There may never be a dearth in the talent the WWE possesses. But there will, most probably, always be a shortcoming with how a talent is handled creatively. As far as one can remember, there have been superstars who surely had a lot of potential but it remained untapped until they either took on the role of a jobber or were mired by controversy or were eventually released.
We look back at some of the individuals in the past few years who may have gone through this fat e- marketable superstars who just declined on the way- courtesy the way WWE handled them.
Here we go:
Muhammad Hassan
Circumstances turned to controversies and then there were none! WWE’s use of populist characters continued with young Hassan making his debut as the self-righteous Arab American.
The foreign heel thrived again as he quickly gained notoriety but then the London Bombings happened and it all went downhill from there. The way his gimmick and storylines were written came under scrutiny but it was the man who played the character that really suffered from all the media attention which unfortunately, was of the negative kind.
Hassan was supposedly set to beat Orton’s record to become the Youngest World Heavyweight Champion but that was never to be. The character was written off, he was sent to developmental only to be released later on.
Ryback
Can’t blame them on not pushing this guy enough but if we’ve learnt anything from what happened in the past few weeks where he was sent home after failing to reach an agreement in his contract negotiation, it’s that before all of this went haywire Ryback was being a great heel on live house shows.
It was a moment to behold to see him go upto a fan and disappoint them by either tearing apart their posters or pretending to give them some merch. The Skip Sheffield portrayal did attract quite a few fans for WWE to look at The Big Guy as a potential money guy but alas, it all came down to the money. And we may just see him getting released soon, as far as rumors go.
Damien Sandow
How would you define a marketable superstar in the realm of the WWE? Someone who has a screen presence, someone who naturally exudes charisma and in the world of wrestling knowing how to hold yourself with a microphone in hand is power!
Damien Sandow’s ‘Intellectual Savior of the Masses’ gimmick had it all until it got axed. But from there to being Mizdow, nobody can deny the claim that he put his heart and soul into making something ridiculous sell like it may just be the most entertaining character you’ve seen.
And then just more than a week back we got to know that he’s been released. For a performer who possibly could have been an asset, creatively WWE may just have had nothing for him. And that’s a travesty
Titus O’Neil
You may have thought by the look O’Neil possessed accompanied by the fact that he was entertaining in the ring and on the mic, that he would have a great future and for a moment it did look like that until his team lost a bit of direction after WWE abruptly fired their manager Abraham Washington.
Things never did pick up from there until the Primetime Players reunited. But the momentum around him never quite picked up. He almost beat Santino Marella’s record of being the fastest performer to be eliminated at the Royal Rumble until the moment was almost botched by Ambrose and Reigns.
And then the infamous moment with Vince McMahon just had to be the icing to ending most hope.
Zack Ryder
There was a time when WWE was looking to widen their social media horizons and gain more traction and The Ryder Revolution came at just about the right time to show the people the power of social media.
He petitioned his way with his web series to get a US title match with support from CM Punk and Mick Foley amongst others encouraging the Broski on his way to getting over. He was also one of the rare superstars to cross a million followers but after winning the title at TLC 2011, he was part of one of the lowest rated episodes in WWE history.
His star never shone bright and he just had a tremendously downward spiral in his career until he miraculously won at Wrestlemania 32 evoking possibly the most feel-good moment in recent memory (apart from Daniel Bryan)
He will always be the lovable loser but one has to think that given his social media stardom, he certainly deserved more.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
