10 WWE Stars Who Need To Turn In 2017

6. Kalisto

Kalisto TLC
WWE.com

Does Kalisto have any fans left?

He should - should - be a successful babyface. His work at its best is explosive and spectacular, but he's prone to silly errors. When his stock and trade is in the spectacular, those botches become magnified. That gigantic WWE ring is still something he's yet to properly navigate. Another problem is that an entire fleet of smoother Cruiserweights have debuted since was last relevant as United States Champion. If anything, his work has devolved since then - which in contrast with his peers has rendered him in an even more unflattering light.

In the scripted era, fans cling to talents with the hope that they might prove themselves capable of breaking free from the rigid shackles imposed on them by creative. That isn't the case with Kalisto, as became painfully obvious in the fallout of last year's draft. Kalisto in a legendarily botched promo promised after much flubbing to "do a good lucha thing". It was almost too bad to become so-bad-it's-good.

All seems lost. Kalisto started life in WWE as a potential Rey Mysterio replacement, and he's now the third most popular masked wrestler on the roster. Surely there's some worth in mining his perception as a punchline?

At this rate, there's little else WWE can do with the man but turn him - and a little annoying fly of a luchador character is something WWE hasn't done, at least. Everybody already hates him, so why not tap in to the wider sentiment?

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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!