If you didn't read yesterdays blog I suggest you do as it explains the reason behind this one. So yesterday I did the would of and know it's time for the should of. Will try to keep each entry brief as I have a long list.
Kofi Kingston-WWE (late 2009)
Kofi spent most of 09 working in the mid card however that would all change when we went to Bragging Rights. During the Iron Man match between Randy Orton and John Cena the team of Legacy interfered and to everyone's surprise Kofi came to the rescue. This would lead to a feud between Kofi and Orton which was done really well at first, they played out a great story and had great moments, Kofi saving Roddy Piper at Madison Square Garden by attacking Orton was a fantastic moment. The 2 would face off in teams at Survivor Series with Kofi winning by pinning CM Punk and then hitting his Trouble in Paradise seconds later on Orton leading to a win and Kofi being the sole survivor of his team. Kofi looked great and looked like he was going to go on to bigger things however it didn't happen. Numerous one on one matches saw Orton always on the winning end and it in essence killed his push. By the time he was in the Elimination Chamber title match he would get very little reaction, he was one of the most over guys just months before. He was moved to Smackdown soon at Mania and was stuck in opening matches which worked out fine as he is a great worker and in all honesty the move has helped him rekindle the relationship he had with the crowd. We're pretty lucky that he's still pretty young in his career and he could very well get a push in the near future however it should of happened at the end of 09. Kofi is a key choice for winner when it comes to the Money in the Bank match and he has to be the pick for the next match whenever that is.
Jay Lethal-TNA (2010)
When Jay Lethal dropped the Black Machismo gimmick it could of lead on to great things. Jay has been one of the most over guys in TNA for ages now and he has constantly put on one of the best matches whenever he's on. In my view TNA missed out after Jay did the classic 'Ric Flair' promo on Impact, which was probably the best thing TNA put on it's TV in terms of interviews. What we should of seen was Jay go over Flair and use that to move away from the X-Division towards the World title, with former X champs like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe winning the belt and others like Kaz and Daniels being top contenders from time to time it wasn't out the realm of possibility to see Lethal in the title picture. I think one of the biggest things that the push would of achieved would be that it would separate the product from WWE, a main event title match pitting AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal would be something WWE couldn't do and it would of been a truly awesome match. Sadly Jay was thrown back in the X-Division and the World title began to revolve around former WWE guys which was a horrible decision. In my view Lethal has all the qualities to be a main eventer, very much like AJ Styles his ring work does most of the speaking and that what the fans ultimately love.
Monty Brown-TNA
During Monty Brown's run in TNA he would get several chances at the NWA World title but he never won it. The first reason was that he wasn't the best babyface, he could cut great promos and he was over with the crowd however he is such a big guy that he's hard to accept as a babyface, very similar to how Abyss is hard to accept as a face and is better as a heel. So when Brown turned heel it was a relief and he would still get chances at the world title from time to time. The biggest chance he had to gain the title would be when Christian Cage was NWA Champion, the 2 could put on a good match and Cage was the most over babyface. However there was a problem Jeff Jarrett. While Jeff was still in the ring no other heel would be champion. Monty had everything, a great look, personality and could put on some solid matches. However Monty must of known that he was never going to be a main event champion so he left TNA for WWE and now he's out of wrestling completely. In my view TNA missed out on a great champion.
John Morrison-WWE
There are 2 times that WWE should of got behind Morrison and pushed him towards a World title reign. The first came when CM Punk was World champion on Smackdown, the 2 had several matches on the show with Morrison winning nearly all of them. At the time Punk was becoming a heel and his feud with Jeff Hardy was up in the air and WWE was not sure if he was going to stay in the company. Still they gave Hardy the title and a match with Morrison on Smackdown for the title in a awesome match. I should also point out that earlier in the year Morrison had faced of with Edge when he was champ and they put on a great match. Morrison had put on great match after great match and was one of the most over guys on the show, however the best he would get was the right to end Rey Mysterio's Intercontinental title reign and he was back in the mid card.
The second opportunity came just a month ago. He was put in a program with 2 time WWE champion Sheamus, the 2 had 3 matches with Morrison winning the first at Survivor Series. Sheamus winning the King of the Ring by beating Morrison in the finals and then Morrison beating Sheamus in a ladder match to become no.1 contender to the WWE title. All 3 matches were great and Morrison looked stronger then ever by beating the former 2 time champ. However instead of giving him the match at the Royal Rumble pay per view he had his match against the Miz on Raw. Although it was a great match it was another lose. Since then WWE went back to focus on Orton and Miz and Morrison was forgotten about once again.
Although people say he isn't the best as a babyface, I prefer him as a heel, he is still great at what he does and more to the point he is over with the crowd. What is more important is that he is a fresh face for the main event spot, with Miz now being the main heel on Raw Morrison could be his counter part replacing Orton who hasn't taken to the role and Cena who is constantly getting mixed reactions and has been for years. Jim Ross has said that Morrison reminds him of a young Shawn Michaels which could be a sign of how good he could be in the main event.
KENTA-Ring of Honor (2007)
What can you say about KENTA apart from how has he not been a World champion yet? I could go on about Pro Wrestling NOAH but I don't watch it but I do watch ROH.
In 2006 KENTA became a regular for the company and in a short period of time he would become one of the main stars, constantly putting on the match of the night and the faces loved him. He would receive a World title shot against Bryan Danielson at Glory by Honor in a match you just have to see, it's hard to believe that Bryan came in injured. But that's not when he should of got a push, that would happen in 2007. With Homicide as champion and being forced out as he was in TNA they needed the belt off him and as a result Takeshi Morishima won the title. Now this was shocking mainly because this was Morishima's second match in ROH and the first was a lost to Samoa Joe the night before. Now I get where Gabe was coming from, he wanted a international wrestler to be champion to show that the belt really does go to the best in the world, and to Morishima's credit he did a great job. However if he wanted a Japanese star to be champion they should of gone with KENTA. He actually had a track record with the company and many of the fans wanted to see him as champion. The main problem was that he wasn't in America all the time but that didn't stop the belt going onto Morishima. KENTA is one of the best in the world and deserves a reign as world champion in one company or another.
Kazarian-TNA (2008)
The push began from out of no where really. After the awful Serotonin group, which Kaz was apart of, was ended it was Kaz who was the shining star having beaten Raven, Matt Bently and Johnny Devine (the other members) and looked great doing it. Then he was entered into a tournament to name the new No.1 contender to the world title which saw him in the finals against Christian Cage, who was a former 2 time World champion at this point. It was an awesome ladder match which saw Kaz win in a huge surprise. Soon after he would get his shot against Kurt Angle on impact in a blinder which should of been on Pay Pay View! After Kurt lost the title to Samoa Joe Kaz was chosen to replace an injured Angle at the next Pay Per View in the triple threat title match also including Scott Steiner. He would soon be given another one on one shot this time against Joe, the match was awesome again and Kaz looked great even in defeat like he did with Angle. But nothing would happen afterwards Kaz would go back to the X-Division and that was it. It's sad as he, like I mentioned with Jay Lethal, had that AJ Styles thing about him were you accept him being in the main event even though he was a X-Division wrestler. I think he could of been a great champion but it would now be some time before him being in the main event can happen again as TNA would need to great rid of a lot of their former WWE guys to make room for a fresh face.
Diamond Dallas Page-WCW (1997-1998)
DDP is the only one on this list who would actually get a push to the main event spot and become World champion however in my view that should of happened a year or two before it did.
While the NWO were running wild and with Hogan having a death grip on the title WCW needed a babyface who was to be seen as a saviour. Only a few would never be apart of the NWO group and DDP was one of them, while he feuded with Randy Savage which was main events of PPV's which Hogan wasn't on (he must of been the only world champion who wasn't on PPV's all the time) he was one of if not the most over guys in the company. Now although WCW had plains for Sting to come back in December of 97 to win the title it still left a year plus with Hogan as champion. At this time, in my view, it was perfect for DDP to become champion. He could of faced off with other NWO members while defending the belt, they could of still built the Hogan-Sting match and if they really wanted to they could of had Hogan beat DDP months before to make the match a title match. Even in 1998 DDP was still the most over however the rise of Goldberg stopped any chance at a title run but they did have a great match at Halloween Havoc. When DDP finally won the title he was a heel, he played the role well, however he had to deal with WCW's management. He ended up losing the title to Sting and winning it back on the same night and then losing it to Nash at the PPV after he won it. After that he was out of the title picture until 2000 when he was champ for a year. DDP should of been one of WCW's megastars and although he is seen that way those who look at the programs in was in showed that he was a high mid card guy at best which is a big shame for someone so talented.
Scott Hall-WWE & WCW
When you come up with a list of guys who should of been world champion you'll likely see Scott Hall on that list. When he turned babyface in WWE it was nothing but up for his career, becoming one of the most over guys and most recognisable faces in the company. He would rule the intercontinental title picture winning the belt 4 times at a time when wrestlers struggled to get a 2nd reign. But you can argue that he should of been in the world title picture instead. When you look at the fact that Lex Luger got the major push in 93 heading towards Mania of next year, Scott would say that should of been his (which was brought up by Raven in his Guest Booker DVD). After that push failed Scott wasn't looked at when it came to future pushes, he would leave the company in 96.
When he arrived in WCW he became one of the headline acts with the NWO. However he was restricted by the fact he was stuck with Hogan who had to be the World champion. If Scott had a chance it would be in 98 when Sting was champion. Scott had won the World Wars 3 60 Man Battle Royal to earn a title shot which he would get against Sting at Uncensored. The match was pretty good and showed he could of been a main eventer however the problem is that if a heel was going to be champion it had to be Hogan which was annoying (it became obvious when Hogan beat Savage for the title 24 hours after he won it). After that Scott's demons would get the better of him and he would not be consist, coming for a few months at a time. He would receive one more title shot at Superbrawl 2000 in a Triple Threat but he wouldn't win and would soon be gone.
Many believe that if Scott had controlled his demons he could of very well have been a world champion. He was a great worker, great on the mic and was always entertaining. We can only guess of what could have been if he had stayed in WWE or if he hadn't of got so bad with his problems.
Owen Hart-WWE
One of the greatest wrestlers there has ever been. People have even said that he was better in the ring then his brother Bret, which is no small feat. Owen's heel run for the WWE title against Bret in 94 was one of the best programs ever, the in ring matches were amazing and the twists and turns of the story were even better. Of course Owen wouldn't win but it should set him up to be a main guy in the company. He would be stuck in the high mid card area for a long time even earning the Intercontinental title while tag champ with the British Bulldog. He would be involved in a storyline with Steve Austin that would ultimately push Austin to the next level and not Owen.
After the infamous Survivor Series screw job Owen was the only Hart left, this was a perfect chance to push him to the next level. A feud with the Shawn Michaels who was in the ring when his brother got screwed pretty much wrote itself but WWE didn't do it. Instead we got Owen being put with the Nation of Domination and later Jeff Jarrett. Owen would sadly die at the Over the Edge PPV of 99. Owen was one of the finest workers there has ever been and in my view he should of been World champion before he died. And when you consider the fact that Steve Austin was World champion in 98 and the 2 had history they could of easily have had a program for the title. Instead he was stuck in the mid card. The only thing we can hope for is that Owen will one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame as he deserves is.
So there you have it, a little list of guys I think should of been given a push. Again if you're reading this would like to say thank you and please let me know what you think.
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