10 Potential Megastars That Never Recovered From WWE Burials

7. Chris Candido

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WWE

When Chris Candido adopted a 'No Gimmicks Needed' moniker in ECW, he took a dated swipe at the company he arrived just too soon at to be truly appreciated.

Charismatically unvarnished but with an exceptional in-ring presence and a valet that herself had the makings of being the industry's greatest ever female performer, it remains to be seen how well Skip and Sunny may have fared in WWE's Attitude Era instead of the cartoonish New Generation. And not least because Shawn Michaels wasn't really around in the locker room by then.

Bursting onto WWE screens in mid-1995, the pair were unsubtly positioned as obnoxious fitness gurus. And that is to say, that is literally what they were. In 1995, unless you already happened to be established as a character, you were destined to be a caricature. Though Sunny shone as she did in just about everything Vince McMahon envisioned for her, Skip was miscast as a ostentatious braggart, with his fall down the pecking order happening in parallel with the collapse of his reputation backstage.

Defeatedly looking elsewhere as the politically protected 'HBK' stole his girl, Candido was as big an afterthought on television as he was in his own relationship. A babyface turn didn't remotely help, and his talents were left to rot before the company granted him a 1996 escape.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett