10 Buried Treasures That Could Leave WWE Before 2018
8. Mickie James
When the former WWE Womens and Divas Champion surprisingly reemerged to lose to Asuka at November 2016's NXT TakeOver: Toronto, a main roster return seemed assured following her high quality display.
Though somewhat silly in execution, her placement as Becky Lynch's masked assailant 'La Luchadora' at least placed her at the top of SmackDown Live's burgeoning division alongside Alexa Bliss, but a sharp loss of interest from the creative team in continuing either the rivalry or relationship resulted in her making up the numbers at WrestleMania then moving across to Monday Night Raw to share the absolute lowest spot on the totem pole with Dana Brooke.
With a healthy following carried over from her original run and an in-ring ability matching the expected quality benchmark now on display weekly, her perplexing demotion seems to imply that WWE perhaps consider her too long in the tooth for a front-facing role in their wobbly 'revolution'.
It's misguided of course, with Natalya astutely playing something of a veteran on SmackDown Live!, and James' television age offset by the wealth of new opponents and combinations that stand before her. But none of those bouts look to be forthcoming. Too talented not to feature prominently somewhere, but in danger of being further overlooked as Mae Young Classic participants filter through, James could and should carefully consider all her options.