Wrestlers who never lived up to their potential

[JoeDirt 0]

Looking back, who are wrestlers you will consider to be guys who for whatever reason never lived up to their potential in the business and why?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Blitzkrieg. He could have been really something special, as he was a tremendous high flyer. Sadly, WCW killed his passion, and he went from a MOTY Candidate with Juventud Guerrera in the opener of Spring Stampede 1999, to being out of work by the end of the year.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Scott Hall, well liked person, great wrestler, awesome gimmick, he could have been world champion had he not let booze ruin his career.

 

Ahmed Johnson, some of you guys couldn't stand the guy, and if not for his sloppiness, ego, injury proneness, he could have been world champion. Just looking back on the tapes from 96, the guy was very over with the crowd and you couldn't help but like the guy because of his intensity.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I don't think Ahmed Johnson can be placed in this category. He was what he was. Someone like Scott Hall was very capable of having good matches. On his best day Ahmed could be carried to a ***1/2 star match.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Mr. Perfect, might be the most talented in-ring worker and overall performer of his era (In the AWA/WWF), and never made it to superstardom levels like he should have.

 

Raven, great performer,great mic skills, but for some reason he never got past upper-midcard in WCW and WWF (More than politics to me)

 

Lex Luger, people thought he'd be bigger than Hogan because of his look.

 

Scott Steiner could've been a all-time great if he went to singles earlier when he was a great in ring worker and WWF needed some maineventers

 

Barry Windham....need I say anything right here?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I agree with everyone here so far. The one I would slightly disagree with is Lex Luger...I mean, the guy did have a couple World Title reigns and was pretty much at the upper level of WCW through the end, but I guess he never was as big as Hogan (but than again, how many people have been?).

 

Here's a few of mine:

 

Dan Spivey...should have been a lot more. More talented than Sid Vicious, but got overshadowed by him in the Skyscrapers tag team. Also had a legit 4 star match with Lex Luger at a PPV in the early 90s (I think WrestleWar '90 or something) for the US Title, but was basically forgotten after that.

 

Chris Kanyon...Very talented, but was basically used as a JTTS in both WCW and WWF.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow...very over throughout pretty much his whole career. One of the most talented big men to wrestle in the US in the past 15 years or so. Was treated like a joke in his second WWF run, jobbing to Lawrence Taylor (in what was at least a decent match). In WCW, he was supposed to have a big feud with Goldberg, but that got derailed quickly after he joined the promotion.

 

The Patriot...very over in his 1997 WWF run, but injuries ended his career. Had some great matches in his time there, like against Bret Hart on one IYH PPV. Should have been a bigger deal in a fed like WCW, but spent a large amount of time in All Japan where he was more of a tag team wrestler. Main evented in the defunct Global Wrestling Federation promotion that I watched in the early '90s on the Sportschannel, so I always liked this guy I guess.

 

Mike Awesome...huge in ECW, than went to WCW and was basically a comedy wrestler (that '70s guy). Did pretty much nothing in WWF despited being a very talented heavyweight.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Actually the Patriot was having lots of drug issues which is what fucked up his career most, and he even admits it in some interviews he did. Del Wilks that is, not Tom Brandy (the guy who bought the gimmick a few years back).

 

Ahmed Johnson definitely was "the future" of WWF, but he was just the exact opposite of everything he had to be.

 

I still think Marty Jannetty could've been much higher on the card if not for his personal problems. The only fault in his performance was mediocre promo skills.

 

Barry Windham was obviously mentioned. Probably one of the best workers of his time, until injuries turned him into crap. I still mark out for his Indy appearences (few and far between).

 

People like Sting & Luger, although having many title reigns, were rarely given time to shine on their own. Sting had part of 1990 and thats pretty much it. He was always over shadowed by Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan (although in 1997 he was the main reason to watch WCW to me, it was still nWo overkill).

[Guest Ray]

Kurt Angle.

[The Mandarin 0]

Rick Martel in 1998.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I always thought Brad Armstrong was much better than he was allowed to be.

[Guest JebusNassedar]

[The C Man 0]

Art Barr.

 

I've only seen him wrestle once but I hated him by the end of the match.

 

Brian Pillman.

 

Injuries disrupted his in-ring skills but the 'Loose Cannon' character was tailor-made for the Attitude era.

 

Sean O'Haire.

 

Wasn't the best in the ring but just seeing a guy that big flying through the air like that was really impressive. I always marked for the guy and he was one the few good points about WCW's final days. Oh and he's a scary-looking mofo.

 

Honourable mentions also go out to Scott Hall, Owen Hart, Kanyon, Dynamite Kid (best wrestler ever IMO), and Mr Perfect.

[Special K 0]

Pillman. Even before his untimely death, his career was obviously hampered by his injury. Great charisma, and very good wrestler.

 

Rick Rude. Even though he did well, I think he had one of the best heel characters in wrestling. Could be carried to greatness in matches.

 

OWen Hart, good on the stick, great in the ring when motivated, probably never reached because of his 'look'.

 

Dreamer had tremendous charisma, and could work a good match as well as being a capable brawler. Obviously bumped himself into retirement.

 

A big second to Hennig and Hall, who were the first to pop into my mind when I read the topic (I was going to start this topic as well.)

[Guest LooneyTune]

Rick Martel in 1998.

That wasn't anyones fault. He injured himself in his 1st match back.

[Australian Pride 0]

I always thought Chris Candido got a bit of a rough deal in the WWF with his Body Donna gimmick. He might not have been World Champ, but there was so much more that he could have done. Everything after that is basically his own fault by getting into shit with drugs.

[iliketurtles 0]

Chris Kanyon.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Jake Roberts

Owen Hart

Scott Hall

Curt Hennig

Tazz

Val Venis

[Special K 0]

i must add, of all the grat Japanese wrestlers, Liger and Nagata truly got the shaft. I think, especially that Nagata could have been world champion caliber with a mothpiece, since he combined the best of NJPW and American wrestling. Salute him.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Stevie Richards could be put to better use, when they gave him the RTC deal he ran with it pretty well.

[Guest JebusNassedar]

i must add, of all the grat Japanese wrestlers, Liger and Nagata truly got the shaft. I think, especially that Nagata could have been world champion caliber with a mothpiece, since he combined the best of NJPW and American wrestling. Salute him.

...Lyger?

 

"11 Time IWGP Jr. Champion" Lyger?

 

"Three time Best of the Super Jr. winner" Lyger?

 

"Two time Super J Cup winner" Lyger?

 

"God of Juniorweights" Lyger?

 

As for Nagata, the reason he was held back was because he's boring as sin. He doesnt deserve a spot anywhere, for his style is heavily borrowed from Jun Akiyama. Now, I can understand the sentiment, after his burial in NJPW recently, but to say he got the shaft is bullshit. He broke the IWGP Defense record, something that no one expected. So saying he got the shaft is a load. He had his chance. He couldn't draw money. End of story.

 

(To clarify, the picture I posted is Magnum TA.)

[King Cucaracha 0]

I still think Shamrock could have made it to the upper echelon of workers. His mic-work left a lot to be desired, but it wasn't any worse than Benoit's is really. He had character, fan support, in-ring talent and credibility. The UFC background gave him a sense of legitimacy and he had probably the best treated submission hold at the time.

[Special K 0]

Also to clarify, Liger and Nagata did great in Japan, hell, Liger was the standard in NJPW jrs. I was talking about Japanese wrestlers getting over in America.

 

EDIT: like, we can agree that a bunch of AJPW guys were fucking terrific, but can you see Kawada high kicking Bradshaw in the corner?

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

Jericho. He hasn't done anything since his fued with Rock. When he WAS champion, he was booked as a jobber with a belt. Not to mention that he was pushed a year late. I don't think anyone with so much talent has been butchered by the bookers(and politics) more than Jericho. Until Austin returned in 2000, Jericho was the second most over guy in the promotion for most of the year. At the time, some even thought he would eventually replace Rock as the next major WWE draw. His merch sold well, and he brought a new exciting style to the Upper Card(back then, everyone was working the same generic style...like today). Yet after his fued with Triple H, the one that SHOULD have made him a major superstar, he was sent back to MId-Card hell to rot for another year. He didn't even see the Main Event until he and Benoit shared a fued with Austin in June, the following year.

 

He's quite possibly the most versatile talker in the promotion, capable of cutting effective heel AND face promos(something Angle can't even do). Before being forced to work 5 minute matches every night, he was a great worker capable of carrying anybody...he might still be. Jericho could of accomplished so much more than he was allowed to.

[Special K 0]

^

What he said

 

Also Christian. He needs to vary his offense, but I think that's somewhat due to the 'wwe style' He's a great bumper, and revealed himself to be the superior promo man in the E&C conncetion. In that he can deliver a serious promo as well as a funny one.

[Guest MikeSC]

Blitzkrieg. He could have been really something special, as he was a tremendous high flyer. Sadly, WCW killed his passion, and he went from a MOTY Candidate with Juventud Guerrera in the opener of Spring Stampede 1999, to being out of work by the end of the year.

100% agreed on Blitzkrieg. He seemed to be a high-flyer who could learn to work a match well enough --- but WCW killed his desire. You're right --- his match with Juvy is one of the all-time underrated classics.

I still think Shamrock could have made it to the upper echelon of workers. His mic-work left a lot to be desired, but it wasn't any worse than Benoit's is really. He had character, fan support, in-ring talent and credibility. The UFC background gave him a sense of legitimacy and he had probably the best treated submission hold at the time.

Shamrock was a poor worker. He was best as a heel --- but lacked enough talent to actually carry the offense for the majority of a match. He could one or two spots nicely, but he was pretty brutal in the ring.

-=Mike

[JoeDirt 0]

I think Stevie Richards is a good pick. Even today, he is SO incredibly underused by the WWE. He could be a GREAT heel manager. He gets into every role he plays and works his ass off to make it work. Stevie is truly an under appreciated talent and it's too bad he never really got a bigger push anywhere.

[Guest MikeSC]

I think Stevie Richards is a good pick. Even today, he is SO incredibly underused by the WWE. He could be a GREAT heel manager. He gets into every role he plays and works his ass off to make it work. Stevie is truly an under appreciated talent and it's too bad he never really got a bigger push anywhere.

Is he healthy? He seemed to be dealing with reported neck problems for years. If it's still a concern, you can't push him heavily.

-=Mike

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

That's true; he has a long history of injuries. The only rash of time he wasn't hampered with injuries, he got a big mid-card push with the RTC and he did very well with it but his constant neck and knee injuries make it impossible to give him a proper push.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Meat

Mark Henry

Steve Blackman

Billy Gunn

Nathan Jones

Duane Gill

The Kiss Demon

ICP

[Guest Kimaster1976]

Jeff Jarrett - Had he used his gimmick of 1998 to the present day upon his arrival in the WWF in 1994 instead of all the country music garbage, he could have been huge.

 

Taz - Should have been used far better in the WWE than he was after his initial great debut beating Kurt Angle.