Finally reached survivor series 95, and I have to say going back and watching these old shows again the lack of star power is VERY noticeable.
Sure you have Bret, Shawn, Diesel, Razor, Bulldog, Sid a Taker but that's basically it.
Bret spends most of the year wrestling pirates over his jacket for some reason.
Or Evil dentists, and yes I know that evil Dentist becomes Kane, but he's not Kane right now, right now he's a f***ing dentist.
or STILL feuding with Lawler, that's the never ending feud, It's been going since King of the ring 1993, it WILL NOT END..
I knew 1995 was bad but It's worse then I remember.
It's not all bad Diesel has good matches with Bret and Shawn.but this year is HORRENDOUS overall
It's hilarious when you can watch this shit, and the God awful 2010s span, and people will still call Vince a creative genius.
- Babyface Hogan was done in the AWA by Verne Gagne until Vince plucked him from there.
- Steve Austin was The Ringmaster. He has famously said he had to ask Vince to stop editing his promos because he was on the smaller side at that time in wrestling, and was never going to get over if they limited his personality.
- Rocky Maivia... Think we all know how this one went.
- John Cena has spoken before about how WWE almost fired him for doing his own thing until Stephanie heard him rapping on a tour bus and essentially saved his ass from the chopping block.
- CM Punk was ordered to be fired in ECW and had to get over in spite of Vince.
- Daniel Bryan was laughed at when he suggested that he wanted to be the company's next John Cena. He likely would've never gotten over to the degree he did without Punk's walkout, not because Vince saw him as a star.
- Roman Reigns was trash for nearly half a decade. It's previously been said by Moxley that Roman hated stuff such as the infamous "Sufferin' Succotash" line but was forced to say it. He tried diverting from the Shield look by doing stuff like changing up his shoes and was "Corrected" by Vince. We know that Vince conducted business by the house shows, and it's incredibly likely that we never would've gotten Tribal Chief Roman Reigns if not for COVID and the Thunderdome era killing house show business. Essentially, it forced Vince's hand to turn Roman heel and give him and Heyman more power to be himself.
- Cody Rhodes was Stardust. And even then, would he be in the position he's in now if not for the symbolism of stealing one of the competition's founders and putting him on top?
That's a lot of big name WWE stars that either weren't created by Vince or got over
in spite of Vince. The only massive star that really stands out as a "Vince creation" is The Undertaker. And even then that's a one of one performer who could get what otherwise would've been a shitty gimmick over.
... And then you look at all the guys who are 10 times more over now, in just two years without Vince at the helm. Drew, Jey, Gunther, Rhea, LA Knight, Priest, Dom, KO, Sami, etc.