10 WWE Stars Who Are Horrendously Miscast

4. Jake Atlas

Matt Riddle
WWE

Is playing:

A guy. Jake Atlas is a guy who wrestles in WWE for the NXT brand presented with an appalling lack of effort and conviction. He jobbed to Dexter Lumis one week, on his debut, but was swiftly presented as a championship-calibre performer through his participation in the interim Cruiserweight title tournament, as the commentary team murmured something or other about his potential and hype as an Indy standout. The whole thing is weird; Atlas was the most talked-about guy on the scene last year, so they're under-selling him. For a company so big on bluster and presentation, it's very odd, as is his role. It's not helped that he's a very flashy athlete with no crowd to pop for him, but wrestling companies should over-compensate, if anything, to build interest amid this crisis.

Should be playing:

Atlas is an openly gay man who proudly wore the flag on his trunks on the Independent scene. Why he doesn't in NXT leads one down a rabbit hole of suspicion only light, anecdotal evidence can support. But if the reason is that reason, if Hulk Hogan can fight for the rights of every man, why can't Jake Atlas fight to represent the marginalised?

At the very least, push him big as the damn prodigy he is. He already has one of the best finishes in the company, and he's worked all of three TV matches.

In this post: 
Matt Riddle
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!