Over and Underachievers

[Shovanist Pig]

 

Underachiever. A short lived gimmick that never really got going for me. He was just starting to get over before he came down with pneumonia and his doc said he was a fat fuck and needed a break.

[ColinBollocks]

Goldberg's an interesting case. You could make a good argument for him being an underachiever, or an overachiever. There has never been anyone else quite like him.

 

I wouldn't say that either WCW or WWE 'ruined' him though- I think if he is to be labelled as an underachiever in this business it can only be put down to himself. He could have carried on long after WM20 and really cemented his status as a superstar. With the aura he had, if he was still in WWE, he'd still be in main event now. He chose to pack it in, because he never really had his heart in it.

I wouldn't say Goldberg is an overachiever. He had all the raw ability to be a player and became one (he genuinely was THE man for a short period). The handling of Goldberg is well documented, and I can't be arsed going on about it again. But Goldberg clearly stopped caring as much about improving once WCW started to decline, he made great strides his first couple of years in the business. I think if WCW wasn't an environment that accelerated apathy, Goldberg would have become a much better worker than he already was.

[Bradyisgod22]

Miz is a great shout for over achiever. David Arquette also over achieved big time considering his lack of talent/training. Also think Lashley did way more then he should of really. Okay he was big,powerful and explosive but I just dont think he was ever believable selling or on the mic.

 

As far as under achievers go off the top of my head I can only really think of Chritopher Daniels. Great wrestler and good enough on the mic. Hard to believe he has never held a the top title in ROH or TNA.

[fye]

Rene Dupree for underachiever

[Devon Malcolm]

Rene Dupree for underachiever

 

The French Tickler wasn't THAT good.

[fye]

I expected him to have a long anbd quite successful career though and he fizzled out as a solo wrestler and disappeared out of the mainstream, I think many expected more from him then he delivered

[Merzbow]

Warrior viewed as an underachiever is an odd one as i'm sure many would argue the exact opposite as he "can't work" etc (not me personally, i think he should have been on top for much longer).

 

The current overachiever for me has to be Del Rio, he hasn't deserved to be in the main event at all let alone a world champion. The guy's just so average in everything he does and only seems to know one promo with the same expression on his plastic looking face every time.

[Devon Malcolm]

The current overachiever for me has to be Del Rio, he hasn't deserved to be in the main event at all let alone a world champion. The guy's just so average in everything he does and only seems to know one promo with the same expression on his plastic looking face every time.

 

Completely disagree. For all his faults, he's had numerous fantastic matches since he came to WWE. With some wrestlers, that's almost all I care about.

[pizzazz941]

Jeff Hardy has to be an overachiever. No wrestling organisation should have touched him when WWE released/fired him in 2003, yet he's gone on to be a five time world champion with a moveset that's more about style than substance.

[Arch Stanton]

I don't consider anybody to be an overachiever just because their technical abilities don't match their star power. Jeff Hardy is actually an underachiever in my eyes.

[PunkStep]

Underachiever: Mr Kennedy/Anderson.

I'm at the other end and believe he is an overachiever. Take away him repeating his name into a mic dropping from the ceiling and what do you have? A bland wrestler with a pretty shit physique, god awful back tattoo he obviously got done during Spring break, very mediocre wrestling and working ability and the tendency to hurt people. He got to the heights of WWE & TNA, in my opinion, for his fucking catchphrase and nowt else. Shit, shit and shit again.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I never got Anderson. Apart from one feud with Kurt Angle (who I could have had a headlining feud with, the form Kurt was in), he's never interested me ever. TNA did everything right with Anderson, but his promos and ability to act in angles were just not up to standard. The new New Age Outlaws shoot summed Anderson up. Road Dogg said he hated Anderson and even took the piss out of him to his face (which he's since said sorry for post-"Finding The Lord") telling him to stop stealing everyones shit. He said Anderson walks and dresses like Austin and wrestle like the Rock. BG said there's nothing at all original about him.

 

I think everyone else seemed to agree with that as well, because most of the top guys in WWE hated him. Austin liked him I believe. Cena, Orton, HHH and Michaels couldnt stand him. I cant believe he's still employed.

[ShortOrderCook]

Test was looking like a the next main event star in late 99, judging by his position on the card and that he was pals with Shane in real life. But the man shagged Kelly Kelly and Stacy Keibler. The man overachieved in that department.

 

Everyone has shagged Kelly Kelly.

 

Great post by Cleetus, bang on there. Ken Anderson as an underachiever is a joke though, he's the most awful, talentless piece of shit going, he achieved more than he ever should have for a man of his talents (or lack thereof) and understandably crumbled at every big opportunity.

 

Del Rio being average in every single way is another joke. He clearly has something plenty of other guys don't have and is certainly not average.

 

My choice would be as an underachiever and i'll probably get the same comments i gave for Anderson here but so be it, this man epitomizes underachieving for me...

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Hardy.

 

Because of the opportunities he was presented with. His massive loyal following. His certain talents. All thrown away because he's really a complete moron with an inflated sense of significance, a terrible haircut and even worse beard.

 

There's so many reasons why Matt should have been a star, should have been a big deal and so many times when it could have happened. But ultimately, he is almost completely responsible for all of his failings. He's a tremendous wrestler, people will disagree with that but he is, he definitely is. His style would easily slip right into the current main event crowd running around on Raw and Smackdown.

 

He was massively over and at his most entertaining during his V1 period. This clearly showed he knew how to be entertaining beyond his matches and showed he knew how to get a character over through his matches and outside of them. V1 had truckloads of potential, it was an entertaining gimmick that had many avenues it could have gone down and was a character he enjoyed playing and believed in. That all went to shit. But, then he was presented with a massive opportunity through an unfortunate series of events. But he was presented with a massive lifeline and the chance to turn a huge negative into a MASSIVE positive. Because he had overwhelming support that demanded his return. How could that possibly go wrong? He was the ultimate everyman, had an incredible sympathy story, just an incredible story in general to build upon, using genuine real-world events. It was perfect, everything was set-up for him to take off. He had to be sensible in what he did with it, where it went and could totally have made demands. He didn't and it all went to shit.

 

Eventually he fell further and further, until presented with ANOTHER opportunity when his brother finally started to realise his potential. But then he fucked it up again, became a complete mess, eventually pissed off and annoyed everyone and lost all the support he's ever had. And he had massive support from both fans and those in WWE. Underachieving barely does it justice.

[Cobra1000]

The current overachiever for me has to be Del Rio, he hasn't deserved to be in the main event at all let alone a world champion. The guy's just so average in everything he does and only seems to know one promo with the same expression on his plastic looking face every time.

 

Completely disagree. For all his faults, he's had numerous fantastic matches since he came to WWE. With some wrestlers, that's almost all I care about.

 

Pretty much sums up what I was going to say, a definite main event talent in the ring, but his promos and presentation since he lost to Edge/Christian/ the came to Raw last year have been shit.

 

I watched the episode of Legends of Wrestling tonight and really liked it, impressed that when they mentioned overachievers it definitely was a bad thing or used in a negative context. Also rediscovered some matches. Rey Mysterio vs The Undertaker was great!

[Vamp]

Because he had overwhelming support that demanded his return. How could that possibly go wrong? He was the ultimate everyman, had an incredible sympathy story, just an incredible story in general to build upon, using genuine real-world events. It was perfect, everything was set-up for him to take off. He had to be sensible in what he did with it, where it went and could totally have made demands. He didn't and it all went to shit.

 

Everybody always says this and I still maintain there was fuck all they could have done with that angle. The problem is everyone around that time felt sorry for Matt and felt pissed off with Edge and the WWE for treatign him the way they did. The minute Matt Hardy goes back to the WWE he's forgiven them and accepted their shit treatment and the minute he works a match with Edge the illusion that Matt might kick his fucking head in, and for good reason too, is gone. People cared about the real life situation, they didn't care about the character of Matt Hardy, especially since at the time he was blown away by Edge's character (and I'm not even remotely an Edge fan). Plus the minute Matt doesn't kick Edge's head in and agrees to work with him and put him over he loses any balls those that cared may have thought he had. That and its a storyline that's only of interest to net fans, and there's little they could do on screen at the time to make it make sense. It wasn't an opportunity, and it was shit because it was always going to be shit. They got more out of it in terms of Edge's character than should have been remotely possible.

 

Seriously, to make any gold out of that situation would have been bloody difficult, and probably not worth it.