Meltzer is reporting that Kennedy got injured at RAW taking the RKO. My thoughts? Well, without knowing the severity and if it'll keep him on the shelf for any amount of time, it's hard to say, but once more is revealed, more can be discussed. Still, Kennedy's proving to be a real chinadoll. Every time they look to push this guy, he gets hurt. Can you say future endeavored?
Seriously, can you think of any other guy that has pissed away more chances than Kennedy has? Vince McMahon liked him so much that he named the character after his own middle name and was given an AWESOME gimmick with the old school mic. He's won a Money in the Bank ladder match. WWE Films gave him his own movie for crying out loud. He was clearly being positioned for a main event run with his confrontation of Randy Orton.
For whatever reason, he can't stay healthy. You can say that it's bad luck, and it could very well be. Some people are just injury-prone. At the same time, there are several aggravating factors that when you consider them paint a far more damning picture. This is all Kennedy's fault if you consider that he's a poor conditioner, a steroid abuser or both. Both said practices will leave one more at risk to injury than if they took care of themselves properly.
Still, if Kennedy ends up in the future endeavor line, would he be the biggest self-destruction in wrestling history? I'd say no, but he'd be up there. There's no denying that Kennedy has the charisma to succeed at a main event level. While there is backlash against his character on the Internet, I don't disagree that he is a potential future main event player and keystone. I also think he works well in the WWE main event style and would have great matches with the guys they have there now.
However, Kennedy's potential has remained mainly untapped. Guys like Shane Douglas, Scott Hall, the Ultimate Warrior and Magnum TA to name a few, achieved a lot and could have done a lot more had they not done themselves in. Douglas showed flashes of what he could have done in the bigs, but his relentless ego caused him to be persona non grata everywhere he went except for ECW, where his bitterness and burnt bridges were allowed to be huge parts of his character. Douglas, interestingly enough, is on his way back to TNA. That should be interesting.
Scott Hall is another case of painful wasted potential. He had the look and charisma to be a top hand, but he never rose above upper-midcarder because of his addictions to booze and allegedly cocaine. The Ultimate Warrior actually had megastardom in hand, but his egomania send him from the WWF on two occasions with blowtorches on his heels.
Magnum TA is a different case. It would be callous to say that his case was a case of utter self-destruction on the levels of the three above, but it's also hard to absolve him of the blame in his own car accident. He made one mistake that most people make - not driving more carefully in the rain than on regular conditions. While he wasn't speeding, in the rain, the speed limit is too fast on a winding, rural road.
We all make that mistake and some of us pay for it, but most don't. That TA paid for it with his career is the biggest tragedy, especially since he was going to be JCP's and then WCW's answer to Hulk Hogan had he not been hurt. It was a singular moment of self-destruction. He didn't overdose on pills or burn bridges in too many promotions.
While I doubt Kennedy will be remembered as fondly or as wistfully as Magnum TA, I still hope that his latest injury isn't severe enough to be put on the shelf so we don't have to ask what if. I may be in the minority on the web, but I'm very entertained by Kennedy, and I think he can have a fine career in the WWE if he gets his act together. If he's going to continue to 'roid, he needs to be able to do it more carefully. Regardless of whether he does or not, he needs to condition himself better.
Because if he doesn't, he'll end up like Douglas, Hall and the others: remembered more for what he could have been rather than what he was.
0 comments:
Post a Comment