10 Indie Stars Who Were Supposed To Be The Next Big Thing

8. Michael Shane

If you're an independent wrestler and want to make it to WWE, there are worse things to be than Shawn Michaels' cousin. Michael Shane (whose name was a play on that of his famous relative) also trained at HBK's Texas Wrestling Academy, alongside future WWE wrestlers Lance Cade, Paul London, Brian Kendrick and Daniel Bryan. Shane was a natural and soon after his debut began working in Japan for FMW and even worked some ECW shows, including the group's final ever house show. Continuing to work the indies, Shane also occasionally did dark match and Sunday Night Heat duty for WWE, working in an enhancement role (i.e. he jobbed a lot). He got his big break working for Ring of Honor, where he had what was considered a Match of the Year candidate in some circles, a No DQ match with Paul London at the company's Unscripted event. As well as ROH, Shane also worked for TNA and was a centrepiece of the X Division during the promotion's early days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbzNdNg180c Clearly, he was going places. Still, it was WWE where he really wanted to be. A lot of Shane's fans felt that WWE was where he should have been, given his obvious talent. But it never happened. Instead, Shane (who was forced to change his name to Matt Bentley after his dream employer trademarked Michael Shane) continued to work in TNA, on the indies and in Japan. His push gradually diminished. Shane essentially retired in 2008, quitting wrestling to focus on his band Lost in Chaos, who are based in Orlando, Florida.