Better than expected

[PHX]

Whether it be a PPV, a match, a push, a character, whatever what are some instances where something in WWE turned out better than you expected it to?

JBL - Came out of no where and didn't think the gimmick would get passed the midcard but he not only did but far exceeded in his mic work than I thought he could.

Triple H - Didn't think he'd be anything passed that blue blood gimmick and then became one of my favorites during his DX stint and the rest is pretty much history.

I'll add more to this later.

 

[Chris]

Mark Henry, I never saw anything in him at all, and I'm surprised he stuck around so long. His push and title run last year was one of the best in awhile, and he continually had good TV & PPV matches (Even enjoyed the ones against Big Show.)

He's the first that came to mind, but Bully Ray also, though he's a TNA guy.

 

[Andrew]

Bully Ray easily for TNA.

I'd have to say another one would be Dolph Ziggler. Since his Spirit Squad days and changing to Dolph Ziggler for the first time I never expected him to get to where he is today. So Dolph is on the top of my list right now

 

[Deezy]

Never really expected Booker T to be as entertaining as he was when he went to WWE, he didn't really show that kind of range in WCW and damn was I surprised when he teamed up with Goldust.

Bully Ray was always a good antagonist, he was almost starting riots in ECW, but never expected a big singles run for him.

Didn't expect Edge to be a bajillion time champ, first impressions and all.

Just goes to show you, that you need to be patient with performers, because if anyone on here didn't get sufficient time to find themselves, we wouldn't have any of this.

Take note IWC.

 

[John McHenry]

John Cena in the early days the thug life gimmick seriously didn't expect it to take off.

I'd also go with JBL I thought he was screwed without Farooq

 

[Andrew]

Another is CM Punk.

Ever since ECW, as an Indy guy I never expected him to be WWE Champion. He's gone a long way as have Daniel Bryan as well

 

[Troy]

JBL for me as well. I never expected him to be able to make it as a singles wrestler. They had tried it before but could never get a gimmick to work and then suddenly by following Basic Booking 101 they simply made the JBL character an extension of himself only turned up to 1000 and it worked. Never expected him to be a maineventer but he proved me wrong.

Mark Henry I agree with. I never saw that much in him until he had his heel World title reign on ECW with Tony Atlas as his manager. It was during that run that he showed just how good he could be as a true monster heel that just didn't give a damn about anything but himself.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

Daniel Bryan without a doubt.... We all knew he could go in the ring, but NEVER would have guessed he could be this over... He is the #1 reason I tune in to Raw every Monday... and as a few others have said (if we can include a TNA guy) I saw zero chance of a successful Bully Ray singles run and boy has he proved me wrong, maybe the best heel in all of wrestling. and finally, when the Miz first started I thought he woudn't last the year even as a backstage interviewer or host or whatever he was, and then I thought maybe he could be a decent tag team worker but nothing more, but the Guy keeps getting better. His mic work was always pretty good and he has improved vastly in-ring. Guys like Jericho keep saying the Miz is the future of wrestling and he very well could be right

 

[Pete]

Dolph is at the top of my list, for sure. How he survived the career killing Spirit Squad gimmick, I'll never know.

Also, the Santino gimmick, Daniel Bryan and, as much as I hate to say this, Sheamus. I still don't like him, but I never imagined he could ever get THIS over.

Oh, and the Edge-ADR match from Wrestlemania XXVII.

 

[The Cork]

Miz, on more than one time.

When he was in that dumb 'Smackdown host' gimmick his career was dead, so I was surprised when he was paired with Morrison (who was considered a red hot prospect at the time) and nobody could of called him being the star out the two.

Hon mention to Eddie Guerrero, a run of the mill midcarder who got a massive push and became somewhat of a star despite every obstacle in his way (height, drug issues, talent, etc)

 

[Slim]

I would say D-Bry. Its like yeah he was crazy talented in the ring. I mean his first match on NXT wasn't against another NXT guy like the others but he faced off against Jericho who was the at the time World Heavyweight Champion. So they had some trust in him but to see him where he is now... no way I would have ever imagined he'd be here in this position now. He was a true shocker.

Miz. The guy was almost pretty much dubbed the Marty Janetty of his teaming up with Morrison whereas Morrison was pretty much being groomed to be the HBK of the team and move on to huge things and what happened? Morrison had some success. Miz won Money in the bank. Miz was a long time reigning US champion. Miz won the WWE title, main evented WrestleMania and defeated John Cena. Miz came into his own and even though he isn't a world champion he is IC champion. He is still doing things.

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

Austin, remember that godaweful Ringmaster gimmick? I expected to see him go the way of the rest of DiBiase's cronies.

 

[Doink]

Santinos performance at the Elimination Chamber. I thought he'd be there to take the first fall but he was very impressive.

 

[AF.]

CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Miz etc etc

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena from Extreme Rules surpassed all my expectations in an incredible way. So that too.

 

[Darth Shizzel]

Eddie Guerro
Chris Benoit
CM Punk
Kurt Angle
Rock
Steve Austin
Booker T
Edge
Christian