The Worst Career Moves in History

[sek69]

Dustin Rhodes turns down the chance to return to WWE as a top heel, ends up in another Wrestlecrap-ian TNA gimmick: So WWE was all ready to bring Dustin back as Goldust in the original incarnation as top heel (possibly to be fed to HHH, but still), but he decided to pass on that and sign with TNA where they can't even do a proper Goldust ripoff like they planned because some random indy dude had the name they wanted to use trademarked already.

 

Black Reign Dustin Rhodes? I wonder how soon after the PPV did he call his dad asking if he can rethink his decision. It's a shame, since Dustin is a talented guy who can get over when given a chance, even if the booking isn't helping, but every non-WWE run he's had ends up a disaster.

[Tim Evans]

Samoa Joe not going to the WWE or staying with ROH:

Wasn't he planned to be an Umaga type character? Now all he is is Angle's bitch toy. Especially after tonight's show with Karen Angle. I've seen Obvious but god damn.

[Cox]

Samoa Joe not going to the WWE or staying with ROH:

Wasn't he planned to be an Umaga type character? Now all he is is Angle's bitch toy. Especially after tonight's show with Karen Angle. I've seen Obvious but god damn.

Going to TNA wasn't a great career move for Joe, but going to WWE wouldn't have been much better. I doubt he would have made it out of developmental with his poor body, short stature, and non-existent mic skills, and he wouldn't have been able to portray Umaga nearly as well as Jamal has if he had been brought up. Being Angle's bitch toy is probably a step better than being Aaron "The Idol" Stevens' bitch toy.

[Jingus]

Yeah, I've never understood the "Joe shoulda gone to New York" bandwagon either. He's not a bodybuilder, not a great talker, and not part of the extended Samoan family up there. Why would they have done anything with him?

 

Terry Taylor, Red Rooster:

'Nuff said.

[sek69]

I don't know if it was internet BS or not, but I seem to recall the original plan was to sign Joe in one of those "prove WWE guys are better" deals and have him be jobbed out while in a completely stereotypical gimmick. Joe turned them down, Rosey pushed for WWE to reform 3 Minute Warning, WWE saw how much better Jamal was after being in All Japan, and the rest is history.

[S.L.L.]

Samoa Joe not going to the WWE or staying with ROH:

Wasn't he planned to be an Umaga type character? Now all he is is Angle's bitch toy. Especially after tonight's show with Karen Angle. I've seen Obvious but god damn.

Going to TNA wasn't a great career move for Joe, but going to WWE wouldn't have been much better. I doubt he would have made it out of developmental with his poor body, short stature, and non-existent mic skills, and he wouldn't have been able to portray Umaga nearly as well as Jamal has if he had been brought up. Being Angle's bitch toy is probably a step better than being Aaron "The Idol" Stevens' bitch toy.

 

I dunno, maybe the Umaga gimmick would've been just what the doctor ordered for Joe. Joe's ROH stylings obviously wouldn't have flown in WWE, but he, like Danielson, Homicide, Nigel, et al, strikes me as the kind of indy dude who actually gets wrestling, but struggles between wrestling the match he wants to wrestle and the match he knows he has to wrestle. Maybe putting him in a promotion with actual sane standards for what wrestling is all about would get him out of his current rut.

 

Or maybe he'd just get totally exposed as a big fish in a small pond. Who can be sure?

 

In fairness, Umaga is way better in the wild savage role than I'd imagine Joe would be. If Joe signed with WWE tomorrow, I really don't know what they'd do with him. New Headshrinkers, maybe?

 

Either way, staying in ROH would've been a better career move than Red Roostering himself in TNA.

 

Oh, and incidentally,.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COX!

[S.L.L.]

As for the subject at hand:

 

Jake Roberts being Jake Roberts: One of wrestling's all-time most gifted all-around performers. An amazing talent who rose to the top at a time when his...less than desirable physique would have normally prevented that. But it didn't. What did prevent it, on the other hand, was his discovery that cocaine was a hell of a drug. Hell, it seems like EVERY drug is a hell of a drug to Jake, and it left him a total wreck, completely unemployable on a long-term basis, and left guys like us sitting around, wondering what could've been.

[tomk]

An amazing talent who rose to the top at a time when his...less than desirable physique would have normally prevented that. But it didn't.

So I'm watching a bunch of Mid-South for the Best of 80s deal.

And they're hypeing the Roberts match with Ali in opponents corner.

I remember the story of Roberts supposedly refusing to go down for Ali because "He's here just one time and I need to continue to draw next month"or some such logic. While watching all this I think it's important to note that Jake is son of one of your top matchmaker/backstage guys.

 

I somehow doubt that Nord could get away with refusing to go down for Ali in a program designed for the payoff of Ali knocking out heel.

[Jingus]

Yeah, but Jake and Grizzly HATED each other. Plus iirc Roberts left the company not long after the Ali incident anyway. (And Nord btw was one of the guys taking huge bumps for Ali.)

[Guest teke184]

Yeah, but Jake and Grizzly HATED each other. Plus iirc Roberts left the company not long after the Ali incident anyway. (And Nord btw was one of the guys taking huge bumps for Ali.)

I didn't know that Grizz hated Jake, but I figured he wouldn't exactly be covering for him.

 

The opposite being true is VERY well known, though.

 

 

 

BTW, the funniest Grizz stories I've heard come from the Watts-Cornette 2 shoot and the first DEFINITELY qualifies for this thread...

 

The first was that, when Watts fired Grizz at one point and he went to work in the Mississippi promotion being booked by The Great Mephisto, the matches were so bad that Watts actually paid Grizz, via intermediaries, to stay there because the Grizz-Mephisto program was so bad to watch that it was actively killing Watts' competition.

 

 

 

The second, while not directly attributed to Grizz, certainly seemed up his alley.

 

During the Mid-South and UWF days, Watts used to send one of his right-hand guys to New Orleans a few days before the big shows to prep the Superdome shows before the rest of the crew arrived.

 

Part of the guy's routine was that he'd go through the phone book for escort services and start trying to special-order the girl he wanted.

 

By the end of the UWF days, times were so bad in New Orleans that ALL the escort agencies in the phone book were out of business and some of Watts' crew, including Watts, had to roam around New Orleans looking for a hooker for this guy.

 

Watts sold out to Crockett soon after that, figuring that if no one was giving enough business to the hookers in NEW ORLEANS to keep the agencies open, no one was going to watch wrestling.

[Cox]

Samoa Joe not going to the WWE or staying with ROH:

Wasn't he planned to be an Umaga type character? Now all he is is Angle's bitch toy. Especially after tonight's show with Karen Angle. I've seen Obvious but god damn.

Going to TNA wasn't a great career move for Joe, but going to WWE wouldn't have been much better. I doubt he would have made it out of developmental with his poor body, short stature, and non-existent mic skills, and he wouldn't have been able to portray Umaga nearly as well as Jamal has if he had been brought up. Being Angle's bitch toy is probably a step better than being Aaron "The Idol" Stevens' bitch toy.

 

I dunno, maybe the Umaga gimmick would've been just what the doctor ordered for Joe. Joe's ROH stylings obviously wouldn't have flown in WWE, but he, like Danielson, Homicide, Nigel, et al, strikes me as the kind of indy dude who actually gets wrestling, but struggles between wrestling the match he wants to wrestle and the match he knows he has to wrestle. Maybe putting him in a promotion with actual sane standards for what wrestling is all about would get him out of his current rut.

 

Or maybe he'd just get totally exposed as a big fish in a small pond. Who can be sure?

 

In fairness, Umaga is way better in the wild savage role than I'd imagine Joe would be. If Joe signed with WWE tomorrow, I really don't know what they'd do with him. New Headshrinkers, maybe?

 

Either way, staying in ROH would've been a better career move than Red Roostering himself in TNA.

 

I'm really doubtful as to whether he'd have ever even made it out of OVW. Hell, the only reason Punk made it out was because Heyman got control of ECW and pushed Punk, and before Heyman got ousted, Punk got over, and apparently moves merchandise. I think there would have been too many forces against Joe (height, body, style, being a non-Anoia Samoan, the "indy superstar" tag) to think he would have ever gotten a real shot. Best case scenario, he gets called up for a Gunner Scott push that goes nowhere, and he's putting guys over on Heat until he's being wished all the best in his future endeavors. Is that really much better than TNA? Granted, he's Kurt Angle's Samoan job boy, but still...

 

Oh, and incidentally,.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COX!

Thanks dude!

[Guest KCook]

Joe would be a good fit in ECW as a stooge or as the working half of a tag team with a guy like The Miz.

[Loss]

How about Ric Flair returning to WCW after Bischoff sued him in 1998? Or Lex Luger leaving the WWF with no notice to appear on the first Nitro? In Luger's case, he made a lot of money in the jump, but he's now living in a minister's basement when otherwise he'd probably STILL be getting on and off pushes due to his look.

[Bix]

According to Bischoff (for whatever it's worth...), Luger never made huge money after jumping back.

[Tim Evans]

I think it was a bad career move for Flair to leave WWE in 1993 for WCW. When he left, he became hogan's bitch and he was never the same. He could have stayed in the WWE for at least another year and then retire.

[kjh]

I'm really doubtful as to whether he'd have ever even made it out of OVW. Hell, the only reason Punk made it out was because Heyman got control of ECW and pushed Punk, and before Heyman got ousted, Punk got over, and apparently moves merchandise.

Actually, if Samoa Joe was with WWE a year ago I could really see Heyman making a play for him to be sent to the new ECW and pushing him even harder than he did CM Punk.

[Jingus]

And where is everyone Heyman pushed besides Punk? Vince fell in love with Lashley's shoulder definition and then gradually fired everyone else. RVD, Sabu, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Test, all gone. Pretty much the only ones left are Holly (now injured) and Thorn (now jobbing to Stevie).

[Loss]

All of those names but Test (and maybe Test too, actually) would still be in the company featured semi-prominently if they were healthy, willing and not self destructive.

[kjh]

I'd also add that Heyman was all for the Lashley push. Indeed, he lobbied for Lashley to be sent to ECW and be given the title when it became clear that Big Show was leaving the company.

[Guest *FH*]

Vince fell in love with Lashley's shoulder definition and then gradually fired everyone else. RVD, Sabu, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Test, all gone. Pretty much the only ones left are Holly (now injured) and Thorn (now jobbing to Stevie).

Two guys in that list quit when their contracts ran out, one was fired for being a washed up junkie who blew more spots than he hit, and one was let go because he was a bigger drug addict than the guy who killed his family. It's not like big bad evil Vince sacked everybody who didn't have big traps because OMG VINCE IS GAY FOR HOSSES. Hell, big muscles didn't save Test. Must every post you make be a tired smart mark talking point? How about if you tell us how horrible John Cena is again? That never gets old.

[Jingus]

Must every post you make be a tired smart mark talking point?

Ah yes, referring to someone on a wrestling message board as a smart mark, I feel so deeply insulted.

 

How about if you tell us how horrible John Cena is again? That never gets old.

Like I did in the one thread where we had that argument? Didn't know arguing about something in one thread over the course of a couple of days equals OMG JINGUZ WONT SHUT UP BOUT CENA.

 

But anyway, my point being, almost everyone that Heyman pushed is either gone, or no longer pushed. And CM Punk is the only one who isn't still pushed because someone else in the office is hawt for him. In fact, I'm not sure why Punk is still in the "main event", as he seems to represent everything that Vince hates in a sports entertainment superstar.

[Guest teke184]

Must every post you make be a tired smart mark talking point?

Ah yes, referring to someone on a wrestling message board as a smart mark, I feel so deeply insulted.

 

How about if you tell us how horrible John Cena is again? That never gets old.

Like I did in the one thread where we had that argument? Didn't know arguing about something in one thread over the course of a couple of days equals OMG JINGUZ WONT SHUT UP BOUT CENA.

 

But anyway, my point being, almost everyone that Heyman pushed is either gone, or no longer pushed. And CM Punk is the only one who isn't still pushed because someone else in the office is hawt for him. In fact, I'm not sure why Punk is still in the "main event", as he seems to represent everything that Vince hates in a sports entertainment superstar.

 

It's not just Vince.

 

IIRC, a number of the road-agents and creative team members don't like Punk much, including Arn Anderson and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley-Levesque-Bouvier-Terwilliger-Bouvier-Hutz-McClure.

[Loss]

Punk sure is heavily featured for a guy who everyone supposedly hates. Why does he even have a job if that's the case?

[Guest *FH*]

Punk sure is heavily featured for a guy who everyone supposedly hates. Why does he even have a job if that's the case?

SMART MARK MEMES vs COMMON SENSE: ONLY ONE CAN SURVIVE

[S.L.L.]

Punk sure is heavily featured for a guy who everyone supposedly hates. Why does he even have a job if that's the case?

If they fired him, they couldn't keep burying him. Also, he could jump to TNA or ROH and then they would easily drive Vince out of business, and wrestling would be saved and everyone would celebrate while Punk hung out by a bonfire with the blue ghosts of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Owen Hart. Or something like that.