10 WWE Superstars Who Were Doomed From The Start
“Welcome to the real world. It sucks!”
WWE make so much money in the current era that some fans will argue beyond their own puce cheeks that the entire organisation is completely beyond criticism.
But tell that to some of the talent that appear substantially more miserable actually earning some of that cash than they did on far less during their developmental days. The lost smiles and tired eyes of countless former NXT prospects have become a tragic ingredient of the weekly product, but - like everything else in WWE - there is no particular pattern for succcess.
Elias is the obvious example of a call-up gone better than anybody could have expected, but even he may yet sink thanks to his crowd-pleasing heel patter’s recent conversion to a charmless John Cena-esque parody of itself.
Ultimately, the gimmick may now crash and burn, but the former ‘Drifter’ has already over-achieved on measured expectations. There is no paved route to safe success. Elias simply found one and followed it as long as he could.
Considering how Vince McMahon used to use the word so effectively as the only cast-iron promise on his product, few superstars are “guaranteed” superstardom. But that doesn’t mean they should feel so hamstrung from the beginning of their journey...
10. Austin Aries
‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ hasn’t been shy about being the most outspoken either during his various stints with virtually every major organisation over the last decade, but much about his time in NXT was so cursed that he probably expected more of the same upon earning a promotion via 205 Live.
His first match was heavily promoted until it was completely outshone. A TakeOver: Dallas debut should have been a squash until opponent Baron Corbin required protection thanks to a surprising main roster call-up planned for the next night. Meanwhile, fellow newcomer Shinsuke Nakamura blew his arrival so far out of the water that the company had no choice but to acknowledge the discrepancy it when the two feuded later that year.
For reasons still unknown considering the stupendous quality of virtually every exchange, both Aries and then-Cruiserweight Champion Neville were underserved during and following their outstanding 2017 programme.
It seemed as though the old cliche was true - creative really did have nothing for them, and it was little surprise that both were gone from screens before the end of the year.