The biggest let down / failure

[Pyrotechnik]

+1 for the Invasion angle.

 

Bret Hart's run in WCW was an absolute wasted opportunity.

[Chest Rockwell]

The anonymous Raw GM was a massive let down, especially seeing how long they ran with it.

 

 

I think this was a bit different in that it was pretty clear from the get go however fun it was they definitely never had any idea where it was going and they spun it out for so long it had no possible hope of not being a let down.

[shockindefendin]

Invasion, yes, totally pissed away.

 

Goldberg v Lesnar - I know there were reasons for this total fuck up but as Austin v Goldberg was an impossibility this was one of my last remaining "dream matches".

 

Sting v Bret Hart - For any early / mid 1990s fan this was the match that was spoke of the most. As we know Bret never took off in WCW & by the time he faced Sting, Sting was in full Wolfpac mode - the red face paint & Wolfie signs should never have happened.

 

These three examples disappointed me so much I'm surprised I still follow wrestling.

[Mr.Showtime]

Leaving out the already-mentioned obvious ones, I'll go with Matt Hardy's return to WWE and his battles with Edge. Some of the matches they had were fun, but as soon as Hardy was officially re-signed to the company it became typical company storyline fare. Before that there was a bit of an...edge to the whole thing. Difficult to judge how long an outsider should get into the arena without it being silly, sure. But the feud just fizzled out and Matt was quickly shuffled off to SmackDown.

[LEGIT]

The NWO in WWE, just a big balls up.

[Vamp]

The NWO in WWE, just a big balls up.

 

Not really. Hogan was never going to stay heel, Hall was never going to stay clean and Nash was never going to stay healthy on that schedule.

[LEGIT]

The NWO in WWE, just a big balls up.

 

Not really. Hogan was never going to stay heel, Hall was never going to stay clean and Nash was never going to stay healthy on that schedule.

So that's what they'd planned all along? Is that what you're saying? Of course it was a balls up. Hall getting the sack and Nash crippling himself, it just became a big mess after the good hype.

 

I know that some would have expected it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a massive failure or let-down. Three of the biggest stars ever return and it's just fizzles out into a mess.

[Mr Kennedy]

The Invasion, Cena getting fired and the anonymous Raw GM.

[Vamp]

The NWO in WWE, just a big balls up.

 

Not really. Hogan was never going to stay heel, Hall was never going to stay clean and Nash was never going to stay healthy on that schedule.

So that's what they'd planned all along? Is that what you're saying? Of course it was a balls up. Hall getting the sack and Nash crippling himself, it just became a big mess after the good hype.

 

I know that some would have expected it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a massive failure or let-down. Three of the biggest stars ever return and it's just fizzles out into a mess.

 

It's disappointing but the biggest letdown or failure? Besides, it's peak was Rock and Hogan at Wrestlemania with the Hogan face turn which was phenomenal.

[IronSheik]

At the time I was convinced that Bulldog coming back in late 1999 was going to lead to an emotional "doing it for Owen" quest for the WWF title that the fans could get behind and in the end at least if Smithers winning the big one wasn't on the cards, then he'd get a PPV shot at it and look valiant in defeat. Instead he turned heel virtually as soon as he was back and sold his tights and Rule Britannia to pay for crack, becoming a zombie in jeans coming out to shit generic music to wrestle Steve Blackman every week. Watching him stampede around at Rebellion barking "Wurr's my title shot?!?" would have been comedic, if it hadn't been so sad.

 

(storms in Vince's office)

BULLDOG: Where's my title shot!?

Where's my title shot!?

These people have come here tonight to see me, on debut, to wrestle, Triple H - where's my title shot!?

 

VINCE: You had your title shot

 

BULLDOG: You call THAT a title shot!?

 

VINCE: (feeding him the line) The Rock was the referee, you had your title shot

 

BULLDOG: YOU PUT THE ROCK AS THE REFEREE, NOT ME!

 

VINCE: Davey calm down

 

BULLDOG: (grabs a trash can and slams it full pelt into Stephanie McMahon's face from point-blank range, knocking her the fuck out) No I'm not gonna calm down (storms out)

 

AFTERMATH:

 

MICHAEL COLE: (Showing Bulldog a re-run of his behaviour) with all due respect, I think you owe Mr McMahon and the entire McMahon family an apology

 

BULLDOG: I don't owe Vince an apology at all, HE owes ME an apology. I'm gonna get my title shot, tonight.... at Rebellion.

And as far as Stephanie goes, eh, is concerned, that was a complete, accident.

[Winston]

Vince's illegitimate son turning out to be Hornswoggle was absolutely woeful as well.

 

Remember Mr. Kennedy being the favourite for it but he got heat backstage?

 

His career hasn't worked out great, but given that spot at the time it could've been very different for him. He was pretty over.

[Carbomb]

They sort of fall under a different category I suppose, but Nathan Jones and Sean O'Haire should be considered, especially Jones. Both had amazing build-up vignettes and little segments, but when it came to bringing that across in the ring, they just didn't deliver.

[Undefeated Steak]

They sort of fall under a different category I suppose, but Nathan Jones and Sean O'Haire should be considered, especially Jones. Both had amazing build-up vignettes and little segments, but when it came to bringing that across in the ring, they just didn't deliver.

 

In a similar vein to this, I'm going to say Carlito, Chris Masters, Mr Kennedy and MVP. I thought they were going to be the next big stars for a few months. Then looked what happened.

 

Sin Cara was a bit of a let-down too, as was Del Rio.

[Carbomb]

They sort of fall under a different category I suppose, but Nathan Jones and Sean O'Haire should be considered, especially Jones. Both had amazing build-up vignettes and little segments, but when it came to bringing that across in the ring, they just didn't deliver.

 

In a similar vein to this, I'm going to say Carlito, Chris Masters, Mr Kennedy and MVP. I thought they were going to be the next big stars for a few months. Then looked what happened.

 

Sin Cara was a bit of a let-down too, as was Del Rio.

 

Masters in particular, seeing as he got so good in the ring. I hated when they swapped his awesome music for the generic rock shite. I'm surprised they've not signed him back, or that TNA never brought him in.

[Smokin']

Anyone who says the Invasion angle wasn't a missed opportunity wasn't watching wrestling pre-2006. It isn't like now where we are conditioned for everything to die on its arse and we all pull our plonkers pretending things are better than they actually are. The Invasion PPV is still one of their biggest ever PPVs and that was pretty much built around established WWF vs established WWF wrestlers in the main event. They drew 775,000 US buys for it. There's no way there wasn't interest in it. Its the feud people were dreaming off for years. The funniest thing when people try and come up with reasons for why the Invasion couldn't work is always "they didn't have the wrestlers". If that PPV was available internationally, it was probably cracking a million buys. For a show headlined by Rhino and the Dudleys on the heel squad. They had enough momentum and interest without the likes of Goldberg. Imagine what DDP vs the Rock would have done. Then you could have gradually brought the WCW talent in as the year went on. It was a shocking clanger.

You can't prolong a feud when there is such a disparity in talent. It's alright it being successful for a PPV or two but how can you extend it for months or a year, which is how long it would have been ideally, when there's such a gulf in talent? It'd do nothing but make the superior WWF talent look poor. Taking away the WWF defectors, who were the biggest names the Alliance had? Rob Van Dam? DDP? Booker T? They had nothing to offer and were a long, long way away from the likes of The Rock, Kane, Undertaker, Big Show etc.. The feud could have been extended if there had been more defectors to the Alliance but that would have hurt the point of the angle if it was just WWF vs. WWF and Booker T. Ignoring WWF defectors, who were the top 5 Alliance talent? Which of them could feasibly compete with Jericho, The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, Big Show without those names looking bad? Goldberg, Hogan, Nash, Sting and Flair could have; Kidman, O'Haire, Raven, Dreamer and Booker T couldn't.

 

In an ideal world, there'd have been no McMahons involved in the Alliance, the Alliance roster would have been stronger, there'd be no WWF defectors and it would have run for many months. However, the reality is that the depth of talent in the Alliance was nowhere near enough to extend the feud or make more of it. You can't have the likes of The Rock or Undertaker jobbing to WCW midcarders and not expect it to have an effect on WWF business in the long term.

 

The WCW and ECW roster had nothing to offer the WWF at that point. It was far too weak to be worth giving focus to when the WWF could have gone with something like The Rock vs. Austin, Kane vs. Jericho, The Undertaker vs. Angle or whatever. They had a packed roster which was bursting with talent, so what benefit was there to focusing on the Alliance? None. Those two companies had gone out of business because fans stopped buying into the biggest names they had, so WWF fans weren't going to buy into their midcarders that made up the Alliance in the long run and it's foolish to think otherwise. As I said, the disparity in talent was too significant for a feud to work for much longer than it did. The drop in PPV numbers after the Invasion PPV backs up every point I'm making and the very disappointing buys for Unforgiven, No Mercy and Survivor Series tells you how much the WWF fans cared.

 

Your first sentence should be "Anyone who says the Invasion angle was a missed opportunity stopped watching wrestling in 1999".