3 WCW guys who never won a title that should have

[King Blitzkonic]

All right. For purposes of this discussion we're going to go with guys who never won the US or WCW title DURING THE TIME OF WCW. Standard pick 3 and tell me why. I'll start this off:

1. Scott Norton: Could have EASILY been in the spot Goldberg occupied. He had the size, had the power, had the scary agility for a big guy....and owned one of the nastiest powerbombs for someone NOT named Sid Vicious. Admittedly not one of the best on the mic but was able to go out there and get it done. Don't believe me? Watch him vs Vader in Japan.

2. Glacier: OK, OK, I'm going to get heat (no pun intended) for this pick. If you're going to give a guy a big pre-debut hype and a flashy entrance, you better be looking to put a strap on this guy(Vince, remember Cryme Tyme?). Once again, he's no Chris Jericho on the stick but he had the all around technical ability to get the job done even if all he did do against main-event guys was "get the job done." Good all-arounder left in the dust by the nWo and a guy who was introduced as a "local competitor" for Hugh Morrus. The 10-week delay after a Wenner squash didn't help either.

3. Mike Awesome (RIP): This kid was (no pun intended) AWESOME. Big, well-defined guy who possessed actual athleticism. Only 3 big guys that I can think of that pull off a good suicide dive like that are Awesome, Taker (sometimes), and Hernandez. Add in the Awesome bomb and decent mic skills and you got a guy that could be the future of any company.

 

[Prolific]

VERY GOOD THREAD!

The three that comes to mind instinctively is 1) Chris Jericho, 2) Arn Anderson, and 3) Davey Boy Smith.

Jericho -- Its a shame that Bischoff didn't maximize the potential of him while he was in WCW; especially being limited to having his biggest title win be the TV Title (I'm considering the TV Title higher than the Cruiserweight Title in prestige), and having a fued with the silhouette of Goldberg towards the latter part of his WCW career. Going to the E was by far his best career move ever.

Arn Anderson -- this doesn't require much explanation. Anderson was no doubt the anchor of the Four Horseman, and was also limited to a TV Title reign, along with a few Tag Title reigns with different partners. With his ring savvy and ability to make anyone look like gold, Anderson would have been an awesome World Champ.

Davey Boy Smith -- I know this is kind of on a limb, but The British Bulldog had the speed, power, and athleticism to be a frontrunner of the WCW during his short tenure there. He had short fueds with Vader and Sid, and fueded for the WCW Title, always coming up on the short end vs. Vader when it counted the most. He was WAY over after surprising people by coming to the WCW, and I believe that the WCW could have easily rode that wave instead of let it subside.

Well, there you go. There is my three.

 

[AnthonyM4]

Ernest Miller- his mic work in 2000 as commissioner was one of the few reasons to watch wcw at the time. He could have been US champ.

Mike Awesome- ditto to what the OP said. He should have beat Storm for the us title. If given the right push he would have been a good world champion like he was in ecw.

Chris Candido- He was such a great worker and I don't remember why his time in wcw was short, but if he would have stuck around he would have been a great US champion.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

VERY GOOD THREAD!

The three that comes to mind instinctively is 1) Chris Jericho, 2) Arn Anderson, and 3) Davey Boy Smith.

Jericho -- Its a shame that Bischoff didn't maximize the potential of him while he was in WCW; especially being limited to having his biggest title win be the TV Title (I'm considering the TV Title higher than the Cruiserweight Title in prestige), and having a fued with the silhouette of Goldberg towards the latter part of his WCW career. Going to the E was by far his best career move ever.

Arn Anderson -- this doesn't require much explanation. Anderson was no doubt the anchor of the Four Horseman, and was also limited to a TV Title reign, along with a few Tag Title reigns with different partners. With his ring savvy and ability to make anyone look like gold, Anderson would have been an awesome World Champ.

Davey Boy Smith -- I know this is kind of on a limb, but The British Bulldog had the speed, power, and athleticism to be a frontrunner of the WCW during his short tenure there. He had short fueds with Vader and Sid, and fueded for the WCW Title, always coming up on the short end vs. Vader when it counted the most. He was WAY over after surprising people by coming to the WCW, and I believe that the WCW could have easily rode that wave instead of let it subside.

Well, there you go. There is my three.

Yep, AA gets my honorable mention. And one that I would have definitely put down had he not won a US title was Dean Malenko. Gotta admit that Jericho vs. Malenko was a really great feud to watch, especially when the Iceman snapped. Candido I'm not too sure about seeing as I don't remember him in WCW and Miller would definitely have been a decent US title contender if they actually bothered to push him.

Interesting side note for Awesome: WCW star vs WWF star in an ECW ring... If that ain't federation competition I don't know what is

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Where's Austin, Eddie, and Rey on this list? Agree with Jericho.

1. Austin and Eddie both won the US title in WCW.
2. Rey was good in WCW but didn't strike me as someone that should have gotten a US title push
3. I also asked to give me reasons why those three wrestlers.

 

[Alanson]

Chris Jericho - We all knew he had talent back then. WWF showed it much more. He was a WCW original.. he didn't come from WWF. WCW should have used it.

Brian Pillman - I never understood why this guy was held down. Maybe it was cause of his issues, that didn't stop Jeff Hardy though right? This guy was entertaining as hell, and could have easily been WCW's best heel ever.

It would be easy to say Steve Austin, but.. who knew the guy could be such a star.. that was just WWF's genius back in the day. So i can't really say he was great in WCW. My final choice is..

Scott Hall. - Again, i can see as to why the probably didn't put it on him, due to his alcohol problem, but i remember him being a main factor of the NWO. And he was indeed just as big as Kevin Nash was. Hogan did it, Nash did it.. someone is missing.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Chris Jericho - We all knew he had talent back then. WWF showed it much more. He was a WCW original.. he didn't come from WWF. WCW should have used it.

Brian Pillman - I never understood why this guy was held down. Maybe it was cause of his issues, that didn't stop Jeff Hardy though right? This guy was entertaining as hell, and could have easily been WCW's best heel ever.

It would be easy to say Steve Austin, but.. who knew the guy could be such a star.. that was just WWF's genius back in the day. So i can't really say he was great in WCW. My final choice is..

Scott Hall. - Again, i can see as to why the probably didn't put it on him, due to his alcohol problem, but i remember him being a main factor of the NWO. And he was indeed just as big as Kevin Nash was. Hogan did it, Nash did it.. someone is missing.

Pillman- Once that injury hit that was all for Pillman. Keep in mind though that they had the light heavyweight title at the time and it was actually on the same level as the US title(or close to it)
Hall- good points but DQed from this consideration, he was a 2x US champion in WCW

 

[Tougie]

Chris Jericho: Seriously. there isnt even a point to my typing an explanation, we all know jericho is one of the best of all time in ring and out, and along with benoit and guerrero could have single handedly saved WCW had they been pushed right.

Buff Bagwell: Multiple time tag team champion, started off in 91 with WCW and won their rookie of the year award, and had the common rookie look that we still see today, ripped with raw talent, then of course he was a member of NWO, still had a great look, was ripped, and had good heel heat because just the sound of his voice made u want to punch the tv.

Alex Wright: Hard working cruiserweight. 1995 PWI rookie of the year, had a great look and he some great wrestling skills, although not exactly on the level of an Eddie Guerrero but not that far off. Drew cheap heat because #1 he's german, #2 his dancing sucked. He held the cruiserweight, TV, and tag titles with disco inferno. But of course he was just another guy not pushed by WCW.

Others

Perry Saturn: One of my favs, great look except for the weird emo-ish look in 99 i believe. Won multiple titles in WWF/ECW/and WCW. And who could forget moppy. But in WCW he was just another one of those solid wrestlers with a good look who never got pushed.

Psicosis: another hard working cruiserweight with a great look who never got his chance.

Rey Mysterio: another hard working cruiserweight, possibly the hardest who was the top draw for the cruiserweights

Sean O Haire: Had a great look, the martial arts background combined with his powergame and the Seanton Bomb, he was just the complete package, but of course he went into WCW during the late years were the US title basically meant nothing IMO. Course he wasent used well in WWE either.

Billy Kidman: Another hardworking cruiserweight who got crapped on by WCW management in 2000 with his fued with Hogan.

good thread btw

 

[wrestler36]

Granted, he wasn't there even a year, but imagine if Lance Storm's push went just one belt further. In three matches he won the hardcore, cruiserweight and US title. What if beat Booker T in his fourth match? 4 BELTS!!! That would've been AWESOME!

Scott Hall had the US belt, but he had the popularity and wrestling ability to hold the big belt, if he wasn't so unpredictable

Buff Daddy was one of the few WCW ORIGINALS that was really popular and had a good wrestling background. If he didn't put off so many WWE guys, who knows what he could've done during the Invasion

Kidman was another WCW original. He had the cruiserweight and tag belts and would've been a good US champ.

I hate to say it but Johnny B. Badd was pretty over. Hell, WWE bet big guaranteed money that he'd be a star in WWE. His wife ended up getting the big push in that deal, but had he stayed in WCW, he could've been big.

Not sure if Meng had the US belt, but I don't think so. He was pushed as a very tough force in WCW and could've had a long reign as US champ.

 

[Big Daddy Fool]

2. Rey was good in WCW but didn't strike me as someone that should have gotten a US title push
.

I'm going to have to disagree with you, respectfully of course. Even before his unmasking was probably second in cruiserweight popularity behind only Billy Kidman fans. His feud against the lWo was great, that had fans behind him 110%.

Then after his unmasking he became even more popular amongst fans, as the disrespect to the mask by Nash and Hall brought tons of support to him. Then he became the "giant killer" beating Nash, your boy Scott "no personality' norton, and Bam Bam Bigelow, proving he was capable of hanging in there with the big boys. He then had a great world title match against ric flair, i think it was at one of their spring break shows, where he put on a great match with tons and tons of support. He nearly won that match and owouldve if it wasnt for outside interference from AA. HE then got a huge pop that same night when he kicked flair into the pool. He should've at the very least gotten a US title run. He deserved it a lot more then the ric steiners and hugh morruses of the world who held that title around the same time. It's a shame Bischoff didn't have much faith in cruiserweights to hold the big two titles.

 

[cm ben]

Hmm, I was 11 when WCW folded, so this is going to take some rememberin', but...

1) Glacier. I saw Glacier at a live show, and, yeah, I was 6 or 7 years old, but I was blown away by how cool he was. Light show, stuff falling from the ceiling, kendo sticks, decent in-ring skills (?)... plus he was the closest thing I could get to Mortal Kombat at the time (too much blood, you know) so I appreciated him for that.
I have no clue if people actually liked him, but I have this memory of him being really awesome in my head, so I'll stick with it.
1B) Kanyon. I read somewhere that if Glacier hit it off with fans, he was going to feud with Kanyon for the title. I always thought Kanyon was cool enough, so I'll throw him up here, too.

2) I also agree with Tougie on Alex Wright, but maybe not until he came back as Berlyn. Do you remember that? They hyped him huge with all of those promos with the epic music and Matrix graphics. Then he came back with a mohawk, a trenchcoat, and an enforcer called The Wall. But he didn't really do much. If they gave him matches that were as good as his promos, he might have been able to go somewhere.

3) Raven. Raven was one of my favorites- he led the Flock, he had a bad 'tude (wrestling whenever he wanted to, otherwise just sitting in the corner of the ring), he was good on the mic, the Evenflow DDT was cool...
I was always so frustrated with what they did with him, though. They characterized him as a spoiled brat instead of the legitimately cool tough guy he could be. He could have been a really cool "tweener"-- another Sting character when Sting was still the Crow, or someone in WCW to rival Steve Austin in terms of bad-ass-ness. Or they could have turned the Flock into a something more legitimate-- a counterpart to DX, maybe.



This is all just what I can remember from ages ago. Good thread!

 

[Assassin Effect 81]

Raven- great mic skills fantastic in ring wrestler.
really put on great matches even made goldberg look good.

Kanyon- see raven minus the mic skills truly one of the most creative move sets.
I think his lifeslye held him back not in ring ability.

Kidman- same as other poster said

 

[Borgata]

1. Raven - good worker, even better on the mic, had good matches with anyone. Carried Goldberg and made him look plausible.

2. Hugh Morris - Most agile big guy ever seen and more agile than Bam Bam Bigelow. Speed, power, agility, man had it all. Crazy demented and likable, never knew what was going to happen.

3. Tank Abbott - One of the first to cross over and could have sparked an MMA/Wrestling war years before its time. Granted he didn't wrestle well but looked very belivable. Not to mention his dancing with 3 count was AWESOME!

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Raven gets a DQ here due to him having held the US title once =( But I do agree that he did carry Goldberg.
Borgata: I'm not 100% sure about Morrus being more agile than Bigelow but he WAS very quick for his size. Unfortunately Morrus was a 2x US champion so he gets a DQ here =(
Tank Abbott could have easily been as over as Ken Shamrock was.... the dancing deal didn't do anything for me though
Kanyon: Yes! He would get an honorable mention spot just below AA...Methinks that run in the Men at Work tag-team (before his time as Mortis) kinda messed up his rep. Great moveset though, I must agree. I'd also like to say that Kanyon had GREAT mic skills... "WHO BETTA THAN KANYON?"..."EVERYBODY!"...epic
Johnny B.Badd: Eww. Great wrestler but the gimmick really made me want to vomit. Had he been less flashy I would have given him a spot

Now I'm surprised that I haven't heard any calls for Stevie Ray... He was just as capable as Booker IMO.... And one other guy that really could get it done (once he was serious) was Disco Inferno (I know, more heat here ).

 

[Tougie]

I had forgot all about Kanyon, he had a pretty good look and solid in ring work but like i listed he was just another one of those guys who didnt get pushed. And Johnny B. Badd, I cant stand the gimmick, but i was drawn to the Mero Gimmick. And i was actually going to mention Steve Ray but i thought he held the belt but that must have been the TV title, same with Disco.

 

[theBIGdealAndyP]

wow... there are quite a lotta- really?'s in there, but the 2 that stand out are...
Mike Awesome- i loved this guy, to me, besides sid- noone has ever "looked" like a wrestler more then him. his abilities in relation to his size put him in the same category as rey and Y2J for "pound 4 pound" best
alex wright as berlin- the hype alone shouldve got him over, and i thought the wall was badass, whats better then a heel who can work w/ a giant enforcer? kanyon... no he isnt, i just thought that rolled off the tongue well...

 

[kideternity]

my choices might be slightly left field, but agree with Jericho, Awesome and Kanyon.

Tom Zenk - when I look back at old tapes I just don't know why he didn't go any further, great look, great talent! What happened?

Ultimo Dragon - bare with me..he at least could have been a US Champion. I absolutely loved him back in the day, maybe could have brought a new audience to WCW. One of the best wrestlers around at the time.

Alex Wright - yeah I thought he could have been something too, as entertaining as his Tag Team with Disco Inferno was, it probably did him more harm than good.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Ah Tom Zenk. Great wrestler and owner of the distinction of being Vader's first WCW victim (GAB 1990)...too bad that was what overshadowed most of his great career. I was thinking earlier about Meng. If we can nominate him as deserving, why not the Barbarian? He was just as wild and talented and a pretty sweet superkick and diving headbutt along with almost scary agility.

I also thought that Kevin Sullivan should have been given SOME sort of title push when he was doing Dungeon of Doom vs. Hogan. Don't you think a US title run would have given the group at least some credibility?

 

[Mr. TM]

If we are only talking about the World Title than I think my choice is Lance Storm. He was part of the end of WCW when they were trying new things, such as giving Booker T the title. At one point they did have a match inwhich Lance Storm and Booker put on a great show. Lance was a triple champion at the time, so winning the fourth belt would have been fantastic for him. The company was trying new things, I just wish it was one I them.

 

[wazaveli]

Chris Jericho - If Dean and Eddie could win the US title, he should have as well. WCW had a little man prejudice, well Jericho was taller, bigger and more overall talented than both of them. US and World Title Worthy.

Billy Kidman - This guy got pops that lower card talent shouldnt of got in a company so rife with Maineven talent. US Title and could of been a home-grown WCW Champion. Reminds me of DDP, in that he could of had a similiar title ascension.

Buff Bagwell - Charisma and Mic work defined. This guy was so fun to watch and should of been US champ multiple times.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

I've been seeing a lot of Jericho and Kidman calls here. I must say I agree. However, Kidman wouldn't have gotten a US title run for the very same reason Jericho really didn't: "small" wrestlers didn't always get the attention they needed in WCW. I just thought of a "big" guy we could add to this list since I saw one or two calls for Mike Awesome: Bryan Clark. Better known to pre-Russo WCW fans as Wrath. Once the MK references were dropped, Clark was able to bring out much of his full potential as a wrestler and he had everything... except mic skills since he didn't spend too much time on the stick... but who needs to when you can go out there and get it done in the ring?

 

[Tastycles]

Chris Jericho - Losing Chris Jericho was a big loss for the WCW. He later fulfilled his potential in the main event, but even in the upper midcard Jericho has consistently provided bona fide quality entertanment in the ring and on the mic and never giving him the push has got to rank amongst their worst errors.

Mike Awesome - Awesome was one of the few people from ECW that really did have a chance to go forward in the bigger companies. However, he was blighted by truly awful gimmicks whilst in the company and as a result never really went anywhere, which was a shame.

Billy Kidman - No real reason, he was just my favourite when I used to watch Nitro, and it'd have been nice if he had a step up to the big boys' table at least once in the US title division.

 

[ashe draven]

This is actually hard to narrow down but i'll try:
Raven- had the U.S. title for a day being squashed by Goldberg. A shame, for he has always been great on the mic & could've had great feuds for the strap w/ others.

Kidman-when he was hot during his cruiserweight runs he could've easily challenged & shined w/ the higher tier wrestlers for the U.S. or even world belts. Fans WOULD'VE tuned in guaranteed. His matches were always very entertaining despite who he was up against.

This is a tie for me. deal w/ it, Wrath/Vampyro- both men had more than a decent following, had unique characters, & i'd say respectable ring work.(though vamp was known for being alittle stiff) I think either wouldn't have been a stretch to be at least U.S. champ. Unfortunately Wrath fizzled after being beaten by Goldberg until forming w/ Brian Adams to form Kronic. & Vamp literally disappeared after his brief but great feud w/ Sting.