10 WWE Wrestlers Vince McMahon Didn’t Know How To Book
Casualties of a broken star-making system.
That Vince McMahon isn't an effective star-maker anymore feels more like a statement of fact than opinion every passing month.
It is strengthened whenever Randy Orton and Big Show (combined age: 88) draw the lowest 18-49 rating in RAW's 27-year history with a plodding main event, or 53-year-old Bill Goldberg inexplicably shows up and squashes a popular, merch-shifting Universal Champion in Saudi Arabia. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin popping the red brand's highest television rating in six months tells a similar story, as does the Main Event relegation of people like Ricochet and Cedric Alexander, forced to fight for scraps on a show even the hardest of the hardcore don't watch.
The situation has created the ridiculous corporate assertion that the WWE brand is the draw now, not the wrestlers, which makes no sense in a star-driven business. Unequivocally, the Chairman and CEO has failed at creating, pushing, and presenting drawing acts, hence his product's popularity dropping by 65% in six years.
None of this is to say that all of the wrestlers within should have been main-eventers (though some perhaps should have), though each highlights Vince's limitations as a modern booker...
10. Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE's longstanding inability to effectively present Japanese wrestlers means this list could realistically consist of Shinsuke Nakamura and nine of his countrymen, though 'The King of Strong Style' is likely delighted with life in the world's biggest promotion. A decade-and-a-half of chasing five-star matches in NJPW had ground his body to dust. Without the weight of critical expectation, WWE allows him to work slower and easier, collect a larger paycheque, and spend his time off surfing in Florida. Good work if you can get it.
Nonetheless, haphazard booking unquestionably dulled Nakamura and his megastar aura upon graduating from NXT. The buzz of an effective April 2017 debut soon wore off through a painfully unengaging feud with Dolph Ziggler, a wholly destructive one with Jinder Mahal, and an uninspiring late-year run. 2018's Royal Rumble victory offered hope of a resurgence, though becoming a sentient d*ck-punch looking for a target in his AJ Styles feud further sabotaged 'The King.'
Nakamura has since settled into a solid midcard role, capturing the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. This is his role now. A shame, but this is where WWE's concerted efforts to make a special character feel decidedly less special have left him.
Shinsuke Nakamura is Just a Guy.