Who has WWE dropped the ball with most in recent years?

beakerjoe

Damien Sandow : A man who has been more or less forgotten since his MITB cash in and his stock has fallen faster than expected in the last 6 months or so.


Brodus Clay : Since turn heel he has done ziltch. Could have been a great monster heel in booked right.

Zack Ryder : Got himself over and got himself a cult following that wasnt really capitalised on. Back were he began.

Dolph Ziggler : Another man who seems to have suffered from MITB winning. His injury shortly after winning the title last year coupled with his poor face run has killed any momentum he had. But is he to blame or WWE?

The Miz : Whoever thought of turning a natural heel like The Miz to a face didnt do there job. A man who once headlined WM and won is now an after thought on most shows.

Kofi : What ever happened to Kofi. One mintue hes getting a push in 2010 next hes back down the pecking order and has stayed there ever since. Could have been better if given an actual character and development.

Wade Barrett : May be slowly getting back to a better position within the company thanks to his own efforts, but he suffered big time from a lack of creative direction before. Could already be a main event player if handled right.

R-Truth : A his heel character was excellent and could have been epic but a combination of lack of faith, the prospect of dollors from marketing the little jimmy character and his own wellness failure had R-Truths character fall by the way side.

Big E : Looked great in NXT and looked like hes was gonna get a big push when given the IC title. Hes now an after thought in teh mid card.

Ryback : Looked at one stage to be the next big thing to a certain extent and now is just another player in a poor tag team divison

Fandango : Got over surprisingly with a poor gimmick and made it work but its been the same old stuff week in week out for the former Johnny Curtis.

Cody Rhodes : In many eyes should have won the last MITB in place of Sandow but has been booked well until Jan of this year in fairness. But hes fizzled out and could be in the same position he was 3 years ago and seems going no where fast.

Ape Lincoln

Someone has to wrestle on the undercard and someone has to lose. Not everyone can main event.

thebostoncrab

Ryder easily. I agree that not everyone can be in the main event, and I don't think the main event is he spot for Ryder. However, this is a man who got himself over in a big way without the help of the WWE. He became a big merch spinner and started to get featured in big spots. He reach the upper mid card were he belonged and did it through his own hard work. In one way , he paved the way for how social media friendly the WWE has become.

Then overnight it was all gone. He is in a worse position than he was before he even started his YouTube show and is lucky to even be in a squash match. Some of he guys that have been dropped and misused by WWE did so because if their own actions outside the ring or their attitudes. What did Ryder do wrong other than get himself over by himself? I know I have taken the piss once or twice out of him on the podcast but I am a big broksi and still hope that the WWE realise their mistake and give him the push he has earned and deserves.

Diabhal Beag

Barrett. Had a great introduction with Nexus. One of the most monumental moments on RAW in years at the time and even had lapsed fans talking about it. They turned him into a mid-carder to their own loss and although he may yet get the chance unlike a Dolph or Brodus he still had a perfect opportunity to be a fresh face in the main events.

beakerjoe

Ape Lincoln wrote: »

Someone has to wrestle on the undercard and someone has to lose. Not everyone can main event.

True, but when so many guys are being pushed and their characters arent getting follow up feuds or storylines regardless of there place on the card.

Id say many of them could still be great on screen lower/mid/upper mid card guys with decent feuds and better on screen characters if creative didnt drop the ball so much.

Take Sandow for example, he lost the MITB case, fair enough. I didnt think it was his time to win the belt. But he could be used so much better than how he is now without being in teh main event and keeping his character progressing.

Same goes for R-Truth when he turned heel. He lost to Cena and then was more or less forgotten about til he teamed with The Miz. This is a real waste IMO of what could have been a fantastic character. If they had kept him as the out-of-control nutcase and yet allowed him continue to interact with the audience as he was when he first turned heel, then I reckon the Little Jimmy stuff would have gotten over even more. It neglected and allowed to fizzle out.

ricero

i think ryback. he was starting to really get over and twice they failed to pull the trigger. firstly not getting him the win vs cm punk in hell in a cell for the title and then turning him heel vs cena

JP Liz V1

Damien Sandow

krudler

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Barrett. Had a great introduction with Nexus. One of the most monumental moments on RAW in years at the time and even had lapsed fans talking about it. They turned him into a mid-carder to their own loss and although he may yet get the chance unlike a Dolph or Brodus he still had a perfect opportunity to be a fresh face in the main events.

He's pretty over now though, might make his way back into the main event scene

JP Liz V1

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Barrett. Had a great introduction with Nexus. One of the most monumental moments on RAW in years at the time and even had lapsed fans talking about it. They turned him into a mid-carder to their own loss and although he may yet get the chance unlike a Dolph or Brodus he still had a perfect opportunity to be a fresh face in the main events.

I always thought he should have worked a feud with Taker, didn't Nexus help Kane in a match against Taker that went no where in the end

CSF

I would say only Ziggler. Rhodes and Langston are still doing ok for their respective abilities and the rest were never gonna be top of the bill long-term.

Everyone just suffers because WWE doesn't develop mid-card feuds

Soft Falling Rain

ricero wrote: »

i think ryback. he was starting to really get over and twice they failed to pull the trigger. firstly not getting him the win vs cm punk in hell in a cell for the title and then turning him heel vs cena

No way would it have been the right call for Ryback to go over Punk at HIAC, it would have been a farcical decision.

The only thing I could say in Ryback's favour was that he never should have been in that situation in the first place and they pretty much instantly knew they had backed themselves into a corner.

CSF

Really though, what does Ryback actually have going for him other than his size and the opportunity to laugh at his ridiculousness?

You have guys who can give you great matches, you have guys that can give you great feuds. Typically they fall down because they can't give both. Which of these Ryback actually give? His sole role at this stage should be to allow guys like Cesaro and Langston perform crazy feats of raw strength.

Sirsok

For me it's ryback, his offense such as the meathook clothesline and the big boot he did where he followed threw with a stomp on the chest looked awesome, I actually enjoyed his squash matches and was fairly disappointed when they dropped the ball with him. He is like a throw back to the olden days, his name alone sounds cool and not generic , I'm sick of generic names, imagine if ultimate warrior was called Paul Thompson, never would of getting over. If ryback didn't have the whole Goldberg stigma....

Obviously they dropped the ball with sandow, Ziegler and Kingston but Ryback could of been a Batista like character, not the main guy but still main event

Blue_Dabadee

Ryback for me, turning him heel was such a bad idea since he was over as a babyface,

takamichinoku

Not sure the dropped the ball hugely with any of them. Ziggler could be utilised a lot more effectively than he has been but he seems to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder and has some Kurt Angle-esque warning signs about him in terms of being overly dedicated, Barrett was going well but I dunno if he was ready to work as a top guy without a big faction behind him, Cody Rhodes was meant to be the irrelevant guy from Legacy and has managed to consistently keep himself as upper mid card which is pretty good with some of the ****e he's had.

DM_7

Ryback is a good shout

Kids seemed to love him when at WWE shows so I think he was.

But for the circumstances I'd say Wade, he wasn't ready on his own but with Nexus he would have time to get there. It was a waste of the impact made when they came up with the Corre. The way he ended up working with Orton said to me that he caught up on where he needed to be but it was too late to capitalise on his initial impact.

Honorable mention for Thee Brian Kendrick and Ezekial

Andersonisgod

Sirsok wrote: »

For me it's ryback, his offense such as the meathook clothesline and the big boot he did where he followed threw with a stomp on the chest looked awesome, I actually enjoyed his squash matches and was fairly disappointed when they dropped the ball with him. He is like a throw back to the olden days, his name alone sounds cool and not generic , I'm sick of generic names, imagine if ultimate warrior was called Paul Thompson, never would of getting over. If ryback didn't have the whole Goldberg stigma....

Obviously they dropped the ball with sandow, Ziegler and Kingston but Ryback could of been a Batista like character, not the main guy but still main event

If he didn't have "the whole Goldberg stigma" he would have nothing. It was a blatant and entirely unsubtle ripoff of Goldberg's gimmick. WWE were basically relying on fans to either be too stupid to notice the obvious rehash or too young to recognise that there was a rehash going on.

D.Q

Barrett. Although he seems to FINALLY be getting over now, from the moment I first heard him speak I thought he had something special. Still do, he's a great promo, so different, very eloquent. Then he got saddled with Nexus and the corre, which was all basically swallowed by CM Punks pipebomb. The fact that he had the worst finisher known to man didnt help either.

New Gimmick, new theme and new finisher have helped breathe some life into him at last. His cameo at the HOF was unreal and I hope they dont drop the ball again. World title within 2 years.

jaykhunter

Mr. Ziggles. I'm not saying he could carry the company but if promoted right he could be top heel on Smackdown. He's served his time as a mid-carder and survived many horrible gimmicks, is an excellent wrestler, bumping machine and is decent on the mic. There's absolutely no harm in trying to make another main-eventer, and the night after WM29 was the right time to attach the rocket to his back. Whatever opportunities that went to beyond-stale Del Rio over the last few years should've been given to Ziggler.

rossie1977

alot of these guys dropped the ball themselves.

like steve austin said on his podcast the minute sandow walked out in pink trunks he was doa. zigglers attitude backstage meant he was always likely to have problems. ryback was an awful worker and his stock was falling well before the heel...remember the mark henry feud at mania? the heel turn gave the character a few more months in the spotlight if anything.

really the only guy that looked, talked and now wrestles like a maineventer is barrett. i think at the time in 2010 his in-ring stuff wasn't quite there yet which is why wwe didn't trust him but still his fall from grace between december 2010 and march 2011 made little sense.

CSF

rossie1977 wrote: »

alot of these guys dropped the ball themselves.

like steve austin said on his podcast the minute sandow walked out in pink trunks he was doa. zigglers attitude backstage meant he was always likely to have problems. ryback was an awful worker and his stock was falling well before the heel...remember the mark henry feud at mania? the heel turn gave the character a few more months in the spotlight if anything.

really the only guy that looked, talked and now wrestles like a maineventer is barrett. i think at the time in 2010 his in-ring stuff wasn't quite there yet which is why wwe didn't trust him but still his fall from grace between december 2010 and march 2011 made little sense.

I thought Mark Henry made the Ryback feud decent.

gimmick

Strangley, I think Koslov they dropped the ball on. Not that he could have had a great run at the top, but they had him on some great winning streak as an unbeatable monster, then he loses it in a silly triple threat I think and he never was relevant again.

His eventual loss should have been a big deal. Instead it meant absolutely nothing.

Vision of Disorder

Damien Sandow : Think the guy has an awful lot going for him. Can't fathom the relentless losing streak he's on now or see any way back for him in the short-term.

Brodus Clay : The second that disco ball dropped he had a slow puncture he was never going to get over. The original destroyer of worlds gimmick suited him, his promos for it were intense, he could move fairly well for such a big guy. Sure it wasn't the most original character but it would have given him a chance to establish himself at least and from there it would have been up to him basically.

Zack Ryder : Never helped by the fact that he's not very good and that his cringe-worthy persona grates with at least as many people as it charms. Just bores me.

Dolph Ziggler : I love the guy's work but he's become too injury prone for his own good. Can't expect the office to book a champ who'll potentially spend so much time on the injured list.

The Miz : I like The Miz and think that he worked incredibly hard to improve himself in and out of the ring. Turning him face was a bad move, it always is when a heel gets over by virtue of behaving heelishly and is then expected to play the same character without any balls or edge basically and elicit the same reaction.

Kofi : Just too mild and vanilla. I'd say he's a smashing fella to have a chat with but no vibrant personality undermines what he can do in the ring.

Wade Barrett : Seems to have all the raw materials needed and has done far better than he had any right to with his current Bad News stick. Will probably need to drop the comedy bits to push on up the card again but it's helped make him relevant again and he's grasping the opportunity.

R-Truth : Decent heel, forgettable face. Made more of Little Jimmy than I expected but I don't know how much more could reasonably be expected of him anyway.

Big E : Has no significant qualities at all that I can see bar his muscles.

Ryback : Wasn't keen on the guy throughout his push but inexplicably warming to him now. Don't think he'll ever get past the Goldberg chants but simmering away quietly in the tag ranks at the minute and his size might earn him another crack at it.

Fandango : Catchy theme tune aside it's hard to see where Fandango would have gone anyway. Decent as Johnny Curtis on NXT but stuck in comedy purgatory with Santino and 3MB for the forseeable I'd imagine.

Cody Rhodes : Not sure the ball has really been dropped as such. He's always been reasonably relevant but, while he's a good, solid worker and speaker, it's hard to see him right up at the top of the card at the same time.

Two guys I think could have achieved a whole lot more with WWE are Curt Hawkins and Derrick Bateman. Both guys work well, speak well, sell well. Hawkins, at the very least, would have been a far more natural fit for 3MB than Mahal. Bateman is doing good work as Ethan Carter in TNA now but I thought he was hands down the best talent in the last few seasons of NXT's original run and was well worth a main roster punt.

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm not sure they dropped the ball with a lot of those guys. Some had shortcomings in one area which sealed their fate. Some have not yet found themselves. It's like John Morrison. Great performer, has a look that the women love but just lacked it in a key area (promos). The rest are a similar story.

Damien Sandow: I wouldn't say they dropped the ball here. I like him, and find him entertaining, but I don't think he was ready for a main event spot. I'd question whether a character like this merits a title run, especially in the era of one main title.

Brodus Clay: I agree with VoD's comments above. I never liked the Funkasaurus gimmick and was disappointed they went with it because I liked his previous character. He's like Mark Henry: given a goofy gimmick and now has had to go back to square one. Whether he can do what Henry did and successfully reinvent himself from a former comedy gimmick I'm not sure. I would doubt it. The only ball Brodus got was a disco ball of doom.

Zack Ryder: Never liked him or his act. Don't think management does either. Not so much that they dropped the ball with him but rather made people think they had given it in the first place, only to snatch it back. I'm fine with that.

Dolph Ziggler: His character was never really established when he had the briefcase and when he won the title it was as if they didn't know what to do with him. Great worker but the character isn't there and his injuries compounded the issue.

The Miz: I never liked him and I'm amazed they gave him the ball in the first place. Don't know how anyone can say they dropped the ball here. The Miz? The fact he main evented Mania and won on the show was too good for him. Nothing special on promos or in the ring.

Kofi: I think to an extent they have dropped the ball with him. He had a good bit of momentum a few years back which went nowhere. Now he's just a glorified jobber. Could they have done more with him? I think so. Might be too late to salvage things now.

Wade Barrett: I think they did drop the ball with Wade around the Nexus era. He had got himself to the point of a top heel but they seemed to lose faith in him. perhaps they didn't rate his in-ring work. I think he's okay, nothing special in that department. Seems like there's hope he could yet return to the main event but I'm not a great fan of the Bad News shtick.

R-Truth: I think they did drop the ball here, or rather missed a trick. For a few weeks his 'little jimmy' stuff was very interesting and I enjoyed his deranged, madman persona. The fans were into it too. The problem seems to have been that Vince saw this as a great babyface character merch-wise and they turned him into a comedy act. I would have liked to have seen a Joker-style, insane heel character but it never materialised.

Big E: I think he's a future star as long as they don't drop the ball. My favourite babyface from NXT. He just hasn't found his character on WWE yet - why they didn't use his NXT character I don't know - but I am hopeful he will come good.

Ryback: Not sure they dropped the ball here. It always seems to be hard for a 'streak' wrestler to recover from a loss. Samoa Joe for instance. Once the streak went he was just regarded as a Goldberg rip-off. I don't think the heel turn has worked for him but I think it's too early to wite him off entirely.

Fandango: They didn't drop the ball here. He's a comedy act and you'll only get to a certain level with that. He's done well for himself with the act and deserves credit for that.

Cody Rhodes: Has he warranted more than he's got thus far? Good performer but hasn't yet proven he belongs in a higher tier yet.

Sirsok

Andersonisgod wrote: »

If he didn't have "the whole Goldberg stigma" he would have nothing. It was a blatant and entirely unsubtle ripoff of Goldberg's gimmick. WWE were basically relying on fans to either be too stupid to notice the obvious rehash or too young to recognise that there was a rehash going on.

Was it deemed a rehash because he was bald and had a winning streak? Lots of wrestlers have had undefeated streaks when debuting, umaga for example (what a great talent he was), but why wasn't he classified as a Goldberg rip off, because he wasn't bald and muscular? If ryback had hair would he still be a Goldberg rip off? Just think it was incredibly unfair on him as he was getting over with the "feed me more" chants.

A lot of characters can be classified as rehashed as with all the years wrestling has been around it must be hard to think of something new and fresh! Del rio = jbl = ted dibiase ... Rusev = kozlov = umaga.... Wyatt = waylon mercy (I'd also suggest an early mankind) ... Maybe they didn't tweek rybacks character enough, I just think it was unfair in him as I enjoyed his work

Rjd2

gimmick wrote: »

Strangley, I think Koslov they dropped the ball on. Not that he could have had a great run at the top, but they had him on some great winning streak as an unbeatable monster, then he loses it in a silly triple threat I think and he never was relevant again.

His eventual loss should have been a big deal. Instead it meant absolutely nothing.

I think his first pin was in a HIAC, first or second eliminated, and I could be wrong here but think he lost to that young and comer HBK in a singles match very soon after:P

You are right, they put so much effort into protecting and building him, a win over him would have actually meant something for an up and comer if done right.

Pretty much fizzled out to quickly, although he was money in the tea segment with Sheamus and Santino.:D

Bounty Hunter

Damien Sandow: I don't think Sandow will ever be a world champion, I think he is being tested right now with his losing streak but I do think they are dropping the ball with him as he could be adding a whole lot more to the show than he is and than some of the other nonsense they have on the show in the place of a Sandow midcard push. He is someone i'd like to see with a midcard belt.

Brodus Clay: The Funkasarus was never going to be taken seriously and perhaps they are just keeping this main event player back long enough now that the stank from that might have lessened when he comes back as a minster but I think it will take a long time for that and even though I like Brodus I dont know if he can do a Mizark Sexual chocolate Henry on this one.

Zack Ryder: Honestly I think they did drop the ball here because well Ryder his chance to shine was gift wrapped for the WWE. I'm not saying to push him to the Main Event cos frankly that would have never worked but it was clear to me that they never really intended to push him even in the midcard no matter how over he got himself. US Title was his peak

Dolph Ziggler: If Dolph could stay healthy and keep his mouth shut
for a year or two im sure they would push him but I really just dont see it happening which is sad. The lad doesent help himself is the impression I get though and for some weird reason I can imagine him in New Japan in a few years (dont expect it but think itd work great for him).

The Miz: I don't like the Miz, never have, don't think I ever will but it's sad to see what he has become in the WWE these days, they pushed him so hard for so long and yet now nothing and his heel face nonsense in the midcard if hes on the card really makes people not care, yes really

Kofi: Like most people vs Randy Orton (nope not the recent time) in that feud seemed to me to be his chance, he was on fire for a little while and actually showed a lot of personality but now there is none whatsoever and this is a big problem with lots of the WWE guys once they stop pushing you big time they do nothing with you at all and then even if your great in the ring who cares, I mean why should I care about Del Rio vs Kofi no motter how good they make the match, it means nothing

Wade Barrett: They like Wade (made him lead, Nexus and the Core, and repacked him a few times) and actually have made effort with him a few times which is why im surprised he didn't win a belt when there were 2 main ones. He is getting over with the Bad News gimmick and his in ring stuff has improved but as much as I love it I dont see that Gimmick ever moving beyond the midcard.

R-Truth: Truth is not young and I dont think he will ever get a strong push again but damn was I interested in him when he was the smokin heel and went a bit mad in the head. It didnt last though and he was Cena feed then they turned him and all his little Jimmy stuff turned him into a watered down character which soon lost most of his character

Big E: I fear they are dropping the ball with him right now. I dont thinkt he writters know what to do with him which is odd because when ive seen him talk outside of Raw he seems to have a lot of character himself and he is obviously physically great and as we saw when he faced Swagger recently he can have good matches, but they have him do nothing at all. Even now when they are pushing his belt with a IC title tournament he has only appeared backstage looking at the TV during the past two Raws, scouting who will most likely take his belt.

Ryback: Ryback isn't great and I don't think most rated him that highly but he was getting a great reaction until they put him into the main event far too early and in doing so booked themselves into a corner. He lost the streak and soon after turned heel which was too early imo and started his slide down the card. Actually enjoy him now cos of his bits on commentary but dont think he will ever be a big name

Fandango: I agree with others about Faaan Daaaag Goooo, he is a midcard comedy act and is actually doing fairly well for himself in that regard, gets loads of time on total divas too

Cody Rhodes: I think Cody deserves more, but dont think he will get it cos of his size and history of being a mid carder for so long. He does get a reaction, was great as part of the Rhodes family vs The Authorithy storyline, great when he brought back the IC belt we all like and is great on the JBL and Cole show