From debut to departure - the fastest wrestling binnings

[Merzbow]

34 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Fairly sure he never wrestled. 

Even a thicko like Tito isn't stupid enough to come back and wrestle after that, letting Mr Anderson bury you in the worst way ever.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

13 minutes ago, Chili said:

Hiroki Sumi.

Thanks Chil. To be honest though he made such little impression on me other than remembering the BS from VKM you could have made a name up. 

[AshC]

Just remembered Tyson Fury had a wrestling match, while trying to remember the name of the guy who wrestled Brock out there. 

Kinda count in that they seem special attraction deals, but you know they'd have been used more if it went great. 

[Statto]

I've said this before I'm sure, but the fact Tyson Fury worked a match in WWE whilst being the actual genuine legitimate reigning heavyweight boxing champion of the world and it barely registering with anyone is just utterly bonkers.

[wordsfromlee]

Giant Haystacks lasted in WCW for just over a month as Loch Ness. He left due to health issues rather than getting binned but it was still a bit of a flash in the pan appearance. 

Completely forgot that Cain Velasquez had a match against Brock Lesnar for the WWE title. I remember there being a bit of buzz around him after he had a surprisingly decent showing in a AAA match a couple of months earlier. After looking it up I didn't realise he had actually signed a WWE contract but got let go as part of the cuts during COVID.

[Infinity Land]

Between Tough Enough, Diva Search, and the early NXT before it became developmental there's bound to be a few "I forgot all about them".

One that those at the time might remember is eventual Tough Enough winner: Daniel Puder. Caught the eye in a shoot segment with Kurt Angle. Where he outperformed expectations which as a rookie in that era you're not supposed to do. Would have a PPV match against fellow contestant The Miz at Armageddon. Wins Tough Enough. Competes in the Royal Rumble. Then it's off to developmental and eventually out the door. Does some MMA fights. Has a short stint in ROH. Then works a tour with NJPW that's him basically done with wrestling.

[DCW]

Did yer man 'Silent Rage' from the Austin era of Tough Enough ever have a main roster match? I remember him being in a few backstage segments and that's about it. 

[The King of Old School]

Earl Hebner got the "All Elite" graphic in May 2019, he reffed two matches and then disapeared.

[tiger_rick]

1 hour ago, The King of Old School said:

Earl Hebner got the "All Elite" graphic in May 2019, he reffed two matches and then disapeared.

AEW merch stands were empty for months too.

[RedTwoster]

13 hours ago, Statto said:

I've said this before I'm sure, but the fact Tyson Fury worked a match in WWE whilst being the actual genuine legitimate reigning heavyweight boxing champion of the world and it barely registering with anyone is just utterly bonkers.

I legitimately have no memory of him wrestling in WWE whatsoever. I remember him having a singalong at the end of a PPV once with Drew McIntyre, but that's about it. 

1 hour ago, The King of Old School said:

Earl Hebner got the "All Elite" graphic in May 2019, he reffed two matches and then disapeared.

There are a few early AEW names whose short stints confuse me - Awesome Kong would be one. Her stable with Brandi Rhodes was terrible, but she seems like someone you'd really want to keep around. 

Aja Kong also made a brief appearance to confront her once, but as far as I can recall this was never followed up on. 

Finally, staying in the Brandi-verse, Mel is another confusing one. As soon as they rightly blew the Nightmare Collective to smithereens, she was never to be seen again. I've no idea if she was any good or not but it was still weird that she'd be put in this position. 

[BomberPat]

11 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

Between Tough Enough, Diva Search, and the early NXT before it became developmental there's bound to be a few "I forgot all about them".

One that those at the time might remember is eventual Tough Enough winner: Daniel Puder. Caught the eye in a shoot segment with Kurt Angle. Where he outperformed expectations which as a rookie in that era you're not supposed to do. Would have a PPV match against fellow contestant The Miz at Armageddon. Wins Tough Enough. Competes in the Royal Rumble. Then it's off to developmental and eventually out the door. Does some MMA fights. Has a short stint in ROH. Then works a tour with NJPW that's him basically done with wrestling.

I'm always fascinated by this stuff - Tough Enough winners were always set up to fail, because you always had the grumpy old-timers angry that they're getting paid big money and getting featured despite "not paying their dues", and the WWE's attitude was just to let those old-timers be horrendous violent bullies rather than protecting the wrestlers they put in that position. Compound that with someone like Daniel Puder or Bart Gunn who is put in an unscripted situation, then punish them for not following the script that only existed in the booker's head. Madness.

In both cases, even if you're annoyed that things didn't go the way you wanted, would you not roll with the punches and at least try and get one decent story or match out of it? Rather than sending Daniel Puder out to be battered by the old guard in a Rumble, would you not book at least one match with him against Kurt Angle to capitalise on an unexpected moment? It doesn't have to be PPV, doesn't have to go long, doesn't even have to make Puder look good, but at least you get something you can sell for a night. Same with Bart Gunn - he wins the Brawl For All, sure, he's not who they wanted to win it, but he can't get a title shot against Austin on RAW, just so the top guy can show he's "tougher" than the guy who won the tough man contest?

49 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

There are a few early AEW names whose short stints confuse me - Awesome Kong would be one. Her stable with Brandi Rhodes was terrible, but she seems like someone you'd really want to keep around. 

Aja Kong also made a brief appearance to confront her once, but as far as I can recall this was never followed up on. 

I think Aja Kong disappearing was a victim of the booking team changing; at the start, Kenny Omega had a lot of oversight over the women's division, and was leaning on Joshi promotions to bring in talent. Those connections fell through pretty quickly when it became the Tony Khan show.

Awesome Kong just abruptly retired - she'd basically been done for a couple of years before AEW, and has only wrestled once since, I just don't think her heart was in it any more. It would have been nice to see her stick around a bit longer.

[RedTwoster]

46 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Awesome Kong just abruptly retired - she'd basically been done for a couple of years before AEW, and has only wrestled once since, I just don't think her heart was in it any more. It would have been nice to see her stick around a bit longer.

That's such a shame. Perhaps she's spent physically, but I'd love to have seen her stick around and eventually mix it up with the likes of Mercedes, Toni, Willow and Thekla. All dream matches for me that I'd not considered until this thread. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

16 hours ago, AshC said:

Just remembered Tyson Fury had a wrestling match, while trying to remember the name of the guy who wrestled Brock out there. 

Kinda count in that they seem special attraction deals, but you know they'd have been used more if it went great. 

Fury was doing a favour for the Saudi paymasters wasn't he. They'd already ponied up a lot of cash for him to box and this was just cross promotion. Plus they love to shoehorn in as many big lads as they can. 

[BomberPat]

when did the Saudi shows stop being these mad bespoke affairs, with stuff like Shawn Michaels coming out of retirement, Tyson Fury wrestling, them making up new title belts for the occasion, or putting on matches like Goldberg vs. Undertaker? From what I've read more recently they just seem like fairly standard WWE PPVs - I can't imagine the Saudi royal family have become less demanding in their tastes!

[TheScarlettChad]

Puder tried shooting on Kurt and tried breaking his arm. I don't agree with roughing up rookies but he was an arrogant tosser.