Your Biggest "What Could Have Been"s from NXT/FCW?
Mar 23, 2019 13:24:55 GMT -5
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Post by IgnahtaSempria on Mar 23, 2019 13:24:55 GMT -5
Exactly as the title says, who were the people in FCW and NXT that stood out to you, and you think could have been bigger?
I'll get the most obvious one out of the way: Richie Steamboat. He had the ring skills, he had the pedigree, he was good-looking, he had virtually everything that made his dad a star going for him. He was in a pretty high-profile feud with Kassius Ohno, and he was Seth Rollins's former tag partner and roommate, so that could have given him a future feud with the Shield, where maybe he would try to get Rollins to "come to his senses". They could have done Steamboat & Rollins vs. Ambrose & Reigns, or, after the group's face turn, he could have been a sort of honorary member. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious back injury in training because of DeMott's reckless training regiments in developmental (which also lead to his father leaving the company), and retired.
NXT also seemed eager to expand the Wyatt Family, and while there were a number of people who were teased but never made it (Audrey Marie, Garrett Dylan, Viktor in a promo class video), the one that stands out to me the most was Judas Devlin. While he wasn't as big as Harper or Rowan, he was still 6'5" and 235 lbs, not small by any means. And if you've ever seen him as Vibora in Lucha Underground or Luchasaurus elsewhere, he can work.
But what stood out to me the most was his background. Before becoming a wrestler, he was a professor of history at the University of Berkeley. He has a master's degree in medieval literature. In short, he's a smart, well-educated guy. The exact kind of guy you don't expect to join a cult. In fact, he's the kind of guy you expect would see through a cult leader's lies and tricks. And if a guy like him can fall under Wyatt's sway, then exactly how persuasive is Wyatt? Adding him to the Family would have not only added a smaller, more agile member to add some variety, but he could easily have been used as a Mouth of Sauron-type mouthpiece for the group, acting as the Herald for the Eater of Worlds. Sadly, again, DeMott f***ed that up by telling the writers not to add Devlin to the group and making homophobic remarks about him, and he eventually got released before he could ever get a spotlight.
So who else did you guys see pass through developmental who you thought had promise, but never delivered, either due to backstage BS, unfortunate injuries, or just not being that good in the ring?
I'll get the most obvious one out of the way: Richie Steamboat. He had the ring skills, he had the pedigree, he was good-looking, he had virtually everything that made his dad a star going for him. He was in a pretty high-profile feud with Kassius Ohno, and he was Seth Rollins's former tag partner and roommate, so that could have given him a future feud with the Shield, where maybe he would try to get Rollins to "come to his senses". They could have done Steamboat & Rollins vs. Ambrose & Reigns, or, after the group's face turn, he could have been a sort of honorary member. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious back injury in training because of DeMott's reckless training regiments in developmental (which also lead to his father leaving the company), and retired.
NXT also seemed eager to expand the Wyatt Family, and while there were a number of people who were teased but never made it (Audrey Marie, Garrett Dylan, Viktor in a promo class video), the one that stands out to me the most was Judas Devlin. While he wasn't as big as Harper or Rowan, he was still 6'5" and 235 lbs, not small by any means. And if you've ever seen him as Vibora in Lucha Underground or Luchasaurus elsewhere, he can work.
But what stood out to me the most was his background. Before becoming a wrestler, he was a professor of history at the University of Berkeley. He has a master's degree in medieval literature. In short, he's a smart, well-educated guy. The exact kind of guy you don't expect to join a cult. In fact, he's the kind of guy you expect would see through a cult leader's lies and tricks. And if a guy like him can fall under Wyatt's sway, then exactly how persuasive is Wyatt? Adding him to the Family would have not only added a smaller, more agile member to add some variety, but he could easily have been used as a Mouth of Sauron-type mouthpiece for the group, acting as the Herald for the Eater of Worlds. Sadly, again, DeMott f***ed that up by telling the writers not to add Devlin to the group and making homophobic remarks about him, and he eventually got released before he could ever get a spotlight.
So who else did you guys see pass through developmental who you thought had promise, but never delivered, either due to backstage BS, unfortunate injuries, or just not being that good in the ring?