Beyond the Justin Gabriels and Curt Hawkins of this world, beyond even the Tyson Kidds and the Zack Ryders, WWEs biggest missed opportunity of the 21st century to date has to be their complete misfire when Scott Colt Cabana Colton was signed to the roster. One of the most talented all-round independent wrestlers out there, Cabana would become semi-legendary for his astonishing series of matches with real life best friend CM Punk, who he first trained with. Punk would later go to WWE, and Colton would send him off from Ring Of Honor by defeating him in a scorching two-out-of-three falls match. While Punk began to work his way up to being the best thing in the WWE, Cabana continued to be the best thing on the card all over the independent circuit, wrestling all over the world. Eventually, his own time would come, and Colton received word that WWE were interested in signing him to a contract in April 2007. Cabana would debut for OVW, and later move to FCW when Florida became WWEs developmental territory. Wrestling for sixteen months as Colt Cabana, when he finally debuted on the Smackdown roster in August 2008, it was under the name Scotty Goldman. Despite Cabanas success on the independent circuit and in FCW, Scotty Goldman would only ever wrestle on Smackdown six times before Colton was released in February 2009, jobbing to midcard wrestlers every time during those six months. Lets be clear Colt Cabana can do it all. As good an all round wrestler as there ever was, hes perfect as a heel, as a fan favourite, a comedy character and more. He can talk the hind legs off a donkey, has an easy natural charisma, can work with anyone of any size or ability, create intensity when needed and laughs when not. That WWE felt there was nothing Scott Colton, one of the most gifted and hardest working professional wrestlers in the world today, could offer them is just a crying shame. Cabana doesnt mind, of course. He used the rejection as motivation and a springboard to moonsault his way into transforming Colt Cabana into a cottage industry all his own. If only WWE had a fraction of his creativity and imagination.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
