10 Next Big Things In Wrestling That Totally Flopped
3. Mr. Kennedy
Mr. Kennedy wrote the playbook on WWE's what might've been.
His obnoxious-but-fun self-intros gripped people in Kennedy fever when he debuted in 2005. In-ring, the man was solid, but the real meat of his act came on the microphone and everyone knew it. Backstage, Vince McMahon was impressed and started pushing Kennedy up the ranks. He went on one hell of an undefeated streak, then won MITB in 2007.
Things spiralled out of control from there. Kennedy suffered a nasty, career-altering injury that paused his top line ambitions. Then, he was one of the wrestlers named in a pharmacy scandal that contravened WWE's Wellness Policy. Things were falling out of place, not in, and they'd only get worse.
More injuries followed, then Kennedy irked Randy Orton during a comeback match on Raw in 2009. WWE cut him loose shortly thereafter, and he'd wind up in TNA bitching about everything. By that point, Kennedy should've been on top of the world, headlining WrestleMania and all that good stuff.