Which big star did you think wouldn't get anywhere?

[Unrated Superstar]

This thread is about WWE superstars who didn't look like they would get to the status they're at today around the time they debuted, whether it be not being promoted, a bad gimmick, or whatever. They don't have to have been world champions, just as long as you think they've gotten farther than it looked like they would get. I know most people don't start out at the top, but there are some people you look at and you think they're gonna be an absolute failure, so I thought this would be fun. I can think of quite a few, but in order to leave room for other people to come up with names I'm just gonna name one. I believe this one is the most ironic.

John Cena. He's arguably being pushed stronger than anyone else on the roster, and it's been that way for a while. But when he debuted he was a no-name. Hell, he lost his first match. It was on Smackdown against Kurt Angle in July of 2002. He just came out of nowhere and challenged Angle. Granted, he gave Angle a run for his money, but who knew he'd get where he is today? For a while he didn't even have a gimmick, just some kid in bright shorts. Then he got the wigger gimmick and started to go places as a heel. Then he got even farther after turning face, and that's how he progressed until he got to being the WWE's Superman.

As always, please don't just mention names, provide reasons as well.

 

[Jonny B]

I swear to high heaven that if this Thread gets hijacked into another Cena thread, heads are going to roll.

I remember back in 1999 when Kurt Angle debuted, through 2000 I really didn't see the guy going that far within the company, even when he captured the Championship at No Mercy I still didn't think he would be a bonified star, but obviously I was proven wrong in the end.

 

[A.J.]

i'm going with Batista. When he debuted i thought he would never last long inthe WWE. Even when he was with Evoultion i just thought he be another Mark Henry. He never struck me as a guy who could be the man with his skills and mic skills. Though he has become a star thanks to poltics he was one who i never thought get anywhere.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I agree with you totally about John Cena. I remember when he debuted against Angle on Smackdown, I thought he was some jobber who I'd never see again. Then I stopped watching SD for a while, and when I tuned back in, I was shocked to see how over he was (at the time).

Three obvious names come to my mind on this question, over and above Cena:

1. Steve Austin. Debuted in the WWE as the Million Dollar Champion, with Ted DiBiase at his side. Stupid gimmick which would have gone nowhere. Only once he became Stone Cold did he really take off, thanks largely to Bret Hart.

2. HHH. As the blue-blooded Hunter Hearst Helmsley, I thought he was destined for mid card status at best. Only once he developed his arrogant attitude, his edge, thanks largely to DX, did he become one of the best of all time.

3. The Rock. As Rocky Maivia, he was going nowhere. The Nation of Domination did nothing to help him. Only once the became "the Rock" instead of Rocky Maivia, the People's Champion, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, did his popularity soar.

I'm sure there are others as well, but these 4 names really stand out for me.

 

[Shocky]

There goes Jonny's head. I hate John Cena, damn that Cena he sucks. He doesn't deserve anything....

This one is kinda tough, because WWE had a tendency to get belts on guys that deserve it, and sometimes undeserving. It's gotta be Edge though. Here is a guy that really was pushed pretty good at the beginning, but he didn't say anything. He kinda got lost in the shuffle. Even with Edge and Christian he was the comedic relief of the show and never really looked to get out of mid card status. Followed his tag run by a very lackluster face turn, and I was convinced the guy was going the way of Val Venis. But something happened. he Got injured again and came back, but he had the attitude change around Taboo Tuesday, and it was on. Now Edge is personally the most enjoyable reason to watch Raw. He is amazing in the ring, and damn good on the mic. I honestly believe the man is better with the belt instead of chasing it.

 

[BigTony4284]

I never really thought Christian was going to develop into much of a character. I always saw him as a mid-card wrestler at best when he was in the WWE. He didn't have the size or ring presence that the top tier guys had back in the attitude era. That and he never really had the gimmick to take him to the top early, since he was tied up in tag teams for all that time. It looked to me like he was gonna get that world title reign eventually if he would've stayed with WWE, but it looks like he's got it going over in TNA.

 

[Moon Knight]

Believe it or not HBK. When I saw him in the rockers I didn't like his look or anything, I was honestly thinking he was to small and would not go far and be a mid carder for a while...Man was I wrong.

 

[TNA Smark]

Edge- His look didnt appear to me and I didnt think his gimmick could of gone far and when he started tagging with Christian and they hada change of gimmick I thought they would have him do tag team for ever until he drifted away from tag teaming and became a singles wrestler, I thought he would be pushed to main event.

Stone Cold- When I first saw him in WWF he was feuding with The Rock's nation of domination. I thought he would be a mid card forever. I never thought he would excell and become a top star and have all those amazing feuds with Vince Mcmahon, Triple H and etc.

Triple H- He was a bonified jobber before DX and even did a 30 secound or so job to Ultimate Warrior. Then when DX was born he was basically HBK's lacky. Only until he became the leader of DX did I think he would go far.

Brock Lesnar- When he was brought in as Paul Heymans monster. I thought he would of just been released soon after since I believe Heyman managed someone else in the past and they didnt go over or was that Heidenrich right after he had Lesnar. Anyway point being is he just didnt have the look of a champion and when he first started he didnt seem to have the charisma that soon grew on to him.

 

[ErkBono23]

honestly i would have to go with the rock...when he first debuted he did not look like much...he had this shitty haircut...he just did not have "the look" at that current moment and time...The rock proves a famous phrase "Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover"....who the fuck would have that the first night Rocky debuted he would end up being a future hall of famer called "The Rock"....

 

[EP Punk]

Definitely Edge has to go on the list. When he first came in as the silent, vampire hunter type, he really didn't seem to be going anywhere...and damn, look at him now.
Another has to be Gregory Helms. First, he was a WCW transfer...usually not a good sign unless you are Rey Mysterio or Booker T. Second, he is a cruiserweight. Third, they tried to push him as a superhero. Those three things added together spelled almost certain disaster, and then, the took the mask off, got the green dye out of his hair, and bingo bango bongo!!!

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Good Thread.

Id Have To Say Triple H like someone said before he was a bonified jobber. Then ther was the whole msg incident i thought he would never amount to anything. But then he started working harder than ever and now he is a TEN time champ. Goes to show you what a lot of hard work and dedication can do for ya.

Honorable mention goes to. Batista, John Cena, and Edge

 

[Shocky]

The only reason I will disagree with Triple H is because Triple H screwed himself. The Kliq Incident in MSG was stupid as hell and Triple H was the fall guy. HHH was set to win king of the ring 96, so Vince saw the potential in him. He was punished for what he did, and got the push afterwards that he was going to get anyway.

 

[X]

There are quite a few IMO.

Christian - I never saw him going anywhere outside of his tag team with Edge. I just didn't think he had it in him and I also didn't think any promotion would give him the chance.

Edge - Another guy who I always loved and always thought had the required talent to do the job, but I never saw him going past midcard status. After E&C broke up I figured his career would just fizzle out. Thank god I was wrong.

JBL - He worked his ass off for years, but I don't think the guy deserves anything about a midcard title. He just hasn't proven his work ethic. Further more, when the APA broke up I assumed his career was over.

Chris Benoit - First off let me say that Benoit is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, and is IMO the most technically sound of all time (even more then Bret Hart IMO). However when he first showed up in the WWF, I never saw him getting past the IC title. As time went on that opinion seemed to be proven true as he spent years and years in the midcard after his initial huge push. When I started following wrestling again I was in complete shock that the guy had gotten the title. He deserves much more.

Chris Jericho - Another guy I never saw rising above the midcard. Another one of my all time favorites and another one of the most technically sound wrestlers of all time. When 2001 came around I honestly was in disbelief that the guy won the Undisputed title, especially the first ever! One of the few times WWE pushed the right guy.

Eddie Guerrero - See how this is going? Yet another of my favorites, and another one of the best of all time. Another guy I also saw not reaching past the midcard. And that too seemed to be true until 2004 when the WWE decided to give the titles to the two BEST wrestlers on the roster as opposed to who they liked personally. I figured his career was over in terms of pushes when the whole Mexican stereotype tag team with Chavo began and you started seeing them mowing lawns in commercials.

Those come off the top of my head.

Batista and Cena I knew were gonna be champs one day. How? Because Vince loves putting the title on guys who couldn't put on a good match if their lives depended on it. (*coughcough*Hogan, Andre, Yokozuna*coughcough*)

 

[Monkey_Mania]

You make a good point Shockmaster.

Well then after i think about it some more i'll have to go with JBL

JBL was a surprise to me, i mean one week the guy goes from a tag team wrestler to the next week he's a rich billionaire challenging Eddie Guererro for the title. Here's a guy who was in the WWE for over 10 years and nothing more than a tag team wrestler (anyone remember John Hawk???) so he decided to work his ass off cuz in time he would get noticed and he did plus he also had a luck break with Ron Simmons retiring. But Yeah JBL is the one guy i though would never make it huge in the biz

 

[Diablo]

JBL. I always thought he would be in tag teams and nothing more. He had been like that for a long time and he all of a sudden had the WWE championship and was the top heel on Smackdown. He was a big surprise to me.

 

[BigTony4284]

Good points about JBL. There wasn't really any way that you could put a gimmick like Bradshaw on top. As soon as he picked up the JBL gimmick, it gave him that character that had a 'position of power' in the real world. That really shot him up the ranks and gave him that quality of a world champion instead of being the enforcer he had been for so many years.

I don't know if I can agree with Xfear on the Jericho one though. As soon as I saw him back in WCW I thought he had the potential for a champion. He was young, cocky, arrogant, good on the mic, and sound in the ring. With all that combined with the gimmick he got, I didn't see a way he wouldn't make it to the top at some point.

 

[Unrated Superstar]

I'm glad to see this thread I started is so popular.

I noticed Batista was mentioned a few times, if I hadn't decided I was only gonna say one person I would have said him too. But I'm surprised nobody mentioned his original gimmick in WWE...Reverend D-Von's Deacon Batista. I really didn't think he'd go places.

But here's one nobody's mentioned.

MISTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR KENNEDAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!

Sorry, I just had to. But seriously, when he came in he was Ken Kennedy. What kind of name is that for a big star? Aside from that, he wasn't really built up much, he just kind of came in and I thought he'd be gone soon. I even remember talking about him at the time with a friend of mine and saying "He's not gonna get anywhere." Now look at him, he's sure to get a world title reign some time in the near future. Probably partly because from what I hear he's a nice guy backstage.

How about Umaga? When he first came in he was Jamal. Who knew he'd get to where he is today? Hell, even when he came in as Umaga it seemed like some dumb gimmick that was sure to fade quickly.

There's also Randy Orton. The guy came in as some random dude with no personality, and he wound up becoming the world heavyweight champion, however shortlived that may have been. And although he hasn't been a world champion since, he's been in some major main event storylines. Too bad he keeps dicking himself over by being an idiot.

Just thought I'd add those in. Who else can we think of?

 

[KingBooker1987]

i would say booker t...lol. and that isnt a bias opinion. i thought he would just be a 100 time tag-team champion. but he won the world belt a plethora of times.

 

[adamjohnson]

I would have to say the road dogg jesse james. The guy made his debut as jeff jarrett's roadie, then went on to feud with honky tonk mad and billy "rockabilly" gunn. When the feud burnt out and they were thrown together as a tag team, i thought that was the kiss of death for his career. A few years later and he's considered by some to be one half of one of the greatest tag teams of his era

 

[WackerJr]

I'm with Unrated Superstar on Umaga. Although I don't know how long it'll last I thought that he was going to go the way of Rikishi in that when he came back he was this uber-strength character, but then they quickly took away moves like the Rikishi-bomb or whatever it was and gave him the shove-ass-in-face move. Although he remained quite high on the roster for a bit he was not the monster for very long that I thought he was going to be. Umaga's lasted longer than I thought he would, and he actually has some powerful moves that I enjoy seeing (no I'm not including the Samoan Spike!).

The Hardys when they first started I enjoyed watching, in their chequered attire. However, when I first saw them I thought they were being used by the WWE as simply a jobbing tag team and couldn't see them as big as they are today.

 

[getadam]

Hey guys, I'm a newbie here, my first post so I'll try to make it good! lol, My picks would have to be Stone Cold, Bobby Lashley, and Rey Mysterio Jr. I mean Rey was popular and all but I never saw him as a champ, I absolutely loved the guy in his days in WCW but was like he is too small to be a world champ. Lashley, I figured was just too damn quiet and was very good in the ring, his intensity reminds me of Triple H and I thought he was gonna be stuck as Batista' powerhouse lacky sidekick for awhile there at SD but then all the sudden he jumped to ECW n became the champ. Austin, well just based on his WCW days I couldn't see it happening and him introducing the Attitude Era.

 

[TheRealDC]

basically... everyone from the TLC stories... Edge, Christian, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Bubba Ray Dudley and D'Von Dudley...

E&C: When Edge debuted, I watched his very first WWF match, I can't remember it, but it was shown on Shotgun Saturday Night (if you remember that one.) I thought he was cool, but he didn't catch on very quickly and I watched the whole entire Brood thing, and thought he had potential, but he never quite clicked for me. I kinda zoned him out for a while, but I loved the entrance.

Christian, was the one person I thought that was a complete tool. And would fade away shortly after the Brood disbanded, but him teaming with Edge was interesting to see, but again, he didn't quite click.

The Hardy Boyz: Their high flying sold me to them very quickly, but man... those plaid tights were crappy looking... they looked like two goobers flying around and I thought they needed a change before they took off...

The Dudleyz: When they jumped to WWF, I thought that the whole stuttering gimmick was at a lose, I admit to not knowing that they purposely acted like assholes. But I thought they would be fired for being so stupid.

Needless to say, I was wrong about E&C and the Hardyz. Once the Hardyz banded to become the New Brood... and they started to come out in all these weird clothes and Jeff with his weird hair, I was hooked. Both teams amazed me, and to me, they were the high light of the night.

The Dudleyz came after E&C vs HB's ladder match I know, so those guys were already climbing the ladder to success (no pun intended) but the Dudleyz, until they started using tables, were just a regular old tag team to me, annoying as hell, but they had a cool finisher.

I'm a huge fan of the Tag Team Division, and all six of these guys were simply amazing when they worked together.

 

[Downward Spiral]

I'll have to go with a current wrestler as I don't really know much about guys like HHH and Edge when they first started here, although when you come down to it, naerly every big wrestler today had to have started from rock bottom, and you won't expect a lot of people to go far.

I'm definitely going with Bobby Lashley because, whilst he may not be getting insane reactions with the crowds, he is getting pushes that guys would kill for. I'm not going to bring up his wrestling abilities in this post as that's another thing, and I will concentrate on his push. Who would have thought that this guy would be in the most hyped match at Wrestlemania 23 when he first came in? I certainly didn't and still don't believe it either. He just looked too bland to have anything going for him. Once you annihalate a whole mid card, where do you go? The answer for Lashley is that he got an unexpected push up to being one of the main draws in the company. Even when he was US Champion, you didn't think he'd ever go further than that, and even when he was main eventing SD, I don't think any of us believed he was actually in the limelight so to speak.

The guy was basically a young guy to everyone who expected him to stay in the mid card with low level feuds with the likes of Finlay on SD but the move to ECW really helped this guy. It shows that even on the lowest brand, looking unstoppable is a good way to get over. I still have no idea what exactly his character is, if any, but the fans are warming up to him. Vince McMahon has only been good for him and whether or not he is the right guy to be in the main event is another thing. They've taken a shot in the dark from my view with Lashley because he was the least likely wrestler to get that main event spot and it was risky to see how the fans would react to him but it has all worked out in the end for him. I never saw much in this guy but I've been proven wrong and he looks like main eventing for a long time, albeit on ECW. I never saw much potential in him and still don't, but he is the guy I feel is the most unlikely guy to be pushed in the past few years but like I said, there will be way more people back in the 90's who have turned out to be big stars like Lashley, but I just don't know enough about ther early years.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Batista: When he made his debut in 2002. There was only one big muscular guy WWE wanted to push and that was Lesnar. Batista was nothing more than a lackey to a opening match wrestler. He then got involved with Evolution and despite being involved with HHH, Flair and the up and coming Orton, he was still a jobber. Batista being a main event pleayer is the biggest surprise in wrestling. He's never shown anything that warrent's his massive push. I saw potential in Cena when he had his heel rapper gimmick. Batista was pushed because Orton failed (or in my opinion not given a proper oppertunit). It only dawned on me that he that they were considering pushing him, when he won the Rumble. I never thought he would make it, and I don't know why he has.

 

[Kasey]

My top guy would have to be The Rock. He was boring as it gets upon debuting in 1996. Even though he battled back to defeat nearly an entire team at Survivor Series in his PPV debut, he was just plain. It was once he turned heel that my view rotated to the opposite direction...and I mean all the way. He began getting fearsome reactions from the crowd and his mic skills were progressing at an astronomical rate with catch phrases bursting out the wazoo. I finally knew he was something special when he made Ken Shamrock's wrestling seem legitimately exciting.