February 21, 2017
What’s going on everyone and welcome to another edition of “Book It” The blog that made it’s triumphant return last week as I discussed one of the more holy shit moments in WWE recently as Bray Wyatt won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. But this week I’m going to shift gears just a little bit because this week I wanted to talk about a subject that had resonated with me a little bit over the last few months, that is the subject of WWE’s biggest Failures.
Now, we all get it, WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world. But that means that even if you have all of the talent in the world, it doesn’t mean that you’ll always make it into the upper echelon of WWE. There are quite a few wrestlers who have come through the doors of WWE and even though they were fantastic wrestlers with a ton of talent, it seems like WWE didn’t pull the trigger on those wrestlers. Today, I’d like to highlight a few of those wrestlers.
Drew McIntyre/ Drew Galloway
When Drew debuted in WWE some years ago he immediately came in with a load of fanfare and a hell of a gimmick known as the Chosen One. From the second he stepped in the ring the first time he was something special. He was able to captivate attention no matter what he was doing.
Drew biggest claim to fame in WWE was one time winning the Intercontinental Title, and then taking part in a WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match. Now I thought at that point that he would be claiming his way up and eventually find himself at the top of the roster for quite some time. However, WWE didn’t see it that way and eventually Drew faltered away into obscurity before being let go. He found himself in TNA and has since found himself a moderate level of success. I can only hope that eventually Drew finds his way back into WWE and they realize the talent they have on their hands this time.
Derek Bateman/ Ethan Carter III
This one is a little bit more understood due to the fact that WWE had such a new level talent on their hands in Bateman. However, what WWE tossed aside as yesterdays talent TNA was able to pick up and groom him into one of the biggest draws in the company today.
Ethan Carter has a hell of a work ethic, a good look, and is very talented in the ring. He’s taken the ball that was handed to him by TNA and he ran like a crazy person with it. I’m excited to see where he finds himself in the coming years because he’s very young and has a hell of a career ahead of him.
Damien Sandow/ Aaron Rexx
Now before I get into this, I can’t say that Aaron Rexx had a massive successful run in TNA, however it does look like he’ll be used pretty damn good with this new gimmick they paired him with. I’ll admit that it was strange and I’m unsure exactly what they’re aiming for with him, but it’s apparent that TNA already realizing the level of talent they have on their hand. That was something WWE couldn’t seem to realize and that was the problem he dealt with. I happened to be in the arena for Damien Sandows’ last TV match with WWE. It was a battle royal, and the arena was behind him in a way they weren’t really behind anyone else. That in and of itself said a lot about he had the support of the crowd, but WWE wouldn’t have it to be. From here it will be interesting to see how TNA treats him.
StarDust/ Cody Rhodes
This one was the big one for this list. That’s because Cody Rhodes is the only second generation wrestler on this list, and he wasn’t given much of a fair shake after the end of Legacy. Now, here’s the thing, WWE seemed to give Cody Rhodes the STUPIDEST gimmicks that existed, and yet he turned shit into a gold every time. That’s something not everyone can say. Eventually, WWE and Cody Rhodes would come to terms on letting him go. That’s because Cody knew he wasn’t being utilized correctly and he wanted out. Now he wrestles in all kinds of companies, in different countries, and has already began building his brand and getting his name everywhere. The rest of the world knew how good how he was, and now he finally has the platform to get the performances of his life out there now. As with Sandow, I’m very excited to see how the whole thing shakes out and what happens with Cody just like I am with Damien.
This is just a small list of the people who seriously deserve some adulation for being so talented but not being utilized by WWE. But, these were the four that came to mind. There’s a good chance that I’ll have another list in the future but for now, I’m going to bring this piece to a close. Next week I’ll be talking about Part Time Employees taking away spots from others in WWE.
Until then I’m Kyle Robinson picking up the pencil and closing the book on this subject. I’ll see you next week.