A LOOK AT THE RAW HEELS AND THEIR CHANCES OF MAKING THE WWE HALL OF FAME
By Doug Brown on 3/19/2007 3:10 PM
This is part two of a five part series looking at the members of the Raw, Smackdown, and ECW rosters, and the chances their wrestlers have at making the WWE Hall of Fame someday. Last time, we looked at the babyfaces of Raw. This week, we will take a look at the Raw heels. The title histories are courtesy of
www.wrestling-titles.com.
LOCK:
EDGE
Title History: 2 WWE Titles, 9 WWE Tag Team Titles, 3 World Tag Team Titles, 5 WWE Intercontinental Titles, and 1 WCW United States Title
Summary: As of the present time, Edge is the only heel on Raw whose spot in the Hall of Fame is a sure thing. It is almost forgotten that Edge's big push started because of the controversy involving him stealing Lita away from Matt Hardy. In spite of that, he has proven with his great mic skills, and his in-ring ability, that he belongs in the top heel spot on Raw. His first big push was part of a tag team with current TNA World Champion Christian Cage. Their wars with the Hardys and the Dudleys were Hall of Fame worthy by themselves. Since then, Edge has found singles success. His feud with John Cena was one of the best of last year. At this year's Wrestlemania, he's one of the favorites to win the "Money in the Bank" ladder match for the second time in his career. Another run with the WWE Title is definitely a strong possibility.
LIKELY
THE GREAT KHALI
Title History: none yet
Summary: Khali has been on the main roster for the company for less than a year. Because of his size, there are the obvious limitations as to what he can do in the ring. He has been protected though with his only losses coming to the Undertaker. In fact, I think the Undertaker is the only one to get any significant offense against him thus far. They obviously have plans for Khali, because they wouldn't push him as hard if they didn't. Vince has always been a fan of big guys, which is why think he will make it. The funny part is that as much as the net fans hate his guts, the fans in the arenas have taken a liking to the big guy. They have had to start making him act more heelish by attacking Kane, interfering in the Flair-Carlito match, and squashing Jeff Hardy, in order to start getting booed again. The future is there for the Bombay native. Khali has to decide for himself as to if he wants to be like Andre the Giant and the Big Show, or another Giant Gonzales.
UMAGA
Title History: 1 WWE Intercontinental Title
Summary: The Samoan Bulldozer has taken Raw by storm. Though some of his thunder as the resident monster was stolen by the Great Khali, Umaga has continued to work hard and solidify his spot at the top of the card. He has got a great wrestling heritage in his family tree. Umaga is also strong, and has surprising agility for a big guy. He already has pinfall wins over John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, and Ric Flair. Umaga got very close to winning the WWE Title against Cena at New Year's Revolution and the Royal Rumble. He's still young and learning, but I really like his upside.
RANDY ORTON
Title History: 1 World Heavyweight Title, 1 World Tag Team Title, and 1 WWE Intercontinental Title
Summary: I put him with the heels, though it looks like Orton is getting close to turning babyface again. Orton is a guy that WWE has a lot of high hopes for. He has already had some great matches in his career, the problem is that he has not been doing it consistently. Orton's feuds include Shawn Michaels, Triple H, the Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, and Mick Foley. He beat Chris Benoit to become the youngest World Champion in WWE history. Since then, Orton's career has been a mixed bag of both good and bad. He appears to be heading into a feud with Edge, which is a step in the right direction. I think if Orton keeps his head screwed on straight, and works hard, he could be one of the company's top stars for years to come.
JOHNNY NITRO
Title History: 3 WWE Tag Team Titles and 2 WWE Intercontinental Titles
Summary: I knew from the moment I first saw him on Tough Enough 2 that he had potential. Unfortunately, WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn did not think so and had him cut. Luckily, John Hennigan got another chance with Tough Enough 3, won the competition, got on TV, and transformed into Johnny Nitro. Nitro has shown consistent improvement. A big part of that I think goes to working with the very underrated Joey Mercury as part of MNM. MNM was the dominating tag team on Smackdown before being split up, and Nitro and Melina shipped to Raw. I thought at the time that it was a bad move, but Nitro has excelled on his own. His matches with Jeff Hardy were very good, and so was the feud of their two reunited tag teams. I wanted to echo Buck Woodward's comments regarding Wrestlemania. It is ridiculous that Ashley and Melina have a match on the show, but Nitro, Mercury, Paul London, and Brian Kendrick do not.
TOO SOON TO TELL
KENNY DYKSTRA
Title History: 1 World Tag Team Title
Summary: Dykstra was dragged down initially by being part of the absurd Spirit Squad gimmick. Out of the five, he is probably the only one that will recover from it. They managed one World Tag Team Title reign, but there were several long periods between defenses. Dykstra has been a singles wrestler for a few months now. They started to push him with victories over Ric Flair, but since then he has been looking up at the lights on a more frequent basis. Kenny has skills in the ring and on the mic. With him being only 20 years old, it could be that they don't want to give him too much, too fast. The potential is there though, as the fans of OVW can attest to.
MELINA
Title History: 1 WWE Womens Title
Summary: I place her in this category, because of WWE's lack of pushing very many of its female wrestlers, who don't first get naked in porno mags. I was glad that Melina won the Womens Title, because it keeps the division somewhat fresh. Her matches with Mickie James have been very good. Melina will be put to the ultimate test at Wrestlemania to see if she can carry Ashley Massaro to even a passable match. With Trish Stratus and Lita into retirement and semi-retirement, the division is wide open, and Melina could very well be the one to take charge.
SHELTON BENJAMIN
Title History: 3 WWE Intercontinental Titles and 2 WWE Tag Team Titles
Summary: Benjamin's lack of a push is a mystery to me. I was excited to read here at PWI that the World's Greatest Tag Team was getting back together. However, instead of putting them in the mix with the Hardys and MNM, they are regularly jobbing to the considerably lesser talented Cryme Tyme. Benjamin is a gifted in-ring performer, who knows how to work good matches. He's had them already against Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, John Cena, and Rob Van Dam to name a few. He didn't win very many of those matches, but he kept them very highly competitive, and to me and several other fans proved he belonged in the ring with the company's current elite. I would hope that someone with a wrestler's mentality finds his way onto the Creative Team, and gives him a chance. If Benjamin can get that chance, then I think he could move from "To Soon to Tell" to "Lock."
DOUBTFUL
CHRIS MASTERS
Title History: none yet
Summary: I place Masters in this category, because his chances of being a Hall of Fame caliber wrestler are very slim. Masters has been on the main roster for a while now, but has shown very little improvement. He has the look that Vince likes, but has not shown the in-ring ability or the mic skills to warrant an extended push. One idea might be to find someone to pair up with him as a tag team, say Rob Conway who's been MIA since getting "fired" from Raw. A tag team might be a way to cover up his weaknesses, and showcase his strength.
CHARLIE HAAS
Title History: 3 WWE Tag Team Titles
Summary: TNA's not looking like that bad of an option now is it Charlie? He could have gone there and been at or near the top of the card. Instead, he's barely above jobber status on RAW. It's a shame too. Haas falls into the Chris Benoit mold of being a good wrestler, but not being the most charismatic guy in the world. As I said with Shelton, it is ridiculous that they are not used more. They should be in the midst of a three way feud with the Hardys and MNM, not losing to Cryme Tyme. Last week's burial against Cena and Michaels was just icing on the cake. Maybe a fresh start on Smackdown is in order.
VISCERA
Title History: 1 WWE Tag Team Title and 1 WWE Hardcore Title
Summary: Has a guy his size ever done so many jobs? His one tag team title reign was like two or three days when he and Mo were on a European tour as Men on a Mission. His hardcore title reign was as part of the Hardcore Battle Royal at Wrestlemania, when they had the infamous 24/7 rule. Viscera beat Tazz for the title, but then lost it to Funaki. That is just wrong on so many levels! Since coming back to WWE, Big Vis did get a small push as the "500 pound Love Machine," but that seems to have disappeared. For little while, they teamed him with Val Venis, which seemed like a natural fit, but went nowhere. He formed a heel teem with Charlie Haas that went nowhere. These days he is mostly relegated to Sunday Night Heat on
www.wwe.com.
LANCE CADE AND TREVOR MURDOCH
Title History: 1 World Tag Team Title
Summary: Here is another tag team that has potential, but is being wasted. WWE spent a lot of time on vignettes to build these guys up. They came in, beat the Hurricane and Rosey, and became tag team champions in their first televised match. They lost the titles to division killers, the Big Show and Kane. Since then, the careers for Cade and Murdoch have stalled. They were temporarily broken up in order to try them as singles, but thankfully common sense prevailed, and they were put back together. The West Texas Wrecking Crew (a name I wished they would have kept for more than just one episode) had a chance at Degeneration X, but like all the other teams Michaels and HHH faced, they got buried. They might get another chance, if someone on the creative team would believe in pushing tag teams again. If that day never comes, they'll stay in this category.
VICTORIA:
Title History: 2 WWE Women's Titles
Summary: Victoria is another of the many competitors that I am surprised that they have not done more with. It is due to the McMahon family policy of pushing bra size over talent that will more than likely hold her out of the Hall of Fame. If I were booking Wrestlemania, I would have done a Triple Threat match with Victoria, Mickie James, and Melina rather than giving Ashley a very undeserved title shot. Victoria is one of three ladies that have worked their butts off to keep the womens division from going under. If they don't want to use her as a wrestler, then why not place her as a valet? She could be this generation's Sensational Sherri. To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't asked for a release like Trish, Lita, Ivory, and Molly.
Coming Soon: Column number three will look at the Smackdown babyfaces. Column four will look at the Smackdown heels. Column five will look at the entire ECW Roster.
