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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Oct 8, 2018 9:44:41 GMT -5
We give out to WWE all the time for not pushing this talent or that talent or whatever, but on occasion, a talent will get momentum and WWE actually do follow through and ride that wave to glory... however long that lasted, granted, but they got there. It's what I've generally called "going with the hot hand". That said, that can often leave other plans, and therefore other talents, left out in the cold.
I thought of this because at the moment, I'm cleaning up my spreadsheets and double-checking previous results for the points rankings, and I'm up to mid-late 2016, where Heath Slater and Rhyno first joined up as a team and won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Slater was the most over he'd ever been, Rhyno was the most over he'd been since probably The Invasion, I don't think most would begrudge WWE going with that... But it did kind of lead American Alpha, who had just gotten called up from NXT, to stall out momentum-wise during their feud with the just-turned-heel Usos. The Usos were needed as challengers for Slater/Rhyno, and by the time they were available again, it was Survivor Series time and all feuds were off "for the one night of the year the brands go head-to-head in direct competition". And then The Wyatt Family had gotten momentum with Randy Orton joining them, and they won the belts from Slater/Rhyno. By the time it had finally come back around to Alpha v Usos for the tag titles, it was WrestleMania time, most of the juice from the actual feud was gone and a likely match on the card for the four of them slowly became spots in the battle royal. Months later, Gable was in a new team, Jordan had a new daddy and as of late 2018, with doubt over Jordan's in-ring career, we may never see American Alpha team up ever again.
How about you guys?
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Post by realist on Oct 8, 2018 10:09:55 GMT -5
1.) Mark Henry in 2013. After his "retirement speech" swerve on John Cena, I think that Mark Henry had a lot of momentum behind him. Unfortunately, another guy named Daniel Bryan was getting pretty hot at the time and you had to go with Bryan vs. Cena for the title the next month at Summerslam. As a result, Cena had to derail the Henry momentum.
2.) R-Truth in 2011. I think that his feud with Cena was supposed to just be a transition feud to get Cena to his next real opponent. However, a funny thing happened along the way: Truth got over huge as a heel. He was putting in some of the best work of his career and I still think that feud ended prematurely, as CM Punk did that famous "pipe bomb" promo and the writing was on the wall at that point.
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Post by horseface on Oct 8, 2018 11:00:39 GMT -5
Feel like Marc Mero was a victim of Stone Cold's rise.
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Dub H
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Post by Dub H on Oct 8, 2018 11:02:13 GMT -5
Ryback when they pushed The Shield
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Post by RedSmile on Oct 8, 2018 11:59:01 GMT -5
Feel like Marc Mero was a victim of Stone Cold's rise. Mero was victim of a serious injury and the hot hand was his hot wife. Another one might be Tazz being a victim of the red hot arrival of the Radicalz. |
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Post by rnrk supports BLM on Oct 8, 2018 12:31:47 GMT -5
I think Ken Shamrock's the definitive case, a guy who would've been a top star almost immediately if he'd debuted just a year or two earlier, only he came in red hot right when first Austin, then Rock, and then Foley were all getting white hot, and Shamrock cooled off before he got a change to be established as a main event guy.
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Post by alexwrightspackage on Oct 8, 2018 12:45:03 GMT -5
Feel like Marc Mero was a victim of Stone Cold's rise. Another one might be Tazz being a victim of the red hot arrival of the Radicalz. Would you say Tazz was...just anotha' victim? Also my vote is Bluetista. |
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City Duck
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Post by City Duck on Oct 8, 2018 13:19:23 GMT -5
Maybe not the most *direct* example, but the thing that immediately comes to mind for me is Asuka's sad decline in to nothingness from the moment Ronda arrived.
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Nosnorb
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Post by Nosnorb on Oct 8, 2018 13:35:46 GMT -5
Another one might be Tazz being a victim of the red hot arrival of the Radicalz. Would you say Tazz was...just anotha' victim? Also my vote is Bluetista. To be fair, Douchetista did get to headline 'mania and as part of Evolution, he headlined Payback when The Shield vs Evolution was the most focused story in the company. |
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Post by HMARK Center on Oct 8, 2018 13:46:19 GMT -5
I think Ken Shamrock's the definitive case, a guy who would've been a top star almost immediately if he'd debuted just a year or two earlier, only he came in red hot right when first Austin, then Rock, and then Foley were all getting white hot, and Shamrock cooled off before he got a change to be established as a main event guy. Ooh, interesting choice, it's kind of fun to mull over if Shamrock had enough going for him to really maintain a prolonged run near the top if a spot had remained open for him, but it definitely felt like they wanted it to happen at first. Might be able to slot Owen Hart in there, as well; there was a lot of opportunity there to do something with him post-Screwjob, but some rotten luck combined with the main event scene filling up rapidly early in '98 might have headed that off before he could get a realistic opportunity to break through. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2018 13:48:35 GMT -5
The most egregious of these I've seen the last few years is a TNA one, and it was arguably the right call. They spent months setting up Roode v Storm for the title, only to give the belt to Aries and muddy up their plans. They still wrestled but it wasn't what it could have been.
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Rican
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Post by Rican on Oct 8, 2018 13:49:10 GMT -5
I would say Enzo & Cass at least as a tag team when the Hardyz came back white hot after their run with the Broken stuff.
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Post by BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps on Oct 8, 2018 13:49:57 GMT -5
When Jericho debuted his "Anton Chigurh" heel character in 2008 and had that hot feud with HBK, I think Punk's upper-mid card push with the World Heavyweight Title got in his way, hence why Jericho went over Punk in that cage match.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Oct 8, 2018 14:09:57 GMT -5
When Jericho debuted his "Anton Chigurh" heel character in 2008 and had that hot feud with HBK, I think Punk's upper-mid card push with the World Heavyweight Title got in his way, hence why Jericho went over Punk in that cage match. Bruce Prichard recently confirmed it on his podcast. Jericho got title because Vince was dead set on he and HBK having a ladder match, and the ladder match needed a prop to climb the ladder for. |
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Oct 8, 2018 15:02:43 GMT -5
I think Ken Shamrock's the definitive case, a guy who would've been a top star almost immediately if he'd debuted just a year or two earlier, only he came in red hot right when first Austin, then Rock, and then Foley were all getting white hot, and Shamrock cooled off before he got a change to be established as a main event guy. This is a great choice. If Shamrock came in, in 1996 and was able to maneuver the political shitstorm the Kliq would have thrown he could have been “The Guy.” But I bet Michaels would have annoyed him enough to just go back to UFC unless Vince somehow sided with him. |
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riseofsetian1981
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on Oct 8, 2018 15:11:03 GMT -5
I think Ken Shamrock's the definitive case, a guy who would've been a top star almost immediately if he'd debuted just a year or two earlier, only he came in red hot right when first Austin, then Rock, and then Foley were all getting white hot, and Shamrock cooled off before he got a change to be established as a main event guy. This is a great choice. If Shamrock came in, in 1996 and was able to maneuver the political shitstorm the Kliq would have thrown he could have been “The Guy.” But I bet Michaels would have annoyed him enough to just go back to UFC unless Vince somehow sided with him. Think Shamrock would've gotten annoyed to the point of beating the piss out of Shawn? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2018 15:32:08 GMT -5
I think Ken Shamrock's the definitive case, a guy who would've been a top star almost immediately if he'd debuted just a year or two earlier, only he came in red hot right when first Austin, then Rock, and then Foley were all getting white hot, and Shamrock cooled off before he got a change to be established as a main event guy. I recently started watching wwf1999-2002 and i had never heard of Shamrock. Everything i saw him in he entertained me. Now a bit of backlight on what i enjoy. I enjoy the occasional clearly psychopathic character/actor and Ken was that. Great look. Clean quick mat skills and an intensity that i swear is derived from him being some inmate they foolishly gave a Bowflex to before he overpowered the orderlies and escaped. Even as an Autistic Stoner, as a fan of Roman i cant get past his "laid back monotone apathy". Shamrock RADIATED intensity, anger and even pride/honor when defending his sister (? Bit vague on what i watched.). Plus he had a legit mma background? I think the best way to describe how good he was and potential money in him? They put him in generic Cawdy Rhodes black hair/blue trunks and he still had a presence that seperated him and screamed Badass Star |
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Post by BorneAgain on Oct 8, 2018 15:42:53 GMT -5
I think Wade Barrett's best chance to make it as a heel in 2010 was doomed by Miz's push, with the former's status as the major heel on Raw essentially dissipating the moment the latter cashed in MTIB. While he got the TLC main event with Cena the next month and would get pretty popular with the BNB gimmick, the one two punch of Miz getting the title and Punk getting his faction would be the end of Barrett's status in a main event role more or less.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Oct 8, 2018 15:51:18 GMT -5
This is a great choice. If Shamrock came in, in 1996 and was able to maneuver the political shitstorm the Kliq would have thrown he could have been “The Guy.” But I bet Michaels would have annoyed him enough to just go back to UFC unless Vince somehow sided with him. Think Shamrock would've gotten annoyed to the point of beating the piss out of Shawn? Probably, but that happened to Bret too and we ended up with Bret going to WCW. |
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riseofsetian1981
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Post by riseofsetian1981 on Oct 8, 2018 18:23:27 GMT -5
Think Shamrock would've gotten annoyed to the point of beating the piss out of Shawn? Probably, but that happened to Bret too and we ended up with Bret going to WCW. True, but I think Shamrock would've done a lot more damage compared to Bret. It's been confirmed that the Bret scuffle was them really just wrestling around and him yanking Shawn's hair out which I am sure was excruciating. I remember Shawn made the joke when talking about it and said "I'd rather he had punched me instead." |
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