8 WWE Stars Who Were Noticeably Phased Out

No superstar has climbed the WWE ladder as quickly as Kurt Angle did in 1999/2000. He went from an opening match guy to winning the European, Intercontinental and WWE Titles, as well as the King of the Ring, within the space of less than a year after his official in-ring debut at the '99 Survivor Series.

The ultra-charismatic and superemely athletic Angle was always going to be a star - not least because he had won an actual Olympic gold medal at the 1996 games - but few could believe just how quickly he 'got it' and ascended to the top of the card. There were peaks and valleys thereafter, but Kurt could routinely be found in the major programmes and headlined WrestleMania XIX against Brock Lesnar in March of 2003.

Of course, Angle always appeared to be wrestling on borrowed time, due to his very serious neck condition (which dated back to the time of his Olympic triumph). Angle had several surgeries performed on his brittle neck while on WWE's books, but the dumbness in his fingers always returned, leading to growing concern that he could be the next pro wrestling tragedy.

To combat this, WWE would often given him a less strenuous role, such as in late 2004 when he was paired with Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak and put into six-man tags or otherwise given the 'Angle Open Invitational' where he would beat up a jobber in record time. Still, he'd almost always return to major feuds and matches that put excess stress on his fragile frame.

Things continued to deteriorate as 2006 chugged along, and Angle was drafted over to third brand ECW, partly to act as one of its top stars and partly so he could begin using a UFC-inspired style that favoured strikes and submissions (which suited ECW more than Raw or Smackdown) and reduced the amount he had to bump.

Even if he was supposed to be one of ECW's top guys, it was still a demotion. Angle was being phased out, although we wouldn't get to see how the situation developed, since Kurt was released just a couple of months after the move when officials grew concerned with his irrational behaviour, ailing body and prescription pill dependancy.