10 Wrestlers WWE Are Currently Dropping The Ball With

It’s easy to be cynical about WWE’s direction in 2016. The “New Era” brought a slight change in focus that spiked fan interest and hinted towards better days, but aside from those first few post-WrestleMania weeks, 2016 has been mostly populated by the same tired tropes that fans have bemoaned for years.

The company attempted to combat this with the Brand Split, but while they’ve certainly pulled a hard reset with the new Raw and SmackDown rosters, the initial reaction has been lukewarm at best. Only time will tell if the split proves to be a success, but the Draft has done little to provoke excitement, and WWE faces a stern uphill battle to turn public perception around.

One of the most common criticisms levied against WWE in recent years is that they haven’t done the best job of utilising their rich, diverse talent pool to their full abilities. While the roster isn’t as stacked as it was 10 or 15 years ago, WWE is loaded with outstanding wrestlers and entertainers at every level.

Not everyone can make it to the top, but there are a number of performers that aren’t getting the shine their talents deserve.

Whether through a shortage of opportunities, poor creative direction, or complete lack of direction, here are 10 wrestlers that WWE are currently dropping the ball with.

The Vaudevillains debuted on WWE’s main roster in the most underwhelming way imaginable. After the briefest of mentions on 2016’s first post-WrestleMania Raw, Simon Gotch and Aiden English quietly appeared on on the April 7th episode of SmackDown to defeat the Lucha Dragons, before being slotted into a Tag Team Title contendership tournament a few nights later on Raw.

WWE fans were told nothing about The Vaudevillains prior to their arrival, and for such a heavily-gimmicked tandem who are completely reliant on their olde timey act to get over, it was the worst possible start. Instead of building them up with a series of promos and vignettes, WWE sent Gotch and English in cold, and crowd reactions were predictably muted.

The Vaudevillains reached the tournament finals and found their exposure gradually increase, but WWE seemingly lost interest in promoting them after their Tag Team Title loss to The New Day at Extreme Rules. Their stock hit an all-time low after eating a sub 2-minute loss to The Golden Truth on the July 4th episode of Raw, and they were the final tag team to be drafted on Tuesday night, coming-in at 53rd overall.

Perhaps their act is better suited to NXT’s smaller stage than the main roster’s huge sports arenas, but WWE have barely given the talented duo a chance. They were hugely over for a while in NXT, particularly during their Tag Title run, but they’re nothing without their characters.

Unless they’re given an opportunity to actually use the gimmick that brought them this far in the first place, a grim curtain-jerking future awaits The Vaudevillains.