Would could have been...Buff Bagwell.

[KillBill]

This was mentioned in another thread about the invasion, that fact that Buff had been shown the door quick after the match with Booker T, and with the exception of a few TNA appearances, has pretty much disappeared. He is 38 now, which isn't too late, but it would be hard. However, what if he didn't get fired? He was only 31 at the time, was over, and that song was catchy. Do you think he would have had a successful WWE career? I think yes.
1. He was marketable. The whole Buff Daddy thing worked. He could've definately had good storylines. As corny as it sounds, imagine him with Val Venus as a team. He could've definately been a good midcard guy, I could see him winning the US or intercontinental title. With 3 heavyweight belts now, I'm sure he could've won 1, there were less deserving guys.
2. He was over. He had the look and was entertaining. He would've made a good face or heel. He was full of himself, but who isn't?
I always liked him. I think he could've been something, what do you guys think?

 

[klunderbunker]

Buff was someone I always liked for some reason. He was just kind of fun to watch for some reason, the Blockbuster was just a sweet move and he wasn't too bad in the ring. You're right that was a catchy song indeed. If he'd had a slightly different name or just gone with his real name I think it would have worked wonders for his career. I've always thought Vince got rid of him just because he was kind of plain though. He had a good physique and look but under that he had been in WCW for 9 years and just hadn't done anything of note. Kind of the Hardcore Holly of WCW, just not that bad.

 

[jmt225]

I was always a fan of his too for some reason.

Every tag team he was in I liked. Whether it was the one with 2 Cold Scorpio with Teddy Long as their manager, or Stars N Stripes with The Patriot, or perhaps my favorite of them all, the American Males with Scotty Riggs. In each team, Bagwell just stuck out to me. He had a great look, a ton of charisma and was really athletic. His promo skills lacked at the time, but he would eventually get better on that.

Then when he dropped the 'Jeff' and became Buff Bagwell, I somehow managed to stay a big fan. He was so ridiculous, but I still liked the motherfucker. He was always one of my favorites back in the day, though I look back now and have no idea why. I understand why I liked the tag teams, but his single run was not appeasing at all. The only thing really cool about him in the late nineties was his AWESOME finisher, The Blockbuster.

But yeah... at the end of the day, I can see why he never accomplished greater things. Sure, he was talented and had a tremendous look, but his television character suffered a lot of damage being such a kiss ass lackey in the nWo, and of course there have always been the rumors of him being a pain in the ass backstage and what not.

Buff Bagwell was just the Marty Jannetty of his generation; that’s how I look at him.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

This is a funny thread, with an even funnier argument. The question at hand is basically what would've happened to Buff Bagwell, had he of remained in the business and not been cast out of it.

Well. In order for that to have happened, he would've had to of not been such a whining little baby. I've read and heard several reports that in his later days in W.C.W., once he established himself as "Buff" that he just absolutely had to hit his finisher in every match, even if he lost the match.. otherwise he thought it made him look weak.

Everyone who's posted thus far seems to give praise to his finishing move, which in truth I thought was an overrated neckbreaker to begin with. Wow, he did a flip and caught their neck.. that's impressive. It was flashy, but that was what tied in with his gimmick.

Anyways, back on to my point. In order for Bagwell to have continued in this industry, he would've had to of basically changed his attitude. And ultimately, if that would've happened.. he'd still likely not get over because his gimmick and character, were who he truly was. He's a prick. He's an immature baby, who wants to get everything. And that worked for him through character, because he played the role so perfectly.

In closing, I would've liked to have seen what would've happened with Bagwell and I firmly stand by what I said in the InVasion thread, in saying I'm sure he'd be around to this day if it wasn't for his major overall attitude, and his Mother.

Buff Bagwell was just a charismatic type of guy, that played a tremendous role in the character. Mainly because it was him.

 

[Mr. TM]

I loved Buff Bagwell. I actually think he could have been really good, but would be incredible if he was 5 years younger and in today's WWE. He is someone that Vince could use. He was a character who was a little adult, but the kids would love. He was decent in the ring, and decent on the mic. He always just had a loveable look that fans looked at with glee. He would easily be the top of the midcard with trips to the main event. I would love to see a Buff Bagwell Ken Kennedy tag team, split and rivalry. In fact, fuck it, WWE needs to hire him and pair him with Kennedy right now.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Kudos to the person who came up with this as it was a topic that I was going to write about in the Columns section but didn't get a chance to before the section went away. Anywho, Buff Bagwell is singularly the most pivotal player every to have graced the doors of World Wrestling Entertainment. Alot of you may wonder why, so let me tell offer this as my reasoning behind this thought.

1. When the WWF purchased WCW, there was only a handful of wrestlers that the WWF actually saw as being commodities. Of those, many were content on playing out the terms of their larger than life WCW contacts, while only a few were willing to take the pay cut to come right to the WWF. Of these few, Buff Bagwell definitely was not one who was viewed very highly. Buff was seen as being a "day player" and merely talent enhancement at best. And if not for the fact that such names as Scott Steiner, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Goldberg were unavailable, Buff Bagwell would not have gotten a second look during the WCW Invasion angle. But if there is one thing that McMahon can't ignore, it's the crowd giving a pop to a star, meaning that there may be something salvageable in them after all.

2. Buff Bagwell's famous arrogant attitude got him in hot water as soon as his first match was done in front of a WWF audience. But imagine if Buff had been a team player. Imagine if he had changed his ways and become a team player, garnering the respect of such men as Triple H and The Undertaker. Would there have ever been an Edge? Would there have ever been a spot for Test in the heel faction known as The Corporation. Would men there have been an influx of Canadian wrestlers who got pushed such as Val Venis, Lance Storm, Christian, and Edge? Could Buff have been the King of the Ring?

3. Just imagine it. A heel Buff Bagwell is turned on by the Corporation. He then begins an "Army of One" campaign that rivals the one by The Rock during his run to the King of The Ring final versus Mick Foley. Except this time, Buff isn't swerving. he's going against Corporation guys left and right and taking them out by the skin of his teeth until he finally claims the glory of the crown! And then.... who knows. Buff The Champ?

4. Having a team player and more polished wrestler like Buff interrupts or stunts the pushes of guys who ascended to the title like Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. And this causes quite the domino effect. Does anybody remember when Kurt wasn't nearly as polished or intense as he is today? What changed that? The heel match against Shane McMahon. But then again, why push Angle when Buff is the Stuff, right? And Benoit's title reign may not have come until now if Buff, who is known for kissing the right asses, had gotten in good with Klique members Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Hell, he might have even made it in as being a member of Evolution, meaning that either Orton or Batista is left by the sideline as being a younger who didn't get a quick push.

5. Chris Benoit was already sick and tired of being held back behind guys like Buff in WCW. Could this have meant that Benoit might have bolted for Japan or another destination, such as TNA? Anything could have been possible with the Buff factor, including Benoit never having committed the atrocities that have tarnished his existence. And maybe Benoit would still be alive and healthy, not really pushing steroids as much with the lighter TNA schedule.

6. And last but certainly not least...... would John Cena be the household name that you now know him as if Buff Bagwell had not been such a dick? I mean think about it. Dude to talent cuts and such and a lack of usuable main event starts, the WWE needed to bring in the much heralded class of stars from OVW. Can anybody remember John Cena when he first was called up? Do you remember how generic he was and how long he jobbed before he found his nitch with the new "hip hop" look? Would he have ever gotten this chance if Bagwell cause other guys like Guerrero and Benoit's pushes to be postponed til later? Would he be just another muscular face in the crowd? Or might he have even been brought up as the futuristic Cyborg, The Prototype, seeing as how you really don't see any good gimmicks for people who are being pushed to greatness.

The fact is that all of these things and none of these things could have happened if Buff wasn't so full of stuff. And considering that it's too late for him to get a chance to see what he could have been, I'm sure that it haunts him every day and every time that he saw a lesser talent pushed past where he believes they would have been if he were there. Unfortunately, we will never ever know.

 

[itbewilly]

The wwe/wcw buy out was probably the worst case scenario that could have happened in wrestling history.Without a top notch contender to battle with over ratings storylines get reused and old and lose their greatness.To be fair Tna has a chance but unless they get out of the mind set that they need to bring in an already established veteran's to build the company around and actually make use of their younger more loyal and talented roster they will never be a big promotion.I can already see an event like what happened with Benoit,Saturn,Malenko,and Eddie happening again to tna as vince is a smart business man.When Wcw was busy buying the top notch guys out from under vince(Nash,Hall,Luger to name a few) what did vince do.He went with new and talented unestablished(to be fair) stars like the Rock and Austin and took the WcW by suprise.Then with aquiring younger talents that were under-used by wcw due to all its politics it made WWE that much more fun to watch.The first raw with benoit and the radicals attacking the New Age outlaws did it for me.I hardly watched WcW after as it was the same garbage around that time.Nwo had more factions alone then smackdown and raw have today even.But anyways back to the topic at hand.Buff was one of my favorite original nWo guys.The thing that i seen holding him back wasn't his talent or ability at all.I think it was more less Vince's refusal almost to market any former WcW wrestler or even consider them equal to any of his guys.When rock first met Booker while Booker was being looked at as the top WcW guy and Rock being top WWE the rock's comment alone pretty much illustrated what was just said.He looks at Booker like "Oh who are you again?".While some of the Wcw guys have earned respect and been given title runs i think most of the better younger,smaller guys didnt fit into what WWE at the time consider's its superstars would or should look like size and appearance wise.The most under-utilized talent to day that WWE ever had would undoubtedly be Rob Van Damn.I've called him the Chris Benoit of the WWE.Like Benoit in WWE for too long RVD was held back as a mid-card guy and just like Benoit only given a very brief title run when he could have been used for so much more.Very few heels came across as cocky as RVD did in his ECW days and WWE was stupid for not taking advantage of what could have been a way better heal at the time then some of the guys they had trying to play the roll.So to answer the question after all this.Could Buff have been marketed better in WWE after Vince bought WcW.Yes.Would Vince consider even putting someone(smaller in size but gifted and talented which was more important to me anyways)over one of his own characters?Nope.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Could Buff Bagwell have been something big? Yes, I personally think he could have been big, but I think that ship sailed once he joined the nWo. Thus, I don't believe that he could have amounted to anything in WWE after the WCW buyout, even with a better attitude.

I remember asking my mom to order WrestleWar 1992 just so I could see Marcus Bagwell take on Scotty Flamingo/Raven, even though I was a huge WWF fan at that point and despised WCW in general. Furthermore, I remember being a huge mark for Stars 'n' Stripes. However, when Bagwell joined the nWo, I just didn't feel it. Maybe being a heel proved easier for Bagwell (if the character of Buff Bagwell was similar to how Bagwell acted outside of the ring), but I thought he had so much potential to be a main-event babyface in WCW, with his nice build, young face, and Elvis-like pompadour. After joining the nWo, he became one of that stable's most three prominent jobbers (the other two being Konnan and Scott Norton). Hell, these three even had jobber music that was different from the nWo's main theme. Furthermore, although he was a solid wrestler, they made him strike poses and talk to the camera 75% of the time in the ring instead of wrestling his opponent. This may have been consistent with his character, but it pretty much ruined any credibility he had as a threat to the main-event scene. So, in the end, it is my belief that Bagwell's heel turn ruined any chance for him to capitalize on the potential he had.

 

[eljay7i]

I was always a fan of his too for some reason.

Every tag team he was in I liked. Whether it was the one with 2 Cold Scorpio with Teddy Long as their manager, or Stars N Stripes with The Patriot, or perhaps my favorite of them all, the American Males with Scotty Riggs. In each team, Bagwell just stuck out to me. He had a great look, a ton of charisma and was really athletic. His promo skills lacked at the time, but he would eventually get better on that.

Then when he dropped the 'Jeff' and became Buff Bagwell, I somehow managed to stay a big fan. He was so ridiculous, but I still liked the motherfucker. He was always one of my favorites back in the day, though I look back now and have no idea why. I understand why I liked the tag teams, but his single run was not appeasing at all. The only thing really cool about him in the late nineties was his AWESOME finisher, The Blockbuster.

But yeah... at the end of the day, I can see why he never accomplished greater things. Sure, he was talented and had a tremendous look, but his television character suffered a lot of damage being such a kiss ass lackey in the nWo, and of course there have always been the rumors of him being a pain in the ass backstage and what not.

Buff Bagwell was just the Marty Jannetty of his generation; that’s how I look at him.

I think you meant he dropped the "Marcus"... The reason I think he didn't get far in the E is because he was just plain and never accomplished anything to really standout in WCW, even when he joined the nWo he never did... But had he been 6-7 yrs younger I think he would atleast been in the upper-mid class right now and have a couple of reigns as I/C or US champion..