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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 2, 2013 10:08:40 GMT -5
But could not no matter how hard they tried?
Now this thread isn't for things like John Cena being hated by half the crowd, or a failed face turn, this is for things that were such disasters the WWE had no choice but to scrap the idea.
To me, a big one from recent years would be Mike Adamle. While not good on ECW or in his short interview segments, WWE still seemed extremely high on him even going as far as to make him Raw GM. I even remember news coming out that WWE had started training Adamle how to bump so he could do matches. Adamle was comically bad and was quickly written off tv and released.
A similar one, but on a much smaller scale, was Lena Yada on ECW. Layla and Kelly Kelly were feuding on ECW over... something. They have a dance contest on ECW and out of nowhere Lena (who was announcing the contest) said she was entering and started to dance... except all her dancing consisted of was a weird duck walk and occasionally stop to kick her foot out or push her foot to the side. Lena interrupted a couple more segments between Kelly and Layla in similar fashion and was always met with indifference. WWE fired her quickly.
Actually thinking about it, Extreme Expose as a whole could be put in. As, at the time, none of them could wrestle, Kelly couldn't dance (and was supposed to be the main attraction), and the dances went too long. Though there was the very entertaining segment where the PA system cut off their song in the middle.
Another I'd add would be heel Michael Cole. Cole was good in his role as a heel at first, but it just got to the point where listening to him became a chore. I think WWE realized it as well because even though he remained fairly heelish throughout 2011 and in early 2012, WWE dropped it quickly.
Johnny Ace as an on character figure is the final one, and most recent, I'll mention. Kind of blew up in their face
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Jan 2, 2013 10:10:44 GMT -5
I want to say Brakus because of how many goddamn vignettes they had of him. However, they knew he sucked in the ring so I don't think he ever appeared on WWF TV stateside. The most I remember seeing of him was jobbing to Jeff Jarrett on one of those UK only PPVs. Even then I think the match might have been clipped haha.
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Post by Snaptastic on Jan 2, 2013 10:14:42 GMT -5
I want to say Sin Cara.
Yeah he's popular but he's not what they ever thought he was going to be.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 10:16:14 GMT -5
Ezekiel Jackson.
Debuted as a bodyguard for Kendrick, then when they broke up he got sent to ECW where he was apart of a very forgettable tag team with Kozlov. Then he in-explicitly beats Christian to become the last ECW Champion despite him not being over.
Vignettes start running on Smackdown, but he gets injured for six months. He returns on Raw and gets a few half-decent reactions before joining The Corre (which even Barrett acknowledges as being awful), and has a boring feud with Wade Barrett. He wins the IC title and has a completely forgettable title run before losing it and being taken off TV because nobody cares about him.
At least the WWE had the common sense to keep his IC title run short.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 2, 2013 10:18:01 GMT -5
I want to say Sin Cara. Yeah he's popular but he's not what they ever thought he was going to be. fair point, but I kind of feel that when all is said and done, we will look back and say everything about Cara was botched from the beginning. Konnan mentioned in his recent shoot he felt Cara should've gone to FCW first. He mentioned how Dos Caras was a huge star in Mexico, but he was willing to go to developmental for a little to learn the WWE style. He felt Sin Cara should've done the same thing especially since he didn't speak English and a lot of guys in WWE didn't know how to work his style.
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Arrow
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Arrow on Jan 2, 2013 10:22:26 GMT -5
Triple H as "the" guy. While still a huge star, one would only need to look at the dismal business done during that time period to realize that he wasn't the one to carry a company, no matter how hard they tried to push him. This could apply to Shawn Michaels as well.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 10:23:21 GMT -5
Beth Phoenix, ULTIMATE WOMAN WHO DESTROYS ALL THINGS.
Following her forgotten 2006 debut and subsequent injury, she debuts in 2007, immediately gets pushed to the moon and becomes champion after Candice is injured. Dominates established talents for remainder of year and holds belt. Thus begins an endless period of WWE talking about how she's the ultimate combination of strenght and beauty, or whatever. Fans DO NOT CARE.
2008 begins. Continues wrestling other women and wins majority of time, mostly against the extremely popular Mickie James. After winning at Wrestlemania, continues off and on matches with her and Melina, before starting a heel vs heel feud with Melina. Gets all the major wins including the only women's "I Quit" match. Fans get so tired of her that Melina, who had previously played an irredeemable heel, almost immediately gets turned face by the crowd and gets over. After she gets injured, Beth gets put in a storyline with Santino Marella who was on a hot streak with his character. It provides her with some exposure and she continues to dominate the division until Melina comes back and wins the belt off of her. Afterwards, Beth continues to get booked strongly in every match that she's in, going to Smackdown in late 2009 and eventually getting pushed as the top female star there. Finally gets over somewhat in a feud with Michelle McCool. Gets injured. Teams up with Natalya on and off after returning, continues being booked strongly, and then turns heel to no fanfare. Then gets another moon push and becomes champion out of nowhere once her then-boyfriend becomes WWE champ. After they split, she loses her title, fades into obscurity, and eventually retires.
Beth Phoenix will always be a prime example of how NOT to book a female talent. She got pushed out of nowhere with no discernable character other than "BAH SHE'S TOUGH RAAHHHH!" Her character was so bland that when put up against a talent who did have a character, the crowd sided with the other person and they almost instantly became one of the most over females in the company. The women's division rotted away when Beth was a champion because of their patent refusal to make her look human against most other girls that she worked alongside, and the one-sidedness of the majority of her feuds basically killed her overness.
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Post by Snaptastic on Jan 2, 2013 10:24:24 GMT -5
Triple H as "the" guy. While still a huge star, one would only need to look at the dismal business done during that time period to realize that he wasn't the one to carry a company. This could apply to Shawn Michaels as well. HBK is certainly rated higher than he probably is. But his later run with the company certain shot him skywards. I agree on the HHH front but only as far as trying to push him to Rock/Austin etc levels but it never quite worked out. He's over like rover however.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 2, 2013 10:27:48 GMT -5
Triple H as "the" guy. While still a huge star, one would only need to look at the dismal business done during that time period to realize that he wasn't the one to carry a company. This could apply to Shawn Michaels as well. With Michaels? I don't think so as he was still a huge match draw late in his career. I do see merit in what you are saying with Triple H with a few different instances. The last two Taker mania build ups. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the matches but I know a lot of people loved it. The hype around those matches however, especially the first one, were awful. I just rolled my eyes at the segments with other wrestlers talking about the staredown. The Brock/HHH match too, but I think the big thing there was nobody believed Brock was losing
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Allie Kitsune
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Always Feelin' Foxy.
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jan 2, 2013 10:28:44 GMT -5
RE : Christian, "CLB : Creepy Little Bastard".
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Post by PTBartman on Jan 2, 2013 10:29:59 GMT -5
Bobby Lashley
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 10:32:34 GMT -5
BOBBY LASHLEY HAS DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE! {Spoiler}DEFEATED HARDCORE HOLLY!
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Cronant
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by Cronant on Jan 2, 2013 10:32:45 GMT -5
The Brock/HHH match too, but I think the big thing there was nobody believed Brock was losing Really? A good amount of people here believed it was a HHH bury job waiting to happen.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 2, 2013 10:36:07 GMT -5
I thought about Lashley, but he left on his own accord. And he was fairly over while going for the US title.
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Allie Kitsune
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jan 2, 2013 10:38:07 GMT -5
"NOW EAT DEM CHEESEBURGERS. EAT 'EM UP."
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Arrow
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Arrow on Jan 2, 2013 10:40:42 GMT -5
HBK is certainly rated higher than he probably is. But his later run with the company certain shot him skywards. I agree on the HHH front but only as far as trying to push him to Rock/Austin etc levels but it never quite worked out. He's over like rover however. Well, yeah. I don't think anybody would deny that Triple H is immensely good at what he does. But he's just never gotten to that next step where guys like Austin and Rock are, and this is after multiple pushes throughout his career. With Michaels? I don't think so as he was still a huge match draw late in his career. I don't think Michaels was ever that big of a draw, even during his second run. Even taking out the fact that WWE was apparently close to going out of business in 1996 (his year on top), he usually found himself playing coming in second to Cena, Batista, HHH, etc. during his second run. Doesn't sound the way they'd treat a guy who was a huge draw. Not saying that HBK wasn't great (though I believe his match quality during his second run is vastly overrated), because he was. But given the amount of opportunities he's been given, you'd think he'd be better.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 11:07:48 GMT -5
The problem with Lashley was the fact that they kind of lost their patience and hotshotted him up the roster. He had caught on pretty well while he was climbing his way up the midcard, but then they went from being in a position that probably would've worked of him being a filler challenger for Booker for No Mercy, which they chickened out on, to two months later suddenly expecting people to drop money on seeing the guy in marquee matches every month. He was definitely fine for the midcard and I think he could've worked fine at No Mercy with Booker, but he clearly needed more time before he was ready to be an actual main-eventer.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Jan 2, 2013 14:21:05 GMT -5
Shelton Benjamin: I liked the guy but despite being a great wrestler and an amazing athlete, he just could never get over. It wasn't for a lack of trying by the bookers though as they gave gave him some strong pushes with long title reigns especially for the time, first with the IC title as a face in 04-05 and then later with the US title during his heel run on Smackdown as the Gold Standard. Despite this though the crowd never cared about him.
Drew McIntyre: To me the perfect example of a guy the bookers liked and were hell bent on pushing at all costs despite the fans not caring. Never got over despite getting a huge push in 09-010 as Vince's chosen one where he was undefeated for seven months, beatdown babyfaces on a seemingly weekly basis, dominated several feuds, and won the IC title despite having no heat or good matches to speak of. Even after losing the IC title they still pushed him pretty strong with his feud with Teddy Long that was heavily featured and got tons of TV time on Smackdown through most of 2010. By this point he had at least turned into a pretty good worker and was having a lot of good matches with Kofi and Christian, but he still wasn't over enough to warrant the push he was getting. By the end of the year even the bookers gave up on him and he's been pretty much a jobber ever since.
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Ben Wyatt
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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 Jan 2, 2013 14:24:22 GMT -5
Shelton Benjamin: I liked the guy but despite being a great wrestler and an amazing athlete, he just could never get over. It wasn't for a lack of trying by the bookers though as they gave gave him some strong pushes with long title reigns especially for the time, first with the IC title as a face in 04-05 and then later with the US title during his heel run on Smackdown as the Gold Standard. Despite this though the crowd never cared about him. Shelton's lack of charisma did him in. His initial mini feud with HHH should have been enough, but once that was over he could never maintain fan intrest
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Post by kamero00 on Jan 2, 2013 14:34:07 GMT -5
This starts and ends with Sheamus.
The conventional way of thinking, is that an 18 seconds win at WM would get him HUGE over. It failed.
The following 2 months where he as booed, they kept him off RAW (for the most part), and piped in cheers for him; at the same time, they were doing the opposite to DB, and editing the "YES" chants out.
To this day they still shove that goofy gimmick down our throats, and his jokes bomb every time.
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