10 Indy Sensations Who FLOPPED In WWE 

I'm convinced when Christopher Daniels is 140 years old he will still be in better shape than me

I mean, I could be wrong here, but I thought I heard that Chris actually wanted that role of getting younger talent over...

now do the opposite one, 10 WWE Superstars that flopped in Indies

WWE did pretty much everything they could to avoid Kaval getting over. During his NXT run everybody kept on reminding the audience that he is "tiny" and "little". Even his mentors Lei Cool kept on mocking him for that. After he won the competition instead of the guys WWE wanted to win, they almost immediatly put him in a losing streak while they kept on telling us in the comment that actual WWE is likely a bit too big for him. Basically he never had a chance to be successfull in WWE cause they just didn't allow it to happen.

Well like Cornette has said over and over Austin Aries always finds away to dumb himself out of the wrestling business

Paul London seems like he was trying to get himself fired at some point

I wouldn’t exactly call Paul London a WWE flop between his multiple cruiserweight title reigns and one of the longest tag title reigns in company history with London and Kendrick.

Lol I like how there were no official pics of Reckless Youth in WWE lol.

Les not forget, Eddie Edwards is a 2x TNA IMPACT Champion on top of his success as a Tag Team champion w/ Davey Richards

Loved Paul London growing up. If only he joined 5 years later :/ Brian Kendrick also I loved. Those two are the most underrated tag team in wrestling history. Their title reign on smackdown was awesome.

I have a friend that did backyard wrestling back in the day that used to name drop wrestling Reckless Youth. I guess I owe him an apology for not giving him proper due.

By the time Aries went to WWE he had already started having a reputation as not being willing to actually work anything that didn't purely benefit him in his eyes. Perfect support for that being a pretty spot on case of what derailed him in WWE is that he hasn't been signed long-term to any major promotion after being stuck with a reputation for "going into business for himself" whenever he wanted. Similar fates for Low Ki, Teddy Hart, Sabu, Sexy Star, and a few others.

I remembered being pumped to see Low Ki on WWE TV, knowing his work in “TNA” it’s sad to know that he some how failed. In a few years this list can be a re-do and Ricochet will be on it, which will be sad as well.

Kenta wasn't really a WWE flop. He's been injured most of his career in WWE just like Chelsea Green career

I wouldn't consider Hero a flop. His NXT career as a gatekeeper to put over new talent was great, always had amazing matches.

To this day I can’t fathom how Chris Hero wasn’t bigger than he was (pun aside) He was at like.. EVERY nxt house show, and this guy would have big man matches with a crazy level of athleticism.

Fun Fact: CM Punk asked for Chris Hero to be the 3rd member of the shield, he was vetoed & given Reigns instead

KENTA vs. Marafuji was the best match I ever saw live. And I've been to enough WrestleManias to count on 2 hands. His name is capitalized because Japanese people will use all caps when they use their first name (most people are identified by their last name).

Kassius ohno deserved much better

10 indie sensations that WWE had no idea how to use, but were so greedy that they just snatched them up anyway.

WWE dropped the ball on Chris Hero.

In an alternative universe, Chris Hero was in the Shield and became a big star in WWE. As for Roman Reigns, he was his own star and debuted in 2015 and gradually got pushed

Christopher Daniels really has been everywhere. I met him - and AJ Styles! - at Anime North in Toronto one year. Yes, wrestlers booked to make an appearance at an anime convention. No, I don't know why either.

If Paul London wrestled now, he could be a big deal in NXT. London was about 5-6 years ahead of his time.

I remember giving up on Solomon Crowe the second I realized he was seriously trying to get a Second Rope Diving Headbutt (From the center ropes, not even off the turnbuckle) as a finisher. At the time, I thought Mojo's terrible application of the Earthquake was bad, but that was the worst finisher I think I'd ever seen.

Apparently Chris Hero was more than happy with putting over up and comers

Kenta was paper thin. Dude kept getting injured by sneezing. Cant blame WWE for that. They tried so hard to put him over only for him to fall apart.

I think this list needs to be totally redone for 2022.

Damn... Being called The King of the Indy's, being signed by WWE, then creating a whole new promotion, and finally, becoming an accountant. What a journey

WWE isn't a fit for everyone. Not a knock on the wrestler or the company, sometimes the fit just isn't right. Honestly, I'm stunned that Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose lasted as long as he did in the company cause he really didn't fit at all, but he and the company made it work until it didn't.

Reckless Youth is an accountant now? Could you imagine an angle where Mike “IRS” Rotunda persuades him to come out of retirement to join his new wrestling finance stable with CPA, D-Lo Brown, and Spike Dudley? Or more realistically, I’d love to see all five of them as on air stooges to a new “Million Dollar Man” type gimmick (not the original or his son, need someone in his prime), where the heel is so rich that he’s hired an entire stable of wrestling accountants and financiers to manage his millions, distract refs, deliver sneaky chair shots, bribe authority figures to change match stipulations, and do backstage comedy bits with the divas.

I remember Kaval had a match against Ziggler at Survivor Series, and Ziggler was bumping like crazy for Kaval's offense, and the crowd just was not reacting at all. He sucked so bad

I was at the NXT House Show in Fresno when Aries broke his orbital. That kick from Nakamura was brutal.

I remember Reckless Youth's name making the rounds on wrestling message boards back in the day. I had no idea he was ever signed to WWF.

I actually trained at a Philadelphia gym that Reckless Youth frequented. Nice guy, very humble, and always told hilarious stories!

I was trading tapes back in the day and Reckless Youth popped up quite often ! I loved his Super 8 work along with his ROH suff as Tom Carter

I am friends with Reckless Youth AKA Tom Carter on Facebook and he did ask for his own Release

Woah, hold on. I take umbrage with y'all trying to call KENTA an "indy sensation." The dude was a major part of Noah when the promotion was at its peak -- that is to say, in the mid-2000s when it was by far the biggest wrestling promotion in the world outside WWE.

Great video these are my favorite kind of videos

You should do a video on underrated indie stars. Number one Matt Cross. Bunch of indie work, never got a proper push or a decent gimmick to do much with. Matt Cross is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the last 15-20 years.

Chris Hero's biggest problem was always being so out of shape. He had a horrific physique during his second run in NXT

KENTA should absolutely not be on this list. NOAH was the biggest promotion in Japan until Misawa died, hardly an "indie."

Not heard the name Reckless Youth for a long time!

You don't have to work for WWE to be a successful pro wrestler. Brands like AEW and IMPACT are proving that

WWE would prefer to feature rappers, actors or models, throwing money at their charisma on the mic and ability to draw more eyeballs than all of this list combined.

I thought for sure Ethan Carter 3rd would be in the top 5. I thought he would have been a top star in WWE with his in ring abilities and mic skills

London is 100% not a flop.

"AKA - how horrible WWE booking ruins careers"

I still dont 'get' Colt Cobana - it just seems silly to me

CHRIS HERO, wouldn’t have flopped had they not had a bias against his body type after his thyroid problems. The man can go with the best of them and hearing “chris is awesome” will forever bring a spring to my enthusiasm

I remember London smiling like an idiot and it made me laugh a lot during that "serious" scene

Kinda surprised Mystico wasn’t on the list. He was one of the best Lucha libre stars ever

Reckless Youth asked for his release. He had a good paying accounting job before going down the developmental.

A much better name for this list would be "Ten wrestlers that had pre-made fan interest, but WWE decided to pretend their 10+ years of wrestling didn't matter, since it didn't happen within a WWE ring."

4:09 - Nice shot of Federal Hill in Baltimore!

How about a top ten wrestling books ? Mankind, a lion's tale etc

Wwe is known for destroying indi talent with huge names outside of wwe, let's not forget finn balor, nakamura, ricochet the list goes on

i disagree from a lot of these names , hero had some hard hitting great matches in nxt, kenta had some pretty memorable matches in 205/nxt as well if he didn't get hurt he would have gotten a bigger push. funny sami is using the crowe gimmick in impact in 2021, but he was acctually in line for a big push before he was released as he was actually supposed to be the leader of sanity.

Would love to see Okada on Raw or SD

If Mick Foley and Hacksaw Jim Duggan had a kid together, it would look like Kassius Ohno

Wouldve loved to see Nigel McGuinness in NXT or NXT UK as a wrestler

Chris Hero was actually getting a push in NXT, but he had thyroid issues and WWE wanted him to train a specific way, and he didn’t want to. So he came back round.

"Indy sensation" and "flopped in the WWE" are synonymous. Indy fans are tight and dedicated. WWE fans are mainstream people and haters. Those are very different audiences. It's like comparing French art house fans to watchers of PG-13 Michael Bay movies.

At this point I hope NONE of the indie guys I like go to wwe- they’ve messed up situations where they could’ve been handed a golden asset and they just shit the bed.

I was so happy when the kings of wrestling were both under WWE contract. It sucks that heron never got the push.

Reckless Youth was awesome. I saw him many times in ECWA.

I think if they're good book them as if, I dunno they're good. Watching as a kid I thought kaval was rubbish because he never won... Sometimes is that simple

KENTA chose that name and font because in Noah his home promotion one of the top stars there was Kenta Kobashi. Check him out, he was amazing. KENTA's real name is Kenta Kobayashi and picked the all caps spelling to avoid confusing the fans.

London and Kendrick are to this day one of my favorite tag teams since the turn of the 2000s

Not everyone can be a top WWE star.... Anyone can be top indy star but it's not easy to be a top star in a global program ❤️

Lol no one ever called Paul London the next hbk. That's absurd.

The American Wolves would have been great in NXT. I've always liked their work. TNA's gain i suppose.

And now they have cut most former Indy talent. This should be Top 10 Indy talent VKM didn’t know how to use.

London was longest WWE tag team champion until New Day

I don’t like that is flopped in wwe better to say wwe failed them

Paul London and Brian Kendrick were one of the highlights of 2006-2007 WWE. I wouldn't say he was a flop.

They used a picture of Christian Cage wearing a Colt headband to represent Colt Cabana lol

Chris Hero didn't flop in WWE. WWE flopped in Chris Hero. Same could be said for KENTA as well. (Which is why I'm glad Jay White resigned with NJPW. They would have fucked him up.)

all they had to do with Cabana is let him wrestle with the Matt Classic gimmick, and he could easily establish himself as a solid upper midcarder until he can find a gimmick that would keep him up at the top and not get murdered by WWE booking

I think '10 Indie Sensations That Weren't Allowed To Flourish In WWE' is a better and more accurate title.

Damn. I know almost all of these guys personally. Cabana is not only a great performer, but he's a genuinely nice/good guy. That makes the lack of opportunity he was given even more vexing. I was literally within earshot when Johnny Laurenitis gave him the offer.

KENTA in all capitals indicates to Japanese Fans that he is a HEEL.

Many people say that Chris Hero refused push to get new and younger talents over...

No one can flop in wwe. Its either your gonna get push or your not gonna get a push.

I came here to say Paul London & Christopher Daniels. If you haven't seen Daniels MLW match vs Sonjay Dutt... Go now.

Kassius ohno had amazing matches with matt riddle, most of them ended in very unique finishes as well

0:26 hmmm the cream SOMETIMES rises to the top based on the whims of one septuagenarian

Love your content, hate the picture in picture to end your videos.

One thing i think stop Chris Hero from going farther in WWE and NXT was all the weight gain that he had since his last time he was there I think that's one thing he should do is the get back in the shape that he was in before

Kassius ohno best wwe moment was the first 10 seconds vs valentine dream

I'll never understand why Colt Cabana was completely jobbed out and then quickly fired by WWE. As the video so eloquently puts it, he had everything the company usually wants: he wasn't small, he had tons of charisma and personality, he was an entertainer, etc. What was that all about ?

Probably was a rib seeing as low ki came out to their music with the lyrics "your just another man in love with me"

You know some directors, actors, writers, musicians and so fourth were indie darlings then signed onto one a Disney, Warner, Universal or likes to do nothing because they just were not ready or honestly not as good as that seemed to be compared to new collegues. For most part this list is full of potential but injury, attitude, stubbornness, big head or immaturity hindered them.

Didnt Chris Hero have thyroid issues that caused his weight gain?

The problem with the Indies is that the fan base is typically ones that wish to see a good match in the ring, and don't care about storylines. What you realize is that Indy fans are usually no more than a couple thousand deep at an Indy show, and usually a few hundred. So fans that don't care about storylines and just want good in ring action, are a minority of the overall pro wrestling fan base. No matter how huge someone is on the Indy circuit, they simply aren't HUGE. Then they go to WWE and most have zero charisma in a world where storylines put asses in seats, and creating a believable character to sell storylines is everything. And if they didn't draw 25,000 fans at any point on the Indy circuit, they need to have a special something to draw 25,000 fans to WWE events. Then at WM, on a normal year, they are looking for 70,000 asses in seats. That's why so many Indy performers flop in the big time. The Indy circuit is an entirely different beast, is in no way aligned with the big time in terms of what draws, and it's not a huge money maker on what it does draw.

UGHH !!! LOW KI is one of my faves ! I dont care what anyone says ! His matches with AJ in early ROH and even TNA were gold !!! Not to mention his stuff in Japan ! LOVE this dude !

Ricochet should be number one. He was ridiculously over in the indie scene and is basically a glorified jobber in wwe

I wouldn't have had Christopher Daniels on this list. His stint was well before he became an Indy superstar and made a name for himself, and seemed to never look back after. Everyone else on the list was already a name on the indies before there WWE stint. Kazarian would've been a better choice since he already was established when he went to WWE.... but then again he also admitted he was far to immature and stubborn at the time he as signed.

Shows Richochet... Doesn't /SAY/ Richochet... I see you Cultaholic. I miss Prince Puma too.

These guys didn't flop per say. WWE didn't know how to use them properly.