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Most Disappointing Wrestlers in History

Liam O'Rourke

By Liam O'Rourke
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Liam O'Rourke Mentor

Liam O'Rourke

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So for our podcast this week, we're going to talk about some of the most disappointing wrestlers in history - guys that for whatever reason just fell short of expectations.

It can be somebody you really thought was going to make it and as it panned out just didn't have the goods, or it can even be a guy you had heard a lot about that didn't live up to the hype for you personally. But I'm curious to hear people's takes on this - the more detail you wish to go into on the expectations and how they fell off the beaten path the better, and as always, we'll read as many of your picks on the show as we can.

So who is it for you, that you see at the most disappointing?

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Michael_3165 Mentor

Michael_3165

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For me Ken Shamrock... The guy had legitimate 'skills', had the look and aura but his mic skills let him down hugely. I didn't expect him to be the next Austin but he should have had a better run.

 

Big Show was a let down but not because of longevity. He was pushed heavily for years but his lack of interest and poor life choices stopped him being the 'legend' he could have been. Taken seriously and keeping in shape, he could have easily been a much more impactful player.

 

Ric flair just fell short on so many levels. Maybe it's cos I caught most of his matches 20 years after they happened, had seen bigger heels since or just that he had become a parody of himself. Either way his rep didn't match his ability by the time he cane back to WWE.

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King Pitcos Grand Master

King Pitcos

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Rob Conway is always the one that comes to mind for me here. For years before he debuted, you'd hear about how brilliant he was. On EWR, put him on the main roster and he'd be your biggest star in no time. And then he turned up on TV and he was rubbish. Bland as anything. He'd probably not be out of place in the midcard in current WWE (I could easily see him having a best of infinity series with Ziggler), but bloody hell, what a letdown he was.

 

Afa Jr was similar as well, he was about nine when magazines started touting him as the next big star, and he was utter shite.

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LEGIT Experienced

LEGIT

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I was gonna punt for Sean O'Haire but Martin Bean's already posted it.

 

It's very hard, it depends on what you define as failure. I could go and say- Bam Bam Bigelow. He should have been more, he was so talented. But he main evented Wrestlemania and was generally awesome. So maybe not.

 

Or I could say, Chris Masters. I like him, he has body, charisma, wrestling ability. I've not seen all that much from him, but I honestly feel he could carry his own as a main-eventer. He's talented.

 

Then there's someone like Steve Bradley. He's dead. I've never seen him wrestle, and barely know what he looks like. But back in the early 2000's he was the one all the smart marks thought was the best of the development wrestlers. He was great in the Promotion Wars sim. But what does that mean, eh?

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Arch Stanton Grand Master

Arch Stanton

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Fucking Sean O'Haire. Pretty much guaranteed to pop up in any 'coulda, woulda shoulda' thread. It only took one post this time round. Somehow this myth that he could have been the next big thing just won't go away, seemingly because he was big and did movez. He was fucking rubbish, couldn't talk worth a shit and had a crap attitude by all accounts.

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LEGIT Experienced

LEGIT

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Fucking Sean O'Haire. Pretty much guaranteed to pop up in any 'coulda, woulda shoulda' thread. It only took one post this time round. Somehow this myth that he could have been the next big thing just won't go away, seemingly because he was big and did movez. He was fucking rubbish, couldn't talk worth a shit and had a crap attitude by all accounts.

You're being pretty flippant about it, there. You're right mind you, he was shite. But he looked great, and could move. Right away you'd have thought he could be something. That's why it's the disappointment thread. He ended up shit. But first impressions are something else.
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DeanoTheGame Rising Star

DeanoTheGame

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 it can even be a guy you had heard a lot about that didn't live up to the hype for you personally.

 

At this point in his admittedly short WWE career, Hideo Itami. I've not yet seen anything that justifies the hype I've heard about him for years. I don't watch much wrestling outside of WWE, and when I hear a lot of buzz about somebody on their way to WWE I actively ignore their indy/Japan stuff so I'm watching them fresh, almost. It's not usually the case, as I heard a lot about Sami Zayn and he blew me away. I've never watched a single Prince Devitt match/angle/promo, and last week on NXT he impressed me. But so far Hideo Itami has looked incredibly average.

 

Then again, that could all change as soon as he fights someone other than the fucking Ascension.

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wandshogun09 Grand Master

wandshogun09

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For me Ken Shamrock... The guy had legitimate 'skills', had the look and aura but his mic skills let him down hugely. I didn't expect him to be the next Austin but he should have had a better run.

I think Shamrock had a really good run in the WWF. I don't know how he could have had a much better one, to be honest. He was only there two years. The fact his relatively short run is still remembered 15 years later is pretty good going. He did some good stuff, mixed with all the top guys, had some good matches, had runs with the IC and Tag Titles.

 

The only way that stint could've gone better for him would be if they put the big belt on him but there was always a better option. When he got there you had Shawn, Bret, Austin, Undertaker etc. And between 1997-1999 you had The Rock, Triple H and Foley become top guys.

 

I'd say Shamrock was about where he should be.

 

I'd say my biggest disappointment in an individual wrestler was WWE Goldberg. But it wasn't so much him, more that his whole year there felt like they just cut his bollocks off and wasted a chance to do something big with him. They couldn't have just had him win forever at the expense of the rest of the roster, but they didn't exactly put him in positions to shine by sticking him in slow paced 20 minute PPV main events with an off form Triple H. The one time he looked like the Goldberg everyone wanted to see (SummerSlam in the Chamber), they undid their good work by having him beat down for what felt like a fortnight at the end. Goldberg in WWE should've been massive. What we actually got was so underwhelming.

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King Pitcos Grand Master

King Pitcos

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Paul Burchill's another. Shitehawk that was meant to be England's great hope because he did flips and was massive compared to the midgets he wrestled in FWA, then got to TV and was useless at everything other than the pirate (which never lasted long enough to draw much conclusion on)... Then virgins everywhere were all "IF THEY LET HIM BE THE RIPPER THOUGH, HE'LL BE THE BEST THING IN WRESTLING" and then he came back as The Ripper with that woman who couldn't do an English accent as his sister, and he was still as crap as he'd ever been.

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