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Inevitable main eventers, over-the-hill veterans, and the other wrestlers you were wrong about!
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00:00On paper, some of these talented souls looked destined for greatness after certain company
00:04moves or character shifts, whereas others were consistently classed as over-the-hill,
00:09poor workers, or just another disrespectful celeb, trying to lazily make some money off
00:14the business at one point or another. For better or worse though, this bunch of wrestling figures
00:18all prove their doubters or supporters entirely wrong further down the road.
00:23Gareth here from WhatCultureWrestling and here are 10 wrestlers you were totally wrong about.
00:2710. Miro Rather than doubling down on the undoubted popularity
00:31Rusev experienced from 2017 to 2018, WWE largely kept the potential main event star away from the
00:38top of the card, and eventually dumped him into a silly love triangle storyline instead.
00:42And that worked out perfectly. So when the performer eventually known as Miro ultimately made his way
00:47over to the land of all elite in September 2020, after being released by WWE earlier that year,
00:52those who cried out to see the big man get an opportunity to show what he was truly capable of
00:56were understandably salivating. And while his initial best man persona didn't exactly get him
01:01off to the best of AEW's stats, his eventual stint as the dominant TNT Championship holding Redeemer
01:06looked to be setting the bulldozer up for bigger things in the future.
01:10Said bigger things didn't actually come to pass however. Instead, Miro has largely gone missing
01:14since losing his belt in September 2021. And with the absent star only wrestling four times in 2022,
01:21along with it recently being said that he turned down an idea that would have led to a full gear match
01:25last year. Those who thought Miro was finally going to get a shot at main event superstardom
01:29as part of the all elite roster are likely feeling a touch underwhelmed at this current moment.
01:33Number nine, Carlito. A debuting Carlito swiftly bested John Cena for the United States Championship
01:39in 2004, with a little help from the face that runs the place's steel chain. In a case of perhaps
01:44peaking a little too soon though, those who justifiably assumed WWE would eventually throw
01:49everything behind the clearly charismatic apple spitting villain were proven wrong as the cool figure never
01:54really topped that initial spell in the spotlight. Despite picking up the odd intercontinental and
01:58world tag team championship, Carlito never fully delivered on the main event potential he showed
02:03flickers of in his battles with Cena and interactions with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and rowdy
02:08Roddy Piper on the grandest stage. Instead, Carlito was often branded as lazy and too nonchalant by folks
02:14backstage, and a wrestler that could have been a top level star of tomorrow ultimately ended up leaving
02:18the company in 2010. Although his virtual crowd popping Royal Rumble 2021 return did at least offer a glimpse of what could have been
02:25had Carlito grown into the main event caliber presence he once threatened to be.
02:29Number eight, Nikki Cross. For a time, the masked superhero persona actually managed to somehow catapult the star formerly known as
02:36Nikki Cross to a Money in the Bank and Raw Women's Championship win, with that admittedly surreal summer of 2021
02:42sitting as the most successful period of the one-time NXT performer's main roster career by far.
02:47Before long though, the blue and yellow gimmick lost much of the super steam it had picked up early on, and Nikki ASH
02:53soon became little more than another 24-7 title jobber depressingly sprinting around arenas.
02:58And it was at this point when some fans began trying to wield the more unhinged Nikki Cross persona that once made her a black and gold hit back into existence.
03:05Far from being the beginning of a long-awaited return to Form 4 cross, however, that eventual reverting back to the character
03:12associated with all things sanity last year arguably made less of an impact than her previous super switch-up.
03:18Hopefully Nikki's return to her crazy ways lead to something more compelling than getting battered by the majority of the division
03:24and stalking Candice LeRae backstage.
03:26Number seven, Logan Paul.
03:28It turns out that Logan Paul is far better at this pro wrestling stuff than anyone could have possibly imagined.
03:33On the back of countless annoying celebrity guests stopping by to lend their star power to the WWE machine,
03:38only to make a mockery of fan favourite performers or the business in general,
03:42the sight of the easily detestable YouTuber strutting down the ramp back on the road to WrestleMania 37 led to many a justifiable eye roll.
03:49Fast forward a year though, and not only had Paul raised the celeb bar recently set by the impressive Bad Bunny and Pat McAfee,
03:55but he'd actually more than proven that he could have a rather successful future as a consistent part of the main roster.
04:01You'd have thunk it, eh?
04:03Those first two decent showings alongside on Versus The Miz were already enough evidence to highlight just how wrong many were about Logan's commitment to the role of part-time attraction,
04:11and ability to actually goo in between the ropes.
04:14His main event battle against Roman Reigns and subsequent jaw-dropping Royal Rumble display though,
04:18they have left a frankly absurd amount of egg on the impulsive ones many doubters astounded faces.
04:24Myself included.
04:25Number 6, Samoa Joe
04:27When it became known that the absolute wrestling legend that is Samoa Joe was officially walking through Tony Khan's All Elite doors,
04:33it's safe to say some mixed feelings were present in those waiting for his incoming debut.
04:38While the Samoan submission machine undoubtedly sat as a talented soul who could offer a great deal behind the scenes,
04:43many felt that Joe's best days in the squared circle were definitely behind him.
04:47And those assumptions were seemingly proven right for a spell, with Joe noticeably not exactly hanging with much of the All Elite roster,
04:54and feeling like a bit of an afterthought despite reigning as the Ring of Honor television champion.
04:58A rather dull pairing with Wardlow soon followed as the mid-card champs fought off Jay Lethal and his goons,
05:03and the sight of Joe eventually picking up the TNT strap felt like another step in the wrong direction for all involved.
05:09This unexpected shift soon set the stage for something of a revival for Joe, however,
05:14with the King of Television soon rediscovering his menacing edge in violent brawls with Darby Allen.
05:19The guy absolutely murdered him, didn't he?
05:21His incoming rematch with Wardlow on the back of mercilessly chopping off the deeply personal locks of his one-time partner
05:26now feels like one of the hottest blow-offs of the year.
05:29And it wouldn't have been possible without a star many once classed as an All Elite signing misstep.
05:345. Ted DiBiase Jr At a glance, the decision to throw Ted DiBiase Jr
05:39and Cody Rhodes into a unit alongside WWE's resident legend killer Randy Orton seemed like a sure-fire way
05:45to groom two potential stars of tomorrow into a pair of main event sensations.
05:49And while Rhodes would ultimately go on to deliver the goods much further down the road,
05:53the son of the legendary Ted DiBiase never quite caught fire in the way many assumed he would do.
05:58He absolutely looked the part, could hold his own in between the ropes,
06:01and was definitely growing more confident as a character on the mic before the aforementioned group's eventual split.
06:07However, when DiBiase Jr was finally given some room to breathe as a solo act,
06:11WWE lazily attempted to simply make him the second coming of the Million Dollar Man.
06:15As expected, that failed miserably.
06:17And on the back of doing very little of note in the years that would follow,
06:20DiBiase Jr eventually decided enough was enough in 2013,
06:23turning down the chance to re-sign with the company after suffering from depression and anxiety.
06:28And just like that, a star many felt had all the makings of another second-generation top-level talent,
06:33would never step in between the WWE ropes ever again.
06:364. John Cena
06:38Throughout much of his time sitting at the top of the WWE mountain,
06:41it wasn't exactly uncommon to hear the deafening sound of thousands of fans reminding John Cena that he most definitely could not wrestle.
06:48And while it's fair to say that the vast majority of standard Cena encounters weren't exactly overflowing with code reds and springboard stunners,
06:55to class the face that runs the place as a performer who couldn't work in between the ropes was about as far from the truth as you could get.
07:01But feeling the need to prove those very much audible doubters wrong,
07:04the second big match John reclaimed the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31,
07:08Cena decided to take things up a notch.
07:10And it was that weekly US title open challenge that soon set the stage for some of the greatest Raw encounters of the 2010s.
07:17Simultaneously, a defiant Cena managed to both make the US title belt one of the most prestigious in the company,
07:23and waved his hand at those infamous you-can't-wrestle chants.
07:263. Karrion Kross
07:28Remember when a solid section of the fandom lost their damn minds over the terrible treatment of then-undefeated NXT Champion Karrion Kross
07:35upon making his rather underwhelming Monday Night Raw debut back in 2021?
07:39Well, if the star's second attempt at a main roster debut is anything to go by,
07:42all the spooky red lighting and fireballs in the world still wouldn't have saved the bringer of Doomsday
07:47from the excruciating sound of apathy that first time around.
07:50Admittedly, the former Black and Gold Monsters second stint in the big leagues likely hasn't been helped by the average fan
07:56taking one look at the floppy-haired nutjob and instantly remembering his disastrous run as the bondage Spartan on Monday night.
08:02But those feeling that life under Papa H's guidance would at least bring with it something resembling a dominant return to form
08:08for Triple H's one-time NXT overlord have been left wondering why they bothered banging the drum for Big Bad Karrion in the first place.
08:14Now there's still time for the game to actually transform the Kross-Scarlet duo into more than a pair of seriously mid-heels to be swatted away
08:21by whatever babyface needs a just-about-notable notch in the W column.
08:25Yet at this current moment, Kross's lackluster comeback can only be defined as forgettable at best.
08:302. The Acclaimed
08:322022 saw The Acclaimed and Derriaz become quite possibly the hottest group on the planet for a spell there.
08:38However, around two years earlier, as Tony Khan himself was quick to note in an exchange with a seemingly frustrated fan,
08:43pointing out how odd it was to see the trustbusters pushed in the main event of Rampage,
08:47some fans weren't exactly doing backflips at the idea of the fresh young team taking up a decent spot on Dynamite.
08:53Sticking with the loudmouth twosome over the next few years through injuries and rather foolish diss-raps,
08:58TK refused to give up on the idea of Castor & Bowens being a set of genuine All Elite stars of the future.
09:04An organic connection with an audience that simply had no choice but to love The Acclaimed,
09:08eventually became so hard to ignore that the AEW president had no choice but to hand the tag title ball to the cheeky duo over an FTR enjoying a career-best 12 months.
09:18Tony clearly saw something special in the charismatic lads from day one, and he's now reaping the rewards for defying those who initially doubted the scissoring squad.
09:261. Kofi Kingston
09:28There was never any question over how talented and entertaining the new days Kofi Kingston unquestionably was and had been throughout his sports entertainment run.
09:36Yet as the years rolled by, many felt that Kingston's time as a potential world champion for the company had come and gone,
09:42with the valiant babyface and equally hysterical heel never quite making that step up to main event level solo star.
09:48That all changed in the lead up to the 35th show of shows though.
09:51On the back of a substitute WWE Championship Elimination Chamber appearance that forced fans to unexpectedly believe,
09:57Kofi Mania soon spread across the land and made the concept of a Kofi Main Event battle with the despicable new Daniel Bryan too glorious to pass up on.
10:05Weeks of leaping and sometimes failing to overcome the obstacles sent his way finally led to Big E and Xavier Woods,
10:11winning Kingston the Mania WWE title chance even his most passionate supporters assumed would never become a reality.
10:17But it did, and one of the most satisfying visuals in the event's history soon graced the grandest stage,
10:22as the long-time bridesmaid finally lifted the big one under the brightest of lights.
10:27And that's our list of any other wrestlers people were totally wrong about.
10:30Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below,
10:32and do not forget to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:36Also, if you like this kind of thing then please head on over to WhatCulture.com
10:39and find some more fantastic articles just like the one this video you're watching right this second is based on.
10:44I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Wrestling, be kind to your good self today,
10:47and hopefully I will see your faces very very soon.
10:50Bye bye!
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