15 MORE Failed Experiments From WWE Developmental

1. Liv Morgan

The Revival The Mechanics
WWE.com

A true Performance Center/WWE success story, Liv Morgan has never wrestled a single match outside the auspices of the market leader, never had an independent run, and spent several years figuring out how to take herself from the creative outhouse to penthouse. Subsequently, she has on her resumé an NXT stint that isn't particularly covered in glory.

Working originally by real name Gionna Daddio, she eventually landed on the name she'd take to the top, but branding was realistically the least of her concerns during a tricky time to be paving her way.

Emerging from a rebuilding phase for the black-and-gold brand following the loss of the likes of The Four Horsewomen and Asuka, Morgan's babyface New Jersey character had two key problems despite the connection she was able to forge with the Full Sail regulars. Her matches weren't of the standard expected thanks to those that had come before her, and her character felt too close to that of Carmella, another NXT alumni that had been beloved in Orlando before getting the main roster call. 

The ceiling and standards were thus extremely low, and ultimately but Morgan plugged away without any key storylines until WWE's Riott Squad idea brought her and Sarah Logan to Raw in December 2017 just in time for the women's division's biggest ever year

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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