Hopefully after Mania, the upcoming young star “The Rock” becomes a megastar.

I always felt like Vladimir Kozlov could’ve been a huge star if booked correctly, just like Gunther right now

They never should've split Enzo and Big Cass. They missed a huge opportunity to call them the Certified G's

Jack Swagger’s “swagger” got “jacked!”

I honestly feel like Johnny morrison from MnM was a potentital superstar that just fizzled

I actually loved Swagger during his "real American" phase, before that I never really cared for the character but then he quickly became one of my favs

Important to note that Big Cass has worked tirelessly to improve his behaviour and mindset since his release from WWE and now on AEW is a pretty big deal. Better on the mic, in the ring and has a slimmer physique. Maybe still not the monster he could be but I just think it's crucial that we give big props to the guy for the huge improvement.

Big Cass ruined himself by being too unprofessional

John Heidenreich , Gene Snitsky , Nathan Jones , Mark Jindrak etc were underrated monster during Ruthless Aggression Era

Honorable mention - Vladimir Kozlov They had the guy pin Undertaker clean & decisively on an episode of Smackdown, without even using his finisher. Still didn't get him over.

Cody not getting to FINISH his STORY at Wrestlemania 40 is a *Crime.* #WeWantCody

Heidenreich feud with Undertaker was underrated

I was hoping to see a feud between Undertaker and Mordecai, I was hoping The Undertaker would bury him.

2:45 mad respect for keeping going with the voiceover

Jack Swagger just needed a hat, that was it apparently!

Kevin Thorn was cool, the problem begun when WWE fired Ariel. It's like Karrion without Scarlett. Mordecai wasn't bad, but Religion groups and a fight in a bar killed the gimmick pretty soon. You missed Albert/A-Train/Tensai on this list.

This list is fitting for EC3 since WWE didn't let the current NWA World Champion say one word. Which is a shame since EC3 is a decent talker and a really good performer in the ring.

I’m glad that Nathan Jones found some success as an actor and stunt double. It’s a shame that WWE didn’t get the memo of him and failed to get over with the fans because they knew he sucked in the ring and sent him down to developmental.

They tried so hard to shove Roman, Cena, etc down our throats until it finally worked but when a guy walks in the door as the whole package and has huge fan support, they just sit there and ignore it until the star becomes irrelevant. Hopefully this doesn't happen to LA Knight

Mideon was way better off as member of Ministry of Darkness

Swagger could have been something great but they dropped the ball big time with him

Mason Ryan should have been pushed,he has the shape

David Otunga was known from “Flavor of Love” as Punk! definitely not CM Punk!

And as always it's great WRESTLING CONTENT again 😎

Lars Sullivan ruined himself due to his controversial past

Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona had potential

The Jack Swagger reign was so disappointing. I remember as a kid being so optimistic about him winning the world title, it felt like we were about to get something fresh in the main event scene. Then boom, they immediately made him drop the cocky jock gimmick that got him over and took away the tiny bit of personality the character had by making him be the most serious guy in the world for some reason

Congratulations on 2 M subs wrestlelamia, I've been watching since you had that cool undertaker intro

Missing out 'The Supposed' Future World Champions: 1. Sean O'Haire 2. Matt Morgan 3. Ryback 4. Snitsky 5. Luther Reign 6. Vance Archer 7. Chuck Polumbo 8. Matt Jindrak 9. Shawn Stasiak 10. Knox

Add Cody into the list. Thanks, Dwayne!

Hidenreich and Snitsky should’ve been a tag team…. I love the first time they met 😂

Tyson Tomko was interested during his pairing with Christian

Mason Ryan would've been the next Batista if booked properly

Mideon had one of the best introductions of all time. He was kidnapped by the APA and sacrificed on live TV. When he returned, he had a new look and it looked like he was going to become something. It just didn't work. The thing with The Undertaker is that Mark Calaway was able to connect to the character. I don't think Dennis Knight really got what he was supposed to be as Mideon. He knew how to be a hog farmer as he's probably met a few farmers in his time, but I don't think he had the interest in the dark side that Mark did. He'd also only ever really been over as a member of a tag team and now he was out on his own with this new gimmick. Perhaps if they'd made him more like the dark version of his previous Phineus Godwin gimmick, except maybe instead of farming pigs, he farms people. That could have gone into a very dark area and been like something out of a horror movie. From there, they could look at films like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre for inspiration for the gimmick, making him like a cross between Phineus and Drayton Sawyer. They could have gone really dark with it too, especially as it was the Attitude era. He could have beaten some jobber, then the next week he comes out with the guy in a cage and screaming like a pig. It could have been genuinely terrifying. Perhaps that might have been too much, but if they wanted The Ministry to be evil, then if they went all out with it, it could have been really interesting. Instead, he just kinda looked like an Undertaker fan while the rest of The Ministry kinda looked like they were doing goth cosplay.

Heidenreich & Mideon weren't getting over just because they were associated with The Undertaker, Taker isn't some OVER MAGNET

Tyson tomko was awesome in TNA that run was way better than his wwe run i like the fact that when he debuted in TNA they paired him back with christian that was great stuff.

Santino would of been the greatest comedy act ever if they had him win the Royal rumble

Sometimes it sadly comes down to two things bad booking on behalf of the company OR they just aren't that good in the ring

Nathan Jones will always be the wrestler I most desperately wanted to work out. He looks like a million bucks and the vignettes about being a psycho convict were really compelling. Maybe he should've been the one in the straitjacket instead of Heidenreich and his skill level could've been hidden in Goldberg-type flash squashes while he kept training.

Good list

It’s a shame Mordecai didn’t work out. I would’ve liked a light foil to the Undertaker.

should have given swagger a hat, he would have liked that hat.

I had forgot about these wrestlers existed??

Chris Masters? From a good back-and-forth PPV match with Shawn Michaels, to having his physique ridiculed by Triple H and JBL for *observing the drug testing rules* in a year?

David Otunga was way better off as Nexus guy

Heidenreich’s best feud was with Alabama Doink

Man I liked jack swagger , I always hoped he would do better because he was a great wrestler. He was fun to use in the video games too

I used to work at a gym that David Otunga was a member of and I’d see him often. He’s a nice guy. Signed my gym bag too.

Nathan Jones was too green in the ring at that time

Jack Swagger was underrated not overrated. I enjoyed his matches, & most of his run with the company.

Love It Wrestlelamia Bro.

For the Mordicai character, I disagree with the reasoning why the character didn't get over. It wasn't lack of skill on the part of the wrester portraying the character, but lack of proper booking to build him up. Another classic case of Vince going too far, too fast and and dropping it too soon. What the Mordicai character needed, and the Thorne character after, was proper booking to both let the wrestler grow into the character, and let the fans have a reason to care. I saw most of his Smackdown matches and he was presenting himself as a credible threat in the ring, so his in ring work wasn't the problem from a fan's standpoint. It was that he wasn't booked in matches or feuds that would actually build up his character in the low and mid cards first, before putting him into the obvious program with the Undertaker 2-3 years later, when his star has had a fair chance to raise or fail. The same thing was done with the Thorne character, book him through the raise too fast, don't book anything to build up the character and then blame him for poor booking and don't fix the core problem. A key thing to look as is many of these guys either were big stars elsewhere before coming to WWE, or went somewhere else after leaving WWE and became big stars later on. That should tell you it's not the guy playing the role but either the role itself or the booking and story writing not building the character up properly before throwing him to the wolves.

Kozlov is a notable omission.

They were ever booked right and they were ever treated right and they never given a chance

Tf everyone on social media complain about Rock but live audience reacts differently. And no it's not piped in noise, genuine people happy for the Rock and Roman Wrestlemania match

Jack Swagger should’ve been booked better. He was legit. A real tough guy. Just needed a character tweak. I remember very LOUD chants of “All American American” and them doing the pledge when he went with Dutch Mantell/Colter. People loved it. He has a successful MMA record. I don’t see how he was a big let down

I wonder why they had years of patience with Roman Reigns, but not with these guys ...

Anyone complaining about Rock don’t know business. They just want their fav mid carder to main event a WM lmao WM is only reserved for Megastars, partimers

I was expecting to see Carrion Cross on the list. WWE has been trying to get him over for at least three or four years and nothing works.

Still can't get over the intro beat to this channel 😅

The All American American gimmick was so ridiculous it was already a parody of Jack Swagger. The “We The People” angle was not well explored with Zeb Coulter. There’s a lot of spots with Russev that were given to Cena instead of Jack.

Mordecai was legit! When he disappeared off tv I wondered about him then a month later… forgot. It would have been crazy if he was still around

They completely failed with Mason Ryan though. Man had 1 match with Dolph Ziggler who sold his moves and made him look like a future star, then Vince never put him on TV after that. The fans actually cared about him. I don't think WWE kept trying, they just didn't do enough with him.

Jack swagger is one of the biggest what ifs

2:46 yethimo

Add LA. Knight to the growing list. Dude has completely lost his momentum Imo

I actually really liked Kevin Thorn. Thought he looked legit in the ring.

i liked heidenreich and "the Freak" lars sullivan... who was also underrated was the fiend...

Hope cody never ends up in a list like this lol

David Otunga was in She Hulk

Thanks , I was trying to forget Heidenreich 😂

Good list. If there was a list of stars I think WWE just failed due to bad handling then it would be Eric Young, Jaxson Ryker and James Storm, Cesaro and Rusev.

Most had no personality and lacked in ring ability plain and simple.

Where is Ryback?

"Dashing", masked, Legacy man, Stardust, American Nightmare Cody Rhodes have the same similarity, they all were played by WWE. Father & Son-in-law. YB surely miss him.

Lars was awesome in NXT but booking was great. He came across like intimidating but still a great match (like a Modern day Kane version). Main roster booking was just poor, he was booked like Giant Gonzalez or Zeus!! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Mordecai vs Undertaker would've been potential dream match for WM

I'll say this, Jack Swagger will be a main event player if he wrestled in the Ruthless Aggression era not the Universe Era.

Jackson Andrews could have been one big monster we missed to experience in wwe 😢😢, there was just one segment wherein he was bodyslammed by Mark. Had wwe introduced him as a part of the main roster, it'd have been fun.

you forgot to add Austin Theory ....LOL

Would’ve loved David Otunga to come good, used to love his theme song

hi

Dwayne whispers in Cody ears then he starting crying a little..I can only imagine he said softly "Get the f out of my ring Stardust"lmfao

I’m surprised they never mentioned either Steve Blackman or Ken Shamrock. Amazing in the ring since they’re legit fighters, but not an ounce of charisma between the both of them.

You probably should’ve called this, 10 potential superstars that Vince ruined with stupid gimmicks or lack of creative to book them right. I guarantee you, if you put any Wrestling fan on creative… They probably could’ve done a better job and made them stars. Vince has his head up his own butt a lot of times… Which makes perfect sense, considering he loves pooping on people. Lol.

Newest example: Cody Rhodes

i remember Kevin Throne barely i was like 7 when i first got in to ECW he was one of my favourites though

Tomko reminded me of Luchasaurus

Jack Swagger had the look, the size, and the wrestling ability to be a star. They should have paired him with a manager from the beginning to do all the talking. Because of his lisp and high pitched voice, fans never took him seriously as a badass. They did pair him up with a manager later on but by then it was too late.

I like the list. I just wished you would’ve added more detail as to why wwe gave up on some of these guys. Primarily there outside the ring issues.

Something many don't know is that Nathan Jones is also one of the biggest 'what-ifs' in strongman history. (Adam Scherr/Braun Strowman too, really) Had MASSIVE potential, but his young career was basically derailed due to a spiral fracture in his right arm during an arm wrestling match. He came back next year, but that was pretty much it.

I forgot all about mason ryan until today

Darren Young, Ryback, Dabbakato can also make the list. Omos also can get added to this list in the future.

Surprised to see Jack Swagger on this list! He was THE MOST OVER superstar in the entire roster during the “we the people” gimmick! I know so many wwe fans who still rock their we the people shirts. The ENTIRE arena used to stand up and scream “we, the people!” When he came out, and it wasn’t regional! I was living on both coasts at the time and saw live shows on each coast and in IL and he got the biggest pop of the night all over the country during that gimmick, when him and Dutch had their face run and the blue we the people shirts. I’m really surprised you don’t remember it! It was genuinely some of the loudest pops I’ve ever heard and fans would loudly sing the song too the way they do with Shinsukes or Famdangos. I’ve been watching wwe since i was 9 years old and if someone asked me for most OVER gimmicks of all time in my era, “we the people” is up there right below Rusev day. Literally EVERYONE had that tshirt with the hand over their heart. Literally everyone. It is highly possible that’s my American perspective as maybe he was only crazy over in America- but at the pay per views back then, how can you ignore 80K people standing and screaming WE THE PEOPLE in unison? I remember the insane pops coming through on tv quite well, and thinking wow he’s so freaking over. Completely agree on the rest of the list though! Would love to see one for female and tag team talent!

My problem with Swagger was that he looked like he should have been teaching me about wild animals and sounded like he should have been talking at me about Magic: the Gathering.

Sometimes the audience is the reason why a gimmick doesn't work. If the first impression doesn't stick than the gimmick is doomed!

Nathan Jones and Malachi for sure I thought they would be BIG 😅😅

Trust me, no one in that company tried to make Mideon a megastar...lol

Yet the more… yet the more they… 😂I thought I was trippin at first.

I only remember like a third of these.