Downed On The Farm: Top WWE Developmental Prospects That Never Made It…Part 29

Brian Damage

The WWF/WWE has had some type of developmental system for years now. Whether it was the USWA, Ohio Valley, Power Pro, Heartland, Deep South, Florida Championship Wrestling or NXT…many of the company’s top superstars got their start in at least one of them. While some developmental names like John Cena, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, The Miz, Brock Lesnar and Charlotte Flair all made big stars of themselves by first training in developmental, others never got to see the light of day. This series will focus on those wrestlers…the ones that at some point were a lock to get called up to the main roster and never quite made it. What once was hot, suddenly became a “not” as a WWE superstar.

Maverick Dakota

Dakota Darsow was born into the business of professional wrestling. His father Barry wrestled for decades under different gimmicks, but most notably as ‘Smash’ from the WWF tag team known as Demolition. While Dakota was enrolled at the University of Minnesota Crookston playing football, Dakota made the decision to quit and enroll in a wrestling school.

Dakota was trained by both his father and former WCW star Lenny Lane. After wrestling on the indie scene in the Midwest, the second generation Darsow was offered a developmental deal with WWE in 2008. He was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and his name was changed to ‘Maverick Dakota.’ He would often team with fellow generational wrestlers like Bret Dibiase and Tank Mulligan (Bo Dallas). He eventually changed his name to ‘Barry Allen’ but was released from his contract in 2009.

After his release from WWE developmental, Dakota began wrestling on the Florida indie circuit. He eventually received a tryout and a made a couple of appearances for TNA wrestling. He competed in their X division. It was reported that Eric Bischoff lobbied hard to get Darsow signed to a TNA contract…but that never materialized.

Dakota eventually found love and got married and moved to a small town in Michigan. With he and his wife starting a family….Dakota decided he no longer wanted to travel as a pro wrestler and decided to change careers. He joined a local police academy and became a deputy for Roscommon County in Michigan. He resides there with his wife and three children.