10 Buried Treasures That Could Leave WWE Before 2018
Forgotten but not gone.
For every fantastical childhood tale of a pirate or explorer at long last discovering a bounty they'd only heard or dreamt about from mythical stories of their own, the accompanying illustration is almost always of a dusty old chest with a beaming bullion inside. The stark contrast between the two is by design. Highlighting the worth of the treasure and the glory of the find, the shimmering jewels and glistening gold promise wealth and prosperity to the recipient as reward for their quest.
Vince McMahon's hidden fortune sadly only exists because of his overt actual one.
A monolithic enterprise perhaps beyond anything anybody in the wrestling industry ever thought possible, WWE is the sprawling market leader of an industry it helped redefine, but has become too big to service all the muscular rank-and-file that helped maintain its lofty presence.
With three main roster broadcasts, one touring developmental brand and a host of offshoot projects to service a growing Network, the company continues to attempt to be all things to all fans as wrestling itself goes through something of a contemporary boom period.
Ultimately though, the organisation's pressing concern should be the vast array of talent still locked out of the writers room, but locked in WWE's treasure chest. Laying dormant or in need of fresh discovery, these gems threaten to remain hidden unless the biggest swashbuckler of all remembers how he amassed such enormous riches in the first place.
10. Dolph Ziggler
The horrific current incarnation of Dolph Ziggler's freewheeling midcarder act is destined to end in defeat at the hands of Bobby Roode, but could this unending parade of entrances finally mark his exit?
'The Show Off' need only look to Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes and countless others that have sought and found fortune elsewhere in wrestling as the industry constantly expands and evolves. In truth, he probably doesn't have a lot longer before he loses his caché with the the very audience that would have furnished a prosperous run mirroring the impressive efforts of his peers.
Dolph was once the maligned figure of the WWE midcard. An energetic, hard-working babyface with an impactful style and a host of memorable matches, he was the big-bumping bestie of WWE's hipster corner. The growth of NXT sadly marked the start of Dolph's downward spiral, both in the eyes of company decision makers and the fans that once fought his corner.
With a new cause to get behind or maligned star to magnify, those fans only had time for selected idols, and Ziggler fell further out of favour. A loser that just keeps losing and perceived as such by nearly all the millions that watch him weekly, it may be now or never for Dolph.