OVW: Class Of 2002

[asiatic7]

It's been ten years already since the debut of in my opinon, the most successful class of rookies to enter WWE, OVW 2002. This group had so much potential. Some promised and some unfullfilled but non the less, a great bunch of wrestlers who's influence is still felt today.

Here is a quick rundown of a few of these "future" stars:
1.John Cena- arguably the cream of the crop here. The Champ came into the WWE and instantly got in the face of arguably the greatest wrestler of the modern era, Kurt Angle. Cena went on to re-invent himself into a hip hop rhyme spittin' wordsmith with an attitude. The gimmick got over and put Cena into the main event for years to come. He remains the face of the company till this day...

2.Brock Lesnar- The Next Big Thing debuted the night after an epic Wrestlemania (18) and ran roughshod over everything in his path to become the most dominant force in WWE, becoming the youngest WWE champion in history...in just mere months! But after two years of hard traveling, the "Naive Farm Boy" decided to call it quits. Now he's back in one of the most controversial storylines in years...

3.Batista- The former Leviathan of OVW came in the WWE as a big flunky of Brother Devon with a suitcase and chain. With HHH and Ric Flair's influence, Batista became a bonafide star and multiple time World Champion and have a very successful career as a singles star and as part of Evolution.

4.Randy Orton- Maybe it's too soon to say he had a fall from grace considering his current standing in the company, but a star regardless. This third generation star was bred for success. Another student from the school of Flair and HHH. The Viper went on to become a major player in the WWE, but his reputation outside of the ring is becoming as big as his exploits inside the ring. Seems like his demons finally caught up with him...shame

5.World's Greatest Tag Team- Hass and Benjamin went on to define tag team wrestling under the guidance and tutelage of Kurt Angle. Arguably one of the best tag teams in the last ten years. Benjamin had a great singles run and many great matches that seem to be forgotten. Should have acheived more, but a lack of interest from the office kept him from reaching superstar status...

6.Matt Morgan- So much potential and had the "look" that Vince gets off on. Got "future endeavored", re surfaced in TNA, found mediocre success and seems to be on his way back to WWE...maybe. According to him, he was a favorite among other big men like taker' and Brock. They taught him the craft, maybe if he does return he can fullfill his potential. (I personally thought he should have been the face of TNA!)

7.Renee Dupree- Some had this guy tapped as a future star and world champion but never lived up to that hype. Maybe his reputation of being an asshole backstage was part of his unraveling?

8.Nick Dinsmore- Great wrestler with a horrible offensive gimmick. The Doink of his era. A great example of how WWE can take pure talent and bury it under a terrible character.

There was also Doug Basham, Idol Aaron Stevens (Damien Sandow) and a few others, but my question is this, Is there a better crop of talent (rookies) to ever debut at one time...ever?

 

[lfrancis24]

the current group in fcw/new nxt has the potential

1. kassius o-no
2. seth rollins
3. dean ambrose
4. richie steamboat jr
5. antonio cesar
hell even some of the divas like. paige and sofia and even raquel diaz

if the wwe with triple h running the show does the right thing.. wwe will be back better than ever

 

[wrestler36]

1998 was a great year for debuts, and arguably the most exciting time for WWE. A few names of prominence:

Edge - Hall of Famer, World Champ, IC, Tag, etc.

Christian - World Champ, Tag, IC, etc

Val Venis - multiple IC champ and tag champ. Very controversial gimmick at the time, and underrated as far as 'pops' and wrestling ability

Test - multiple IC champ and tag champ. Great feud with Steph/Triple H

Hardy Boyz - technically, they were before 98 as developmental talent, but they made their 'official' debut in 98 and had legendary tag team careers as well as excellent single careers

Gangrel - Awesome gimmick and entrance. Leader of Brood and supporting in Corporate Ministry. I could be wrong, but I think he was IC champ at one point.

Droz - unfortunately, his career was cut short, but he was IC champ, tag champ and looked to have a promising career.

There were a ton of diva debuts - Ivory, Jackie, Debra, but I didn't include them since they all had somewhat mainstream appearances before 98. I'm probably missing a few, but that's a pretty solid group of talent, especially with E&C and the Hardys being world champ at one point (I'm stretching with Matt as ECW champ)

 

[Y2Justin]

I agreed with you until you gave Droz title reigns...its actually a shame because he probably could have ended up being a European Champion or tag champ with Albert if it wasnt for his accident...

 

[playmaker21]

Out of all the names you mentioned of the OVW Class of 2002, there is a couple of guys a lot of you might not have heard of.

Ali Stevens, also known as Steve Sharpe, was the OVW Heavyweight Champion in OVW in 2000. Even with Cena, Lesnar, Batista, and the others there. He was the man down there and was destined to be a big star in the WWF. Then his developmental deal came up and Vince wanted him to spend a little more time in OVW, aka developmental, because at the time (late 2001) the WWF was loaded with talent. Growing impatient, he got an offer from WCW, which by this time everyone in the business knew WCW was dying. He took the offer from WCW, appeared once on tv as a security guard, and months later WWE bought WCW. Well, as you all may know, Vince McMahon holds grudges. So Stevens (Sharpe) was left out in the cold. And was never even offered a developmental deal after the WCW buyout.

The other guy was J.D. Hall, an indy wrestler from Missouri. Hall had just began appearing at Memphis Power Pro and OVW in early 2000. After "Superstar" Steve Bradley left Memphis and went to Puerto Rico to get ready for the "call up", Power Pro and OVW (who used a lot of the same workers to give the developmental talent two tv shows a week). So there was a huge hole to fill. You see, Steve Bradley had filled the spot vacated by Kurt Angle when Angle got called up. The cocky, arogant young heel. Well, J.D. Hall was to be the next one in line. But then something happened. Bob Orton made some calls around as his son couldn't hack it with a normal job, had been kicked out of the military, and was getting in trouble out in the "real world". So Orton was given this "spot" that Hall was supposed to receive. So a good, young worker in Hall, who had began in the industry at the age of 16, worked hard and had really came into his own, was bumped down for Orton, who could care less about wrestling. Hall would later break his neck in a training accident, over rotating on a 450 splash and landing on his head breaking his neck. Although he fully recovered from the accident, Hall decided to move on from the business, going back to college.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I don't think WWE will ever have a more successful crop of rookies than they did in 2002.

For OVW to produce probably the 4 biggest stars of the last decade in that one class is an incredible achievement, and they absolutely struck gold when they discovered Lesnar, Cena, Orton and Batista. Just look at the list of accolades that these 4 have achieved since their debuts- you are looking at around 30 world title reigns- incredible!

Throw in guys like Matt Morgan- who has done pretty well in TNA and looks set to be returning to the 'E, in the near future, and Renee Dupree who had a good run in La Resistance, and even Aaaron Stevens (who looks set for a nice run as Damien Sandow right now), and you have a class loaded with talent.

What would WWE give right now to have that kind of talent coming through!

 

[IT Factor]

I guess that makes Brock Lesnar the validictorian huh?! I bet that's the only time that's happened. Too bad it's "here comes the pain" & not "here comes the brain". Guess Heenan would've sent a nasty legal letter....

Anyway, yeah. 2002 looked to be the best class of new talents although they still have alot of talented people in developemental. Looks like HHH may be a better judge of talent and potential moreso than Vince.

 

[Booker Van Dam]

Yeah, OVW 2002 is pretty much tops. I mean in star power alone, it boasts four world champs. I think Victoria came from this class as well, so all divisions did really well.

 

[XXJJ]

That OVW 2002 class was amazing. Along with Edge those 4 were probably the biggest stars of the last 10 years.

If I would rank them...
1. Cena.
2. Orton
3. Batista
4. Lesnar (only 2 years with the WWE)


If I remember correctly Shelton Benjamin was also a member of the 2002 OVW class.

 

[HBsam31]

Yeah it would definitely have to be the best class ever to come up at once. It's going to be pretty hard ever to top that list of talent. I am curious to see how the guys in FCW that are just about ready to debut will do. Only time will tell that so for now 2002 is tops.