Guys WWE Dropped The Ball On
 

I was thinking about a few guys that the WWE failed to push or had used wrong and wanted to make a thread about it.

- Diamond Dallas Page: Jobbed him out to The Undertaker. Never considered pushing him. Listen to the response he gets when he takes off the mask and reveals who he is. The pop was huge, and yet he was treated like garbage in the WWE.

- Matt Hardy: There were times he could’ve been a top draw and was getting huge pops.

- Raven: He can talk and wrestle, and the crowd cares about him. He was underpushed in WCW and somehow was used even more poorly in the WWE.

- Tazz: Tazz’s debut was amazing, and within a year, he was an announcer. 2000 was a year of opportunity for Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. There’s no reason we couldn’t be talking about Tazz on that list.

- Vader: Vader was over huge as a heel in WCW. He could wrestle and had size. Yet somehow, he never really got anywhere. His loss to Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 1996 ended any chance, and he ended up stuck in the midcard for the next two years.

Matt Hardy would have never been a top draw. Ever. I'm sick of people saying things like that.

Mark Henry
Christian (IN 2005 NOT NOW)
Test, a few times
MVP
*maybe* Ken Shamrock

Don't mention christian it's too soon.

Mark Henry

DDP and Tazz for sure...

Even Goldberg to an extent...

He had the Nest in ECW, the Flock in WCW, and the Gathering in TNA. Why do people not see what a one-trick pony this guy is.

- Diamond Dallas Page
I'm sick of hearing this. Page was an old man when he started wrestling in WCW; he was getting plenty of TV time after the Invasion ended but wound up injured. Anyone who thinks he could have held the main event with Jericho, Austin, HHH, Angle, Undertaker, Rock, and Jericho around, and even the Big Show and Booker T, is fantastically deluded.

- Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy is a combination of dropping the ball on his own time and unfortunate injuries. He had plenty of chances to shine and take the spotlight, but he either got injured or fizzled out every time the chance came.

- Tazz
How many times do you jackass ECW-philes need to be reminded that Tazz himself has said repeatedly that he lost passion for the business before he ever left ECW? No, we don't get to cum unless we're blaming everything on Vince McMahon, do we?

- Vader
Vader got more time in the main event than he ever deserved. Sure, he was a great worker, but he was never the best of his time.

WWE did not drop the ball on Goldberg, Goldberg refused to play unless he was the only one who got to hold the ball.

that fucking greedy jew

Shelton Benjamin.

Ehhhh....yes and no.

On one hand, when Shelton got those wins over Triple H, it seemed like he was ready to get on that NEXT level...

...but eventually, his mic skills were exposed as non-existent, and when the spotlight was put on him, he started botching habitually. I think the WWE wanted him to work, but he couldn't handle the pressure.

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Buh Buh Ray Duldley's singles run could at the very least put him over as a IC Champ.
Hakushi or Jinsei Shinzaki for you FMW buffs. Great wrestler and worker who could have been a main heel for a long time.

First name I thought of when I saw the thread title... Mr. Kennedy

Rated R, you signed up more than a week ago, right?

I ask because...http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=112547

This thread is re-done at least once a month.

And I always say the same thing.

DDP [/thread]

Someone is seriously missing from this thread.

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wwe drop ball 4 daniel bryaen he is a awesame and the crowd goez nut

What about guys WCW dropped the ball on, like Hart.

No Matt Hardy..... If Christian can't get a decen Title reign, then I'm sure as hell Hardy wouldn't have got one....

Mark Henry
MVP
Elijah Burke

EDIT: LOL just realized they are all african american

:foc:


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I never thought that DDP was main event material in WWE. In WCW during its demise? Sure, but not in WWE with its main event talent in 2001-02. However, I think DDP should have given more opportunities in the upper midcard rather than introducing him as the guy stalking Undertaker's ugly-ass wife.

IT'S A CONSPIRACY

A C-O-N



I hate R Truth

They just bought a ball for R Truth and are inflating it now, readying it to be dropped.

Tiger Ali Singh

No. R Truth's ball will be inflated half way and then they'll just stop pumping it altogether.

D-Lo Brown

I got nothin' so here's a vid of Khali squeezing a basketball
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MVP
Gregory Helms
D'Lo Brown
Paul Burchill
Mr. Kennedy

here's a random one....Essa Rios.

I'd start with the Big Show. Cocked him up right from the start. His stock was low when he left WCW, but WWF could of made him an unstoppable monster if they used him correctly. His debut with him ripping through the ring and attacking Austin during the Rattlesnake's match with Mr McMahon at St Valentines Day Massacre was great...then he was made to look a total goof by chokeslaming Austin through the cage, allowing Stone Cold to obtain victory. He should of cost Austin the match. Then soon after that he was destroyed by Austin on an episode of RAW. So soon after his debut and not on PPV?! Going in to WrestleMania XV, Show was matched up against the floundering Mankind. He then looks a huge doofus again by getting himself DQ'ed for choke-slamming Mankind through a couple of chairs. He then turned face, got fatter and balder, and ended up jobbing to world class piss-break fanatics like Hardcore Holly. He was never effective after that. What followed? A world title feud...with the Big Boss Man...in late 1-9-9-9?! Not a recipe for success.

Others that spring to mind? The obvious ones: Raven, Taz(z), DDP, Sean O'Haire, Kanyon.

WWF also dropped the ball and stamped on it when it came to WCW and ECW for that matter.

Hadn't though of him initially but I'd have to agree with O'Haire with his name dropped I could say the same for a couple of his former tag team partners in Mark Jindrak and Chuck Palumbo they were both misused though.

So I suppose Show's terrible, ill-advised 2nd title run with the WWE Championship in 2002 when he defeated Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series never happened in your mind?

Val Venis

That's not the point. Look at Mark Henry, a wrestler who's never been over and will never draw money, came to the company in 1996, yet took on 'Taker at a WrestleMania and he's STILL THERE being paid to be a fat anus.

Yeah, Show won the title again, but by then titles meant nothing. He never truly made it and never will. Saying that, I never thought Bradshaw would get over but he did and get on track, very well, in 2004.

For some guys size is everything. Not everybody can be a super-over world champ like Orton, Cena, Rock, Triple H, Austin and Taker, and besides WWE has proven over and over again that whether they're face or heel, everybody loves a gigantic monster who kicks ass.

That's why I'm hoping this new run on SD! will turn Henry back into the uber-monster heel that he was designed to play.

First of all... Thank you Thrilla...

Second, I know Tazz lost his passion for the biz, that is well documented... But didn't he have a really bad back as well and opted to retire instead of the wheelchair?

I don't get how anyone could say RVD was misused. Granted it took awhile, he was world champ and ECW champ, and he blew it for getting busted driving while high. His own fault.

And yeah, Tazz has back/neck problems and just can't wrestle anymore.

Whoops. Totally forgot this guy. Don't think anyone has ever had as much potential as him, only for WWE to screw him up big time.

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Because for all that time it took to him get to the championship, he was consistantly over, consistantly putting on good matches, and consistantly thrown into shitty angles and tag teams made up of two singles guys who had nothing to do.

I love D'Lo, he was great on BTR, but he was never going anywhere after the Droz incident.

Fair enough. Although I don't think RVD was ever going to be as big as RVD fans thing he should have been. The guy has awful mic skills. He got to the main event on in ring talent alone, which is impressive.He's very similar to Jeff Hardy in that regard, and to a lesser extent Mysterio.

I think it's worse though when WWE drops the ball on even getting someone over. People like Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan, Sean O'Haire, Randy Orton with his first title run, etc. I hate it when the potential is there, in theory, and WWE just doesn't do anything with it at all. At least RVD was on tv having great matches and entertaining the crowd.

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Not signing this man is dropping the ball. Just saying.

I couldn't agree with this one more.

I don't want to stir up anything here, because it was more of a forced situation than WWE dropping the ball, but I honestly felt that at the time he was bumped off TV, Muhammad Hassan could've been World Champ by now, possibly multi-time.

Dunno for sure though. Definitely an interesting character...too bad he won't even consider returning.

For his size and "look", Tajiri did tremendously well. He was always on tv and although he wasn't the primary focus of many feuds or angles, he got over with the crowd. Check out how many titles he won:

World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
WCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Eddie Guerrero
WWE Cruiserweight Championship (3 times)
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

It's reassuring to know he left on good terms and could come back at any point.

Tajiri was an Awesome heel when he was cruiserweight champ, feuding with Rey and had Akio and that other one with him.

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But most people don't like a monster who gets his arse kicked...over and over again...in a small space of time...with relative ease. WWF/E have tried to reinvent the Big Show time and time again, whether it be by turning him, giving him a new ring attire or pairing him up in a tag team.

Don't get me wrong, Show in my opinion was used correctly when he was first brought in to WCW as The Giant. When he got to WWF he was handled all wrong (also see Chris Jericho). Show has to shoulder a lot of the blame for not being the best that he can be. He got fatter and fatter and indeed fatter. He could of been so much better in WWF/E.

As I mentioned before, just because Show won the title more than once doesn't mean he was a sure-fire success. Vince loves big men. Great Khali is a former world champion. Was/is he a success?

Many people have mentioned DDP and Raven in their lists: DDP, after getting his arse handed to him by The Undertaker (and 'Taker's Gonzo-esque now ex-wife Sara) and given that goofy yet somewhat humerous ''That's a good thing.'' gimmick, won the WWF European Championship and got a clean pinfall win at WrestleMania X8. Raven held the WWF Hardcore Title more than anyone else. Are these guys success stories?

In regards to Henry...he was just damn lucky he was signed to such a well-paid long-term contract when he started with the WWF. He and Hardcore Holly are two individuals who where pushed right down fans throats and never got over. Never. Not once. The closest Henry got to a noticable fan reaction was when he was trying to get in to Chyna's knickers during his 'Sexual Chocolate' phase. An uncharismatic 400lb waste of time, money and space.

The other one's name was Sakoda.

Rhyno.

He could cut a mean fucking promo in ECW, so WWE proceeded to give him zero mic time. Was an above average wrestler too.

Whatever ever happened to Nathan Jones? Was he too green or did WWE drop the ball on him?

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surprised nobody mentioned this guy yet

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Those promos with Nathan Jones talking inside a prison cell were badass. Too bad he was one of the most shittest wokers since Giant Gonzalez. He totally fluffed up a spin-kick on his debut run-in, the sequence of which had to be re-shot I believe. It was downhill from there. He did a interview backstage where he tried to come across as a dangerous psycho, saying ''tick tock'' or something and came across as a card carrying jackass.

Lance Storm to an extent.

Someone did, they just didn't list those promos. Not that they were terrible or anything, but they weren't anything to write home about either.

Yeah myself and probably someone else mentioned O'Haire. His vignettes were something special. Had a great look and could move very well for a man of his size. Then they put him with Roddy Piper which was a total mismatch. That time Piper yanked off Zach Gowen's false leg and O'Haire left the ring in shock. Such a huge cock up.

Nathan Jones couldn't hack the WWE schedule so he buggered off but he was naff anyways.

D'Lo Brown
Paul Burchill
Mike Awesome
Sean O'Haire
Mark Jindrak
DDP
Billy Kidman
Taka Michinoku
Mr. Kennedy
Ultimo Dragon
Lance Storm
Kaval
Frankie Kazarian
Simon Dean

Too many to name.

I did. I even posted a picture! It's at the top of this page. How did you miss it? :'(

Because he's The Naitch and usually posts the same thread at least twice.

Waht

Most of those guys had like 6587 gimmicks and didnt get over in any.

Kennedy liked teh roids too much.

Nova was fucking awesome though. Fuck WWE for giving him that ghey gym rat gimmick. Although that was a cult classic in itself.

Everytime I see this kind of thread I automatically think of Ultimo Dragon, Kevin Thorn and in particular Sean O'Haire.

Recently I would actually say the Miz to an extent.

Insert extremely dated, unfunny joke here.

Somebody mention Kevin Fertig aka Thorn but if anything they screwed up with Mordecai they could have done so much more with him.

LOL

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Only when they gave him that "not boring/too serious anymore" gimmick with that shitty ass disco music and a new tron vid. Jesus that was painful to watch. :nono:

I agree. He and Undertaker would've made a great feud.

They seemed like they were going to do something with him before he got injured after the Invasion, last ever ECW champion before the buyout.:nono:

Rhino= Great Promos :yes:

A lot of the wrestlers above are good workers and could get jobs anywhere in the world. As far as "dropping the ball" i.e. missing a huge opportunity, I don't think you're right. There are plenty of other guys who are interchangeable with those I've crossed out.

Mike Awesome was 2 years too late for the WWE. If he had came across from ECW with his reputation still intact, and not blemished by the horrible gimmicks he had in WCW, and during the Attitude era, he really could have been something.

Ultimo Dragon is a god, and should have been as popular as Rey. The problem was that he didn't connect with WWE audience (few Japanese guys do) and at the first sign of doubt, the WWE shipped the guy out. Unfortunately, if Sin Cara doesn't start gathering some momentum, he'll go the same way.

Lance Storm was the finest worker in the world for a long period. His ability alone should have meant he was working with the same guys Eddie Guerrero was. People will always point to his limited charisma. In reality, he was one gimmick change away from being a silent but deadly bad-ass like Benoit.

I have a soft spot for Kazarian. He's one of the few guys that TNA have made into stars, and is rightfully now amongst the top of the pile. In WWE he was picking up a few clean victories, albeit it on Velocity. A total waste and oversight of a guy who by all means could have been as useful as Ziggler or Morrison are now.

...and we pretty much all agree here on TPWW that O'Haire was the biggest thing that never happened to wrestling.

Gah! That Sean O'Haire gimmick was incredible.

Also, watching that Boogeyman video makes the guys on Tough Enough now seem so much worse. lol. There's no one that even has a thimble full of charisma and intensity compared to that man. Can you imagine him in one of those bottom 3 segments with Austin!?

Tazz and DDP can't be on the list because they were so beat up.

Test in 2006. The guy was a friggen monster and they put him on ECW and jobbed him out.

lol at Boogeyman

30
30
30!

okay I'm a liar

Wade Barrett. He had the potential to be a solid main eventer last year. Fortunately he is still young and is only really beginning his career so he may still get there yet.

The sad thing with Wade Barrett is that like most of the other people who've been mentioned in this thread, his major chance may have been and gone.

Someone said a while back about a psychological tactic WWE use (or maybe use) in which by pushing someone, and then depushing them to make them start from scratch, it's a good time to see if that person is a team player and can handle the big feuds and the crappy going-nowhere matches.

Whilst this seems like a good idea, it's also shit, because as Autobahn said, last year Barrett could have exploded as a legit main event talent. Now with all his crappy angles he has going on right now, he may never get that momentum back. And in the world of WWE, if you're not 'performing' in their eyes, you're fucked.

That's why if I was ever a wrestler, I would not sign with Vince or Dixie. I rather be free to wrestle to my full potential.

Why would you not want to make any money?

I think Barrett and Sheamus are the most recent, glaringly obvious names they've had.

Sheamus being on Raw didn't bode well in the end for him. Too many other up and comers for him to try and leapfrog. Nobody was stopping the Miz, and Sheamus, and Barrett, both got bumped down.

Not putting the belt on Barrett, and blowing the whole Nexus feud with Cena, on top of basically jobbing him out and moving him to SD! killed a lot of momentum for him. He was the top heel in the company last summer. It's going to be difficult to try and build that much interest in him again. Hopefully he can get another shot this summer, as SD! is in dire need of a top heel, and I like Barrett in that role if they're not goiong to turn anyone.

Another guy I recently thought of is Vade Hansen he didn't even get a chance.

To me, it's not about money. That's everybody's wrong way of thinking of being a wrestler, with all the flash, fame and fortune. It's about heart, passion, pride, honor, and self-respect. Those things are more important in a individual than money. And I would not sell out my beliefs for money. I'd rather enjoy being in the Indies and around the world (Canada, Europe, Japan, Puerto Rico, etc.) rather than be somewhere you'll be unhappy with in the long run.

I'd be happy entertaining millions of people, win or lose, in exchange for good money.

Hahaha, you're a trip dude.

I'm pretty sure that the endgame of every wrestling promotion that exists is to make money.

OCW is non profit, DLVH84 could live the dream there:shifty:

Kizarny could definitely have been something if they’d done things differently. Made him a heel for starters. Not had him talk entirely in carny for another. Have him be WWE’s boogeyman who haunted them and targeted various superstars, just to be evil to faces and taking delight in their fear.

I agree with that sentiment.

That's a pretty bold statement CSL.

Was about to call shenanigans on "not wrestling for Vince/Dixie"

I'm with CSL

Joe E. Legend and Johnny Swinger.

They're dropping it on CM Punk right now. Dude's HOT, the crowd loves him, yet I see some resistance from WWE's part in letting him become what he CAN become...they're definitely giving him a LOT more exposure than before, mainly because the fans have almost MADE them do so, but I still don't see them "on board" with Punk...I see some resistance to actually let him go out there and become the hottest thing since Austin.

I called "shenanigans" on that back in May, but WHATEVER.

Where to even begin in this thread. Good lord.