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Post by Alice Syndrome on Mar 3, 2019 6:02:26 GMT -5
Not for any horrible reason, but my favourite wrestler for a while was some guy in WCW called Blitzkrieg, who was the best luchador in the world for 9 months before he retired to be a computer technician of all things.
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Post by Tea & Crumpets on Mar 3, 2019 6:34:46 GMT -5
Not sure if it fits the spirit of the topic as it's more "wrong place wrong time" than any fault of her own but I'm going to throw out one name because I always do in terms of "never reached their potential"- Katie Lea. I saw her back in 2002 in the FWA doing stuff I'd never seen a women's wrestler do before- yeah sure you watch old AJW tapes now and Joshi were doing it, but Katie Lea was really ahead of her time, while also having the WWE's desired level of looks...and she has a shitty little run in WWE as Burchill (Another wasted talent)'s incest-vibes sister, then a somewhat-cringey run in TNA as Winter, then a whole lot of nothing and is now basically a valet back in Impact. I honestly think if she'd come along ten years later she'd be up there with Becky Lynch & Charlotte as a women's wrestling megastar. This might sound nuts but Rob Van Dam. It's bizarre that a guy who is a grand slam champion in WWE, won the TNA world title, and all sorts of other belts would be someone that wasted his potential, but RVD really could have been the biggest star in the business. It seemed like he would always do something to piss someone off in WWE (busting guys open in 2001, damn near killing HHH at the EC, the pot deal as WWE champion). Didn't help that WWE always booked him as "coooool, bruh, like whatever" on the mic. I recently rewatched some of his ECW work and had genuinely forgotten how good he was as a promo guy because of how long he spent in WWE cutting nothing promos. Let him cut those style promos but down the 'lmao weed' references and just lean into the "he's a free spirit" element more and the guy could have been a megastar in WWE. Not for any horrible reason, but my favourite wrestler for a while was some guy in WCW called Blitzkrieg, who was the best luchador in the world for 9 months before he retired to be a computer technician of all things. Blitzkrieg was the shit. Boggles my mind WCW never did more with him and also that he had such a painfully short career. Him and Rey in WWE 2002-04 could have carried the CW division on their backs.
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Fundertaker
Vegeta
Hideo Kojima should direct every ending ever!
Posts: 9,127
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Post by Fundertaker on Mar 3, 2019 6:37:30 GMT -5
Lol, no. Anderson sure, as he was still early in his NJPW run, but Devitt? Already beaten Marufuji and de facto ace of the Jr. division Devitt? Uber-popular tag-team wrestler in Apollo 55 Devitt? No way. And not forgetting Giant Bernard was also there and he was over as heck. Davey wasn't that over. He didn't main-event smaller-ish shows like Devitt did (Devitt defending the title in Korakuen Hall at that time was a guaranteed full house at the time) and spent most of his time as "a CHAOS Jr. Heavy gaijin mercenary" and nothing more than that. Just a warm body for Devitt to roll through a few times during his reigns. Karl Anderson signed with New Japan in 2008, he wasn’t early on his run around that time. I said an opinion not as matter of fact. Point is I don’t know how far Richards would’ve gotten on the jr division before he sabotaged himself. Not very far. He had 3 title shots at the Jr. Heavy title and lost all in rather quick matches, which, as I said, means he was nothing more than a warm body for Devitt to defeat. Low Ki won the title right after that, for example, on his first try. Speaking of which, yeah Low Ki is another one of those "wasted potential" guys. More because there isn't a bridge he didn't think he couldn't burn in this business.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Mar 3, 2019 7:43:55 GMT -5
Teddy Hart, good look, good pedigree, the WWE wanted him dp bad they signed him as a teen, then again as am adult with plans to build a faction around him, and he blew it be being a lunatic, who was never at fault for anything he did. He's very much in in the mold of his uncle Bruce, when in doubt, blame Bret for your being a douche nobody wants to work with.
Juventud Guerrera is also worth a vote, great wrestler, handsome, charismatic even with minimal English language skills. He could have been up there with Rey Misterio Jr, Eddie and Jericho going into the 2000s, instead it's PCP, naked fights with the police, the Mexicools and other lunacy.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 3, 2019 9:20:55 GMT -5
Marty Janetty decided being an unreliable f***-up was more important than actually having a future in the business.
Davey Richards belongs here, too. in his case, though, I think he has undiagnosed depression or something because so much of what he does reads like deliberate self-sabotage to me.
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Post by Wilfred on Mar 3, 2019 9:58:54 GMT -5
He's hated around here, but Mr. Kennedy (Kennedy).
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Mar 3, 2019 11:48:10 GMT -5
Sabu should be a multi millionaire because of all the shit he created or innovated that is still used to this day. He changed wrestling. But because of his personal decisions he’s an example of what not to do.
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Post by corndog on Mar 3, 2019 12:08:33 GMT -5
Teddy Hart, good look, good pedigree, the WWE wanted him dp bad they signed him as a teen, then again as am adult with plans to build a faction around him, and he blew it be being a lunatic, who was never at fault for anything he did. He's very much in in the mold of his uncle Bruce, when in doubt, blame Bret for your being a douche nobody wants to work with. Juventud Guerrera is also worth a vote, great wrestler, handsome, charismatic even with minimal English language skills. He could have been up there with Rey Misterio Jr, Eddie and Jericho going into the 2000s, instead it's PCP, naked fights with the police, the Mexicools and other lunacy. These two are definitely my top picks. Watching Teddy in MLW, he really is an amazing talent even to this day. While a douche like Bruce, he was never this talented. Watching Juventud in WCW, especially in his feud with Jericho, I really thought he would be on a Rey Misterio level heading into the 2000s. But the guy just screwed everything up.
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Post by Deputy Muscle on Mar 3, 2019 12:35:03 GMT -5
Might give a shout to Del Rio. WWE pushed him to the moon and would have kept doing so again and again to keep the Latin market. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for us) the guy is such a dick he managed to ruin it for himself multiple times over.
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Post by illiniman88 on Mar 3, 2019 15:03:56 GMT -5
This might sound nuts but Rob Van Dam. It's bizarre that a guy who is a grand slam champion in WWE, won the TNA world title, and all sorts of other belts would be someone that wasted his potential, but RVD really could have been the biggest star in the business. It seemed like he would always do something to piss someone off in WWE (busting guys open in 2001, damn near killing HHH at the EC, the pot deal as WWE champion). yep. this is who I was gonna put
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Mar 3, 2019 15:48:24 GMT -5
Carlito.
The promo Flair cut on him basically sums up his life.
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Post by cabbageboy on Mar 3, 2019 15:54:10 GMT -5
Eh, I'd say Del Rio made quite a bit of money and had a good run in WWE. He was champ multiple times. His rich heel gimmick was always going to limit his appeal to Latin America. WWE really has never been able to replace Eddie Guerrero as that sort of draw, but it was unique to find a non masked Mexican wrestler that was a solid English promo and a great wrestler. He and Rey were a bit different in that they were U.S. born (San Diego, El Paso) guys who made a name in Lucha wrestling and eventually crossed over into mainstream American wrestling.
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Post by hulksmash87 on Mar 3, 2019 16:41:06 GMT -5
Eddie Gilbert, guy had a hell of a mind and was good in the ring but his demons derailed him
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Post by carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) on Mar 3, 2019 18:52:17 GMT -5
I truly, truly believe that in some alternate universe where Low-Ki isn't an asshole, he's main-evented Wrestlemania in an absolute classic against Daniel Bryan.
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Post by MrElijah on Mar 3, 2019 19:35:30 GMT -5
I truly, truly believe that in some alternate universe where Low-Ki isn't an asshole, he's main-evented Wrestlemania in an absolute classic against Daniel Bryan. Low-Ki pisses me off. Ever since I saw that Ladder Match with him, Styles & Jerry Lynn, I was a fan. Sure, he's not the biggest, but he has a presence that few others have. A damn fine wrestler as well. But that damn ego.... He should be in WWE as his "Professional" character. No nonsense bounty Hunter who gets it done.
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J. Hova
Don Corleone
Emotionally exhausted and morally bankrupt
Posts: 2,047
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Post by J. Hova on Mar 3, 2019 20:36:07 GMT -5
Old school pick since most of the modern ones have been taken: Tommy Rich.
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Zen411
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 3,748
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Post by Zen411 on Mar 3, 2019 21:16:37 GMT -5
Ultimate warrior. Torch handed to him from Hogan in one of the biggest moments in that era. Disappoints as champion to force them to reboot Hogan as champ one year later. Gets fired for his greed and unreliable unprofessional side twice and alienates fans for years only to win them back right before death. I really think he should have had a better legacy and could have if he had his head on straight.
Lesnar. I wish his entire second run in wwe wasn't sporadic appearances and heyman promos and calling it in most of the time. If he actually wrestled on raws and every ppv, maintained a better physique, he would have a better legacy and reputation among the fans imo.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 4, 2019 6:07:48 GMT -5
Enzo belongs here. while I don't believe he would have been the next Rock or anything (he's a terrible worker and about 150 pounds soaking wet) there's no reason to think he couldn't have been a prominent part of WWE's upper midcard or a big deal manager or something. however, he decided acting like a big deal rock star and doing coke with teenagers in hotel rooms was more important, and seemed to go out of his way to destroy any good will people might have still had for him with that terrible rap album.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2019 10:09:26 GMT -5
Ultimate warrior. Torch handed to him from Hogan in one of the biggest moments in that era. Disappoints as champion to force them to reboot Hogan as champ one year later. Gets fired for his greed and unreliable unprofessional side twice and alienates fans for years only to win them back right before death. I really think he should have had a better legacy and could have if he had his head on straight. Lesnar. I wish his entire second run in wwe wasn't sporadic appearances and heyman promos and calling it in most of the time. If he actually wrestled on raws and every ppv, maintained a better physique, he would have a better legacy and reputation among the fans imo. I can see your point on Warrior, but I think he actually reached his potential. He was a one dimensional character whose whole shtick was running over people on his way to the top. Once he knocked off the top guy and took his position, I think he reached his potential. After that, where did he have to go? He wasn't cut from the same mold as a Sting or Hogan in that he wasn't capable of being the imperiled babyface. He was more like Goldberg... exciting on the rise until he hits a dead end at the top.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Mar 4, 2019 10:46:05 GMT -5
I feel like this one is obvious but: Marty Jannetty. I wouldn't put much stakes in him as a potential main event player like Shawn, but he could've settled himself nicely in an upper mid-card role had he kept himself out of trouble. It seems he was already moving into that role during his '93-'94 run. Shit, he popped up and had that great TV match with Kurt Angle years and years later. He could have had a great career if he kept clean.
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