12 Cursed Comparisons That DOOMED Promising Wrestlers

12. Shaniqua (Chyna)

Kicking off with an unexpected case study here.

Linda Miles was co-winner of the second Tough Enough season alongside Jackie Gayda. Looking back, neither woman was really ready for top tier WWE TV, but things were doubly unfair on Linda because she was immediately compared to Chyna because of her super strong physique.

Company announcers even mentioned that on-air from time to time. Linda's ascent and reimagining as dominatrix Shaniqua also fell just a few short years after Joanie Laurer left WWE, so management wanted to position her as an improvement. She wasn't just 'the next Chyna', Shaniqua was better than.

Except she wasn't - it wasn't even close. Nobody's gonna claim that Chyna was Chad Gable between the ropes, but she had more to offer than WWE fancied pretending she did in 2003-2004. Being brutally honest, the pressure of living up to her body proved to be too much for Miles.

The 'too much, too soon' bug walloped Linda as well. Reportedly, her ego got far too big and rubbed a few folks the wrong way backstage. Those in charge had quickly created a monster by acting like this genuine rookie was better than an iconic 'Attitude Era' favourite.

Shaniqua wasn't long for the biz. She wrestled her last match on the independent scene after leaving WWE behind in '04, then went on to give wrestling the middle finger. Looking back, higher-ups definitely got ahead of themselves by claiming she was Chyna 2.0.

She wasn't even Chyna 0.5, and that's the harsh reality.