10 Incredible Wrestlers Fans WROTE-OFF Before They Were Famous
Imagine calling a future 3-time WWE World Champ "future jobber". Eek!
Every wrestling fan has been guilty of this at some point.
Hell, the guy putting this article together has written off more wrestlers than he'd care to count since becoming a fan as a wide-eyed young kid. 'Why are they persevering with THAT worker instead of MY favourite?', 'That wrestler will never be a big deal so they should just cut their losses', 'Wrestler A doesn't have the star quality they're looking for' etc etc. It tends to happen because (shock and indeed horror) everybody has an off day here or there, especially nearer the beginning of their careers.
Writing them off for that is silly, but it happens and we all do it. Then, the doubters look at one another awkwardly when those "future jobbers" go on to become World Champions, WrestleMania headliners and some of the biggest names in the entire industry. Or, if you're willing, you'll stick a hand in the air and admit you got it wrong. Eating humble pie 'cause somebody improved and is doing well? Yeah, that's a strangely nice feeling.
It's easy to judge workers quickly though. Young stars trying to make their way in one of the most ultra-competitive (and at times fickle) professions going deserve a little more patience on their road to becoming WWE megastars. That comes in short supply amongst hardcore fans who have watched countless hours of this stuff and have a pretty good grasp on where things are going.
"A pretty good grasp", but not a definitive one. If everyone did, then these guys wouldn't have become hits!
10. Dominik Mysterio
'Dirty Dom' is a wonderful heel. He exhibits all the cocksure smart-arsery one could want from a smug little coward who lies through his front teeth but somehow comes up shining despite it. WWE know when to give Mysterio Jr Jr his comeuppance though, that's worth saying. His win/loss record isn't actually that sparkling, and nor should it be. Win or lose, wrestling fans gave Dominik a rough time of it when he was first breaking in.
Go back through old social media posts from the mega-weird ThunderDome days of 2020 and you'll see patience wearing thin with young Dom almost immediately as he lived out a fantasy of teaming with his famous father in tag bouts on television. In reality, Dominik was giving his all and learning from daddy dearest. To fans, he was the latest nepo baby who didn't deserve to be charging out in front of literally hundreds of hardworking indy or NXT stars propping up the rear.
That harsh gaze wasn't fair in 2020, but things have been smoothed out five years on.
Today, Mysterio is considered to be one of the best blossoming heels on Raw. His work alongside Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan in respective Judgment Day incarnations has been stunning, and there was a period when Dom Dom got some of the most searing heat in the biz - the man could barely raise a mic to his lips without being booed out of the building.
Looking back, maybe those writing him off so swiftly should feel foolish. Here's the other point: Dominik is only going to get better. It's surely only a matter of time before he's holding more singles gold inside WWE rings and wearing a 'slap me' grin whilst doing it.