Underutilized and Underrated: 10 of Wrestling's Biggest Misuses

Andrew Southworth by Correspondent Written on February 13, 2009
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Throughout wrestling history many men have been misused or buried in horrible gimmicks and fueds. I have started a quest to find the ten greatest misuses in wrestling history. A waste of wrestling talent must consist of the following:

- The wrestler never held the organization's top title

- The wrestler possessed the ability to wrestle at a high level

- The wrestler was given a poor gimmick or limited TV time

- The wrestler wasn't given a chance by "The Powers That Be"

Without further ado, here is my list.

10. Billy Kidman

Let me stop you before you even say it. Billy Kidman is not World Champion material. I know you were thinking it.

Billy Kidman possessed one of the greatest set of in ring skills that I have ever seen in over 20 years of watching wrestling. He made his mark in WCW and held the Cruiserweight title on numerous occasions. He was even thrown into a feature feud with Hulk Hogan near the end of WCW's run. While Kidman didnt have great talking skills, his in ring work did all the neccessary talking.

WWE brought Kidman in and once again he was featured as a Cruiserweight. In my opinion, limiting someone who can get in the ring and work with anyone on any night is ridiculous. If you havent already seen Kidman vs. Jamie Noble at Survivor Series 2002, you might wanna go right to that video after finishing this article.

Kidman floundered around the mid card for the majority of his career while other "small" men were at least in the World Title scene. I believe that had he been put into a major series of matches we could be sitting here talking about him as a Hall Of Fame type wrestler. His skills were that good.

9. Shelton Benjamin

Nobody can deny that Benjamin is one of the most enjoyable wrestlers to watch nowadays. The fact that he STILL hasnt won one of the major titles is also hard to deny.

I am by no means calling for him to win the WWE title anytime soon, but how many times can you book him to lose Money In The Bank at WM before people dont even care about the guy? The ECW Title would be a very believable fit for him and prople him into a position where he can be a top guy.

From a pure wrestling standpoint, few are as enjoyable or as good as Benjamin is in the ring. He is one of the only active wrestlers I even considered for this list. If he isnt a World Champion by the time he retires I will have to rethink everything I thought I knew about wrestling.

***In case you havent figured out by now, I dont share with McMahon is his fetish for big men and his belief you have to be a monster to hold the title***

8. Rowdy Roddy Piper

Few men can even hold a candle to the mic skills and the ability to draw that Piper once possessed. Whether you loved him or hated him, you had to tune in and see him. This is why Piper jumps onto the list.

Piper became enormously famous in the 80's when fans loved to hate him. He made a turn to face in the '90s and was as popular as anyone in the WWF at the time. Still to this day I believe it should have been he, and not Randy Savage, who won the title at WM VIII.

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written on February 13, 2009 Rankings/List

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