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Could have been one of the biggest draws of all time IMO. Right behind Hogan, Austin and Rock.
He came around at the perfect time. They had Austin on the shelf, and needed a new top guy. He had the perfect background to be introduced as a killer. He could have ripped through the WWF and then when Austin was healthy, he could have come back and beat Angle. Then they could have probably went at least a year of an on again off again program.
Instead, they went the comedy route with him, and he was tainted for the rest of his run.
Of course even after that happened, they still had a chance to make him the top heel in the company with the whole angle between him, Steph and Trips. But that got wrecked, and they never got much out of the program, except, again for comedy.
They still had yet another chance with him coming out of the Invasion storyline and 911. That year leading up to Summerslam (I think) they pushed him hard to go up against Austin, and they made him into a serious killer. For the first time in his career, he was being booked the way I thought they should have. But for some reason, they nixed the push and he went back to comedy.
Had they kept him strong, post 911 he could have been the PERFECT poster boy for WWE. A real life American Hero. He could have been fed a bunch of guys and eaten them alive as a killer. Showing the resolve of the USA. The people then would have at that up.
I guess looking back, his biggest downfall was the fact that he was so good with the comedy stuff. And thats what led WWE to continue to give him cowboy hats, guitars and wigs. That also insured he was never taken seriously as a major draw, but he was obviously successful with what he was given.
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