10 Wrestlers Who Never Lived Up To Their Early Promise

10. Mr. Kennedy

Back in 2007, you'd have been forgiven for fantasy booking Ken 'Mr. Kennedy' Anderson to end the Undertaker's nascent WrestleMania streak - he was the future of pro wrestling, adorned on many a magazine cover and touted by many a tastemaker.

A magnetic presence, Kennedy's obnoxious showman shtick was a veritable heat generator, and his "Mistaaaaaah...KENNEDY!" catchphrase remains one of wrestling fans' fondest call and response routines.

He wasn't too shabby between the ropes, either. Perfectly capable of wrestling a strong, story-driven WWE match, he was cognisant of instilling his bouts with a sense of realism, refusing to "feed" his outstretched head purely to transition between spots by receiving pointless punches.

His star then faded - in very short order. Subjecting his employer to much embarrassment, in an interview with mainstream outlet Fox News, Kennedy failed to grasp the finer points of WWE's Wellness Policy. He then received a measure of poetic justice by being caught up in the Signature Pharmacy scandal shortly after egregiously attributing the deaths of Brian Pillman and Eddie Guerrero to wrongdoings "in WCW".

Cast as a liability outside of and between the ropes - Randy Orton famously deemed him reckless for exacerbating his long-term shoulder problem - Anderson was released from WWE before enduring a quick raft of career-damaging turns during his middling TNA run.