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Not getting the reward you deserve for your work is probably one of the worst feelings ever. And this feeling is going to carry a lot more sting if you belong to the wrestling business.
While a lot of superstars get the easy route into the limelight, others have to crawl their way through mud to get noticed. Not getting the proper push or recognition even after shedding your sweat and blood inside the squared circle could destroy a wrestler’s morale on any day.
The history of WWE has a lot of similar tales to tell about superstars who deserved better than they got and we are going to take some time out to look at those wrestlers.
Honourable Mention: CM Punk
CM Punk lashed out against WWE in the podcast with Colt Cabana after his departure and one of the most important things he pointed out was his dream of headlining WrestleMania. Although a lot of the fans might not agree with this, Punk deserved to live his dream in the WWE.
He had the ability in the ring and produced some memorable matches for the fans. Giving him a spot in the WrestleMania main event was something WWE should have done while he was there and since they didn’t, the company now has one great wrestler short in their roster.
Goldust
Goldust recently picked up a pretty nasty injury will be out of action for a long time. The latest injury is another big blow for Goldust, whose career has been a saga of being underrated. Being the son of Dusty Rhodes, Goldust did not have much trouble making it into the business, but he did have a tough time breaking out of his father’s shadows.
He finally did it with his weird Goldust gimmick but what everyone overlooked was the incredible talent he had in between the ropes. From his starting day to his current run, Goldust has given consistent performances in the ring and he clearly deserved to be in the main event every once in a while rather than being stuck in the midcard.
William Regal
William Regal is a walking wrestling clinic from United Kingdom. The guy has more experience than most of the current youngsters combined and is well respected in the company. Regal, however, did not get the mainstream attention that he deserved for his skills.
And these skills include technical brilliance in the ring, excellent promos with the microphone and everything else that WWE looks for in a wrestler. Regal did win 16 Championships during his stay in WCW, but none of them ended up being memorable.
He is still doing a great job down in NXT as the commissioner, but looking back, WWE did mess up his career big time.
Dean Malenko
The matches involving Dean Malenko will probably be shown in wrestling schools these days because he was that damn good. Malenko belonged to the class of superstars like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and was probably one step ahead of them.
He was nicknamed ‘The Man of 1000 Holds’ because of his wrestling skills and the only thing that probably kept Malenko back was his lack of charisma. Despite this, he went on to win numerous championships during his stay in the WWE and WCW.
Malenko now works as a backstage agent in WWE and if it was just for the wrestling skills, Malenko would have been one of the most celebrated names in the entire industry by now.
The Brian Kendrick
Brian Kendrick started off his WWE career in the tag team division alongside Paul London, but his real talents were there to be seen once he started hanging out on his own. Kendrick, who was trained by Shawn Michaels, had the in ring ability and the promo skills to be a main eventer. He even had the looks for it.
The creative did put him in the WWE championship scene first but soon, they dropped the ball on him for some reason. Kendrick later left WWE and made a name for himself in the Indies and is now spending his time in NXT. He has also taken up the responsibility of training Eva Marie and the fans will get to know how good Kendrick was when Eva makes her return.
Raven
Raven, in short, was a wrestling genius. A lot of big names in the business have praised his creative mind over the years and it is only a shame to know that Raven did not reach where he was supposed to reach.
Raven was a 2 Time ECW Champion, one-time TNA champion and one-time WCW United Champion along with the numerous reigns he had with the Hardcore championship. But none of these achievements speak out about the cult status that Raven had.
He was the creative mind behind some of the most controversial angles in ECW including the crucifixion angle they had. He could have flourished in WWE or WCW if he had the right push, but both companies did not give him the same.
Lance Storm
Lance Storm was the first wrestler that Chris Jericho met when he joined the Dungeon for learning wrestling. Throughout his autobiographies, Jericho has said about how brilliant Lance is as a wrestler and all the praise that came out of Jericho’s pen was rightfully deserved by Lance.
Just like Goldust, Lance was one of the most consistent wrestlers in the business back then but he was stuck in the mid-card throughout his career. The former Intercontinental Champion never got the push that he deserved and ended up being just another mid-card guy.
He currently trains superstars in his own Wrestling school in Canada and is probably training the next big thing as you read this.
Bret Hart
The reason for Bret Hart’s inclusion in the list is the Montreal Screwjob. Bret was the top wrestler of WWE back in the 90s and Vince McMahon tried to keep him rooted to WWE with a 20-year contract. Bret’s character however soon cooled down and when an offer from WCW came around, both Vince and Bret decided that it was better for Bret to leave.
The story till this far is sunshine and rainbows, but it turned nasty at Montreal. What Vince did that night was not something Bret deserved as he had agreed to forfeit the WWE championship before leaving for WCW. Bret’s career never recovered after the Screwjob and the fans missed out on a lot of potential show-stealing matches due to the same.
Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat is the biggest proof that movie star looks and excellent wresting skills is not enough to make it big in the company. He had them both and put together some ‘ahead of time’ matches during his career but he never got the proper backing from WWE.
Steamboat was supposed to hold the Intercontinental Championship for a whole year in the company but Vince McMahon took the title away from him after just two months. It was the only major title he had in WWE, which pretty much tells the entire story.
Ricky was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009 and if it wasn’t for McMahon’s misjudgment, Ricky would have gone on to reach the levels of Hogan or Savage as he had everything that was required.
Jake Roberts
The wrestling fans will always see Jake Roberts as someone who successfully overcame his demons but Jake was something more. During his prime, Jake was probably the best character that WWE had out there and everything about him was unique.
Psychology, charisma, gimmick, wrestling skills: Jake had them all, but a mixture of backstage politics and his personal demons kept him back. The closest he got to the same was when WWE planned to pit him up against Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship.
Hogan shot down the idea fearing Jake’s popularity and Jake never got the main event consideration again. His gimmick would have worked irrespective of what era he was in because he had enough talent to make it entertaining.
Chris Benoit
Yes, Chris Benoit murdered his family. Yes, WWE should not promote a murderer. Yes, What Benoit did was wrong but is this, the treatment that Benoit deserves? WWE has completely ignored the existence of Benoit and this includes all the brilliant matches that he had.
Now about the murder part, there is still a strong ongoing debate about whether Benoit killed his family or not. Even if he did, what forced him do this was his addiction to the painkillers which he took to continue his wrestling career. Get the irony?
He put his life on the line for the company and the company now treats him as though he was no one. It is clearly not the right way to treat someone like Benoit and WWE should review their stand at some point or the other.
