Top 10 Wrestlers WWE Dropped the Ball on.

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Tapout

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Over the many years of the WWE, many great, and talented superstars have come and go. Some rise to fame, and stardom, while others fall to only be a pleasant memory in the mind of WWE Fans every where. This list will countdown the Top 10 Superstars that WWE missed their chance with.


10. Rhyno

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It might be his lack of charisma, when compared to other, or the fact that WWE just thought that his mic skills didn't compare. Lets face it, Rhyno was around when a lot of competition was there. Triple H, Stone Cold, Rock, Jericho, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, and many others we're jumping to superstardom in the full swing of the Attitude Era. Rhyno had the body, and could pull off some decent matches in a time where decent matches were considered good. Rhyno looked the part, walked the part, but WWE didn't capitalize on what a mega star he could have been. TNA almost got it right. Rhyno will always be known as that "Gore guy."

9. Chris Masters

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He was big, he was muscular, he had the good looks. He was something straight out of a Vince McMahon wet dream. During his first run in the WWE, this young man was thrusted right into the main card. Did the pressure get to him? Drugs soon dragged him down, and he was released. Later he cleaned up his act and came back to what would seem like a successful run. However, he was used as a jobber, and would only really wrestler on the meaningless show, Superstars. Where he usually put on match of the night. Now that he has been released, it is interesting to see if another company can take this guy, and make him their star. Hes a World Champion in a box. Just open.

8. Matt Hardy

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It is often thought, where would he be today, if he was made the Main Eventer in the WWE? Would he still be there? Would he have a better head on his shoulders? Regardless, the name Hardys have become controversial in the wrestling business. During the Attitude Era, a young, death defying team was taking wrestling by storm. The Hardy Bros. Matt and Jeff exploded on the scene, and both seem to be on the right one way track to super stardom. After years of ups and downs, they both just about found their way there. But Jeff would be the one that entering the ranks as Main Eventer, and world Champion. A rank Matt Hardy would, and never will leave to see. The Hardy story is a sad one. But would it have been different if Matt was made a star?

7. Raven

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What a character. Raven. The man of mystery. He had it all. He could have been huge. He could have been like Undertaker, Kane, Mankind. The many mysterious characters who came before him. I could watch him for weeks. Storylines that they could have done with him. It truly is a tragedy to see how Raven was used. Mainly as the Hardcore guy, who never really went anywhere.

6. Shane Douglas

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"Hey! I got a great idea. Why don't we take a great ECW Champion, and make him a joke of a character!" Those were most likely the words Vince said when hiring Shane Douglas. It's amazing how WWE can take an already made star, and misfire with them. Reportedly, backstage politics saw an end to Douglas, as Shawn Michaels, the bug in Vince's ear just "didn't think he had what it took." Ending Douglas' one year run in the WWE. He should have been the next big thing.

5. Lance Storm

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I still get mad when thinking about how they didn't use Storm. This man was practically a world champion that walked in on them. Chris Jericho and Lance Storm. Should have been two of the biggest names in WWE history. They say he didn't have charisma. Bullshit. Lance used it to his gimmick, and got it over better then anyone else could. No wonder he ran off to other companies, because it's clear WWE doesn't know what a star is.

4. Test

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It might have been drugs that brought him down, it might have been backstage politics, but regardless, Test was a great character. He had an awesome gimmick, and for a man of his size, could entertain. But sadly, he never even really got a chance at the Main Event. He would be teased, then pulled away.

3. William Regal

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In the words of Zack Ryder "ARE YOU SERIOUS BRO!?" This guy has no world title runs to his name. None? William Regal was, and is one of the best workers the WWE has ever seen. And as far as I know, he only messed up once. Hes going to go down in History as one of the greats that should have been world champion. Like Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, and many more.

2. Colt Cabana

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Thats right Smarks. The one that CM Punk is always talking about. His best friend. Colt Cabana. And internet sensation. WWE had him in their grasps, and what do they do with all great talent they get? They let them fall. Anyone remember Scotty Goldman? Yeah, not a surprise, seeing how in almost 7 months he was used on TV like 4 times, tops. I wonder now if WWE knows how badly they screwed up. But it may not be to late, if they want, I'm sure WWE can get Colt Cabana back in there hands. Just don't screw up this time.

1. Ricky Steamboat

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They had him. They had the Dragon. They made the Dragon. And they let him go. Ricky was way before his time in the WWE. He was a God in a land of Cartoon characters. A little man in a land of giants. It wasn't his time yet, and the WWE missed their shot. Although they like to claim fame to Ricky, thats not true. It's the NWA who made this man. But in his short 3 years, he showed the world what he could do on a main stage, and his match with Randy Savage and WrestleMania III is still talked about to this day, and regarded as one of the best of all time.


And that's my list! Honorable mentions go out to Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Ken Kennedy, MVP, Dynamite Kid, Bobby Lashley, Chavo Guerrero, and more. Thanks for reading.
 

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Think there are people not on this list that grossly out rank the ones that are. Some of them have also caused their own issues.
 

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I didn't count a lot of 70/80's stars, because honestly, I wouldn't know a lot about them, and also a lot of stars back then, even if not used in the main event, were still used very good. Unlike today.
 

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Not a Bad list and a good read but any list without Vader on it is not credible. Biggest waste of talent in history.

Oh damn. Totally did forget Vader. I was looking for the wrestlers that aren't usually brought up when people think of wasted talent. Such as Rhyno, Test, and Raven. Vader is was a very underrated star.
 

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Started reading the list and I was like... this ain't right. Rhyno... yes he was talented but Rhyno screwed Rhyno with his antics. Chris Masters was a freakin waste. The guy was only average at his absolute best. Yeah he definitely had the look but other than that he had nothing that anybody else could do. Masters was let go cause Masters was just an average wrestler that couldn't do anything special.

Matt Hardy... at the time had something going for him. Jeff outshined him but Matt always seemed like the real workhorse of the team. Although seeing what we know now... WWE dodged a real bullet in not doing anything with Matt. The guy is a basket case.

Raven they missed out on. Shane Douglas... the guy is average. Yeah his run in ECW was good but that was cause in ECW you can say whatever you want on the mic. You can't do that everywhere... specially can't do that on WWE shows... so his mic work became extremely limited which meant he was no longer a good mic worker. His ring work... eh. Nothing to ride home about. Shane Douglas wasn't anything special. Just found his nitch in ECW cause Heyman knew how to book and the mic was a lot more open.

Storm... that one is iffy. He wouldn't be world champion. But he could have been used better cause he is very talented. Test... screwed Test. Steroids and other crap is what messed Test up. You can't back a guy like that otherwise you will be screwed over in the end. So Test messed himself up.

Regal... he was on the road to being huge. He won the King of the Ring and everything but Regal screwed himself. That wasn't the WWE missing the ball on him. The WWE handed him the ball and Regal screwed up. Colt Cabana... nothing special about him AT ALL! The only reason Colt is getting so much press is cause CM Punk name dropped him when he was piping white hot. If it wasn't for CM Punk... Colt Cabana would still be that one guy that nobody remembers.

And... as far as Ricky Steamboat goes... lets think about this.

WrestleMania III... the BIGGEST Mania of all time was headlined by Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant. For the WWF title. Aight we got that. The match that still gets talked about today... over 20 years later... the match that is STILL talked about today is NOT Hogan vs. Andre. It is Ricky Steamboat vs. Macho Man Randy Savage for the Intercontinental title. Yeah he didn't hold the world title... but which would you rather have? A match that still gets talked about and is compared to as being one of the best ever at the biggest stage ever? Or some world title reign that would have been forgotten about because at that time Hogan was running things with the world title? I'd say Steamboat got the absolute best out of the deal. He got to work with Savage and they made pure greatness.

Brian Kendrick, your honorable mention... screwed himself with his weed. Paul London... yeah he was good but... what did you want? Him to be the next Mysterio and capture the world title? Not gonna happen. He wasn't world champ material. Ken Kennedy is one that he could have been something epic... but he couldn't stay healthy long enough to get behind. You don't build a huge program around a guy that gets injured as much as he does. Otherwise you will wind up having to redo big storylines over and over and that isn't good for business.

So ummm yeah... Not really agreeing with much of the list here.
 

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Thanks for the honest criticism Slim. I always enjoy your opinion.

With that being said, I did this for fun on the most part. Didn't really think it out too much. Felt like writing, and working on my writing skills. Thanks for the comments guys.
 

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Its what I do. I like seeing whats out there but if I don't agree I'll say it :)

posting is fun :p
 

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It was a good read Tappy! One of the biggest travesties to me is that Roddy Piper never became a world champion, so I guess he would have been on my list.
 

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Masters should be higher that Matt imo. Matt was pretty boring (to me) and Masters was more entertaining. Recently Masters was doing pretty good then he got released, that doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.
 

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Shelton Benjamin messed himself up. He was like Carlito in the sense that whenever they would start to get behind them and give them a push they would get lazy and start botching more. Like with Shelton, he came from Smackdown to Raw and defeated Triple H on 2 straight weeks. And he couldn't get over with that. Shelton had an all star match with Shawn Michaels in the gold rush tournament. And after that he did nothing. Yeah he had one of the longest IC title reigns in years but he barely defended it. His best matches were non title. But he started getting sloppy in the ring when he started moving up. If he could have stayed consistent with his abilities and ring work... he would have been higher. It also didn't help that he could barely deliver anything on the mic that didn't sound like a bad robot.
 

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Shelton bitched backstage too much about not being where he wanted to be. That's the thing about WWE, you cannot bitch. You've got to give it your all and the bosses will reward you, the same in any sport and such.

he would have made it far if it wasn't for his backstage antics, much like John Morrison.
 

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But you still have to watch his matches too. He got sloppier and sloppier the higher up he got. If he could stay consistent then he woulda been a little higher than where he wound up at before being released.
 

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Assuming this is in order Ravens should be much higher imo. For a company that is mostly mic skill based he should have fit in perfectly and had a lot of classic promos there. Wasn't given the same chances he got in ECW or even WCW for that matter. Could have even just used him as a great manager if anything or at the very least use him behind the scenes as a creative writer. Just many things he could have been used for and didn't even really have to be a main eventer to get full use out of him.