WWE: 12 Former TNA & WCW Stars Who Didn't Live Up To Expectations

7. Frankie Kazarian

For almost a year and a half Kazarian was a big part of TNA's X-Division: he was a part of the first ever Ultimate X match in August 2003 before winning the belt itself in March 2004. After holding it for three months he dropped the title to AJ Styles, which led to him teaming with another former X-Division champion, Michael Shane in their disdain for AJ returning to the X-Division after leaving it to capture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was apparently against the TNA rulebook. The three men competed for the title in another Ultimate X match with Shane and Kazarian co-winning the championship by simultaneously grabbing it. After losing the title the duo would repeatedly attempt to recapture it before moving into the tag team ranks, before Kazarian left soon after. Kazarian joined WWE and debuted on Velocity defeating Nunzio, and for the next two months he would face the majority of the cruiserweight division remaining undefeated, but all of it continued to take place on SmackDown's B-show. Despite WWE clearly seeing his potential it became clear to Kazarian that the division was being faded out and he requested his release. His second run with TNA saw him rise more towards his potential: winning three more X-Division championships, three Tag Team championships, two X Division King of the Mountain matches, the Fight for the Right tournament and the TNA World Cup of Wrestling as well as featuring in main event programs both as a singles competitor and as part of both the Fourtune stable and his Bad Influence tag team with Christopher Daniels. Final Assessment: Kazarian was a victim of circumstance: both TNA and WWE had seen his potential and were high on him, but his size had restricted him to the fading cruiserweight division of WWE and he never got the chance to reach the masses. There is also the belief that WWE's request for him to cut his hair had a hand in his request to leave but it would've been unlikely to make a difference. His return to TNA showed off that he was more than just potential, even though TNA themselves failed to fully push him into the main event scene thanks to their infamous hot-and-cold pushes. As half of Bad Influence he remains one of TNA's hottest acts and at 36 still has time for more championship success.