Biggest Missuse of Talent ever commited by Vince Mcmahon

[Crimson Mask]

Here are some names that come to mind
Jeff Hardy-I'm not sure you people realize how good this young kid is in the ring.The only thing holding him back is his problems backstage but I think as he gets more mature he'll overcome that and get his World Title.

It's easy to use the excuse that Jeff Hardy has a lot of potential, but just needs to deal with his personal issues, but he's had more chances than most and unlike most talents who have gone over to a competing company before returning, he's been given a huge push (Only to have it peter out because of his "personal issues" again) since his return, over a lot of other, more deserving talents. Add to that his sloppy in-ring preformances and the fact that his character hasn't changed since was wrestling as one of the Hardy Boyz and it's obvious he doesn't even deserve to be where he is now.

Kane-Kane could have been one of the greatest,no,the greatest,monster heel in the history of wrestling.But no,lets turn him face and give him a low-class world title.He deserves more.

Kane was obviously over the hill long before his current run in ECW. Even in the early days just after he debuted, his character lacked the presence of other "monster" characters, like The Undertaker or Vader and different story-lines and character changes plus his inability to stay in anything close to decent condition means he has zero credibility as a monster and shouldn't be allowed near any major title belt-even the ECW Title.

 

[FOTH 3:16]

Okay Crimson Mask these arguments aren't any good.First of all,Jeff has had many chances but there is no denying Jeff Hardy has exciting matches.What you say is sloppy ring work is actually pure talent and love for the fans.Not many wrestlers can do what Jeff can and he does those things just to put on the best show he can and to entertain the fans.And yes,Kane has lost a few steps,but any man that big that can give a good or at least decent match and perform low-dropkicks and submission holds deserves some credit.And the reason he prolly doesn't get a major title is because he enjoys the industry and likes to elevate young stars and doesn't kiss Vince's ASS backstage like Cena prolly does.No offense to you John.

 

[image1986]

Booker t was one on my list because the man was extremely underrated and had to job to triple h wrestkemania 19 at the height of his popularity. Wwe waited til he turn heel to give him a run at the title beating mysterio? He held wcw togther til it ended and becomes a glorified mid carder most of his career.

I would say kane as well but the thing is my theory about his career was he was created to be an opponent for taker. I don't think vince had a long term goal for kane til they found him to have some value eventunally. His character was too associated with taker to really stand on its own as a main eventer. That's my theory.

I think calito is being missuse because he good on the mic and very talented but he is not being utilize at all. I really don't get it he has been jobbing since he fought flair he needs the draft more than anyone

Shelton benjamin definately he needs a main event push and his best beat would be raw

Cm punk is another this guy had so much momentum and loss it so quickly. MITB for what? Whether or not hardy was suppose to get it cm punk still looks weak and loses just about every match. Question what happen to the andocanda vice? That move was sick

 

[Crimson Mask]

Okay Crimson Mask these arguments aren't any good.First of all,Jeff has had many chances but there is no denying Jeff Hardy has exciting matches.What you say is sloppy ring work is actually pure talent and love for the fans.Not many wrestlers can do what Jeff can and he does those things just to put on the best show he can and to entertain the fans.

Jeff Hardy can put on exciting, fast-paced matches, yes, but so can other wrestlers on the roster who don't get as many chances to show what they
can do in the ring. Jeff Hardy will be a main eventer and a world champion
at some point, but at this point I don't think he's ready, his ring-work needs
to step up and he needs solve his backstage problems, until then I wouldn't
consider him main event material.

And yes,Kane has lost a few steps,but any man that big that can give a good or at least decent match and perform low-dropkicks and submission holds deserves some credit.And the reason he prolly doesn't get a major title is because he enjoys the industry and likes to elevate young stars and doesn't kiss Vince's ASS backstage like Cena prolly does.No offense to you John.

Kane has lost more than a "few steps" but I would give him credit as a veteran who can elevate younger stars without complaint and I'm sure
that his current place in the company has nothing to do with John Cena,
ass-kissing or not.

 

[midgensa]

This question has obviously gotten a lot of play around here with Shelton Benjamin and Kane getting what seems to be the majority of the votes ... but I think both of those are a little off base.
Kane is EXACTLY what Vince wanted. He has been an upper-midcard/main eventer for 11 years now and had a (albeit short) reign as World Champ. Bottom line is that Kane is not a "moneymaker" he is a pop-maker. Shows pop for him and like seeing him, but most do not come out to see Kane. Jacobs is very happy with his role with the company and Vince has used him just right I think.
You do not have to have World Titles to be successful ... he has been the center of a ton of major angles from his feud with Triple H, his feuds with Undertaker, his tag teams with Undertaker, his run with X-Pac, his unmasking, his BIG time feud with Shane McMahon, etc. I do not see how this is "underused."
As for Shelton, he has only been around for about 6 years now ... he still needs some development. He is turning into a very solid performer.
The biggest misuse of talent by Vince has been Christian. Just flip on TNA once in a while and watch him steal the show ... and you will see what I mean. Vince really missed the boat on this one.

 

[incrediblesim]

Cool thread!

On the current WWE Roster I'd say Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chris Jericho. Add to this list Booker T and Christian.

Shelton and Elijah are suffering becuase their gimmicks are similar and overall there is a lot of guys in WWE with the cocky black dude character. There is only so much space on the shows for the same type of character. Elijah I believe should be turned face. He has the mic skills nd charisma to be well liked by the fans. Shelon would thrive in an X-Division type setting I believe the WWE do need a Title based on the wrestling aspect of the product rather than the stories. Not Cruiserweights but just guys who are very skilled and are't given the platform to perform. His Gold Standard gimmick is good and if they can make Burke ECW's #1 face after the draft he a good feud with Shelton could be in the offing.

Chris Jericho is underused in every aspect of the word. On RAW he frequently looks the most comfortable on the mic. He plays a good face and is a very good heel. RAW is in need of a second heel and Jericho is perfect. I don't know wether he has heat on him backstage or wether he doesn't want the Title himself but he is WHC material at least. A feud with Edge would be monumental.

Booker T was made into a joke by WWE. He had the potential to be bigger than he became. As the leader of the WCW Army going into InVasion he was the only one from the Alliance at the time who COULD have been considered to go over an established WWE guy.

Christian IMO will end up back in the WWE regardless of wether TNA folds or not. He left on good terms and I wouldn't be in the least suprised if WWE want him back. He is one of the most well rounded superstars in wrestling right now (the other being Jericho).

 

[proweeks]

Im so surprised no ones pointed this out yet
DEAN MALENKO - when McMAhon brought in the Radicalz he pushed Eddie and Benoit like crazy(which they definitely deserved because they are 2 of the best workers in the industries history), but he practically shelved Malenko and Saturn. In 1997 Malenko believe it or not was voted PWI wrestler of the year, he was once considered the best technical wrestler in the business (even ahead of Benoit and Hart, and Angle hadnt been heard of yet) and Saturn was said to be one of the best workers in the business as well and Vince gave him a ****** angle (it should be noted that Saturn actually brought D-Von Dudley into ECW and without him we may very well have never seen one of the best tag teams ever)

Shelton Benjamin - has always been one of the best wrestlers and in the past year he has really come into his own on the mic

Dusty Rhodes- Rhodes should have known coming in that this would happen (remember Virgil, the Million Dollar Mans Butler, well this was a direct knock at Dusty purposely done by vince because Dustys real name is virgil) so Dusty should have known coming in he would be made fun of (this is why later when virgil went to WCW his name was changed to Vincent, get McMahon back believe it or not)

anybody from WCW or NWA or ECW that came to WWE was made to look like a fool by McMahon just to remind them that it was he that had put their former companys out of business - example - Steiner and Goldberg, he gave them the worst storylines and had there asses handed to them by Triple H - not that they deserved to be pushed because there both arrogant asses that thank there bigger than wrestling

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Not the "biggest misuse ever" by far, but a current misuse...Charlie Haas.

No wait, hear me out lol. Think about it. Haas has proven himself a solid wrestler, he's young, and the guy looks like a textbook wrestler: a handsome guy who is tall enough and muscular enough that you wouldn't have to suspend your disbelief in having him defeat people.

The problem with Haas in my point of view has simply been "gimmick". He may possibly have the talent to be a solid midcarder solely on his wrestling skills, but that's only if the WWE showcases them. Having him come out on Heat and get defeated means nothing. How about put him in a match with Matt Hardy on Smackdown, and after a decent "50/50" match, he wins it? People might just give him a second look and he might have a shot at running with the momentum.

 

[image1986]

If we are going as far as dean malenko I would say essa rios. The guy was a great lucha libre wrestler who vince could have push just as hard as an amazing cruiseweight as mysterio. I disargee with the booker t as a choice because from the begin he was push uppermidcard/main eventer status. His first rivalry was with the biggest face at the time the rock. Plus in addition him and goldust was over as a tag team and very entertaining. In addition to his multiple titles he won making him another grand slam champion. I think rhyno was missused and even tazz. Kane was missused because he start off great but over years he was make to job to just about everyone and lose the mystique of being a dominant force as taker. One more to the list mr perfect because he had all the tools to be world champion charisma wrestling skills and a great gimmick vince really miss the boat on that one

 

[HpChief212]

I don't normally post as I enjoy just reading what others have to say but I felt sort of compelled with this topic... RVD, Cage, Shelton, Kane these guys come up all the time over the course of the thread but When I read the question it says greatest misuse of talent not a talent. So my answer to this can be stated with three simple letters....



WCW...
The fact that the invasion angle went like it did is just a travesty to the business. For weeks on end people had been glued to the tvs every monday and had in their heads just thoughts of what possibly could have happened...and Vince just really struck out on this..And I know many of you will say that ECW should be just apart of this discussion as WCW. But truthfully, it doesn't...The numbers show this... The fact is there were millions of viewers that WCW had each week and Vince didn't do what was necessary to retain them. The final Survivor Series match included only 2 actual talents that werent from the "E" on the Alliance team that's a joke plain and simple...I think this still and always will go down as the biggest loss of possible revenue in history

 

[Miko]

My personal choice at the moment would be Charlie Haas as well, the truth is he is not terrible on the mic (better than Shelton) and he is a very good wrestler, I think they should have some kind of angle where Charlie Haas and a mystery partner take on the current tag champs and then after a bit of waiting the mystery partner turns out to be Rico. . . . maybe I was the only one who enjoyed that angle. Seriously though the man deserves better

 

[dmc05]

I have been watching wrestling for almost 20 years, and I can't even start to narrow the misuses of talent by Vince down to 1 person. However, I will list a few of the biggest misuses in my opinion:

1. Y2J Chris Jericho-One of my all time favorite's, yet his return was messed up by bringing him in as a face, and against Randy Orton. Randy hadn't hit his "peak" as a heel at the time, and Jericho is much better as a heel. Yet, Vince felt compelled to bring him in as face, thus stalling Y2J's greatness until this angle w/ HBK.

2. Shelton Benjamin-One of, if not the most Athletic guy on the roster, yet he's stuck in midcard matches? He has no mic skills, but why not give him a mouthpiece, say... Armando Estrada?

3. Matty Hardy-Granted, he's the US Champ, and a numerous time tag champ, and unlike his brother, he's not a druggie who screws his pushes up.

4. Kane-This guy started off as the ultimate bad guy, had a great mouthpiece in Paul Bearer, and was the only legit 1 on 1 threat to the Undertaker for years. After his losses piled up against Taker, it went downhill. However, when his mask was removed, so was his mystique.

5. CM Punk-Brought in with an undefeated streak (a HUGE mistake for any wrestler), wins the ECW title, loses it, wins MITB, and now his L's are piling up like Jeff Hardy's suspensions. WWE has effectively destroyed not only CM's credibility, but the MITB's as well. IF CM can win it and lose 2/3 of his matches afterwards, then why should we as fans care about the next MITB winner?

I can go on and on, but there is no need. Vince is in a real dire need of a creative revival.

 

[knslms]

Anyone who came from ecw

I can't believe Buff Bagwell has not been mentioned

Shelton, I don't know what there problem is with him. He has been overlooked a long, long time.

Tag Teams as a whole!

The IC belt. Its pointless to even have this still around at this point.

Jericho. What a waist. They have put him right back in the same spot he was in before he left

Jeff Hardy Talk about what he does outside the ring all you want. It doesn't matter. HBK had the same problems outside the ring. He doesn't do promos as good as HBK used to, but hasn't been given the opportunity either.

Christian There was no reason to lose him to TNA, he was just as talented in wwe

TNA There is such an oportunity here. If they would get there heads out of there asses. They are fucking up on so many common sense things.
(but getting much better as of late)

Kennedy Waisted since put on raw.

I have to disagree with everyone on Booker T. I liked Harlem Heat, but as a singles wrestler I have never been impressed with Booker.

Most overrated

John Cena Everyone knows this

Goldberg Same

JBL I loved to hear him tell Micheal Cole how stupid he is, but this is no main event guy

Vince Mcmahon You want to know why ratings are down. Because you give yourself all the fucking air time. The only thing he was ever good at (on air) was getting stunned!

 

[Razz]

I don't know if it has been discussed but one guy I would say is Owen Hart. Taking the part of his career after the montreal screw job. He was getting over and had a good angle as one of the Hart's fighting back against DX and such. Plus he had paid his dues and was always a good in ring talent. He sort of stayed near the main event level but went down notches once Rock and Austin were going up, which was the right thing to do. But they totally misused him, they put him in the dumb angle of being in the NOD, which I heard was Russo's idea. Then they put him into the tag division and had a decent run with Jarrett but was really not in the spotlight compared to Jarrett and Debra. He had useless feuds with Severn/Shamrock. Then the horrible idea of bringing back the Blue Blazer stuff leading to his tragic death. Maybe he should have followed Bret to WCW, but he would probably have gotten buried (excuse the pun) worse there.

 

[TNAw00t]

these are basically the top 4 in my mind


1. Tommy dreamer-the only original ECW guy and gets jobbed to big show, big daddy V, mark henry, and any other fat guy that needs a win

2. anyone from TNA- i was looking at videos one day on youtube, and i saw alex shelley and aj styles WWE tryouts, but shelley got jobbed by simon dean and styles got jobbed by the hurricane...plus a bit before wrestle mania the former TNA tag champs, the naturals, got beat up by the big show

3. cruiser division-they ever got rid of their belt

4. Vince mcmhan (if thats how u spell it)- hes been using himself waaaay too much, giving away millions of dollars for the past few weeks when i could actually see some good wrestling, faking his death once and possibly a second time if he says hes dead with that

 

[Davi323]

Misuses of talent assume that the wrestler doesn't have a say in their own position. Shelton Benjamin is one of the laziest wrestlers they have, so no push. He is incredibly talented. There is no denying that. However, he coasts by on that talent, rather than trying to improve his skills. THAT is why Shelton Benjamin doesn't get into the main event picture, he isn't willing to make the effort. He is a solid B+ wrestler, who, with a little effort could be an A wrestler, but thinks a B+ is good enough to get by with. The only reason Shelton Benjamin isn't higher up on the roster is because he doesn't care enough to improve.

When I think of a misuse of talent, I think of someone that has all of the skills, has the desire, works his ass off, and still gets held back or, the exact opposite, when a complete no-talent gets elevated despite being completely useless in the ring. (misuse can be either unfairly held back, OR unfairly elevated)

 

[instantkarmaVA]

I think Vince screwed up the return of the NWO. Hebrought them in too soon. Nash couldnt wrestle at the time so they made him a "body guard" type role. Hall lost to Austin and Hogan became a Face all on the same card. If they waited another year or so they could of had a CLIQ reunion with a returning HHH and have HBK in group spokes person role..It would of been great. Throw in X-pac for extra heat and we fill seats...

 

[ronbart]

i just jioned today, so i appoligize if this was already mentioned

i feel that when mcmahn brought ultimo dragon into wwe to compete in the cruiserweight division was the biggest missuse of talent. ultimo dragon is the greatest japanese wrestlers and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. (he held 10 titles at once!!) dragon was past his prime by 2003-2004 (i forget exactly when he debuted) and the younger generation of fans only know him as the guy who tapped to jamie noble at WM XX. if the fans are a little older like me, you will also remember how he was misused in wcw as well (they called him ultimate dragon because they didnt realize "ultimo" translated into "last")

 

[chrisadkins83]

I'm going to say The Undertaker.

It seems very time he gets the belt they just have edge to beat him for it or they take it away from him. Undertaker is not beening use to his fullest. When he gets back I hope they give him a chance to have a long title run.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'm going to say The Undertaker.

It seems very time he gets the belt they just have edge to beat him for it or they take it away from him. Undertaker is not beening use to his fullest. When he gets back I hope they give him a chance to have a long title run.

The guy who is undefeated at Wrestlemania.. is being misused through your eyes. I see.

I'm sorry, Undertaker is anything but misused. Hes been the same guy for years, over a decade even. He changed his gimmick once to the American Badass, and went back to the deadman. Hes been massively over with the fans for over a decade.

Undertaker is a victim of his own popularity. He became so great through the eyes of the fans, that it wasn't needed to place any Championships on him to get him any more over. The only time a Championship was ever considered to be okay for the Undertaker to hold, was when they had low points and nothing better to do.

Not because Taker was misused, but instead because a Championship is meant to elevate who you are.. and Taker didn't need it to bring him to the level he found and achived all by himself.

 

[Minfast Greel]

I'm going to have to say any member of the Von Erich family that has ever been an employee of Vince McMahon's. Here is arguably THE most athletic family of wrestlers ever in the history of the sport and not ONE was ever considered a main eventer. Especially not "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, always one of my all time favorites. If you've never heard of the Von Erichs, the WWF/E's booking is the reason why. Click this link and get educated about the (imo) greatest wrestling family of all time: http://www.vonerich.com/

 

[shafe_41]

I will only mention WWE talent here because TNA misuses damn near all their talent in my book as of the last 6 months or so. Anyway...first and foremost (and only because he's been with the company longer) is Shelton Benjamin. Why he keeps getting little pushes and then is just totally buried is beyond me. The only bad thing I've heard about him was that he didn't want to job to someone once at a house show. Whoopie-doo. Shelton is better than just about everybody.
And my favorite performer, and the biggest misuse of talent and the most underrated talent I've ever seen... one word, three syllables... KEN-NE-DY. This guy is the complete and total package. He doesn't bore anybody in the ring because I've never really seen a Kennedy match go the same path as any of his previous matches (i.e. Jeff Hardy, John Cena, etc... you know when every move they have is coming... borrrrrrring) and that is a huge plus in my book. He's also got the mic skills. If he would be given the chance to really grab the mic again like he did when he debuted, rip some of the heel characters a new asshole (because you KNOW he can do it a la Stone Cold, The Rock and such) and he would gain a bigger following than he has now. If this draft back to Smackdown is really not going to amount to anything, I honestly think (and hope) that the fans would get behind him so much that Vince would have no choice but to push him to a main event slot. I realize he's not quite ready for that spot yet, but give him 6 months to a year, and he will be the man. He already is the man, but just needs to convince some more people I guess (for some unknown effing reason).

 

[Fizzy]

jeff hardy yes hes had his bad moments(big ass drugy) and yes hes recieved good pushes but i honostly think he derserves the main title i mean hes fucking amazing in some shit he does i say he need a hugh push and a title run. hell if wwe thinks cm punk deserves it i think jeff should get one

 

[Shua]

I'm going to agree with the majority and say Kane.

The guy's really done a whole lot of nothing. One WWF Championship, a reign that lasted not even a full 24 hours. Sure, he's a numerous time Tag Champ.....but a majority of those are with Taker and.....come on now, who was the more dominant? Don't make me even get started on the time he did a spinarooni and started saying "freaks are cool".

Psycho Kane (shortly after he took off the mask) was probably the most interesting thing to happen to his character in years.....and then he gets involved in a feud with Snitsky??

Then, years later, he finally gets some singles gold when he wins the WWECW Title..........only to job to Mark Henry??

Given the severe lack of heels on Raw (right now, they've got Jericho and JBL), I'm hoping that Kane is pushed as a monster heel....quite possibly in a feud with Punk.

 

[SAVIOR.Y2J]

Chris Jericho

Now, I know he did win the WCW Title away from The Rock at No Mercy 2001, and he did become the first ever Undisputed Champion at Vengeance 2001, but what's he done as of late? Held the IC title a few times to keep him "fresh"? WWE hasn't pushed this guy since he lost to Triple H at Judgement Day 2002. Ok, so he gets in a few Main Event roles against the evil Cena-Monster, and jobs of course. So he leaves for a while, he's burnt out. When he comes back, he's going to "save us" from Orton, only to get sucked into a miserable feud with JBL that nobody wanted to sit (Or sleep) through. And now what? He lost his IC belt to Kofi who? And I'm sure will lead his protege into a feud with Shawn Michaels, which we've already seen. Does anybody remember Wrestlemania XIX???? BEEN THERE DONE THAT. Jericho needs a serious push and a REAL heel turn, not just "It's your fault", what's he gonna do next? Put on his Lionheart tights and say "Oh my god..... I killed Juvi"?????