8 Times WWE Failed To Create A Main Event Player

2. Christian - 2005

Some wrestlers will only take being overlooked so long before they decide to get out and see if the grass is greener elsewhere. That was certainly the case with Chrisitan in 2005. Despite doing some of his best ever work and getting more over than he had been in years, he was not given the opportunities he felt he deserved and decided to leave the company in protest. After splitting from Edge in late 2001, Christian essentially found himself in the same role over the next couple of years, albeit with different partners. He tagged with Lance Storm in the Un-Americans and then formed an entertaining but sadly short-lived team with another Canadian, Chris Jericho. In 2003 he cut his hair short, tacked on some muscle and changed his look. This coincided with an Intercontinental Title reign that, while it didn't exactly set the world on fire, was definitely encouraging for Captain Charisma's fans. He gradually moved up the card and had lively feuds and matches with the likes of Jericho and Shelton Benjamin. In spring 2005, it looked like Christian was about to shatter the glass ceiling and take up residence in the land of the main eventers when he began feuding with top star John Cena, claiming that he was the superior rapper of the two (Christian was noticeably heavily cheered during these segments). He received one crack at Cena's WWE Title, in a triple threat match with Jericho, before being sent to Smackdown. It was a nonsensical move. While on Smackdown he did little more than wrestle the Booker Ts and the Benoits of the world. Sure, he was given his own interview segment (the Peep Show) but he wasn't challenging for World Championships. He saw the writing on the wall and decided against re-signing with the company in October 2005, leaving for the then-hopeful TNA.