10 Wrestlers Who Have Gone As Far As They Will Go In WWE

"Are we good?" "No."

Woken Matt Hardy
WWE.com

This list could reach to at least 30 entries but, for the sake of variety, let's limit the number to 10. The same fate befalls so many WWE performers that, much like WWE itself, we'd only be endlessly copying and pasting for ad revenue.

There are some WWE performers worth the investment, even in this age of all-encompassing awfulness. Some WWE performers boast an actual future. Ronda Rousey is excellent, radiant, after two pro wrestling matches. She grabs awful takes - "She doesn't deserve the spotlight, she hasn't wrestled long enough!"; "How will she ever got good, if she's not going to wrestle the same match with Natalya on house shows?" - and rips them out of their socket.

It's nice watching Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy because they create a positive atmosphere that in turn inspires belief that WWE will do something with the sentiment before their careers wind down - or, at the very least, protect their investment by not castrating them. Subjectively, Seth Rollins is a tad overrated. Objectively, his matches feel important in a stakes-free landscape because he has convinced a cynical public that he is worth supporting.

Some WWE performers are worth the investment...

10. Asuka

Woken Matt Hardy
WWE.com

If she isn't outright finished, it will never be the same again.

Already, the memories of Asuka are fading. She was once formidable to an unprecedented degree. She was this intense, sexy, physically charismatic but playful sh*thouse with an explosive, unique, multi-faceted and incredibly painful-looking in-ring arsenal. An Asuka match was an occasion. An Asuka match was everything that was and is great about pro wrestling; hugely credible, ornately exciting, loud, laden with unmissable stakes.

Like an actual death pool, bets were placed upon the announcement of Asuka's switch to RAW. When would WWE f*ck it up?

Your writer guessed February, mostly in jest. Nobody's laughing now. WWE f*cked up Asuka in under a year. She might reign with the SmackDown Women's Title yet, but it will never be the same again. To get a footing on that unrecoverable ground, Asuka would be reliant on main roster creative to spin a cohesive yarn spanning two years. Never going to happen.

She was, plainly, a star. And now she's a dunce. It's so f*cking depressing. So inevitable, so beyond a bloody joke. And all for the benefit of Carmella - a mildly amusing undercard heel character - a Diva, let's face it - with no business even orbiting a title we are to infer is comparable to the WWE Title in this era of the Women's Evolution. F*cking as if. As if WWE would book Curt Hawkins as Universal Champion.

F*ck your non-existent Women's Evolution. And f*ck you for f*cking up Asuka.

Nobody was ready for Asuka - but nobody is immune to the execrable main roster creative regime.

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!