestle with only one foot in WWE)

-I'd agree with Orton, he regressed since 2004 when he got Orton'd

-Dean Malenko, I thought he could have been more in WWE

-Brian Pillman, shame he could have really been something. I could see an Austin/Pillman feud in 98 being hot(t)

[Heros Welcome]

Matt i would agree with but hold the phone on Jeff- He is still going places

Rehab?

[Heros Welcome]

As for people I think Orton and Edge could be a lot bigger than they are right now.

[Rammsteinmad]

Definitely Dean Malenko. Also gotta go with Rob Van Dam and Charlie Haas.

[James Steele]

Ken Shamrock

[LoDownM]

Kanyon
D'Lo Brown

[BigDaddyCool]

Owen Hart.

[Chavo Classic]

Rhino. The guy was red hot just after ECW folded and he's never been able to carry that momentum on

[KingofOldSchool]

Magnum T.A.

End of thread.

[Destor]

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[KingofOldSchool]

Oh and a honorable mention to David Von Erich.

[Jordan]

Magnum TA and Owen Hart, end of thread.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Waylon Mercy

[Morrisey]

Chris Jericho. I know he was Undisputed Champion, but he never really got the chance to be treated like the biggest part of the company.

[Afterlife]

I see no potential in Orton whatsoever.
Kane absolutely deserves better.
As much as I'm not really a Matt fan, he does seem better than the company wants you to think.

My big beef is that Rico got royally pissed on.

[NYDon]

Louis Spicolli

[Vastardikai]

Magnum, Owen, and I'll throw another one in: Droz.

[Hanso Amore]

Sean O'haire.

I was such a mark for him.

I agree, Hall.

Magnum TA could have been great, but Hall could and should have been one of the top 10 ever.

[Afterlife]

You're absolutely right with O'Haire.

And, I"ll go ahead and give Noid a bj: Val Venis.

[Porcupine]

Yeah I second the Val notion. He was really good in his feud with Rikishi back in the early 2000's I think? Pre-Split, it rocked.

Also, I think Matt Morgan couldve been so much more...

[Heros Welcome]

Def Sean O Haire. I don't know why he didn't become huge. he had the look and body the E likes. Had a great character. Puzzles me.

[Heros Welcome]

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[Afterlife]

Yeah I second the Val notion. He was really good in his feud with Rikishi back in the early 2000's I think? Pre-Split, it rocked.

Also, I think Matt Morgan couldve been so much more...

I"ll have to disagree on mmmmMMatt Mmmmmmmorgan. His finisher was simply unbelievable and his acting was attrocious. Had he been kept as a goon for a while long and had time to develop something, then maybe. But as is, he was pretty worthless, outside of being a big guy.

[Afterlife]

And, in regards to O'Haire, the Devil's ADvocate character was fucking brilliant. Why they let that slip away is simply...without grounds. There is no logical reasoning behind the destruction of such an high-potential powertrain.

[Londoner]

Test is a name that springs to mind in relation to this. Also Lesnar as he wasn't around aslong as he should've been. trying to think of some more..

[Theo Dious]

Oddly enough, I'd say Waltman. He'd never be any kind of World Champion unless WWE was ABSOLUTELY desperate to put the belt on a little guy and HHH and HBK went to bat for him, but he had (maybe has) the potential to be bigger than he ever was.

I'd throw in Nick Dinsmore and Rosey too.

[Theo Dious]

Test is a name that springs to mind in relation to this. Also Lesnar as he wasn't around aslong as he should've been. trying to think of some more..

Lesnar may not have been around long, but I really doubt he could be much more than he was.

[Sting Fan]

Hall definatly, take out the alcohol and he woulda been a multi time world champ I reckon.

[redoneja]

Magnum T.A.

End of thread.

Agreed.


Honestly, and some may ridicule this, but Ahmed Johnson. This guy was hot in late '95 through mid '96. Sure he wasn't a great worker, but since when did that matter?

[The Optimist]

Agree on Test
Agree on D'lo Brown
Agree on Sean O'Haire
Additional mention to Mark Jindrak
Agree on Dean Malenko
Agree on Ken Shamrock
Brian Clark/Wrath
Shane Douglas
Mike Awesome
Tajiri
Konnan
Vampiro

[DrA]

Probably most of them.

[FourFifty]

Sean O'haire.

I was such a mark for him.



For the record- Sean O'Haire never lost via pinfall or submission during a 1 on 1 match on WWE tv.

[Rammsteinmad]

Shit! How could I forget O'Haire. He's one of my favourite wrestlers of all time!!! Definately shoulda been a huge star.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Rhino. The guy was red hot just after ECW folded and he's never been able to carry that momentum on

Absolutely second this. I came into the thread thinking Edge, simply because when you go back and watch him in 2002 against Kurt Angle, it's hard to imagine the guy could have stopped getting better. Now, while he does get great heat, he's sort of...blander? Less outstanding, anyways.

Thank you, Afterlife. I do appreciate the Val Venis blowjob. I will say this, though: He never really popped into my head. Sure, I think the guy is deserving of more, but I don't really feel like he's a "missed opportunity" as much as other guys. He never really became an opportunity. :(

Magnum T.A. is someone I never witnessed, but by all accounts, his career was cut tragically short. The same goes for Owen Hart. I've seen some of Hart's stuff, though. Amazing.

You can pretty much say everyone hasn't lived up to their potential, but I think the WWE has missed the boat majorly on some guys:

Test really should have been bigger than he was. My understanding says that he was pretty much red hot during the Stephanie McMahon stuff, and then Triple H swooped in, kidnapped her, drugged her, married her, and Test didn't even get revenge.

Christian and Matt Hardy in 2005 could have been awesome if the WWE had listened to the fans and pushed accordingly. Rob Van Dam in 2001 seems like a good candidate for a missed opportunity, too. I wasn't an RVD mark (in fact, I really didn't like the guy that much), but I think Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam for the Undisputed Championship would have been a better WrestleMania title match than Jericho vs. Triple H (that one is mainly retrospective), and that Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Triple H should have teamed up to battle the nWo.

I'll throw the great wrestlers from OVW into the mix: Nick Dinsmore could have been a great asset to the WWE. The Eugene charatcer was ridiculous, but Dinsmore really developed his "entertainment" skills to go along with his "sports" abilities during the whole ordeal. Dropping the gimmick would have been major heat, and his wrestling skill would have provided him with more than enough to stick around.

Rob Conway was greatness when he was down in OVW as "The Iron Man." In the WWE as "The Con Man," not so much. Doug Basham never really got the singles push the WWE considered for a while, but I think he could have been a damn fine mid-carder with his skills. The same goes for Rico. All great talents made to look pretty worthless through their stints in the WWE.

I'll give Jim Cornette a shout-out, and just say that I have faith in his picks of Matt Morgan and Chris Masters. He was right about John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton.

Speaking of Orton, I'd agree with him. He was Orton'd in 2004, and has never been the same since. He was great prior to that, and should be having better matches than he is now.

I also agree with Ken Shamrock, D'Lo Brown, Sean O'Haire, Tajiri, Dean Malenko (to a degree), Lance Storm (to a degree), Billy Gunn (to a degree), Scott Hall, Brian Pillman, and the Von Erichs mentioned.

These are going to be weird mentions, but I have to throw Bull Buchanan and Funaki out there. I mean, not World Championship material or anything, but Bull always impressed me as a mark, but he never really did...well, anything. Funaki is just so sympathetic as a face. His act is pretty cute, too. I'm surprised the man has not gotten some form of push towards a mid-card belt, or a semi-meaningful winning streak of some sort.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I didn't actually set out to make that a long post. I had like three guys in mind and then kept going. And I still could.

Kane should be a multi-time World Champion, Kanyon could have done more than he did, and Goldust never climbed as high as he could have.

This list really could go on for ages.

[Afterlife]

Goldust, tho, is like Jeff Hardy before Jeff Hardy became this Jeff Hardy. Goldust is fucking brilliant every time he's around, but he continues to fuck himself out of his own glory.

[Hanso Amore]

Agreed.


Honestly, and some may ridicule this, but Ahmed Johnson. This guy was hot in late '95 through mid '96. Sure he wasn't a great worker, but since when did that matter?


Good Call. He was the number 2 (arguably number 1) Face and was in the main event fueds. Had he not had kidney problems, he would have been the WWE's first black champ.

[Destor]

It worked out well for Booker T then.

[Destor]

Although he did it on SD! Realistically there hasn't been a Black Champ on TOP of the company. But close enough.

[Innovator]

I forgot about Magnum, could have been huge

[Renaissance man]

And, in regards to O'Haire, the Devil's ADvocate character was fucking brilliant. Why they let that slip away is simply...without grounds. There is no logical reasoning behind the destruction of such an high-potential powertrain.


There are words that simply don't go together such as Military intelligence, good women driver, cubs win world series and logic in wwe

[Afterlife]

Yes, yes, yes. Yoy're also rare to find collections like "Cynical statements about logic being a non-component to WWE programming are entertaining and whimsical, among a plethera of other adjectives of positive outlook".

Point being, making comments like that is just as bad as the treatment received by the underrated and undermined which we currently discuss. A lack of originality hurts in both directions.