10 Wrestlers WWE Tried To Push To The Top (But Failed)

10. Vladimir Kozlov

Like a lot of prospects WWE have tried to push to the top over the years, Kozlov had a good background in sports having trained in freestyle wrestling, sambo, judo, kickboxing, football, rugby and MMA. Kozlov was an athlete, somebody with a legitimate background in sports. He was a USA Open Heavyweight Champion and a champion in kickboxing, too. He ticked a lot of the boxes (he was also around 6ft6in tall, which helps a lot in WWE) and officials expected big things from the Ukrainian grappler. Unfortunately for Kozlov, professional wrestling is not like any other type of sport (or entertainment) and it takes a lot more than power and a handful of athletic ability to 'get' it. Kozlov just didn't have any aptitude for it, but that didn't stop WWE from giving him a major push. He joined the company on January 7th, 2006 and debuted on WWE TV on April 4th, 2008. He was, naturally, a heel. Kozlov went on a winning streak, destroying a bunch of a jobbers (poor, long suffering cruiserweights like Nunzio and Shannon Moore) before demanding better competition. That 'better competition' came in the form of Jeff Hardy and Triple H. Kozlov was supposed to face 'The Game' in a singles match at Survivor Series but, after a succession of dreadful matches on house shows, Edge was added to the mix. Kozlov hung around the title picture for a while before WWE realised it was a pointless exercise. Kozlov tried hard, but he just never got it. He turned face in 2010 and formed a memorable but short-lived comedy tag team with Santino before being released from his contract on August 5th, 2011.