THE BEST WWE WRESTLERS WHO WILL NEVER MAIN EVENT
When I look at the very best wrestlers WWE has to offer, meaning the most experienced, most talented, most physically fit, most capable, and all-around best, I see that amoung these greats, there are a few confined to a very special category I have been pondering these past couple weeks. Amoung the wrestlers who have the best in-ring ability, there are three designations: the main eventers, those who have a chance to main event in the future, and the subject of this column: The Best WWE Wrestlers Who Will Never Main Event.
Why not? Two reasons. First, there are limited spots open in the main event. This is true today even though WWE has two different brands in which wrestlers can compete for top billing. Makes sense. Second, frankly, is that some of the best wrestlers, because of their look or body type or other marketing reasons, are not seen as "believable" main event stars. As much as I dislike this in many cases, it is at least reasonably understandable. WWE has a huge mainstream market to please, and many would not accept certain individuals as one of the company's top superstars. I once read someone saying that Eddie Guerrero, despite being massively over with the fans and an obvious marketing seller, "just doesn't look like WWE Champion." I have little doubt many in the WWE offices believed the same thing, but one can only ignore his fantastic in-ring skills and promo ability so long. Some are not as fortunate.
I should probably explain what this column is and what it is not. This is not a column about Chavo Guerrero or Rey Mysterio. If Eddie Guerrero ever retakes the WWE Championship, either of these two could conceivably main event at some point. This is not a column about Charlie Haas. If Kurt Angle retakes the WWE Championship, Haas could see a short feud in the main event. This is not a column about Christian, Edge, or Matt Hardy because all three have a chance (in varying degrees of likelihood) some day. This will not be a rant against the notion of "doesn't look like a main eventer." It would be pointless. After all, I'm not calling this The Best WWE Wrestlers Who Will Never Main Event because it's a catchy title. It isn't. They will never main event a WWE Pay-Per-View. A brief appearance in a eight-man main event match does not count by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not psychic, but it is plain to see. Nor is this a plea that they should.
This is simply giving credit where it is due. Honoring some of WWE's best contracted wrestlers cursed with permanent low to middle card status but blessed with incredible talent.
--JAMIE NOBLE--
Born Jamie Howard in '76, the man we have come to know as Jamie Noble made his wrestling debut when he was only nineteen. He made his first big mark in mainstream professional wrestling in WCW as part of the Japanese stable, Jung Dragons. Obviously, Noble is not of Asian descent, but it was covered up with a mask and the name "Jamie-San." Not a particularly unique notion at the time. Al Snow had been wrestling under Japanese pseudonyms in the WWF years before. The Jung Dragons, however, were given birth in the new millennium. Fans caught on, but his actual ethnic background was not important. What was important was that Noble, Kaz Hayashi, and Yang (AKA Jimmy Yang, AKA Akio) were a fairly popular team. In WCW's final years, one of its last hopes was its still famous cruiserweight division. This gave more emphasis on these high-flyers in the form of more television time and the new WCW Crusierweight Tag Team Championship. Combinations of the Jung Dragons fought with combinations of Three Count (Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, and Evan Karagis) as well as the team of Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio.
With a plethora of crusierweights, Noble was not given a great deal of notice. A shame, because Noble had a greater talent than many WCW cruiseweights. Even today, we do not see it as often as we could because the WWE cruiserweight division is also heavily into high-flying. That talent being Noble's technical and submission skills. In an interview with Noble I recall, he mentioned how he wants to bring more of that style to cruiserweight wrestling. Lucha libre is very exciting but much of it can be seen as contrived and without substance or depth. Not always, of course, but often. Much as it is with most hardcore wrestling, if you see if too much, the craziest of stunts somehow come across as ordinary.
When Vince McMahon purchased WCW, Noble was not brought into the Alliance Invasion story. There were more than enough cruiserweights to use at the time and most of them being more high-profile than Noble. Still, less than a year after the angle concluded, Noble was given his chance in WWE. He arrived in the Summer of 2002 to feud with fellow former WCW cruiserweight Shane Helms now known as The Hurricane. This feud gave Noble a chance to showcase his other surprising talent: promo ability. WWE and WCW Cruiserweights, more often than not, generally weren't (and most still aren't) known for their microphone skills. With exceptions being Jericho and both Guerreros to varying degrees, it is rare. Noble can do it. His thick accent and animated facial expressions and attitude works. It makes Noble a cruiserweight oddity. Great technical background and promo work. There is another like him who I'll be covering later...
Anyway, Noble went on to defeat The Hurricane less than a month after his WWE television debut. Not only for the win but for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. In the wake of the Invasion, the Light Heavyweight Championship and WCW Cruiserweight Championship were made one. Noble held the title for about five months until dropping it to Billy Kidman. Throughout all this, Noble was paired with Nidia of Tough Enough fame. The on-screen relationship was a hoot. They were given the gimmick of a trailor park couple. Looking back, it sounds odd but Noble and Nidia made it work. He even broke out of the cruiserweight mix for a little while to feud with Billy Gunn. He is currently being paired with Chavo Guerrero in the tag team division.
What I wouldn't give for a Noble vs. Angle or Noble vs. Benoit technical classic. It probably will not happen outside of a quick Smackdown or Raw match somewhere down the road. Not on Pay-Per-View with more time and no commercials. Why not? Appearance. Jamie Noble is short. About 5'8". Recently, some wrestlers have overcome the WWE shortness barrier (Benoit, Guerrero, Jericho) but Noble is simply not on the level of any of those three. Not quite. That's not to say he could not improve. He has only been wrestling nine years and is not even thirty yet.
He has the mass. Very muscular for a man his size. Not the height, though.
--NUNZIO--
What I love best about James "Nunzio" Maritato is something I have only recently learned. He has a legitimate shootfighting background. One would not think it to look at him, but Nunzio is a real life tough guy. That is why, much like Noble, he is a cruiserweight who utilizes grappling in his moveset. In terms of professional wrestling, Maritato began in '91 training in New York schools. A year later, he was wrestling in ECW. Not Extreme Championship Wrestling. This was before that as ECW was Eastern Championship Wrestling. He came to ECW as Damien Stone and was involved in a feud with Tommy Cairo. When ECW got "extreme," Martitato could be seen under the gimmick of Little Guido of the FBI: Full-Blooded Italians. The FBI that we see today on WWE television was born many years prior. This is only the latest incarnation. At the time, FBI was Little Guido, Tony Mamaluke, Big Sal E. Graziano, and sometimes Tracy Smothers, Tommy Rich, and JT Smith. Guido and Mamaluke won the ECW Tag Team Championship, but this was unfortunately near the time of ECW's demise.
With ECW gone, so was "Little Guido." In came the real man: James Maritato. He was booked to work for Ring of Honor, the upstart promotion that looked to give a more realistic style to the fans. Who better than a shootfighter to do it? I love Maritato's work in early ROH. The feud between he and Tony Mamaluke was simple but perfect. Maritato wanted to ditch the FBI gimmick saying it had run its course. Mamaluke disagreed and constantly asked Maritato for extra FBI t-shirts and insisted on using the old entrance music they used in ECW. They tagged for a while until it erupted into the true feud. They had two matches. Both good. The second one was to decide the fate of the FBI. Maritato delievered a heartbreaking promo before the match. It showed his sometimes underrated promo ability. He spoke about his career and how it pleateaued after ECW and that what does not change and adapt does not survive. Mamaluke won the match, but they both shook hands afterwards. Maritato delievered another strong promo. This time as a final plea to Mamaluke to drop the gimmick and just wrestle. Wonderful. The feud took place throughout ROH's 2002 shows. I highly recommend seeking out the tapes.
He also appeared in other independent promotions like USA Pro Wrestling, Border City Wrestling, NWA Wildside, and XPW. Also around this time, WWE was giving Maritato dark matches. Try-outs to see if he could be brought into the company. He must have done well because he was signed to a WWE contract later that year. In December of 2002, Maritato made his WWE debut as Nunzio, the "cousin" of Jamie Noble. In the weeks that followed, it seemed like the ROH angle never even happened. Nunzio was teamed with Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli and Chuck Palumbo to form the new Full-Blooded Italians. Eventually, Palumbo was sent to Raw leaving the FBI as a tag team on Smackdown. Even though supposed to be heels, they received strong reactions from the crowd and were quietly turned babyface as they congratulated face tag team Paul London and Billy Kidman on their championship win earlier this year.
Nunzio has yet to receive the Cruiserweight Championship or Tag Team Championship with Stamboli. He is now thirty-two and has been wrestling for about thirteen years. Nunzio would make a fine champion in any division. Great in the ring and on the microphone. Some people do not see it, though. I think, in part, it is an image problem. Not only is he short for a wrestler (about 5'9") but also very, very lean.
--TAJIRI--
Yoshihiro Tajiri is the eldest of them all but does not have as much experience as Nunzio. This is because while Tajiri was born in '70, he did not became a wrestler as a teenager like Nunzio and Noble. Tajiri spent much of his time studying economics before trying his hand at wrestling around his twenty-fourth birthday in '94. He debuted against Takashi Okano in IWA Japan. He went on to improve his skills and wrestled the likes of Shinjiro Otani during the Best of the Super Jr. Tournament. Rewatched the match just now. Tajiri upset Otani with a Dragon Suplex.
While a native of Japan, Tajiri gained much of his notoriety in the United States wrestling for ECW. He had an ongoing series of matches with Super Crazy that is practically legendary to diehard ECW fans. Not all of the company was barbed wire and cracked tables. It featured some of the top talent in the world. Tajiri was amoung that top talent and was billed as the "Japanese buzzsaw." This nickname is still used, albeit rarely, today. He earned himself fan praise as well as championship gold in ECW as Television Champion and one half of the Tag Team Champions with Mikey Whipwreck. One of the teams Tajiri faced was that of Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke. As ECW went belly-up, Tajiri turned to Combat Zone Wrestling where he won its World Heavyweight Championship.
Later that year, during the previously mentioned Invasion storyline, Vince McMahon called up Tajiri to work as William Regal's "assistant." At the time, Regal was the on-air commissioner. Tajiri appearing in polo shirts and performing menial chores for Regal did not sit well with hardcore ECW fans, but at least the Japanese Buzzsaw was back on television. He went on to win the Light Heavyweight Championship from X-Pac and eventually the more prestigious United States Championship from Kanyon. This title, along with the ECW Television Championship, shows that Tajiri can easily wrestle outside of a cruiserweight division. Yet, he was placed back into that position after the roster split gave a fleeting emphasis on Smackdown cruiserweight wrestling. In order to form an all-Japanese stable of wrestlers, WWE brought in Jimmy Yang (renamed Akio) and Sakoda. Rumor has it that the group was originally to be called Yakuza, named after the Japanese criminal organization. Possibly so they could feud with FBI. However, it is said that Tajiri asked that his stable not be labeled that way for fear of Yakuza retalitation back home in Japan. Seriously. The group was named Kyo Dai and summarilly failed to deliver. Tajiri was sent to Raw while Akio and Sakoda drifted into obscurity. Tajiri has flourished on Raw, though. A mini-feud with none other than Triple H followed by a forgettable (but still somewhat high-profile) feud with The Coach. Coincidentally, like the others in this column, he is now in the tag team. Tajiri and Rhyno are currently scheduled to wrestle for tag team gold at the next WWE Pay-Per-View.
Tajiri will not main event a WWE Pay-Per-View outside of a chance appearance in a Survivor Series eight-man. Though a bit bulkier than most cruiserweights and with a lot more believability as a dangerous figure, Japanese men do not see the big titles (Yokozuna was both an exception and actually Samoan) in WWF/E. That is not a comment on racism. Not by a long-shot. It is simply that, for some reason, as my ignorant friend once told me, some people just "don't look like champions" to casual fans. I still love you, Tajiri. I hope he wins the tag titles this Sunday. Sylvain Grenier is so green, he's blue.
--CONCLUSION--
Should wrestlers who never main event consider their careers less spectacular than those who did? No. Not necessarilly. For my money, the true measure of the career is how many great matches and memorable moments you give the business. How much you inspire future wrestlers. How much heart you put out there. How much effort. Jamie Noble, Nunzio, and Tajiri should not feel bad about the fact that they will never reach the WWE main event scene. They are working within the rules they are given due to marketing figures and what WWE perceives as what the majority of fans want. More importantly, the three men are doing exceptionally well, all things considered. Some others with incredible talent but no chance at the big titles might grow frustrated and simply stop caring. Many are accusing Rob Van Dam of that as of late. He came to WWE a big shot, but his main event fire was extinguished soon after. He is now seemingly a permanent midcarder. The worst of it all is that he does not seem to be as hard-working as he was before in ECW and early in his WWF/E tenure. He appears to have lost some of his passion upon realizing he was not going to take the WWE Championship. That's not only my opinion but that of most RVD watchers with whom I converse.
Nunzio, Noble, and Tajiri, however, likely have no dillusions about how far their WWE careers will go, but they still put on some of the best entertainment in one form or another. They're constantly trying and constantly achieving despite the fact that they know their true place.
How can anyone not admire that?
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Who are your favorites who will likely never see the main event? Let me know at Trophar@Lycos.com and I'll post some of your thoughts in the next mailbag.
Read the archives of Beauty in Wrestling at LeonThomas.Net Will be updated in full soon.
Good luck to The Shining Wizard in his future endeavors. This leaves me the only columnist here. I feel like that man from that episode of The Twilight Zone where he's the last man in the world. Actually, there were a lot like that...
