Granted, they didn't really book him to win any matches. But the matches he lost also weren't that good, so I sort of didn't care that he didn't win matches. There's a list of guys I wish WWE would have pushed harder... EC3 just doesn't make it because again he's frankly pretty average. Not terrible, but he didn't stand out at all.
Nothing against the guy... if they did push him, I'd be fine with that too. But more than anything he just had a good look. His mic skills were fine, but I don't think a single promo he ever did in NXT was particularly memorable so I don't think he necessarily deserved a strong push on that alone. If they really got behind him and pushed him, it probably COULD have worked... but most if not all of the guys they ended up pushing in NXT instead of him probably deserved the push at least as much as him if not more, so I at least am okay with it.
Last edited by XPac; 07-20-2020 at 02:50 PM.
I'll give you Bobby Roode. Unlike EC3 he was a pretty good worker that both got over and put out some pretty good matches in NXT. I think there's far more substance to the arguement that he got underutilized on the main roster.
Honestly I was a little surprised he wasn't let go. Not that I necessarily felt WWE should have let him go... again, I think the guy had talent. But they didn't seem to know what to do with him on the main roster.
Yeah , we have to remember Undertaker himself main evented the company in his 40's. Its just that , right now the talent roster is so filled , its hard to use everyone on TV in a good way. It really is like WCW in a sense.
"The story so far: As usual, Ginger and I are engaged in our quest to find out what the hell is going on and save humanity from my nemesis, some bastard who is presumably responsible." - Sir Digby Chicken Caesar.
“ Well hell just froze over. Because CM Punk is back in the WWE.” - Jcogginsa.
“You can take the boy outta the mom’s basement, but you can’t take the mom’s basement outta the boy!” - LA Knight.
"Revel in What You Are." Bray Wyatt.
EC3 and Roode were big fish in a small pond. Decent Promos, okay wrestlers. WWE isn't missing out on anything with never really pushing them.
Roode started getting pushed after most folks stopped watching TNA/Impact and they were already on the gradual downslide to irrelevance. During TNA's most visible years, he was just a tag wrestler. Very much a small pond.
I'm not fond of how they've been using Aleister Black recently. Getting involved with the Rey stuff and teaming with Humberto has just cooled off his momentum and aura. Hopefully, if he is feuding with Seth now, he gets put over big during it.
This Asuka thing makes no sense. At worst, the ER match should have been a DQ or No-Contest, either way she keeps the title. They've made this overly convoluted. Hopefully she wins clean next week, she still doesn't have a clear decisive title defense win yet and it's time for her to get one.
If that was Kairi's last match, at least they let her go out with a big win. But what wasted potential her MR run was overall.
Drew vs. Randy at Summerslam please.
They gave Kairi a run with the tag belts on the Kabuki Warriors, which was probably the best she could do on the main roster. Both Bayley and Becky were essentially being given uber long title reigns on their respective brands, so the tag belts was really the only option for her. Plus, to be blunt the womans tag divsion needed the Kabuki Warriors more than the Smackdown womans divsion needed another singles star.
They're taping multiple weeks tonight so she could also show up on Smackdown/RAW next week.If that was Kairi's last match, at least they let her go out with a big win. But what wasted potential her MR run was overall.
If you believe the dirt sheets, WWE wanted to keep her and put together and offer she couldn't refuse.
Not exactly true....the company still had AJ Styles , Kurt Angle , Matt Hardy , ECIII , Bobby Lashley , Sting and Jeff Hardy in the company. His 1st reign hit in 2011 , which was the longest. It was Hogan's idea to push Roode and as he claimed , he saw a Canadian version of HHH there. Roode was a 2 time champion from 2011-2014 where TNA did have some talent there and people did watch there.
In fact Roode during that 1st run was so praised at how well he was booked , that The Rock himself sent out a tweet to him in 2012.
https://www.pwmania.com/bobby-roode-...tting-him-over
So yeah Roode really was at the apex of his career. I mean here is who he defended the title against those 10+ months :
James Storm
AJ Styles
Jeff Hardy
Rob Van Dam
Bully Ray
Sting
Mr. Anderson
"The story so far: As usual, Ginger and I are engaged in our quest to find out what the hell is going on and save humanity from my nemesis, some bastard who is presumably responsible." - Sir Digby Chicken Caesar.
“ Well hell just froze over. Because CM Punk is back in the WWE.” - Jcogginsa.
“You can take the boy outta the mom’s basement, but you can’t take the mom’s basement outta the boy!” - LA Knight.
"Revel in What You Are." Bray Wyatt.
Yea, Kairi time on the main roster was seriously underwhelming. She didn't get much highlights outside of the tag title reign and being an annoyingly cute heel.
She was a side kick who took loses in place of Asuka at the end of her run, but honestly that's what happens to anyone who is on their way out of the company. Which is not to say she would have been used differently if that weren't the case... but nonetheless I think it's fair to put over the talent on your way out.