Are you feeling the January blues because one of your favorite wrestlers is being misused? Are you glum because Triple H isn’t pushing Cameron Grimes to the moon? Are you constantly tweeting at Tony Khan for not booking Miro to appear on every Dynamite? Are you frustrated because the potential you see in teams like Alpha Academy or all-time greats like The Young Bucks was squandered in 2023? Well, I have a possible cure for you: hope!*
*Warning: Side-effects may include false hope, denial, disappointment, disenfranchisement, the belief you could have booked it better, and ranting on the internet.
But seriously, numerous wrestlers have found ways to ascend the card. Even from complete irrelevance because…
The Wrestling Business is Cyclical
Wrestling personalities, pundits and historians love talking about circles. Wrestling has peaks of success and popularity before plummeting to ridicule and obscurity. Then rises again, only to fall. The same can also be applied to wrestlers. Yet the time and factors that drag and keep them to their lowest points vary.
Like the Wheel of Fortune (the Medieval concept, not the game show), a wrestler can fall only to have their time come back around again. They can come back. Everyone loves a good comeback or ascension story. The following wrestlers provide solid templates for what is possible.
Sometimes Things Clicks
Some events, some actions, or something might cause a change in management’s perception. For many wrestlers, it might be their way to the top of the card. In 1996, Vince McMahon had a moment where he saw the light with one particular wrestler. Ironically, it was when there was a blackout during In Your House: Beware of the Dog. Forced to fight in the dark, McMahon saw the potential in the man who would carry his company to its next commercial peak: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Unfortunately, those lightbulbs don’t go off for every fan favoritevs for varied reasons. The problem is not everyone can be on top, but a wrestler can still find a way to force the spotlight on them.
Jumping Through Hoops with Their Style
Prior to AEW’s existence and a more competitive wrestling market, many wrestlers had to find ways to work within the perimeters and restrictions of the WWE system to ascend the card.
Bryan Danielson is the most notable example. Despite all he had achieved, Danielson was mocked. A “virgin”, a vegan, and worse, a “B+ Player”. Yet, Danielson found ways to jump through the hoops WWE held up to make him appear stupid, and he jumped through so stylishly that fans rallied to him. Flair. The groundwork of the “Yes Movement” came in Danielson’s full embrace of the snivelling heel role during his first World Heavyweight Championship reign. It made him undeniable and forced management to put him in a Wrestlemania main event.
Parallels with two other former Indy darlings, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, are clear. Although they remain with WWE, both transcended dire, embarrassing skits and matches. Like Danielson, they both carved out niches for themselves. They became the ultimate utility players and fan-favorites, and they also got them to main event night one of WrestleMania 39.
But if they had wanted more autonomy, the Indies are still the perfect sounding board to try something new.
From Fed Geeks to Indy Gods
Those newly free WWE releases enter an independent scene past its boom period, yet they’ll find a fertile ground to grow in even if they were chewed up and reduced to “jobber” status. They can still come back.
WWE punished Zack Ryder for getting over himself using YouTube and the internet. Ryder’s character was pushed off stage in a wheelchair. It wasn’t the push fans wanted but a suitable metaphor that said Ryder could never be a main event prospect. As Matt Cardona, there is no machine to infer with his vision. Cardona’s transformation to Death Match King and Indy God showed talent can rise above a company. It also proves you do not need to be in a “top company” to earn big money and have creative satisfaction.
If a wrestler wants to go into “the big leagues”, they can use the indies to refine themselves. Drew McIntyre found the skills and presence he lacked to fill his 6-foot-4 frame during his first WWE run. Becoming a flagbearer for other companies like ICW and Impact Wrestling allowed him to be the flagbearer for WWE through the Pandemic.
But then, there are wrestlers in indies who can find a way to reinvent themselves into a major league character.
Experimenting with Yourself
In February 2005, a wrestler debuted for Chikara, who would go on to be one of the most divisive polarising figures in wrestling: Fire Ant! Well, that was his original gimmick. In the comedy meets lucha libra promotion, this wrestler found success. Yet an ant-themed wrestler, like some novelty gimmicks, has a low (anthill-sized) ceiling.
Even when they took off the mask and adapted their current new persona, it still took time and experimentation to gain traction. Some fans predicted the ceiling of this new guise would be as high as a bungalow. However, something about it touched the zeitgeist. Now, ironically, Orange Cassidy is one of AEW’s workhorses at age 39.
Old standards of wrestling would suggest Cassidy is way too old. Yet one wrestler closer to retirement age has achieved similar success. Not Sting.
Pierre Carl Ouellet is the former Quebecer and pirate from WWE’s New Generation. Unretiring in 2016, PCO (Perfect Creation One) transformed into a gimmick monster. A powerhouse, pain-eating and pain-inflicting Frankenstein’s Monster. PCO became one of the indie scene’s hottest stars who went on to work for ROH and Impact.
And other older wrestlers have proved what’s old can be new again.
Memphis Heat
No matter how good a wrestler is in mechanical and story-building, sometimes reputation, bad timing, and politics have mired fair discussion of wrestling. Jeff Jarrett and controversial politics go hand-in-hand. Two walkouts in WWE, “broke a thousand guitars, and never drew a dime (Mike Graham) in the dying days of WCW, which he repeated by booking himself as the world champion of his company, TNA Wrestling. If someone said Double J would show up in AEW in 2022, I would have laughed.
If someone who has said his matches and Memphis-style philosophy would have made him an entertaining heel challenger for various babyface champions, I would assume you’re mad. And yet, Jarrett’s booking, playing on his politicking reputation, has allowed me and other fans to invest that he might get his hands on a championship. Old-school wrestling magic.
It shows sometimes you need to go away long enough to be missed. Or become someone else.
Whole New Personality
There are, at times, wrestlers who push the envelope of what a pro wrestling character can do. They don’t convince or cater for everyone’s taste, but they can capture the imagination and gain at least cult followers.
Becoming “Broken” Matt Hardy angered some, yet it drew more eyes onto Impact. Doesn’t society like watching the breakdown of a public figure? Developing an outlandish accent and creating an extended universe and lore like the MCU kept fans’ attention. Hardy’s pioneering (for better or worse) cinematic match before the pandemic is one fingerprint he will leave on the business.
Yet, circling back to where we started, management sometimes sees or agrees with the direction. Bray Wyatt’s creativity reinvigorates him as a sinister Mr Rogers’. A persona that generated money (some people did buy those custom Fiend belts). Bray came back again after The Fiend was burned and neutered. To reinvent himself a third time and gain traction showed the genius and resilience of the man. What could have been? What could be for many wrestlers this year?
More LWOS Pro Wrestling
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