10 WWE Superstars That Are Permanently Lost

8. Tyler Bate

Alexa Bliss
WWE

Perception counts for a great deal in professional wrestling.

It's not always fair and it's rarely representative of a singular or universal truth, but how enough of a majority perceive a performer can have a massive impact on how they're used, promoted and - most crucially - how much people even notice when they're not.

Such is life for Tyler Bate at present. The inaugural and current NXT UK Champion might have given the belt genuine prestige in 2017, but his history-making second reign kicking off five years later did so with zero fanfare for the news breaking out of the desolate and dank BT Sports studios. For somebody with his prodigious talents, this is a creative crime.

Bate outshone the field in the aforementioned tournament, then earned raves for his match-of-the-year contender against Pete Dune when he dropped the gold. Marooned on NXT UK ever since, Bate's almost certainly done more than his non-existent main roster record suggests but as long as the brand is the proverbial tree-falling-in-the-woods branch of WWE, he may as well not even exist.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett