10 WWE Champions Who Wouldn't Make It In Today's Developmental System

9. Sgt. Slaughter

Probably no wrestler, barring the Undertaker, owes as much of his long-term success to his gimmick as Sgt. Slaughter. Since adopting the gimmick, he's stuck with iterations of it ever since, and so much of Sarge's success was predicated on shifting attitudes about the military. During his initial run, he was a heel, a fascist caricature based upon lingering ill will about the military after Vietnam. That changed in 1984, when Slaughter embraced Reagan-style muscular patriotism to defy the Iron Sheik.

The only thing that 2015 WWE loves more than US troops are distraction roll-up finishes, so there's no way his evil drill sergeant character makes television. That said, WWE is also a global company these days, and a gung-ho military hero would not play well for an overseas market already sick of American militarism. 

That leaves ol' Sarge trying to make his mark without his precious gimmick, heel or face. You look at non-military Bob Remus up there and ask yourself if he's going to hang with Hideo Itami.