10 Times WWE Completely Buried Ring Of Honor World Champions
7. The Greatest Loser That Ever Lived
Austin Aries' short run with WWE looked doomed from the start when Shinsuke Nakamura stole all his debut thunder at the electrifying NXT TakeOver: Dallas event.
Booked to beat Baron Corbin with a sneaky roll-up thanks to a late decision to call 'The Lone Wolf' up to the main roster at WrestleMania the following night, he wasn't even permitted to look graceful in victory, let alone particularly special in presence alone compared to the enigmatic 'King Of Strong Style'.
A middling NXT run was abbreviated by an eye injury that backdoored him on to the main roster by way of a commentary spot for all Cruiserweight matches. That in turn put him in pole position for a shot at Neville's Cruiserweight Title at WrestleMania upon receipt of doctor's clearing. It turned out to be the beginning of the end of his tenure.
Despite three excellent pay-per-view attempts, Aries was simply unable to dethrone the 'King of the Cruiserweights'. Adding insult to injury, their WrestleMania bout was inexcusably left off the DVD set, costing the pair royalties and effectively erasing their contributions to an entire section of the marketplace.
Though the company were still putting effort into establishing the Geordie star as a force in the division, Aries was not the man to sacrifice for the cause, and proved it with matches that haven't been topped in the league since his exit.