Pushes that should have gone to other wrestlers.

[Deleted]

What pushes or storylines would have gone over better with a different wrestler?

I always thought A-Train should have been Mike Awesome, who was still being put over strong on the B shows, Albert on the other hand had been recently known as the Hip Hop Hippo.

Your turn.

[The Legend of Groose]

Ambrose should have been THE guy once the Shield disbanded. He was by far the most over of the 3 members.

[The Yes Man]

Jinder's title run should have gone to The Miz, or Bray Wyatt.

[Powerline]

I'll second Wyatt getting Jinder's push right now. I still wonder how difficult it would've been to have just kept the title on him at Mania, drop it later, and then go on. At least one-on-one, at Mania, he'd get his moment. It stuns me how quickly his stock shot up and then just nosedived back down.

I still think Steven Richards should've had at least a PPV main event during the Right to Censor era. They got some major heat with the crowd, and Steven was excellent in the ring. They seemed to be knocking on the door during the group's prime too. I think you could've had a fun feud with Austin or Rock battling it out with them, and Richards/RTC's vision to change the company once they got the belt or something of that ilk. Hell, I'd have been satisfied if they would've put Richards in Angle's place at Summerslam (it was clear it wasn't Angle's time yet anyway), or pluck Benoit or Kane from the Unforgiven 4-way (or just straight up ditch the 4-way and book a Rock and Steven Richards feud/match). There's plenty of examples where the crowd was white-hot for something (be it cheers or boos), and Vince and Co. just wouldn't take the shot. But it truly felt like there was destined to be bigger things for Richards and RTC and they were going after (and succeeding) over bigger and bigger game, and it would naturally lead to either a World Champion or at least Rock or Austin, and then it just petered out.

I dunno how much of a "push" this could be considered, but I feel like they left a major WM spectacle on the table when they had CM Punk drop the belt going into the match with Taker. I know Punk/Taker wouldn't have had the mainstream appeal Rock/Cena would've, and forget the "that feud never needed the belt" argument that everyone uses, because that's not even the biggest issue with it to me (though I echo the sentiment that the belt added nothing to the match). You had a chance to have "streak vs. streak", either Punk's weekly-television era record World Title reign ends or Taker's undefeated streak ends. The stars aligned in a way they never had before and never will again, and they put all their eggs into not just Rock/Cena II, but Rock/Cena II needing the belt. They could've had Rock/Cena II without the belt just fine, then closed the night with that Taker/Punk match. But anytime someone mentions a "push that should've gone elsewhere" or something of that ilk, that sticks out.

Jul 2, 2017 0:18:59 GMT -5 The Legend of Groose said:

Ambrose should have been THE guy once the Shield disbanded. He was by far the most over of the 3 members.

I'll always give some credit to WWE for sticking to their guns in a long-term sense as it seemed for a LONG time they were booking things on the fly in all aspects.

But even if they'd not gone with Ambrose, Rollins was easily the #2 in the equation, especially after being "the star" of the Shield/Evolution match.  Reigns was the odd man out, even at that time when it wasn't so blatantly clear they were gonna try to make Roman the cornerstone.  Reigns was easily not as over with the crowd, was not as good in-ring as Ambrose or Rollins, and not as good on-mic as Ambrose or Rollins (though that gap is smaller than the in-ring talent gap...he cut some decent promos as Leakee in FCW, and Rollins was never an "amazing" promo himself).

And that's not to say Reigns can't be a positive contributor and a major player for years to come.  I've seen people whose flames should've been out and are seemingly out of the equation become big damn deals, and not just be randomly handed a belt like Jinder, Cody Rhodes being a great example.  But they tried too soon with Reigns and made their plans way too blatantly obvious.

And the worst part is, the runs Braun and Joe are on right now would've been PERFECT for Reigns coming out of The Shield.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Bo Dallas should have been managed by Bob Backlund and NOT Darren Young

Bo Dallas was and is a former NXT Champion that fell off hard, and the "Make Bo Great Again!" line works way better with him than with Darren who was never really that great...

And he has way more of a "Good old fashioned upbeat guy that can immediately turn into a psychopath" vibe than Young ever did as well which is what they were going for. Bo and Backlund would have been an AMAZING Pairing in my view, it sucks that it never happened...

[repomark]

Jul 2, 2017 0:18:59 GMT -5 The Legend of Groose said:

Ambrose should have been THE guy once the Shield disbanded. He was by far the most over of the 3 members.

I don't disagree that Dean should have been the man, but I think people forget just how over Roman was in the Shield. The loudest chants during most Shield matches tended to be for Roman Reigns. So however much we might dislike how it has turned out, I can see why they went down that road initially.

It has been said, but I think the one that is most on my mind at the moment is Jinder. I think there are numerous candidates who would have been more appropriate for this current run with the belt: Bray Wyatt, the Miz (who didn't have to switch brand), or even have Randy keep it until Summerslam and drop it in a dream match to AJ or Nakamura. Has to be the worst choice ever to wear that belt - and Triple H should be listening to his own rhetoric if he has any control over these decisions, i.e. The belt doesn't make the man, the man makes the belt. Well - If ever there was a case of trying to get someone who isn't over instantly over by throwing the belt on them this is it.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

I think Cody Rhodes should have gotten the brief push to world title contention that Big Show got in late 2013. I mean, yeah, it still wasn't Bryan, but Cody was hot coming out of the angle with The Shield and people might have been a lot more into it than they were Big Show.

I'm not sure how a failed strip mall angle would play into it, but whatever, this is my post so I don't care.

[Deleted]

Miz should be the top heel on SmackDown right now and nothing in the world can convince me otherwise.

[The Thread Barbi]

Jannetty should have been leading DX if he hadn't jumped through the barbershop window!

[Spider2024]

"They were for somebody else, ok?"

[Sephiroth]

They should have put the IC title on Cesaro after he won the first Andre battle royal, not Barrett.

[Nosnorb]

Edge should have been the one to take on John Cena at Wrestlemania 22. He was RED HOT coming off cashing in Money in the Bank on Cena, was moving the needle like nobody else and had refined his character down to a tee. But instead, Triple H got another WM main event and while the match Edge had against Mick Foley was memorable, it took years off his career.

[grungesmurf]

I wanted Kane to be Mike Awesome.

[trollrogue]

Jul 2, 2017 0:24:59 GMT -5 The Yes Man said:

Jinder's title run should have gone to The Miz, or Bray Wyatt.

Wait... Wyatt literally got Jinder's push. HE defeated Randy Orton first-- then he pinned Cena and Styles in the same night to retain! Arguably Wyatt got a Super-Jinder push (stripped of Wyatt's family whereas Jinder had his Bollywood Boys to help out all along the way)

I would actually have rather Bray Wyatt got ROMAN REIGNS's push, have Wyatt be the 'big dog' since he can actually back it up with in ring promos that don't get booed, and have him DEFEAT AND RETIRE UNDERTAKER cause that would make infinitely more sense.

Roman should've been getting Bray's push of never winning main events at ppvs, but always being treated as a big deal until he eventually got his 'moment' against Randy

[Aceorton]

Billy Gunn's King of the Ring push in 1999 should have gone to Hardcore Holly. The timing was perfect for his character -- going from an overlooked job guy to the ornery, semi-delusional "super heavyweight" determined to show he could hang with the top stars.

[Rican]

Charlie Haas should have been JBL's "Chief of Staff" who eventually won the US title. They still do the short loss to Benoit but it eventually becomes Benoit pushing him to be better than JBL's lackey, turn on JBL and beat Benoit in a long match.

Cody Rhodes should have been The Authority's Chosen One who won MITB and cashed in on Daniel Bryan. All the stuff about Orton being "finally ready" after Orton was already like a million time world champion was dumb as hell.

[Jiren]

Earthquake in Sgt Slaughter's place at Mania VII.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Jul 2, 2017 12:31:02 GMT -5 Rican said:

Charlie Haas should have been JBL's "Chief of Staff" who eventually won the US title. They still do the short loss to Benoit but it eventually becomes Benoit pushing him to be better than JBL's lackey, turn on JBL and beat Benoit in a long match.

Cody Rhodes should have been The Authority's Chosen One who won MITB and cashed in on Daniel Bryan. All the stuff about Orton being "finally ready" after Orton was already like a million time world champion was dumb as hell.

Rhodes should've won the Smackdown MITB..

[trollrogue]

Jul 2, 2017 13:27:02 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Jul 2, 2017 12:31:02 GMT -5 Rican said:

Charlie Haas should have been JBL's "Chief of Staff" who eventually won the US title. They still do the short loss to Benoit but it eventually becomes Benoit pushing him to be better than JBL's lackey, turn on JBL and beat Benoit in a long match.

Cody Rhodes should have been The Authority's Chosen One who won MITB and cashed in on Daniel Bryan. All the stuff about Orton being "finally ready" after Orton was already like a million time world champion was dumb as hell.

Rhodes should've won the Smackdown MITB..

I always thought he was gonna get a Ladder Match against Sandow for the briefcase and it was a delayed push... but no can't blame Cody for pursuing future endeavors and becoming ROH-potentially-IWGP champ

[Deleted]

I felt the WM 29 booking should have looked like this...

World Title
Big Show (c) vs Ryback

US Title:
Swagger (c) vs. Del Rio

Then Henry could have played the Show role in the Sheild match...

Let Show (who was on one the best runs in his career) win the Del Rio fued (they can give Del Rio a short run but Show wins the fued in Feb)

Then Ryback who is still over huge at this time either wins the Rumble or the Chamber. Setting up the Mania match. Ryback looks amazing winning the title at Mania lifting Show up for the shellshock. The next night Ziggler can cash in MitB, let Ryback chase for a month or two until it finally ends with the double turn. Which would make Ryback turn make more sense then just attacking Cena at the end of Raw.

Swagger still looking strong from a decent showing at the Chamber can go on to win the US Title (which I'm pretty sure he never won?) while Del Rio is already an over face the "Born in Mexico, Made in America" crap would make more since in a fued over the US Title. When the already face Del Rio comes out to interrupt Swagger giving a promo with his right wing gimmick.