Wrestlers that did not live up to or fulfill their potential

[BigBadBruins7708]

So we are talking in the past because there are a number in the WWE right now who are being wasted: Balor, Cesaro, Ziggler, Joe and so on.

From the past:

Definitely Mr. Kennedy
Taz when he came to WWE
Christopher Daniels
Jeff Hardy

I dont see Cesaro as being wasted at all.

you need personality to be a main eventer, not just ring skill. Having only the ring skill is what makes someone a mid-card mechanic.

Cesaro makes Lance Storm look like The Rock on the mic.

 

[Vincent Riendeau]

Nikita Koloff

 

[Mlotek]

Still to this day I’ll say that Owen was straight up better than Bret was.

Anyways...

Justin Gabriel
Ahmed Johnson
Bam Bam Bigelow (amazing talent, just didn’t ever get the push he deserved)
Nathan Jones

Ahmed Johnson had a look thats about it. His wrestling was shit and he kept hurting other guys.

He is example of overachieved.

 

[Lunatik]

Ahmed Johnson had a look thats about it. His wrestling was **** and he kept hurting other guys.

He is example of overachieved.

The WWE should have just hired Ving Rhames instead. He would have probably learned to be better in the ring and would've been able to cut a promo

 

[BonMorrison]

There were a few from the same era that I thought had a lot of star potential even if I personally wasn't a big fan. Loved Carlito and Chris Masters, thought they could've been at least on-and-off main event guys. John Morrison I was very hot and cold on, thought if they left him as a heel during his singles run he would've gotten much bigger than he was. Kennedy as well but he screwed himself tbh.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

@PeterSidorkiewicz in the classic wrestling thread sparked my memory...

Mike Awesome

The guy should've been huge. He was big, very quick and athletic, and had all the pieces you want in a star.

He was one in ECW, but WCW ruined him (shocker).

side note: Awesome vs Tanaka at One Night Stand is a sneaky great match and arguably stole the show

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

I dont see Cesaro as being wasted at all.

you need personality to be a main eventer, not just ring skill. Having only the ring skill is what makes someone a mid-card mechanic.

Cesaro makes Lance Storm look like The Rock on the mic.

I would disagree.

I think it's an absolute must to be good in the ring, or at least passable, in order to be an effective main eventer. Needing to talk is a must to reach next level stardom like The Rock, Savage or Punk.
WWE has had guys bad on the mic up high a lot because you can write around it, especially today.
Orton, Jeff Hardy, Roman and others all sound hopelessly generic and robotic and it doesn't hold them back at all.
Cesaro has shown at events perepheral to wrestling cards that he can talk fine, just maybe not when promos are so ridgidly structured with verbiage that is in no way natural or believable.

There's always room on top for a silent killer booked like a legitimate threat.

 

[Brodeur]

I never got the love for O'Haire. To me, the guy was a vignette and nothing more.

My first thought was O'Haire as well. Albeit I only had vague memories of him in WCW and that was mostly in the tag division. When the acquisition was happening and it was known that WWE wasn't bringing in the name brand WCW guys, O'Haire seemed like one of the few guys who might have the athleticism/look to make the jump. At least for him, "potential" is the operative word but as mentioned apparently he had difficulty cutting live promos.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Jake the Snake

May be the best ring psychologist of all time. Had an incredible character, promos, ring work, and was over big. The fact that he never got an IC or WWF Champ run is a crime.


HM: Rob Van Dam

Vince really screwed this one up (shocker, i know...). He had a completely unique guy that could do anything in the ring, was damn good on the mic and was red hot and wasted him as a mid carder stuck with 1 word surfer phrases like "cool"

oh, and Owen > Bret

Vince pushed RVD to the top. RVD screwed it up by getting busted for pot only weeks after getting the belt.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Johnny B. Badd/Marc Mero. Athletic, good looking, charismatic, decent worker, just lost focus, and that knee injury destroyed his mobility, taking away the best part of his character. Burying him to Sable also hurt, he never rebounded from that.

 

[ManofSteel55]

So, with Vader recently passing I thought I would check out a match or two of his that I had not seen or at least did not remember seeing so tonight I fired up WCW Wrestle War 91 on the old network, and no I am not going to say Vader didn't fulfill his potential, though a WWE title run would have been nice, but the guy that struck me was in the main event, War Games: The Match Beyond pitting Sting, The Steiners, and Pillman vs Sid, Flair, Zybysko and the guy who made me post this question.... Barry Windham

Yeah Windham had a very good career, Horseman, multiple time WWF and WCW Tag champ, and about 500 regional (mostly NWA Florida) titles, but I just feel like he could have been so much more, he had great size, a good look, but rarely could get over the hump of midcard/upper midcard performer. Maybe I am just overrating him but he seems like he could have been a top guy.


So who else do you think can fit into this mold? Obviously he still has time to change things but Cesaro sure seems headed down this path

Windham could have been a top guy if not for a few things.

1) Flair. Flair was the top heel, and the man, nobody else was going to get a lengthy title run.
2) Sting. When Flair's dominance was ready to start winding down, Windham had been passed over by Sting as top face. Luger too, when Luger was playing the good guy.
3) His body - this is mostly an issue with his WWE career, but he was a big, tall man, but he had no muscle definition at all. He looked skinny, and in his later years, saggy. WWE was never going to push a guy with his "look" to a main spot.

 

[Paris in Flames]

There were a few from the same era that I thought had a lot of star potential even if I personally wasn't a big fan. Loved Carlito and Chris Masters, thought they could've been at least on-and-off main event guys. John Morrison I was very hot and cold on, thought if they left him as a heel during his singles run he would've gotten much bigger than he was. Kennedy as well but he screwed himself tbh.

Morrison, imo, has proved he could have been so much more in his work outside of the company. Loved Johnny Mundo in Lucha Underground. I would have said I'd expect him back at some point but I just realized the dude is pushing 40.

 

[Scott Stevens]

Another vote for mike awesome

 

[Shoalzie]

@PeterSidorkiewicz in the classic wrestling thread sparked my memory...

Mike Awesome

The guy should've been huge. He was big, very quick and athletic, and had all the pieces you want in a star.

He was one in ECW, but WCW ruined him (shocker).

side note: Awesome vs Tanaka at One Night Stand is a sneaky great match and arguably stole the show

Really enjoyed the Awesome-Tanaka rivalry in late '99 when they were trading the ECW title. Awesome had the look of a big time wrestler and was freaky athletic. I think he was ahead of his time.

Never realized until recently that Tanaka was the first NEVER openweight title holder in New Japan. Always thought the IC title in New Japan was older but has only been around since 2011. Tanaka was the second holder of that belt.

 

[The Burdened]

Yeah, no buys whatsoever on Owen being in line for a "big push"

At the time of his death, Owen was a midcard tag guy who was getting locked into a midcard comedy role. Yes, he was about to get the IC title, but this is the same IC title was in the midst of being tossed around from Road Dogg to a Porn Star to a Trans Gold Guy to a Pimp and then to a geek who thought he was a Super Hero

Where the narrative comes from that Owen was gonna get a "big push" is because Russo has said he wanted Owen Hart to have "The Game" gimmick... just like he wanted Christopher Daniels to be the Higher Power. Neither would have ever ever come to fruition.

You look at the 1999 landscape, and I just don't see where Owen's "big push" would've been. More realistically, he would've been used to put over a debuting Chris Jericho and then would've put over the new wave of talent WWF were starting to feature like Kurt, Edge, Christian, Test, Hardys, Dudleys etc

If it didn't happen for Owen in 1994, it was never going to happen.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Yeah, no buys whatsoever on Owen being in line for a "big push"

At the time of his death, Owen was a midcard tag guy who was getting locked into a midcard comedy role. Yes, he was about to get the IC title, but this is the same IC title was in the midst of being tossed around from Road Dogg to a Porn Star to a Trans Gold Guy to a Pimp and then to a geek who thought he was a Super Hero

Where the narrative comes from that Owen was gonna get a "big push" is because Russo has said he wanted Owen Hart to have "The Game" gimmick... just like he wanted Christopher Daniels to be the Higher Power. Neither would have ever ever come to fruition.

You look at the 1999 landscape, and I just don't see where Owen's "big push" would've been. More realistically, he would've been used to put over a debuting Chris Jericho and then would've put over the new wave of talent WWF were starting to feature like Kurt, Edge, Christian, Test, Hardys, Dudleys etc

If it didn't happen for Owen in 1994, it was never going to happen.

Adding to that, I’m pretty sure “The Game” gimmick was meant to be a midcard one anyways. Triple H ended up with it and ran with it to the top and was the top heel of the AE and played a good foil to Austin and Rock.

Even if they “wanted” to give Owen a top push, I don’t think it would have ever happened simply because I don’t think Austin would have ever wanted to work with him after the neck injury and Owen never even checking on Austin and giving him a phone call afterwards. It wouldn’t have worked regardless imo, but i don’t buy Owen being in line for a big push.

 

[JackSlater]

In addition to it seeming highly unlikely that Owen Hart would receive a significant push at the time... how is "the game" even a gimmick to any real degree? It's a nickname. Owen would had HHH's gimmick - generically dastardly heel who marries Vince's daughter and is placed higher up on the card than he should be?

 

[GarbageGoal]

Mike Awesome's problem was that mullet.

 

[offkilter]

I'll always remember Mike Awesome for being in that crazy landmine pool exploding barbwire deathmatch where Mr. pogo got stabbed in the gut with a sickle scythe.

Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling was insane.

 

[LMFAO]

Muhammed Hassan

 

[Edge]

Going old school here:

Barry Windham comes to mind. Part of the problem was that he was in and out so much. In hindsight, it seemed like just as he was starting to get the stars to align somewhere, he was gone.

In some ways I'd almost put Ricky Steamboat into this same category. Should've had a longer IC run, and seemed to bounce around a bit between 1987-1991.

I do wonder if the lack of elite charisma for both would've prevented them from being one of the very best, but they certainly should've been a little more.

Curt Hennig was a world class performer who was really just hitting his peak when his back troubles started up. His 1990-1991 runs with the IC belt were great. Had he not been injured, he easily could've continued feuding with Hart well into the World Title picture and would've blended just fine in feuds with Hall, Michaels, Austin, etc. But his back troubles altered that trajectory.

I would've loved to have seen a healthy, pre-injury Brian Pillman in the WWF's attitude era.

Marty Jannetty should've been a bigger star. I don't think he had the charisma to be at the very top, but he easily should've been in the IC title picture ---at the very least in a Tito Santana circa 87-92 type role.

Jerry Lynn would've been a bigger star if he'd come along 15 years later. The man is criminally underrated.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Going old school here:

Barry Windham comes to mind. Part of the problem was that he was in and out so much. In hindsight, it seemed like just as he was starting to get the stars to align somewhere, he was gone.

In some ways I'd almost put Ricky Steamboat into this same category. Should've had a longer IC run, and seemed to bounce around a bit between 1987-1991.

I do wonder if the lack of elite charisma for both would've prevented them from being one of the very best, but they certainly should've been a little more.

Curt Hennig was a world class performer who was really just hitting his peak when his back troubles started up. His 1990-1991 runs with the IC belt were great. Had he not been injured, he easily could've continued feuding with Hart well into the World Title picture and would've blended just fine in feuds with Hall, Michaels, Austin, etc. But his back troubles altered that trajectory.

I would've loved to have seen a healthy, pre-injury Brian Pillman in the WWF's attitude era.

Marty Jannetty should've been a bigger star. I don't think he had the charisma to be at the very top, but he easily should've been in the IC title picture ---at the very least in a Tito Santana circa 87-92 type role.

Jerry Lynn would've been a bigger star if he'd come along 15 years later. The man is criminally underrated.

Sounds like you need to vote for my wrestling draft card when the matchups get released.

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

There was always something about Windham that makes him come off ...meh, to me.
Perhaps it's the reasons that have already been touched on. He definitely has the misfortune of just looking like an out of shape dad.

I also agree that there's an alternate universe out there with a healthy Perfect as one of the top main eventers of the Bret/Shawn era.

 

[Edge]

There was always something about Windham that makes him come off ...meh, to me.
Perhaps it's the reasons that have already been touched on. He definitely has the misfortune of just looking like an out of shape dad.

I also agree that there's an alternate universe out there with a healthy Perfect as one of the top main eventers of the Bret/Shawn era.

1987-88 Windham was in pretty good shape and one of the top workers in the business. Unfortunately, that also seemed to be his physical and performing peak.

He started so young, that by the time the 90s rolled around he seemed older than his years. Of course the physical conditioning didn’t help either.

But a number of factors seemed to have Windham peaking fairly young and then gradually sliding his way down the mountain.

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

1987-88 Windham was in pretty good shape and one of the top workers in the business. Unfortunately, that also seemed to be his physical and performing peak.

He started so young, that by the time the 90s rolled around he seemed older than his years. Of course the physical conditioning didn’t help either.

But a number of factors seemed to have Windham peaking fairly young and then gradually sliding his way down the mountain.

Makes sense.
I have noticed that in nearly every Flair documentary, he (and a lot of others) always brings up being a big advocate for Windham earlier on in his career.