10 Times Wrestling Fans Didn’t Know What They Had Until It Was Gone

It bears repeating that wrestling fans are as fickle as they come.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has led to some of the all time great characters. Rocky Maivia may never have become fondly remembered as The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment had he not been greeted by such resounding rejection upon his arrival in the company. The New Day faced so much fan ire upon their debut as a team that they were essentially turned heel by default, and now they are one of the most well-loved acts of the past decade.

In the age of the internet, the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" never seems to have rung more true, with every man, woman and news publication desperate to get their hot-take out into the open as fast as possible. Unfortunately, it is much easier to suddenly hate on something, rather than to suddenly love it, resulting in overwhelmingly negative reactions appearing out of thin air. In the cut-throat environment that is modern wrestling, it is easy for many of these ideas and characters to be removed before fans can truly understand what they brought to the product.

Sadly, this can result in some great ideas being gone from our screens far too soon. Here is just a handful.

Before it became the global phenomenon it is today (but after its stint as a god-awful reality show) NXT was a brand where talents were able to hone their craft in a quiet environment before moving onto the more hostile main-roster environment. However, NXT's transformation over the past five years has resulted in the show arguably losing much of its original purpose.

Since WWE began their policy of aggressively signing any free talent they could, simply so nobody else could have them, NXT has become a haven for some of the best performers in the world. While this has helped NXT become one of the best wrestling shows on the planet, it has meant that its ability to create new stars from scratch has been dampened. When performers with already huge fanbases such as Shinsuke Nakamura sign for the brand, it makes it harder for newer wrestlers to get over with the crowd. It is difficult to see someone such as Bray Wyatt being able to prove himself as a star as much in NXT now as he was able to in 2013 when he's having to compete with indie heroes such as Adam Cole.

While there have been exceptions, such as The Velveteen Dream, most of NXT's top stars today are far from "home grown talent", and this format will do little to disprove the notion that WWE are unable to build new stars anymore.