Who Do You Believe The WWE Completely Missed The Boat On?

[JeanPierre11]

I think Shelton Benjamin had a lot of potential to be a main event star. All he needed was a liiitle help with his mic skills, but that's about it.. He was just a dynamic wrestler. Shame he didn't get farther than where he was.

 

[jackson-lowe]

Carlito! They were building him through 2005 well, he moved into the main event picture, and almost won the WWE title. He proved to be amazing in the ring and had alot of charisma about him. Yet he quickly moved straight down into the mid-card and into the tag-division with Primo.
That really pissed me off, they have this guy dominating the mid-card, having a nice feud with John Cena, a sweet feud with Shelton. He gets over these guys and then they just push him down, was so stupid.

 

[Harthan]

Chris Masters. I mean, come on, this guy was incredible. In the interim between his two WWE runs it seemed like he dropped the steroids and gained a ton of wrestling talent, because damn, he was tearing it up every time he was on Superstars. Seriously, could he work a match. He had his amusing little pec jiggle and was serviceable on the mic, but his real allure was his awesome wrestling ability. Why couldn't he be feuding with Dolph Ziggler? Not that I dislike Alex Riley, but Chris Masters is so much more suited for the role. He would have been an incredibly great staple of either the Raw or SmackDown (especially SmackDown) roster. Just an incredible shame that of all the people to release, they choose this guy.

Also, Gail Kim. I mean, damn. How do you let this girl go? She's a great wrestler, she's hot, and she can do the same mic schtick that any other Diva can do. Especially now that they're booking a story about the athletic, talented Divas rebelling against the bimbos, how could they just let her walk out of the company? That storyline aside, how could you so horribly mistreat one of the most talented members of the WWE roster? Kim should have been so much more featured than she was. Perhaps then, she would never have walked on the company and could be a part of this new storyline.

 

[benfromblackie]

Mr Kennedy I know they got rid of him for being injured too much but the whole Randy Orton complained about him so WWE fired him is a silly reason to get rid of him he had good mic skills and was pretty decent in the ring.

 

[Alittude]

Muhammad Hassan is one of the biggest ones even though it was more of the networks fault than his. Had more heat than any other heel in a long long time. He was incredible on the mic and was a very decent in ring worker and he would totally encapsulate the crowd everytime he did a promo. The full package but then unfortunate timing was his downfall. You coulkd argue this was WWE's fault as they started booking him doing terrorist-like things when really his character was the total opposite of that. Anyway WWE should have done everything they could to keep him such as sending him to raw of even giving him time off untill the heat went down and then brought him back. I know he decided to not come back after that whole incident but I think WWE should have done more because he would have been extremely useful in the main event scene currently and could have been a huge star.
P.S. I remember him having a pretty long undefeated streak beating some top guys and then they finished it by having John Cena squash him in like a 2 minute match? WTF is up with that seriously.

Carlito is another one that they totally screwed up. I fell in love instantly when I saw him and he was so charismatic and funny on the mic I felt he was what they had been waiting for and he was destined to be huge. They pushed him well for a while and it seemed like he was going to be a permanent main eventer and then who kknows what happened but he went down low to the midcard and became irrelavent. He was great on the mic ansd could wrestle and would again be very handy right now with the thin amount of genuine maineventers.

Mr Kennedy was another that I felt was destined for stardom and he was being pushed accordingly. Injuries plagued him a bit and then the whole Randy Orton thing but they really dropped the ball, they obviously knew he had talent especially on the mic he was outdoing most people and we hadn't seen someone that loud and funny on the mic in a long time. If they knew he had talent and were going to push him big why would they just let that go after a few mishaps. They should have persisted because again he would be much better than a lot of roster now and was way more over than most.

There have been countless others but these are the first 3 that came to mind which I felt could have all been big time players.

 

[Workrate]

Taz. They botched pretty much with everything with him. Even Vince McMahon admits now that it would have been better for the company if Taz had beaten Triple H in that champion-vs-champion match.

And Shelton Benjamin. He wasn't very good on the mic, but I don't believe on giving up on guys who aren't good on the mic. I think that's where you get creative. Give him a manager (and no, not his mother). Find him some decent, semi in-shape guy and have him play the role of Benjamin's trainer -- kind of like Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario. But have him serve double as Shelton's mouthpiece, as if "Shelton needs to stay focused on his work, I'll take care of the speaking for him".

 

[JeanPierre11]

Taz. They botched pretty much with everything with him. Even Vince McMahon admits now that it would have been better for the company if Taz had beaten Triple H in that champion-vs-champion match.

Yeah. Taz could've dominated the WWF/E at the time. I mean, the dude went from brutally suplexing dudes in ECW, to doing pretty much nothing in the WWF/E. In 2000, he debuted and ended Kurt Angle's winning streak, then had a Champion vs. Champion match with HHH, then finally having a stupid feud with The King. Oh, and who could forget in 2001 when Austin beat him in the middle of the ring like he was a 10 yr old kid with a bad report card? Is that how a former ECW Champ should be treated? The WWF/E could've done way better with him. At least ONE heavyweight championship reign would've sufficed. Guess they thought otherwise

 

[itssoeasy123]

Chris Masters.

Even though he had the Wellness problems, he improved so much in so little time. He was one of the best in the company before he was fired. There's many people that WWE may have "dropped the ball" with, but Masters was a fantastic talent, and it's a real shame that he was released. I could understand why he might've never had a big push, becuase of his steriod history, but that was the only thing holding him back. He was very talented, and I would'nt be surprised in the future WWE rehire him.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I'm gonna have to strongly disagree with people saying Kurt Angle. The thread title is 'Who did WWE completely miss the boat on?', not 'Who was one of the most successful and fast-rising stars during their tenure?' Alright he might still have been wrestling for WWE today, but he already had a shitload of titles under his belt:

Angle's WWE career:
- Immensely over even as a heel
- Proved capable of being a joke character who could still be taken seriously in Main Event
- 4-time WWE Champion (1st reign came within a year of his on-screen debut)
- World Heavyweight Champion
- WWF Intercontinental Champion
- WWF European Champion (Was also one of the few-and-far-between Euro-continental champions)
- WWE Tag Team Champion
- One of the elusive King of the Ring winners, in 2000
- WWF Hardcore Title

Also the tenth guy to become a Triple Crown Champion (post-brand split; at some point held either ME title, either midcard title, and either tag title) and the fifth to become a Grand Slam Champion (pre-brand split; at some point held the WWF title, the IC, either of the Euro and Hardcore Titles, and the Tag title)

That is not someone who has 'missed the boat'.

I will, agree with the few who have said Elijah Burke. Now these days I'm not very big on TNA, but the man proved his worth there, by getting more of a chance to show his charisma and before his release he actually tried out a version of the Pope gimmick at some WWE house shows. He's not too shabby in the ring either.

 

[New Hot Fed]

What was funny with Raven is that they did pretty much everything to bury him and he would still get pops and was good at everything he did. They put him on Heat and didn't get to have much of wins there either yet he would just pick up the mic and the crowd was conquered. Then they demoted him to commentary and he was great at that also. There was nothing they could do to bury him and at the end all they could do to make sure he would stop shinning was firing him.

What pisses me off with wrestling promotions is that they'd rather have someone they've chosen as stars even if that person doesn't get the reaction they want, all they will do is put all their marketing machine and money on that guy to get him over rather than support someone that is naturaly great and gets a reaction easily. Sort of like RVD in 2001 during the Invasion angle. If there is one positive of this storyline was that at least someone got a reaction, a new star: RVD. The guy was over like the moon and Vince stubbornly refused to push him. And he became a midcarder really fast afterwards. I think the last guy that the WWE pushed that was over right away and he was natural at everything he did was Kurt Angle in 2000. The moment he appeared on screen the guy was a star. He had the "it" factor. And it's great that Vince recognized that. (but in a way Vince screwed that up quickly because he never made Angle "the" star of the company and he should have). But since then nobody has ever become over of his own merit in the WWE.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Sean O'Haire. 6 foot 6, looked like he walked out of a comic book and had the Devil's Advocate gimmick that was so smart, I was shocked it appeared on WWE. Then of course they couldn't sustain it. The guy was as big as Lesnar and could fly like Hardy.

With guys like Batista being Champion, O'Haire could have been a huge money spinner ofr the E. Shame.

YES YES 100%X YES....O'Haire was something special I think. Totally messed up on, he was a future superstar who got wasted

Mike Awesome should have been alot more dominant, Rhyno and Raven deservd better and Jerry Lynn too, he has always been an excellent wrestler

 

[BillAlfonso]

In no particular order:

Raven: The gimmick actually meshed well with sports entertainment and was great for what they were doing. Him, Mankind, Undertaker, and Kane could've had great feuds together in that strange section of the roster. He could've had his own version of Raven's Nest/Flock take on The Ministry of Darkness or what have you.

DH Smith: All the guy needed was a manager to talk until he learns to cut promos, I'd love to see him and Swagger go at it.

Luke Gallows and Serena: I think if he got more face time, he could've slowly developed into the member of Straight Edge Society to start thinking for himself and leave becoming a star in his own right. I think they could've done more with her character like a psycho that's totally devoted to Punk or something along those lines. In fact...

...Straight Edge Society: They could've been a great cult like stable if used properly. They could've had them "infect" each show until the top guys couldn't ignore them anymore, it'd be like an invasion from within the company which is a type of invasion angle that I've never seen to my recollection.

 

[WeaverOfDarkness]

In the past: defo Kane. for a huge guy like he shoud've won loads more titles now he loses regularly!

Now: hmmm, maybe SWAGGER, SHEAMUS OR TED DIBIASE

Why: As the first 2 had awesome first year career they are slowly being forgotton in the WWE

Sheamus can be the 2nd top babyface and well swagger a very good heel on raw

ted dibiase also becasue IMO he;s way better than Rhodes

awesome look, decent moves and isn;t wprst ever on the Mic

 

[milan22]

Justin Credible. There I said it.

Never seen a guy's career thrown in the toilet faster than when Vince took over ECW. His return to the WWE after all those years was treated horrible. The guy turned into an instant jobber on WWE. Few matches than gone.(then came back to work a few ECW shows on SciFi) None of his work in ECW was given any merit. What a shame. Sad actually.

 

[TheViper97]

Matt morgan is a beast only if they saw the talent in him he screams charisma when u look at him ut now its too late wwe doest psuh tna pepel

 

[BloodworkKP]

with all honesty both Dibiase (Sr. and Jr.) Ted Jr. has the potential to do better than Cody which doesn't suprise me with the pedigree he has. Ted Sr. is still to me one of the best wrestlers of the old wwf days that should have at least held a belt besides the one they made for him, The sad thing with Ted Sr. is he had a great gimmick with the million dollar man but he was wrestling during the hogan dominated years and vince wasn't going to push aside his money maker for "the money man" Ted Jr. needs to stop using the million dollar dream into a slam because it's too over used Billy gunn used it before him, He needs to go back to using the million dollar dream into the russian leg sweep (can't remember what they called it I want to say the Dream Crusher), Another one was Domino / Cliff Compton who while he was working with superfly snuka's son was clearly the better one on the mic and was doing a majority of the work and with that said Sim Snuka / Deuce was another one had potential but I don't know why he didn't live up to it but I don't think it was a lack of trying

 

[therockiswwf]

Taz. They botched pretty much with everything with him. Even Vince McMahon admits now that it would have been better for the company if Taz had beaten Triple H in that champion-vs-champion match.

His broken neck was the reason he wasn't a big star. They had big plans for him but once they knew his neck wouldn't let him wrestle for a long time they just gave up.

Drew McIntrye

They hyped this guy beyond the moon and even had fucking Vince introduce him. When he started he wasn't shoved into the spotlight, he actually started out with low level feuds with R-Truth and Finlay. He then moved to the IC title and was slowly being built up and then had a few loses taken from his record to help gain him some heat. He even had a few really good feuds over the IC title. He then lost the IC title and that was really the end of his push. I thought he should of won the MITB match at WM 26 instead of Swagger (really anyone but Swagger should of won that match). Since he had the IC title and was doing good feuds with it, I thought he would move up the card after he lost it but it just never happened.

 

[Ricky]

IMO WWE really dropped the ball on MVP. MVP really had something great going when he was a heel but once he turned face I couldn't even stomach watching him anymore....They destroyed the great character that he was. If MVP stayed on SmackDown as a heel he would have eventually became World Heavyweight Champion....No doubt in my mind. I literally hated seeing MVP come out by the end of his WWE run....they made him so boring and bland.

 

[TheTruthShallSetYouFree]

Shelton Benjamin - This guy was simply incredable! I mean a vertigal jump onto the top rope?! He also had a few amazing WrestleMania moments and had an awesome match against Micheals, i loved him!

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

i can think of a few guys vince must still be kicking himself for letting them go.

1. Matt Morgan- ever sense Andre The Giant passed away many years ago vince has been looking for the next great big powerhouse and morgan could have easily been that i bet he wishes he didnt get rid of him!

2. AJ Styles- as far as i know he never even officaly got onto a wwe roster but i know he had atleast 1 match with the company...this is one of those things vince must be so pissed at himself he let his guy go as AJ is an amazing wrestler and very talented both on the mic and in the ring.

3. Low Ki/Kaval- yes he won NXT but i dont think he won a single match after that! good talent,decent on the mic could have been great for the mid card but vince dropped the ball with him.

4. Kazarian- i just recently found out that Frankie Kazarian was in WWE for a short run and even though hes not an amazing wrestler i would imagine vince wishes he didnt get rid of him as hes proved himself to be a great talent in TNA.

i could go on but im gonna stop here

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

IMO WWE really dropped the ball on MVP. MVP really had something great going when he was a heel but once he turned face I couldn't even stomach watching him anymore....They destroyed the great character that he was. If MVP stayed on SmackDown as a heel he would have eventually became World Heavyweight Champion....No doubt in my mind. I literally hated seeing MVP come out by the end of his WWE run....they made him so boring and bland.

YES YES I COULDNT AGREE MORE! MVP was awesome as a heel on smackdown he even made matt hardy a top babyface for awhile during their fued! he was pretty good and his face turn was horrible

 

[AttitudeAJM]

MVP will come back as a star. WWE never buried him and really still likes the guy. Once he's done wowing fans in New Japan, he'll be back.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Claudio Castagnoli. WWE really, really did miss a huge oppurtunity with him, I can get why they released him before he even began, he had attitude problems, something he admitted in an interview with Highspots. He has came on so much in Ring of Honor, and his reign as PWG Heavyweight Champion is another testement to how far he has came. He may have never appeared on WWE television but the fact is he went onto the independant scene and ignited something that would have worked in WWE around that time. He played a major foreign heel with style.

And now, four to five years after his initial release he's coming to an impending return and actual start on WWE television. Claudio is going to be one the guys that proves the WWE wrong; not like they hadn't seen attitude problems before that anyway.

Kenny Dykstra gets an honorable mention for the simple fact that he was so young, had a lot of great in-ring talent, before he eventually left WWE they placed him in two solid matches with Triple H, he had potential in mass but his character and persona was never conveyed correctly on WWE television. His EVOLVE work was fucking solid, he can go, and due to his young age there is a probability that he'll return, maybe, hopefully.

 

[enviousdominous]

This one's easy for me. Lance Storm.

I have a lot of friends who are long time wrestling fans, mentioning Lance Storm to them causes them to cringe with disgust and describe him as the most boring wrestler in history.

Lance Storm in WCW was given the gimmick of an overly serious Canuck who could at least wrestle a tight match. WCW would eventually fold and Lance was picked up to be a member of the WWE roster.

At this time the political atmosphere of the WWE was at its zenith of unfairness and a paranoid pairing of Mark Calloway and John Layfield would actually put together kangaroo courts to haze and chastise individuals who came over from WCW as well as younger talent they felt didn't have "it".

Lance was of the attitude that Mark and John were full of shit and could go fuck themselves so he didn't attend their mock courtroom hazing ritual and warned other superstars to have the same reaction. Needless to say, Vince wasn't happy with Lance.

Lance did get a brief tag title reign and a slight push in the singles division. Then Stone Cold was augmented to rip mercilessly on Lance as a boring wrestler. I'm sure you all remember that during one of Lance's matches, Stone Cold came out and turned what could have been a decent match for Lance Storm fans into a moment where Stone Cold indulges in himself by attempting to bury a fellow wrester who has to earn a fucking paycheck too.

They then forced Lance to go out to a cheesy techno/rap theme and dance like a clown. They even made him do a spot where he tells his former tag team partner, Chris Jericho, that he actually thanks Stone Cold for showing him the light. I wanted to quit being a wrestling fan. They made a legend like Lance go out there and act as though dancing like a moron will make you a more exciting wrestler.

 

[Best in the World 79]

Kurt Angle- should've given the man what he wanted. Reduced schedule

Probably not Matt Morgan. I never bought into him. He's kinda like a Bam Bam Bigelow of his time. Big size, okay ability, but just not believable for what he's got going on.

Definitely Brock Lesnar. Dude could have and would have carried the company still to this day.

Miiiiiiisssssttttttaaaaaaa Kennedyyyyyy(Anderson) He just draws you in while he's talking. Backstage politics

Here's one: CM Punk anyone? This guy was great as soon as he stepped into a wwe ring. IMO, he was held back for some strange reason. When it comes to talent, Cena should've been riding on the side of Mr. Punk's car.