10 Wrestlers Who Improved At Something They Were Terrible At

Roman Reigns, Will Ospreay, Triple H, and other wrestlers who crushed glaring weaknesses.

Roman Reigns
WWE

There's hope for the ultra-green cast of NXT 2.0 yet.

Perhaps one day the Tiffany Strattons, Von Wagners, Lash Legends, and Xyon Quinns of the roster will marry character to skill, bringing them to the level of the Roderick Strongs and Alba Fyres. It's called "developmental" for a reason. These rookies might not be TV-ready yet, but Triple H adding a touch of black and gold to 2.0's technicolour palette should help immensely.

Perhaps there is hope also for Jinder Mahal, who may one day learn how to work the first three minutes of any given match without boring us sh*tless with a chinlock, or for Roman Reigns, who may one day realise that the best means of getting fans on side isn't by lashing out at them on Twitter for voicing incredibly reasonable protests.

Perhaps, one day, the otherwise excellent Seth Rollins will perform an actual suicide dive, rather than an airborne high-five.

There is hope for that lot because through hard work, the help of friends you later convince your wife to castrate on television, and the most bizarre and singular example of WWE's main roster thrashing NXT (!), there is famous precedent...

10. Bret Hart - Promos

Roman Reigns
WWE

One of the most bewitching technical storytellers of all time - his work was so captivating that he conditioned an entire generation to sit diligently through 25-minute epics - Bret Hart was a... perfunctory promo in the babyface role. He was presented as the embodiment of a cool customer, with his shades and leather jacket, but when programmed with somebody actually cool, Razor Ramon, the contrast was as clear as Nia Jax's unsuitability to professional wrestling.

Ahead of their King Of The Ring '93 first-round clash, Razor, yes, oozed machismo in the TV build, economically telling "Gene Mean" to "shut up" about a dozen times. Bret, so smooth between the ropes, tripped over his words. "For the, for the longest time I've, I've known that I'm the number one seed," he said, with Shawn Michaels presumably pretending to yawn just out of shot.

This all changed in 1997.

Genuinely frustrated - "Frustrated isn't the godd*mned word for it!" - Hart unleashed a promo game that was at once authentic, cutting, and teeming with unrestrained fury. Hart was a total revelation on the stick, shouting his brilliance from the rooftops, all but grabbing us by the throat to force respect out of his turncoat American public.

Executing a difficult dual babyface and heel role excellently, his babyface game, quite fittingly, ascended when he travelled to the Great White North.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.