WWE's Biggest Missed Opportunities

[Sparky]

Okay, so I was talking with some friends the other day...and this subject came up. The times WWE dropped the ball big time. Wrestlers who weren't given the proper push. Storylines that ended way too early. Just in general...missed opportunities.

For me, the absolute biggest missed opportunity is The Nexus. It was a strange time, but the Nexus at the time marked one of the more adventerous and ambitious things WWE had done in a long time. Here was the opportunity to create not just one new star, but seven. Just when the entire thing really started to take off, they remove Barrett as the figure head and replace him with Punk. I, to this day, will never understand this decision. Without a doubt, this marked a low point in Punk's WWE career. The entire group was made to look like a joke from then on, as most actual Nexus members left went on to form the Corre. I could go on for days about none of this making any sense. If the WWE had not dropped the ball on this entire group, Wade would be the biggest heel in the industry by now, and the other members wouldn't be seemingly lost in obscurity.

Another huge, huge missed opportunity is Cody Rhodes. Now, I was never as high on Cody as some were. But at the point when he played a much darker, bitter character...it was pure gold. How Cody never ended up as World Champion during this period is baffling. Truely one of the most interesting heel characters they ever developed, with no momentum to speak of it today.

Your turn.

[Tempest]

Cody isn't a missed chance. He will get there

[Andy]

Lesnar. Extreme Rules.

[mth]

Cody worked magic with it but his masked gimmick was kind of retarded.

[Mills]

Punk leading Nexus was more about keeping Nexus off of life support then killing it. When Cena tore through Nexus and destroyed all of them, including Barrett repeatedly, it all but killed the rookies off.

I think the biggest missed opportunity in recent time was Dolph Ziggler. They're making due now, but Ziggler could've been a respectable world champion last year. He was repeatedly having the best matches on the card , cutting respectable promos when given the opportunity, and getting respectable heat with Vicki. She got nuclear heat and he could keep enough of it to have a great match to boot.

Past tense, and this still bugs me to this day, was when they did the brand split and Bischoff handed Triple H the world title. They could've had a great tournament and really brought a shine to some of the lower card guys like Bradshaw and Bubba Ray Dudley before having it end up on Trips. Instead, it made the belt worthless and just be another HHH item for the internet to complain about.

[The Law]

I think the Invasion is the biggest. It's incredible that they managed to screw it up, but they totally did. I think any of us could have booked a better invasion than they did. They started it too soon, without the right talent from WCW, and refused to put any of the WCW guys over. They blew millions and millions of dollars. Proof that nothing is fool-proof.

The Nexus is another example. Basically, this one was dead the week after it started when they had Barrett just come out through the entrance like any other member of the roster and cut a promo in the ring. That night they became just another group of heels. They also had them focus obsessively on Cena rather than feuding with WWE as a whole. They had them lose their PPV match. They had Cena be forced to join. Totally screw-up. Could have been a great storyline.

The NWO in WWE is a big one. I was so hyped for them to come in. The NWO is my favorite storyline in wrestling history. This is kind of half WWE's fault and half circumstance. It turned out the fans wouldn't boo Hogan. That was a tough break. But they generally came off weak during the time before Wrestlemania. Other than messing up Rock, Nash and Hall were made to look buffoonish against Austin. These guys used to take out all of WCW by themselves, now Austin can handle them all by himself? Could have made a lot of money if handled right.

I think they've been dropping the ball by not turning Cena heel for years, but that's been pretty well hashed over at this point.

Orton in 2004. Having him get kicked out of Evolution instead of leaving on his own. And losing the title a month after he won it. And making him a bland shitty babyface without any of the qualities that got him over in the first place. It took him years to get back to where he was in 2004.

Kane after he lost the mask. He wasn't going to change the business or anything, but he was really hot. Then came the Shane feud. Unmasked monster Kane vs. Goldberg would have been a big moneymaker for sure.

Turning Lesnar face and having him lose the title to Big Show. He should have gone to Wrestlemania undefeated. Also, he's a natural heel. He should never play face.

Summer of Punk. Brought him back too soon. He should have been gone until at least after Summerslam. You can have him do a Youtube video or maybe show up on Raw and confront Cena, but actually bringing him back to the roster a week after he left was a big mistake. Basically, everything that happened in 2011 after Money in the Bank qualifies. Del Rio winning the title at Summerslam, bringing in Nash to feud with Punk, never developing the Johnny Ace conspiracy storyline, Triple H's reign as authority figure ending so soon, running Punk and Triple H so soon. I was more into the product after Money in the Bank than I have been in years, and they threw the whole thing away.

[Kyle_242]

The recent examples that stick out in my mind are the Nexus (basically for the reasons mentioned) and Punk's return.

Regardless of everyone else, the entire Nexus angle made it pretty clear that Barrett can be a top tier company heel, or at the very least, can be molded into one. He went from NXT to feuding with Cena and Orton within, what, 6 weeks? His ring skills kept improving, and his mic skills were already there. I was hoping that he wasn't one of those "push to the moon only for the purpose of being beaten by Cena" guys, but he ended up being exactly that. Feels like he should be more by now.

And Punk's return could've marked the start of a brand new direction for the company. Instead, it went into a pointless feud with a HHH who confusedly refused to turn, and finally completely dissolved with them teaming up against The Awesome Truth. If that's not missed opportunity, I don't know what is.

And also....



Cody isn't a missed chance. He will get there

Fuck yes.

[Mills]

The Lesnar issue was moot, he was injured and couldnt really work, it was unfortunate as Show didnt really need the belt at the time

[Kev]

Inability to create stars.

I think a huge thing for myself that I've noticed over the last 13 years has been the lack of movement in the Main Event scene. It's baffling to me that since the year 2000, HHH, Undertaker and Rock are STILL the guys to beat.

You would think they would have had the ability to create a plethora of top stars ever since then. It appears that only Cena has been the one to break through that glass ceilling.

Even when thinking about the likes of Jericho, Angle, HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED, Booker T, Kane, RVD, Christian, Edge, Orton, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy - all of whom truly hit their stride between the 2002 - 2006 period, none of them were ever truly protrayed to be top-tier talent in the same vein as those previously mentioned.

From 07 onwards we've had MVP, Mr. Kennedy, Lashley, Punk, Sheamus, Miz, Bryan, Rhodes, Kofi, Morrison, Barrett & more recently Cesaro and yet we still find ourselves at a point where we're relying on guys like HHH, Cena and The Rock to generate interest.

Long term booking, that's really a missed opportunity more than anything. Just look at the talent listed above, it's true some have their shortcomings but they all had enough quality within them to break through, if the writing had been strong enough.

Instead, an absolute beast of a man like Cesaro is yodelling while jobbing after what was originally an impressive US Title run, Christ.

[mr sabu]

kane vs fake kane

[OD50]

May not be the biggest but yeah, Punk's Pipe Bomb, Money in the Bank title win, quitting WWE, showing up randomly at comic con's etc resulting in him returning after 1 month into a shit feud with HHH, was a huge let-down.

The first time I was kind of excited for anything WWE related in over ten years.

[Badger]

Cesaro recently.

Feuds between Ziggler/Jericho and Goldust/Cody following the Rumble.

[OD50]

I would have loved the Cody/Goldie Rumble tussle turn into a WrestleMania match. It sure would beat having Cody, Sandow and the Bella's uh, sitting backstage at MetLife Stadium playing cards.

But in the big picture I wouldn't call it a missed opportunity since it probably hadn't drawn 1 extra PPV buy. :/

[Badger]

Not in the big picture no, but it would've been nice since Goldust got a huge pop at the Rumble.

Could've had Sandow in Cody's corner with Booker in Goldust's corner with a one night only Bookdust reunion.

[OD50]

Don't disagree on that at all, sounds golden. I think Goldust entering the Rumble had especially me and mth hoping for something between them at mania. But yeah... :(

[Rip]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/02/18/ddp.jpg

[Bluegunn]

Vince VS Rockers was a missed boat, but can't complain since DX reunited
After the rumble tie I would say a Bret VS Luger feud
Of course Hogan VS Flair
Undertaker VS Warrior or even Warrior VS Jake
They even teased a feud between Friar Furgeson VS Bam Bam on Raw, and instead introduced Bastion Booger

[Kyle_242]

Roddy Piper never being the WWF Champion.

I know it's not a missed opportunity, it just pisses me off.

[OD50]

After the rumble tie I would say a Bret VS Luger feud
They even teased a feud between Friar Furgeson VS Bam Bam on Raw, and instead introduced Bastion Booger

Man, I remember being majorly dissapointed when I watched WrestleMania X. I was 100% certain Bret and Luger would meet each other in the main event.

Booger and Bigelow kind of had a mini-feud though. I remember them wrestling each other after Booger tried to hit on Luna during the Booger/Bigelow-Smokin' Gunns match.

[One Man Gang]

I would have loved the Cody/Goldie Rumble tussle turn into a WrestleMania match. It sure would beat having Cody, Sandow and the Bella's uh, sitting backstage at MetLife Stadium playing cards.

But in the big picture I wouldn't call it a missed opportunity since it probably hadn't drawn 1 extra PPV buy. :/


Last year I was dead set against Cody vs Goldust because I figured it would get bumped to the pre-show. I knew a match with Big Show would be given some time, despite knowing he'd lose. This year however I would have supported a brother vs brother match had I known what they'd end up scheduling...and then removing. :(

[chatty]

Invasion was a pretty big screw up - even more so as within a year afterwards Flair, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg and Steiner joined the company anyway - all those names would have given them much more credability but instead they panicked when HHH got injured and went with the program early. As it was it ended p being a load of WWE guys v a load of WWE guys and mostly WCW/ECW mid carders.

I dunno if this is one as he's been absolutely terrible from about then but letting Rey run as the main guy after Eddies death instead of Chavo - Rey was already over, Chavo could have been pushed heavily as a face would have gotten over big at that time imo. It wouldn't change much in regards to major changes but I felt that was a missed opportunity to push him for a while.

[Mills]

Chavo? He's terrible, that would've been the biggest waste of an opportunity.

Also, and I know I'm in the minority, Test should've been used better then he was. He didn't have to be the world champ, but he could've been a star

[Ringo]

I don't know if Chavo would have had much staying power as a main eventer. Yes, in late '05 and early '06 he was genuinely over for the first time in his career, but everyone knew why. Chavo winning the title may have been a sweet moment - but what after? He's never been charismatic or creative enough to make it to the top. Have enjoyed what I've seen from his run in TNA though...

Anyway, Rey did benefit from that push and it propelled him into that "can take part in main events when called upon" category that a number of veterans are now a part of.

[chatty]

Well yeah Chavo would have had no staying power but thats alright, I wouldn't even say necesarily give him the title but get him in the picture while he was hot. No harm done when he drops down afterwards. i think rey would have got to where he was/is anyway tbh.

[Kneeneighbor]

Not pushing my dad after he pinned future WWE HoF member Bob Backlund.

[Cewsh]

Well yeah Chavo would have had no staying power but thats alright, I wouldn't even say necesarily give him the title but get him in the picture while he was hot. No harm done when he drops down afterwards. i think rey would have got to where he was/is anyway tbh.

Rey had completely plateaued at that point in his career, and hadn't had any real upward momentum in a number of years. I would be very surprised if he had ever made it anywhere near where he did had Eddie not died. And the reason he got that push instead of Chavo is because, for whatever reason, people responded to Rey as Eddie's closest friend more than they did to Chavo as his nephew/brother. The fans decided who they wanted pushed on that one.

[Andy]

Goldust vs Cody could be a really fun feud but I don't think it's worthy of Mania. I'd rather they have them a couple of months of build in the summer and give them 15 minutes at one of the lesser PPVs.

[chatty]

Can we add WCW into the mix, the thread will probably last forever then.

[OD50]

Many people would say giving away Goldberg/Hogan for free instead of PPV. They probably threw away a couple of mils on that one.

And maybe firing Steve Austin.. And letting guys like The Giant, Benoit, Guerrero and Jericho leave.

[Bluegunn]

Well yeah Chavo would have had no staying power but thats alright, I wouldn't even say necesarily give him the title but get him in the picture while he was hot. No harm done when he drops down afterwards. i think rey would have got to where he was/is anyway tbh.

Chavo should have at least got a nice IC title run though. He had a big push for a while, but then nothing.
Anyway Bulldog's return was a huge missed opportunity to give him a world title push, instead they jobbed him to the ground.
I was also a fan of the Farooq and Scorpio team that went no where.
Steamboat's 2nd run was horrible too as he should at least of had another IC title run. Steamboat VS Perfect would have been amazing to watch.

[chatty]

Yeah Bulldog was a funny one because he was well over as a face and a heel. They even toyed with him having him go over Bret at SS in England so they must have been considered at one point. He was a nearly man.

[Bluegunn]

Even Owen was a missed opportunity considering Bret leaving, he could of had quite the feud with DX

[One Man Gang]

If WWE does not book this....

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/entertainment/2013/04/24/morgan-freeman-challenged-to-wrestling-match



When asked which celebrity he'd like to wrestle, Cody cheekily answered: "Morgan Feeman, because I feel like I could win because he's old; although I'm sure he's tough. But then we could sell it and he could narrate the match, like he narrates everything. He could explain everything because he's such a great storyteller he could tell the story of me beating him. That would be wonderful."


:lol::panic:

[Vice]

I would love Morgan Freeman to come to WWE as Lucius Fox to work with Daniel Bryan to defeat The Shield, supplying Danielson with technology and gadgets to give him the edge.


Shield is in the ring.

Lights go out.

Lights come back on, Rollins is knocked out.

Lights go out.

Lights come back on, Reigns is knocked out.

Ambrose has no idea what to do. He starts losing his mind a bit and panics, turning around to see....

http://i.imgur.com/bAXsPJf.jpg

BONK.

[MichaelC]

Angle in 2001.

[Hotbeef-Injection]

If his career keeps going the way it has gone over the past 3 months i'm tempted to say Cesaro.

[mr sabu]

I would love Morgan Freeman to come to WWE as Lucius Fox to work with Daniel Bryan to defeat The Shield, supplying Danielson with technology and gadgets to give him the edge.


Shield is in the ring.

Lights go out.

Lights come back on, Rollins is knocked out.

Lights go out.

Lights come back on, Reigns is knocked out.

Ambrose has no idea what to do. He starts losing his mind a bit and panics, turning around to see....

http://i.imgur.com/bAXsPJf.jpg

BONK.

i am vengeance, i am redemption i am


THE DAZZLER

[blackening]

Whenever this topic comes up I always think of the cruiserweight division. They've had a long list of great talent over the years but insisted on them wrestling like every other match. TNA's X-Division is one of the things that helped them take off and the WWE's cruiserweight division could have been just as good had they actually let them wrestle like that.

[Andy]

Got thinking about this earlier.

Not having a TLC match between The Shield, The Usos and The Rhodes Bros at TLC last year was a massive disappointment.

Daniel Bryan not winning the Rumble is obvious.

[WizoOzz]

Shelton fucking Benjamin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJvfpAY2co

They should have jumped right on it after this. They didn't and, in terms of his WWE stature, he never recovered to anything other than midcard status.

[Donald]

I was really excited to see a vampire stable of Gangrel, Kevin Thorn, and Ariel. I have no idea why they didn't go forward with this. Especially in the height of the Twilight, True Blood craze.

[Andy]

Reminded of this in another thread - Kane not coming to Bryan's rescue at some point during his feud with either Wyatt or The Authority was a huge missed opportunity for a massive pop.

[mth]

Ryback.

[Nash Diesel]

Ryback.

Man I totally agree with this. In the Wyatt thread we're talking about people getting buried, this guy wasn't getting BURIED per se, but in hindsight it's like, what the fuck were they thinking booking him to lose every ppv and not cashing in on his popularity. It was very organic, at first the crowd was like wtf is this Goldberg RVD dude all about? As time went on, the fans warmed up to him and I swear when he came out to save Jim Ross from CM Punk I thought it was the return of Stone Cold lol. Massive pops but then it faded away.

[Nash Diesel]

Shelton fucking Benjamin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJvfpAY2co

They should have jumped right on it after this. They didn't and, in terms of his WWE stature, he never recovered to anything other than midcard status.

Yep. Guy was/is extremely talented in the ring. I honestly don't know what the deal was....mic work? Idk, never really heard him cut promos but he did a few in Ring of Honor and they were pretty weak. He had the charisma, ability, good look, had a decent to great performance with everyone he fought. Would be good to see him back in the WWE one day.

[WizoOzz]

Mic skills can be gradually worked on, but if you instantly cut off a guy's legs, it's futile. I think they had Benjamin get one more win over Trips and then had a rubber match where Trips made him look like a jobber.

He did eventually get slightly better on the mic, but could've done better with a mouthpiece.

Doubt we'll see him in the E again. He's past the age they consider ripe.

[Mark Hammer]

Honestly when it comes to Ryback I think it had more to do with the creative team doing everything right but Ryan Reeves himself not being able to keep up the pace with the character. Looking at things objectively he doesn't stand out in any category outside of having huge muscles and a marketable look, and in fairness that often seems to be enough but if there's no substance behind it the push will ultimately fail. Once the "Goldberg/RVD hybrid" novelty wore off fans began seeing Ryback more for what he was: a good (but expendable) addition to the midcard but not a particularly major player.

Edit- When I say the creative team did everything right, I was referring to the period up until his popularity began to wane. There are no excuses for his brief crybaby gimmick or jobbing him out to a guy known for jobbing to up-and-coming prospects (Jericho).

[chatty]

Honestly when it comes to Ryback I think it had more to do with the creative team doing everything right but Ryan Reeves himself not being able to keep up the pace with the character. Looking at things objectively he doesn't stand out in any category outside of having huge muscles and a marketable look, and in fairness that often seems to be enough but if there's no substance behind it the push will ultimately fail. Once the "Goldberg/RVD hybrid" novelty wore off fans began seeing Ryback more for what he was: a good (but expendable) addition to the midcard and not a particularly major player.

Edit- When I say the creative team did everything right, I was referring to the period up until his popularity began to wane. There are no excuses for his brief crybaby gimmick or jobbing him out to a guy known for jobbing to up-and-coming prospects (Jericho).

Ryback has more character than most on the roster when they let him loose though, he's pretty good on the mic and is a funny guy. He could have had more life as a top face but they really messed up with him. Not totally there fault as he was elevated to face Punk when Cena got injured and they didn't really have a lot of options at the top at the time. Then Punk got injured and his feud got continued with The Shield.

Guy was the most over guy on the roster for a period and he lost 7 PPV's in a row during that time pretty much endeing with him being a jobber and he finally got a PPV win over the Brooklyn Brawler. He shouldn't have been going over Punk and Cena of course but he most certainly should have beaten Henry at Mania in 13 and could have been taken away from The Shield feud instead of losing every match he had with them and then threw to the wolves in a Cena feud he had no chance of looking good in.

He also got reset a few times with the bully gimmick, pairing with Heymon and then tag team with Axel.

I don't think his popularity would have waned if he wasn't losing every week and had he not been in a five month feud with Punk/Shield. Ultimately he got sacrificed for The Shield and if thats the case then its hard to argue with in hindsight. Still though, if he'd went over Henry at Mania they could have picked him back up into a decent face mid-carder and looked to see where he went from there.

[Kdestiny]

Man I totally agree with this. In the Wyatt thread we're talking about people getting buried, this guy wasn't getting BURIED per se, but in hindsight it's like, what the fuck were they thinking booking him to lose every ppv and not cashing in on his popularity. It was very organic, at first the crowd was like wtf is this Goldberg RVD dude all about? As time went on, the fans warmed up to him and I swear when he came out to save Jim Ross from CM Punk I thought it was the return of Stone Cold lol. Massive pops but then it faded away.

I keep rewatching the six man tag match Ryback was in at TLC and despite the Goldberg chants, he was definitely over.

[Beer-Belly]

Vader. One of they greatest monster heels of all time and they dropped the ball for the most part. He should have manhandled Michaels at SummerSlam '96, but HBK had to be a bitch about things as he was wont to do.

[DDT]

In recent memory, Cesaro; a thousand times Cesaro. The iron was red-hot for a babyface run, and instead they paired him with Paul Heyman for an awkward heel-vs-heel feud that did him no favors, and now he doesn't even have Paul Heyman.

[darkhorse]

(Shelton Benjamin) did eventually get slightly better on the mic, but could've done better with a mouthpiece.

I'm sure I'm alone on this, but I greatly enjoyed Thea Vidale's work as Mama Benjamin.

[WizoOzz]

I remember her sitcom, but totally erased the Shelton's mama thing from my memory. Ugh.

[Mr_Nobody]

The Invasion is the single biggest missed opportunity in the history of wrestling, in my opinion. It was what fans had been clamoring for for years, and we finally got to see it done...

And it was over pretty much before it began.

It's legitimately something that could have been an ongoing storyline for years.

Looking back on things, I honestly think the only reason why Vince McMahon purchased WCW was to destroy his competitor and show how bad they were.



Recently, not having a full blown feud between The Wyatt Family and The Shield was a missed opportunity. I know they had some matches, but I really would have loved a long term feud between these two teams, ultimately resulting in an updated War Games match.

[lotjx]

The biggest missed opportunity is not making a new Dexus Machina character after Linda went to lose the family fortune in politics. Imagine a Mick Foley or Steve Austin or someone to come out and bash the Authority after the Rumble or the Elimination Chamber or this year's SummerSlam. They should have created a storyline where a face has 50% of the company or has the ear of the board of directors. A large part of the problem with the Authority storyline is no one can stop them. Maybe Vince now that Bryan is out of the picture, but it doesn't look like that is happening. There have been many storylines that needed someone to come in and just fucking end it. Or even having that character eventually be the Emperor to Cena's Vader, but Cena turning heel is never going to happen as long as his face is every product they shove into K-Mart and Walmart.

[VHS]

In terms of superstars, I always look back on Kevin Thorn as a huge missed opportunity, him and Shelton Benjamin. Kevin and Ariel were a fantastic couple that broke through the mold of stereotypical heel couples. And Shelton, while he was wasn't the best on the mic, he could put on matches like nobody's business and have the crowd in the palm of his hand.

I miss those guys.

[mth]

I remember her sitcom, but totally erased the Shelton's mama thing from my memory. Ugh.

Was one of the few times I actually gave a damn about Shelton. Dude's so goddamn overrated.

[JRSlim21]

I don't think he's overrated as much as he had potential to do better. It's not all on creative, but he should've had more accolades to his credit.

I had to look through the previous posts. Booker not beating Trips at Mania was a huge missed opportunity. He was never going to be the Rock, but considering how uneasy that race storyline was and then to let the heel win? Booker could've won and been a bigger face than he ever was.

[Mills]

Ken Shamrock, couldve been the Champ!

Other guys include Mike Knox, 123 kid, Matt Striker as a wrestler, marquos cor von, and CM Punk about 2 years earlier. Oh, Cryme Tyme too

[Kev]

JTG though, not Shad.

[VHS]

Hear hear to mentioning Mike Knox and Matt Striker. Wow, Knox was a guy that just time traveled from a generic jobber to a mammoth monster in no time. He definitely could have been great if he was able to stick around. Striker too, especially after he proved to be such an asset behind the announce table. He could have been a guy that could ditch the announce table, throw on the trunks, and still prove to be a mechanically gifted performer. I remember he even had some great matches with Darren Young on NXT.

[Mills]

He got some big heat at the shows I went to, Striker could get a crowd riled up sooooo easily

[Beer-Belly]

Striker was horrendous as an announcer. He was positively douche chill inducing for the most part.

[Mills]

Which is why isaid as a wrestler....

[Beer-Belly]

VHS mentioned his announcing.

[Mark Hammer]

Striker was horrendous as an announcer. He was positively douche chill inducing for the most part.

Couldn't agree more. Glad to see I wasn't the only one, listening to him on commentary made my skin crawl.

[LOCONUT]

Goldberg was mistreated in WWE. Should have had a much longer title run and they should have allowed him to squash the entire roster. He could have been a cash cow.

[mth]

I'll agree with that. Totally mishandled the dude.

[Beer-Belly]

Couldn't agree more. Glad to see I wasn't the only one, listening to him on commentary made my skin crawl.

There's a part of Taker and HBK's WrestleMania 26 match where something big happens and he gushes, "Gentleman, we auditioned our entire lives for this moment!" Yuck. It was an inane statement delivered in such a cheese dick fashion that it took me out of the match.

[Mark Hammer]

Goldberg was mistreated in WWE. Should have had a much longer title run and they should have allowed him to squash the entire roster. He could have been a cash cow.

Triple H wouldn't let Goldberg win their feud because he was saving the rub for younger stars like Batista.

[V-Line]

Muhammed Hassan & Davari fit this bill for me. Sure WWE were to heavy-handed with it in the end with the ski mask episode just after (or before, can't remember) the London Bombings but to drop a character that hot as a heel and a performer so young who would have got better always baffled me.

His whole run was probably under 6-months but he worked with Hogan, HBK, Jericho, Batista & Taker and had memorable segments with Austin, Foley and the like. I loved the character as an Arab-American wrongly persecuted in his own country due to stereotypes, easy heat with whatever he did and wasn't bad in the ring for somebody so new. Also used the often overused downward spiral finisher better than most in his early days before he switch to the go to foreign finish, the camel clutch.

This is completely WWE's missed opportunity, not the performer Mark Copani who was completely shafted after the pho-terrorist attack on Taker. They got all the cheap, but good, heat of a foreign heel from a character that wasn't even foreign. He was being groomed for a world title shot before the incident and subsequent power bomb through the stage to wrestling retirement. WWE had something they severely lack in today's current climate, a full on 100% disposed heel with a believable backstory only to complete whiff it themselves by one week deciding to turn him into a full on terrorist. Davari also added a lot to the act, but was the support so it wasn't surprising to see his career not really go anywhere.

One of my favourite heels of all time, the great Muhammed Hassan. Oh and what a classic theme two, I would love him to one day be a surprise in the Royal Rumble, I'd love him back in any form regardless but I'd say that boat has long since sailed.

[The Law]

Triple H wouldn't let Goldberg win their feud because he was saving the rub for younger stars like Batista.

Fact of the day: Batista is three years younger than Goldberg. I actually thought he might be older at first. Batista's oldness has always been confusing. He's 45, in the same neighborhood as Undertaker, Triple H, and Mick Foley.

[Judas Iscariot]

I agree with every word of that and can't add anything more.

Edit: damn it The Law

[Beer-Belly]

Where WWE fucked up with Goldberg was not bringing him in during the Invasion angle. They could have made a fortune off of Stone Cold vs. Goldberg.

[StoneColdChris]

There's a part of Taker and HBK's WrestleMania 26 match where something big happens and he gushes, "Gentleman, we auditioned our entire lives for this moment!" Yuck. It was an inane statement delivered in such a cheese dick fashion that it took me out of the match.

Striker's commentary for the very first Jericho/Taker 1-1 match was awful as well. One of his lines during that match, "It's the Twilight of the New Moon"....seriously??

And there's Survivor Series where he blew the call, "CENA'S FREEEEEEEEEE" when he was fired.

[OD50]

Where WWE fucked up with Goldberg was not bringing him in during the Invasion angle. They could have made a fortune off of Stone Cold vs. Goldberg.

Wasn't the case with Big Bill the same as with Hogan, Nash, Hall, Sting, Steiner, Flair etc? That they had these massive WCW/Time Warner contracts that only were paid if they sat on their asses at home for 1-2 years? I think the only top guy that choose to join the WWF over sitting at home on a guaranteed contract was DDP (not sure about Booker). Vince sure rewarded him for such commitment..

[Mr_Nobody]

Ken Shamrock, couldve been the Champ!

Other guys include Mike Knox, 123 kid, Matt Striker as a wrestler, marquos cor von, and CM Punk about 2 years earlier. Oh, Cryme Tyme too

Hell yes to Mike Knox!!! I got to know him in DSW and he was great. He was the best overall wrestler there, and could do a little bit of everything. Saw him have a technical match with William Regal. A brawl with who is now Konner, and even high flying aspects for a big guy. He was one of the best talkers there as well, giving psychotic type promos, to straight up heel ones, to some good face ones as well.

He gets called up, and boom, he's told to basically be a basic big man brawler and given a very poor gimmick.

I honestly believe he was punished because he fought the WWE on a suspension due to drugs found in his old apartment. He shared the apartment with Derek Niekirk and Konner, and Niekirk even took the blame for the drugs, but Knox got blamed by association, and he never really got off the ground.

He's older and not as good of shape as he was, and, having seen him in his glory days, it's hard to watch him in TNA. He will always be in my favorites of all time though, but it has nothing to do with what most people have seen from him.

[turdpower]

Never doing HHH vs Rock vs Austin

[Nash Diesel]

Didn't they do that on a UK ppv? I believe this match was supposed to go down at the Survivor Series where Austin was ran over and then Big Show took his place and won the belt. Austin was legit hurt though if memory serves me correct.

[lotjx]

Vince with what little he paid for WCW, could have bought out those contracts, but XFL killed him or so we are lead to believe. I think they blew their load early on with Shane coming after Mania talking about it when he had a shit roster. They should have waited til they had the pieces in place, but they panicked when Rock left and HHH got hurt then Benoit got hurt. They could have run Austin/Kurt/Jericho all summer until Rock came back. Imagine Rock vs. Hogan, Austin vs. Goldberg, DX vs the NWO at Mania that year.

[Honey_Badger]

Never doing HHH vs Rock vs Austin

This should have and I think was planned to be the main event at WM 16. With that said, yes, this should have been a Mania main event.

For me it's Dolph as a heel. Him and AJ would have worked perfectly - see Edge/Lita - and they could have pulled it off. I still think, to this day, WWE dropped the ball on Ziggler.

[Zacharie]

The WCW buyout storyline.

I wonder how well it would have worked out if they waited to do the storyline until they were able to sign Flair, Goldberg, Steiner, and the NWO?

Sort of like how they held ECW ONS years later, eventually making it a brand.

Around 2003, sign that big ass batch of WCW names I listed up there, then run the Invasion angle; and have Shane reveal that he was waiting for the right moment to strike.

[Judas Iscariot]

Why did they break up the Prime Time Players?

Is it because right before they broke them up Darren Young came out?

Really good tag team over with the crowd.

Stupid.

[Judas Iscariot]

I have to agree with Fertig/Mordecai/Thorn.

Dude was really good in the ring. Dumb gimmicks, though he made Thorn work for a little bit which was better than the littlelittlelittle bit he did with Mordecai.

Not his fault, though.

[OD50]

I really wish they had went with Hogan/Flair at WMVIII as planned. Also, Lex Luger/Bret Hart at WMX and Savage/Steamboat in the quarter-finals at WMIV. Definitely Jake Roberts/Rick Rude at SummerSlam '88.

And yeah, PTP should definitely had stuck together (as heels). Worst tag-team break up in history, their ''feud" and matches were pathetic.

[Rip]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI_6FI6FZ0Q

[JPW]

I love how they broke up Prime Time Players... yet here we are a couple of months later and Titus is back in another Tag Team.

Bo Dallas. Why did he have to lose his streak to R Truth? I get it was a joke streak but it would of been nice to someone like Daniel Bryan. Or they could of made it Brock Lesnar. JBL could of been like: Another Streak Conquered!

Shield Breakup. They have the upper hand on Evolution. Then all of a sudden Seth is like that's not good enough I want to turn and join up with The Authority. The guys who i happened to beat 2 PPV's in a row. I wish they'd broke up at Wrestlemania now. Or had their triple threat.

Christian World Championship title runs. Daniel Bryan Championship Run(okay he got injured, but did you have to feed him to Kane). Kane's return to the Mask(god they screwed that up.), Wyatt Family. These guys should of been tag team champions by now.

The list is endless. WWE have dropped it a lot lately.

[Delta]

Muhammed Hassan & Davari fit this bill for me. Sure WWE were to heavy-handed with it in the end with the ski mask episode just after (or before, can't remember) the London Bombings but to drop a character that hot as a heel and a performer so young who would have got better always baffled me.


If I remember correctly, they taped it just before, and aired it just after, the London attack.

[Nash Diesel]

I really wish they had went with Hogan/Flair at WMVIII as planned. Also, Lex Luger/Bret Hart at WMX and Savage/Steamboat in the quarter-finals at WMIV. Definitely Jake Roberts/Rick Rude at SummerSlam '88.

And yeah, PTP should definitely had stuck together (as heels). Worst tag-team break up in history, their ''feud" and matches were pathetic.

I actually liked how WM X panned out, including the switch from having Luger win the belt. It would've been just like WM 9 if they had Luger beat Yoko for the belt and then lose to Bret. But on the flipside, it would've made Luger look like a million bucks if he beat both Yoko and Bret in one night. Was the rumor true that they switched it up because Luger blurted out the results the night before at a bar?

100000% agree that WM 8 should've been Hogan v. Flair. Yes, Flair v. Savage was the better match and I really enjoyed their feuds in both WWF and WCW. But Hogan/Flair was the ultimate dream match only trumped by Austin v. Hogan never happening period. At least Flair and Hogan actually wrestled in WWF and WCW one on one (WWF house show I know but still) because the closest we got to Austin v. Hogan was the 2-3 handicap match between Hogan/Outsiders v. Rock/Austin.

[OD50]

I really wanted Bret to beat Luger for the title at mania. And I think it was Luger/Yoko at SummerSlam '93 that got changed because Luger told someone about him winning the title. But, I think I've also heard someone say (possibly Luger himself) that it was just gossip and the plan was for Luger to win via count out all along.

/And yes, back in the 80's I remember there were always two "dream'' matches them kayfabe magazines used to speculate about; The Road Warriors vs. Demolition and Hogan vs. Flair.

[Donald]

Whatever that freakishly tall woman wrestler who was supposed to be on NXT. From what I heard, she sucked, but it made me less interested in NXT when she was released.

[Nash Diesel]

I really wanted Bret to beat Luger for the title at mania. And I think it was Luger/Yoko at SummerSlam '93 that got changed because Luger told someone about him winning the title. But, I think I've also heard someone say (possibly Luger himself) that it was just gossip and the plan was for Luger to win via count out all along.

/And yes, back in the 80's I remember there were always two "dream'' matches them kayfabe magazines used to speculate about; The Road Warriors vs. Demolition and Hogan vs. Flair.

I always used to fantasy book LOD v. Demolition. I would've kept everything the exact same except I would've had LOD v. Demolition at WM 7 with the winners getting a tag-title shot. To this day I have no clue why the WWF decided to have LOD v. Sour and Gory and Demolition get squashed by Tenryu and the other dude. It was like once Vince finally got LOD, which is why he created Demolition in the first place, he basically jobbed out Demolition over time.


Whatever that freakishly tall woman wrestler who was supposed to be on NXT. From what I heard, she sucked, but it made me less interested in NXT when she was released.

Yes! She couldn't have been any worse than Kaitlyn, who had only been training for 4-5 months if that.

[PurePlayer]

Demolition as massively over during their peak run. I don't get the reason to job them out. I get everyone was in love with LOD but Demolition had their own huge fanbase and a big feud between them would have worked.

[Donald]

Demolition as massively over during their peak run. I don't get the reason to job them out. I get everyone was in love with LOD but Demolition had their own huge fanbase and a big feud between them would have worked.

Well I think it had something to do with by the time LOD got to WWE, Ax was winding his career down due to heart problems I believe, so it would have been Smash and Crush feuding with LOD and they just weren't a good team.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah but they were never really given a chance to see what Smash and Crush could accomplish. Ax was around till like January I think when they turned on him and he left (yet still calling himself Axis the Demolisher, which lead to a nice lawsuit) but again, Smash/Crush never got to really do much other than job lol.

[Romford Pele]

Invasion. Vince should have bitten the bullet and bought out contracts for Sting & Goldberg and actually pushed Booker T.

[chatty]

Well I think it had something to do with by the time LOD got to WWE, Ax was winding his career down due to heart problems I believe, so it would have been Smash and Crush feuding with LOD and they just weren't a good team.

Animal said in his book Ax was still good to go another match at the time and even they all thought it bizarre that WWE never did a big LOD v Demolition feud as it had money all over it. Ive seen Demolition interviewd agreeing as well. They could have done a good match at Mania, hell just have Smash do most of the work or heel Demolition up and make it a 3 v 2 to stack the odds in the heels favour.

[Badger]

Rock/Michaels would've been money back as Michaels screwed him out of the title as a ref on two separate occasions. Shame they couldn't pivk it up again after Michaels' injury and have Rock get his revenge.

[lotjx]

Rock/Michaels would've been money back as Michaels screwed him out of the title as a ref on two separate occasions. Shame they couldn't pivk it up again after Michaels' injury and have Rock get his revenge.

Rock has stated, he had zero desire to work with Shawn. I would have liked it to seen it too, but I think Shawn would have pulled a Hogan on Rock. Then Rock would have legit beat his ass til Vince had to come out and stop it. Its probably better it didn't happen.

[chatty]

I would have loved an Eddie/Shawn feud.- prob not a.missed opportunity business wise but I think.it.would have been.golden.

[Sancty]

Why did they break up the Prime Time Players?

Is it because right before they broke them up Darren Young came out?

Really good tag team over with the crowd.

Stupid.



I imagine they thought that DY was over so by turning Titus it would be mutually advantageous by getting both guys over.

[Sancty]

My nomination:

Not doing the fatal 4 way (Cena/Miz/Punk/Orton) that would've made so much sense at WM 27 as their storylines had been overlapping for 4 months rather than forcing Miz vs. Cena in singles.

I usually hate Fatal 4 Ways but this made sense from a storyline perspective.

[MMH]

Yes! She couldn't have been any worse than Kaitlyn, who had only been training for 4-5 months if that.

Kaitlyn hadnt been training at all when she got drafted in. She had only been signed a couple of weeks beforehand. All things considered I think she did pretty damned well.

[MMH]

Well I think it had something to do with by the time LOD got to WWE, Ax was winding his career down due to heart problems I believe, so it would have been Smash and Crush feuding with LOD and they just weren't a good team.

He had an allergic reaction to seafood which which seemed to turn into people think it was a heart problem.

[Badger]

Rock has stated, he had zero desire to work with Shawn. I would have liked it to seen it too, but I think Shawn would have pulled a Hogan on Rock. Then Rock would have legit beat his ass til Vince had to come out and stop it. Its probably better it didn't happen.

Yeah I'm aware they had issues back before Michaels got injured as Rock was a big Hart supporter, but they could've picked it up again after Michaels returned in 2002. He was a reformed character to get that one big match and worked out their past issues beforehand. Don't think Shawn would've done a Hogan to aRock then as their issue was different.

[Sancty]

Rock has stated, he had zero desire to work with Shawn. I would have liked it to seen it too, but I think Shawn would have pulled a Hogan on Rock. Then Rock would have legit beat his ass til Vince had to come out and stop it. Its probably better it didn't happen.


I remember an HBK promo where he suggested that 'the best wrestler of this generation' turned down a match with him at Mania. The common assumption was he was talking about Rock.

Michaels actually came off really juvenile in the promo. He's reformed but there was still some of 'that guy' in him still.

[ThE_GrEaT_GaM]

Muhammed Hassan & Davari fit this bill for me. Sure WWE were to heavy-handed with it in the end with the ski mask episode just after (or before, can't remember) the London Bombings but to drop a character that hot as a heel and a performer so young who would have got better always baffled me.

His whole run was probably under 6-months but he worked with Hogan, HBK, Jericho, Batista & Taker and had memorable segments with Austin, Foley and the like. I loved the character as an Arab-American wrongly persecuted in his own country due to stereotypes, easy heat with whatever he did and wasn't bad in the ring for somebody so new. Also used the often overused downward spiral finisher better than most in his early days before he switch to the go to foreign finish, the camel clutch.

This is completely WWE's missed opportunity, not the performer Mark Copani who was completely shafted after the pho-terrorist attack on Taker. They got all the cheap, but good, heat of a foreign heel from a character that wasn't even foreign. He was being groomed for a world title shot before the incident and subsequent power bomb through the stage to wrestling retirement. WWE had something they severely lack in today's current climate, a full on 100% disposed heel with a believable backstory only to complete whiff it themselves by one week deciding to turn him into a full on terrorist. Davari also added a lot to the act, but was the support so it wasn't surprising to see his career not really go anywhere.

One of my favourite heels of all time, the great Muhammed Hassan. Oh and what a classic theme two, I would love him to one day be a surprise in the Royal Rumble, I'd love him back in any form regardless but I'd say that boat has long since sailed.

This. Great post, I've always thought the exact the same thing. No need to further elaborate.

[SeanMooneysClassyJackets]

Mark Copani who was completely shafted after the pho-terrorist attack on Taker.

Man, that chili would sting. :)