The Scarred One
The Greatest of All Time
We're all aware of Vince McMahon and the WWE's ability to create superstars. In the past, we've seen the likes of Chris Jericho, John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Edge, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Batista among others reign at the top while other stars such as the Miz, CM Punk, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger and Sheamus are on their way there.
But at the same time, Vince McMahon has let a lot of great talent slip through his fingers. Whether it be creative differences, disciplinary problems or personal issues, a lot of great talent that could've succeeded in WWE did not.
So out of all the names that have come and gone in the past, who is possibly the best that McMahon let get away? Had the circumstances been different, who would've been up there with the other names I've mentioned?
I have two examples:
1) Sean O'Haire
When he got called up to the main roster in WCW as a member of the Natural Born Thrillers, I thought this guy had something special. He had the look, the mic skills and moveset to really go places. After WCW went out of business and was sold to WWE, he, along with several other WCW employees, went with it. After a run as part of the WCW/ECW Alliance, he disappeared to Ohio Valley Wrestling to tune up. He was called back up to RAW a year later but didn't accomplish much.
But in 2003, O'Haire started appearing in vignettes for SmackDown in which he portrayed a Devil's advocate character. In these vignettes, he urged people to do things that we consider wrong and immoral (breaking the law, committing adultery, not going to church, doing drugs and alcohol, etc.). He also urged superstars like Dawn Marie and Brian Kendrick to do outrageous things. But this new persona was quickly abandoned as O'Haire became the apprentice of a returning "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. After Piper was released, O'Haire was left to fend for himself with appearances on Velocity before he got released in early 2004. Last I heard, he works as a professional bodyguard after a less-than-stellar career in mixed martial arts.
Now it's obvious that the Devil's advocate gimmick wouldn't fly in today's WWE because of the PG rating. But I think if the WWE kept the gimmick, he could've made it to the upper mid-card level at least.
2) Muhammad Hassan
After a couple of years in Ohio Valley Wrestling, he and Shawn Daivari went on the road with RAW testing out a new anti-American gimmick. As Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari, the WWE portrayed them as Arab-Americans who wanted relief from the increased oppression and discrimination they felt following Sept. 11. The gimmick was different from the likes of the Iron Shiek, Yokozuna and Nikolai Volkoff, who portrayed foreigners that despised the United States and its people. Instead, Hassan and Daivari were Americans of Middle Eastern descent who were raised with American ideals and values but felt mistreated due to their ethnicity. For the first couple of months, Hassan would constantly interrupt promos of other superstars and talk about being held back due to predjudice. In doing so, he became the most hated superstar in the WWE. So hated that when he entered the 2005 Royal Rumble, the faces and heels currently in the ring ganged up and eliminated him. Eventually, Hassan was drafted to SmackDown, where he immediately got into a feud with the Undertaker. Before the Great American Bash match, Daivari faced the Undertaker. Afterwards, Hassan summoned five masked men to beat up the Undertaker and carried Daivari away like a martyr.
The WWE's timing with this couldn't have been worse as the July 7 London Bombings took place hours before the episode aired. The media backlash following this caused UPN to demand Hassan's removal from the show. According to reports, Hassan was scheduled to win over the Undertaker, eventually going on to feud with Batista and possibly winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Now unable to show Hassan on SmackDown due to outside pressure, the WWE had no choice but have the Undertaker win and kill off the Hassan character, despite his popularity or notoriety with fans. Hassan and Daivari were sent back to developmental, but Hassan left the WWE months later with aspirations of becoming an actor.
Much like O'Haire, I felt that the Hassan gimmick wouldn't work in today's WWE environment. But how far would've Hassan rose had it not been for that segment? Would he have been a multiple time World Champion?
But those are just two examples of guys who had the potential to really thrive in WWE but, due to one circumstance or another, never lived up to it.
But who else would be considered the ones who Vince McMahon let slip through his fingers? Elijah Burke? Brian Kendrick? Chris Kanyon? Billy Kidman? Mr. Kennedy? Past or present, who comes to mind as far as being great talent but not finding great success in WWE?
But at the same time, Vince McMahon has let a lot of great talent slip through his fingers. Whether it be creative differences, disciplinary problems or personal issues, a lot of great talent that could've succeeded in WWE did not.
So out of all the names that have come and gone in the past, who is possibly the best that McMahon let get away? Had the circumstances been different, who would've been up there with the other names I've mentioned?
I have two examples:
1) Sean O'Haire
When he got called up to the main roster in WCW as a member of the Natural Born Thrillers, I thought this guy had something special. He had the look, the mic skills and moveset to really go places. After WCW went out of business and was sold to WWE, he, along with several other WCW employees, went with it. After a run as part of the WCW/ECW Alliance, he disappeared to Ohio Valley Wrestling to tune up. He was called back up to RAW a year later but didn't accomplish much.
But in 2003, O'Haire started appearing in vignettes for SmackDown in which he portrayed a Devil's advocate character. In these vignettes, he urged people to do things that we consider wrong and immoral (breaking the law, committing adultery, not going to church, doing drugs and alcohol, etc.). He also urged superstars like Dawn Marie and Brian Kendrick to do outrageous things. But this new persona was quickly abandoned as O'Haire became the apprentice of a returning "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. After Piper was released, O'Haire was left to fend for himself with appearances on Velocity before he got released in early 2004. Last I heard, he works as a professional bodyguard after a less-than-stellar career in mixed martial arts.
Now it's obvious that the Devil's advocate gimmick wouldn't fly in today's WWE because of the PG rating. But I think if the WWE kept the gimmick, he could've made it to the upper mid-card level at least.
2) Muhammad Hassan
After a couple of years in Ohio Valley Wrestling, he and Shawn Daivari went on the road with RAW testing out a new anti-American gimmick. As Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari, the WWE portrayed them as Arab-Americans who wanted relief from the increased oppression and discrimination they felt following Sept. 11. The gimmick was different from the likes of the Iron Shiek, Yokozuna and Nikolai Volkoff, who portrayed foreigners that despised the United States and its people. Instead, Hassan and Daivari were Americans of Middle Eastern descent who were raised with American ideals and values but felt mistreated due to their ethnicity. For the first couple of months, Hassan would constantly interrupt promos of other superstars and talk about being held back due to predjudice. In doing so, he became the most hated superstar in the WWE. So hated that when he entered the 2005 Royal Rumble, the faces and heels currently in the ring ganged up and eliminated him. Eventually, Hassan was drafted to SmackDown, where he immediately got into a feud with the Undertaker. Before the Great American Bash match, Daivari faced the Undertaker. Afterwards, Hassan summoned five masked men to beat up the Undertaker and carried Daivari away like a martyr.
The WWE's timing with this couldn't have been worse as the July 7 London Bombings took place hours before the episode aired. The media backlash following this caused UPN to demand Hassan's removal from the show. According to reports, Hassan was scheduled to win over the Undertaker, eventually going on to feud with Batista and possibly winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Now unable to show Hassan on SmackDown due to outside pressure, the WWE had no choice but have the Undertaker win and kill off the Hassan character, despite his popularity or notoriety with fans. Hassan and Daivari were sent back to developmental, but Hassan left the WWE months later with aspirations of becoming an actor.
Much like O'Haire, I felt that the Hassan gimmick wouldn't work in today's WWE environment. But how far would've Hassan rose had it not been for that segment? Would he have been a multiple time World Champion?
But those are just two examples of guys who had the potential to really thrive in WWE but, due to one circumstance or another, never lived up to it.
But who else would be considered the ones who Vince McMahon let slip through his fingers? Elijah Burke? Brian Kendrick? Chris Kanyon? Billy Kidman? Mr. Kennedy? Past or present, who comes to mind as far as being great talent but not finding great success in WWE?