10 Wrestlers Without Direction For WWE SummerSlam 2017

6. Mike Kanellis

Charlotte Becky Lynch
WWE.com

As with Tye Dillinger, a stench of concern hung around Mike Kanellis' prospects on the main roster from the moment he made an unannounced debut alongside real-life wife Maria at June's Money In The Bank pay-per-view.

A failure to even appear on the next edition of SmackDown Live! two days later and a debut entrance interrupted by the basement-dwelling Sami Zayn made for an auspicious start to his WWE career, with little momentum forthcoming from the actual matches between the two on television and pay-per-view.

Luckily for The Kanellis', they feel brand new enough to survive exile from SummerSlam, especially in the absence of an actual reason to be on the card. Ordinarily disheartening, the company's current ignorance to the act may be more of a help than a hindrance.

Too often, the panic around inclusivity results in characters taking unnecessary bullets, so Mike and Maria's avoidance of the show in general should at least keep the passable gimmick fresh beyond the summer months in time for a stronger push into 2018.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett