MizterColemine
Whoo.. is this rooodyPOO?
I'm sure a similar thread has come up in the past, and if it has recently please forgive me, but as I YouTube through WWE memories I can't help but consider a few extremely gifted superstars who were underutilized year after year (after year).
The first to come to mind is someone for whom there were multiple options for the making of a Great: Shelton Benjamin. Granted, his mic skills were horrible, but not any worse than Jack Swagger who won a Money-In-The-Bank ladder match, and had at least a short title run. This is my number 1 argument for my point, that Shelton was often the highlight of such a match, given his speed, agility, top not technique and abundantly above average athleticism, and yet never really got a serious chance and usually got squashed by any main eventer he went one on one with.
Team Angle/The World's Greatest Tag Team had the potential to AT LEAST be mentioned in a list of WWE's best Tag Teams if they hadn't split and continued to be taken seriously by bookers. But instead they were split up in a draft (correct me if I'm wrong). To some it looked like an opportunity for a Benjamin push but alas, both he and Haas spend the rest of their careers being shuffled around playing the "annoying lower mid card douch-bag" trying to remake names for themselves.
We don't know what went on behind the scenes, or if Benjamin got lazy, or didn't get along with lockerroom or the McMahon-Helmsley's didn't like him, but what became apparent was that when they gave him a gimmick appropriate for a push- the "Gold Standard", he wouldn't do the name justice and his career eventually faded to black (No pun intended)
I have one more example. It may sound weird, but this character is someone I feel never lived up to the prestige his name could have had to go along with epic storylines and legendary sagas of rivalries shared with his "brother" in darkness, The Undertaker, son of the "Rotund Demon" himself, Paul Bearer. I speak of none other than Kane.
This character... probably the creation most appropriately deserving of the adjectives; monster, and machine, has for 13 years, about, been gracing us with his fire. He can stand strong and unforgiving like rock, and under the correct pressure have a meltdown of volcanic proportions that eventually burns anything in his path. He's had some of the most interesting angles in Attitude Era, being the monster heel, the loveable big guy to the small guy in tag-teams, the beast to a beauty romances and love triangles... he's been used multiple times by the likes of Undertaker, the Corporation, Chyna, Paul Bearer. He's been tortured. He's been such an important part of WWE history in the past 10/15 years, but why doesn't he have as many title runs as Edge?
Most appauling was his 24 hour Championship reign.
Why did it take until last year for him to have a suitable reign with a decent angle?
And why did they undermine and tarnish that reign with what might be the most ridiculous story line of the PG Era; the Paul Bearer kidnapping?
Who are your top 1 or 2 among WWE's Most UnderAppreciated Superstars?
Do you agree with these two choices?
Given the fact that the writers aren't always right in who they push or how they push talent-wise, is there a solution that would make booking more just?
The first to come to mind is someone for whom there were multiple options for the making of a Great: Shelton Benjamin. Granted, his mic skills were horrible, but not any worse than Jack Swagger who won a Money-In-The-Bank ladder match, and had at least a short title run. This is my number 1 argument for my point, that Shelton was often the highlight of such a match, given his speed, agility, top not technique and abundantly above average athleticism, and yet never really got a serious chance and usually got squashed by any main eventer he went one on one with.
Team Angle/The World's Greatest Tag Team had the potential to AT LEAST be mentioned in a list of WWE's best Tag Teams if they hadn't split and continued to be taken seriously by bookers. But instead they were split up in a draft (correct me if I'm wrong). To some it looked like an opportunity for a Benjamin push but alas, both he and Haas spend the rest of their careers being shuffled around playing the "annoying lower mid card douch-bag" trying to remake names for themselves.
We don't know what went on behind the scenes, or if Benjamin got lazy, or didn't get along with lockerroom or the McMahon-Helmsley's didn't like him, but what became apparent was that when they gave him a gimmick appropriate for a push- the "Gold Standard", he wouldn't do the name justice and his career eventually faded to black (No pun intended)
I have one more example. It may sound weird, but this character is someone I feel never lived up to the prestige his name could have had to go along with epic storylines and legendary sagas of rivalries shared with his "brother" in darkness, The Undertaker, son of the "Rotund Demon" himself, Paul Bearer. I speak of none other than Kane.
This character... probably the creation most appropriately deserving of the adjectives; monster, and machine, has for 13 years, about, been gracing us with his fire. He can stand strong and unforgiving like rock, and under the correct pressure have a meltdown of volcanic proportions that eventually burns anything in his path. He's had some of the most interesting angles in Attitude Era, being the monster heel, the loveable big guy to the small guy in tag-teams, the beast to a beauty romances and love triangles... he's been used multiple times by the likes of Undertaker, the Corporation, Chyna, Paul Bearer. He's been tortured. He's been such an important part of WWE history in the past 10/15 years, but why doesn't he have as many title runs as Edge?
Most appauling was his 24 hour Championship reign.
Why did it take until last year for him to have a suitable reign with a decent angle?
And why did they undermine and tarnish that reign with what might be the most ridiculous story line of the PG Era; the Paul Bearer kidnapping?
Who are your top 1 or 2 among WWE's Most UnderAppreciated Superstars?
Do you agree with these two choices?
Given the fact that the writers aren't always right in who they push or how they push talent-wise, is there a solution that would make booking more just?
