Quote:
Originally Posted by XL
The thing with a "monster" gimmick is that it has a shelf life. He wouldn't be able to be on top forever, he would HAVE to lose at some point. And the more that happens the more the "mystique" is chipped away at.
More so, would you trust him to be on top given his penchant for laziness?
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This is true. I also agree with Fox to an extent, though. I think he definitely could have been a massive star for WWF. Much more so than he was initially. However, I agree that it would only last for a year or two, and he'd eventually have settled into the role he has anyways.
I think WCW was on the right track with him, but NWO came up and he got completely put on the backburner.
Then when WWF picked him up, there was a huge expectation for them to capitalize on the oppurtunity to promote him like Andre.
I'm not sure if they're to blame, or he is. Hard to say.
You also have to look at the fact that Austin and Rock were just starting to feud at the time he came in, and that's as big as it gets. I agree WWF could have done way more with him off the bat, but should they have instead of pushing Austin/Rock? Plus that summer was largely dedicated to getting HHH over big.
Then came Angle and Jericho. So it's hard to say how he "should" have been used.
After his big debut, seeing him as part of the Union and then a tag team with Taker was a bit underwhelming. Then his first title win was a big shocker, but almost immediately became the most downplayed reign in WWF history. A feud with the Bossman for one PPV and then dropped it on Raw?
Once they turned him heel and put him with Shane it looked like they had finally "gotten around" to building him as a monster, but that was short-lived, and supposedly due to his laziness and failure to stay in shape.
I think the best use they got out of him was his ECW title reign. That was tremendous. He was booked as an absolute monster, and that was actually one of the best booked title reigns of any title in any promotion of the past decade, I think. Still, it was only the ECW title and it was clearly treated as third tier.
Since his return for the Mayweather feud, I think he's been used pretty well. It's the role he would have settled into eventually anyways, but there was definitely some potential left on the table there earlier in his career.