Main event tryouts

[Guest Trivia247]

We have Finally seen the likes of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero after years of work get their main event spots. Eddie more dramatically because he never got that shot in WCW where as Benoit had that top spot for...um one night and left.

 

It makes one wonder how the WWE believe that people are ready to go up. Is it fan based opinion? Merchadise sales? Wrestling performance?

 

Or none of those three...

 

I think there is a period where they test the main event waters...

 

Not true angles that lead to PPV matches but some.

 

First there is Chris Benoit. During the Radical period he did land himself a World championship attempt vs the Rock. Benoit had a few matches with HHH as well. and was in line as a contender for the World title with Kane Undertaker and Chris Jericho. and of course Later Benoit took on Austin during his heel turn in 2001 before Benoit's neck surgery and the Invasion debacle.

 

Eddie Guerrero had pretty much been a constant solid midcarder. Since his first run in the WWE till his temporary release to get his life back together. Eddie comes back more focused and gradually climbs the ladder in both ranking and popularity (The WWE takes notice that the Smackdown fan base from UPN seems more geared for the Latino segment that catches UPN more than SPIKE who knows the areas and why the networks can't just be more national) Eddie Guerrero has some brushes with Main event work. His aborted feud with Austin, and his Match vs the Rock where he talked about his daughters having his poster and Eddie tore it up.

 

 

these are like test feuds...

 

Then there are others..

 

Val Venis feud with Mick Foley could quasi be considered a Main event feud in 1999. Val was going through his heel turn and was rising in the ranks taking on a fan favorite big name.

 

Rikishi of course had his 3 month brush of Main event nearing. His involvement in Austin's running over, the match with the Rock at Survivor Series, The 6man HITC. Had he just stuck with Haku he would have probably been a Champion twice before his firing BUT NOOOOOO He forsake the Samoan Afro Puff!

 

Bubba Ray I think he was sent against HHH simply because that Raw needed to build people at the time for HHH to face and they couldn't come up with anyone credible. Bubba probably could have been decent giving him the right amount of chances and conditions but el squasho to HHH don't cut it.

 

RVD had his Main event test runs vs Austin vs HHH vs Kurt Angle, but again never seem to make the cut.

 

Booker T inherited the top spot from his World championship from WCW. But after the Rock defeated him, Booker T lost whatever Main event clout he could bring with him. Later feuds with Austin, HHH, never amounted to much, which is why he is the midcard deathtrap

 

Jericho after years got the Top spot and Held it effectively for three months really going all out to prove his character legitamacy as a Main eventer (Even in his scripted mic time) when he would go vocal against the Rock. However even though he probably earned his spot with us Smarks, he was never able to recapture even the Level of Contention for the Main event spot. So he is stuck screwing around with Edge and Christian.

 

Even Tazz had a Slight main event flurry.

Tazz wasn't given much respect by the WWF folk at the time. He was a Monster in ECW clearly. And he came in that way, Defeating the future main eventer Kurt Angle in his first loss. Tazz then got crap work paying his dues with various beatdowns by Bossman the Radicals. He dominated the Hardcore battle royal but eventially lost it. he had ONE Title match vs HHH at the time, even had Tommy Dreamer's help but it wasn't enough. An Aborted Angle with Austin could have shot him back up the rankings...But during Invasion whatever credibility he had left was urinated on with the skits between him and Austin with him getting whipped.

 

 

 

Im sure there are more but thats off the top of my head...

 

Then there is of course Brock Lesnar to the top without stopping or flinching.

 

Kenzo Suzuki they were PLANNING on giving him a top spot

 

Nathan Jones a top spot gift was going to him, even though his wrestling skills make Giant Gonzales look like Iron Mike Sharpe.

 

so go figure..

 

Where is the measuring stick as to when someone is Main event READY!

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Don't forget D-Von holds a single win over HHH.

[Guest Archibald Mutombo]

I wholeheartedly concur!

 

[Guest Big Daddy V1]

I'm not sure if anyone would agree but I have to mention Test.

 

Why? Well, when he first entered the WWF/E, he was given a role as a monster, an easy roll, no talking, just stand there and look tough, even with the 'former Motley Crue' bodyguard story, he was waiting to have his time. He was given a shove with Trish in his corner. Also, he faced off against HHH with Stephanie being fought over, it went nowhere for him. Then with the Un-Americans, going against Taker, but Taker no sells to all and made that look pathetic. Now he's a midcarder for life, and with neck surgery, might get a comeback video and do something big once more.

[The Tino Standard 0]

Bubba probably could have been decent giving him the right amount of chances and conditions but el squasho to HHH don't cut it.

Good post, but I have to disagree with your Bubba Ray analysis. He was thrust into main event spot, despite them doing everything in the world to try to make him seem like a credible challenger to HHH. Despite the company's best efforts, there was absolutely nobody buying into it because... well, he's Bubba Ray Dudley.

 

And back to the tag team ranks he went a month later, where he belongs.

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

I think they're just waiting till Test is fit so they can release him. He's done.

[Epic Reine 0]

The first 4-5 months of the split Brand was just kinda funny seeing them push random people [ie. Bradshaw and Bubba on RAW], and hope something stuck to a wall. I think since then, they've done a MUCH better job of building people up and pushing them.

[razazteca 0]

Did Hurricane get a tryout when he was running around backstage as reporter Gregory Helms and mocked Rock about his use of the word Strudle? And what about that match he had with HHH or would you consider the time period of HHH having matches with midcarder as warmup matches?

[The Niggardly King 0]

Did Hurricane get a tryout when he was running around backstage as reporter Gregory Helms and mocked Rock about his use of the word Strudle? And what about that match he had with HHH or would you consider the time period of HHH having matches with midcarder as warmup matches?

Hurricane got his tryout with his match against The Rock. Hurricane was sent back down tha card after his match with Triple H

[Twisted Intestine 0]

The Hurricane got a singles win over The Rock.. that match made me respect The Rock because he really (tried to) put Helms over with thier hilarious backstage skits, and jobbing the match to him..

[Guest Loss]

There's not a scientific, this-is-how-it-always-goes approach to creating new stars. It just happens, and ideally, it happens when a wrestler comes in and is hot. You push them before they become Just Another Guy and try to capitalize on the immediate momentum. This is how it's always been done. The whole "pay your dues" thing is bullshit. Edge is typecast as a "future star". He will not be a main eventer one day. Christian is typecast as a "future star". He will not be a main eventer one day. There is no "working up the ranks" -- you're either pushed hard when you first come in or you're never really pushed at all.

 

Austin was in main events within a year of being in the company. Rock was clearly on the path to superstardom within a year of being in the company. HHH was headlining house shows as early as 1997, but he's typically the exception, not the rule. Foley was pushed hard immediately and finally became a star. Hogan has been a main eventer since he started wrestling practically. Flair spent some time as a preliminary wrestler in the AWA, but once he jumped to Crockett, he was a top guy almost instantly. Inoki never paid his dues. Baba never paid his dues. The Undertaker was feuding with Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in his first year in the company. Bret Hart, once he became a singles wrestler, catapulted to the title in just over a year. Shawn Michaels, once he became a singles wrestler, had personal problems that stopped him from becoming a headliner sooner, but main evented his first PPV less than a year after throwing Jannetty through the window and was headlining house shows before that, working alongside Flair, Savage and Hart in various matches.

 

They waited to elevate Chris Jericho, and it didn't work. They never elevated Rob Van Dam, and they blame him for not being a draw now when it's not his fault. Chris Benoit and Eddy Guerrero were pushed after several years in the company, and are right back where they started after having meaningless runs with the belt. OTOH, they pushed Kurt Angle to the top almost instantly and he's still a main event fixture on Smackdown, even if he is washed up for the most part. They did the same for Brock Lesnar, and he eventually caught on because WWE was determined to get him over.

 

"Tryouts" in main events don't work. WWE is more obsessed with thinking of reasons guys *shouldn't* be pushed than looking at their strengths and finding reasons to push them. They're waiting on that wrestler to come along that gets over like Steve Austin in his very first appearance, and who's ready made and full of star quality. That's nice, but realistically, there is no perfect wrestler and they need to push everyone who they're paying since the goal is to get a return on the investment. If they give them an honest shot and it doesn't work, then take it from there, but every wrestler deserves the same opportunity to fail or succeed.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

To be fair about Benoit, he's had a couple of bad bits of misfortune. During his first year, he had a nice extended run at the top for about four months and got to beat pretty much every midcarder he faced. But because the Rikishi angle was a complete failure, they had to turn HHH heel again and Benoit ended up being pushed back down the card.

 

In 2001, Benoit got done with a lengthy series against Kurt Angle where he got a few strong wins including the Ultimate Submission Match and 2 straight falls in the 2 out of 3 Falls Match. At Judgment Day he wrestled a Three Stages From

Hell match with Kurt, then came back to win the Tag Team Turmoil, the Tag Titles the next night on RAW, and TLC 3 (where his performance was the main story point) the night after that. He had a couple of fantastic matches with Steve Austin, and then he gets hurt and by the time he came back he had fallen into the same trap that Jericho had fallen into in 2000 and since. He will always be in a better position than Jericho because the office respects him a lot more, but his chance to be a permanent main eventer was lost after they failed to captilize on the reaction he got at Royal Rumble 2003. The writing was on the wall by then, but do not ignore that he was in fact pushed quite hard in his first year, prior to November. Up until the injury, his WWF career matched up quite well with that of Kurt Angle's. It was only during the Invasion, when Benoit was hurt, that Kurt truly made the next step and left Benoit behind.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

D-Von pinned WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero on Smackdown! in a non-title match, as well.

[Guest Loss]

To be fair about Benoit, he's had a couple of bad bits of misfortune. During his first year, he had a nice extended run at the top for about four months and got to beat pretty much every midcarder he faced. But because the Rikishi angle was a complete failure, they had to turn HHH heel again and Benoit ended up being pushed back down the card.

 

In 2001, Benoit got done with a lengthy series against Kurt Angle where he got a few strong wins including the Ultimate Submission Match and 2 straight falls in the 2 out of 3 Falls Match. At Judgment Day he wrestled a Three Stages From

Hell match with Kurt, then came back to win the Tag Team Turmoil, the Tag Titles the next night on RAW, and TLC 3 (where his performance was the main story point) the night after that. He had a couple of fantastic matches with Steve Austin, and then he gets hurt and by the time he came back he had fallen into the same trap that Jericho had fallen into in 2000 and since. He will always be in a better position than Jericho because the office respects him a lot more, but his chance to be a permanent main eventer was lost after they failed to captilize on the reaction he got at Royal Rumble 2003. The writing was on the wall by then, but do not ignore that he was in fact pushed quite hard in his first year, prior to November. Up until the injury, his WWF career matched up quite well with that of Kurt Angle's. It was only during the Invasion, when Benoit was hurt, that Kurt truly made the next step and left Benoit behind.

I agree with everything you said, but I always thought losing to HHH cleanly in his very first match in the company solidified him as a second-tier guy. His feud with Chris Jericho was the #2 feud in the company, not the top feud. It may have been hard to work him into that spot with HHH and Rock already there, admittedly, but I just thought it screamed midcarder.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

His feud with Chris Jericho was the #2 feud in the company, not the top feud.

 

I didn't say that it wasn't, but the big thing about that feud was that Benoit beat the crud out of him every time they fought pretty much, especially on PPV. He dominated that feud. Jericho didn't even get a major win over him at all until Royal Rumble 2001, and by that point Benoit was already de-pushed. He did job to HHH immediately, but he also beat Rock a couple of weeks later. The job his first night wasn't the one that hurt him, the No Mercy job to HHH was far more damaging. Angle very nearly suffered the same fate after the loss at Unforgiven, especially after his previous embarrassments at Fully Loaded & Summerslam.

[Blade2kxx 0]

Need we forget John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar last year at Backlash?

 

Personally, I dug the slow-build the fued had, but in no way was Cena ready... still, the stuff he said to Brock in his injured promos was some of his best stuff ever.

[JoeDirt 0]

Don't forget that Vince changed his mind at the last second, or else Test would have been a WWF champion. Then they decided to go with Big Show winning the title at Survivor Series 1999.

[Enigma 0]

Don't forget D-Von holds a single win over HHH.

Ditto Lance Storm.

[Guest GreatOne]

I agree with everything you said, but I always thought losing to HHH cleanly in his very first match in the company solidified him as a second-tier guy.

Gotta remember that the booking was changed around due to Guerrero injuring his shoulder, thus they ended up going the Radicalz=more HHHenchmen route. That said, putting Benoit over HHH would make no sense when DX already won the best-of-three anyway. Remember the storyline was 'Radicalz must win 2/3 to get jobs', so Eddie gets injured and it's 0-2, so what's the point of jobbing the World Champion to a guy that, storyline-wise, isn't even part of the company?

 

I'd say jobbing the Radz to TooKishi was more harmful coupled with failed Big Show push 5.0, which you really had no room for Benoit as a main event heel.

 

Although he wasn't treated like garbage or anything during his first run with Jericho, they had a nice little RAW main event that made to look somewhat important--when Rock was off filming The Mummy Returns

[Dark Age 0]

Don't forget D-Von holds a single win over HHH.

Ditto Lance Storm.

Wasn't it Test who beat H, and Lance jobbed? In 2002?

[bob_barron 0]

Don't forget D-Von holds a single win over HHH.

Ditto Lance Storm.

Lance Storm didn't beat HHH.

 

They had a match right after Judgement Day 2002 where HHH sold a lot for him and gave him a lot of offence.

 

He still won though

[razazteca 0]

Some people need to "pay their dues" because it is obvious that they were not ready for the mega super uber push the second they enter the company. Pushing someone that the fans have never seen before on tv will never work. But if the wrestler has proven themselves in other companys that have/had national tv coverage than the instant push is less risky. If the wrestler is missing some skills it can be improved upon by working in tag team matches then after a period of time the wrestler can be "promoted" to singles matches. If the singles push was considered a success then it is time to plan for the main event push.

 

There is no reason at all to have random nobodys pushed to the main event. The fans will not pay attention to random rookies vs former champion matches just because the pretty boy spits on them and does the cliche Enzyte smile. Or does the look at me I'm the angry evil forgeinor I am here to destroy your happy american life style aweahufiuoar fear me for I talk with a stupid accent. Watch me beat up the 2nd rate announcer from the weekend show or beat up some girly men.

[Australian Pride 0]

If you want to go back aways you could add both Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith to the list of guys who were given main event runs (or test runs) and never quite made the grade. Both were over but never enough to clinch a lasting top line spot.

 

Owen had his big feud with Bret, but after the WM10 win was never given another win over his brother, and after SummerSlam was never really a main event player again. (Exception being the Hart Foundation run, but Bret was still the top star of that show)

 

Davey Boy was given PPV title shots at 3 consecutive champions (Diesel, Bret and Shawn) but was never considered to be a good enough all-around package to carry the Title. Even when he returned in 1999, he was programmed against Rock, got dropped in dog crap and then jobbed out No Mercy. He he had won that match things might have been different, but he was far gone on drugs by then so it may not have made a difference.

 

Billy Gunn (several times) and Hardcore Holly also just never had the whole package to make it.

Gunn had charisma but couldn't wrestle 20 minute matches, and couldn't even have a decent match against Benoit.

Holly could brawl but not wrestle headline style, and wasn't given much time time to prove otherwise. As a long term mid-carder he was never taken seriously for the World Title, which is probably why they made his storyline about revenge instead of glory.

 

The Patriot got injured, but was already on the way down.

 

They jobbed Vader out on house shows prior to his SS96 clash with HBK, and the previous month at International Incident, HBK had no sold his attack in the post-match. The event then drew a rather low buy rate and his fate was sealed.

 

Sid may be the exception to any rule. He couldn't wrestle but was extremely over. He was jobbed out to Diesel in 95 but was still viewed as a legitimate contender at the end of 96. He was given wins over Vader, HBK and the Hitman (twice) before coming a cropper to Undertaker at WM13. Like it or not, if he hadn't gotten injured (and then fired) he would have stuck around the main event scene for an extended period.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Mark Henry, they tried with him during Goldberg's title run. And I thought the WWE did a good job to push him as a monster. Don't forget he beat The Rock at Judgement Day 98.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Mark Henry, they tried with him during Goldberg's title run. And I thought the WWE did a good job to push him as a monster. Don't forget he beat The Rock at Judgement Day 98.

To me, that was the most shocking upset in WWF ppv history. Never saw that one coming.

[Black Lushus 0]

Woulda been nice to see them do something with Shelton Benjamin after his series with Triple H...wasn't he getting buried in the midcard PRIOR to his injury?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Woulda been nice to see them do something with Shelton Benjamin after his series with Triple H...wasn't he getting buried in the midcard PRIOR to his injury?

No, he was in a fued with Randy Orton for the I.C. Title.

 

And the WWE were planning to give him the I.C. Title instead of Edge at Vengenace.

 

But of course Garrison Cade fucked everything up

[Guest SteveyP93]

Vince is schizo when it comes to pushing hot prospects.

 

He does like his monsters. Brock, Big Show, and Taker all got pushed straight to the title while they were super-green and hadn't "paid their dues". Although he obviously didn't have much faith in Taker as a main eventer, because he took the title off him and put it back on Hogan in a flash, and I don't think he saw another PPV main event for the WWF title for five more years. Same with Show, quickly demoted.

 

He also likes characters that are his creations. It's funny that WCW/ECW guys paying their dues was made such an issue of in 2001, when Mick Foley came into the Federation in 1996 and destroyed Undertaker right off the bat. And Vince wasn't even a fan of his yet.

 

He could have put the strap on Austin twice in early '97 (In Your House: Final Four and In Your House: Revenge of the Taker) when Austin was red-hot coming off his Mania bloodbath with Bret, but he held off. Instead, he moved Austin from the main event level down to the IC division from July-December, and then moved him back up to the top so that he could take the strap from Shawn at Mania. A very good move in retrospect, because he let Austin's stock grow from July-December. Instead of taking his first title from Taker on an In Your House while he was red-hot, he took the title on the biggest show of the year while he was white-hot and ready to explode.

 

 

Then again, you have to wonder if Austin hurdling Bret and Shawn was a surprise to Vince. Maybe he never planned for Austin to be anything more than an on-again, off-again main eventer (like Vader and Taker), and had to re-evaluate the situation when Austin's popularity exploded after the neck injury. I always wondered if that Mr. McMahon quote at Fully Loaded '99 about how Austin would make "a fine Intercontinental champion" was a quasi-shoot.

 

In other cases, Vince has held off way too long on pulling the trigger (John Cena and RVD), and the character has never recovered. In both of those cases, Vince teased pulling the trigger, then got gun-shy.

 

Then there's the scenario where an IC level guy is getting pretty over with the crowd (HHH and Rock in '98, Orton in '04), and Vince blows his wad a little early and shoots them straight to the title/main event level out of the clear blue. Kinda the opposite of what he did with Austin...he doesn't even wait until they explode...he kinda tries to force the explosion. With Rocky, it wasn't that much of an effort, but it definitely was with HHH, and I think it will be with Orton, too.

 

Basically, I think that Vince pushes the guys that he's a mark for. All of the guys that you can tell he's a huge mark for (Hogan, Shawn, Bret, Taker, Austin, Foley, Rock, Nash, etc.) have enjoyed very long and successful main event runs. Big Show hasn't exactly lit the world on fire as a main eventer, but Vince is a mark for him, so you know he'll never give up on it. The guys that Vince is obviously not a mark for (Jericho, RVD, Piper, Benoit, etc.) never seem/seemed to enjoy main event success for very long.

[Guest Loss]

It's worth mentioning that if Austin was getting over right now like he was in 1997, HHH would be arguing that he's too injury prone to be a top guy and that his body wouldn't hold up long enough to handle the schedule. See what I mean about finding reasons not to push someone, which is what they do now all the time?

[Guest MikeSC]

It's worth mentioning that if Austin was getting over right now like he was in 1997, HHH would be arguing that he's too injury prone to be a top guy and that his body wouldn't hold up long enough to handle the schedule. See what I mean about finding reasons not to push someone, which is what they do now all the time?

But who has the WWF never given a chance to? RVD DID get a few shots and fumbled them horribly (him injuring HHH at SSeries 02 is likely the deathblow for him ever getting a major spot). Jericho is always upper-card. Benoit will likely always be upper card.

 

WWE does give guys chances. But they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. They push a guy some don't like, and it's the dumbest thing ever. They push a guy they like and eventually job him (as they have to) and they're burying the guy.

-=Mike