10 Pro Wrestlers Who Were Not Superstars (in the United States) Who Could Have Been







Alex "The Pug" Pourteau

Sometimes in life, in order to be successful, you have to be patient. You can't sit around forever waiting for something to happen, but things don't happen over night either. Being impatient, is one of the things that hampered the career of Alex Pourteau. Antsy feet, and the grass always being greener on the other side, Pourteau jumped from federation to federation throughout the late 80's into mid 90's. He was with WCCW in 1988, USWA in 1989 and WCW in 1990. By the time he began to settle down a little bit, he was having a fairly successful career in GWF that lasted from 1991-1994, but unfortunately for him and the other GWF workers, the company lost their television contract with ESPN, and the company soon folded.


Pourteau ended up in the WWE from 1996-1997, and was doomed from the very beginning. For one, he was trying to portray an All American, honest, good sportsmanship displaying "Bob Backlund" type character, during a time when the fans were craving a foul mouthed, screw authority, break the rules bad ass of Stone Cold Steve Austin.  It didn't help being named after a small, relatively harmless dog known best for breathing problems either.  To top it off, Pourteau, who was an average, never qualified for state high school wrestler, was trying to pull off as if he were a former amateur champion of Olympic caliber. It might have worked 10-15 years prior before the internet, but in 1997 fans could look up his history, find out that he had a 500 career record in high school and call b.s. on his credibility.

It's really a shame too, because Pourteau was an excellent professional wrestler. His technical expertise reminded me a lot of a young Bret Hart. He was a true technician in the ring. He also has the ability to hit high flying maneuvers and he had a tremendous build and physique. He wasn't particularly exceptional on the mic, but he was good enough to pass.  I really think if he had been a tad more patient before coming to WWE, allowed himself to develop more of a character, and then been given something better to try than the failed "The Pug" gimmick he was given, that he could have been an upper mid-carder.  



Tom Brandi



 

 

Sometimes people make decisions in life, that at least on the surface, make little to no sense. If I had to sum up why Tom Brandi isn't a more well known name in the world of professional wrestling, I would say it was because of a bizarre choice he made in 1998. In the mid 90's Brandi entered the WWE under the gimmick of Salvatore Sincere an Italian con-artist of sorts who pretended to be everyone's friend, only to stab them in the back at the end. The character was not over and he was nothing more than enhancement talent for the other superstars. Fellow worker, Marc Mero saw something in Brandi and under his suggestion, began a feud with Brandi which would turn him face and have him drop the Sincere gimmick to work under his real name instead. Feuding with Mero, the fans began to get behind Brandi as he changed his look to an appealing ring attire of black trunks, black elbow pads, black knee pads and black boots with the Italian flag printed on them. As he began to gain momentum and show that he had the ability to be much more than a jobber, he made the sudden, unexpected decision to leave the WWE. Without context as to why he made this decision, it seems very nonsensical and even downright dumb.  He spent two years in the WWE without even the slightest hint that he might move up the ladder and then as soon as he gets his first break, he vanishes. I've never been able to make sense of it.

As of today, Brandi works the independents under his real name and as Sincere.  He also began using Del Wilkes's The Patriot gimmick, without Wilkes's permission, even though he claimed for a while that he did have Wilkes's blessing.  I think the two have since communicated about it and Brandi is no longer using the gimmick.

Scott Putski

 

 

When you love being a part of something so much and you have a true passion for it, it's sometimes hard to related to those who don't. And that may be why some had or still have a hard time trying to relate to Scott Putski. The son of WWE legend, Ivan Putski, Putski was a standout football player for Texas Christian University, who found himself in the world of professional wrestling shortly after graduation.  He spent two years in the GWF and then was immediately shoved into the spotlight upon entering the WWE in 1993. Part of the reason Putski did not succeed in the WWE, was because he was not given the proper amount of time to develop his in and out of the ring skills and talents. He was too green and to inexperienced for the opportunities that he was given.

Putski no doubt had an appreciation for professional wrestling, but he also wanted to know what life was like outside of professional wrestling. Having grown up in and around it his whole life, he wanted to see what else besides professional wrestling had to offer. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it does help to explain why Putski never became the superstar he could have been. After leaving the WWE in 1997, Putski had a very short WCW career and then dabbled around in the independents for a while before calling it quits in 2003. In 2013, Putski got an itch to get back into the ring and has been performing in independent shows ever since.



Shawn Stasiak



Similar circumstances to Putski, Stasiak entered the world of professional wrestling immediately after a successful career as a amateur wrestler at Boise State University where he was a two time PAC-10 conference finalist. One of the major problems with Stasiak's career not being as successful as what it should have been, was that his last name (his father Stan Stasiak was a former WWE champion) got him into positions far sooner than it should have. Much like Putski, he was too inexperienced for the opportunities he was given.  His first stint in the WWE from 1999-2000, didn't fair the best so he left for WCW. As he was beginning to come into his own and start having success little by little, WCW was bought out by the WWE and rather than be one of the former WCW guys that got shoved under the rug, he decided to call it quits on his professional wrestling career.

As of today, Stasiak is a successful chiropractor and motivational speaker.

 

Hakushi

Originally this blog was titled, "10 Pro Wrestlers Who Were Not Superstars Who Could Have Been" but when I added Hakushi to the list, I realized that I had to put in the stipulation of "in the United States" in order to be fair. Hakushi was and matter of fact still is a legend over in Japan. The Japanese fans are lucky to be graced with someone as talented and gifted as Hakushi is in the ring and American fans ought to be jealous. We only got to see him for a few short years in America, as he performed in the WWE from 1994-1996 and had an extremely short stint in ECW thereafter. While in WWE, Hakushi had some of the most exciting and entertaining matches with the 1-2-3 Kid  and Bret Hart. I've never seen a Hakushi match where I wasn't vastly glued to my seat, with my eyes glued to the screen.

I would imagine that Hakushi left the WWE, because he was probably never going to get the push to intercontinental champion that he deserved for two reasons. A, professional wrestling at that time in the United States was still a big man's game. A mediocre big man had a far greater chance of getting success, than did a superbly talented small man like Hakushi. It's also noted the WWE has never given much to their Asian superstars with exception of course to Yokozuna, who was actually Samoan.

Duke "The Dumpster" Droese

Sometimes if you want to be successful at something, you have to be 100% into it and make it your whole life. Duke Droese enjoyed professional wrestling, but not enough to make it his whole life and that's why his career never flourished the way it could have. From 1994-1996, Droese worked for the WWE but became homesick and tired of being on the road as much as he was and he decided to call it quits. He went into McMahon's office, had a conversation with him and explained to McMahon that he wasn't cut out for this life style. McMahon released him from his contract and he gave up the life of glamor for a much simpler life teaching special education in Tennessee.

Ludvig Borga

There's one reason and one reason only Ludvig Borga didn't make it bigger in the WWE, and that was because he was an all and all out prick. He was a very angry, pessimistic, negative man that was rather difficult to get along with. Few people liked him. No one ever said you have to be a nice person to be successful though and regardless of his poor attitude, his size and talent helped him to get fairly far in the WWE. If it had not been for an ankle injury he sustained in a match against Rick Steiner, he would have eventually been given the intercontinental title and a main event status push.  Had he have had a better attitude and been better liked, I believe WWE would have simply waited for his injury to heal and went ahead with their plans. Yet, I think they realized as he was laid up, that they could instead go in a different direction with individuals who were easier to deal with.

Upon getting out of pro wrestling, Borga found out that he's not nearly as tough as he thought he was, when he stepped into the Octagon and has his butt handed to him by Randy Courture.  After his short stint in MMA, he decided to get into politics where he could bully people around verbally with his racist, sexist and homophobic remarks.

When he passed away in 2010, the general consensus was good riddance.

Mr. Hughes

 

 

 

The real life cousin of Dudley Boys' D'von, Mr. Hughes in many ways was his own worst enemy. Sometimes in life we have to wait our turn. He didn't want to wait his turn, he wanted to be on top and he wanted to be on top right now.  As a result both his WCW and WWE runs were relatively short. Rumor has it, that he didn't want to do jobs for anyone and when he would lose it was almost always by count-out or disqualification as he blatantly refused to lose by fall or submission. One of the main reasons he didn't get opportunities to be in more marquee matches was because he thought he should be winning all of the matches and be the top heel in the company. It's a shame that he had the attitude he did, because he had one Hell of a character and he was a good in ring worker. It's even more of a shame that he burned the bridges he did, because he's lost weight, and he's gotten a lot better in the ring. He's quicker and he's in better shape, than he was 20 years ago. Not many can say that.




Erik Watts

Sometimes in life you can almost have too much going for you. Watts, a stand out wrestler and football player in high school, who was a star quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals in college, was also the son of professional wrestling promoter Bill Watts. Encouraged by his father and treated like he was a huge deal, Watts felt he was a huge deal, and acted like he was a huge deal way, way before he was. In the long run, it was unfair to Watts in many ways because he was an extremely talented kid, who simply needed someone to sit him down and give him a little guidance. He needed to be set straight about the business, but instead was given breaks throughout his WCW career from 1992-1994 because of his Dad's position of power.

When Watts left for the WWE, I was hoping that he'd have an opportunity to showcase that he could make it on his own without the aid of his father. Thrown into what could have been a successful tag team with Chad Fortune, Techno Team 2000, Watts was unable to adjust to an environment where he was not treated like a big deal. The team only lasted for less than two years.

His career from that point on was lackluster. Short stints in WCW, ECW and most recently TNA from 2002-2005 revealed a person who seemed bitter and frustrated that he was near the end of his run and that he had not made it bigger and further than what he did. We all look back at our lives and have moments where we realize we could have made better decisions. Had Watts made better decisions, and had he have had some guidance I think he could have been one of WCW's top guys. He simply needed time to adjust and develop and he was never given that time. It's no wonder things turned out the way they did.



Evan Karagias





Not everything in life is up to you. There are times when other people make decisions that effect your life. Not everything is in your control. WWE really missed the boat, when they didn't utilize Evan Karagias the way they could have. The way they should have.

I was a huge Evan Karagias fan. Towards the end of WCW, he was my favorite superstar. A former state champion high school wrestler, who wrestled for North Carolina State while getting a degree in theatre, I had a lot in common with Karagias. I felt that he was much better than the three count gimmick that he was being stuck with.

When he went into the WWE, upon the closing of WCW,I was hoping that WWE would realize that they had the next Shawn Michaels on their hands, and I was hoping that they would capitalize on it. Instead, they barely used Karagias and he ended up having a severe concussion that more or less ended his career.

This was a guy, that with the right backing and the right people believing in him, could have been a major star.

As of today, Karagias makes a living as a tax consultant.