Who you didn't think would be a big deal, but was

[WarMachine1]

Now at some point in your life, you may come across someone and think to yourself

And then you find yourself spitting out your cereal, milk, water, etc. as the person is married to some supermodel and living in some huge mansion in Malibu or something.

Now let's think of that scenario wrestling wise. A newcomer comes along and makes his/her debut and you're already like "Oh boy, this person is nothing! Total waste of oxygen and space on the roster! They'll never amount to anything!" Then the person becomes huge. But, what made you change your mind about them? Was there ever a moment when your opinion of a certain Superstar altered because it turns out the person you thought would be stuck in developmental and indie territories with his biggest achievement in the business is setting up the ring and taking it down as he jerks the curtain, actually, for better or worse, began to headline main events at PPVs and won championships.

Hopefully this isn't too complicated of a subject and I look forward to feedback.

 

[Stopspot]

Ricochet is a prime example of this.

He went from this:

A skinny, constantly botching kid doing tons of flips with little to no idea of how to put together a good story in the ring. To this:

All it took? an extended stay in Japan of roughly six months. Turned Ricochet into one of the best men in the business today and arguably the best high flyer on the scene. The time he spent in Japan in 2010/2011 did him real good and it doesn't seem to stop since he's having a career defining year in 2014.

 

[Roadster]

Stone Cold:isee:

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

I hated Kurt Angle when he debuted. but hey, I was like 10

 

[Cloud]

Edge. When he was in E an C I never suspected him becoming this huge ME star tbh.

 

[Roadster]

10 year old D'z would be hot.

 

[Stopspot]

Jeff Hardy. I don't think most people saw him having the career he's ended up having when he debuted as a jobber.

 

[WarMachine1]

Dolph. From Chavo's caddy to random Spirit Squad member to guy who's gimmick was introducing himself to people, it took a while for Dolph to get going.

 

[Senhor Perfect]

My penis.

 

[WarMachine1]

JBL. He started out as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw and was just a generic cowboy. If I remember right I believe he would "brand" his opponents after the match. Then he teamed with Barry Windham as the New Blackjacks as Blackjack Bradshaw. Then came Ron Simmons and seeing how long they were together and how he was in a tag team before he went with Simmons and in the midcard, I strictly saw him as a tag team specialist and midcard act at best. I was genuinely shocked to see him win the WWE title when he did and how long he held it.

 

[Cloud]

JBL is a shout actually. I remember the APA fondly but never imagined that he would break from that into the ME.

 

[Ovaldinho]

Usos aren't exactly huge, but when they debuted I thought they were going to be given up on rather soon, them winning the tag titles caught me by surprise. I liked Bryans work but never expected him to eventually garner such a crowd response he got/gets, on the subject of 'internet sweethearts', I never thought WWE would see CM Punk as a consistent ME, thought he would at best be a IC standard champ who would elevate the belt and put on great mid-card feuds for his career, never thought he would get multiple World title reigns, let alone one that spanned the course of over a year.

 

[Stopspot]

Usos aren't exactly huge, but when they debuted I thought they were going to be given up on rather soon, them winning the tag titles caught me by surprise.

They are the odd ones. Spent quite a bit of time with Cena last year and this year yet haven't suffered the backlash that tends to follow (see Ryder: Zack). Rather they seem to have actually benefited, better reactions, better position on the card etc etc.

 

[WarMachine1]

Batista. He came in as a generic henchmen for D Von, then after a while they place him with Triple H and Ric Flair. Never did I think that he would be going anywhere as a singles competitor before he first won the Rumble and after turning on Evolution. He wasn't very good in the ring then and he isn't any better today. I was very surprised that he got put over by Trips at WM 21.

Triple H: Who would have thought that some guy who used to bow and pose to classical music would become one of the faces of the attitude era? I couldn't take him seriously when he was in WCW and when he first started in WWE, I guess it goes to show you....Give the ball to someone and they may run with it....and hook up with the bosses daughter.

Booker T: I never bought him as a top guy in WCW, thought he was token black kind of guy tbh. He had a bit of a clumsy wrestling style too, so I thought he would be eaten alive in WWE. To my surprise, he held his own with The Rock, was in a great tag team with Goldust, had solid midcard matches with Benoit, and is in the top 10 King of the Ring winners imo

 

[Aids Johnson]

Disco Inferno.