WWE Unsung Talent

[Doctor Awesome]

This is my first thread, and anyone who has read the posts I have listed probably understands that I look at wrestling from a purists standpoint. Backstage vignettes, diva gimmicks, guest hosts and drawn out interviews do not spark my interest. I have watched wrestling for over 25 years for the art of in ring performance, coupled with good characters. You can develop characters without utilizing (or wasting) 2/3 of your programming time in doing so. Even with 4 shows, there is some very good talent that has not got their just due whether it be backstage politics, time restraints, or a combination of both. I'm going to evaluate a few members of the WWE roster based on where they are, and where they could be. I would like others' opinions of these guys and where you think they should or could be based on their talent, not so much the current criteria for WWE's sometimes dismal programming. Anyone who appreciates the sport of professional wrestling won't necesserally agree with me, but will understand where I am coming from.

1. Carlito - has been with the company about 5 years, got off to a decent start in a feud with John Cena, but has really underachieved. he was taken off t.v. for a lengthy period where he was practically begging for his release because he had become complacent with them not doing anything worthy of his talents. so then they bring his brother in and form a tag with them which the plug was pulled on way too early. this could have helped both of their careers but Primo doesn't have nearly enough status for anyone to care about a feud between the two.
Prediction - he get's lost in the sea of up and coming/established midcarders as one of their token jobbers (as he always does) and maybe ends up on ECW for a bit before he actually gets his wish and a release.

2. Santino - as stated in a thread before, he is probably the guy who is the best overall package that is being held back from being a big star for the company. when given time to tell a story in the ring, he can wrestle quite well. and, i think it goes without saying he is great on the stick. he will always be made to look weak on the bigger shows with top talent and if a move isn't made to better his status i'm afraid he will be stuck in his current role till the end of his days in WWE. just think Scotty Too Hotty doing the worm for 10 years.
Prediction - actually wishful thinking; trade him to ECW and build him up as they sort of have done on Superstars recently and let this guy have a fair shake at wrestling just like everyone else coming up. Elevate his status and bring him back to RAW or SD and put some stock in him!

3. "The Ripper" Paul Birchill - i made a comment in a thread earlier tonight describing my level of disdain for not using him better. Since he started in the company 4-5 years ago, we saw glimpses of how good of a worker he is, then came the Pirate gimmick! Jesus Christ are you kidding me. sure, it got over.....for 2 months then got stale enough for mgmt to demote him back to OVW where "the Ripper" character was born and was pretty awesome. I thought him moving to ECW was going to be a good move where that character could be taken to another level and a possible ECW champion. Instead, they have him jobbing to Chuck Palumbo with 'hang ten' entrance music, WTF??? he could be a serious badass if used properly and become a much bigger name than any of these nutsacks he is jobbing to.
Prediction - as much as it pains me, I don't think they know what they have in this guy and he will not get pushed and could be released sooner than later.

So there are my 3 guys that I feel deserve MUCH better roles than they currently or possibly will ever have. Would love to hear your feedback on the three and possibly some ideas of what you think they could offer the company.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

This is my first thread, and anyone who has read the posts I have listed probably understands that I look at wrestling from a purists standpoint. Backstage vignettes, diva gimmicks, guest hosts and drawn out interviews do not spark my interest. I have watched wrestling for over 25 years for the art of in ring performance, coupled with good characters. You can develop characters without utilizing (or wasting) 2/3 of your programming time in doing so. Even with 4 shows, there is some very good talent that has not got their just due whether it be backstage politics, time restraints, or a combination of both. I'm going to evaluate a few members of the WWE roster based on where they are, and where they could be. I would like others' opinions of these guys and where you think they should or could be based on their talent, not so much the current criteria for WWE's sometimes dismal programming. Anyone who appreciates the sport of professional wrestling won't necesserally agree with me, but will understand where I am coming from.

WWE is a changing climate, that like everything changes with the times, and the era you so lovingly speak of, is well I'm afraid over with forever. The WWE is changing to fit a different kind of wrestling fan, so those who have been watching 25+ years or in my case 20 or so years, have to do one of two things, remember the fond and cherished memories of times gone past, while cursing a product that has to change, or we can change with it. I'm changing with it personally... however back to the unsung talent.

1. Carlito - has been with the company about 5 years, got off to a decent start in a feud with John Cena, but has really underachieved. he was taken off t.v. for a lengthy period where he was practically begging for his release because he had become complacent with them not doing anything worthy of his talents. so then they bring his brother in and form a tag with them which the plug was pulled on way too early. this could have helped both of their careers but Primo doesn't have nearly enough status for anyone to care about a feud between the two.
Prediction - he get's lost in the sea of up and coming/established midcarders as one of their token jobbers (as he always does) and maybe ends up on ECW for a bit before he actually gets his wish and a release.

You're last little sentence says it all, he'll get his release. He is good, but far from a unsung talent. He is by far one the most underserving talents I have ever seen, just simply because of his horrendous memememe attitude. The WWE and Vince have coddled this baby way more than they ever should have. Yes sometimes wrestlers have a reason to be mad and want to leave, but to basically threaten to leave everytime you don't get your way, then either just leave or STFU. He's not unsung, he shouldn't even be where he is right now. He should already be down the road.

2. Santino - as stated in a thread before, he is probably the guy who is the best overall package that is being held back from being a big star for the company. when given time to tell a story in the ring, he can wrestle quite well. and, i think it goes without saying he is great on the stick. he will always be made to look weak on the bigger shows with top talent and if a move isn't made to better his status i'm afraid he will be stuck in his current role till the end of his days in WWE. just think Scotty Too Hotty doing the worm for 10 years.
Prediction - actually wishful thinking; trade him to ECW and build him up as they sort of have done on Superstars recently and let this guy have a fair shake at wrestling just like everyone else coming up. Elevate his status and bring him back to RAW or SD and put some stock in him!

I love Santino, don't get me wrong, he's friggin' hillarious and he's fitting in perfectly with PG Era and I feel right now he's getting a lot of mic time, granted it's not in the ring wrestling, mainly in backstage vinteges interacting with the Guest Hosts. I don't know, maybe they are hushing some minor nagging injuries that he has, that he is trying to heal, I dunno why he's not wrestling, but I do believe he should be, however I wouldn't call him unsung perse, just misused maybe, right now.

3. "The Ripper" Paul Birchill - i made a comment in a thread earlier tonight describing my level of disdain for not using him better. Since he started in the company 4-5 years ago, we saw glimpses of how good of a worker he is, then came the Pirate gimmick! Jesus Christ are you kidding me. sure, it got over.....for 2 months then got stale enough for mgmt to demote him back to OVW where "the Ripper" character was born and was pretty awesome. I thought him moving to ECW was going to be a good move where that character could be taken to another level and a possible ECW champion. Instead, they have him jobbing to Chuck Palumbo with 'hang ten' entrance music, WTF??? he could be a serious badass if used properly and become a much bigger name than any of these nutsacks he is jobbing to.
Prediction - as much as it pains me, I don't think they know what they have in this guy and he will not get pushed and could be released sooner than later.

This poor bastard probably is unsung, but well they tried a incest angle with him and Katie Lea... that's hard to recover from... look at Mark Henry he's just now starting to recover from being the father of a hand and being called 'Sexual Chocolate'. So i'll agree with you on Burchill. However to move up form unsung to misused, he needs to work on a few things... mic work, charisma, etc... and he'll be just fine.

So there are my 3 guys that I feel deserve MUCH better roles than they currently or possibly will ever have. Would love to hear your feedback on the three and possibly some ideas of what you think they could offer the company.

My pick for unsung... would honestly have to be no one right now... the sad thing is, everyone is where they need to be right now. Yes I would love to say that there are some, who are not being given the credit they deserve, but they are. So nobody is really unsung, some just have to step up to plate themselves and knock it out of the park instead of waiting for Vince to give them a bigger piece of the pie.

 

[RH23]

Nice thread I will agree that all three of these guys are being misused atm.

Carlito: I do think that for a while he has been misused. He was once a contender for the title, challenging at New Years Revolution; now look at him, he's fallen off the radar considerably but then again he has had backstage problems and from what I've heard, he complains a lot.

Santino Marella: One of my favorite guys on the Raw roster. He is hilarious IMO. He is being misused right now because he is decent in the ring, but still he is great on the mic.

Paul Birchill: This is sad just sad. He has the look of a good wrestler but has very little charisma since he stopped being a pirate. Its pretty sad that he's jobbing to guys on ECW. ECW the C-Show and he loses to ovw guys.

 

[Kliq]

I guess with 'unified' tag championships, there is no longer a drought of tag teams and Carlimo has been vanguished. I thought they were a good tag team, and hopefully now that they're broken up, they can each have some great feuds, beginning with each other. I personally didn't like Santino as a serious singles competitor. I love his comedy, and hope to see much more of it, just not him taking up space in someone elses important matches. Paul Birchill is a decent competitor, though being in lackluster matches on ECW doesn't really surprise me. He could be a decent mid card guy on Smackdown! again, but that's about all.

Overall I'd have to agree with badboy and say there really isn't anyone right now who isn't doing what I would expect/like them to be doing. I really like Swagger right now, and Kofi, MVP, Miz, Bourne are all getting their fair share of air time. I was getting sad that Y2J was thrown into the tag team division, but his almost 'managing' of the Big Show while being champions with him is pretty clever, in my opinion.

 

[Rob S.]

I think that Jimmy Wang Yang is underused, as he's a great talent and would form a good tag team with another good clean athlete like evan bourne, although not great on the mike, i think he would bring diversity to the tag team or US/Intercontinental championship chase.
It won't happen though as he's arguably just jobbing and has reached his peak in the Cruiserweight division like Noble.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Well, out of the three listed from the original poster... I am going to say that one deserves to be fitted with the title of being an "unsung talent." Carlito & WWE haven't always been the best combination. Carlito has got wrestling ability & charisma that should be utilised more often. However, his attitude has always been in the wrong area & isn't determined enough when given what he asks for. Santino is a talent at the moment that isn't unsung at all. He is being placed as the comedic jobber status for entertainment purposes, much like Chavo. Both are very good at being comedic wrestlers, so why not place them in these fields on the ENTERTAINMENT brand?

Paul Burchill is the best option for an unsung talent. This man can fight & he brings the evil brawler character with him to the ring. His moves may lack finesse or fancy maneouvres... but what he does in the ring makes you believe to an extent that he is pummeling the crap out of the opponent. That finisher he had where he put his boot on the back of the opponents head & squashed it between a rock & a hard place per se was brutal & sickening. Why is he unsung? The poor guy cannot get over. He has had three incarnations in his career & all three have failed in the end. Even with the edition of Katie-Lea Burchill, whom honed her craft in SHIMMER [great women's promotion I might add], can't even help him. She became the attraction of the duo in the fans eyes.

All Paul needs is to connect with the crowd & he has a chance to get out of ECW into the midcard of SD or RAW at least with the crowd caring for him.

 

[BillAlfonso]

As far as those three goes, I agree. The thing is that two of them seem easily remedied. First, let Carlito get over. I don't know from his backstage issues but it seems to me that everytime he starts to get any momentum, they pull the plug from underneath him. Not to break any balls here but if they want to talk about issues then how the hell did they let Jeff Hardy reach the title? Burchill, needs to be taken off of tv for a while then brought back with an actual manager for Katie Lea and himself. I always say the managers are the most untapped resource in pro-wrestling today, just look at my forum name if you question me. Santino's problem is that he's just too damn funny and apparently you can't be funny and a world champion(tell that to The Rock, Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, John Cena, and HHH who've all been know to be funny as champions). Back to the manager thing, I believe managers could elevate the careers of other guys that I think are unsung such as:

Chris Masters, he definitely has the look Mr. McMahon seems to like

Sheldon Benjamin(I haven't seen him in a while), he can then focus on in-ring stuff

Kofi Kingston, see Sheldon Benjamin

Batista, not unsung but he just needs someone to speak for him.

Also, you know who's really unsung, perhaps my #1 underrated guy in WWE? William Regal, there I said it.

 

[Taker123]

Unlike half the people that use this bloging site I will not give sarcastic asnwers just for the sake of it. People here are so pedantic its terrible and shows how sad their lifestyles are....sorry for the rant (aimed at the first replyier to the threat lol)!!!

My pick of unsung wrestlers:

Matt Hardy- While jeff races ahead of him he's still in the mid-card scene. He is the better wrestler of the two...enough said.

Finlay- before this Irish man retires give him a title reign he is one of the best performers in the entire industry and good on the mic if he is given the chance. He is an excellent wrestler- tells a great story.

Kane- we all want it bring back the mask....and give him a title!!! He deserves it, he can wrestle, he can tell a story when given a decent story line to work with - remember Kane- with DX (1999) remember Kane Undertaker...Kane MVP...Kane V Matt Hardy..Kane V Edge...I'm telling you he is excellent GIVE HIM A CHANCE...

 

[KKarvox]

I'd say Burchill, Kane, and Regal are the most underused, badly used. Burchill could easily be repackaged as a dominate superstar, or paired with regal as a dominate teg-team. I really like Burchill, he is a skilled wrestler, and he isn't a bad promo cutter. Plus, he doesn't work as a jobber, because of his wrestling style. Kane has been horribly booked by creative for years, and now is a cowardly heel. Does it really make sense to have a 300+ 7 footer run from a fight, or lose to someone small as Mysterio? I hope to god that his storyline right now is some sort of excuse to burn and remask him or something.

 

[Doctor Awesome]

thx for all the feedback everyone. i agree that for those of us who came up in an era where your physical ability could make you a star is passing, but doesn't need to be completely absent. i feel the company is really making strides with athletes like swagger, morrison, mvp, kofi and the harts to name a few. the guys i listed were just examples of men who have been on the roster for some time and have the all around skill to make headway and get over if they let them. i agree with the points on carlito that he can be his own worst enemy, and that santino is serving a purpose on the show. just feel these two have alot more to add to the product if utilizing their talents to the fullest. burchill is the saddest case for me, because whatever "era" we are in, wrestling always needs good antagonists and that dude could be one of the most vicious heels they have if they give him the ball. i agree, and meant to make the point before that with regal on ecw they should put him and his hot ass 'sister' w/the king of the ring and have WR as their mouthpiece to an extent. have him curbstomp the shit out of guys and win matches with that c-4 move. it always gets a reaction.

thx again for the feedback, and honestly people can be as sarcastic or negative about my posts as they want, in the end they would be throwing rocks at a guy that carries machine guns and realize they poked fun at the wrong dude! haha keep your game tight!

 

[Decarow]

Kane doesn't want the title. He has said before that he's happy with what he's doing.

Carlito is a cocky jackass backstage.

Santino is perfect where he is.

Burchill is a good example of underused talent. But from what i've heard, Triple H fears him. He reminds Paul of a younger him. Plus his characters are just there. Nothing special about them. He was a pirate, but gimmicks don't last too long anymore.

However, like it was said earlier, the prime example of underused talent is... William Regal. The man is crazy good. And old schooled.