Wrestlers that could have been bigger stars

[air_raid]

Why did this rabbit hole become “is WWE also ran Liv Morgan a bigger star than two marquee names who drew massive gates to the Tokyo Dome in main events”? It’s a completely different proposition to suggesting Ambrose/Moxley is a bigger star now than when he was (pick one) part of one of the most over acts in the industry leader of the last 15 years, featured prominently in shows selling millions of tickets all around the world and at WrestleMania - the biggest event in the industry, or when he was WWE Champion. Which is nothing short of asinine.

[d-d-d-dAz]

17 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Why did this rabbit hole become “is WWE also ran Liv Morgan a bigger star than two marquee names who drew massive gates to the Tokyo Dome in main events”? It’s a completely different proposition to suggesting Ambrose/Moxley is a bigger star now than when he was (pick one) part of one of the most over acts in the industry leader of the last 15 years, featured prominently in shows selling millions of tickets all around the world and at WrestleMania - the biggest event in the industry, or when he was WWE Champion. Which is nothing short of asinine.

Whilst I agree it’s a pointless rabbit hole, I do think it highlights how there’s very few objective examples of X being a bigger name/star than Y, and harder to still to quantify in what ways someone could have been a bigger star.

It’s also probably a discussion that having a western bias moves the goalposts, too.

In summary, Chris Masters could have been a world champion and been on celebrity Weakest Link or something had they tried with him.

 

[Yakashi]

1 hour ago, Louch said:

When people leave wwe, casuals ask them if they have retired. When someone leaves another company and goes to wwe, no one asks them if they are retired. In terms of worldwide popularity and visibility, everyone on wwe tv is a bigger star than aew just now. 

Today I learned Cedric Alexander is a bigger star than Chris Jericho, Sting, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega. 

[Pinc]

13 hours ago, air_raid said:

Why did this rabbit hole become “is WWE also ran Liv Morgan a bigger star than two marquee names who drew massive gates to the Tokyo Dome in main events”? It’s a completely different proposition to suggesting Ambrose/Moxley is a bigger star now than when he was (pick one) part of one of the most over acts in the industry leader of the last 15 years, featured prominently in shows selling millions of tickets all around the world and at WrestleMania - the biggest event in the industry, or when he was WWE Champion. Which is nothing short of asinine.

It must count for something that if Moxley showed up in WWE in 2021 he’d likely be treated as a bigger deal than he ever was before. Certainly he’d get a marquee WrestleMania match the following year. Which he never really had as Ambrose outside of the damp squib Lesnar match.

There are qualitative elements to stardom as well as quantitative. Otherwise this thread would just be one post with every wrestler listed in descending order of their social media reach.

[Jonny Vegas]

On 4/17/2021 at 3:21 PM, air_raid said:

Dean Ambrose was WWE Champion. On what planet is he now a bigger star that that?

Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre have been WWE Champion, that in itself does not make someone a big star.

Mike Awesome never achieved what he could have for me. WCW just totally ruined him but I think there was a time 99-00 where he could and should have slotted right into the WWF main event scene.

Matt Morgan was limited but I always thought he could have achieved a lot more.

Ted DiBiase Jr is someone I was disappointed never came back and I wonder whether he just didn't have his heart in it to begin with.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Jonny Vegas

[air_raid]

8 hours ago, Jonny Vegas said:

Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre have been WWE Champion, that in itself does not make someone a big star.

Nice straw man. Ambrose, Moxley, point.

[Nick James]

Has anyone mentioned Grado being a household name yet? 

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Nick James said:

Has anyone mentioned Grado being a household name yet? 

While I wouldn't go as far as to call him a household name, Grado is pretty well known in Scotland, and he's certainly known outside of the wrestling bubble. He's appeared in the popular comedy series Scot Squad, has his own radio breakfast show and had his own column in a national newspaper. He's done quite well for himself. 

[cobra_gordo]

10 hours ago, Jonny Vegas said:

Matt Morgan was limited but I always thought he could have achieved a lot more.

Matt Morgan was the first name I thought of when I saw the thread title. He was over like rover in TNA for a cup of coffee, had a great look especially when he was doing the silver cape thing and was capable of delivering firey babyface promos. Just a shame he was a bit on the boring side in-ring.

[Nick James]

36 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

While I wouldn't go as far as to call him a household name, Grado is pretty well known in Scotland, and he's certainly known outside of the wrestling bubble. He's appeared in the popular comedy series Scot Squad, has his own radio breakfast show and had his own column in a national newspaper. He's done quite well for himself. 

I was referring to an old forum joke. 

[Jazzy G]

Samoa Joe. Should have been the face of TNA during his time there, but because of their revolving door of embittered "Vince never got to see my full potential" ex WWE employees he never got to have a real run on top. Yeah he won the top title, but he never really felt like a top guy. 

Likewise in NXT, and especially in WWE. Yes he was the guy in Ring Of Honor, but he could have been so much more than that. Hopefully now that he's been released he can end up somewhere and have a decent run at the top. Scott D'Amore has already pointed out that Slammiversary takes places days after the latest round of no compete clauses come to an end. 

[DavidB6937]

38 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Samoa Joe. Should have been the face of TNA during his time there, but because of their revolving door of embittered "Vince never got to see my full potential" ex WWE employees he never got to have a real run on top. Yeah he won the top title, but he never really felt like a top guy. 

At points in his TNA career? Absolutely. At other points.. no.

[Jazzy G]

4 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

At points in his TNA career? Absolutely. At other points.. no.

If they'd been using his properly then there'd have been no need to draw that dick on his face anyway. That was bad booking, and he couldn't be arsed because of the way they were treating him at the time. 

[westlondonmist]

2 hours ago, RedRooster said:

While I wouldn't go as far as to call him a household name, Grado is pretty well known in Scotland, and he's certainly known outside of the wrestling bubble. He's appeared in the popular comedy series Scot Squad, has his own radio breakfast show and had his own column in a national newspaper. He's done quite well for himself. 

Don't forget River City

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Nick James said:

I was referring to an old forum joke. 

Ah I see, cheers for explaining. 

1 hour ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Samoa Joe. Should have been the face of TNA during his time there, but because of their revolving door of embittered "Vince never got to see my full potential" ex WWE employees he never got to have a real run on top. Yeah he won the top title, but he never really felt like a top guy. 

I thought he did initially, right up until Russo and Jarrett took over booking duties from Scott D'Amore. 

During that initial run he was having the best matches on the card, and looked a cut above almost everyone else on that roster. After the Angle match, things got a bit messy for him. I'm sure there were still good moments for him after that, but I can only remember the bad stuff.