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WRESTLING COLUMNS
Dropping the Ball
July 7, 2004 by Lucas Odparlik
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The WWE has built interest around wrestlers several times in their history of
professional wrestling. Here's a look at the many times they've dropped the
ball on wrestlers who could have made it in the WWE.
Brock Lesnar:
Quite possibly one of the WWE's biggest and most heavily promoted stars, Lesnar
left the WWE to pursue a football career with the NFL. He was the youngest WWE
champion and was the total package. Had the WWE used him right, his passion may
have stuck around and he wouldn't have walked out. The biggest loss the WWE has
ever received, in my opinion.
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Goldberg:
The WWE got WCW's biggest star and what did Vince do to him" He made him into a
comedy act. Soon after that was dropped, his momentum was lost. He did have a
World title reign, but only for two months before jobbing out to Triple H. This
upset him, as it should have, and he decided it was about time he left. He had
unlimited potential and is a proven great draw. He left because of the politics
Vince played.
American Dragon:
Wow. The biggest flop I can think of would be AmDrag. Trained by Shawn Michaels
at his academy alongside Spanky, Paul London, and others, AmDrag was under a
developmental contract with the WWE. The WWE released him awhile back after
promising him a spot on the roster if he would cut his hair. He cut his hair and
they released him. What's that all about" American Dragon was a huge star on the
indy circuit before he signed with the WWE. After he was released, he's an even
bigger star wrestling in Japan and the American indy circuit. He is one of the
best wrestlers in the world today, and the WWE gave up on him.
AJ Styles:
He turned down a contract because of living conditions and wanting to stay close
to home. However, money talks. The WWE could have offered him a high wage salary
and guaranteed decent storylines for him. Instead they only offered him a
mediocre developmental deal which he had no choice but to turn down. The WWE let
TNA's biggest star slip between their fingers.
Scott Steiner:
Yes, he is old. Yes, he is broken down. Yes, he isn't as good as he used to be.
However, his heel aura is still there. The WWE heavily promoted "Big Poppa Pump"
and when he debuted at Survivor Series he made a huge impact. Then at the Royal
Rumble, he got a DQ win over Triple H in a horrible match. Trips didn't carry
him as he should have, which is why the match suffered. After that, he had
several mini-fueds with Nowinski and 3MW. His tag team with Test was actually
quite good, even though their fued was horrendous. The WWE stopped teaming them
for no reason at all. A great heel, who the WWE is dropping. After November, say
goodbye to "Freakzilla."
Ron "H2O" Waterman:
He looks a lot like Scott Steiner except he can actually wrestle. That and he
was young and healthy at the time of his release. Released from his
developmental contract a few years back.
Nathan Jones:
Billed as a monster, who actually gave off the aura of one, the WWE brought
Jones in hoping to make an impact. Upon his arrival, he threatened the
Undertaker and vowed to win the WWE title. He even choked Michael Cole out
Andre-style. He was mega over and his true history involving prison actually
made him an intriguing character. He may not have been the greatest wrestler,
but he surely had the image and the character for the part. So, instead of
fueding him with the Undertaker, the WWE teamed him with Taker instead. I'm not
sure how they decided that'd help him fued with Taker, but they did it anyways.
Anyways, Jones went on to botch up matches and waste our time. He walked out
after being frustrated with the direction of his character on a tour of
Australia.
Spanky:
At the time of his signing, Spanky, also known as Brian Kendrick, was one of the
hottest commodities on the independent scene. The WWE signed him with high
expectations and put him in an angle in which he tried to gain a SmackDown!
contract. He went toe-to-toe with Kurt Angle and almost won the match. He
could have been the WWE's biggest draw for the Cruiserweight division had they
utilized him correctly. He has the charisma, mic skills, and wrestling skills.
Even when he was in the tag team with Paul London, the WWE didn't utilize him
correctly. Instead of making the duo tag team champions, they jobbed them out.
Spanky quit awhile ago to pursue a career in the indies and Japan again. He has
since won the World-1 Light Heavyweight Tag titles with Low Ki.
"The Predator" Sylvester Terkay:
Now the US Champion in Zero-One wrestling over in Japan. He beat Steve Corino
for the belt. Fact: The only man to ever beat Kurt Angle in actual NCAA
wrestling, he is a former NCAA champion. He could have been the next Brock
Lesnar, as he's very popular in SoCal and Japan. The WWE dropped the ball when
they released him from his developmental contract.
Ultimo Dragon:
Ultimo Dragon debuted with the WWE sometime around last year. He was heavily
promoted and scored an impressive debut win against Shannon Moore. Soon after,
the WWE got him involved in a program with Kyo Dai, Tajiri's former faction, and
old rival Rey Mysterio. Instead of going forth with the genius program, the WWE
dropped it for some reason and demoted Dragon to Velocity. With all of his
momentum lost, he jobbed on Velocity for the better part of his WWE career.
Even when he finally made his Wrestlemania debut this year, he was jobbed early
in the match. Granted, he'll be returning in Fall to the WWE, but at this time
it seems the WWE have failed to use one of the premier cruiserweights in the
world.
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig:
Mr. Perfect came back for the 2002 Royal Rumble. He was one of the final four
and looked to be headed for success in the new millenium. So what does the WWE
do" They job him out to Steve Austin and take him off of TV. He could have won
that World title he never won had the WWE used him right. He was still a world
class premier wrestler at the time of his release. He was released because of a
scuffle with Lesnar. He died a few months later...
Zack Gowen:
While he may not have been the greatest worker, the WWE did drop the ball with
"Tenacious Z." Instead of using him as a special attraction draw, the WWE
played the sympathy angle and got him involved in the horrendous Mr.
America/McMahon fued. Out of this fued, he was assaulted by McMahon, had his
leg pulled off by Roddy Piper, and was embarrassed by Sable. His last
appearance had him mauled by Brock Lesnar. A month later, he cut a promo saying
he will make a comeback. Instead, the WWE got rid of him and lost any draw they
may have had with him.
Goldust:
After he recovered from injury, the WWE released him. Why" I have no idea. He
still had some appeal, star power, and was still a decent wrestler. If pushed
right he could have had another successful IC title run. Instead he was
released.
Chris Kanyon:
After coming back from an injury that could have almost killed him, paralyzed
him, or ended his career, things looked to be good for Kanyon. Instead the WWE
decided it'd be best to let him job on Velocity. He did this for quite some
time until the WWE decided to pair him with Shannon Moore. The team was
successful, but the WWE broke the two up for no apparent reason. Kanyon then
had a solid match with Mysterio on SmackDown! and was ultimately released. "The
Innovator of Offense" could have been a prominent United States championship
contender, but is instead sitting at home because of the WWE.
"The Cat" Ernest Miller:
After much, much unneeded hype, the Cat debuted on SmackDown!. Originally
starting with the WWE as an announcer alongside Josh Mathews on Velocity, the
Cat annoyed us with his lame one-liners and comments. For some reason, the WWE
decided that this warranted him a singles push in wrestling. They paired him
with a butler, Lamont, and hyped him for weeks. When he finally debuted all he
did was orgasm over Torrie Wilson and dance with her. He eventually stole a
kiss from Sable, starting a mini-fued with Vince McMahon that went nowhere. His
biggest match was at the Royal Rumble, he got in no offense and just danced
around before being tossed out. Truly a waste of time, effort, and
well...everything.
Sean O'Haire:
When he came back as a singles' player, he looked to make a huge splash on
SmackDown!. Using a "Devil's Advocate" gimmick, O'Haire pressured others to
indulge their temptations and be sinful. His gimmick was very over and his
response was decent. Instead of pushing him to the moon, the WWE waited a month
until pairing him with Roddy Piper. Instead of putting the heat on O'Haire, it
was instead shifted to Piper. With this O'Haire lost all his momentum and
became the lackey of Piper dropping his advocate gimmick. Upon Roddy Piper's
release from the company, O'Haire went to Velocity and dominated there. Soon
after he was sent down to OVW and eventually released. He is now pursuing mixed
martial arts post-WWE.
by Lucas Odparlik..
Mike Petralia wrote:
Dont agree on much you have to say here.
Lesnar:What more could lesnar asked for was in story
lines with hogan,angle, eddie, benoit all good story
lines he was well over with the crowd as a heel,
Lesnar left on his terms not becuase of WWE.
Golderg: Not even close to WCW's biggest star. WHat
about Flair,Hogan,Sting,Outsiders,Booker T. Goldberg
had 3 moves.
Dragon: Who" lol its the wrestlers job to get over
with the crowd.
Styles: You made this arguement for me. AJ Styles left
becuase of living conditions then good he doesnt
deserve to be in the wwf, Flairs been away form his
family for 3 decades. You sacrafice for this business
my friend. Another key point you make hes TNA biggest
star, TNA also has Jarret as their champ he could
never make it past teh IC belt in the WWE who says
styles could.
Steiner: Can you say the guy is so big that he cant do
half the stuff he once did. These guys are
profesionals, dont rely on HHH to carry a man that was
wrestling at wrestlmania (9) 3 yrs before HHH was.
Ron: Again who"
Jones: I agree on you with this one.
Spanky:I agree but his name doesnt help much if he
wants to be taken serious.
Predator: There are alot of popular wrestlers in Japan
that came over here and were not popular what makes
him different.
Dragon: Agree, but wasnt taht over with the crowd.
Perfect: Agree, but hes doen so much in the past in
the WWF so they never really dropped the ball with
him.
Gowen: This pisses me off, seriously. They dropped the
ball by bringing this kid in, bad attitude in the
back, and he has one leg, i dont want to see a guy hop
around id rather see midgets.
Goldust: His career was coming to an end, what can you
say.
Kaynon: I dont know
The Cat: He wasnt good in WCW and he wasnt good in the
WWE.
Ohare: Agree
Your leaving out the fact that there just not room for
everyone and most of tehse guys dont compare with the
current WWE talent. What about some of the great jobs
the WWE has done, Cena,Orton, Benjamen, tehy made
Eddie into a bigger star than hes ever been.
Jason Weeks wrote:
this article should be titled Why Vince McMahon is a Idiot. He has for the most part never known how to use anyone but the people he likes and to hell with what the fans want. That list and a hand full of other people that are still in the WWE are being underused by vince. That article is also why he DESPERATLEY needs competition. Linda said it best, "competition is good for everyone" , and without it the WWE has been going down the tubes rather quickly, the recent WWE storylines have already proven this fact. After reading this and watcvhing the most recent WWE programming, I rember now why I stopped watching it. Vince relly needs to get his act together. anyway thanks for your time and good article.
wrote:
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