Wrestlers With the Oddest Career Trajectories

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Paul Neu AKA PN News AKA Cannonball Grizzly AKA A Bunch of Other Stuff has to be up there.

For those who don’t know he went from…

Fairly generic big man under his real name in the AWA
>
Wrestling rapper PN News in WCW
>
Veteran American wrestler Cannonball Grizzly who wrestled for more than 2 decades combined in the European indies

Oh yeah and somewhere along the way he had a singles match against Antonio Inoki in NJPW and multiple ECW World Title matches against Mike Awesome.

[Natural Born Farmer]

Kane and Kevin Nash both waded through a lot of shit before finding gimmicks that worked for them. You'd think their size would've gotten them over regardless of what they were saddled with, but not so much.

I took a long break from watching wrestling towards the end of the Attitude Era, and when I resumed watching I was very surprised to see Edge and Jeff Hardy had both become top guys. They were great but I thought tag team championships were probably their ceiling.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Mark Henry

Intermittently over but largely useless midcarder for 15 years suddenly becomes main event level in talent and push

WTF

[MC Blowfish]

Steve Austin. I knew him from the Hollywood Blondes. I never thought that he would become Stone Cold.

[THE FVNKER]

Sept 18, 2022 14:14:30 GMT -5 MC Blowfish said:

Steve Austin. I knew him from the Hollywood Blondes. I never thought that he would become Stone Cold.

Dude, as much as I like what Austin became in Stone Cold, I always feel like when people dog Bischoff for not seeing that potential, that it's bullshit. There's no way anyone thought that was gonna happen. Was he awesome in ring in WCW? Hell yes. Did he have the look and mic-ability in WCW that would definitely lead you to believe he would be listed as one of the most important in history. Hell no.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Sept 18, 2022 12:30:16 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Mark Henry

Intermittently over but largely useless midcarder for 15 years suddenly becomes main event level in talent and push

WTF

Wildest part of this to me isn't the push, but how immediately people were on board with it, given that Henry wasn't some cult midcarder people always wanted to get a push, and by many kinda written off entirely. Then he just clicked not only as a talent but with the audience on a level that gets overlooked for just how stark it was. Usually, late career pushes don't magically just connect that way.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Sept 18, 2022 14:33:20 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

Sept 18, 2022 12:30:16 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Mark Henry

Intermittently over but largely useless midcarder for 15 years suddenly becomes main event level in talent and push

WTF

Wildest part of this to me isn't the push, but how immediately people were on board with it, given that Henry wasn't some cult midcarder people always wanted to get a push, and by many kinda written off entirely. Then he just clicked not only as a talent but with the audience on a level that gets overlooked for just how stark it was. Usually, late career pushes don't magically just connect that way.

Granted there was a bit of accidental foreshadowing for it when they did that gauntlet match with Orton a couple of years prior where Mark Henry was his last opponent and squashed him, people went nuclear over it, then for no reason they just didn't follow-up on it and instead had Orton feud with Cena yet again.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

I really don't know how you can top PCO. Total unknown makes it to the WWF thanks to meeting Jacques Rougeau at a show in Puerto Rico and hitting it off with him due to both being able to speak French. Then becomes a Tag Team Champion after being there less then two months. After about five years working in both WWF and WCW disappears from the big league scene in the late 90's only to resurface in twenty years later in his early 50's and has runs in ROH and Impact and even manages to win a World Title in one of them.

Jinder Mahal is a weird one. Has a three year run being used mainly as a jobber. Gets released but takes an offer to come back two years later as they need more depth due to doing a roster split again. Is used in lower card heel enhancer role like he was the last time for several months. However due to the company wanting to expand in India gets a rocket push out of nowhere and remarkably wins the World Title. Has about a five month beating guys like Orton and Nakamura. Loses belt to AJ Styles and gradually falls down the card before eventually going back to being in the same spot before his incredible rise as a lower card heel guy putting poeple over.

Mandy Rose currently is a pretty odd one. Despite being someone you think they would push to the moon is never really pushed at all on in four years on the main not winning any titles and usually jsut being used to put people over. Is sent down to NXT and gets a huge push where she is pushed as the clear face of the division in which she's the leader of a heel trio that has been the central focus of the division for a year and gets a super long NXT Women's Title reign that she still hasn't lost yet and is going on close to a year.

[Jacy Jayne Atomic Dog AMV]

People talk about Suicide like it was a gimmick that many ppl took on but I think that the ppl were the many gimmicks that Suicide took on. Dude was Jon Gresham and Austin Aries at the same time. You try being that. 

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Sept 18, 2022 14:33:20 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

Sept 18, 2022 12:30:16 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Mark Henry

Intermittently over but largely useless midcarder for 15 years suddenly becomes main event level in talent and push

WTF

Wildest part of this to me isn't the push, but how immediately people were on board with it, given that Henry wasn't some cult midcarder people always wanted to get a push, and by many kinda written off entirely. Then he just clicked not only as a talent but with the audience on a level that gets overlooked for just how stark it was. Usually, late career pushes don't magically just connect that way.

Another cool thing about the Henry push was the “ALL WILL SUFFER” visual. It was just a really cool/simple entrance where the camera showed Henry from behind wearing his “ALL WILL SUFFER” shirt. Simple. Easy. Bad ass.

Here’s a pic to jog your memory:

[sungod2020]

Jinder Mahal has to win this. For years(both during his initial run and when he returned) he was nothing more than a jobber. The "highlight" of his WWE run up to that point was playing second(if not third) fiddle in a comedy jobber stable(lead by Heath Slater).

When he came back, he was still jobbing up to winning a six pack challenge to determine the #1 contenders spot for the WWE championship at Backlash 2017 against Randy Orton. Won it, held the belt for nearly six months before losing it to AJ Styles, then gradually slid down the card. First he won the US championship and held it for like a week, then he dipped even further down the card in the 24/7 title picture.

Because of how piss poor his world championship run was(that he shouldn't have had in the first place), I keep forgetting he even held the belt. It was like a fever dream.

EDIT:just realized somebody beat me to it. Either way my point still stands.

[Bo Rida]

Rene Dupree.
18 when he signed for OVW. Makes the main roster in la resistance in 2003. Left WWE in 2007, spent some time in the indies before carving out a respectful career in multiple Japanese promotions.
Currently in the old guys promotion Noah where he was tag champion earlier this year.

There's no real trajectory which is odd with such longevity, solid if unspectacular tag specialist but without the highs most who fit into that category have.

In 2004 he lost the tag titles to Rey Mysterio and RVD, that could theoretically still happen again.

What makes it odd is he's still only 38! Same age as Omega, Zayn, Owens and the Bellas. Younger than Finn Balor and Cesaro. He breaks all sense of time, doesn't seem to quite fit anywhere.

[James Fabiano]

One step, but...

Territory mainstay Terry Taylor becomes a clueless rookie/a rooster.

Pretty boy Kevin Kelly becomes Nailz.

[Triangle Lancer]

Ray Traylor in WCW alone from 1993-98 is a 5 year head-scratcher.

Take that, add the rest of his career, and you have quite a bunch of twists and turns.

[XIII]

Sept 18, 2022 14:33:20 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

Sept 18, 2022 12:30:16 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Mark Henry

Intermittently over but largely useless midcarder for 15 years suddenly becomes main event level in talent and push

WTF

Wildest part of this to me isn't the push, but how immediately people were on board with it, given that Henry wasn't some cult midcarder people always wanted to get a push, and by many kinda written off entirely. Then he just clicked not only as a talent but with the audience on a level that gets overlooked for just how stark it was. Usually, late career pushes don't magically just connect that way.

Just goes to show that if you’re a believable wrecking machine and yell things like: “if I charge for air, you better make sure the bill is paid!” People are going to be onboard with the carnage.