10 WWE Superstars That Were Pushed And Then Punished
9. Chris Masters
The Masterpiece was straight from the Vince McMahon blueprint of WWE Superstars. It's actually miraculous that he didn't succeed in either of his two runs in the company. He had the size, the physique, the charisma, and wasn't too bad in the ring either. All in all, looking at Chris Masters as the total package (no pun intended), he had money written all over him. You could just imagine him walking into the locker room for the first time in 2005 and certain would-be main eventers sighing: "Oh no." His run started with a number of squash matches that put him over to no end before the Masterlock challenge took over. A challenge that lasted for months and even had large sums of money at steak at one point. A rivalry with Shawn Michaels was ultimately unsuccessful for Masters but put him over, once again, to no ends. He was thrusted into the main event pictures in the back end of 2005 taking part in the Survivor Series main event, which would ultimately see the peak of his career in-ring wise. His first year in the WWE culminated in a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena, no less, but that would be as close as the big man would get to the big gold belt. He would take part in a number of world title matches, included an Elimination Chamber in early 2006, but nothing would come of it. He then teamed with Carlito and set his sights on the Tag Team Championships as his first big push came to an end. An alleged addiction to painkillers would see him take a prolonged break from television before John Cena became the first man to break the Masterlock heading into 2007. His floundering in the lower reaches of the roster then went from bad to worse. He was then released from his contract, only to return over two years later to much pomp and circumstance. Ultimately though, nothing had changed as his highlights included Eve Torres being his valet and a long rivalry with Tyler Reks. He would leave WWE for a second time in late 2011. So much potential ultimately wasted by bad booking and the odd demon here and there.
