20 Most Underrated WWE Stars Of The Past 20 Years
18. Derrick Bateman
One of the WWE’s many missed opportunities, Michael Hutter - mostly working under the name Derrick Bateman - was in three stages of WWE developmental without ever being properly called up to the main roster.
That ranges through two years in OVW from 2007, four years in FCW until 2012, participation in the fourth season of the grimly worthless gameshow version of NXT and working in the newly-minted real NXT until his release just shy of a year later.
There’s a school of thought that says that you can’t even really call him a WWE star, but he made appearances on mainstream WWE TV, so I'm letting it slide. Besides, the man’s clear talent and work ethic during developmental and since his release speak volumes about the mistake the company made in letting him go so soon.
Bateman had mic skills and personality in abundance, certainly in far greater supply than nearly every peer in NXT, and since TNA snapped him up in 2013 and gave him the name Ethan Carter III he’s been a revelation.
He’s looked like a gem in matches with some of the industry’s legends, his character work has been nothing short of magnificent, and with every single TV appearance, he’s made the company that trained him and gave him TV experience look like shortsighted chumps for letting a schmuck like Dixie Carter make money off their investment.