Top Five WWE wrestlers who should have been in the main eventers (and why they didn't hit reach it)

[Next Big Thing]

DDP was injured fairly early in his run with the WWE and it would be kind of off to think Vince would put a WCW guy over as champion so soon into his debut with the company. Plus DDP was pushing 50 around that time. I wish he would have stayed on as a manager or commentator though.

In my opinion, Austin ruined Christian's chances of ever being considered main event when he started those stupid ass "Creepy Little Bastard" chants. He fucked Lance over the same way with "Boring" and let's not forget "What!" Plus, Christian going to TNA probably put a damper on him in Vince's eyes as well.

[Fox]

Originally Posted by Next Big Thing DDP was injured fairly early in his run with the WWE and it would be kind of off to think Vince would put a WCW guy over as champion so soon into his debut with the company. Plus DDP was pushing 50 around that time. I wish he would have stayed on as a manager or commentator though.

Yes, there is the stigma of being a "WCW-guy" in the WWE. They have a long history of taking big names from WCW and turning them into mid-card players for life (Booker T, Scott Steiner, Lance Storm, Mike Awesome...), but Vince McMahon is also a smart individual. He knows when something is right, especially if it's going to make him money.

DDP was huge in WCW - it's undeniable. For a time, he along with Sting and Goldberg were the only guys who were viewed as true combatants against the nWo faction. His matches against Macho Man, Raven, Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett were all incredible, some even considered to be classics (if you've never seen DDP vs. Raven vs. Benoit from Uncensored 98 then do yourself a favor and find it). And it's not due to any kind of special packaging as a character by WCW - it's because DDP is a legitimately entertaining, fun, and charismatic individual. Anyone who has read Mick Foley's first autobiography knows this. The guy is like the guy you want to go out on the town with because you know he's going to meet interesting people and attract a good time just because of his personality.

To question whether or not DDP could've gotten over in the WWE as a main eventer, I think, is obvious. Imagine if, instead of bringing him in to feud against Undertaker, they brought him in as a babyface to feud against Kurt Angle. At this time, Kurt was fresh off arguably the hottest year for any rookie in WWE history and was focused on winning a second KOTR crown. If Page had come in as a surprise entrant in the KOTR tournament, debuting on a RAW a couple weeks before the PPV (which he did, only it was as the stalker) by giving a crowd brow-beating Kurt Angle a fucking Diamond Cutter, BAM. Instant Superstar. There's no question if he could carry himself on the mic or in the ring: he absolutely could have. A 2-3 month Angle vs. DDP feud could've been amazing.

The question about his age is also not an arguing point when it comes to DDP. He's a fucking Yoga instructor today, for Christ's sake. There are few other 40+ year olds in the wrestling business in better shape than DDP, and that goes for today, too. Look at his match against Christian at WM X-8... the guy could still go.

My final point is this: wasting DDP was wasting millions and millions of dollars in revenue. Getting DDP over would have been easy. Selling these:



Would have been even easier. Foam "Diamond Cutter" signs and more Diamond Cutter design t-shirts would've sold like fucking crack with the WWE merchandising machine behind them.

[Ultra Mantis]

Christian
DDP
Raven
Carlito
Mr Perfect

[Theo Dious]

To anyone who said Scott Hall: he did have a main event program against Bret Hart. And it's been sufficiently covered why he never really got more. He ruled the midcard IC scene pretty solidly and worked very high-level. He would surely have gotten more main event play if he hadn't jumped to WCW, and he would have gotten more in his WWE run if it weren't for his "demons."

To anyone who said DDP: please. It was a booking miracle and main event talent vacuum that made him a main event player in WCW to begin with. He was never going to become a consistent top star in WWE during a time when Austin, Rock, HHH, and Angle were around, certainly not while they were grooming the likes of Brock Lesnar and John Cena to become the next stars. His age has also been mentioned.

And anyone who thinks Tazz or Raven could ever have been main event in WWE is an ECW fetishist. Tazz himself admits that he was out of steam by the time he made it to WWE, and Raven could only have been big by doing the same damn thing he had done in ECW and WCW and would go on to do in TNA.

My list, in no particular order.

Matt Hardy

WWE dropped the ball on several non-consecutive occasions with this guy. The Mattitude gimmick was way over and never should have been abandoned. He was hot as fuck when he went against Edge, but they didn't give him anything to follow that up. He was the hottest thing of the year in his feud against MVP; that of course was killed off by his appendix. He had a decent ECW run, but when that ended he just ended up dangling from Jeff's nutsack, and their Wrestlemania match killed that off. For some reason those two just never worked well against each other. Whether bad booking or bad fortune, Matt's steam always ran out just as he was heading to the top.

Mr Perfect
Now he did have a few brief bits of main event exposure; a program with Hogan that set up the Hogan/Warrior feud, managing Flair, and the tag match with Savage against Hall and Flair. He deserved a lot more, but injury or company departure killed it off, and his comeback just didn't pay off. Kind of a bad luck deal more than anything.

Owen Hart
Another one with some very minor ME exposure. The reason he didn't get his time in the main event is pretty obvious to everyone and has been fully covered.

Jake Roberts
Would have been there, but a feud with Hogan was cancelled when the crowd reaction was mixed. His planned program with the Warrior would probably have led him into a brighter spotlight if Warrior hadn't held Vince up.

Carlito
Tons of natural talent. Probably would have been main event if he'd wanted it more.

[Aguakate]

Right now, the only one that comes to mind is Carlito. He's a fellow Puerto Rican, but I'm objective enough to know that the main reason he never got to where he could've, was because of his attitude.

The WWE is somewhat at fault here, as he was given everything on a silver platter pretty early on, and that surely spoiled him, and he never learned what it was like to work hard.

When he started wrestling in WWC, his dad's company in Puerto Rico (the main wrestling company in the island), he instantly was thrown into a program with the company's biggest star at the time, and instantly main evented. Within a year, he was the company's champion. His dad, owner of the company, brought wrestlers down to Puerto Rico (guys like Curt Henning, One Man Gang, Rey Mysterio, Vampiro, Scott Hall) to wrestle Carlito for the belt, and he would "go over" on all of them, since his dad most likely always wanted to help Carlito get to the WWE, and having those guys on his "resume" certainly would help.

Then, he gets to the WWE, becomes US Champion in his first match, then he got Carlito's Cabana, he won the Intercontinental Belt...I mean, he never learned what "paying your dues" is all about. And because of that, when the going got tough, and it was time to show what he was REALLY made of, he flunked.

[Schlomey]

Originally Posted by Tedious To anyone who said Scott Hall: he did have a main event program against Bret Hart. And it's been sufficiently covered why he never really got more. He ruled the midcard IC scene pretty solidly and worked very high-level. He would surely have gotten more main event play if he hadn't jumped to WCW, and he would have gotten more in his WWE run if it weren't for his "demons." To anyone who said DDP: please. It was a booking miracle and main event talent vacuum that made him a main event player in WCW to begin with. He was never going to become a consistent top star in WWE during a time when Austin, Rock, HHH, and Angle were around, certainly not while they were grooming the likes of Brock Lesnar and John Cena to become the next stars. His age has also been mentioned. And anyone who thinks Tazz or Raven could ever have been main event in WWE is an ECW fetishist. Tazz himself admits that he was out of steam by the time he made it to WWE, and Raven could only have been big by doing the same damn thing he had done in ECW and WCW and would go on to do in TNA. My list, in no particular order. Matt Hardy WWE dropped the ball on several non-consecutive occasions with this guy. The Mattitude gimmick was way over and never should have been abandoned. He was hot as fuck when he went against Edge, but they didn't give him anything to follow that up. He was the hottest thing of the year in his feud against MVP; that of course was killed off by his appendix. He had a decent ECW run, but when that ended he just ended up dangling from Jeff's nutsack, and their Wrestlemania match killed that off. For some reason those two just never worked well against each other. Whether bad booking or bad fortune, Matt's steam always ran out just as he was heading to the top. Mr Perfect Now he did have a few brief bits of main event exposure; a program with Hogan that set up the Hogan/Warrior feud, managing Flair, and the tag match with Savage against Hall and Flair. He deserved a lot more, but injury or company departure killed it off, and his comeback just didn't pay off. Kind of a bad luck deal more than anything. Owen Hart Another one with some very minor ME exposure. The reason he didn't get his time in the main event is pretty obvious to everyone and has been fully covered. Jake Roberts Would have been there, but a feud with Hogan was cancelled when the crowd reaction was mixed. His planned program with the Warrior would probably have led him into a brighter spotlight if Warrior hadn't held Vince up. Carlito Tons of natural talent. Probably would have been main event if he'd wanted it more.

I came here to post my own but I really like these.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Tedious To anyone who said DDP: please. It was a booking miracle and main event talent vacuum that made him a main event player in WCW to begin with. He was never going to become a consistent top star in WWE during a time when Austin, Rock, HHH, and Angle were around, certainly not while they were grooming the likes of Brock Lesnar and John Cena to become the next stars. His age has also been mentioned.

Regardless of what led to him getting opportunities, you have to accept that DDP ran with those opportunities. He was HUGE, and I heard someone reference the Diamond Cutter and DDP as late as 2006 in general conversation. DDP found his way onto the pulse of people. You say that guys like Austin, Rock, Triple H and Angle were around, but The Rock was actually out making movies at this time, Triple H was injured and Austin and Angle were both heels.

Instantly becoming the top guy is one thing, but being used to your strengths and with the intent of making money is another. Vince's pride had him treating the WCW guys like shit when he really needed to generate new stars to replace the absence left by guys like The Rock and Triple H. Listen to the pop when DDP revealed himself to the WWE fanbase. They went NUTS. People knew who DDP was, and were entirely keen and willing to get behind him in the WWE. Listen to the reaction when Booker T showed up and put Austin through the announce table. Both DDP and Booker T had the potential to make huge amounts of revenue for Vince McMahon, but he chose to bury them with comedic beat-downs and such -- to the point where DDP's greatest singles success was winning the fucking European Championship, and Booker T's greatest success came five years down the track.

Now they did have a lot of guys put to the back-burner in 2001 with the huge array of talent coming in. Big Show and Billy Gunn essentially became non-existent for a while, which led to them forming that "Show-Gunns" tag team in the later half of 2001. Edge won the King of the Ring and had quite a bit of mid-card success (he won something like two Intercontinental Championships and the United States Championship), but didn't really start his major ascension until 2002 in his feud against Kurt Angle.

But the point is -- a lot of potential was wasted with the Alliance angle, and a lot of guys essentially became mid-card fodder when they could have been used more productively. DDP and Booker T were two of the more grossly misused performers of 2001, in my opinion, and would have made adequate replacements for Stone Cold Steve Austin (who was now a heel) and The Rock (who was out until around SummerSlam, I believe).

All you had to do is have DDP run in and give people Diamond Cutters, and the merchandise would have flown off the shelf. Depending on how well that did or did not get over, you can then make an informed decision about how you use DDP. The WWE didn't even try it.

[Fox]

Originally Posted by Noid Regardless of what led to him getting opportunities, you have to accept that DDP ran with those opportunities. He was HUGE, and I heard someone reference the Diamond Cutter and DDP as late as 2006 in general conversation. DDP found his way onto the pulse of people. You say that guys like Austin, Rock, Triple H and Angle were around, but The Rock was actually out making movies at this time, Triple H was injured and Austin and Angle were both heels. Instantly becoming the top guy is one thing, but being used to your strengths and with the intent of making money is another. Vince's pride had him treating the WCW guys like shit when he really needed to generate new stars to replace the absence left by guys like The Rock and Triple H. Listen to the pop when DDP revealed himself to the WWE fanbase. They went NUTS. People knew who DDP was, and were entirely keen and willing to get behind him in the WWE. Listen to the reaction when Booker T showed up and put Austin through the announce table. Both DDP and Booker T had the potential to make huge amounts of revenue for Vince McMahon, but he chose to bury them with comedic beat-downs and such -- to the point where DDP's greatest singles success was winning the fucking European Championship, and Booker T's greatest success came five years down the track. Now they did have a lot of guys put to the back-burner in 2001 with the huge array of talent coming in. Big Show and Billy Gunn essentially became non-existent for a while, which led to them forming that "Show-Gunns" tag team in the later half of 2001. Edge won the King of the Ring and had quite a bit of mid-card success (he won something like two Intercontinental Championships and the United States Championship), but didn't really start his major ascension until 2002 in his feud against Kurt Angle. But the point is -- a lot of potential was wasted with the Alliance angle, and a lot of guys essentially became mid-card fodder when they could have been used more productively. DDP and Booker T were two of the more grossly misused performers of 2001, in my opinion, and would have made adequate replacements for Stone Cold Steve Austin (who was now a heel) and The Rock (who was out until around SummerSlam, I believe). All you had to do is have DDP run in and give people Diamond Cutters, and the merchandise would have flown off the shelf. Depending on how well that did or did not get over, you can then make an informed decision about how you use DDP. The WWE didn't even try it.

This.

People just don't see it though because they're blinded by the facts of what really happened. It is BECAUSE DDP, Rhyno, Raven, Booker T, Shane Helms, Kanyon, Taz, Mike Awesome, Sean O'Haire and Lance Storm were all down graded from their positions in WCW that people (like Tedious) don't see the potential of what could have been. "Oh, they were just mid-carders and were never going to make it in the WWF." You have been trained to believe this because of how they were portrayed on television. Had DDP been pushed to the main event as a face and had an amazing 5-year run against the likes of Angle, Benoit, Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Kane, and Triple H, then they would be singing an entirely different tune. The difference, I think, Noid, is that you and I can see the potential of what could have been.

Of course, we have very differing opinions on one Val Venis... but still.