I would like all wrestlers to succeed. Positivity brings positivity, and if you get all doom and gloom, you're going to be a sad pander. Also feels like the word flopped is very subjective here, because really, if you sign a WWE deal, you've made it. Imagine being told that the day after you took your first bump, you'd be over the moon. We, of course, all have expectations, however, and really this video is more about WWE letting good talent down. I am Simon Miller. Ball day hole, let's talk about it. Number

8, Dean Malinko. So this is a perfect example because Dean Malinko was great. Before they put him in

ridiculous matches, you could see it every single week in WCW. If you are looking for a technical

master, you will struggle to

find better. Dean made wrestling look legit, and he kind of made it look terrifying. The issue, though,

is Vince McMahon's WWE didn't care about that. Character and gimmicks were far more important,

so as soon as Malenko signed in 2000, it was only going to be a short while before he got doled up

with some mad idea. And what did we pick? A James Bond gimmick. That's right. To this day, I don't know why. What about the Ice Man Screamed 007? Melinka was also put in the light heavyweight division and even people there at the time will tell you that title was only introduced so that WWF could be like for light with WCW.

The latter's cruiserweight division was half the reason fans wanted to watch the undercard.

It was brilliant.

And as for the World Wrestling Federation version, well, nobody talks about it today.

You can still find gems join Melenko's WWE run because he was that good, but yeah.

These days he would be way higher up the card from in-ring prowess alone. Can you imagine him at AEW? Man was the best. Number seven, Hideo Otami. Or Kenta? And yes, I mean that kenta, we don't even need to argue this one. The man himself has done many an interview saying he didn't enjoy his time in NXT, because WWE didn't use him in the right

way, and essentially sat him down and said, you know all that innovative offense you have,

you're not allowed to use it. What a stupid decision. It was a huge deal, because let us be clear

about this. Kenta changed the game. Half your current favorites borrowed moves from the dude,

and they loved his style so much

they copied him. Nobody was cooler than Kentor in Japan. Somebody put it on a t-shirt.

Therefore, when he did get picked up in 2014, it was a massive deal because it wasn't the usual

move that WWE would make. That's why NXT back then was so awesome. It opened up so many doors.

He had to go through a name change because of course he did and that actually helps now.

Kenta equals great Hideo Otami.

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