20 Most Underappreciated WWE Stars Of The 21st Century

11. Chris Kanyon

Montel Vontavious Porter
WWE.com

Most wrestlers want to make it to WWE, but Chris Kanyon absolutely dreamed of being a WWE superstar. Even when he was a rising star in WCW and one of the few critically acclaimed members of the locker room, he requested his release to try and jump ship. His request was denied.

When Kanyon did eventually get to WWE as part of the Invasion, he suffered from his association with Diamond Dallas Page. Page's wrestling style made him none too popular backstage, and as his tag team partner, Kanyon was squashed along with the former WCW Champion. Though fans responded to his personality and his "Who better than Kanyon?" catchphrase, WWE was hesitant to actually push him.

Kanyon ended up getting hurt, then suffering from an infection that nearly cost him his life. When he finally got healthy, was he given a hero's return, or at least an opportunity? Of course not. In what Kanyon maintained was a cruel joke played on him for being gay, his sole Smackdown appearance after the injury was a Boy George impersonation and a vicious chairshot to the head courtesy of The Undertaker.

Kanyon was released soon afterwards and took his own life in 2010.

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Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013