Before They Made It

[TheOneBigWill]

I've been thinking lately of a couple Wrestlers that I really enjoyed, or at least felt their characters/gimmicks were amazing, but they never truly made it.. and ultimately were scrapped, fired and forgotten.

I'm sure everyone has at least one individual that they felt was a great Wrestler, or had a great gimmick, or even felt they could've been something great.. but in the end, they never truly made it. This is the thread to express those thoughts in.

My examples are as follows..

Se7en: During the final years of W.C.W. they began running promos for this Undertaker-isque character. It was small vignette's of a guy with a pure white face, dressed all in black, with a deep, dark and scary voice. He'd be floating outside of a little boy's bedroom and the promos were scary as shit.

I felt they truly had something amazing. Then, the night the character debuted, they had him fucking HOVERING to the ring. Black trench coat, pure white face, dark black hat.. smoke covering the ground, flames in the background, the WHOLE 9 YARDS..

Ended when the character, Dustin Rhodes, spoke and basically trashed the character with one promo. He claimed it was too much like Goldust, and what the W.W.F. wanted him to be.. and he wanted to be "himself". Well, if he would've shut the fuck up.. he may of been greater than "himself" will ever be. Alas.. we'll never know.

Glacier: This is a character that in today's world, if you remember him you likely hate him.. and if you don't, you'll likely never care to try. But for me, the promos were awesome. Ultimately it was the non-stop promos that drug way too far out, that ended up killing him.

When he debuted, he was ultimately nothing like the Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat) character they had him being. He was a karate expert, who noone truly gave a shit about. His finisher was a Superkick, and his matches weren't the best.

In the end, I truly think this character would've worked had it not of been given to a guy like the one playing this role.

Chris Masters: Out of everyone, he had the very best shot at repeating what would've been a Lex Luger type character. In the end though, they stuck him with a shitty "Masterlock challenge" that had him become boring from the instant.. and to top that, he had a couple different (undeserving) people break out of the hold, or come very close to breaking out.. that never should've even came close. (one person that comes to mind would be the Soldier from Iraq)

In the end, the finishing move also hurt Masters greatly. A full-nelson is a great move, but it's not what I'd consider a finishing move to be. Sure, it's effective with strength.. but ultimately, it's boring to watch and noone wants to care about it.

So.. those are my opinions.. what are some of everyone else's? Be sure to explain why you liked the person, and why you think they never made it.. other than saying "they sucked in the end."

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

The Boogeyman - You could argue that its a bit early to say so, but really, what are the chances that he's going to make it now? Its a shame, too, because this could've been the next Undertaker in a lot of ways, but they gave the gimmick to someone who's just much too old to do it long-term. Plus, he's not very talented as it is, and while the Undertaker is cool, Boogeyman is a bit confusing (and with the worms, sickening), so it doesn't translate as well. I say in a few years, they take someone who has no charisma and they give him a gimmick like this again. NOT A VAMPIRE....but something dark that could be both a heel and a face.

Kizarny - Again, a bit premature, but he's failing miserably, and the only reason is due to the performer himself, not the gimmick. The gimmick definitely could be one of those fun faces OR creepy heels, but Nick (whatever his surname is) just isn't the man for the job.

 

[Mr. TM]

Damn NoFate, we think on the same wavelength I do believe. My pick is also the new superstar, Kizarny. Really, the WWE could have made a great character out of this. A carny would e a great character, only if he has a great New York accent with a "The Warriors" type persona. But to just be a freak, similar to Shannon Moore's character is just lame. This is a little early, but he should be thanking his stars he has friends backstage.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

The Boogeyman - You could argue that its a bit early to say so, but really, what are the chances that he's going to make it now? Its a shame, too, because this could've been the next Undertaker in a lot of ways, but they gave the gimmick to someone who's just much too old to do it long-term. Plus, he's not very talented as it is, and while the Undertaker is cool, Boogeyman is a bit confusing (and with the worms, sickening), so it doesn't translate as well. I say in a few years, they take someone who has no charisma and they give him a gimmick like this again. NOT A VAMPIRE....but something dark that could be both a heel and a face.

The Boogeyman is another character that, especially after playing the Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 story mode with the Undertaker, that I'm majorly disappointed with.

If you've played the game and know the storyline, you get where I'm going. Why on earth wouldn't the W.W.E. pull the trigger on that type of storyline with the Boogeyman.. NOW!

Think about it, you have this mysterious individual, (minus the fucking worms) who noone knows ANYTHING about. He has this staff that for all purposes could hold a type of power, similar to Taker's urn from days of ol'.. and who knows if the Boogeyman character could, would, or even does have mystical powers.

It's a character with what is still to me a wide open possibility.. but as you said, the individual playing the role is talentless and old. Until they replace him, and ultimately repackage this gimmick in a different name/character/person.. it's just wishful thinking at this point.

Kizarny - Again, a bit premature, but he's failing miserably, and the only reason is due to the performer himself, not the gimmick. The gimmick definitely could be one of those fun faces OR creepy heels, but Nick (whatever his surname is) just isn't the man for the job.

Due to not getting Smackdown, I haven't seen much of this guy or promos from him. I did "youtube" his debut match, I think it was his debut match, against M.V.P. The match got boring quickly, but his finisher has promise.

The character has hidden potential. He reminds me of a character from a movie called "Doomsday". The character's name is "Sol" and he's basically a cannibal who's lost his mind and taken over what's left of part of Europe due to an outbreak.

I think the KizArny character would be a great heel idea, because Carnies are creepy to begin with.

Kinda like Doink the Clown would've been such a greater character if he would've been more heelish in a dark way, then a stupid kiddish way. Like the clown from "It".

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

The Boogeyman is another character that, especially after playing the Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 story mode with the Undertaker, that I'm majorly disappointed with.

If you've played the game and know the storyline, you get where I'm going. Why on earth wouldn't the W.W.E. pull the trigger on that type of storyline with the Boogeyman.. NOW!

Think about it, you have this mysterious individual, (minus the fucking worms) who noone knows ANYTHING about. He has this staff that for all purposes could hold a type of power, similar to Taker's urn from days of ol'.. and who knows if the Boogeyman character could, would, or even does have mystical powers.

It's a character with what is still to me a wide open possibility.. but as you said, the individual playing the role is talentless and old. Until they replace him, and ultimately repackage this gimmick in a different name/character/person.. it's just wishful thinking at this point.

I've never played the game, so I have no clue what you're referencing, but the Boogeyman having a feud with the Undertaker is one of those things that just makes so much sense that it almost hurts lol. Like you say: here's a guy that you don't know ANYTHING about. If he's got the freaky music, the freaky entrance, the freaky appearance, and the name Boogeyman, you've got the potential to scare the crap out of the little kids with him. Hero vs Villain doesn't always have to be the knight in shining armor against the evil monster. Look at the rise in films and TV shows lately of having darker heroes. The Undertaker is a solid face who fits that dark/edgy hero archetype, so feuding him with a more sinister Boogeyman would fit so, so well. But what do they do with him, instead? They have him come out to scare Santino or to request if he can be an honorary member of DX with Khali and Hornswoggle. Ridiculous. The staff could be used as a weapon. The worms you could do without as that's more for laughs and not for any sort of eerie thing. The clock....well.....honestly, I have no freaking clue what the clock is there for in the first place. What's the point in that thing? Lol. Idk. The symbolism is lost on me. But man, that character had so much potential to be a freaky kind of guy that could pop out from underneath the ring (ala the whole "monster underneath the bed" situation), beat the crap out of someone, and drag them under the ring and you don't see them for the rest of the show. That'd be pretty cool.

Due to not getting Smackdown, I haven't seen much of this guy or promos from him. I did "youtube" his debut match, I think it was his debut match, against M.V.P. The match got boring quickly, but his finisher has promise.

The character has hidden potential. He reminds me of a character from a movie called "Doomsday". The character's name is "Sol" and he's basically a cannibal who's lost his mind and taken over what's left of part of Europe due to an outbreak.

I think the KizArny character would be a great heel idea, because Carnies are creepy to begin with.

Kinda like Doink the Clown would've been such a greater character if he would've been more heelish in a dark way, then a stupid kiddish way. Like the clown from "It".

One of the biggest faults about the Kizarny character is the whole carny-talk thing. It had potential, but they should've realized during the first read-through that it wasn't going to work. Nobody can understand anything he's saying. Wiza iza abizout toza showza yizou....freaking guy is the human equivalent of mixing Yoda's dyslexia with the flat out stupidity of Jar Jar Binks.

Not only are carnival folk weird as it is, but its a character that has a chance to entertain on a few different levels. For instance, the atmosphere. He came out to what...a yellow spotlight and that's it, I think? Man they could've had the lights on Smackdown going insane. Colors all over the place, real cheesy looking "grab your attention" shit going on like the carnivals do. And the DDT (if you can call it that, as MVP's head didn't even come close to the mat) doesn't work for a character like that. He'd need something flashy. They show vignettes over and over and over again where the freak show people are swallowing swords and burning their faces off and shooting themselves out of a cannon and all that junk, and this guy can't even do a Tornado DDT? Lol. They've got so many things to work with. A finisher with a pun name twisted from the term "fairground"? Terms like the sideshow...the house of mirrors...Ferris wheels...hell even cotton candy is a staple of carnivals, and they've got that at every arena out there. Seems like they just don't want to put the effort into it. I bet if I sat down for 20 minutes I'd come up with stuff they could use for the next 12 months, easily. But the WWE is just so focused on building one person at a time and downgrading everybody else in the process...its a shame. And, also, its a shame that the people portraying the Boogeyman/Kizarny characters are too old and too lacking in talent to make up for it.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Chris Masters

He had the look, decent wrestling ability, and ok mic skills. The Masterlock was an awful finisher and the Masterlock Challenge tried to get him over but when Bobby Lashley broke it, that was the end of Masters. He's young enough that he can come back to the WWE, and Vince would take that chance.