WWE's biggest missed opportunities

Over the years, WWE has been a factory of top talent, producing talents year in, year out. Even though they have given us stars like Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, John Cena and more, I hate to admit that the creative team have made a lot of mistakes in handling a lot of potential superstars.

In this article, I will talk about the superstars that got away, and how WWE creative team could have handled them differently.

The Great Khali

Let us begin with one of the obvious one. When The Great Khali made his debut in 2006, dominating and humiliating the Undertaker, we all thought that he was ‘the’ big deal. For the first year, he surely was. One thing that did not work in his favour was his poor in-ring ability. So, what do you do with a guy who is a massive giant and is an imposing figure, but cannot wrestle? Simple, do not make him wrestle at any cost. Seriously, don’t!

Imagine a WWE where The Great Khali just walks around the arena, just dominating superstars, interfering in any match he wants and destroys the participants BUT is never booked in a match. He could have easily been WWE’s silent assassin. He could have been a wrestler who never actually wrestled a match. This way, the audience would have been saved from watching ill-planned action in the ring and would have rather enjoyed the dominance. Every fan could have been on the edge of their seats at all time, just hoping that Khali’s music did not hit in-between their favourite superstar’s match. And if this move would have timed out, the creative team could have revealed him to be Vince McMahon’s destruction man, who had been demolishing everyone and everything on McMahon’s orders for all these years. There could have been a lot of storylines which could have been developed through this angle. Now, however, he is the Punjabi playboy who jumps around with Natalya and the Hornswoggle.

Chavo Guerrero

He was never the fan favourite. Agreed. However, no one can deny the wealth of talent the guy possessed. Sure, he also had a run at near-top as the ECW Champion (if you think that being ECW Champion was top draw in WWE, that is). After Eddie’s death in 2005, Chavo was shown to be on his way to retribution, but for what? Eddie’s death was no one’s fault. Soon after that, he turned the bad guy and had a feud with Rey Mysterio to honour his uncle Eddie Guerrero. After his string of feuds ended, he was drafted to ECW where he received his much desired push. And, soon after that, he was blown into incompetence by the WWE creative team. It was a pity to see a talent like Chavo teaming with the likes of JTG to take on the likes of Yoshi Tatsu. Unacceptable.

Chavo is an amazing athlete, who does not mind taking the occasional risk and is a great talker. Instead of handling the character the way they did, WWE could have actually pushed him into the title picture immediately. He could have battled Batista in order to gain the coveted WWE Championship, which his uncle ‘died’ fighting for. The story would have completed when he would have held the championship up high at the end of next PPV. Then, the real game would have begun. We all know that Chavo always had a grey streak in him. He could have defended the championship on and on with the help of the golden mantra ‘Lie, Cheat and Steal.’ That way, he would have established himself as a major player in WWE. Also, it would have been a fitting end to Eddie’s legacy in WWE. If this lying, cheating and stealing character of his would have faded, which I highly doubt it would have, he could have actually done a CM Punk and stole the WWE title, turning him into an immediate heel. Basically, his character could have had various shades rather than the way it went down. He is a decent talent, who could have been an asset for the company for the next five years.

Rob Van Dam

Personally, he was my favourite. He had everything, ranging from athletic abilities to microphone skills, and if you add the daredevil stunts in the mix, you get a package called Rob Van Dam. Barring his run at the top of the pile, he was always a higher-mid carder, which, for a guy like RVD, was not good enough. He drove crowds wild as soon as he entered the arena. He was the typical good guy in wrestling who the fans loved because he always gave his all to entertain them. He deserved a much better run at the top than he got. In fact, when it was his time to shine, he had to leave WWE due to family reasons.

Now, the question arises, how WWE could have handled him differently. Firstly, they should have let him keep the title around a little while longer than he did. Especially considering that he won it against Cena, and won it clean. Next, after his championship run, he kind of became a high profile jobber, which was poor on the part of the creative team. He was the guy who amazed the crowds with his athleticism. He should have been in the title mix at all times, if not the title holder.

Now, imagine this. He could have gotten rid of his good guy image right after he lost any big match, and would have gained it till the next big match. Confused? Okay! Imagine RVD with a character like AJ Lee. Not that crazy, but a guy with mystery. Someone who no one can guess what he does next. Much like his in-ring antics, he could have roundhouse kicked the good guy immediately after saving him from let’s say, Evolution. This would have given him the Attitude Era type mystique. People would have still loved him for his daring stunts, but it would have raised a moral question in their minds, whether they are supporting the good guy or bad.

For now, I will conclude this article with three names, but there are a lot more wrestlers to whom justice has not been served. Till next time!