saintpat
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Release the hounds!!!
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Post by saintpat on Dec 16, 2015 2:33:15 GMT -5
The Edge/Jeff Hardy thread got me thinking.
WWE has definitely tried to create stars, contrary to popular opinion. Some have worked out better than others. None, since Cena, has become The Guy (at least not yet), but there have been valid attempts.
I'm wondering what you guys think about those attempts and who WWE legit tried to make into, at the very least, a true main eventer.
Here are some IMO:
1) Jeff Hardy. For sure they saw potential in him and created a very nice story arc to elevate him (when he won HHH's respect), but his drug problems more than anything derailed it.
2) Miz. Hard to believe, but he wasn't put in a WM main event (even if he was, as it turned out, third banana behind Rock and Cena) for no reason. He just wasn't quite main event material.
3) Bryan. Yes, I know, but reluctantly or not they did pull the trigger at WM30. Had he stayed healthy, I presume he would have lost to Brock at SS and then, had his momentum carried, probably won the RR and won the title back at WM31. Maybe. But he would have been the guy, or close to it.
4) Roman. Obviously. And right now, to the surprise (and consternation) of many, for the moment at least it's working.
5) Punk. (Someone call Riot Control to make these people hear me out). I personally think there were mixed feelings on this. They saw the guy as someone who could be the top heel, maybe a Piper to Cena's Hogan, but not The Guy. But they did want him to be something and did put the title on him for 400-some days and that wasn't an accident. But I think it was oil and vinegar. They decided somewhere along the way that he wasn't worth dealing with, that he brought a lot of negative energy to the locker room (thinking of HHH's comments about how often he'd have people come up to him before shows to tell him Punk wasn't happy, that he was fuming backstage, and Hunter would go asking if everything was all right and CMP would just say, 'Yeah, no problem'). Also probably didn't help that he'd go to Comic-Con or some interview and talk about how he was going to retire soon, making those that didn't want to push him say, "Well, if he's not going to hang around it definitely isn't worth it."
Go back further and I think VKM definitely saw Orton as the future, Batista had that aura but he seemed to reach a ceiling.
Who else?
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Mozenrath
FANatic
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 16, 2015 2:38:53 GMT -5
Sometimes bad luck happens.
I think Lashley might be one of the best examples. They overpushed him, trying to make him be the next Brock, but that wasn't who he was or where his strengths were. By the time they seemed to be kind of honing in on something that worked with him, with the short feud with Cena and heel turn, he left the company. WWE wanted to make him a big deal, and were determined, but they were too impatient.
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Post by Raskovnik on Dec 16, 2015 2:41:30 GMT -5
14 year old Kenny Dykstra who even went over Ric Flair.
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Post by Starshine on Dec 16, 2015 6:00:10 GMT -5
Chris Masters. You could tell their entire interest in him was largely cosmetic considering the nothing they gave him after the guy dropped the mass then went and improved himself beyond anyone's expectations.
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Ben Wyatt
Crow T. Robot
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
I don't get it. At all. It's kind of a small horse, I mean what am I missing? Am I crazy?
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Dec 16, 2015 7:11:25 GMT -5
Kennedy. Man oh man, they really wanted Kennedy to be a big star and had not one, but 2 major storylines invested in him. His inability to stay healthy, wellness bust (after running his mouth about being clean)and carelessness in the ring killed any shot of that
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Post by Mid-Carder on Dec 16, 2015 7:15:52 GMT -5
Vladimir Kozlov. This one's really strange in hindsight.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Dec 16, 2015 7:31:28 GMT -5
14 year old Kenny Dykstra who even went over Ric Flair. Nah, it didn't take long for them to realize he was shit. After the SS split up he was pretty much a jobber. He barely got a win.
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Push R Truth
Patti Mayonnaise
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Perpetually Constipated
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Post by Push R Truth on Dec 16, 2015 7:34:09 GMT -5
No matter how many times they told us how aggressive Del Rio is, or how the Championship is his destiny, or how he's the greatest wrestler out of Mexico they just couldn't make him into a star.
Now we are in the midst of version two of the same damn mistake.
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Post by 111111 on Dec 16, 2015 7:38:41 GMT -5
Obvious answer is Lex Luger
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Post by xCompackx on Dec 16, 2015 9:24:07 GMT -5
I'll agree with Punk, and I have a feeling that a lot of his problems with WWE were because of his attitude.
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Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Dec 16, 2015 9:45:15 GMT -5
I think Jeff hardy was a huge star almost in spite of himself. Guys like Lashley seem to be the best example.
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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 16, 2015 9:51:21 GMT -5
Mabel.
They tried, but it just didn't work.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Dec 16, 2015 9:57:14 GMT -5
Drew McIntyre.
It's actually kind of a sad story of a guy being pushed way out of his depth at the start of his career. Then, the guy works hard and actually manages to get really, really good. Unfortunately, by that point, WWE had already placed a label on him as a failure and had essentially given up all hope on the dude. Of course, all the whacky stuff going on in his personal life didn't really help.
To me, it just seems so goofy that you got guys like Sheamus who's gotten like 4 different chances at being a top-tier star (none of which being successful to the level they want it to be or really anything close to where they want it) while guys like Drew had one shot and then were never taken seriously again.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2015 10:01:43 GMT -5
Billy Gunn, during "The One" phase.
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Rican
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
July 17, 2011 - HHHe called it
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Post by Rican on Dec 16, 2015 10:10:07 GMT -5
Drew McIntyre. It's actually kind of a sad story of a guy being pushed way out of his depth at the start of his career. Then, the guy works hard and actually manages to get really, really good. Unfortunately, by that point, WWE had already placed a label on him as a failure and had essentially given up all hope on the dude. To me, it just seems so goofy that you got guys like Sheamus who's gotten like 4 different chances at being a top-tier star (none of which being successful to the level they want it to be or really anything close to where they want it) while guys like Drew had one shot and then were never taken seriously again. Came in here to post this. Drew is someone I hope gets another shot in the future.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Dec 16, 2015 10:11:36 GMT -5
Vladimir Kozlov. This one's really strange in hindsight. Damn, I forgot this dude existed. They were pushing him ridiculously hard during that first year, weren't they? Dude even beat the Undertaker clean as a sheet. Then, it's like they watched him stink up the joint in enough main events to realize "well, this dude kinda sucks ass, doesn't he?" before de-pushing him to be a comedy geek with Santino.
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Ben Wyatt
Crow T. Robot
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
I don't get it. At all. It's kind of a small horse, I mean what am I missing? Am I crazy?
Posts: 41,500
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Dec 16, 2015 11:18:55 GMT -5
Drew McIntyre. It's actually kind of a sad story of a guy being pushed way out of his depth at the start of his career. Then, the guy works hard and actually manages to get really, really good. Unfortunately, by that point, WWE had already placed a label on him as a failure and had essentially given up all hope on the dude. To me, it just seems so goofy that you got guys like Sheamus who's gotten like 4 different chances at being a top-tier star (none of which being successful to the level they want it to be or really anything close to where they want it) while guys like Drew had one shot and then were never taken seriously again. Came in here to post this. Drew is someone I hope gets another shot in the future. I'd argue he might be their biggest dropped ball of the last decade
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Post by moondoggie on Dec 16, 2015 11:26:38 GMT -5
WWE I feel alot of their big push guys put all of their eggs inton that basket and well we have seen that more than a few have cracked because of personal issues, not fitting the mold after they figured they would, and or based off of WWE being impatient like with Lashley.
Great Khali is another but obviously we know why its because of his limited mobility that the guy obviously wasn't going to go any further than "Big Tall Mean Giant" or in this case "Big Tall Happy Dancing Giant" i mean yeah they gave him a run with the title...he just couldn't run at all with it
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Dec 16, 2015 11:36:30 GMT -5
I think one of the major problems is that WWE doesn't really "make" stars as much as they try to force them. This thread is littered with so many examples that boil down to a guy who came in really strong and utterly out of his depth, got pushed to the moon before he could catch on with anybody, and then got pushed down the card and branded a failure only to later come into their own by a time that was already too late. McIntyre was squandered and never given a second chance by the time he improved. They rushed Lashley, who later developed on his own into a great talent (although his leaving had nothing to do with his treatment from creative). Masters was only liked for his muscles, and despite improving greatly, when he slimmed down there was no hope for him. Sheamus came in super strong and they keep stubbornly trying with him, despite even plenty of his supporters around here saying he's best as an upper midcard guy. Then there's all the one-off giants they gave monster pushes to in the mid-late 2000s, who once they ran into either Cena or the Undertaker got depushed. Of the guys they've ever tried to coronate with the main event, Reigns is the first one they've ever gone all in on who had the chance to get over first in a very long time. And considering the number of misfired ideas, from "sufferin' succotash" to the fact that the Shield had to band together and fight against creative to remain as strong as they did, that could have easily gone just as bad for him.
WWE's methods are fundamentally flawed. Bringing Del Rio back is a great example of this; one of the most pushed and decorated guys to come out since Cena's run at the top began, who has won plenty of accolades and held multiple world titles, is somehow inherently better at being the Latino star they want on the basis that he's already a "star". But he's not. I don't think Vince really knows how to do it anymore.
They don't try to make stars, they try to make more John Cenas, and when someone fails to live up to that expectation, they usually get thrown off to the side.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Dec 16, 2015 12:00:29 GMT -5
Drew McIntyre. It's actually kind of a sad story of a guy being pushed way out of his depth at the start of his career. Then, the guy works hard and actually manages to get really, really good. Unfortunately, by that point, WWE had already placed a label on him as a failure and had essentially given up all hope on the dude. Of course, all the whacky stuff going on in his personal life didn't really help. To me, it just seems so goofy that you got guys like Sheamus who's gotten like 4 different chances at being a top-tier star (none of which being successful to the level they want it to be or really anything close to where they want it) while guys like Drew had one shot and then were never taken seriously again. To be fair, Drew was always good. It's just that WWE tried to give him the usual dull, plodding, methodical style where he does nothing but punches and kicks. Then when they lost interest and he was allowed to actually wrestle he became great. Same happened with Burchill. On Raw he does nothing but dull, slow, plodding matches with punches and kicks. As a jobber on ECW he's hitting pele kits, standing moonsaults, brainbusters, various suplexes and other awesome moves. And to be fair to Sheamus. He was over initially on Raw until WWE beat us about the head that his win was a fluke and was over as a face on Smackdown until piss-poor superman booking and giving him shit, lame-joke filled promos turned the crowd against him.
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