A Great Cruiserweight Who Never Realized His Potential
Billy Kidman has become one of the more underappreciated wrestlers from the late 90s and early 2000s era of wrestling. WCW is the place most fans associate Kidman with since his career took off there. Kidman was a homegrown star who got over with exciting matches and a generally fun personality. WWE even brought him over as one of the main names in the Invasion storyline.
Kidman had a few different roles in WWE from their cruiserweight division to the tag team scene. However, he never hit his full potential in either company like other WCW cruiserweights to become legends. Respected wrestlers like Bret Hart and Rey Mysterio always name Kidman as one of the best WCW talents. A look back at his career is warranted to see what Kidman accomplished and what more he could have done.
Kidman Originally Broke Out In WCW
Any avid WCW viewer will remember Billy Kidman slowly becoming one of the enjoyable breakout stories in the later years of the ‘90s. Kidman started out in Raven’s Flock faction after a few appearances in secondary cruiserweight matches or putting over bigger names. WCW did set Kidman up for success by having him play a role in helping Perry Saturn defeat Raven to end The Flock.
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Kidman grew his hair out and started wrestling in the tank top and jorts to show he had evolved from the Flock chapter of his career. WCW witnessed Kidman bringing it in the ring, stepping up and developing a connection with the audience in those performances. The ascension of Kidman saw the audience support mirroring his booking support by getting over as a cruiserweight face.
WCW booked Kidman to win the Cruiserweight Championship three times as a stalwart of the division. There was coincidentally a tag team run between Kidman and fellow top cruiserweight Rey Mysterio that saw the two most popular cruiserweights thriving together. A faction ended up forming from it when Kidman, Mysterio, Konnan, and Eddie Guerrero made up the Filthy Animals group for more success.
Kidman's Pushes Ultimately Did Not Work Out
Billy Kidman's biggest push in WCW saw him working a program with Hulk Hogan in 2000. WCW booked the New Blood vs Millionaire’s Club feud to elevate new young talents in feuds against the biggest names. Hogan however did little to help Kidman get over, and it felt like a forced storyline not designed to get him to the next level.
Eric Bischoff’s history with Hogan was the bigger story, and Kidman just came off as a whiny heel not deserving of his claims for a bigger role. Hogan won the feud decisively after Bischoff received more attention than Kidman. WCW then flipped Kidman back into a face character to enter a feud with heel Shane Douglas and later reformed a tag team with Mysterio for some more fun matches.
WWE adding Kidman to the roster from the start of the WCW purchase showed that they saw something in him. Kidman received a few opportunities like winning the Cruiserweight Championship early into the Invasion storyline and becoming WWE Tag Team Champions with Paul London. But none of the WWE pushes worked beyond the lower mid-card picture.
What Could Have Been
Bret Hart went on the record to name Billy Kidman on the shortlist of WCW names he wanted to work a program with and elevate into a main event spot. Many fans felt that Kidman had the potential to move into a much bigger role of at least an occasional main eventer or upper mid-card fixture. Kidman never ascended above the mid-card or tag team picture due to unfortunate timing and pushes that didn’t have the full support of management.
Fellow WCW cruiserweights Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio proved that the smaller wrestlers could become main eventers in WWE. Kidman didn’t fall into the same category as his pushes fizzled out. WWE’s last attempt featured Kidman’s real botch of a Shooting Star Press injuring Chavo Guerrero causing him to snap and turn heel. Unfortunately, fans never took to him in the villain role.
There are many other stories of wrestlers like Kidman who were one effective push short of breaking out. Names like Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, and Rusev make fans wonder how far they could have got with the right booking. Kidman doesn’t get mentioned as much, but he falls under that same umbrella. The success deserves more credit in WCW and some consideration over how far Kidman could have gone with the right booking.
