Why do you think they fizzled?

[Dirk]

Okay guys, so to stimulate discussion, I thought I'd post a thread. After reading somebody bitch (I forget who) about their favourite wrestler NOT being WWE champ right now and continuing being it for a decade (hyperbole), it got me thinking about booking vs talent. Some guys just never get the opportunity to shine, while others lose the WWE money after getting that opportunity. Or TNA, or ROH - pick your poison.

Anyhow, I want YOU (yes, you, random poster) to tell me why certain guys that you thought would be great haven't lived up to their full potential (according to you).

"There are no right or wrong answers, but terrible answers will result in castration." - Uldramac Maggotbone

Tl/dr?: Why did (Wrestler X) not turn out as great as you had hoped for?

 

[Coco]

My first thought: For some reason, those booking WWE saw fit to drop Cody Rhodes off the face of the earth.

I'm sure I have plenty more where that came from.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

RVD

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I really liked Mr. Kennedy back in the day. There's several stories as to why he got dumped by WWE though. Most widely known by the IWC.

As for why he didn't get really over in TNA, I'd say a mix of bad booking and bad timing. Both his championship runs were about 3 weeks long and around the time of 1 of the worst factions in recent history. Now he's just there.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Paul London was a favourite of mine. He had a good enough run in the tag division but whilst he was entertaining in the ring, he just seemed content with his spot rather than try and make it as a singles guy.

 

[Dirk]

When Sin Cara made his debut, I went completely ape-shit for him and I wasn't the only one. On paper, it makes sense. How do you replace an aging and retiring Mysterio, who's also considered too small by some to be a credible champion? You get another luchador... who's BIGGER.

Mistico-fever didn't travel North of the border, along with Sin Cara. He can do things in the ring that few other can (that handspring back elbow, anyone?) and I was under the impression that both his name ("Faceless") and his not talking was just a build-up until he could properly speak American. Two years later, I'm still fucking waiting!

I think booking and Sin Cara himself are at about fifty-fifty here. If he had bothered, he could've learnt to speak English by now. At least some broken English or anything. Look at Khali, a working knowledge of the language isn't even a requirement to talk on the mic. Booking's also to blame here, because they decided to go and cover up his face completely and that takes away a lot of the ability of the fans to connect with him. It worked for Kane, because he didn't have any feelings back with his first mask, but Sin Cara is a face. He had a kick-ass finger-point and that's all he had to work with, not even some form of translator.

In the ring, it's more on him. While he could do some amazing, physics-defying stuff, he got some of the basics very wrong. Management even gave him his unique lighting to hide that.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

Whether you like Morgan or don't he's been fucked with worse than any in wrestling ever. I'm afraid I agree with Madden in saying how hard is it to book at guy that's seven foot tall?

 

[Dirk]

I still don't know why TNA released Morgan and Crimson in one month.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

They had no clue how to use them. That was apparent for a long time. No reason to pay someone you're not using.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I thought DDP would've been a major player when he came to the WWF, but he was in his 40's and was riddled with injuries, so there was no long term future for him. I've also heard a rumor about him pissing off Taker backstage. Still though I felt he deserved better than the stalker/motivational speaker gimmicks and a European Title run, like a short main event run, programmes with Austin (Diamond Cutter vs. Stunner), Rock (Peoples Champion vs. Peoples Champion) and an actual match with The Undertaker. Or IC Title feuds with Edge, RVD and Regal.

DDP should've never been the stalker nor did it make any sense. DDP had a much hotter wife than Taker did, so why would he want Sara? There were a million better ways to have DDP come in as a heel and not ruin his image. The stalker should've been Raven, that storyline would fit his character. What a feud Raven & Undertaker could've had.

 

[blue_dragon]

One of my all time disappointments was that guy named Carlito who was supposedly:

back in 04 he was the heel that I loved to hate when I just started watching WWE. He simply spat into people faces who didn't want to be cool.

It turned out to be he was supposedly far to lazy to reach for that ring CM Punk was talking about.

Another one was Zach Ryder which turned out to be just another fad that faded. His show was fun until Morison disappeared.

Mr Kennedy was a good call but who knows he might just come back. And there where where guys who simply vanished with the times. Guys like Test, Umaga, Katie Lee Burchill, Kizarny, Shelton Benjamin.