The General Wrestling Thread

[BigBiss]

TNA fired Jesse Sorensen, who had been working in production after he recovered from his broken neck.

really good dude, sad deal, hope this means he can move back to texas

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

really good dude, sad deal, hope this means he can move back to texas

Put him in a white meat babyface tag team, push them hard, wait a few months, have his partner turn on him, have a blood feud, Sorenson wins the blowoff in a loser leaves town, moves on to face the heel champion two shows later after beating a respected upper mid card veteran the show before.

How'd I do?

 

[FedEx227]

I was under the impression he wasn't wrestling anymore because he physically can't? Is that not true and they were just moving him to a different location within the company just 'cuz?

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

really good dude, sad deal, hope this means he can move back to texas

Seems Dixie made promises she couldn't keep.

My name is Jessy Sorensen(Jesse Sorensen) I am a former professional wrestler for TNA Impact Wrestling seen every thursday night on SpikeTV. On Feb.12th 2012 during a live match on pay per view vs Zema Ion I suffered a sever neck injury sustaining a broke C-1 vertebrae & herniated C-5 & C-6. After a long recovery process & being promised by the President of TNA Impact Wrestling TNA Dixie Carter I would always have a job with her company, I recently was released from my current contract & shown that those promises were false. During my time away from the ring I decided to pursue bodybuilding & have been prepping for the Hurricane Bay bodybuilding show in Tampa, FL on Oct.5th,2013 but now due to my recent released I will have to drop out of my show. A friend of mine told me about this site and if anyone would like to help and contribute I would be so grateful and appreciate any donations. Thanks and hopefully I can find something I love just as much as I did Wrestling.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Prior to signing a new contract with TNA, Taz tried very hard to get back in WWE. Specifically, he wanted to return in time for WWE's recent RAW taping from Brooklyn, NY. Taz called several people in WWE, but it soon became obvious that Executive Producer Kevin Dunn had no interest in bringing him back.

During a recent production meeting, WWE EVP Triple H said, "TNA doesn't have anyone we need."

 

[FedEx227]

Starting a new series on the site but would like a few more names to think about.

Who in your mind are the biggest busts in wrestling history?

And perhaps I can go in another route because I've set some parameters but I'm not entirely sure about them — how do you consider a wrestler a "bust"?

Here's what I had initially:

1. Did Wrestler X have at the very least two of the three the following attributes?
a. Above-average to good promo skills
b. Above-average to good in-ring ability
c. Above-average to good “look” (in shape, tall, muscular, etc.)

2. Was Wrestler X put in a position to succeed?

Meaning if the guy had at least 2 of those tools and was reasonably put in a position to succeed (see: not being the Red Rooster) they are considered a bust.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

What do you mean by "bust"?

A really good wrestler that never was, anywhere, at any time? Or, just not successful in say...the WWE/F?

I mean, take for example...Lex Luger. He was the...erm...Total Package. Great look. Before he was in the motorcycle accident, he could be very carryable to great matches, and he could talk at an above average level. Was given the ball a number of times and it just never worked. I mean, many people would call him a bust. Is he though? I don't know. Some guys just don't connect with the crowd to the level of their push or what they should be. Luger was one of those guys. I don't know if he's a "bust" though...he had a really long career, always at or near the top, was involved in a lot of big matches and moments (good ones, too)...just never drew dime.

You look at some recent WWE guys, like Ken Kennedy, MVP, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin...all had what you look for in some regard, all got pushed at some point, all just never really connected. I guess those guys could be considered busts. Ken Doane was one of the hottest "prospects" in the WWE in the 2000's. Brent Albright. Bobby Lashley.

If you use the "injury" excuse as a label for bust (say...the Ki-Jana Carter paradox)...Magnum TA...or pregnancy...Awesome Kong in the WWE...or drug use (Charles Rogers paradox) Art Barr or Gino Hernandez.

Muhammad Hassan had an epic amount of potential. Bad timing. Chris Masters never got a real chance. Pretty Paul Roma looked the part, got his chances, but was a nobody.

Foreigners that just can't get over in the US like Sin Cara.

I'm just not certain of the term "bust" in the context of wrestling.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

FWIW, I think covering talents like Art Barr and Gino Hernandez is more in line with what VoW does. Listing Kennedy, MVP, and Carlito is very bleacherreport-esque in regards to this subject matter.

 

[FedEx227]

Agreed. I'm not doing Kennedy or MVP, MVP I think had a pretty solid career and Kennedy, in a sense, did but I also think he just plain sucked so I'm using my bias there. Carlito, meh. Those guys are just not interesting subjects either so I am going to skip them. There's numerous BR articles about those "busts".

The first subject is Sean O'Haire and that one is almost done.

 

[FedEx227]

What do you mean by "bust"?

A really good wrestler that never was, anywhere, at any time? Or, just not successful in say...the WWE/F?

I mean, take for example...Lex Luger. He was the...erm...Total Package. Great look. Before he was in the motorcycle accident, he could be very carryable to great matches, and he could talk at an above average level. Was given the ball a number of times and it just never worked. I mean, many people would call him a bust. Is he though? I don't know. Some guys just don't connect with the crowd to the level of their push or what they should be. Luger was one of those guys. I don't know if he's a "bust" though...he had a really long career, always at or near the top, was involved in a lot of big matches and moments (good ones, too)...just never drew dime.

You look at some recent WWE guys, like Ken Kennedy, MVP, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin...all had what you look for in some regard, all got pushed at some point, all just never really connected. I guess those guys could be considered busts. Ken Doane was one of the hottest "prospects" in the WWE in the 2000's. Brent Albright. Bobby Lashley.

If you use the "injury" excuse as a label for bust (say...the Ki-Jana Carter paradox)...Magnum TA...or pregnancy...Awesome Kong in the WWE...or drug use (Charles Rogers paradox) Art Barr or Gino Hernandez.

Muhammad Hassan had an epic amount of potential. Bad timing. Chris Masters never got a real chance. Pretty Paul Roma looked the part, got his chances, but was a nobody.

Foreigners that just can't get over in the US like Sin Cara.

I'm just not certain of the term "bust" in the context of wrestling.

It's hard and that's going to be the challenge is trying to define it and give each "bust" context. For now I'm going with guys that were by all measures (or at least 2/3) good talkers, good workers and good look who didn't connect on the major American stage (WWE/WWF/WCW/NWA/AWA). I wanted to add the parameter of "never given the right chances" but I'm going to remove that because then it becomes revisionist history. Sure, Terry Taylor COULD have made it big if he wasn't Red Rooster, but the fact is he still didn't, so I may have to count him.

I would like to keep injuries out of it because then it's just too easy.

Also, my idea of bust is more of a complete failure and less of the would-be all-time great. Luger is a great example, you COULD put him as a bust, but the dude had a lengthy, profitable and solid career. Shelton Benjamin is a name that's been brought up but he was still a multi-time IC Champion, had some major matches and is still getting regular work. He could've have been an all-timer (i dont honestly believe that but whatever) but that's not really a bust if he only become "above-average".

 

[s@ppisgod]

Not the biggest bust ever, but Bryan Clark is pretty far up there for me. He's a guy who looked the part great, and wasn't a terrible wrestler. He could pull off all the power moves you'd expect him to have and make them look impactful. And the biggest problem was he should have had all the opportunity in the world. He came into the WWE in 93 when they had one of their biggest down times in recent memory. You had guys like Luger, Owen Hart, Mabel, and Bob Backlund in the main event scene during the next year. And with all due respect to Owen Hart, he just wasn't the typical WWF main eventer at the time. There should have been room for a guy like Clark to come in and rise pretty quickly. Instead he gets saddled with a really corny gimmick in Adam Bomb. Worse than that, they put him with Harvey Whippleman. So not only is he a heel, he's a heel with a bad mouthpiece whose only use is annoying the audience. He gets buried on his first WM and never comes off as anything substantial in the WWF again. He shows up in WCW as Wrath (maybe Mortis, I forget which one was Kanyon) and does some ok midcard work. Then eventually settles in the tag scene with Adams as Kronik, who do pretty well. But again, he's in a situation where there's a severe lack of good main eventers and he never gets a look.

 

[FedEx227]

That's a good one that I hadn't previously thought of sapp. Good call, I'll add him to the short list.

For the record he was Warth and he had a solid run from about mid-98 to somewhere in 1999.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Sin Cara.

Sin Cara's WWE run is the equivalent of John Cena or 1986 Hulk Hogan jumping to AAA or CMLL and never getting past prelims. You almost can't measure in words how incredibly far he's fallen. He was the biggest star on the planet.

Great Sasuke came to WWE at his peak, and they hired the jobber he brought with him instead.

Luger was supposed to be the next Hogan from the day he debuted and despite numerous chances over & over he never came close. You could definitely call him a bust.

Lashley, I guess. But nobody really thought he'd be big once his limitations were exposed except for McMahon.

Tom Magee.

It's hard, because there are tons of guys who were busts in one place or another, but stars in other places. Tons of guys never worked out in WWE. Buddy Landell, Shane Douglas, Goldberg, Dick Slater, Public Enemy, etc. All were stars elsewhere.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Tiger Mask IV

 

[FedEx227]

Tom Magee has come up as well and is on my list. Sin Cara I wasn't sure about but the way you state it, it's an unmitigated disaster. Sasuke is a good one given my Major American parameters.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

RE: Luger.

Luger is like the Eddie George of wrestlers. Top 10 pick. A lot of productivity simply because he got the ball a LOT. But never elite or made a team better.

Is that a bust? I don't know.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Putting this here too because it shouldn't be buried in the Best of 2013 thread where four people will look.

If you are a WWE guy and will never watch another Dragon Gate match in your life, please just take a few minutes and watch this. You won't regret it.

 

[EmpireWF]

Raven.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

LOL at H's saying TNA doesn't have anyone they need. I don't think they need anyone to be honest, but forget Taz. There are plenty of guys who could enhance the product if the chance became available for them to sign with the WWE.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

LOL at H's saying TNA doesn't have anyone they need. I don't think they need anyone to be honest, but forget Taz. There are plenty of guys who could enhance the product if the chance became available for them to sign with the WWE.

Even if this is true (that there are plenty of guys who could come in and enhance the product), and i'm not sure it is honestly, there is no reason to put TNA over. If there is somebody that they like who becomes available, they can bring them in. No need to play your hand. Also, they've always treated TNA like it's irrelevant, which is strategically sound on many levels if not outright true.

You can pretty much count on one hand the number of people they've signed from TNA who weren't with the WWE previously. Chris Harris, Monty Brown, Awesome Kong, Low Ki (if you want to count him, not sure if he came directly from TNA), Lance Hoyt...now look at that track record of how those people did in WWE. You think they are foaming at the mouth to keep dipping into that pool?