10 Former WWE Stars Who Definitely Should Not Return For Brand Split 2016

Some guys are just better off outside of WWE.

John Morrison WWE
WWE.com

July 19th is almost upon us. On that night, World Wrestling Entertainment will once again split into two separate entities as the brand split returns to our screens. Two separate rosters will move the two shows forward, and Dave Meltzer among others has been reporting that WWE has been contacting a plethora of former stars about returning to bulk up the rosters.

Some of the names mentioned include Kurt Angle, Carlito, Rey Mysterio and Bastion Booger, except not Bastion Booger. Chris Masters, Shelton Benjamin, Tajiri and more could also return to full time WWE programming. Basically, if you were with the company around 2004 and 2005 you should sit by your phone.

There is no doubting that seeing a small number of old faces return for another ride on the merry-go-round would be fun. Carlito and Benjamin in particular still have great value to WWE, and men such as MVP and Jeff Hardy also felt like they left before they could reach their peak popularity.

There will be a huge amount of names rumoured, but a certain number simply should not return. Whether this is because no-one truly wants to see them back or they are better off outside of WWE for now, here are 10 men that definitely should not return once the brand split comes back.

10. Vladimir Kozlov

John Morrison WWE
WWE.com

The name 'Vladimir Kozlov' is likely to illicit groans from World Wrestling Entertainment fans with long memories. The Ukrainian grappler ran the entire gamut of WWE monster story arcs, getting the big undefeated push to begin with before gradually moving down the card and eventually settling into a role as a slightly comedic foreign babyface. He was Nikolai Volkoff in 2010.

I doubt anyone has any desire to see Vladimir Kozlov inside a WWE ring in 2016. He was something of a bust in the first place, despite an impressive resume when it comes to grappling and martial arts skills. You can have all the judo and sambo skills in the world, it ain't gonna make you an engaging professional wrestling.

I do recommend checking out how he looks now however. If you remember his slightly pudgy appearance in WWE, you are in for a shock.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.