Who took some time to grow on you?

[MartialHorror]

Some guys just impress you from day #1, like Adrian Neville, Seth Rollins or even Roman Reigns. They might not have a full deck of talent, but they stand out in the areas they excel at. Others...just don't do anything for you, but sometimes these people will do something that elevates them in your eyes.

I remember when Bo Dallas first debuted, I thought he sucked. His in-ring work seemed mediocre, his look was mediocre and his gimmick was annoying. However, when he first started showing signs of aggression- cracking his super nice facade- I began to appreciate him. I felt it was unfortunate when he was demoted and injured- which lead to an even bigger demotion. I don't see a main eventer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do see a pretty entertaining midcarder now...in contrast to Adam Rose, who needs a complete overhaul because he still gets on my nerves.

Rusev was another example of someone I didn't care for at first. I'm not a big fan of two second squashes, especially when they amount to the same thing. I got bored of Rusev stomping on the same people in the exact same way, while Lana said the exact same things. I didn't start to change my mind until he took on Jack Swagger, as that allowed Rusev to show more of his in-ring psychology, dominance and at the absolute least- the ability to be carried into a great match.

Swagger is another good example. I thought he was boring as a heel and even though he was a good wrestler, he rarely got the opportunity to show his true abilities as he tended to get beaten rather quickly. Yet just as he brought the best out of Rusev, Rusev brought the best out of him and their first feud was one of my favorites of 2014. Simple, but effective.

Kevin Owens is a minor example, only because I only was unimpressed for a single show. I hadn't watched a lot of NXT, but kept hearing about what a monster he was. So I watched an episode and nothing about him really amazed me. His way of speaking was just too soft and his promos were whiny. I was expecting Brock 2.0, albeit ideally without the girly voice. But then I saw that interview with Michael Cole and began to get him.

His soft way of speaking came across as creepy and his faux politeness just made you want to see him get his ass kicked so badly. His segment with Cena was awesome because I thought he stole the show from Cena, which is really difficult to do when it comes to working on the mic (Cena is probably the best talker in the WWE). His match with Zayn only added to it. He alternated between cowardly heel to complete monster seamlessly. I no longer see him as a potential Brock 2.0, but instead I just see him as Owens 1.0.

I might go ahead and say Cena as well, only because of his reputation. When I watched wrestling before, Cena was presented as 'the talented rookie', which I think is a stupid gimmick to be saddled with. That will never get anyone over. I wasn't around for Thugonomics and missed his push, but would hear about how hated he was amongst fans, who claimed he couldn't wrestle. Then I actually saw him wrestle and I was like: "wtf are they talking about?". I tend to defend Cena for this reason, as while I agree he held the spotlight for too long, he did deserve that spotlight.

But what are some of your examples? Who did you initially think sucked, but eventually managed to change your mind?

 

[Aquaman6686]

Some guys just impress you from day #1, like Adrian Neville, Seth Rollins or even Roman Reigns. They might not have a full deck of talent, but they stand out in the areas they excel at. Others...just don't do anything for you, but sometimes these people will do something that elevates them in your eyes.

All these guys who impressed you from day one, haven't impressed me to date. Neville is a joke with no fundamental abilities, he just does a ton of flips but doesn't know how to wrestle. Rollins is ok, but nothing truly special. Roman Reigns has a great look and a ton of intensity, but can't wrestle worth a dime and his promos are frighteningly bad.

For me I'd say Wade Barrett, the Nexus storyline ruined him for years. He was shoved down the fans' throats and headlined PPV after PPV even though he was a complete nobody. It took until 2012 for the stench of Nexus to wear off and I could take him seriously.

 

[Hem]

My #1 person is Ryback. I wasn't a fan of him at all when he debuted with this character. He had short squash matches where he could face a couple of no bodies in handicap matches and so on. I thought he was strong but not someone who could one day become a champion. As time went on, he improved a whole lot and it shows in every match he's in. He's no Goldberg in the ring (Not that Goldberg was an amazing wrestler but he was a good athlete) but he is a Ryback and thats what matters.


#2 on my list would be Damien Sandow. He initially debuted as the intellectual savior of the masses and I thought what a lame character and was like it'll be changed within a month. Instead what happened was Sandow ended fitting the character in an awesome way. He really made me a fan when he and Cody Rhodes united to become the Rhodes Scholars.


#3 is Dean Ambrose. I'm not someone who has watched Ambrose and his stuff from the indies so I didn't really think much of him. I also didn't watch his feud with Regal down in NXT. So when Ambrose debuted I was like this dude seems a bit lame tbh. Then I read about his matches with Regal and checked those out. Since then I've thought that this guy can be a huge star for the future of the company.

 

[Boxhead333]

1. Dolph Ziggler. I'd stopped watching wrestling between 2004 and 2009 and when I came back there were several superstars I'd never heard of before. And Ziggler was by far my least favourite. He seemed to me, a talentless pretty boy and his alliance with Vikki Guerrerro was awful. When he finally split from her I began to appreciate how good he was in the ring and his show off gimmick was really entertaining. Now he's one of my favourites.

2. Damian Sandow. I hated him when he first debuted, the weird twirling elbow drop and his stupid side Russian leg sweep thing were atrocious. I also didn't like how he was beating people I thought much more talented and useful, like Christian. But I started to see how fun the intellectual saviour routine was. His "silence please, I am speaking!" To the crowd was pretty great.

3. Cesaro. Admittedly I had no idea how impressive he was in the ring when he debuted, and didn't know he had such a successful indie career. He kept squashing nobodies in matches that didn't get to show off his in-ring talent. His alliance with Oxanna could've gone somewhere but they didn't do enough with it, and his entrance music keeps getting worse. But he's a god in the ring and that alone got him over.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Jeff Hardy. He'd been in plenty of matches I rated highly but I never thought he was the reason I enjoyed them. I saw him as nothing but a spot monkey (do people still use that term?) and it wasn't until about 2007/08 when I really started to appreciate what a great performer he is. That guy is wasted in TNA.

There are some people I'll never warm to. Cena, Ziggler, Wyatt, etc.

 

[Blade]

Randy Orton. During his Legend Killer phase, I really couldn't have cared less about him. He beat up veterans. Great way to get short-term heel heat, but you can't survive on that as a character.

But then he came back in late 2008 as the Viper, and it was a breath of fresh air. The Viper character was exciting, unpredictable, interesting. And his ring work got ten times better because he was inhabiting that character so fully.

 

[wrestler36]

The Miz. I gave him a pass on coming from the Real World because I knew he legitimately was a wrestling fan and people would dog him for his reality show background. I didn't think he would be able to surpass being just an annoying heel. But the stuff with Morrison was great. I don't agree with him being world champion and headlining at Wrestlemania, but I'm proud that he's been able to come as far as he has and it seems like he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Orton. I thought he was vanilla, even as part of Evolution. I thought he was a decent wrestler who was popular because he took DDP's finisher. His evolution (no pun intended) over the years has been great and he's as good as ever. He's lost cleanly to several wrestlers and still remains super over. If not for his drug use and suspensions in the past, he easily could have been the face of WWE as much as Cena.

HHH - When I saw him debut in WWF, I remembered him from WCW with pretty much the same character. I didn't think he was particularly anything special. Even with the original formation of DX, I was more interested in Shawn and Chyna. The day after WM when he pretty much took over DX, then I started to see it. Hell, I didn't even think of him as a world champion until he actually did it.

 

[Woodstuff]

Dolph Ziggler. I stoped watching WWE around 2005 when Cena's reign at the top was starting to run at full momentum. When Kane's world title win drew me back in (lol), I instantly hated the new model of wrestlers. Everybody was just a name, a dumb entrance song and good intentions. Even though Ziggler was a heel at the time, I still lumped him in with Evan Bourne, Alex Riley, Tyson Kidd, D.H Smith, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, and all the other two dimensional characters WWE was pushing at the time.

It wasn't until his first world title 'win' that I started to enjoy his cocky attitude.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Took me a while to appreciate Tyson Kidd. When he first appeared with the bland Harry Smith, there didn't seem to be much to distinguish Kidd from any other midcard newbie. After Smith was released, I started to realize what a superior ring worker Tyson was.

True, he wasn't allowed to show much in the way of personality....and I often wondered if he had any, but his technical excellence in the ring couldn't be ignored. He must have been one of those jobbers whom other performers love to work with because he could accommodate anyone's style and make them look good.

But everything I just described indicates a guy who will ultimately go nowhere until the day WWE future endeavors him. Instead, he married Natalya....and whatever we might think of the WWE divas, Nattie seems to have a solid standing in the company and because of hers and her husband's work on the Total Diva show, Tyson Kidd was suddenly allowed to display some of his personality in addition to his performance skills on the main programs.

Now, he's right there on our TV screens, providing us with exciting ring action that demonstrates his considerable repertoire.

I think it's great, especially when women (who are, after all, superior to men) can pave the way for a guy who wound up impressing after all these years.

 

[Prince Vee]

Dean Ambrose
That's the first name that came up in my mind when I first read that topic! But well done mate, Its a really cool topic.

When they're were anticipation of breaking of Shield, Dean was seemed like a rave dog and weak link. And I never interested in him when he was in the Shield. He seemed to just a random crazy guy that WWE normally would keep for a couple of years before chasing them out!

The reason why I didn't like him very much is that he never defended his US title. But once he got broke out of the team he looks pretty mediocre with his ring gear and entrance.

But in the last one year or so, he's one of my favourite wrestlers for many obvious reasons. The most important is, I consider him as the best Hardcore wrestler in the current active he roster.

Cheers!!

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

My pick is a little different, and is thanks to the WWE Network. I've been watching Raw since the beginning, and it has impressed me in patches.

Most notably, I have now developed a new respect for Matt Borne, aka the original Doink the Clown. I hated the character when I was younger and only watched ppvs, but watching Raw on the Network it is obvious that Borne was a very proficient wrestler, somewhat of a submission specialist, but could mix it up and brawl too. Clearly the bookers saw something in him too, as he started appearing on Raw more and more often.

Even the gimmick kinda works, mainly due to Borne's mannerisms.

So I guess it technically took me 22 years to appreciate Doink the Clown!

 

[OYDK]

Seth Rollins: Throughout his whole run as Tyler Black, I saw him as a guy with average potential. Nothing really stood out to me about him. He had great ring-work, but he seemed like just another Average Joe in about every other aspect. Than when he debuted as part of The Shield with the ring name Seth Rollins, my feelings were much the same. The guy could obviously go, but I still didn't see anything else that indicated he would one day be the World Champion. He was awkward on the mic, lacking in charisma, wasn't particularly impressive in the looks department, and he kind of faded into the background of Ambrose and Reigns.

His heel turn is what really made me a fan. I was blown away at how much he had improved over the years, and he was finally able to showcase himself as part of The Authority. As a face, I found him bland, but as a heel he's spectacular.

Cody Rhodes: He was instantly put in a mini-feud with Randy Orton to start his career, and I remember thinking, "why this guy?" He just seemed as vanilla as vanilla gets, and I thought they were overdoing the "Rhodes" thing... I've always hated angles like that. When he and Ted Dibiase joined Orton to create Legacy, I, along with most others were looking at Dibiase as the breakout star. Cody seemed average in every sense of the word. To be honest, I still haven't completely warmed up to him, but I think he's done great with most of the gimmicks he's been given. I view him now as a solid all-around performer.

Sheamus: He was quickly, and I mean quickly given the WWE title. And he won it from John Cena who was arguably at his peak at this point to boot. While I was excited about a new breakout star, I didn't understand why WWE decided to give Sheamus the push of a lifetime when they wouldn't go that far with others who arguably deserved it more. What made Sheamus so special? I thought he was good, but I didn't think he was THAT good. Nowadays Sheamus is one of my favorites. He's excelled in everything he's been given and should arguably be in the main event at this point. Great on the mic and even better in the ring.

 

[Vipers_Strike]

I would have to say Randy Orton because before I knew what heels and faces where I hated Orton so bad in his story with the McMahon family I thought he was sadistic and crazy but I started to like his character he just plane was starting to become a cold calculating badass to where I started rooting for him even though he was heel but yeah I can say he has been the best moderate day heel

 

[enviousdominous]

John Cena all the way.

I really don't like performers who are introduced as cheap bait unto a seasonal fad.

Hulk Hogan's Mr. USA phase never had me, I was the only kid in my school who was cheering for Andre because he seemed like a more serious wrestler.

I never got into Degeneration X, Stone Cold Steve Austin or the nWo.

John Cena hit me like the Hindenburg going down into the wreckage of a crashed transport train that was carrying human waste. He was a white rapper, because white rappers were such a fucking novelty during that time. As a heel white rapper they made him wear a Yankee's Jersey when he performed in Boston and put over Zack Gowen, thus he had paid his dues unto them as a means of finally becoming a face white rapper. He was even more annoying to me at this point, because now everyone was pretending that he was actually good at rapping. Rapping became more of what his performances were made of than actual wrestling, about the only olive branch fans like me got during nearly an entire decade of "Lol! Cena wins!" was his match against RVD at One Night Stand.

Fast forward to today, John Cena has the world record of Make a Wish fulfillments and intends to go way beyond that. John Cena took a squash loss and has been putting on amazing performances working with NXT's talent to get them ready for the big time, in the process he's allowed newcomers like Neville and Sami Zayn to kick out of the AA.

I've talked mad shit about John Cena using nearly every form of communication allowed to us today, I probably would have bought ad time (if I had the money) to talk smack about John Cena back in 2006. He's rolled with the boos, he's taken time out of his insanely busy schedule to grant the wishes of ill children, he's taken a title demotion like a class act, he's genuinely putting over his fellow performers and he stopped rapping (so much).

I no longer identify as a Cena hater.

 

[FromGlasgow]

One guy I remember not seeing much in was The Rock, Maybe due to his debut character Rocky Miavia, Probably started to enjoy his work around the time he joined the nation of domination and now I never miss his wrestling appearances or movies.

Chris Jericho was another where I always knew he had good wrestling talent but thought he was boring especially in his Japan and ECW days and Lionheart Character but once he turned heel in WCW and personality sort of appeared he instantly became one of my favourites to watch.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

CM Punk. Remembered seeing him and thinking: "What in the blue hell do people see in him? And what the heck is WWE thinking on giving him Money in the Bank win at Wrestlemania? After a while saw that he acctually has great mic skills and that he can acctually very well make it and be on top.

Same with The Miz. In his case it was the time when he feuded first time with Cena when Cena was on hiatus and Miz called him down and called off result of feud(The Miz 7- John Cena 0 ). Though I always knew that he isnt gona be that big of a deal but was acctually nicely suprised that they let him beat Cena at Mania(though just with interference and as set for year long "Once in a Lifetime").

 

[HBKistheHOF]

The Miz: I still hate the idea that he was ever a WWE Champion or headlined Wrestlemania as the champion but I went from not being able to even tolerate the guy when he came on screen to actually enjoying much of his recent work. Once he returned in 2012 with an updated & more mature look he really started to come into his own. He's has some solid stints in the mid-card & his story arc with Mizdow was great for the most part. I can't say I really miss him right now or that I would even care if he never came back but for the 1st time ever, I'm actually a little bit curious to see what he does when he returns.

Mark Henry: I just never really cared about him or payed any real attention to him during his runs in the New Gen. era & the Att. era. He just always felt like another one of the many big/fat guys that they had hanging around at the time. & then I remember him facing Angle for the World Title & Taker at WM 22 in 2006 & thinking "What the hell is this old timer/jobber doing in main event matches?". Well it only took his 2011 World Title run, along with his fake retirement speech from 2013 to change all those opinions.

Alberto Del Rio: I really didn't care for him when he first debuted in 2010 but over time I really started to enjoy his matches. & looking back on his body of work in WWE, he actually had a really damn good run for him being on the main roster not even a whole 4 years.

Hornswoggle: I've never really understood the fascination with midget wrestling & for a long time Swoggles was just a complete joke to me, along with many others I assume. But I've gotta admit, over the years he's really had a solid run in the business for a little person. He had some pretty funny bits with DX in 2009 & eventually got to really shine in his WeeLC & Hair vs. Mask matches against El Torito. Much like the Miz, I don't really care when he returns, if ever, but over the years he really did improve in his craft & eventually even had a couple matches I genuinely enjoyed watching.

Bo Dallas: I still think his in-ring work is pretty sloppy & he seems to have a bit of a gut on him but I went from absolutely loathing him as the silly, Texan version of Bo Dallas to actually kind of thinking the Bo-Lieve gimmick was funny & could possibly go somewhere. The guy still screams jobber to me but his mic skills have improved & he seems to be slowly updating his look, so I'm curious to see where he goes now.

 

[yourdamnluck]

Babyface orton before his legend killer gimmick. His finishing move wasn't believable.
Wyatt mainly because i still pictured him as husky harris.

 

[MartialHorror]

Alberto del Rio is an odd case for me, as I didn't care for him at all once I started wrestling. Now that he's gone, I kind of miss him. One thing I like about Del Rio is that he doesn't have the traditional Lucha style, or at least what America considers to be a traditional Lucha style. He was a nice contrast to everyone else.

I keep saying "was" even though I know he's wrestling somewhere else, but I don't know how he's doing or what the competition is like.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

The Ring Master Steve Austin, who I remembered as the Hollywood Blondes tag team specialist and then he landed in WWF and was awful. Then he changed to Stone Cold Steve Austin and he never looked back.

I tell you who else took about 5 years to get over with me - HHH. He entered as a crap character and had feuds with Henry Godwin and other Mark Mero. He was never a star until 1999 - when his work just got better.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Dolph Ziggler for me. I just saw him as a generic pretty boy heel and just wasn't impressed by him. Didn't understand his alliance with Vicki Guerrero. Idk I think it was after he started letting his hair out instead of slicking it back that I started to come around on him. I know that's a weird thing to admit but that's what I think it was....Also see him put on great matches helped too haha