10 Times WWE Totally No Sold A Wrestler's Past
9. Curtis Axel
One of WWE's biggest memory lapses was refusing to capitalise on Joe Hennig's Perfect heritage.
His father was one of wrestling;s most beloved athletes and characters of the early '90s boom period. Mr. Perfect was a mantle any second-generation superstar would be blessed to be gifted; for Joe Hennig it was practically a birth rite. Yet, while still in WWE development FCW, Hennig was rechristened Michael McGillicutty. WWE could've axed this when Hennig appeared on the reality TV incarnation of NXT, but they persisted.
Though Hennig was a part of one of the biggest storylines of 2010 in joining the Nexus, and was later given a new name, Paul Heyman, and the Intercontinental Championship, the now-Curtis Axel just couldn't get over.
Industry icon Arn Anderson placed the blame for Axel's less than Perfect career squarely on the politicking around his ring name:
"[...] what sounds bigger to you? Joe Hennig or Curtis Axel? [...] that's the problem with second-generation wrestlers. When you have a dad or a grandad, for that matter and you are third-generation, they have all achieved great things in this business. Why not build on that? Day one, walking out of the gate, this is Joe Hennig, son of Mr. Perfect, and that's who he is. Day one. You don't want to tell people he is somebody else with a different name and that whole flimsy excuse that well, he is never going to be as good as his dad, so it's going to hurt him."