10 Wrestlers WWE Gave Up On In 2016

2016 has been a year of unparalleled roster turnover for WWE. More than 30 wrestlers and other on-air personalities have left the company over the past 12 months, with dozens more coming in to replace them in developmental and in the main roster. The talent pool is almost unrecognisable compared to what it looked like a year or two ago, and this looks set to continue into 2017.

The talent overhaul isn't restricted to hirings and firings, though. 2016 has seen WWE take renewed interest in guys like Dolph Ziggler and The Miz, who looked dead in the water in January, but are now among the most important acts in the company. On the other side of the equation, countless other wrestlers have been shunted down the card and either de-pushed, or abandoned completely.

WWE have a gigantic roster, and it's easy for wrestlers to get lost in the shuffle. The battle for screen time is fierce, and while the company now produce more original weekly programming than ever before, they don't have room to accommodate everybody, and unfortunately, 2016 will likely leave behind a well-stocked graveyard of once promising wrestling careers.

The company have lost faith a number of competitors this year. Some may eventually work their way to prominence, but others have already been released, and 2016 has been a year to forget for many of WWE's employees.

Here are 10 wrestlers WWE gave up on in 2016.

Titus O’Neil is a former WWE Tag Team Champion, but he’s never been anything more than a lower-midcard player throughout his time with the company. The former Prime Time Player has rarely been used as anything other than a slightly upgraded jobber, but 2016 has been absolutely brutal to him, even by O’Neil’s standards.

The 2015 Celebrity Dad of the Year actually enjoyed a relatively bright start to the year. He wasn’t exactly striding up the card, but Titus was being featured with increasing regularity on Raw and SmackDown, and looked set to slot into a comfortable midcard role.

That all ended during Daniel Bryan’s retirement ceremony in February, when he O’Neil playfully grabbed Vince McMahon in the aftermath. The result? A ludicrous 90-day suspension (later shortened to 60), and the end of his mini-push.

O’Neil returned to television in May, and he was buried immediately. Rusev obliterated him in front of his family then wrecked him in two consecutive US Title matches, and O’Neil slotted into the year’s worst feud alongside Darren Young, his former tag team partner. From there, Titus inherited the deathly “Titus Brand” gimmick and a sizeable losing streak, and while he remains a good PR figure for WWE behind the scenes, his onscreen career is dead in the water.