WWE Mid Carders From Years Past

[sabataged]

I was watching some of the Ladder Match compilation on Netflix earlier and seen quite a few matches from the Mid 2000's. It got me thinking about how talented WWE's mid card was during the time. I don't know if it was nostalgia or if the Midcard today is really that horrible but here is a list of superstars I think all had plenty of talent. In most cases more talent or atleast more interesting then what WWE has to over today out of their Mid card.

Carlito
Shelton Benjamin
Ken Kennedy
MVP
Matt Hardy
Booker T
Finlay
William Regal

I got to think of WWE kept around some of the younger guys on this list they would of been able to help transition the new talent into WWE today. Just think of Carlito, Benjamin, Kennedy, and MVP were around to usher in this new age of wrestlers from FCW.

 

[The Brain]

I don't have a problem with any of the guys you've listed but honestly that looks like the weakest mid card during my enitre time as a fan, and that includes today. Here's a long list of just some mid card talent from different eras.

That list actually looks like a really weak mid card to me. Go all the way back to the mid 80s.

Ricky Steamboat
Don Muraco
Tito Santana
Greg Valentine
Cowboy Bob Orton
Junk Yard Dog
Randy Savage

What about the late 80s into the early 90s?

Ted Dibiase
Rick Rude
Jake Roberts
Brutus Beefcake
Mr. Perfect
Rick Martel
Jim Duggan
Dusty Rhodes

Mid to late 90s

Shawn Michaels
Razor Ramon
Owen Hart
Davey Boy Smith
Jeff Jarrett
Goldust
123 Kid
Goldust
Faarooq
Mankind
Steve Austin
Triple H
The Rock

Early to mid 2000s

Chris Jericho
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Edge
Rey Mysterio
Rob Van Dam
John Cena

Today

Wade Barrett
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
Kofi Kingston
Cody Rhodes
Daniel Bryan
Miz

Say what you will about the WWE Hall of Fame but most of the guys on the earlier lists are in there. So many guys made it to the main event. We'll never see any of the mid card guys from the mid 2000s there besides Booker T who is probably more associated with the guys on my early 2000s list.

Once again, I don't have a problem with any of the guys on your list but besides Booker T I don't think a single one is better than anybody on my lists.

 

[Da Solo]

I was watching some of the Ladder Match compilation on Netflix earlier and seen quite a few matches from the Mid 2000's. It got me thinking about how talented WWE's mid card was during the time. I don't know if it was nostalgia or if the Midcard today is really that horrible but here is a list of superstars I think all had plenty of talent. In most cases more talent or atleast more interesting then what WWE has to over today out of their Mid card.

Carlito
Shelton Benjamin
Ken Kennedy
MVP
Matt Hardy
Booker T
Finlay
William Regal

I got to think of WWE kept around some of the younger guys on this list they would of been able to help transition the new talent into WWE today. Just think of Carlito, Benjamin, Kennedy, and MVP were around to usher in this new age of wrestlers from FCW.

Carlito was a real talent. I'm actually quite surprised he never got a world title run. He was solid both in the ring and on the mic, and would have made for a good upper midcard/occasional main eventer of today.

Shelton, no matter what anyone says, was one of the best talents (in-ring) WWE has ever had. Give him his props: he never won the big one, but he held down the midcard on multiple occasions.

Kennedy was decent. One thing's for sure: if he had stayed in WWE, he'd be doing a lot better than he is now in Impact.

MVP, to be honest, was the first heel I ever cheered back when I was a casual fan before I was really into the backstage aspects of WWE. was a future main eventer that was crushed by bad booking. He was one of the high points of the midcard of the late 00's

As for Hardy, he's had his moments, and he would have been a great jobber-to-the-stars type enhancement talent who gets the Thank You reign later on.

Booker on this list is a bit out of place, seeing as how he was a midcarder in the early aughts, whereas almost everyone on this list was a prominent midcarder in the late 00's. Booker was getting his main event runs by this time, so I wouldn't really have him as a midcarder here.

Finlay and Regal were 2 good veterans who were great at not only keeping themselves relelvant, but putting over stars as well.

All in all, WWE had a really solid midcard from 2003-2008, and I would dare say it rivaled the midcard of the Attitude Era at times. Even now, WWE has talent that could really spark the midcard in Hunico, Big Zeke, DiBiase Jr., Percy Watson, Derrick Bateman and some others, but as we know, the Creative team doesn't know how to make good TV nowadays.

 

[info62]

I really love this midcard because 2006/2007 was when I came back to WWE after I stopped watching wrestling as a kid

I'm surprised Umaga hasn't been mentioned, I thought he was fantastic when Estrada was managing him, I wish that had gone on longer before they got split up. That was the last manager I actually enjoyed.

Don't care if I get shit for this but I'm also gonna add that Chris Masters is IMO the most underrated WWE wrestler of the past 5 years. I still don't understand why they brought him back in 2009, seemed to be about to push him and then suddenly dropped it. I'm still angry about it.

Also, I think WWE really wasted Kenny Dykstra. I don't know if he was technically a midcarder, maybe a lower midcarder, but imo he had so much potential and I feel like they threw it away.

I was & still am a huge fan of MVP , Carlito & esp Kennedy. Still upset about how all that turned out.

 

[Zigglerfan227]

This is a pretty cool subject to discuss. All of the Mid Carders of the past you mentioned are really good!

Carlito was always one of my favorite wrestler. I credit Carlito for actually making me want to start watching wrestling.

Shelton Benjamin was so good. What a great athlete Benjamin is! I don't think he ever had a bad match.

Ken Kennedy had so much potential! Great story teller in the ring and a great talker. The guy could have been World champion!

MVP had such a great look and he was a great heel. I loved him and it was a shame he went out the way he did. He went out weak.

Matt Hardy is cool but not one of my favorites. I never cared too much at all for him besides when he teamed with his brother Jeff. Not a bad wrestler though.

Booker T is beyond amazing! He is undoubtedly one of the greatest African American pro wrestlers in history! I loved him back in WCW the most.

Finlay is one of my all time favorites! He is so very good in the ring and he has so much passion for the business. I can't express how much I love Fit Finlay. Great wrestler! I would have loved to see him stay longer in the WWE and win a world title.

William Regal, like Finlay, is one of my all time favorites! You've got to love William Regal! He is hilarious, entertaining, excellent in the ring, and he has a great sense of fashion if I do say so myself.

Anyway, there are many mid carders in WWE and wrestling history and I love to talk about them. These that you mentioned are pretty good ones and I do wish we could have seen some of them if not all of them stick around for today's product. I think all of them that you mentioned would be the perfect guys to put the new talent over! Well, except Kennedy. I think if Kennedy were still with WWE he should be in the main event by now.

 

[cult_of_icecream_bar]

Wonder why WWE's midcard sucks?Cause it ain't a midcard!Except Cody Rhodes and Kofi Kingston every midcarder today(who've debuted in last 4 years) has solely main evented PPVs.Why wouldn't it suck!In 80's,90's even 2-3 years ago,the guys in the midcard would strictly stay in the midcard.Maybe they'd be in a elemination chamber match but that's the closest they'd be.EC over,back to midcard.But now every one gets a title match,gets pushed.If it works,he'll stay there and if it doesn't straight to the low card.Mid card doesn't have steady wrestlers except Kofi.He's done a perfect job as a midcarder.Stays relavent,gets a good pop,works great matches.That's how a midcarder should be.He should not be in the main event.

 

[Dagger Dias]

We have seen a lot of midcarders who sucked in the past several years to be quite honest and a number of the guys from the 2005-2009 years who have been brought up in this topic sucked too. That's not the case for all of them though, some had potential they never were able to live up to and others never got their chance with it being too late now. I'll share some of my own thoughts on some of these guys:

Carlito
I cannot fathom how he lasted as long as he did. He was anything BUT "cool". As a heel he was someone who got "go away" heat from me. I didn't boo him for doing his job as a heel, I wanted him off my screen! Then he turns face during that angle where Flair wanted him to take his job seriously. I was supposed to LIKE this guy now? Yeah, I don't think so. Other than the Tag Team Championship Unification match at Wrestlemania 25 nothing this guy ever did was worth looking into. I am so glad he is gone.

Umaga
He had the potential and never fully lived up to it. I got rather tired of his monster push shortly after the Hair VS Hair match at Wrestlemania 23, it began to get old. Then he finally began to speak in promos and yelled about how he was going to win the upcoming Samoan Strap match. Then he passed on soon after. Umaga was on his way toward a World Heavyweight Championship reign in the long run with the roll he was on at that point, but sadly it can never happen now.

Kenny
Severely misused. A lot of people around here seem to dislike the guy but Kenny Dykstra was one of my favorite new wrestlers in recent years. He was always the only one to really stand out during the days of the Spirit Squad and I thought he would be the one to break out as a star from that team. He was on his way there when he was the only surviving member of the stable on the roster following the disband, before Nicky came back as Ziggler. Then he got stuck jobbing to Chuck Palumbo, which would destroy anybody. Jobbing to someone awful is a terrible fate. He had a short lived tag team with Nitro before he became John Morrison but this team barely lasted long enough to get anything done. It saddens me that he never got a true chance and was so misused. Kenny could have made it far, maybe not as far as Ziggler but he had the talent to have a decent career.

Masters
One of the worst midcarders in recent years. His Master Lock Challenges were such a waste of time. The run he had in 2006 was bad enough, then he came back in 2009 and started making his chest dance. I still remember him having his chest dance to the beat of Crazy Train for Ozzy it was one of the most disturbing things I have seen in recent years, the whole chest dancing thing was disgusting and I cannot look at Masters in a positive light due to that. He was never that great in the actual matches either, he sucked and is not missed.

Shelton Benjamin
This guy is a bit overrated. Sure he had some good matches, but he was awful on the mic and did little to make me care about him. It takes more than athletic skills to get you past the midcard. He did have talent, but came off as someone who was just not motivated enough to make the needed improvements. I don't miss him much either to be quite honest. That gold hair he had at one point did not do him any favors either.

Ken Kennedy
I feel bad for Kennedy. He won Money In the Bank and was on his way to the push of a lifetime with the Vince exploding limo angle and his countdown to Wrestlemania 24 where he said he would be cashing in his briefcase. Instead he made some very stupid decisions which resulted in Finlay and JBL fighting over Hornswoggle after Vince thought he was his (kayfabe) son, and Edge winning Kennedy's briefcase. He never quite reached that level again, even in his TNA run where he has held World Championships already.

MVP
MVP mostly sucked but the potential was there. His initial heel run was not bad. I in particular liked the entrance with the tunnel. Then he lost that during the pointless losing streak angle that did far more harm than good. He challenged Orton to a match that never happened once he got moved over to Raw, and then wasted everyone's time for a bit before being released. Mixed feelings on this one. Part of me is glad he is gone but the rest of me wishes he had gotten a better chance. Perhaps if he never had the losing streak and, never lost his tunnel entrance, and just simply turned face. Imagine how much better the fans would have taken his challenge to Orton at that point?

Matt Hardy
The announcers always called him a main event waiting to happen. Looks like they were talking about the wrong Hardy brother. Jeff would go on to make it into the main event scene, while Matt was stuck on ECW. He was never as good as his brother and in some fans' eyes Matt sucked whenever he was on his own. I liked the Edge feud and the feud with his brother for their Wrestlemania match although I knew he would never make it past the ECW Championship. The feud with MVP was memorable too. I do miss Matt Hardy some, but I'm not sire I'd want to see him work another match unless he is teaming with Jeff again.

Booker T
Other than the horrible "King Booker" gimmick I enjoyed his run. Booker has had a good career and made it further than most ever will. The "King Booker" gimmick was just awful though. His promo about the Summerslam 2007 match against Trips was among the worst I have ever heard. "Your king shall face Hunter Hearst Helmsley at the Summerslam Games" made me cringe like fingernails on a chalkboard. I liked the rest of his run in WWE though. Now if only he could have been allowed to use TNA's remix of his entrance music....

Finlay
I never really liked him honestly. An old guy who likes to fight? Boring. I liked when Hornswoggle would get involved in Finlay's matches (BEFORE he got forced on fans in the Vince's son angle) which was funny at the time. He was a bit boring in my opinion though and it's obvious he never would have made it any further than the midcard titles.

William Regal
I liked Regal better as a GM than as a wrestler. He was good in the authority figure role doing crazy things like turning off the lights or ending a show in the middle of a crucial match. He had the skills both in the ring and on the mic to make it further, but for whatever reason it never happened. Had Hardy still been ECW Champion rather than Christian then I could have seen Regal win that title when he got title matches. Unfortunately I highly doubt he will get a world title shot even though he deserved one more than others who ended up getting them over the years.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

The only ones I gave a damn about were Finlay and Regal. Finlay was fucking awesome when he debuted. He just went out there and beat the hell out of you and Sheamus is out of the same mold but I think Finlay did it better then Sheamus is doing it now. I love Regal's match with Benoit at No Mercy in 2006 and he was getting to be a big deal in 2008 but he got suspended and that was that for him. Everyone else can kick rocks. Except for MVP. He was decent.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I don't have a problem with any of the guys you've listed but honestly that looks like the weakest mid card during my enitre time as a fan, and that includes today. Here's a long list of just some mid card talent from different eras.

That list actually looks like a really weak mid card to me. Go all the way back to the mid 80s.

Ricky Steamboat
Don Muraco
Tito Santana
Greg Valentine
Cowboy Bob Orton
Junk Yard Dog
Randy Savage

What about the late 80s into the early 90s?

Ted Dibiase
Rick Rude
Jake Roberts
Brutus Beefcake
Mr. Perfect
Rick Martel
Jim Duggan
Dusty Rhodes

Mid to late 90s

Shawn Michaels
Razor Ramon
Owen Hart
Davey Boy Smith
Jeff Jarrett
Goldust
123 Kid
Goldust
Faarooq
Mankind
Steve Austin
Triple H
The Rock

Early to mid 2000s

Chris Jericho
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Edge
Rey Mysterio
Rob Van Dam
John Cena

Today

Wade Barrett
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
Kofi Kingston
Cody Rhodes
Daniel Bryan
Miz

This is HITTING THE NAIL RIGHT ON THE HEAD!

Almost all the guys you listed are decent but BY FAR the weakest midcard division in possibly wrestling history i'd say, & DEFINATELY in the era's stated above. In the 80's, 90's, Early 2000's & (besides Punk)Present Day, my favorites are pretty much all the midcarders. In the era you mentioned, the mid 2000's, the midcard was pretty weak & that is when WWE started putting almost all their time into the Main Events.

Carlito: One of the better out of this group, Carlito got really stale really fast & while he had good technical skills, Carlito was nothing special as a heel & a MUCH worse babyface. I'd prefer him over Epico, but he reached his peak when he debuted.
Shelton Benjamin: The 2nd best out of this entire group, Benjamin's problems were clearly his mic work & gimmick. Like Morrison or someone like that, he was just a much better athlete than actor or speaker. He was GREAT with Angle & Haas, but after rolling with the gimmick of getting some quick victories when he went to RAW & wrestling the likes of HHH & HBK, he hit his ceiling.
Ken Kennedy: Not the worst but not good by any means. I rewatched a match with Kennedy & I forgot just how bad & green he was. He fooled everyone because he is a good speaker. I'm glad Orton got him fired, he would have probably ended up hurting someone.
MVP: The WORST out of this list. Why anyone like him I will never know. He wasn't an entertaining or good heel & he was a AWFUL face. I hope to never hear "Ballin'" in the WWE AGAAIN!
Matt Hardy: Solid performer but he obviously got REALLY beat up with all those Ladder, TLC, etc. matches. Matt looked like a modern day Iron Shiek trying to wrestle by the time he left WWE. It was kind of just sad how slow & stiff he got in the ring.
Booker T: Probably the most successful at the time & as an overall career. The Book man never did much for me but I enjoyed some of his matches. I'm just happy he is off commentary! At first it was funny, then it was annoying, & eventually it just got to the point where he was ruining PPV matches.
Finlay: I'm happy he is back as a trainer. He has a great mind for the buisness. Never was huge on him as a performer in WWE but he is an asset.
William Regal: My personal favorite on this list. Compared to who has been world champion these days, Regal should have been ATLEAST a one time Worlds Heavyweight Champion. He was a PHENOMINAL heel in & out of the ring & has ALWAYS remained enteratining. I'm glad he is still around & performing.

 

[HBsam31]

Finlay and Regal are also my two personal favorites on this list, and the rest just never really did it for me. I agree with The Brain in that it may actually be the weakest mid card of all the eras mentioned. When I think of great mid cards. I think of the Savages and the Steamboats, and later on HBK, Bret hart, Mr Perfect, Roddy Piper. There were many many times where the mid card feuds especially for the IC title were on par or better than what was going on in the main event. The last time a mid card really stood out to me was the Eddie, Benoit, Y2J years. Actually storyline were mixed in with the talented stars they had. The group mentioned in the OP were ok, but hardly on the level of the other. I can't say it is entirely their fault though as much emphasis has been taken off the mid card over the years, but I agree with the posters saying the best mid card were in eras before the one mentioned.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

I agree with what the Brain said. The guys you mentioned would be slaughtered by the previous era midcards and perhaps the other eras. There are reasons for that. The training of the performers is quite different. The midcarders of the eighties etc, were part of the territory system and if they weren't main event in WWE, they might have been main event somewhere else, they were in most instances better workers and the feuds they were involved in were better developed.

Carlito
Solid talent on the mike and in the ring. Failed by poor booking and lack of creative vision for his character. Wasted opportunity.

Shelton Benjamin

Solid in th ring, not good on the mike. Killed with the Momma's boy gimmick, just stupid booking by WWE.

Ken Kennedy

Solid on the mike, was okay in the ring from what I saw (little as it was). Biggest shot was winning MITB, then he gets injured and then sometime later he gets bounced from WWE

MVP

Horrible gimmick to start off with. Decent on the mike, ok in the ring but again bad booking and no direction with his character.

Matt Hardy

I'm not a huge fan of the Hardy Boys, but I sort of understand their appeal. They do high risk moves and they are unconventional. Matt Hardy wasn't the star that Jeff was, had difficulty on the mike and was ok in the ring. Clearly better as part of the tag team than on his own.

Booker T

Solid performer, underrated on the mike and in the ring. He can do a lot more than a spinning kick as some people would suggest. He should have been in the main event a lot sooner, he had the fan support, but backstage bs politics comes into play again.

Finlay & William Regal

Both in the same category, seasoned veterans who knew how to work not overwhelmingly great on the mike but helped to put over up and coming performers, or be in a meaningful feud with them.

Another guy mentioned ....

Chris Masters

Had a look, never really saw what he had to offer. Killed by booking and lack of creative ideas for him.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I don't have a problem with any of the guys you've listed but honestly that looks like the weakest mid card during my enitre time as a fan, and that includes today. Here's a long list of just some mid card talent from different eras.

That list actually looks like a really weak mid card to me. Go all the way back to the mid 80s.

Ricky Steamboat
Don Muraco
Tito Santana
Greg Valentine
Cowboy Bob Orton
Junk Yard Dog
Randy Savage

What about the late 80s into the early 90s?

Ted Dibiase
Rick Rude
Jake Roberts
Brutus Beefcake
Mr. Perfect
Rick Martel
Jim Duggan
Dusty Rhodes

Mid to late 90s

Shawn Michaels
Razor Ramon
Owen Hart
Davey Boy Smith
Jeff Jarrett
Goldust
123 Kid
Goldust
Faarooq
Mankind
Steve Austin
Triple H
The Rock

Early to mid 2000s

Chris Jericho
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Edge
Rey Mysterio
Rob Van Dam
John Cena

Today

Wade Barrett
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
Kofi Kingston
Cody Rhodes
Daniel Bryan
Miz

Say what you will about the WWE Hall of Fame but most of the guys on the earlier lists are in there. So many guys made it to the main event. We'll never see any of the mid card guys from the mid 2000s there besides Booker T who is probably more associated with the guys on my early 2000s list.

Once again, I don't have a problem with any of the guys on your list but besides Booker T I don't think a single one is better than anybody on my lists.

There are a couple factors your overlooking that add bias to your point.

1) Back in the day the mid-card was better defined because there was only one champ. In addition if you go back to Hogan's heyday the main event was made up of Hogan and whatever monster he was fueding with. Everyone else was a mid-carder. with one title there is only so many guys who can be invovled in main event fueds. But with the 2 title system you currently have a main event picture that features:

CM Punk
Ryback
Cena
Big Show
Sheamus
Orton
Del Rio
Ziggler
Kane
Daniel Bryan

That is alot of talent that is either directly in title fueds, or involved in the main event picture in another fashion. Could you imagine how strong the midcard would be if there was only 1 title and half the guys on this list were featured on the midcard?

2) There is enough time and histroy for the guys who were in previous midcards to make a name for themselves and cement their status as main eventers and current or future HOF's. Guys who are currently midcarders are younger guys with their best years ahead of them. There is just no way of telling if guys like Barrett or Rhodes will go down as all time greats, or if guys who are somewhere inbetween midcard and main event like Del Rio, Ziggler and Bryan will do the same.

 

[The Brain]

There are a couple factors your overlooking that add bias to your point.

1) Back in the day the mid-card was better defined because there was only one champ. In addition if you go back to Hogan's heyday the main event was made up of Hogan and whatever monster he was fueding with. Everyone else was a mid-carder. with one title there is only so many guys who can be invovled in main event fueds. But with the 2 title system you currently have a main event picture that features:

CM Punk
Ryback
Cena
Big Show
Sheamus
Orton
Del Rio
Ziggler
Kane
Daniel Bryan

That is alot of talent that is either directly in title fueds, or involved in the main event picture in another fashion. Could you imagine how strong the midcard would be if there was only 1 title and half the guys on this list were featured on the midcard?

2) There is enough time and histroy for the guys who were in previous midcards to make a name for themselves and cement their status as main eventers and current or future HOF's. Guys who are currently midcarders are younger guys with their best years ahead of them. There is just no way of telling if guys like Barrett or Rhodes will go down as all time greats, or if guys who are somewhere inbetween midcard and main event like Del Rio, Ziggler and Bryan will do the same.

Your first point is a good one but as for the rest of your post there is one big thing you're overlooking. My response was to the op about the mid card from around 2006-2008. I mentioned in my response that I think today's mid card is better than the mid card from a few years ago. I hope some of the guys in the mid card now do go on to become main event guys and hall of famers. The guys I was responding about, Benjamin, Carlito, MVP, Kennedy, etc., will not be going into the hall of fame. That's the group I was talking about.

 

[deadtaker]

I agree that having 2 world titles distorts the mid card status of several wrestlers. With one title you have 4 main event guys really. If you had 1 world title you would have Punk, Cena, Sheamus and Orton as really the top main eventers. Big Show, Del Rio, D. Bryan, Kane would be upper mid card occasional title challenger. It greatly affects the mid card picture. You don't have people like Rock-HHH fighting over the IC belt. Who does Kofi Kingston or Antonio Cesaro have to feud with for there belts long term.

 

[XXJJ]

It is time to unify the titles. Having Cena, Orton, Punk, Ryback, Sheamus etc all chasing 1 title will keep the main event scene fresh. You will have more different feud options so nothing gets stale.

The midcard scene will improve because you dont have to force guys like Del Rio into the world title picture for months.

And its getting a little silly when Ziggler gets advertised as a Raw Superstar and is holding the Smackdown MITB briefcase. Brand Extension needs to end.

Raw's during the Attitude Era were great because you had all the top stars angles being played out on 1 show (Austin, Rock, D-X, Foley, Taker etc). They could do the same with Cena, Orton, Punk, etc. Imagine if they combined the roster and went back to 2 hour Raws. Raw would be really action packed with no filler. Turn Smackdown into the secondary show instead of a secondary brand.