Which ECW Champion was most wasted in WWE?

[Hollywood Naitch]

The name of the thread says it all. Over the years we saw most former World Champions in the original ECW ply their trade in WWE at some point.

Sandman
Sabu
Raven
Rhino
Shane Douglas
Justin Credible
Jerry Lynn
Mike Awesome
Tommy Dreamer
Taz

and probably some others I am forgetting. Now, what I want to know is.... which of these guys do you think was mis-used worse than any other. Who could have contributed more than they did...had they only been given the chance. It is well known that most of these ECW guys never accomplished much in the 'E, some were too hardcore, some just werent rated by Vince and the WWE bookers...

I am not going to go into the reasons why I think RAVEN would be my pick, it is well known I am a huge Raven mark...so I will go another route with 2 other picks.

JERRY LYNN

Jerry Lynn is one of the most talented wrestlers in the business, even at the veteran end of his career. His run in ECW was brilliant, and his legendary series of matches with RVD still stand out to me today. After this he was christened with the nickname "The NEW F'n Show"...Lynn was capable of working with anyone and putting on a great match.

When he arrived in WWE, he won the Light Heavyweight title on his debut and carried the belt for a few months, mainly competing on Heat. He then suffered an injury and was out of action for several months, during which time the Invasion occured, bringing all the former ECW wrestlers back into the spotlight. Lynn was told upon his return to health that there was no spot for him in the Alliance...which compltely mystifies me. Here you have an incredibly talented superstar, a former ECW champion...and you cannot find space for him in a faction with ALL former ECW stars????

After leaving the WWE, Lynn became one of the X-Division pioneers in TNA, and had a great feud with AJ Styles and Low-Ki, and later becoming the mentor of Chris Sabin. He is still putting on great matches in ROH today.

I think it was a complete waste of Jerry Lynn's talents. He never even wrestled on a WWE PPV, and could have put on tremendous matches with the likes of Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and many others. I would love to have seen him in a prominant position in the Alliance. Yeah his mic skills have never been amazing, but as an in-ring competitor,there were few better. His style was exciting, athletic and would have gelled well with many other superstars in the WWE at that time. I think he would have been a worthy European or Intercontinental champion for sure.

Hell, after the Incasion he could have feuded with RVD again, the matches would have blown the roof off the arena.

WHO ARE YOUR PICKS?

 

[nbrew2119]

Out of that list, I have a tie between the two that I think was waisted the most: Justin Credible/Mike Awesome.

Before he became Justin Credible, he was Aldo Montoya, and he wore what looked like a jockstrap on his face, hardly ever winning a match. Then, after he came back to the WWE years later, he was put in a tag team with X-Pac, and Albert in X-Factor. He was never given a chance by himself, even during the Invasion storyline.

Mike Awesome-he won the Hardcore title on his debut, but, after that, nothing, unless you watched the Smackdown jobber show(cant remember the name right now). After the Invasion was over, so was he, and he was released not even a year into his WWE career. But, we all know what happened with him in WCW. Fat Chick Thriller(ugh), That 70s guy(ugh), and he made his debut there sneak attacking Kevin Nash, while still being the ECW champion. RIP Mike Awesome

 

[Xemmy]

Raven or Shane Douglas...

I'll go with Raven, because he seemed like he should have made it to the top to me.

Raven was THE heel of ECW (to me) during '95 to '97.
He was one of the first wrestlers to utilize the cult gimmick, and his fueds with Sandman and Tommy Dreamer were fantastic. One of the things that crosses my mind, is how does CM Punk get away with grand theft gimmick? XD Just joking ofcourse, but they really are so similar- I don't understand why he couldn't have been given that gimmick. The roster was bloated anyway, stuff a couple of wrestlers into a cult and BAM. Raven would have taken off. The Nest has been half-assed in TNA and WCW, but it never got a chance in WWE- which has a history of setting big beautiful fires out of cult gimmicks. (Ministry of Darkness, Straight Edge Society, New Nexus)

Instead, his gimmick was watered down, and he became just one of the boys after the hardcore title. It's a damn tragedy

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Mike Awesome-he won the Hardcore title on his debut, but, after that, nothing, unless you watched the Smackdown jobber show(cant remember the name right now). After the Invasion was over, so was he, and he was released not even a year into his WWE career. But, we all know what happened with him in WCW. Fat Chick Thriller(ugh), That 70s guy(ugh), and he made his debut there sneak attacking Kevin Nash, while still being the ECW champion. RIP Mike Awesome

Awesome was going to be my other pick. He was criminally wasted in WCW with 2 of the worst gimmicks of all time, after being so dominant in ECW and looking like a genuine superstar in the making.

I have posted several times on these boards about how great Mike Awesome should have become, and I will say again...there are very few men the size of Awesome that could do what he could in the ring. His arsenal of powerbombs were devastating, he could fly, he could brawl...I really do think Mike Awesome could have been a legitimate star in the WWE or WCW, had he been given the opportunity, and not be sent back to jobber status after Undertaker (i think) announced he could not work.

He should have dominated the Hardcore division, and maybe even been given the tag-titles as part of a duo, before being given a shot higher up the card. His size and power would have been great to see going up against some of the bigger stars. I would have paid good money to see Mike Awesome hit HHH or Stephanie with an Awesome bomb...brilliant

 

[Mr. Ass]

To me, it has to be Shane Douglas. I don't remember much about him in WWF, which is exactly why he is my choice. This guy had two long runs as ECW Champion (probably a year long each, i don't recall the exact length), and then goes to WWF, and is gone in no time. He comes back as "Dean Douglas", and again, probably about 8-12 months, he's out the door. I remember Douglas from ECW and even more of WCW than I do from his brief stints in WWF. Justin Credible is a close 2nd for me. Aldo Montoya, i mean c'mon, what was that supposed to be????

 

[Vampiro]

It's funny because even TNA has misused former ECW talent, EV 2.0 Physically made me dislike the Extreme name, However i'm going to say, Tommy Dreamer & Raven... The creators of hardcore, I dont think the WWE ever had an eye for Totally Extreme Wrestling, They might have gone "Hardcore" but it was never an Extreme company, so it's no suprise to me that they where misused however, With TNA, they are supposed to be the ECW rivival... Bull**** .... Steven Richards, Sabu, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, RVD, Raven... Now lets look at how many are actually still there... 2?

RVD is always going to be big wherever he goes.
Mick Foley is always going to attract big crowds, because he's a big name

... Raven, before EV2 had a fued with Jeff Hardy and he was a massive heel, i actually loved Raven before he joined EV2
... Stevie Richards, one of the best wrestlers i've ever seen, Had a Doctors role as the Psychologist of Abyss... Wow, Major B*S
... Sabu, he can still pull out a flaming table go through it and win a match, yet when EV2 came about, nothing, absolutley nothing.
... Tommy Dreamer, Just dont even need to say anything.

So forget WWE misusing ECW... Try TNA wasting everything.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

To me, it has to be Shane Douglas. I don't remember much about him in WWF, which is exactly why he is my choice. This guy had two long runs as ECW Champion (probably a year long each, i don't recall the exact length), and then goes to WWF, and is gone in no time. He comes back as "Dean Douglas", and again, probably about 8-12 months, he's out the door. I remember Douglas from ECW and even more of WCW than I do from his brief stints in WWF. Justin Credible is a close 2nd for me. Aldo Montoya, i mean c'mon, what was that supposed to be????

Aldo Montoya was a shocking gimmick, always doomed to fail. Noone on earth could have got that over. However, what I meant by this forum was who was wasted in the WWE having ALREADY been ECW Champion. Sorry, maybe should have specified in my original post.

Would you still vote for Credible if you just focused on his WWE runs AFTER he had been ECW champ, or would you vote for someone else?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It's funny because even TNA has misused former ECW talent, EV 2.0 Physically made me dislike the Extreme name, However i'm going to say, Tommy Dreamer & Raven... The creators of hardcore, I dont think the WWE ever had an eye for Totally Extreme Wrestling, They might have gone "Hardcore" but it was never an Extreme company, so it's no suprise to me that they where misused however, With TNA, they are supposed to be the ECW rivival... Bull**** .... Steven Richards, Sabu, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, RVD, Raven... Now lets look at how many are actually still there... 2?

RVD is always going to be big wherever he goes.
Mick Foley is always going to attract big crowds, because he's a big name

... Raven, before EV2 had a fued with Jeff Hardy and he was a massive heel, i actually loved Raven before he joined EV2
... Stevie Richards, one of the best wrestlers i've ever seen, Had a Doctors role as the Psychologist of Abyss... Wow, Major B*S
... Sabu, he can still pull out a flaming table go through it and win a match, yet when EV2 came about, nothing, absolutley nothing.
... Tommy Dreamer, Just dont even need to say anything.

So forget WWE misusing ECW... Try TNA wasting everything.

I don't think TNA particularly wasted much of the ECW talent, and that isnt what is being discussed in this thread anyway...but I will bite.

Raven- my favourite wrestler...but by far past his prime now. TNA gave him a World Title run in 2005, he was one of their biggest stars for a long while. Not wasted

RVD and Mick Foley I agree, they will get over everywhere and both were given title runs in TNA

Tommy Dreamer H hasnt been wasted. He has been in one of the highest profile positions in the company since he joined TNA, feuding with AJ Styles and leading EV2.0 in the company's major storyline

Sabu- He is never going to be the face of any company other than ECW, he doesnt talk. He was probably been a bit under-used in the EV2.0 storyline but in his earlier TNA runs, he did ok

Stevie Richards- I like Stevie, I really do. But apart from his RTC run in WWE, he has never accomplished much anywhere, there just isnt anything marketable about the guy, as talented as he is.

Plus the whole EV 2.0 stable put the focus back on the ECW guys, having them in the main storyline of the company. They are all way past their prime and probably shouldnt be in the positions at the top of the card that they were. So you cannot say TNA wasted them, they made more out of them and put them in higher spots than they should have. You cannot tell me that in 2010-11 Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and Raven sell tickets to the majority of the audience apart from their loyal fans.

I would pay to see them, I respect the hell out of them but most fans wouldnt. When they were in WWE, they were young enough to contribute to the product, as was Jerry Lynn , as was Mike Awesome, as was Justin Credible...but that was a DECADE AGO.

They were wasted in WWE, not in TNA.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that Raven was terribly misused. I have always said it and I will say it again that Raven could have been a really big deal had he been used properly. I know that WWE likes to change the gimmick of a wrestler once the wrestler joins their company but Raven would have been best served by not changing his original cult leader like gimmick. The gimmick that the WWF gave him reduced him to somewhat of a joke, in my opinion. Heels who play mind games always suceed and it would have been no different in Raven's case.

The second guy who was a bit misused was Rhyno. I mean this guy looked every inch a monster heel. He was a better wrestler than the likes of Gene Snitsky, Hiedenrich and Khali all of whom have been used as monster heels at different points of their career. I feel that he could have been a champion on at least Smackdown if the WWE had shown interest in him.

 

[Greydon]

Mikey Whipwreck

Here is a guy who never really fit the World Champion mold. He was a smaller guy, who Heyman adored for his actions. Due to a Terry Funk drop out He became a tag champion with Cactus Jack. He then ascended to the world title ranks and beat the Sandman for the title. During his reign he defeated Steve Austin (before Stone cold). With those two names, you would think this guy would have made it big. He went to WCW and wasn't used and WWE only called him and didn't use him at all for both One Night Stands. He was seen in someones corner. So for the purpose of this topic I think Whipwreck is the ideal name. Not being considered to be "Big enough" for WWE or WCW to even care about.

 

[JTS32]

I think as far as the guys listed go I would say Shane Douglas. He was good in the ring, and had tremendous mic skills, but never was really given a shot in WWE. His promo where he basically introduced ECW to the world is still one of the greats in my book. So my pick definately Shane Douglas.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think that Raven was terribly misused. I have always said it and I will say it again that Raven could have been a really big deal had he been used properly. I know that WWE likes to change the gimmick of a wrestler once the wrestler joins their company but Raven would have been best served by not changing his original cult leader like gimmick. The gimmick that the WWF gave him reduced him to somewhat of a joke, in my opinion. Heels who play mind games always suceed and it would have been no different in Raven's case.

Agreed. You know my love for Raven dude. He really could have been something special in WWE had they given him the freedom to do his thing and not reduced him to the Hardcore Division. The guys in that spot on the card never got enough mic time and that is why Raven suffered, he was such a good talker and as you mentioned, his mind games would have been suited to a much higher position. He would have certainly been a mid card champion at least had he been given the opportunity.

The second guy who was a bit misused was Rhyno. I mean this guy looked every inch a monster heel. He was a better wrestler than the likes of Gene Snitsky, Hiedenrich and Khali all of whom have been used as monster heels at different points of their career. I feel that he could have been a champion on at least Smackdown if the WWE had shown interest in him.

Once again yes. Snitksky, Heidenreich etc all were given a much bigger spot than Rhino, and were far less talented. I have always been a Rhino fan, ever since his days as the Rookie Monster in ECW. With Heyman on commentary, he could have helped to get Rhino over as a threat to the bigger stars on the roster, and had they let him dominate opponents in squash matches early on in his WWE career, and then move onto more mid card talents like Regal, Test etc, before eventually rising even higher, they could have had a Goldberg style monster on their hands. The Gore was over as hell back then.

 

[byrnside]

Personally, as much as I loved ECW, there are only a few guys that I feel the WWE really dropped the ball on.

Sandman: Hard to market in the WWE in the declining Attitude Era. He was pretty much a duplicate of Stone Cold, [whether his character was created first or not] and had far less in-ring ability as Austin. He was never that great on the mic either.

Sabu: Hard to control. One of my all-time favorites of the ECW alum. He was given a couple of opportunities in the WWE and blew them with bad attitudes and drug "abuse." Also wasn't very good on the mic. But I always thought he could've served a Benoit-like purpose. Someone that might've gotten the strap because of his legend and work ethic.

Raven: Probably the most obvious choice. His in-ring work was great. His promo and in-ring psychology work could rival Jake the Snakes. Not really sure what happened with him under Vince's watch, but he could've made either a great top heel or face.

Rhino: I never thought Rhino or Rhyno was under utilized in the WWE. He won some titles, got plenty of TV time. The fact is he just wasn't/isn't that good. Again, not that I dislike him.

Shane Douglas: Probably my second most favorite choice. Fact is, he blew it in '95 as the dean. He bitched and complained and eventually quit because he thought HBK was snubbing him. Well, turned out, HBK was 5x the worker that Dean Douglas was. Triple H always says it best, if you're good, you can find a way to make your character work.

Justin Credible: Another good question. Justin had some awesome promos in ECW. But I think the WWE was just too tame in comparison for Justin Credible to rise to the occasion.

Jerry Lynn: Great wrestler. Period. But unfortunately that's really all, that I remember, him having going for himself. Not enough in the WWE. Could've probably done something like Benoit, something like I mentioned earlier with Sabu.

Mike Awesome: To this day I'm not really sure why he didn't do well in the WWE. As much as Vince loves bigger guys, here was one that could move like a cruiser weight at 6'6-6'7? And close to 300 pounds. Not to mention, as I've said before, best power bomb in the history of wrestling in my opinion. Don't believe me? Youtube any of his matches with Masato Tanaka. Nothing against JBL, but if he could win the WWE title, I don't know why Mike Awesome couldn't.

Tommy Dreamer: My favorite of the ECW alum. It was so easy to cheer for Tommy even in the WWE because he made you believe the underdog was going to win. I was always under the impression that he enjoyed his role with the WWE, more specifically during the later years as more of a road agent. The fact is, this guy just didn't have it to be a world champion with the 'E.

Taz: Without a doubt, Taz is my number 1 choice. Taz was small, but he was a badass with a case of Napoleon syndrome the likes of well, Napoleon would be jealous of. He could talk and scare the pants off of anyone. Plus, he was an awesome wrestler and practically invented the suplex. Anyone remember when he went toe to toe with Triple H on Smackdown? I think he made it to WWE too little too late. But instead of utilizing him in the year or two he was competitive, Vince forgot him.

I think the fact that's being overlooked here is that Paul Heyman really is a genius. He could take ANY wrestler and turn them into gold, no matter how bad they were. He knew just how to take an aspect of wrestler's personal life and tweak it and magnify it so you could love or hate the guy. He did what he could with such a limited roster the likes of which the WWE or WCW would never would have had to deal with.

 

[Find'er Woo'er Ryder]

Tommy Dreamer. They made him job alot to the likes of Zack Ryder and then made him a punching bag to Mark Henry. I don't like Dreamer that much but he was wasted underused in the WWE. But at least he was used.

 

[IAmDoogie]

I agree with Greydon. Then again, Mikey is a hometown guy so I'm gunna take his side.
For those who keep saying Raven, he was 26 time hardcore champion. Although given it's only the hardcore championship, 26 times is hardly misused at all. Raven was the 'hardcore' guy in those days in the WWE, they used him just as they had to.

 

[byrnside]

I agree with Greydon. Then again, Mikey is a hometown guy so I'm gunna take his side.
For those who keep saying Raven, he was 26 time hardcore champion. Although given it's only the hardcore championship, 26 times is hardly misused at all. Raven was the 'hardcore' guy in those days in the WWE, they used him just as they had to.

I think you might've slightly missed the point of the thread. Raven was so much more than just a hardcore wrestler. With his mic skills, in-ring work, and ring psychology, he could've been the WWE champion, and a successful one at that, given the chance.

 

[orton0384]

Sandman. That guy was drinking and wasted all the time. I don't think he had a sober moment. Sorry I had to make that bad joke.

I would have to say Taz. Taz was full of potential and in my opinion could have been molded to be as good as the likes of Chris Benoit or Dean malenko. It is too bad we will never know.

 

[TUFFY54]

Good Thread.

Mike Awesome!

I really think that the answer has to be Mike Awesome. He's the only one that got misused that badly. Raven and Dreamer feuded over the Hardcore title. Credible was in a stable with Pac and Albert. Sandman was worthless by the time he came over in 06. Douglas was overrated. Lynn was a great wrestler but had no charisma. He was also in his 40's when they brought him in. Taz was just too small of the WWE. It was still a land of giants back in the Attitude Era. At 5'8'' he just physically couldn't suplex guys like Kane, Undertaker, The Rock. Sabu can't wrestle without a table in the ring.

Mike Awesome was incredible. 6'6'' and 300lbs diving off the top rope like cruiserweight. He had the look and talent to be the biggest star in the company. Can you honestly see anyone else on that list getting the better of Taker or Austin? Awesome had the believability to be a world champion and dominate the other top stars. Think about it, it's been 10 years since Awesome was a major star and we still haven't seen one person who can do what he did.

Mike Awesome was the most wasted talent in the history of pro wrestling.

 

[Mr. Ass]

Aldo Montoya was a shocking gimmick, always doomed to fail. Noone on earth could have got that over. However, what I meant by this forum was who was wasted in the WWE having ALREADY been ECW Champion. Sorry, maybe should have specified in my original post.

Would you still vote for Credible if you just focused on his WWE runs AFTER he had been ECW champ, or would you vote for someone else?

I'm sticking with the Franchise, but Credible did get more run than Raven and Whipwreck, so I'd have to reconsider my 2nd. But going back to Douglas, I've always thought that Triple Threat was a great stable, especially with Benoit and Malenko...it was a shame that the three didn't stay together longer, with Benoit and Malenko going to WCW, eventually joining the Four Horsemen. IMO Shane was a good performer and probably should've been given more of a chance to prove himself in WWF.

 

[crazymike0907]

I'm surprised not many other ppl said this but my vote would be for Taz. He was ridiculously over in ecw as the human suplex machine and as ecw champ. He came to wwe, after being heavily hyped and beat angle in his debut match. Then a brief run after the wwe title against hhh followed by beating up on commentators (may have got the order of them 2 events mixed up), he eventually got lost in the midcard and become a commentator. I think wwe really dropped the ball with Taz as I feel he could of been a MAJOR player in the wwe with how over he was with the ecw crowd.
Other notable wrestlers for me include Jerry Lynn, Rhyno, Justin Credible and Raven. Sure Raven had 28 or so hardcore titles, but that was when it was 24/7 and everyone had the hardcore title at some point. Sure the 24/7 stipulation was entertaining but can you really consider them credible title reigns when some lasted not even a couple minutes? So therefore, in my opinion, Raven was vastly underused, making him my second choice followed vby Rhyno.

 

[JGlass]

Just to be different, I'm going to go with Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer embodied everything that was ECW, and the fans loved him for it. He was probably the most beloved face in ECW, he did anything and everything for his fans, and the fans loved him for it. Nobody could dawn a crimson mask like Dreamer, and he wasn't a terrible wrestler to boot.

WWE fucked up when he got to RAW, and both he and the WWE know it. His 14 Hardcore reigns are nothing to shake a stick at, but the Hardcore Championship was so ridiculous that it's hardly his biggest accomplishment. When the longest reign for the belt ever was under 100 days, and his personal longest reign was a week, there's not much you can say about his time with the belt. The WWE also blew their chance to make his feud with Raven into something special, and basically used it as a way to kick Raven off of RAW.

Then the WWE did something magical, they created ECW One Night Stand in 2005, and the show was nothing short of perfect. Tommy Dreamer partook in the main event. He started his part of the evening off by pouring beer onto a woman's boobs and licking it off, and then he preceded to fight The Dudleys in a violent, goofy... amazing match. He lost, but the fans were in love with Tommy that night. Right after this PPV the WWE had the opportunity to keep the good vibrations going, keep the ECW guys around a little while longer, but they decided to wait a whole year before the ECW gents got their chance to shine again, and ECW ONS 06 was a joke compared to the original.

Then the WWE launced WWECW, and I don't need to bore you with tales of how mediocre it was. The WWE banked on nostalgia attracting viewers, but WWECW was so different from the original that it was devoid of nostalgia. Tommy Dreamer partook in some fairly uninteresting feuds, from the old vs. new school to his mentoring Colin Delaney to his incredibly sub-par championship reign (one that I saw as more of a slap in the face than a testament to how hard he worked), he was never given the chance to make the fans fall in love with him again.

Tommy Dreamer had the ability to be the fan's favorite wrestler because he was one of them, he was just willing to put his body through hell to make them happy. The WWE never gave him the chance to show that off though, and he was never able to shine like he could.

 

[roethlisberger78]

Mind you before I answer this let me say one thing, the ECW crowd and fan base, for the most part is so completly different than the WWF/E crowd and fan base. So to take these stars from ECW and make them work under a completly different set of fans and what they like would be a hard thing for anyone to pull off. Also let me mention that out of all those people the E misused they did get some good stars out of all of this, Chris Jericho Steve Austin two huge huge stars comming from ECW, Rey Mysterio huge. Onto my next point before I answer Raven and Justin Credible had a try before going to ECW, Johnny Polo the golf club holding man turnin into Raven, and Aldo Montoya turning into Justin Credible so if they couldnt make it the first time through why would they give them a second try with something new.

Onto your actual question though, I gotta think shane dougless was a huge waste and could have been great, and I dont believe this guy won the ECW title but To Cold Scorpio even though he did get a chance in the E was used wrong, give me a break flash funk??? but I would say Shane, or Scorpio.

 

[XgringolocoX]

Not reading all the posts, sorry. When I read this 2 names immediatey popped into my head. I realy think they're the two...Mike Awesome and Shane Douglas. Douglas was just abused, plain and simple. WTF was that shitty gimmick?
Awesome was, and might still be, the perfect example of wasting a talent. They did NOTHING with him. Look at his match from the first ONS. BRILLIANT!! Had "it", could move amazing well for a big man...just shameful.

 

[Awesomesauceinacup]

Id have to probably say...

Mike Awesome is one for sure.

Dude was epic. Like you all say he was huge, fast, and had a great talent. Also if I had to pick one other it would most likely be Raven because the dude is a picture perfect dark character. CM Punk is doing one hell of a job running Raven's gimmick right now.

The only problem is that those guys were ECW guys. WWE/F was not going to let some bingo hall guy from the third rate fed come in and ever get close to there world title. The only reason Rob Van Dam got it was because you just cant deny how amazing he is, and because he wrestled for Vince for years before he ever came close. Sad but true.

Speaking of Enter Sandman.....by the time Sandman got to the wwe he was fat and overly drunk all the time. A complete waste of time in my book. Just wanted to mention that.

Alot of the guys COULD have been world champ, but not many of them would have made GOOD world champs.

 

[dansaint]

The only issue with everyone saying Taz is...Taz was injured going into WWE. His neck (the one he had surgery on after Scorpio broke it in the ring in 1995) was bothering him. So he couldn't be really counted on to deliver the matches everyone wanted to see out of him. He had a pretty good run with HHH when Taz won the ECW Title from Mike Awesome...and was NEVER made to look weak. But to his own admission, he was starting to have neck problems again and that lead to him going to the broadcast booth. I understand if people wanted him to get an IC or European Title run...but his beat up body just wouldn't let him compete anymore although his heart was never questioned.

As far as the topic...I'd say Shane Douglas.

WWE really handcuffed him with that "Dean" character. While he is a teacher in real life....the Franchise character was just more HIM. Imagine a Franchise like interview against Shawn Michaels. Not to mention Michaels' backing out of their IC Title match...forfeiting the belt...only to have Razor beat Douglas that same night (which many people say was the bargain for Shawn to drop the belt to Douglas otherwise Shawn wouldn't have showed that night).

Douglas did his best with what he was given...but the backstage politics killed his enthusiasm (which you could see in his final few weeks in the company) and had him longing to go back to where he could be himself.