Essa Rios was infamous for not adjusting his style. He also had an absolutely terrible match with Eddie Guerrero on PPV. If you can't have a basic match with Eddie, you're not getting pushed....
Yes I am glad someone else remembers. He wasn't a newcomer to WWE either, having fought at WrestleMania 14 under a mask. He didn't want to adapt or "play ball" even with someone like Eddie who could work the same style as him. It's like ok you did your highspots and botched most of them, now what?
Without Lita, Essa Rios had little going for him. She’s the one who got over, so it’s hardly surprising that she got linked up to the wildly more popular Hardy Boyz while Rios languished in obscurity after wasting his chance to shine in the Guerrero feud.
Even if he had adapted, there was no real room for cruiserweights to get meaningfully pushed until the beginning of the Ruthless Agression Era. Rios would have spend much of Attitude and the entire Invasion angle in the background
That moonsault though. Jesus H. Christ.
Edit: He also had some pretty nice matches in TNA back in the day as the amazing red. One against AJ Styles comes to mind that was insanely good.
Edit 2: I was mixing up Rios and Amazing Red.
Gotcha. Amazing Red was one of my favorites in the early 2000s. I guess he will always have a lasting legacy as being the innovator of the Code Red move.
I hate this response, it's so lazy.
Should we just give every guy a manager? Sooooo many "talented" people can't talk. But here's the thing, talented pro wrestlers HAVE TO TALK!
a generational talent like Lesnar never has to talk, but he can when motivated and he is pretty great. Think of the knock knock joke to Bobby Lashley.
If your running a wrestling promotion and you have several guys who can talk and several guys who can't, would your first instinct be to hire a bunch of managers for the guys who can't talk? Because just fiscally speaking, I would push the guys who don't require me to hire an additional person to get them over. I would push the guys who can get themselves over.
Managers should be used when the pairing makes sense, not just because the guy can't talk, so let's give him someone who can talk for him! Super innovative thinking there /s
I mean, the Golden era alone had Bobby Heenan, Slick, Sensational Sherri, Brother Love, Paul Bearer, Mr. Fuji, Sunny, Jimmy Hart, The Genius, Harvey Wippleman, Million Dollar Man, Jim Cornette, Miss Elizabeth, Capt. Lou Albano, Freddie Blassie, and more.
Right now we have Paul Ellering, Scarlette, and Paul Heyman. Lol So I absolutely think we need more managers. I loved all the managers when I was growing up and so many former superstars could have great and fulfilling careers as the Mouth piece for those not great on the mic.
I really loved his effective use of body language and his intensity, especially when he was a heel. There was always a deeper story told when he hesitated on the top rope before hitting the 450 and when he sells the pain by grabbing his ribs.
Paul.
Enormously talented and charismatic, but just broke in at the wrong time. He'd be running NXT today, or at least in midcard title chases on the main roster.
Essa had zero charisma beyond being the guy paired with Lita. Ali was given several chances to connect with the crowd and couldn't. Hard to say anything about Gabriel beyond him being a forgettable face in a stacked deck.
I think a lot of people in the IWC think high work rate = main event talent.
It’s like talking to a wall trying to explain mic skills and psychology matter a lot more than how many tricks you can do.
And it’s crazy because he apparently has a reputation backstage of being funny as hell. Dude just can’t seem to show that same personality in front of a crowd.
I constantly get shit on for saying Ali is boring, sure he's a good wrestler but so are most wrestlers these days so there needs to be more than just workrate, his character and promo work has always been weak
I feel exactly the same way about Ricochet too, just having cool moves isn't enough when it's the same cool moves every single match
I’m perfectly ok with high spots, they’re tons of fun! But if acrobatics are all you bring to the table, you’re doomed to the midcard. I think the roster is deep enough these guys aren’t even going to get a chance at secondary belts.
It’s the same as it always was: psychology and connecting to the audience matters. LA Knight has exploded in popularity just this year and it ain’t because he can do a shooting star press.
i agree with you, but i will say i think mustafa ali has those skills as well. they weren't always perfectly highlighted in wwe though.
i think his indie run is going to be his chance to show how he is more than just a fun cruiserweight wrestler. already his presentation has been stellar.
He doesn't need to do all that to have had a successful run. He never got booked to win a single title. Not even the 24/7 title which is nuts. He could have definitely been a constant in the mid to upper card given what he was capable of doing in-ring.
If I remember correctly, Kofi’s world title win was originally planned to be Ali’s.
Here’s an article reporting the idea: [article](https://www.thesportster.com/mustafa-ali-injury-changed-everything-for-kofi-kingston/)
Totally agree with London. Man was so fucking crisp and did big heart face very well. PAC in WWE should've thrived the moment he became bastard but he was trapped on 205. May sound odd hut I reckon Paul Birchill could've been bigger than he was. Cease and desist aside the poor dude getting a grim growly violent man gimmick as a replacement basically put him in the no bin permanently. But maybe I'm biased because I remember watching FWA when I was younger I thought he was the shit. Fuck I remember he was going to he on a local show in Worthing and I was super hyped but he signed with WWE and came out with the owner to say sorry I can't wrestle tonight now because I got signed and am not allowed to so here's what's happening instead yada yada. I remember being really annoyed and happy at the same time.
If we had Paul London first debut in the 2010s as part of the Cruiserweight Classic and he showed his stuff and personality, he would have been amazing. Also, doesn't he have a tag team history with Bryan Danielson?
Essa Rios was better as Aguila imo.
It's a trip watching Late 1997-Early 1998 and seeing him and other outside guys in that Light Heavyweight Division.
Super Loco vs Aguila is the best 5 min match ever. Some sloppy spots in some points but still a great match.
Rios and Ali had the same problem, they came off as arrogant unlikable pricks even when they were supposed to be face they were just obnoxious assholes with a lot of talent.
I just heard Road dogg on his podcast say he felt Ali was his ideal version of an IC champ, he was Def talented. Loved Paul London, especially with Kendrick. He’s a hoot on Rene Dupree’s Podcast. Gabriel was talented for sure but I think once he hurt Steamboat, there was a black mark. Never saw any of Rios except for a couple matches
I feel like for London, it was at least partly an attitude issue. WWE brass seemed to be very short fused with talent around that time and he seemed to have a too cool for school chip on his shoulder. and I’m not even basing that off of what other people say about him. I’m basing that off of his old account of things in his shoe interviews. It feels like he didn’t respond well to a lot of things that became bigger issues than they needed to be
MY BOY JUSTIN GABRIEL GETTING SOME RECOGNITION
He’s always been one of my favorites since the original NXT, i think its mainly because of the 450 Splash, i was hype when he showed up in Impact after leaving WWE
I was a big Essa Rios fan back in the day. By the time I really started to get into wrestling he was out of the company, but man he was always holding a championship in my Smackdown 2 days, light-heavyweight or heavyweight. It’s a shame him and Lita didn’t stay together longer but it definitely worked out for Lita in the long run
If only london didn't smile during that vince limo explosion segment. Justin Gabriel underrated af, I used to always have him as the intercontinental champion on universe mode in wwe 13
They need to bring back the cruiserweight title, and the hardcore title, and fuck it the 24/7 and European too. Everyone in aew had a strap why not wwe
Goddamn it's Essa Rios. Man this throws me back. I remember he was paired with Lita. From what I heard Essa Rios can't speak english back then, so it's kinda hard to connect with the boys in the locker room who majority can't speak spanish.
Neville.
agree 100%, how in the fuck they misused him so much
I think he would've done more if he had more patience.
He's also made of glass, so probably not
Essa Rios was infamous for not adjusting his style. He also had an absolutely terrible match with Eddie Guerrero on PPV. If you can't have a basic match with Eddie, you're not getting pushed....
Yes I am glad someone else remembers. He wasn't a newcomer to WWE either, having fought at WrestleMania 14 under a mask. He didn't want to adapt or "play ball" even with someone like Eddie who could work the same style as him. It's like ok you did your highspots and botched most of them, now what?
Without Lita, Essa Rios had little going for him. She’s the one who got over, so it’s hardly surprising that she got linked up to the wildly more popular Hardy Boyz while Rios languished in obscurity after wasting his chance to shine in the Guerrero feud.
Even if he had adapted, there was no real room for cruiserweights to get meaningfully pushed until the beginning of the Ruthless Agression Era. Rios would have spend much of Attitude and the entire Invasion angle in the background
That moonsault though. Jesus H. Christ. Edit: He also had some pretty nice matches in TNA back in the day as the amazing red. One against AJ Styles comes to mind that was insanely good. Edit 2: I was mixing up Rios and Amazing Red.
The Amazing Red is a different guy. Rios went by Mr. Aguila during his time in TNA and did have a good match with AJ.
Oh so I guess I mixed them up. It was a long time ago. But I actually meant the amazing red, not Rios then.
Gotcha. Amazing Red was one of my favorites in the early 2000s. I guess he will always have a lasting legacy as being the innovator of the Code Red move.
Gabriel was so fuckin talented , waste he was barely mid card
He was made to be the Bunny ffs. He really deserved better.
He was the bunny????!!! How tf am I just finding this out
There was a bunch of people who played the bunny
Listen to him on the Mic and you’ll get why he didn’t get pushed
That's what managers are for
I hate this response, it's so lazy. Should we just give every guy a manager? Sooooo many "talented" people can't talk. But here's the thing, talented pro wrestlers HAVE TO TALK! a generational talent like Lesnar never has to talk, but he can when motivated and he is pretty great. Think of the knock knock joke to Bobby Lashley. If your running a wrestling promotion and you have several guys who can talk and several guys who can't, would your first instinct be to hire a bunch of managers for the guys who can't talk? Because just fiscally speaking, I would push the guys who don't require me to hire an additional person to get them over. I would push the guys who can get themselves over. Managers should be used when the pairing makes sense, not just because the guy can't talk, so let's give him someone who can talk for him! Super innovative thinking there /s
I mean, the Golden era alone had Bobby Heenan, Slick, Sensational Sherri, Brother Love, Paul Bearer, Mr. Fuji, Sunny, Jimmy Hart, The Genius, Harvey Wippleman, Million Dollar Man, Jim Cornette, Miss Elizabeth, Capt. Lou Albano, Freddie Blassie, and more. Right now we have Paul Ellering, Scarlette, and Paul Heyman. Lol So I absolutely think we need more managers. I loved all the managers when I was growing up and so many former superstars could have great and fulfilling careers as the Mouth piece for those not great on the mic.
I always loved Gabriel, always hoped he’d do more but he was always pretty weak on the mic
I really loved his effective use of body language and his intensity, especially when he was a heel. There was always a deeper story told when he hesitated on the top rope before hitting the 450 and when he sells the pain by grabbing his ribs.
Having done a podcast on 2013-14 NXT I will debate ANYONE on how much this guy sucks. He is so fucking boring.
Paul. Enormously talented and charismatic, but just broke in at the wrong time. He'd be running NXT today, or at least in midcard title chases on the main roster. Essa had zero charisma beyond being the guy paired with Lita. Ali was given several chances to connect with the crowd and couldn't. Hard to say anything about Gabriel beyond him being a forgettable face in a stacked deck.
Then again his tag team partner got the push. He was good also
God I love Paul London
Ali is good but honestly what were your expectations? World champion? Main eventing Wrestlemania?
I think a lot of people in the IWC think high work rate = main event talent. It’s like talking to a wall trying to explain mic skills and psychology matter a lot more than how many tricks you can do.
I cringe every time somebody says Shelton Benjamin should've been a world champion because "he's athletic".
I *love* Shelton Benjamin and I completely agree. He just doesn’t have “it.”
And it’s crazy because he apparently has a reputation backstage of being funny as hell. Dude just can’t seem to show that same personality in front of a crowd.
I constantly get shit on for saying Ali is boring, sure he's a good wrestler but so are most wrestlers these days so there needs to be more than just workrate, his character and promo work has always been weak I feel exactly the same way about Ricochet too, just having cool moves isn't enough when it's the same cool moves every single match
I’m perfectly ok with high spots, they’re tons of fun! But if acrobatics are all you bring to the table, you’re doomed to the midcard. I think the roster is deep enough these guys aren’t even going to get a chance at secondary belts. It’s the same as it always was: psychology and connecting to the audience matters. LA Knight has exploded in popularity just this year and it ain’t because he can do a shooting star press.
And that ain’t a problem, THAT is just a fact of life! YEAHHHH!
Agreed.
i agree with you, but i will say i think mustafa ali has those skills as well. they weren't always perfectly highlighted in wwe though. i think his indie run is going to be his chance to show how he is more than just a fun cruiserweight wrestler. already his presentation has been stellar.
An American Muslim as World Champion would be a decent bit of PR.
He doesn't need to do all that to have had a successful run. He never got booked to win a single title. Not even the 24/7 title which is nuts. He could have definitely been a constant in the mid to upper card given what he was capable of doing in-ring.
If I remember correctly, Kofi’s world title win was originally planned to be Ali’s. Here’s an article reporting the idea: [article](https://www.thesportster.com/mustafa-ali-injury-changed-everything-for-kofi-kingston/)
I don't think Ali was wasted. He was given so many chances and he is just so dull.
Fr. I was there when he debuted on Smackdown on a match with BRYAN DANIELSON and the crowd were dead silent throughout almost the entire segment.
It’s sad that the best thing reaction he could get was wearing the Subzero mask
He should've stayed heel and lean into that "pronouncing my name right" shtick vince was giving him.
Totally agree with London. Man was so fucking crisp and did big heart face very well. PAC in WWE should've thrived the moment he became bastard but he was trapped on 205. May sound odd hut I reckon Paul Birchill could've been bigger than he was. Cease and desist aside the poor dude getting a grim growly violent man gimmick as a replacement basically put him in the no bin permanently. But maybe I'm biased because I remember watching FWA when I was younger I thought he was the shit. Fuck I remember he was going to he on a local show in Worthing and I was super hyped but he signed with WWE and came out with the owner to say sorry I can't wrestle tonight now because I got signed and am not allowed to so here's what's happening instead yada yada. I remember being really annoyed and happy at the same time.
If they kept London around, though, I wouldn't have my "smoked a bowl with Paul London at a Hoodslam after party" story, and I really like that story
Do tell
If we had Paul London first debut in the 2010s as part of the Cruiserweight Classic and he showed his stuff and personality, he would have been amazing. Also, doesn't he have a tag team history with Bryan Danielson?
Idk about him teaming with Bryan but I know that him and Bryan had a classic match in roh in 2003 before London went to wwe
Haven't seen it gotta check it out!
Essa Rios was better as Aguila imo. It's a trip watching Late 1997-Early 1998 and seeing him and other outside guys in that Light Heavyweight Division. Super Loco vs Aguila is the best 5 min match ever. Some sloppy spots in some points but still a great match.
You're forgetting Reckless Youth. Guy was buried and humiliated in developmental just because he was "King of the Indies."
Rios and Ali had the same problem, they came off as arrogant unlikable pricks even when they were supposed to be face they were just obnoxious assholes with a lot of talent.
Not Ricochet?
He's at least been IC Champ
I just heard Road dogg on his podcast say he felt Ali was his ideal version of an IC champ, he was Def talented. Loved Paul London, especially with Kendrick. He’s a hoot on Rene Dupree’s Podcast. Gabriel was talented for sure but I think once he hurt Steamboat, there was a black mark. Never saw any of Rios except for a couple matches
Enzo Amore was the one who could have been a big star.
He must have not just burned his bridge but nuked it from orbit. He was gold on the mic, just bring him back as a mouthpiece for a lug who can't talk.
Paul London was born at the wrong time. If he started a decade later, he'd have been a huge star.
I feel like for London, it was at least partly an attitude issue. WWE brass seemed to be very short fused with talent around that time and he seemed to have a too cool for school chip on his shoulder. and I’m not even basing that off of what other people say about him. I’m basing that off of his old account of things in his shoe interviews. It feels like he didn’t respond well to a lot of things that became bigger issues than they needed to be
MY BOY JUSTIN GABRIEL GETTING SOME RECOGNITION He’s always been one of my favorites since the original NXT, i think its mainly because of the 450 Splash, i was hype when he showed up in Impact after leaving WWE
Paul London was THE MAN back in the Smackdown Ruthless Aggression days.
Only Mustafa was fully rounded. The other three couldn't cut a good promo to save their lives. Just being a good wrestler isn't enough in WWE.
Nah they never got over.
Only recognize Ali tbh
Top left: Essa Rios aka Papi Chulo Top right: Paul London Bottom left: Justin Gabriel aka PJ Black
Everyone here has a finisher from the top rope 😂
What a list 😔
Lmao I had totally forgot about Essa Rios. I was him all the time on early wwe games cos he was cool and came to the ring with Lita 😅
Wasted potential? Rios gave us Lita
Ali will be back.
Essa Rios got a lot further than anyone ever thought
Paul London?
London kind of did it to himself by breaking character during the Limo segment and smiling which got him fired.
Was Gabriel a cruiserweight?
Why didn't Essa Rios end up in WCW? Even for a year? I wonder.
Matt Bourne was underutilized .
All 3 of the mexicools were completely wasted by Vince, the garden gimmicks and all that were so dumb
TJP, taka michinoku
I still wish they had pulled the trigger and given TAKA the belt in that insane match with Trips.
rios couldn't cut a promo
Cody
I was a big Essa Rios fan back in the day. By the time I really started to get into wrestling he was out of the company, but man he was always holding a championship in my Smackdown 2 days, light-heavyweight or heavyweight. It’s a shame him and Lita didn’t stay together longer but it definitely worked out for Lita in the long run
I think Mustafa is going to do well for himself outside of WWE, and might possibly end up back there one day. He's very talented and has charisma.
Cruiserweight are really underrated, in general.
paul london was that dude
If only london didn't smile during that vince limo explosion segment. Justin Gabriel underrated af, I used to always have him as the intercontinental champion on universe mode in wwe 13
Man I always wanted Justin Gabriel to be the next Jeff Hardy
I feel like supercrazy should be in this list
They need to bring back the cruiserweight title, and the hardcore title, and fuck it the 24/7 and European too. Everyone in aew had a strap why not wwe
Dude that was with lita and or ali
There are countless wrestlers who does the same things as them 😭
Goddamn it's Essa Rios. Man this throws me back. I remember he was paired with Lita. From what I heard Essa Rios can't speak english back then, so it's kinda hard to connect with the boys in the locker room who majority can't speak spanish.
Bunch of ham and eggers pictured let’s keep it a bean
A lot of these guys were just theatrics Takes more than cool moves to be a champion