Missed Opportunity

[Shocky]

Biggest blown opportunities. That's what we are discussing in here. Obviously, most of this is going to be hindsight 20/20.

Think back to any time and try to look at the situation and say, damn, insert company, really missed that opportunity right there. Now I know most of this is going to turn into a Bash WCW thread, but that's besides the point.

I'll Start off with one, and coming from me, I think you'll be shocked, especially if you know my feeling on this guy.

I think the WWE blew a huge opportunity with Jeff Hardy in 2002. Hell is freezing over, but I believe that Jeff Hardy should have won the WWE Undisputed title in the ladder match from 2002 against the Undertaker.

Shocky, what the hell are you saying? This is why. Why the hell not. Could you have thought of a more shocking moment perhaps in the history of the business then Hardy actually pulling that off. I recently just watched that match again, and Hardy was over, very over in that match. The crowd was white hot and still to this day I think, he really could have won that.

So Taker goes on to lose the title at Vengeance to the Rock, winning his 7th world title. There was no need for the Rock to be the champion again. The Rock has 7 WWE title reigns, but maybe 1 of those was actually worthy of being called a championship reign.

It was the perfect time to have a transitional champion, and Hardy would have fit that role. You would have made a new main eventer instantly. Plus, Hardy would have been perfect to feed to Lesnar at Summerslam. Hardy and Lesnar already had an established feud, and it could have continued. And, this would have bumped Triple H and HBK into the main event, where it belonged anyway.

Got any, go ahead and post some.

 

[Aaronx]

I think the Raw where Booker T went into his locker room and found a note saying 'I Still Remember'. I actually never saw that,but i've read about that somewhere on here. I read that they did that,and then just dropped it. I think that would of been a good starting point to put Booker in a rivalry with either a more dark character,or a returning one. I wasn't watching wrestling much at the time,due to i lost interest for a while. But i think if they had carried that with Booker,he could of had a couple of quality matches with the person that was picked for the angle. Booker is a good performer and can put on good matches. I would write more on it, but again i wasn't really watching at the time, sorry.

 

[HellBoundPower]

I think that WWE missed out when they decided to have Chavo lose all of his US Title matches to Chris Benoit. Benoit sat on that title for months and didn't do anything with it, while Chavo was on the rise in the company and could've benefited with a US Title run. I think WWE dropped the ball on that one. Now Chris Benoit is Lumberjacking at PPVs, and Chavo is holding the Cruiserweight Title, which hasn't seen the light of day since he won it.

 

[Slim Pickns]

I really like this idea for a thread. There are so many choices that it could go on for days.

I have to say, in my opinion the biggest missed oppurtunity is giving the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista at Wrestlemania 21. There were so many good up and comers yet the WWE wasted time and money on a man who can't wrestle and is in his 40's.

Lets look at who else could have won the rumble and challenged HHH at Mania. Edge had yet to be World Champ and was the last one in with Cena and Batista, he has proven that he was the better choice at the time. Plus, he wouldn't look like such a coward champ like he does now.

The main reason I think this is the biggest missed oppurtunity is that they could have had Christian win and challenge JBL for the WWE Title. If he would have won, he would not be in TNA right now, he'd be a reliable player for the WWE.

You will all agree with me, when Batista fades out in a year.

 

[mork83]

I wonder if not having more World Champions during 80s/Hogan era was a missed opportunity. Maybe not because Hogan made lots and lots of money, but people like Mr. Perfert, Jake the Snake, Ted Dibiase (a real run), Rick Rude, hell even Earthquake could've been even bigger if they beat Hogan. I'm sure injuries and people leaving changed plans, but I think it would've made the heel huge and Hogan bigger by winning the title back from them. I guess they were afraid of Hogan looking weak and losing momentum, but I don't think that woudl've happened.

BTW, I think Hulk Hogan would've been even bigger if he had a Vince-type authority figure to make his life hell. Always chasing the title, like Stone Cold.

 

[Nj Fan 04]

WWE better do something now with Matt Hardy. A Championship fued against Edge is starring them in the face. If they miss this, then the Hardys will be completely wasted, like they have been so far.

 

[Prax]

Shockmaster, now that I think about it, I agree with you completely about Jeff Hardy. I swear I used to blindly hate the hardys as well, but that match with the Undertaker turned me around to him just a little bit. I know you hate the Hardys but I think at the very least Jeff can work, and he's matured light years since his last run in the WWE.

While it would've been a ridiculously shocking moment for Jeff to have won the championship, if I'm not mistaken, there were some attitude issues with Jeff that eventually led to him leaving the company for several years. It might have beena a little later, but I'm thinking one of the reasons that was the peak of Jeff's career back then was because he wasn't ready to be a champion, or rather mature enough. Kind of like a Randy Orton situation in today's WWE.

I have to say I wouldn't mind seeing Jeff as a world champion now, or sometime down the line, and I think it's inevitable, however I'm glad they waited several years to use him as a true main eventer, he's matured a lot since those days and he's more serious about making an actual run now than he was back then.

 

[Kasey]

The biggest missed opportunity for me in this decade at least was the lousy execution of the WCW Invasion angle. The first time I saw a WCW run-in that had a Titan-tron for Bill DeMott I knew it was going to fall flat on its ass...lo and behold I was right. I mean, how spontaneous was that? They should've taken a page from Scott Hall's book and had him come out of the audience with zero warning to moonsault on somebody. By the time they brought back ECW it was over before they started it.

I've gone over this before in numerous threads but I'll do it again in the spirit of frivolity and me just being a friggin' dork. This would've been my battle plan.

Eliminate the Shane acquisition on Nitro. Instead, have it end in cliffhanger fashion with a "special announcement" made at the end of the show that sees Vince as the one who takes over WCW, lock, stock, and barrel. No entire show where we all know what is going on. Instead, finish the "last Nitro" with the Devil himself getting the drop on his competition and really scaring the hell out of the diehard WCW fans.

WCW needed to seem like the good-guy underdog in this whole thing. In order to do that? McMahon would've had an already functional stable of heels that could all work very well in the ring (front it with HHH for credibility and for automatic heat). WCW would've been represented by Booker T and a couple of the other guys who could work and were over enough to make it seem believable. Discounting all the legal loopholes of changing the title of a show on UPN, I'll proceed as if it were possible.

First off, I would've had Vince spend time gloating on Raw for a while about how he ran them out of business (a few weeks with some video packages (namely "low"lights, if you will) that trashed on WCW as a whole and featured footage of their show. Have him bury them at every turn. Talent. Titles. Matches. Everything. And focus it on the guys who are really over. Flair. Sting. Booker T. Goldberg. Nash. Have those be the targets of his assaults. This way, when the WCW stalwarts come in they can have built-in support from the crowds that already despise McMahon. Suspense was a key in the old NWO angle, and this is no exception. The build needed to be bigger, better, and more climactic before everyone went to war. It wasn't in the actual angle and they paid for it.

Have McMahon begin ruling Raw again with an iron fist and really incensing the crowds. Have his stable screw over the top WWF faces for the majority of the summer to keep everyone occupied until Survivor Series when the big bang happens involving WCW. Have his lead stable guy (probably HHH) hold the belt through the summer. Next, have three of the WCW guys garner mic time where they pour out their heart and ask McMahon for a job. When he refuses? They jump HHH at his next title defense and cost him the belt (around the September PPV).

Next, spend the following two months beginning slow warfare between the WCW and McMahon factions (run-ins, etc). Leading up to the gimmie contract signing, have the WCW guys do a worked shoot where they defend WCW and really give it to McMahon. When they do it, have Booker T actually tell Vince he'd like to kick his ass personally. Even have the WCW crew agree to a handicap match, if he has the "balls" to climb in the ring with them at Survivor Series.

The signing will end in the typical brawl that gets the crowd jacked prior to a big PPV encounter without spoiling the in-ring product. During this time, have the WCW guys warming up in OVW so they're accustomed to working in the WWF ring (so as to avoid a Booker T/Bagwell incident). Before McMahon can sign his section of the contract, the brawl erupts. During the melee, one of the WCW faithfuls executes a switch and replaces (unbeknownst to the crowd due to good camera work) and gives McMahon another contract to sign.

Survivor Series goes on as planned with them wrestling near the top of the card in a match that is brutal, long, and well worked. It establishes the credibility of the WCW talent and also helps give a unique presence to the PPV and also gives a reason to buy it because they haven't already pissed away the allure of WCW matches by having them on TV. The kicker is that if they win the Survivor Series match (and no one knows this yet) WCW gets control of Smackdown as an entire entity and also has an option to cherry-pick a given number of WWF stars in addition to rehiring any of the WCW talent they see fit to. The man behind WCW's legal wranglings? Take your own pick. Shane McMahon would be the obvious choice as a gimmie, but his storyline meanderings with his dad have been bled to death. I'd choose Flair, and right after the WCW win, he'd come out and cut a promo going nearly insane and talking up WCW to give it cred. Also, have him drop the bombshell about Thursday Nitro.

Maybe some kinks within this as I haven't fine-tuned the scripting on this since I $hitcanned my old computer in 2004 (and forgot to save!)

 

[SteveAustin07]

Kasey is spot on, the InVaSiOn was the worst handled angle in WWE history.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

something that comes to mind, as far as monumental wastes go, is the time dynamite kid spent in the WWE....we are talking about probably the best wrestler to ever lace up a pair of boots, and im pretty sure he never held, or even had a sniff at a singles title...highly underused...I understand that during the times he wasnt the way they wanted the face of the company to be, or to what they wanted their champion to look like (hogan) but it still seems like a giant waste, I wish he couldve been around longer, and maybe got a better run down the road after hulkamania died down...

 

[Shocky]

Another more recent gigantic missed opportunity would have to be Kane in 2003. What the hell was the point in taking the mask off of him anyway? He was hot as hell in 2002, and was in a successful tag team with RVD. So all of a sudden in mid June of 2003, they want to turn Kane heel, while they already have Evolution on Raw. They take the mask off, turn him into a monster, and then do nothing with him.

What I would have done. Kane should have won the belt at Survivor Series from Goldberg, with some sort of outside interference from Triple H. There was no need to Have Triple H job to Goldberg at Survivor Series, it was pointless. you then Have Triple H win the belt at Armageddon in the triple threat.

Glenn Jacobs risked his career by shedding the mask and losing the monster so to speak, and the WWE rewards him by jobbing the hell out of him.

 

[sincade20]

I agree with shockmaster with the kane issue. There was also a time when kane won the championship and job it back to stone cold. They should have keep him champion until the next ppv then lose to some outside interferance. Then lose it the next day. After that he lost most of his monster image

 

[mjrak]

My first post here so be kind...

I'm not sure if it is the worst handled angle in wrestling history, but in recent wrestling history it is one of the most disappointing for me. Matt Hardy vs. Edge in the summer and early fall of 2005. What a complete waste of potentially the biggest storyline in a long...long time.

Hardy was the hottest thing in the company at the time and then completely and utterly buried him. The result was that it pushed Edge further into a legit main eventer, but if they had done this one correctly they would have come out with 2 legit main eventers.

There are a million other ways they coulda gone with this angle that would have been better...and in truth they started it off ok. The Hardy tease the one Raw was brilliant since it really gauged what their fans wanted.

Hardy posting on his site the same day he showed up on Raw that he was finally free was great...and then promoting RoH when he finally did show up on Raw that night was great too...but after this it went completely downhill.

Like I saw suggested in the Invasion angle, they should have continued to have Hardy show up unannounced and working 'without a contract'...and maybe even should have convinced RoH to let Edge attack Hardy there in retaliation. Eventually...Edge agrees to a street fight that Vinne Mac absolutely refuses to sanction since Hardy doesn't have a valid WWE contract...so they set the date for SummerSlam, but it will take place somewhere other then the arena.

Edge goes over with specific help from Lita...leaving everyone to believe that they will never see Hardy in a WWE ring again. Hardy goes away for a few weeks but over those same few weeks there begins to be some cracks in the Edge-Lita relationships. Time marches on and Edge begins to think that Lita is cheating on him...and actually becomes mildly abusive.

Finally...Edge follows Lita one Raw as she visits a no-tell motel (Make this an actual shady motel...not some nice hotel rooms like they always do). When she opens the door Edge confronts her from behind and she makes some excuse. Edge goes into the room and it looks like whatever Lita says was true...until he gets blindsided by Hardy. Lita goes into shock mode as Hardy absolutely destroys Edge.

Next week on Raw Edge wants answers from Lita only she swears by her story from a week prior...during the middle her cell phone starts to ring and Edge, suspicious, answers it...to hear Hardy on the other end. Edge flips his lid and demands another fight with Hardy...all the while continuing to point the finger at Lita. Another fight is set for Survivor Series...this time Vince grants Hardy a temporary contract and sanctions the match.

During SS, Edge, forcefully tells Lita that her services wont be needed at ringside. Back and forth match but near the end it loosk as though Hardy is going to take Edge out...when Lita makes the shady save and Edge picks up the win...

Next night on Raw Edge is all smiles as he and Lita have reconciled...but here comes Hardy from the crowd. Edge tells Lilian to give him a mic so he can tell the world how badly Edge beat him down...Hardy shows how close he came to winning and here is where the Money in the Bank is put up along with a new full time WWE contract for the Dec PPV...Ladder Match.

PPV time comes and it's a back and forth match again, very brutal and very bloody...big spot off the top from Hardy onto Edge...Hardy is climbing the ladder but here comes Edge...when Lita screws him.

Rana from inside the ring to the outside accompanied with a dirty looking chair shot from Lita ot Edge, as Hardy grabs the money in the bank+WWE contract. Lita meets Hardy in the ring as a disbelieving Edge looks on...feel good TV man.

Ride Hardy's popularity into RR with the challenge coming the very next night to the Champ. Have it look like Hardy is about to win the title when Edge attacks the ref, grabs Lita and hightails it. Hardy chases, gets counted out by the new ref and this bad boy continues all the way into Mania.

I only ever put something together until the Rumble...who knows if this woulda worked anyways.

 

[Shocky]

Oh boy, this one has always been a big pain in my ass. Wrestlemania 8, the WWF has both Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, and they didn't fucking book them together, are you shitting me. How in the hell did this disaster happen. How in the Hell was this dream matchup not booked in the biggest main event of the biggest pay per view, are you fucking kidding me.

How I would have done it, Hogan wins the Rumble, and the title, and yes, he drops the belt to a heel Flair at WM8, could you imagine the shit stir that would have caused.

Still to this day, I scratch my head in disbelief that the WWF just absolutely shit this main event away. How in the fuck did they drop the ball on this?

 

[greenie]

i wont say much on this one but Ron Simmions has to be one of wwe's bigest misstakes. the first EVER black World Champion apon coming to wwe gets a stupid gimmik and no chance to become wwf champion.

I mean his matchs with Vader in WCW where gr8.

what dose everbody ells think about this one?

 

[MR.SCOTT]

Oh boy, this one has always been a big pain in my ass. Wrestlemania 8, the WWF has both Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, and they didn't fucking book them together, are you shitting me. How in the hell did this disaster happen. How in the Hell was this dream matchup not booked in the biggest main event of the biggest pay per view, are you fucking kidding me.

How I would have done it, Hogan wins the Rumble, and the title, and yes, he drops the belt to a heel Flair at WM8, could you imagine the shit stir that would have caused.

Still to this day, I scratch my head in disbelief that the WWF just absolutely shit this main event away. How in the fuck did they drop the ball on this?

I remember hearing something about that, i think it was more hogan then the wwe that didnt go for flair, hogan was on his way out and they where building flair to be a legit main event heel, and with hogan leaving they didnt want hogan to bury flair so they fed him sid instead, hogan always wins as we all know and i didnt think he wanted his last match to be in the ring with somone who was going to take the belt from him, that was the whole issue bret had with wm12 against shawn michaels, he didnt want to lose the belt but lost cleanly after much persuation.

 

[MR.SCOTT]

i wont say much on this one but Ron Simmions has to be one of wwe's bigest misstakes. the first EVER black World Champion apon coming to wwe gets a stupid gimmik and no chance to become wwf champion.

I mean his matchs with Vader in WCW where gr8.

what dose everbody ells think about this one?

I agree what the hell was up with that knight gimmick, he looked like a ******, seriously then he came back witht he whole nation of domination gimmick and instead of making him the heel champ that he should of been they instead made him job to everyone. then he repackaged the nation and what next they made him job again it puzzles me really

 

[underdog217]

when i think of missed opportunity all i can think of is mr. kennedy. the guy had just had soo many opportunitys with the money in the bank, mcmahon storyline, and title match at next years mania and since then hes been injured, suspended, and made to be a jobber on raw. frick he's only won a handful of matches since being at raw despite the fact he holds wins over everyone on smackdown. he is soo good on the mic and great in the ring he just needs to stop dropping the ball

 

[Emmet]

A big missed opportunity I reckon was not doing a Owen Hart/HBK fued after Montreal, Owen would have been the massive babyface, defending his brothers honour for what happened at Montreal, against his hated arch rival, going after HBK for the world title. a Owen/HBK World title match? would have been a 5 star classic no doubt in my mind.

 

[jpfizzle]

a recent one which could be talked about here in a few years was at this years great american bash, at the end of the cena/ lashley match when the two shook hands, wwe is crying out for a heel and i think at that moment in time turning one of them two, say lashley by having him refuse to shake cenas hand and instead beat down on him would have done wonders for both parties

its already been said but the invasion angle had so much potential but the wwe just got lazy with it haveing eliminated all theyre competition, ecw reforming and joining with wcw to take down wwf/e .. so much potential and yet so disapointing.

also what the hell where they doing when they took kanes mask off, fair enough it as time for a change, but the fact that the scars we where made to believe he had under his mask where scars of his mind, that was weak, and it dosent explain why people had recoiled in fear when they had supposedly seen him unmaksked in recent history. i felt kind of cheated when kane lost his mask.

 

[raiders07]

i think that Mr. Kennedy has been screwed over so far. But now that cyber sunday is comming up almost everyone now that its going to be HBK fighting Orton. And Mr. kennedy does diserve to have a diffrent tittle run besides the small one he had with the US title. I think he does need more title shots then what he is getting!

 

[Gavel]

Mr Kennedy screwed hmself over with the steroid scandal, plain and simple. He was about to get a push with the bastard child thing, but the drug list hit and he lost his shot.

 

[brimike3]

Who cares about a title? it's shiny...Woah!!!
If he showed out a little more in the ring; I'd be impressed...He does good work, but I wanna see him do some more signature stuff...

 

[Wall_of_Jericho]

For me it is an easy choice and I am honestly surprised no one has mentioned this yet but what about when Stone Cold Steve Austin got run over?

What a screwup that was. Here you have Steve Austin, one of the biggest babyfaces gets run over and is out of action for a year. What an evil way to take him out but what a freakin' excellent way to get someone over as a badass heel. They took out Steve Austin, it's the perfect launching pad.

They chose Rikishi as the culprit. Rikishi. Ok, for a non-wrestling fan, describe Rikishi to them...

"Well he's a big fat Samoan guy who's gimmick is dancing in his G-string with two little white guys. His finishing move involves sticking your face in his ass crack..."

And he was the one who took out the baddest man on the face of the planet, Stone Cold?

It was never going to work. No way can anyone take Rikishi seriously as a legitimate heel after the babyface run he had and that awful attire he wears. This could have been the chance of a lifetime to push someone to the moon, but it flopped and subsequently old Vinnie had to call on good old Triple H to come bail the storyline out and claim "I was the mastermind all along Austin..." Gee, really? Wouldn't have expected such a devious plan from the #1 heel in the company huh?

 

[Slim Pickns]

I think the biggest missed oppurtunity can be debated forever. There have been so many mistakes made by creative especially recently.

I think that No Mercy was a huge blow chance for the WWE. They have essentially no midcard behind Jeff Hardy and whoever he faces, so the vacant spot in the Championship match could have launched anyone into the Main Event just like that. Instead we got the "Triple H Show" yet again and watched Orton walk out with the belt. They used the spot to push two already established stars.

Why couldn't they have kept the HHH McMahon/Umaga angle going and feuded Orton with someone else. Orton still could have won the belt but they could have launched someone into the Main Event/Upper Mid Card by putting on a competive match.