10 PG-Era WWE Superstars You Totally Don't Remember

Hade Vansen, we hardly knew ye.

Tyler Reks 2012
WWE.com

WWE’s signing policy has changed significantly in recent years. Where the company once preferred to bring-in unseasoned rookies, models, and football players and build them from the ground up, the company has gradually moved towards signing well-travelled veterans who are already close to their prime.

Look at the likes of Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura then compare them with Nathan Jones and Mason Ryan, and the difference should be obvious to anyone.

WWE haven’t completely abandoned their old protocols, but there’s been a significant shift away from the green and not-quite-ready. WWE history is littered with forgettable wrestlers who showed-up, accomplished very little, then disappeared into the abyss, and the PG Era was no different.

Officially switching from TV-14 to a PG rating on July 22nd, 2008, WWE made a conscious shift to move away from the bold, brassy Ruthless Aggression Era to a more toned-down, family-friendly product. Fans have bemoaned the change for years, and even today, 8 years later, there are calls for blood, violence, and edgy storylines to return to WWE television. While the PG Era officially ended in March 2014, the PG rating remains, and it’s unlikely to change any time soon (for various reasons).

Just like the Ruthless Aggression and Attitude eras before it, the PG Era was peppered with superstars who vanished without ever making a mark. Here are 10 PG Era WWE superstars you totally don’t remember.

10. Maxine

Tyler Reks 2012
WWE.com

Maxine was a competitor on the all-female third season of NXT, back when the show was still a talent contest. Before that, she’d competed under a number of different names in the FCW developmental territory, including “Liviana” and, ahem, “The Candy Girl”. Wonderful.

While picking up a couple of losses against Aksana and AJ Lee, Maxine ran the show’s usual gauntlet of contests and challenges, the highlight of which saw her lose a mechanical bull riding competition after Hornswoggle threw a pie in her face (NXT used to be a lot different). Maxine scored her first victory against Kaitlyn a few weeks into the show, but it was one of the sloppiest, most botch-ridden matches in modern WWE history. It was a complete disaster, and Maxine was eliminated two weeks later.

A long television absence followed, but she returned in 2011 to align with Derrick Bateman during NXT’s fifth season. While Bateman was eventually declared the season’s unofficial winner, Maxine continued to struggle in and outside the ring, and was released from her WWE contract in 2012.

She’s since found success as Lucha Underground’s dark, sultry Catrina, proving that the acting classes she’d taken throughout her WWE tenure have not gone to waste. Still, Maxine’s defining moment in WWE remains that godawful Kaitlyn match, a dubious honour to say the least.

 
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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.