10 WWE Stars Who Have Gone AWOL

5. Shanky

Sasha Banks Elias Ezekiel
WWE.com

Speaking of said "big goof".

WWE's braintrust figured that going the Big Show, Great Khali, Albert/Lord Tensai, Kurrgan route with Shanky was his best bet of connecting with the audience. Yes, they deployed the ancient (and overused) 'monster becomes friendly giant' trope and hoped for the best.

That's why Shanky started rapping and then dancing with ring announcers. It's just an all-night party whenever the big Shankster is around, eh? Problem was, fans didn't really get hooked the way WWE hoped they would. Imagine that. Also, in the end, Shanky's story with Jinder Mahal potentially turning on him went nowhere too.

He's on the same bench as Jinder for now. The writing team blatantly don't have a clue what to do with him, and they probs don't have an Omos-style monster heel push in mind for his return. Shanky's importance as a big man has also been diluted by the re-emergence of Braun Strowman too.

Things do not look good for him.

In this post: 
Sasha Banks
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.