10 Indie Stars Ruined By WWE

WWE has been on a massive recruitment drive during the first half of 2018, signing a whole host of talented up-and-comers who have made a name for themselves climbing up the independent ranks.

For many, it's pretty much a given that the likes of Ricochet and War Machine - two of this year's most high profile acquisitions - will be a success in the world's leading wrestling promotion. After all, their ability in the ring is unquestionable, and they're following a path well-trodden by fellow indie graduates Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and CM Punk.

But for every success story, there are several others who have struggled to make the step up, often owing to factors outside of their control (namely their new employers' awful booking). Wrestlers who arrived in the company with a growing reputation, but were either comically miscast in a dead-end gimmick or simply ignored outright for the duration of their tie on the main roster.

The introduction of NXT has helped to ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen too often these days - but there's still no guarantee that you'll make it.

The WWE experience of former Ring of Honor and TNA star Low Ki is a good example of why the company decided to bring in NXT as an intermediary step for independent wrestlers looking to establish themselves in the big leagues.

Having been thrown straight onto SmackDown, Low Ki - now going by the name Kaval - simply got lost in the shuffle. There were so few opportunities that he ended up getting released from the company altogether in December 2010 - just three months after his debut.

Considering that, eight years earlier, he became the inaugural Ring of Honor World Champion - a belt worn by the likes of CM Punk, Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins - this has to go down as one of the biggest wastes in the company's history.

Had he been signed a decade later, and given the opportunity to perform in today's finishing school rather than FCW, there's every chance he would have gone onto main roster success (or at the very least become a focal point of 205 Live).