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William Regal is an example of a man whosetalent should have been better rewardedMany fans have recently been complaining about the state of WWE, and how there are certain stars who deserve better treatment from the management. Certainly, there is room for improvement on the part of the creative team, as many superstars have been the victim of so-called “50-50 booking”, whereby the majority of wrestlers in the midcard trade losses and victories.The result of this is that no new stars are being built, and nobody is able to stand out from the crowd as the talent they show is belied by their lack of a healthy win-loss record. Here are 15 men who deserve the opportunity to properly showcase their abilities in 2016. If I feel a wrestler is being underappreciated by creative, management, fans or simply has had back luck and not quite got the opportunities they deserve yet, they’ll be here.
#1 Jack Swagger
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The career of Jack Swagger hasn’t panned out the way everybody initially predicted. He’s been on the receiving end of some atrocious treatment from the creative team since 2012, where he went on a losing streak and subsequently disappeared from TV for a few months.
When Swagger returned in early 2013, the company actually seemed to be behind him and allowed him more spotlight. This resulted in by far the best work of his career alongside Zeb Colter, including a victory in the Elimination Chamber over five other ex-champions and a Wrestlemania match with Alberto Del Rio. Since then, WWE has given him barely any spotlight.
A far better wrestler than most fans give him credit for, Swagger has a fantastic amount of strength paired with a terrific mat wrestling acumen. He’s shown he can get the fans to be interested in him as a heel (his 2013 run with Zeb Colter as his manager) and a face (his initial feud with Rusev as a classic American patriot), as well as put on a good match when he’s in the mood. But, he’s never booked in a great way, the result being that fans care about him less and less as time goes on.
Swagger deserves to be contending for and maybe even winning the US or the Intercontinental Title this year, in a bid to revitalise his career and give him one more chance to make a permanent connection with the crowd.
#2 Bo Dallas
Remember when Bo Dallas was actually taken seriously? Yes, believe it or not, at one stage Dallas was looking likely to become a breakout star from NXT. He entered the 2013 Royal Rumble while still in NXT, lasting over 20 minutes and eliminating Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett in the process, and won the NXT Title later that same year. Now, he finds himself part of a stable that surely has no legitimate future, the Social Outcasts.
Ever since he joined the main roster and lost his initial winning streak, Bo Dallas has been presented like somebody who the audience has no need to care about. He’s never had a high-profile feud of note, and has routinely been embarrassed in segments such as the one where he came out to confront Brock Lesnar and promptly got destroyed. While he may not merit a run at the very top of the card, Dallas is a reliable worker and deserves to at least have a chance to show people why he was such a success in NXT.
Joining the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt is his real life brother) would be one way of allowing Dallas to explore a deeper side of his character and to truly get over with the fans, or even turning on the Social Outcasts and turning face, with a gimmick change. Something has to change, because currently he’s going nowhere.
#3 King Barrett
I feel as though Barrett may be simply too late to save. Probably the best example of any superstar this decade who has been the victim of poor booking when their talent has deserved more, Barrett has done everything asked of him since his debut in 2010.
He’s delivered bad news to the fans from atop a huge pedestal, carried the Intercontinental Title five times, led a debuting group to wreak havoc across the entire roster, become King of the Ring and feuded with John Cena and Randy Orton.
The results? Each and every time, he’s been booked like a joke and fans’ patience with the character has worn thin, with good reason. What reason does anyone have to care about a guy who loses far more than he wins and doesn’t have any mic time?
Barrett has proven over his 5-and-a-half year stay in WWE he’s a fantastic in ring worker and really knows how to mix it with the best of them on the mic, and yet the company never sticks with him and throws their weight behind him.
With this booking seemingly continuing as he plays a bit-part role in the League of Nations stable, Barrett fans have to wonder when his luck will finally change.
#4 Dash and Dawson
Dash and Dawson haven’t been booked badly at all. In fact, they’ve been on quite the role recently, holding the Tag Titles down in NXT since they went over the Vaudevillians back in November and being pushed fairly strongly, defeating Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a fantastic battle at TakeOver: London as well as beating NXT legends The Ascension clean in recent times.
They’re on a roll, and they’re only going to get better. A real throwback tag team in every way, from their visual style to their in-ring work, they’re something different from every other tag team WWE currently has, either on the main roster or in NXT.
The fans haven’t quite taken to them in the way they receive other teams like Amore/Cassidy and Jordan and Gable, but once they do, it’s only going to be a matter of time before Dash and Dawson are knocking on the door of the main roster having done everything there is to do in NXT’s tag team division.
Dash and Dawson aren’t on the list because they’ve had a bad 2015, they’re here because they have the talent to push on and have an even better 2016. They’re genuinely unique and would revitalise the WWE Tag Team Title scene instantly with their aggressive, smash-mouth brawling style.
#5 Rusev
Rusev has been given a hard time by fans and the creative team alike, ever since the company made the unwise decision to have John Cena defeat him for the US Title at Wrestlemania.
With respect to Cena, who actually had a great 2015, Rusev needed the win a lot more than the face of the company, and a loss to John Cena at Wrestlemania is surefire way to send a young star crashing back down the card. That’s what ended up happening, as he hasn’t been the same since.
What followed was nothing short of horrendous, as Rusev entered into a feud with Dolph Ziggler which effectively ruined their year. The love-centred storyline also involving Lana and Summer Rae didn’t appeal to the fans, and didn’t even get a proper ending after Lana made some ill-advised social media posts which ruined the story. Rusev has since played a role in the League of Nations, although this has hardly elevated him at all.
Fans seem to have it in their heads that Rusev is boring to watch, but I genuinely can’t understand this. For a big man, Rusev is extremely agile, probably the most athletic super-heavyweight since Umaga, and can tell a great story in the ring with his frequent use of strong heel psychology. Overall, he deserves better treatment from everyone, and hopefully 2016 will be the year he proves the doubters wrong.
#6 Tye Dillinger
“The Perfect 10” has had a frustrating WWE career thus far. Debuting under the Gavin Spears character for a brief and unspectacular run in the late 2000’s, he rejoined the company and made his NXT debut in 2013 and has largely been used as an enhancement talent since then. Whilst his character development needs a little work, this could be addressed by the writers giving Dillinger a little mic time to explain his motivations and what he’s all about as a competitor.
Despite his low status in NXT, he has impressed with his in-ring displays and is certainly improving in that area. He gave Apollo Crews a good fight at TakeOver: Brooklyn and had arguably the best match of his WWE career against Sami Zayn upon Zayn’s return to NXT in early 2016. Whilst losing both matches, Dillinger showed in both that he’s getting better and actually appeared a legitimate threat to beat Zayn.
Given his status as a lower card wrestler, I’m not expecting a main roster promotion this year, but it would certainly be no more than he deserves if he were to rise up the NXT card a little and become a more convincing threat to the big guns.
#7 Sin Cara
The original Sin Cara was known for botching moves and gained a bad reputation in the locker room, however Jorge Arias (formerly Hunico) has revitalised the character and taken it to new heights.
After a fairly anonymous 2014, he was sent to NXT and formed a tag team with Kalisto called the Lucha Dragons. It turned out to be the best thing he could’ve done, as he won the NXT Tag Team title before returning to the main roster permanently in 2015.
Since then, Cara has sadly been relegated to the background, with Kalisto taking most of the spotlight in the Lucha Dragons despite Sin Cara being a worker on a very similar level. He’s a fantastic high flyer and with a surprising amount of power, for some reason he just can’t connect with the fans or management in the way his team mate does.
Whilst he picked up major respect for finishing a match against New Day with a dislocated shoulder (in contrast to the old Sin Cara who stopped a match with Del Rio for a broken finger), the injury did come at a bad time. With Kalisto currently enjoying a singles push, will the Lucha Dragons reform when Cara returns? Or will there be nothing for him?
Judging by his performances over the past year or so, Sin Cara deserves a huge boost up the card from where he was when he suffered his injury.
#8 Apollo Crews
Apollo Crews is going to go huge, mark my words. It’s a matter of time, a question of when, not if. Crews is one of the best wrestlers in the entire company, and has the charisma to back it up.
One of the few genuinely likeable babyfaces around these days, his infectious smile and fun in-ring style has the potential to get the whole crowd behind him in a way the likes of Reigns and Cena could only dream of.
Not to mention, he looks like he could well be the first black superstar to hold a heavyweight championship (excluding Lashley’s run with the ECW title, which was not seen as an important title at the time) since Booker T and you have the potential for a megastar.
With only a couple of months on NXT television behind him, Crews played his part in getting the crowd totally engrossed in a truly astonishing NXT Championship battle against Finn Balor in November 2015, which was shaping up to be a match of the year contender until Baron Corbin caused a DQ finish.
Whilst he lost to Corbin at TakeOver: London, he remains near the top of the NXT card, and as with my inclusion of Dash and Dawson, he’s on the list in spite of a great 2015 and deserves to go way higher this year. The fans deserve to be exposed to the best of his abilities.
#9 Kalisto
Kalisto is right on the verge of becoming the next Rey Mysterio, and having a good 2016 could be a major factor in whether that possibility becomes a reality. It’s been obvious for a while that WWE rates him more highly than his team-mate Sin Cara, this beginning to become apparent when he upset Ryback hugely to progress in the WWE World Heavyweight Title tournament in November and the opinion was cemented in the eyes of fans and management alike when he delievered a truly jaw-dropping Salida Del Sol to an Uso off the top of a ladder, through another ladder.
His push resulted in a US Title win, although he curiously lost the strap back to Del Rio on the following episode of Smackdown, which truly made me and no doubt many other people stop and question exactly what WWE have planned for Kalisto.
With a rematch scheduled for the Royal Rumble, there is the possibility that Kalisto wins back the title and embarks on a run that boosts him to his most successful year to date. On the other hand, WWE could do what they usually do and ruin his momentum with 50-50 booking.
If given the chance, Kalisto could excel as one of the only true Lucha Libre stars ever to be a success in WWE. Will he be allowed the opportunity to get over with the crowd like Rey Mysterio did before him? One thing is for sure, he deserves it.
#10 Neville
Neville has been a classic example of WWE not knowing how to book somebody properly. Although his mic skills may well be limited, with his Newcastle accent perhaps not very marketable to an American audience, this is still no excuse for how his current run on the main roster is going.
He’s had no feuds to speak of that would get the crowd interested, and has spent most of his time on the main roster treading water and having great matches that ultimately lead nowhere.
For a man who is the only superstar ever to hold the NXT Title and the NXT Tag Team Titles at the same time, as well as possessing the most exciting looking finisher in WWE, this is not acceptable.
He’s fought John Cena for the US Title, and came agonisingly close to beating Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on RAW in a great match, but other than this, he’s not really been used in a way that suggests he’s a big deal.
His high-flying style makes it easy for him to excite the fans, all he needs in 2016 is a high profile feud to take his character to the next level and some better booking and he’ll be well on the way to becoming the star his talent deserves.
#11 Hideo Itami
With Itami due back from injury very shortly, we'll find out whether 2016 will allow him to shine as brightly as he did in Japan before he joined NXT. Itami, as KENTA, was a huge name but took the risk in heading over to try his luck in America, and it seemed to have been paying off before a shoulder injury halted him in his tracks.
On his debut appearance he was made to look like a tough, no-nonsense kind of guy as he sent The Ascension running, whilst picking up singles wins over the likes of Tyler Breeze, Neville and even Finn Balor in the final round of a tournament to decide which NXT superstar got to participate in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31, where he looked strong before Big Show eliminated him. He brings a stiff style to wrestling in WWE that only the Japanese can, and is one of the very best when he’s at the top of his game.
When he comes back he’ll find a new main event scene has emerged in NXT, one that will allow him to have a wide variety of fantastic matches with different people and solidify himself as a great wrestler in the eyes of the fans. He deserves to at least be in the hunt for the NXT Title, or maybe even a promotion to the main roster.
#12 Kofi Kingston
Back in 2009, when Kofi Kingston was at his hottest stage ever after he became the final survivor in the classic Survivor Series elimination match as well as embarking on a rivalry with Randy Orton, people were tipping him for greatness.
Randy Orton put paid to all that, informing the management that Kofi wasn’t up to the main event after he botched an ending in one of their matches, and he languished in the midcard. Whilst still able to win multiple singles titles, he was clearly not a huge star.
His talent has always suggested he should be a star, but after the Orton incident and years of relentlessly winning and losing the US Title and Intercontinental Title with alarming regularity, fans couldn’t treat him like a big deal. Then came the New Day to save everybody. Not only are they one of the most entertaining groups today, they brought back to relevance three excellent wrestlers.
Kingston has shown he can play a role as a face or a heel, this versatility very useful in WWE, as well as being one of the most athletic competitors in the company. Once the New Day break up (and I think they will in mid-to-late 2016) Kingston deserves to be elevated much higher up the card than he was before he teamed up with Xavier and Big E.
#13 Sheamus
Yes, you are reading this right. The guy with the mohawk who cashed in Money In The Bank on Reigns after Survivor Series does deserve better. He was never booked as a legitimate champion and always looked like somebody who was just there purely so Reigns could beat him. Which is a shame, because at his best, Sheamus can pull out a great brawl with anybody and his mic work is also strong when he's motivated.
After losing the title, Sheamus has been relegated to doing the dirty work of the Authority along with his League of Nations group, as well as being Kevin Owens’ sidekick in his ongoing feuds with Dean Ambrose and Neville.
There’s no way WWE would ever be booking Reigns this way, so why is Sheamus getting this treatment? He’s only just lost the title and yet WWE seems intent on pummelling it into our heads that he’s not a main event talent, by way of booking him to lose repeatedly to Reigns and generally presenting him as an upper midcard guy.
I’m not saying Sheamus is one of the best guys in the ring, but he works very hard, has fantastic power and just doesn’t get much respect from fans. People claim he’s boring, but in reality he’s really never been given a character which people can get invested in. And when he did (his initial return as a bullying heel in 2015 seemed exciting), they had him lose his first match back to Dolph Ziggler, no more than a midcarder at the time. Way to kill off momentum, WWE.
#14 Luke Harper
Luke Harper reminded everyone just how good he is just last night on RAW, hitting Roman Reigns with a fantastic superkick followed up by his brutal-looking discus clothesline. He then took out Brock Lesnar with a high kick, perhaps solidifying his status in the eyes of the fans as the best worker in the Wyatt Family. If it didn’t, it should have done. Harper is a huge man but is still fantastic in the ring, his move set a reminder that he once flourished on the independent scene.
He really does have it all, and I don't understand why he’s not being pushed as a bigger deal. He has a terrifying look, the power and the wrestling ability to be a major player in WWE, and somebody with his type of in-ring style can have a good match with virtually anybody.
He defended his Intercontinental Title (which he sadly only held for 27 days) at TLC 2014 against Dolph Ziggler in the match of the night, and it truly was a spectacular match. Anyone who had doubts about his ability to shine on the big stage and in a big way could have them no more after that performance.
Put simply, Harper has to break out from the Wyatt Family and become a singles star in 2016. The family has Strowman now and doesn’t need Harper so much, whilst Harper would instantly fit into an upper midcard/main event scene desperately lacking in big men who are great in the ring.
#15 Dolph Ziggler
It should have been obvious that Ziggler would be on this list. He’s been misused for far too long, and whilst it’s highly unlikely that will change this year, you can be sure he’ll put on some amazing matches along the way and constantly try to find ways to demonstrate to his boss why he’s deserving of that main-event chance he so desperately craves.
The fans don’t need convincing, he’s been way over for a long time. Ziggler has had so many amazing matches over the course of his WWE career that it’s now taken for granted he’ll put on a great performance.
His constantly changing look demonstrates the ability to change and roll with the times, and whilst some are not a fan of his current 80’s glam-metal look, I personally think it’s brash, bold and something that shows he’s willing to be different, something which is lacking in WWE as well as society as a whole.
Dolph had a fantastic run in late 2014 as he became the lone survivor of Team Cena vs Team Authority in one of the greatest individual Survivor Series performances of all time. He truly sold himself as the underdog, and the way he bowled through Harper and Kane before his legitimate 5-star closing sequence with Seth Rollins showed he absolutely could hang with main event talent and get the crowd on his side.
The fact that his momentum from this and his subsequent ladder match with Harper was then squandered by having him drop the Intercontinental Title on RAW to Bad News Barrett, so he could have another irrelevant reign with the belt, was nothing short of appalling.
2016 has to be the year of Ziggler. He deserves it, and the fans deserve it too. Do you agree with my list? If not, who would you add on here? Comment below, and thanks for reading.
Vince Russo answers who killed WCW HERE
