10 Times WWE Turned Trash Into Treasure (... And YOU Didn't Notice!)

3. The Cardiac Kid Seizes The Moment

Chelsea Green
WWE.com

Through no fault of his own, Wes Lee found himself going from a main roster-destined tag team star, to completely lost in the shuffle and facing an extremely uncertain future.

Having won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and had two stints as NXT Tag Team Champions, the MSK tandem of Lee and Nash Carter were one of the most energetic, entertaining acts in the entire WWE. Then Carter got fired after images surfaced of him sporting a Hitler-esque moustache and making a Nazi salute, while he was also faced with domestic abuse allegations.

Pigeon-holed as a tag team performer and a poor promo, Lee found himself in limbo after Nash's firing in April 2022. Adding to the general sense of doom surrounding the talented Cardiac Kid, his early forays into the singles ranks saw him lose to the likes of Xyon Quinn, Sanga, and Trick Williams.

Then, somewhat from nowhere, Wes scored himself a surprise victory at least year's Halloween Havoc, where he emerged victorious in a ladder match for the North American Championship.

In the eight months since Halloween Havoc, Wes Lee has quietly been cemented as a big deal within the NXT brand, and his presentation as a fighting champion - plus his ever-improving promo game - has brought prestige to the North American Title and helped craft Wes as someone who could very much have a significant impact as a singles act on Raw or SmackDown.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.