10 Wrestlers Who've Suffered Most From The WWE Brand Split
Not everyone has shined in the New Era.
The 2016 Brand Split has already brought a measure of success to WWE. SmackDown’s ratings are up, Raw’s have been steady, and wrestlers like Dean Ambrose and Finn Balor have thrived in their newfound spotlights. SmackDown has seen particularly noticeable improvements, with the Tuesday night show beating-out Raw in terms of story progression, excitement, and making almost every wrestler look strong.
Business isn’t exactly booming, and it’s early days yet, but the initial signs are generally positive. WWE are slowly creating a distinct identity for both of their flagship shows, and while there’s still a long way to go before the Brand Split can be deemed a triumph, WWE programming is infinitely more enjoyable than it was six months ago.
One of the Brand Split’s main purposes was to allow additional TV time to some of WWE’s underused wrestlers. The combined roster was crammed with superstars who weren’t given a chance to shine in the previous format, and the Draft was supposed to alleviate that. It’s worked for the aforementioned Ambrose and Balor and a host of others, but in terms of rebuilding WWE’s fallen stars, the Brand Split hasn’t succeeded across the boards.
In fact, some wrestlers now find themselves in a worse position than before the Brand Split kicked-in. Here are the 10 WWE wrestlers who’ve suffered most from the Brand Split.
10. Bo Dallas
Bo Dallas wasn’t born to set the wrestling world on fire. His NXT Title run was revelatory at a time when WWE’s developmental brand was still building its now-stellar reputation, and while he showed promise upon debuting on the main roster, his “Bolieve” shtick died ahead of its time. Dallas was soon relegated to enhancement status, and that’s perfectly fine: he’s an average wrestler with a fun gimmick, but probably lacks the potential to ever make it past the midcard.
With that said, The Social Outcasts had a clear role to play in WWE. As the lower-card’s resident annoyances, they were an oddly-entertaining enhancement act, and the stable gave purpose to four WWE superstars who were otherwise lost without it. The 2016 Draft split Dallas, Curtis Axel, and Heather Slater up, however, and we all know what happened with Adam Rose.
Post-Draft, Dallas is non-existent on Raw. He’s been used mostly to put other guys over on Superstars, and while nobody’s exactly calling-out for a big Bo Dallas push in 2016, he’s gone from regularly-used Raw talent to a complete non-factor.
There should theoretically be a role for him to be used instead of the hapless “local talents” that are fed to Braun Strowman on a weekly basis, but apparently not. If Dallas wasn’t dead in the water before, he certainly is now.