10 Wrestlers Who Never Lived Up To Their Early Promise

The supernovae of the squared circle.

Mr. KENNEDY
WWE.com

The world of pro wrestling is an amorphous beast, one which readily preys on the flawed, the stale, and the unfortunate.

It moves at unfathomable speeds to generate inexplicable consequences. The diminutive, southern AJ Styles, long considered the antithesis of the WWE ideal, tattooed his initials on his side in the not-too distant past - seemingly in protest at WWE's insistence on renaming their talents for copyright purposes and as a pledge of his TNA allegiance.

Today, in a sentence which will likely never look right, AJ Styles is the WWE Heavyweight champion.

As inconceivable as it may seem in retrospect, some of the men and women on this list were once earmarked for similarly major, lasting success in pro wrestling. It didn't quite work out that way. In some cases, that's understandable, if not fathomable. Wrestling is inscrutable and wildly unpredictable - and often very unfair. To contradict a cliche, the cream doesn't always rise to the top. Often, it is carelessly left out to curdle.

Sometimes, though, a wrestler will stand still, when others around them are primed to overlap. Or, they'll open their dumba** mouths when they should not have summoned the microphone from on high...

10. Mr. Kennedy

Mr. KENNEDY
WWE.com

Back in 2007, you'd have been forgiven for fantasy booking Ken 'Mr. Kennedy' Anderson to end the Undertaker's nascent WrestleMania streak - he was the future of pro wrestling, adorned on many a magazine cover and touted by many a tastemaker.

A magnetic presence, Kennedy's obnoxious showman shtick was a veritable heat generator, and his "Mistaaaaaah...KENNEDY!" catchphrase remains one of wrestling fans' fondest call and response routines.

He wasn't too shabby between the ropes, either. Perfectly capable of wrestling a strong, story-driven WWE match, he was cognisant of instilling his bouts with a sense of realism, refusing to "feed" his outstretched head purely to transition between spots by receiving pointless punches.

His star then faded - in very short order. Subjecting his employer to much embarrassment, in an interview with mainstream outlet Fox News, Kennedy failed to grasp the finer points of WWE's Wellness Policy. He then received a measure of poetic justice by being caught up in the Signature Pharmacy scandal shortly after egregiously attributing the deaths of Brian Pillman and Eddie Guerrero to wrongdoings "in WCW".

Cast as a liability outside of and between the ropes - Randy Orton famously deemed him reckless for exacerbating his long-term shoulder problem - Anderson was released from WWE before enduring a quick raft of career-damaging turns during his middling TNA run.

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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!