saintpat
El Dandy
Release the hounds!!!
Posts: 7,664
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Post by saintpat on Jan 14, 2012 0:00:59 GMT -5
Somewhere, somehow, sometime in the post-Attitude Era, someone has failed to make it on their own merits.
My point is every time someone fails to become a solid main eventer, the IWC and this forum in particular cry to the heavens: "Creative screwed it up. This guy was getting great pop/heat and they failed to handle it properly. He could only do what was scripted, so the script must have sucked for this obvious talent not to ascend to great heights."
Well, OK, there are probably cases where that was so -- why someone, at least at a certain time, didn't get over because of WWE creative.
But I want to talk about assigning some personal responsibility: who has been given opportunities and dropped the ball, failing to get over because they just didn't have the goods or couldn't make something work that a better talent could have made work?
I've got a few in mind, but I'm interested to hear your opinions.
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CMWaters
Ozymandius
Rolled a Seven, Beat the Ads.
Bald and busy
Posts: 63,090
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Post by CMWaters on Jan 14, 2012 0:02:31 GMT -5
Does backstage problems count?
If so, Rob Van Dam could have been much bigger when he was WWE and ECW champion, but him getting caught messed that up.
And The Brian Kendrick might have gotten a better push if he could have kicked his habit, but he'd rather just keep paying the fines.
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BigWill
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 16,619
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Post by BigWill on Jan 14, 2012 0:02:41 GMT -5
I had an unsettling image when I first read the thread title.
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Post by Mayonnaise on Jan 14, 2012 0:03:45 GMT -5
Sean O'Haire - Great look, great gimmick, good in the ring but, couldn't cut a promo in front of the crowd to save his life. Throw in his out of the ring issues and no one wanted to take a bigger chance on him.
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Post by Codebreaker on Jan 14, 2012 0:10:47 GMT -5
Would JoMo fall into this category? Though I wouldn't say he "screwed the pooch" (there's a Melina joke there somewhere) since it seems like he may make his way back to the WWE, his promos away from The Miz left a lot to be desired.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2012 0:11:12 GMT -5
Two words.
MATT FREAKIN HARDY!
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saintpat
El Dandy
Release the hounds!!!
Posts: 7,664
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Post by saintpat on Jan 14, 2012 0:11:13 GMT -5
I know this will go over well, but my poster boy for this thread is John Morrison.
He's the man of 1,000 pushes -- and he apparently has done nothing to improve his mic skills over the years. He's done nothing to define his character over the years. He's done nothing to take advantage of the opportunities that have definitely been afforded him.
Jeff Hardy is another, for obvious reasons. WWE basically said, "Here, take the belt, we'll push you to the high heavens," and he said, "Nah, got a meth lab to run."
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Post by hossfan on Jan 14, 2012 0:11:31 GMT -5
Drew McIntyre
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Jimmy
Grimlock
Posts: 13,317
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Post by Jimmy on Jan 14, 2012 0:17:19 GMT -5
Test had seemingly a million chances to be a big player and blew almost all of them. Yes, creative should have followed up on him vs. Triple H and Steph in 99/00, but he still got many more opportunities after that.
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Post by DrBackflipsHoffman on Jan 14, 2012 0:18:22 GMT -5
Big Boss Man
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Post by The Tank on Jan 14, 2012 0:22:05 GMT -5
I am fully convinced William Regal would've been WWE Champion if he hadn't fallen off the horse again as Raw GM/King of the Ring.
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Post by norsisclouds on Jan 14, 2012 0:28:36 GMT -5
It can be argued that Matt Hardy's failures are not entirely his fault. I'd say about 30% creative's fault and 70% Matt's. I'll break it down:
Things Matt is Arguably Responsible for:
-backstage issues, fights with other wrestlers and creative agents like John Laurinitis and Finlay -embarrassing the company publicly and costing them $$ leading to his firing the first time -horrible return promo -turning down TNA for a company where the boss' son in law claimed he "never drew any money" -ran out on the Undertaker's return to avoid getting chokeslammed, because it might "hurt his character" getting backstage heat from the rest of the lockerroom as a result -fighting with other wrestlers over girlfriends -developing problems with drug dependency, alcohol and a deteriorating physical condition and refusing to take responsibility for said problems.
Things Creative is responsible for: -Making him feel he has to work through several career threatening injuries -Pushing his girlfriend and friend over him, even before the scandal broke (he moved to RAW for Lita who was seen as too important to put over on SD!--essentially the company decided his girlfriend was more important than he was) -burying him on SD! for 2 years before letting him feud with MVP -Not seeing him as a valuable main event player, but part of this could be the cause of his behavior -Reportedly taking story ideas away from him and giving them to other main event stars ie. Edge, Triple H
To be fair, a bit of responsibility to be shared on both sides, tbh and I can't stand the guy. 2005 he definitely "screwed the pooch" though, getting himself fired, then essentially forcing them to rehire him, but f***ing up his promo because he can't talk and getting jobbed out at the end.
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Post by Savage Gambino on Jan 14, 2012 0:29:23 GMT -5
Two words. MATT FREAKIN HARDY! Seriously, this guy. Never before had one person had such a groundswell of support from the fans to where WWE was forced to reverse his release. Then he opened his mouth, and for that I redirect you to The Matt Hardy Return Promo Depreciation Thread.
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siredger
ALF
Can now proudly say he held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in his hands.
Posts: 1,116
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Post by siredger on Jan 14, 2012 0:30:08 GMT -5
I think Carlito falls into that category as well. Instead of taking the opportunity and running with the ball when they turned him face, he bitched and moaned about it because he wasn't happy being a babyface and ended up half-assing every feud he was in. The guy had great heat with the fans too so why not take advantage of it?
I'd also go with Shelton Benjamin. So much fun to watch every week but sounded way too complacent with his spot on the roster.
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Post by Large Father Frigid on Jan 14, 2012 0:31:35 GMT -5
Rene Dupree
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siredger
ALF
Can now proudly say he held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in his hands.
Posts: 1,116
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Post by siredger on Jan 14, 2012 0:32:54 GMT -5
Hey....even his tag team partner Sylvain Grenier couldn't stand him. And God knows how much of a narcissist Grenier actually is.
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Post by frogsplash45 on Jan 14, 2012 0:34:35 GMT -5
Kennedy...
Kennedy.......
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Post by norsisclouds on Jan 14, 2012 0:47:07 GMT -5
Two words. MATT FREAKIN HARDY! Seriously, this guy. Never before had one person had such a groundswell of support from the fans to where WWE was forced to reverse his release. Then he opened his mouth, and for that I redirect you to The Matt Hardy Return Promo Depreciation Thread. Oh God. OK I retract my somewhat defense. I forgot how horrible that was. Yikes...from the pronunciation to the delivery--the long ramble in the middle--it was like he didn't plan anything out, got there, shit on the mic and then tried to save it with "I hope you die in a CAR ACCIDENT" and the crowd started booing him. Oh man--and Matt nearly died in a car accident the week he was fired in '05! There's all kinds of wrong with that. Other wrestlers who screwed the pooch--Janetty and Jake the Snake Roberts, definitely.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2012 1:02:31 GMT -5
I can think of someone that screwed more pushes than Morrison, Shelton Benjamin.
It went on for so damn long.
Anytime Shelton would come off something good, he'd say "You like that? Well check this out! *REALLY BAD PROMO*" HA!
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Post by norsisclouds on Jan 14, 2012 1:21:20 GMT -5
I forgot about Shelton. Pure in-ring talent, one of the best.
But could not cut a promo to save his life.
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