10 WWE Superstars That Are Permanently Lost

3. Akira Tozawa

Alexa Bliss
WWE.com

The former 24/7 and Cruiserweight Champion was last spotted necking on with Tamina in the run-up to a double wedding payoff alongside Dana Brooke and Reggie that didn't really offer all it promised in the wacky and (very) occasionally passable comedic build.

Also he's a ninja.

Such is life for Akira Tozawa in an an organisation even more dated and archaic than its backstage machinations would suggest. Ultimately, with over six years banked with the organisation, he can include himself in the minuscule list of Japanese wrestlers marked as "success stories", but the devil is most definitely not in the detail.

Nothing he's ever done has amounted to anything that could possibly earn him an opportunity beyond the role he's trapped in. The days of Tozawa being permitted to entertain with his skill rather than a certain fish-out-of-water comedic charm were virtually over before they begun, and that sentence isn't just a figure of speech - once he had to pretend to get eaten by a shark.

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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