10 Incredible Wrestlers WWE Signed FAR TOO LATE
These talented wrestlers all joined WWE way past their prime.
In WWE, timing is everything. Mistime a move or sequence and it could throw an entire match of its axis, or even lead to a serious injury.
The same theory can be applied to a wrestler's overall career. Join the promotion too early, and you won't be ready for the main event scene*; join too late, and you'll be past your prime. It's a difficult balancing act and one that not everybody gets right. These ten names know that more than most.
*Unless you're Kurt Angle, but then, what a rule-proving exception he was.
All of these performers achieved great success around the world. There were plenty of chances for them to join WWE when they were big news, but for some reason, they never made the move. By the time they did arrive, they were either too old, too broken down, or just not popular enough to succeed at the top level. Territory stars in the Attitude Era felt a century too late, much less a decade.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20. There's no guarantee that these guys and gals would have excelled in WWE even if they had joined at the so-called 'right' time. It does make you wonder though - how different would the wrestling landscape be today if they hadn't been afraid to pull the trigger?
10. EVIL
In an industry where subtlety is already rare, it takes a lot of gusto to straight-up call yourself 'Evil'. This is the name that Takaaki Watanabe went by for a decande-and-a-half in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
From a young tag team prodigy to a World champion, Evil ran the length and breath of NJPW After doing pretty much all there was to do in his homeland, he followed his wife Iyo Sky to WWE, signing with NXT in 2026 under the new name 'Naraku'.
There's two ways of looking at this. On one hand, Japanese imports have always struggled in WWE. If Evil had joined the promotion any earlier, he might not have prospered and he would have missed out on his success in Japan.
On the other hand, at the age of 39, there isn't much time for him to establish himself in his new home. You'd have thought if he was going to hold out for so long, he might as well have held out forever. Maybe he'll prove us all wrong, but his NXT career hasn't exactly gotten off to a flying start.