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The Contentious Ten 02.27.12: Top 10 Characters That Overstayed Their Welcome

February 27, 2012 | Posted by Nick Bazar

Hello, and welcome to The Contentious Ten! My name is Nick Bazar, and I thank you for clicking.

There isn’t much worse in wrestling than when something goes stale, but it keeps getting featured on television. I’m all for trying to salvage a character, but often times, it’s a lost cause. This article looks at those wells in wrestling that ran dry, but continued to be used. Those characters that stuck around way too long, way past their expiration date. And so, the Top Ten Characters That Overstayed Their Welcome…

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Kevin Nashsize=6>

It pains me to say this because I’m a mark for Kevin Nash, but I couldn’t make this list without including his name. Aside from a few intentionally funny moments here and there with TNA and his surprise return to the WWE at last year’s Royal Rumble, Big Sexy hasn’t done much of anything in the past 10 years. Actually, if I’m being completely honest, that number could probably even be stretched out to the past 15 years. I can’t name you a legitimately good match he’s had in the 2000s, a legitimately memorable promo he’s done in the 2000s or even a sign that he’s contributed to a spike in interest in the wrestling product in the 2000s. His peak years in wrestling came in the mid-90s when he led the WWF as its World Champion and then the WCW as 1/3 of the original New World Order. Unfortunately, since then, the product in general could have had him or left him. As evidenced by his latest run with the WWE, it’s pretty clear that the casual fan really doesn’t care about Nash anymore. Again, it sucks to say that, but it’s the truth.

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Steve McMichaelsize=6>

I know that Steve “Mongo” McMichael was only in the industry for a handful of years, but even a one month stint would have been more than enough for the former Chicago Bear. He never fully adjusted himself as a professional wrestler, or even a professional wrestling personality for that matter. That was clearly evident through his commentary, his wrestling ability (or lack thereof) and his promo work. Nothing was going to right his ship in the wrestling industry, not even making him a part of one of the most legendary stables of all time, the Four Horsemen. Just the opposite in fact, as his membership in said stable did nothing but tarnish its legacy. And it’s not like WCW tried to sabotage his career. They threw the United States championship on him, feed him other ex-football players on pay-per-view and gave him a number of feuds that took up TV time. It just never clicked; too bad it took management so long to realize it.

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Billy Gunnsize=6>

At one point in time, Billy Gunn was supposed to be wrestling’s next big star. Instead, he became the guy that just wouldn’t go away. They always seemed to think a singles run would be successful for him, but they were proven wrong each and every time. It failed after his first departure from Degeneration-X in 1999, it failed after he came back as “The One” Billy Gunn in 2000, it failed when returned to the “Mr. Ass” gimmick in 2003, and it failed when he changed his name to Kip James in TNA. Companies just kept trying to shove him down the audience’s throat expecting them to accept him as some kind of superstar, but it just never worked. His best years were always as part of a tag team, whether that was the New Age Outlaws or Billy and Chuck. Anything else was ultimately a waste, and it’s a shame because he had the look and attitude of a wrestling superstar.

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Hornswogglesize=6>

Can you believe that Hornswoggle debuted with the WWE in 2006? We’re going on six years of this nonsense now! Looking back, they probably should’ve done away with the Hornswoggle gimmick when he won the Cruiserweight championship…or way before that. Since he won that title, we’ve had to sit through his custody issues with Finlay, his never-ending feud with Chavo Guerrero, his stint as DX’s sidekick which resulted in the multi-segmented Little People’s Court on Raw and his epic clashes with Teddy Long on Smackdown. Last year, they finally made him talk, and that’s probably only because they had absolutely nowhere else to go with his character. In the beginning, I could see the merit as a short-term gimmick. But now, six years later, it’s just too much. They didn’t even feature the extremely limiting Eugene character for that long, and he could actually have a wrestling match. I get that at some point during Hornswoggle’s run he could be seen as a good merchandising tool for little kids, but you really have to weigh that against how much his constant involvement in major storylines was hurting the product.

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Disco Infernosize=6>

If anyone can possibly comprehend this, Disco Inferno was like a less cool Robbie E. In spite of that, he wound up becoming a member of the New World Order, a two-time WCW Television champion, a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Champion and eventually had a run in TNA as part of Sports Entertainment Xtreme. Can someone please explain to me what kind of redeemable qualities as a professional wrestler this man had that allowed him to have such a prominent role in the wrestling industry for such a long period of time? He was barely average on the mic, a little below average in the ring and his character was mostly for comedy without being all that funny. It makes zero sense to me. Could you imagine if DJ Gabriel had a 5+ year run with the WWE in which he won multiple championships? Well, we probably would’ve had the second coming of Disco Inferno. Luckily for those watching, the WWE was smart enough to realize there wasn’t anything there to promote for an extended period of time.

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Mick Foleysize=6>

Of all the “wrestling icons” that still have semi-regular roles in wrestling companies, I strongly believe that Mick Foley is the least valuable. That may sound harsh, and I don’t know if that comment will get me hate from you guys, but it’s just how I feel. Right now, he’s as out of shape and round as I’ve ever seen him, he doesn’t seem motivated and based on the crowd responses he’s been getting since his return to the WWE, it doesn’t seem like there’s all that much interest in his character anymore. So honestly, what’s the point of continuing to feature him on television? I read somewhere that he feels as though he still has a few matches left in him; I hate to sound so negative, but I really hope his appearance in the Royal Rumble was the last we’ll see from him in the ring. I’m curious though, how do you guys feel about Foley? I haven’t seen any “backlash” necessarily toward his return, but I haven’t seen much praise either. I think whatever he has to offer has grown incredibly stale, and I’m simply not entertained by it at all anymore.

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The Great Khalisize=6>

This one’s easy. When you have a guy as immobile as The Great Khali, but you have the urge to feature him on national television for some reason, you follow the Giant Gonzalez rule. Bring him in for one feud, get it out of your system and move on. Unfortunately for us wrestling fans, that Great Khali band-aide hasn’t been so painlessly removable. Instead of having a one-and-done angle/program, we’ve been treated to a six year long (and counting) run that’s seen Khali win the World Heavyweight Championship, wrestle in prominent Summerslam and Wrestlemania matches and host multiple Kiss Cam segments. The only merit I see in his character is his incredible height and his Indian ethnicity. However, he lacks the charm of Andre the Giant and the athleticism of Big Show. If you’ve seen one Khali match, you’ve seen them all, and they got old after his pay-per-view debut bout against The Undertaker back in 2006.

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Teddy Longsize=6>

I can see how it would be hard to blatantly dislike a guy like Teddy Long, but I don’t know that there’s ever been a man with less talent to hold a position in the WWE for as long as Smackdown’s current General Manager has. Let’s be completely honest here: Long has been in the wrestling business for decades, and he still can’t speak into a microphone without looking awkward or uncomfortable. Hell, half the time, he can’t even step into the ring without looking awkward or uncomfortable. How does a man with such a severe inability hold onto a position in which you’re supposed to be seen as the ultimate authority figure of a major brand for eight years? We’ve seen many, many authority figures come and go in the wrestling business, and it boggles my mind that of all of them, Teddy Long is one of the longest running. John Laurinaitis, for as much crap as he gets, has improved more significantly in the span of a few months than Long has in years.

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Michael Colesize=6>

Like most wrestling fans, I didn’t like Michael Cole when I first saw him as the host of Livewire; I didn’t like him when I saw him as a backstage interviewer; I didn’t like him when he took over for Jim Ross at the announce booth; and I sure as hell didn’t like him when he turned heel and started doing everything in his power to ruin countless episodes of whatever show he was on. He has been shoved down our throats for 15 years now, each coming year worse than the year before it. At first they tried to make us like him. Once they realized he would never replace JR in the minds of fans, they tried to make him the most disliked announcer of all time- and it worked. Too bad that it doesn’t gain any rating points or sell any tickets and pay-per-views to have your lead announcer constantly drag everything through the mud. As a viewer, why in the world would I ever take anything Cole says seriously after the way he’s been presented over the years?

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The nWosize=6>

Talk about milking something dry. When the New World Order was first introduced, it gave wrestling fans fantastic television on a weekly basis. It was cool, edgy and rebellious- everything that era of wrestling fan was looking for. As the months went by, more and more wrestlers were allowed into this once exclusive club known as the nWo. By the following year, there were now two nWos- the nWo Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood. A few months after that, the original nWo was back together and you now had spin-off nWos such as the Latino World Order. Sometime after that, you had nWo 2000 with guys like Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett and The Harris Brothers. In other words, the WCW took a novel concept, drove it into the ground and turned it into the most overplayed, lazy and boring version of itself imaginable. What once won them the battle against the WWF became their kryptonite because they kept reverting back to it over, and over, and over again. It wasn’t cool anymore; it was lame.

To answer those who will inevitably bring up names like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair: I couldn’t bring myself to include those guys because whether you want to admit it or not, fans still respond to them wherever they go. Hogan brought the Bound for Glory and England crowds alive like few in TNA could, and Flair is still golden on the microphone and as a character.

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Nick Bazar

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