Guys who didn't fit in at the time

Bruno on commentary with Vince/Jesse on Superstars in the late 80s. We all know Bruno's legacy in the ring but commentary wasnt his thing.

Alberto Delrio 2015-2016
One of the main heels in the PG Era. I think even by 2014 with the onset of Reality Era he no longer fit in in my eyes. He never was going to come close to a World Title. To me he just felt like character that belonged in the PG Era years.

Batista being this heroic baby face to take down Randy Orton at WM XXX. The match and babyface Batista felt like 2009.

Steve Austin post Invasion Angle. With all these new stars and the change coming to the company I think Austin’s place was definitely lost, and it was time to move on.

Austin was the most over guy on the roster in 2002(aside from Hogans brief buzz which was mega) until his departure. Folks were gasping for him to to win RR02 and when he was eliminated the air got sucked out of the room completely. Crowd was still hot as hell for him after the crap nWo stuff too...they were really into his feud with Flair & UT. 

I fully agree about Austin at the 2002 rumble. No doubt folks were excited about The Game being back, but people clearly wanted Austin to win the Rumble.

A fun "What If" for us to do would be,

What If Vince called an audible during the match and decided Austin was to win

Bob Backlund in the 90s. It still blows my mind that he had the title.

Lots of good picks id say over my choices but for some different ones

Raven wwf 2000

Sandman raw 2007 - like his feud with carlito was so out of place and random

Super crazy singles run 2007 (I liked the mexicools and he always suited smack down imo)

Maskless rey in wcw 2000

Godfather and Val venis 2002

Mark Henry post sexual chocolate/ pre hall of pain (I started to enjoy him around 2005/6)

Here’s one people may not agree but king booker seemed so random, even looking back they really ran with it but the king part seemed so out of place for him
Yet it’s like that’s the gimmick he needed to be top heel??

Warrior's problem is he didn't really want to come back. He came back to do a cross promotion, which is prescient in light of how entertainment gets done today. It's hard to say if he fit in or didn't since he only seemed to want to do a 90 second squash with a once a month 10 minute match. WWF signed him to do a cross promotion but seemed to think that they could convince him along the way to get back on the road. That didn't happen. He quit. WWF buried him. That was that. I'm not sure if he didn't fit in strictly. I don't think that was ever the question one way or the other. He wanted his cake and eat it too

Perfect was gross in 2002. If you haven't, re-watch some of his matches. He could do the whole schtik that people loved but he was visibly unhealthy. He looked bloated, winded up a lot, and was showing his age. I don't think he wrestled for much longer than 5 minutes at any point. Then he died within a year. No way was he going to get pushed. After a month, he was opening matches as Boss Man's tag partner. Nostalgia is cool but it can blind. He was much better in WCW when he wasn't nearly what he used to be. Pretty much what drugs and hard drinking can do to people

Looking good at the Rumble isn't the feat you think it is. Those aren't bump-intensive matches, boil down to a lot of rest spots and punches, and, besides, he had a lot of time off to get back in shape (to the degree that he could). That's very different from touring and having matches 4 days a week, especially if you have a habit, which he did (blow, booze, pain killers).

You're free to victimize him if that makes you feel better. Let's not forget that he appeared live on Nitro absolutely wasted. That he wasn't fired for that says a lot. He was also forced into retirement by the time he was 33. Sure, his bumping played a role. Hard living does too. I don't see a lot of wrestlers leaving at that age unless they had a drug problem. Look at Jake Roberts and how he looked by 35. Same with the Dynamite Kid. Foley was high risk in ways that none of them were, and he lasted longer.

Difference between Flair and Hogan, and Hennig is they drew money. Hate to break it to you but Hennig was never a real draw. He was the worst drawing opponent Hogan ever had from 1984-1992. That's indisputable. Even if you want to blame that on bad timing, that doesn't explain why Hogan drew better against Earthquake, Slaughter, Flair, and Sid Justice. Yes... even Earthquake

You have to think about this from the casual fan POV, which wrestling fans often don't want to do. It's estimated that casuals make up 60% of the audience. What would have casual fans seen in others that they didn't see in Perfect? We can only speculate but I'll give you my view, as I look at wrestling from a casual POV anyway

First, Hennig bumped for every loser on the roster in really stupid ways. I want to say that he once wrestled Sam Houston on Prime Time. He was taking ridiculous bumps, landing on his shoulder as he was holding the rope, only from Houston kicking his hamstring. Over and over again. Ask yourself why would fans think Hennig could pass as a threat to Hulk Hogan? Flair had the same habits sometimes. I think it hurt his run in the WWF when he's struggling against Jim Neidhart while the Undertaker is planting Kerry Von Erich's skull into the mat in 3 minutes tops. Optics matter. Because of how wrestling is structured as a system, you get praised for "putting over" a guy like the Red Rooster who might lose a lot. To casuals, it means you're struggling against an opening act. They don't interpret excessive bumps as "Oh, that Rooster [or Sam Houston] is a tough guy. I wouldn't want to fight him in a bar."

Second, Perfect had really crappy offensives. Just my view. His most devastating move was the snap mare move when he would flip over his opponent and pull their hair doing it. Problem was that that move was a transitional spot into a rest hold. There were no bone-breaking optics to what he did. People didn't think to themselves that the sharpshooter didn't hurt or that the Rude Awakening didn't hurt you. Honky Tonk Man was a known loser but he drew for that reason. He was a comedy wrestler. Perfect's Perfect Plex didn't look like a move that could knock you out. Worse, wrestlers often kicked out of it. I remember Hogan, Warrior, and maybe Texas Tornado kicking out of it.

Perfect did convey toughness but he never really kicked his game up. He was only a few years removed from Paul Orndorff who did convey toughness far better. Perfect did but you need to work matches that correspond to that, instead of engaging in his self-masturbation of bumps that was the wrestling equivalent of over-acting.

TBH, I preferred him when he came back in 1992 since his body was so broken down that he had to get rid of his excessive bumping. Problem was that behind the smoke and mirrors of what he used to do, he worked more like Mr. Good than Mr. Perfect. Look at him against Lex Luger or even against Shawn Michaels, who was a much better worker in every respect. Matches were good. That was about it. Bret Hart always had the best matches with Hennig, and he was a much better worker (1989, 1991, 1993).

By 1997, when he returned again, past the hype by WWF for years that he was some kind of living legend, I can't think of any standout matches he had in WCW. Can you? He was credible because he was a brand. So was the British Bulldog.

I would suggest that you think of 2002 from the lens of investment. You got a guy who's 43 years old, has habits, body broken down, a history of quitting at random points. Then you got - going to think of some names with upsides - Rob Van Dam, Booker T., Kurt Angle, HHH, Jericho, Undertaker (his spot is sealed), Kane (same), Austin, Rock. How would you even be able to push Hennig? Not to mention Lesnar, Cena, Orton coming in that year, so spots have to be kept open for them. You're going to push a 43 year old over guys 10 years younger? A 43 year old who wasn't much of a draw in the first place?

Hennig is like Rob Van Dam and even CM Punk, but inferior to both. They're people who have tremendous hardcore fan support, but they're also guys who don't move casual numbers and aren't going to make new fans. RVD could have, but he has the personality of a plant, so you can't really book him in Wrestlemania season for anything but "Who's better?" dream matches that don't draw money. Casuals get into heat. It takes a certain personality to pull that off, not an athletic, one-dimensional stoner.

Triple H got pushed in the end because he's impressive. When he comes to the ring, casuals pay attention. He's much aligned by wrestling fans for a lot of reasons (some good, a lot bad), but casuals make up the majority audience. It's those people who get Wrestlemania 1.2 million buys when the Rumble (second most popular) get maybe 600k back in those days. Do the math. It's double what every other event is scoring. Not to mention market bidding wars, hotels, a 4 day event between Raw and weekend events, and so on. Without Wrestlemania, I don't think WWE would be where it is. It's the event that impresses suits. I've known people who find wrestling goofy who will attend Wrestlemania because it's that much of a spectacle. That's why HHH gets pushed. Even tough Marines who saw combat look at him in awe wondering how much he presses. Add some alpha points for having married the boss' daughter. Think about it