10 Wrestlers WWE Gave Up On Too Soon
5. Kenny Omega
Current Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega is the only wrestler on this list to never make his main roster debut for WWE. Indeed, many wrestling fans don’t even know that Omega was briefly under WWE contract from 2005 to 2006, competing solely at their Deep South Wrestling territory.
Working under Bill DeMott, John Laurinaitis, and Bob Holly, Omega has frequently criticised his time in DSW since being released. Claiming the opportunity to train with British wrestling legend Dave Taylor was the only positive experience, Omega states that WWE did very little to help develop his abilities in DSW, and when he requested his release, the company made no effort to retain him.
Omega has since proved WWE’s lack of faith to be a huge mistake. In NJPW, Omega is a multi-team singles and tag team champion, and notably defeated the legendary Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the company’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship this past February. He’s not just a great wrestler, but one of the biggest gaijin (foreign) wrestlers in Japan today, and he has absolutely perfect his villainous anime-inspired “Cleaner” character.
Having reportedly turned down numerous WWE contract offers throughout 2014 and 2015, Omega and his stablemates The Young Bucks have been openly goading The New Day since the start of the year. Perhaps there’s a chance we’ll see Omega wrestle for them again, but for now, he goes down as one of WWE’s most mishandled prospects.