10 Times WWE Punished Success

5. Neville

neville enzo amore
WWE.com

WWE's revamped Cruiserweight division was a purple-roped joke before Neville bagged the belt at the 2017 Royal Rumble. Unlike previous champs TJP, The Brian Kendrick and Rich Swann, this surly Englishman came armed with a cerebral strategy that'd turn Cruiser chaos into Cruiser consolidation.

Rethought as the 'King Of The Cruiserweights', Neville started cutting career-best promos and showed personality few inside WWE knew he had. Almost overnight, he went from high-flying jobber-to-the-stars to bona fide heel badass. His two stints with the title (interrupted by a meaningless six-day run for Akira Tozawa) saved the entire concept of 205 Live.

'Thanks, but no thanks', said WWE.

After Neville had worked tirelessly to get the Cruiserweight idea over, creative pivoted towards Enzo Amore and replaced their 'King'. Just like that, months of hard work were thrown away. No wonder Neville was p*ssed at his position in the company.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.