10 Wrestlers WWE Have Ruined Without Fans
7. Kyle O'Reilly
Kyle O'Reilly's babyface push in NXT might have come too late for him to be the tippy-top star he once could have been.
The black-and-gold brand's slapdash approach to storytelling over the past year has damaged his prospects, and a lack of authentic noise and natural light in that wretched Capitol Wrestling Center has quashed much of the momentum he may have one day been able to build.
Since breaking off as a solo star, he's lost two major (and majorly divisive) NXT Championship matches to Finn Bálor and passed out in a TakeOver Fatal 5-Way at the hands of current titleholder Karrion Kross. He did defeat Adam Cole in an overlong and overthought bore in the middle of all that, but that's just muddled any sense that he can't quite win the big one.
Not all hope is lost. A mini-banger with Kushida on the June 22nd NXT was one of O'Reilly's best matches since going solo, and the show did some of its best viewerships the last time they were promoting him and Cole going at it. If their Great American Bash clash is better than the Stand & Deliver snoozer, his 2021 might end better than it started.