10 Wrestlers Struggling To Prove Their Worth To WWE

8. Gran Metalik

Gran Metalik
WWE.com

Clearly, Vince McMahon did not watch the Cruiserweight Classic. He did not transpose its real sports flavour to 205 Live, which is more or a less a WWE main roster production devoid of excitement - which renders its tagline all the more ironic.

Equally ironic is that McMahon has spent years moulding Kalisto as the replacement to Rey Mysterio, despite the fact that the "King Of Flight" is more likely to sell for the ring ropes than he is to flog masks. Kalisto is more flubber than man; a performer who simply cannot cut promos, and is clearly so unpredictable - even to himself - that he has the original Sin Cara to thank for creating an unprecedented Curve of Botch.

Meanwhile, in the background, Gran Metalik exists - wrestling nothing matches on 205 Live that are, to borrow one of Jim Cornette's less savoury sayings, "slicker than c*m on a gold tooth". Those matches don't matter because they are framed to not matter - but, augmented by real stakes and meaning, Metalik's work is as dramatic as it is technically immaculate.

WWE has a genuinely superb luchador on its payroll - he just hasn't proved his worth to them because he's there purely to pad out the content, content, content approach engineered by the company in this Network era.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!