10 WWE Wrestlers In A Worse Position Than This Time Last Year

On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for any WWE wrestler with aspirations of staying in the main event drops to zero.

Not even supposed immortals like Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold could keep their place in Vince McMahon's good books forever. Owing to a combination of the effect that the passage of time has on the human body and the fact that the chairman of the board isn't exactly the forgiving type, it's simply not possible.

A bunch of the 72-year-old's current employees have tumbled down the card over the last 12 months, some of them without rhyme or reason, and others quite justifiably so. We're talking about wrestlers who looked to be the among the best in the company this time last year, but now perhaps face being sidelined for WrestleMania 34.

The good news is that every episode of Raw and SmackDown represents another opportunity for them to turn their fortunes around. Wrestling, like life itself, can change in an instant: timing - and, simply, luck - can be just as important as talent and hard work.

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are great, but if you spend three consecutive episodes of SmackDown fighting opponents who don't even have names then it's probably fair to assume that you're not exactly top of the creative team's list of priorities.

What becomes of The Bludgeon Brothers in the long run is anyone's guess. They will probably have their sights set on a run at The Usos Tag Titles in the short-term, but could well become redundant when fellow bearded behemoths War Machine arrive on the WWE scene.

An existential crisis seemed a long way off for Harper this time a year ago. He was in the midst of his best ever singles run, having just cut ties with Bray Wyatt after years of being a second-in-command, and become embroiled in a meaningful feud with Randy Orton shortly after.

Competing for the WWE Title in WrestleMania 33's headline match was always a long shot, but the mere fact that fans were prepared to entertain the idea at all was evidence that he was heading in the right direction. Now, all of these gains appear to have been stripped back, perhaps irretrievably.