andrew8798
FANatic
on 24/7 this month
Posts: 106,084 
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Post by andrew8798 on Dec 13, 2008 21:40:41 GMT -5
guys who didn't show a ton of promise or kind of lurked around in the lower/mid card for years and years and then finally got good.
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Hanzo
Dennis Stamp
"You want Cena to go to ECW?!"
Posts: 4,666
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Post by Hanzo on Dec 13, 2008 21:50:23 GMT -5
Diamond Dallas Page.
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Post by Gobbledy Demon on Dec 13, 2008 22:03:08 GMT -5
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Dave at the Movies
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
VINTAGE D-DAY DAVE! Always cranking dat thing.
Posts: 18,224
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Dec 13, 2008 22:58:43 GMT -5
I guess you could say Shawn Michaels although I think that was more due to his size.
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Post by brutuscheesecake on Dec 13, 2008 23:04:44 GMT -5
I guess you could say Shawn Michaels although I think that was more due to his size. I don't think he qualifies because he started so young. Michaels was the Intercontinental Champion already at 27. The two that immediately come to mind are Batista (who's 42 now) and DDP. Bret Hart also as a singles wrestler. Didn't win the IC belt until he was 34 Iron Sheik. Won his first and only WWF title at 40. |
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Post by Tyfo on Dec 13, 2008 23:06:25 GMT -5
Fit Finlay
I know he was big in Europe early on, but he was never a known worldwide type. Even in WCW he wasn't really great.
2006 Finlay on Smackdown was the highlight of his career IMO. He had the best match of the show almost every week. And that was coming off a 5-6 year absence from the ring.
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Dave at the Movies
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
VINTAGE D-DAY DAVE! Always cranking dat thing.
Posts: 18,224
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Dec 13, 2008 23:38:46 GMT -5
I guess you could say Shawn Michaels although I think that was more due to his size. I don't think he qualifies because he started so young. Michaels was the Intercontinental Champion already at 27. The two that immediately come to mind are Batista (who's 42 now) and DDP. Bret Hart also as a singles wrestler. Didn't win the IC belt until he was 34 Iron Sheik. Won his first and only WWF title at 40. I wouldn't count DDP, Batista, or Sheik right away considering they all started in their 30s I believe. |
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Post by Joe Neglia on Dec 13, 2008 23:52:23 GMT -5
I suppose a case could be made for Scott Hall. Started around 1984 or 85, but didn't gain any real prominence until 1992 or so and even then, didn't peak until 96/97.
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Post by Tom Selleck on Dec 14, 2008 0:14:09 GMT -5
I would say Scott Steiner. He was in the business a good ten years before he became a main eventer. I still say if he would have came up with the Big Poppa Pump gimmick when he was 25 and not 35 he could have been one of the biggest stars of all time.
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Post by George Harrison on Dec 14, 2008 6:30:10 GMT -5
I was gonna say Batista but he started wrestling when he was already getting on a bit for a wrestler,
JBL isn't all that obvious though, he seemed to linger a lot before he was the world champion. He debut'd in WWE as Justin "hawk" Bradshaw 15 years ago roughly, and won the title 4 and a half years ago. Call it 6 months before he was on the main event before winning the title, and it was 5 years ago he began to bloom into a big deal. But, years before that he held numerous tag titles and was massively over as part of the APA aswell, and when he won the title he was only in his mid-30s. JBL is only in his early 40s now. He did peak well into his career but he wasn't ridiculously old either.
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edisraw
Trap-Jaw
Choose Death
Posts: 375
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Post by edisraw on Dec 14, 2008 6:33:07 GMT -5
bob holly didn't do much until the late 90's early 2000's
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Post by YouStayClassy on Dec 14, 2008 6:50:39 GMT -5
Fit Finlay I know he was big in Europe early on, but he was never a known worldwide type. Even in WCW he wasn't really great. 2006 Finlay on Smackdown was the highlight of his career IMO. He had the best match of the show almost every week. And that was coming off a 5-6 year absence from the ring. Undeniably! I remember in him in WCW ten years ago (and he was old then!), thinking "Just give it up! You'll never amount to anything!" |
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Dave at the Movies
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
VINTAGE D-DAY DAVE! Always cranking dat thing.
Posts: 18,224
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Dec 14, 2008 20:14:27 GMT -5
bob holly didn't do much until the late 90's early 2000's[/quote Holly is still waiting. ;D |
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Post by texan on Dec 14, 2008 20:21:32 GMT -5
Mark Henry signed with the WWE back in 1996 and didn't win his first world title until 2008.
Come to think of it, Bret Hart signed in, I believe, 1984 and didn't win the world title until eight years later in 1992.
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Post by romafan87 on Dec 15, 2008 1:17:32 GMT -5
Peaked late? I mean, I wouldn't put guys like Mark Henry or Bret Hart even in this discussion. Realistically, how many guys win world titles? That's no way to judge a guy. By this definition, Davey Boy Smith never peaked, neither did Dynamite. And this question is a little silly, aren't you supposed to get progressively better, peak, slow down a little and then retire? Shouldn't ALL wrestlers peak fairly late in their careers? It's a career that you can do into your 40s.
I think asking the question "Who started late" would be a better question or "Who peaked early" rather than "Who peaked late."
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Post by Joe Neglia on Dec 15, 2008 7:19:36 GMT -5
Peaked late? I mean, I wouldn't put guys like Mark Henry or Bret Hart even in this discussion. Realistically, how many guys win world titles? That's no way to judge a guy. By this definition, Davey Boy Smith never peaked, neither did Dynamite. And this question is a little silly, aren't you supposed to get progressively better, peak, slow down a little and then retire? Shouldn't ALL wrestlers peak fairly late in their careers? It's a career that you can do into your 40s. I think asking the question "Who started late" would be a better question or "Who peaked early" rather than "Who peaked late." I think a lot of people are confusing/equating peaking with winning "the big one." I don't think Kane peaked with his first WWF title win, nor did Orton. The example I used, Hall, never won one. Finlay, on the other hand, is an excellent example of peaking late. He was around for decades and toiled in midcard or overseas work before retiring and unretiring and still toiling in midcard before finally "making it big" (without even winning the title). |
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Post by chunkylover53 on Dec 16, 2008 0:00:52 GMT -5
The most obvious answer is Mae Young.
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Post by trevortime on Feb 16, 2009 19:54:05 GMT -5
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Post by Robbymac on Feb 16, 2009 20:06:24 GMT -5
Mark Henry signed with the WWE back in 1996 and didn't win his first world title until 2008. Come to think of it, Bret Hart signed in, I believe, 1984 and didn't win the world title until eight years later in 1992. Mark Henry never won a World Title. |
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Joekishi
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,490
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Post by Joekishi on Feb 16, 2009 20:26:49 GMT -5
Fit Finlay I know he was big in Europe early on, but he was never a known worldwide type. Even in WCW he wasn't really great. 2006 Finlay on Smackdown was the highlight of his career IMO. He had the best match of the show almost every week. And that was coming off a 5-6 year absence from the ring. I'm going to agree. Finlay and Regal are really hitting their strides in the later parts of their careers |
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