Arn Anderson names two WWE Superstars who underachieved
Arn Anderson believes Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire should have become bigger stars after leaving WCW for WWE.
Known as The Alliance, Palumbo and O’Haire made their WWE debuts in June 2001 following Vince McMahon’s purchase of WCW. Palumbo became a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Billy Gunn before leaving WWE in November 2004.
By contrast, O’Haire mostly worked as a singles competitor before his April 2004 release.
Speaking on his ARN podcast, Anderson said the former WCW World Tag Team Champions did not fulfill their potential in WWE.
“One guy that I thought, or a couple of guys, let me put it to you this way, that I thought could’ve had a lot bigger future if a lot of things could’ve been done, say they hadn’t have been WCW guys before that, I think that hurt them… Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire. I think [they] could have had much bigger futures.”
Palumbo is best remembered by WWE fans for his tag team work alongside Billy Gunn. O’Haire’s biggest moment came when he defeated Hulk Hogan’s Mr. America character via countout on WWE SmackDown.
Arn Anderson thinks the WWE system worked against both men
Arn Anderson worked as a WWE producer from 2001 to 2019. He has previously mentioned that WWE mistreated Sting simply because of his WCW association. With regards to Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire, he thinks their links to WWE’s former rival worked against them.
“Sean O’Haire, man, had an incredible look. He looked like a frigging warlock, and a big one, and he just had those evil eyes that you can’t really… there’s probably real pure evil living behind them. It’s not something he’s concocted. Chuck Palumbo, handsome guy, very personable, excellent worker. I think if those guys would have been recruited and came through the WWE system, they would have been much, much bigger stars.”
Palumbo, 49, retired from wrestling in 2012. O’Haire, who returned to WWE in 2006 to compete in a one-off match against Scotty 2 Hotty, died at the age of 43 in 2014.
Please credit ARN and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.