People who were really over but then fell off a cliff

[Halitosis Romantic]

* After all, there was no way the Big Slow deserved to drip his burgersweat on the same canvas our Ray graced with his Godlike prowess.

Quality street!

[Magnum]

If Steve McFadden turned up a bit late to filming 'Enders or had a tiff with the producer, you wouldnt see Phil Mitchell relegated to drinking his pint in silence at the back of the Queen Vic for a few months, then try and build him back to a major storyline arc afterwards would you? OK, that's not a great example, but you know what I mean.

To be fair, nobody will ever convince me that the swordsman who cut a swathe through Tamzin Outhwaite, Kara Tointon and Jill Halfpenny being relegated to boffing Shirley the Seahag isn't some sort of onscreen punishment for another bout of dogging or something.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Bringing this new hardcase (Max's brother - the fat bloke) into the Square has obviously diminished Phil's stock as well. Sure he has his fingers in a few storyline pies, but its similar to when Batista and Undertaker were midcard at WrestleMania. The payday might be the same, but the pride has to be dented.

[Diluted Dante]

I remember the predictions online saying Ted DiBiase was on the verge of becoming the next big star. Towards the end of the Legacy run there was a lot of talk about him breaking out on his own. I just didn't get it - I've always found him to be bland. Even back before they joined Legacy, I preferred Rhodes. He's always had tons more character and charisma.

I genuinely don't get this. In Priceless, and later Legacy, as far as I could see, Cody Rhodes had all the charisma of a cardboard cutout of himself with a bag of sick taped to the front. I'm not saying that means Di Biase was way out in front and a breakout star in the making, but out of the two, it was Cody that was referred to as Captain Cardboard by me and my mates. His Dashing gimmick was godawful, and it wasn't until he started wearing the facemask that he showed something resembling personality.

[DeanoTheGame]

Gotta disagree. I've thought he's shown character and charisma in everything he's done in WWE. The plucky underdog in the series with Orton when he debuted (although he was a little green then), then the arrogant lacky in the Legacy days. He made the transition easily. During their feud with DX, I thought Rhodes looked much more of a star than DiBiase. And the Dashing gimmick showed me how much fun he can be on his own. It was a great midcard heel gimmick and at least WWE knew what they were doing with it, unlike the mask gimmick which was just a mess. It's a credit to Cody that he made the mask gimmick work considering WWE didnt seem sure where it was going. The talk at the time that DiBiase was the stand-out member and would become the next big star was just utterly baffling. I even thought, despite being smaller, Cody has a much better look. He looks like some prettyboy cocky gobshite One Tree Hill character, which made the Dashing gimmick even better. Ted DiBiase looks like a fucking Apprentice contestant. Everything about him screams bland.

[EdgarTheSlouch]

The correct answer is:

 

[King Pitcos]

I think The Miz seems like a good recent example. Though it took me a while to come round to him, a few years ago I thought he was the standout option to make the step up from the WWE midcard - a great and rare example of a well-done, slow burning push that hadn't really been done effectively in the WWE since Batista. However, I think having him main eventing Wrestlemania was a case of promoting him beyond his level of competency, and it stood out like a sore thumb because he was sharing the ring with two physically huge, bonafide superstars. I think the WWE probably noticed the same thing, because they seemed to lose faith in him pretty soon after that.I did, however, feel like he would find a natural place in the upper midcard as the Jericho of his generation - like his predecessor, he was pretty good at a few things, but not really great at anything. That seems to have gone out of the window as he's gradually fallen out of favour, and I really wouldn't be surprised to see him in TNA this time next year.

I still think the WWE title match at that WrestleMania should've been a four way that also included Orton and Punk. I do like the concept of Miz doing the "no, look at me, look at me, I'm the champion, stop stealing my spotlight" thing with Rock and Cena during the build-up, but in execution, it didn't do anything for him. And the Punk-Orton feud was worthless. If they'd been in the title match, it would've given Miz something to do during that Road to WrestleMania other than be background noise.

[Sphinx]

Gotta disagree. I've thought he's shown character and charisma in everything he's done in WWE. The plucky underdog in the series with Orton when he debuted (although he was a little green then), then the arrogant lacky in the Legacy days. He made the transition easily. During their feud with DX, I thought Rhodes looked much more of a star than DiBiase. And the Dashing gimmick showed me how much fun he can be on his own. It was a great midcard heel gimmick and at least WWE knew what they were doing with it, unlike the mask gimmick which was just a mess. It's a credit to Cody that he made the mask gimmick work considering WWE didnt seem sure where it was going. The talk at the time that DiBiase was the stand-out member and would become the next big star was just utterly baffling. I even thought, despite being smaller, Cody has a much better look. He looks like some prettyboy cocky gobshite One Tree Hill character, which made the Dashing gimmick even better. Ted DiBiase looks like a fucking Apprentice contestant. Everything about him screams bland.

I thought Cody had something, but I saw him as strictly midcard. I couldn't see him in the main events. DiBiase seemed like he had a solid (if admittedly unspectacular) foundation to work on, and was more likely to progress to the main events.

[Jetta's G-string]

definately Kennedy for me. I remember my mates saying he's the next Rock. That thought is laughable now

[ShortOrderCook]

definately Kennedy for me. I remember my mates saying he's the next Rock. That thought is laughable now

It was laughable then too. Whenever that may have been.I was going to mention X-Pac, but it's already been done. I think he's one of the best examples though. Over as hell in '98, '99, '00. Increasing in popularity with each year and beginning to be featured with the big guns at the top of the card and with seemingly clear signs of a prominent spot towards the top of the card. He could have made it work too, i think. The heel turn on Kane and association with Tori killed him dead. The difference in his status from 2000 and 2001 is massive.On the subject of Kane, he never quite fell completely off a cliff but, there's been many, many occasions where he's been on the verge of seemingly being a massive deal but that momentum has fallen off a cliff. He always has a relative bounce back but, i've always felt Kane could have, at many different points made that jump up another notch, but always fell off. One of the most significant being when WWE was filled with hot, over, exceptional talent in early 2000 and he made a return to TV at the end of that big ten man tag match with Rock, Cactus, DX and The Radicalz and he was just insanely over. Over HUGE. The audience were completely ready to embrace Kane as this massive babyface monster at the top of the card.Taz also came in with tremendous momentum but very, very quickly dropped off a cliff.