Making it to the top of the mountain in WWE should be considered a monumental achievement when you take into account the vast array of wrestlers who have stepped into a WWE ring throughout the years. Saying you were a main-eventer for however brief a period is something you can take with you long after youve left WWE. For those who have reached the big time and been under the bright lights, it can be a double-edged sword. For every Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin, theres a flavor of the month, a candidate for a Where are they now? column. For every John Cena or The Rock, theres a guy who might have stood toe-to-toe with them, even been considered a threat to their title, but either were sent shuttling back down the card or disappeared altogether from WWE. This column will look at 12 superstars who achieved a fair amount of notoriety at or near the top of the promotion, only to plummet into obscurity or disappear from WWE.
12. Ryback
Yes, Ryback is still on the roster, but man, what happened to him? He went from main eventing PPVs against CM Punk in late 2012 and challenging John Cena in mid-2013 to one-half of the worst-named tag team in WWE, RybAxel. When he debuted, Ryback was nearly indestructible. After destroying everything in his path, WWE painted itself into a corner with Ryback, putting him into a title match against CM Punk, who was in the midst of a historic WWE Championship reign. Sure, he lost in screwy fashion (fast count from Brad Maddox, The Shield attacking him), but he was clearly banging his bald head against the glass ceiling. Being the last man eliminated in the 2013 Royal Rumble didnt help matters. Ryback got one last taste of the main event shortly after WrestleMania against Cena, but after that, it was straight downhill, despite an association with Paul Heyman. Lately, he and Curtis Axel have been reduced to tag team filler. Theres always the possibility of a resurgence, but his recent loss to Sheamus (after Axel had lost to him) pretty much shows his station on the roster right now.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
