10 Wrestlers Who Never Lived Up To Their Early Promise
7. Wade Barrett
Barrett through his immense height and mic game alone is an indictment of the oft-counterproductive booking which plagued WWE at the turn of the decade, a pattern which has only recently shown signs of being broken.
In any other era, Vince McMahon would have fallen all over himself in an attempt to frogmarch the towering Brit to the top of the card - but his ADHD tendencies came to the forefront in the wake of the hiatuses and retirements embarked upon by the likes of Batista and Shawn Michaels in the noughties.
Lumbered with Ezekiel Jackson at the close of the massively botched Nexus push, Barrett, despite honing his physique and adapting deftly to an assortment of character realignments, was never really given the opportunity to shine in feature singles feuds with opponents befitting his talents.
His undesirable injury record undoubtedly played a part, but his creative frustrations boiled over earlier this year, resulting in his WWE departure and his falling out of love with the business.
There is still potential for Barrett to show WWE what they're missing, but regrettably, he seems in no rush to do just that.