10 WWE Signings That Didn't Live Up To The Hype

5. Low Ki

Kaval WWE Survivor Series 2010
WWE.com

A three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion as well as a four-time TNA X Division Champion, Low Ki may just have been the victim of some particularly frustrating timing. He was signed by WWE in early 2009 and renamed Kaval, hot on the heels of CM Punk's success and Daniel Bryan signing with the company. The tides seemed to be turning regarding WWE and their view of independent pro wrestling.

The hype for Low Ki seemed well placed initially, as The World Warrior overcame the handicap of having Michelle McCool and Layla as pros to win the second season of NXT ahead of Alex Riley and Michael McGillicutty. This led to him turning up on SmackDown to challenge Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship, and maybe CM Punk-esque success was in the offing.

Pretty much the opposite happened, as Kaval was tripped over at every hurdle by a company that didn't seem to have a whole lot of interest in him succeeding. Kaval lost match after match after match to opponents such as Chavo Guerrero, Tyler Reks, Jack Swagger, and more, and his last bout saw him squashed in no time at all by Drew McIntyre on a pre-Christmas edition of SmackDown.

Low Ki was one of the big independent standouts when he signed in 2009, and his brief time in the company hurt him more than most.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.