10 WWE Wrestlers Who Lost Their Mojo

The life of a modern-day professional wrestler must be pretty hard.

Your job basically consists of throwing yourself around a thinly-padded ring in the name of entertainment, you spend 90% of your time on the road, and the very second you take your foot off the gas you're accused of irretrievably losing whatever star power you once had.

Criticising wrestlers for not being as good as they once were often seems kind of harsh, their ability to deliver good matches and entertaining storylines being inseparably tethered to that of the WWE creative team to write compelling shows.

At the same time, however, it seems fair to say that any wrestler who is truly at the top of their game ought to demand their place at the top of the card, meaning those punching below their weight are in some way or other doing something wrong.

Often times, it's impossible to pinpoint exactly what that something is. Becoming less agile as time begins to take its toll is to blame at least half the time; as for other half, it's possible the performer in question has just lost some of their drive.

Sticking it to Dean Ambrose became popular on the internet about a year ago after his appearance on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast, during which the Texas Rattlesnake suggested that he was sometimes guilty of phoning it in.

Some of this criticism, it must be said, seems awfully harsh. Dean might not be one of the crispest performers on the WWE roster, but you can't really go accusing somebody of being lazy when they work the ungodly amount of matches he has over recent years.

What can be said about the Lunatic Fringe is that he didn't really grow into the role of WWE champion in 2016 the way many of us expected, his damp squib of a reign coming to a close after defeat to AJ Styles in the autumn.

Since then, it does seem like he's lost something. He's no longer a down-on-his-luck main eventer in-waiting, but rather someone whose time in the spotlight appears to have come and passed, largely unenjoyed. A change of tack is needed if he is to recapture his best form (and next year's expected heel turn ought to do it).