10 Biggest One Hit Wonders In Wrestling History
9. Alex Riley
Known for: giving The Miz a sh*t-kicking that one time.
That is literally it.
???
Who hasn't given The Miz a sh*t-kicking? Anybody who has spent longer than they wish submerged in the lore of Michael Mizanin's wrestling career will understand his career-long purpose: he forms alliances with the sole purpose of, eventually, unleashing a reasonably-sized cheap pop when the babyface-turning partner has had enough and decks him. It is literally what they did this year with Carmelo Hayes. It isn't groundbreaking now, and it wasn't groundbreaking then, in May 2011, when 'A-Ry' did so.
Why didn't he thrive after: because WWE had already given up on him.
His career was redirected to the gutter when he self-eliminated (!) from the Royal Rumble. This wasn't a planned moment either: the actual plan was for Alex Riley to dump John Cena out of the thing, which would have made him a star.
Instead, Alex Riley - a confidently smug, not-terrible wrestler whose okay build completed the final package that would have made Vince McMahon gush - was left directionless. A subsequent stint as NXT colour commentator was fine, as was his Downstatit-produced entrance track and his own sh*t-kicking received at the merciless hands of Kevin Owens in 2015.
But WWE's next big thing?
He was closer than Jack Swagger was.