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Managed by Vince McMahon, WWE is considered to be the biggest wrestling company in the world. Though its roster includes some of the best wrestler in the industry, many of these talented stars are wasted.
Current WWE star Finn Balor is an excellent example of that misusage. Promptly after his debut on the main roster, "The Demon King" became the inaugural Universal Champion. Sadly, one injury took all of that success away from him.
After he returned, Balor was shifted to the mid-card. He was given several flimsy feuds, so he opted to return to WWE NXT. Surprisingly, many other Superstars have also been mistreated this way.
Over the years, many talented competitors haven't been taken seriously because they've been placed in mediocre storylines. Plenty of these stars chose to leave the company due to this poor booking.
Here's a look at some of the bad storylines WWE stars were offered before they left the company.
#5 Stephanie McMahon pitched a George W. Bush character to Shawn Daivari
In 2005, Shawn Daivari joined forces with Muhammad Hassan, and they played characters that were based on the prejudice some people had against Arab Americans following the 9/11 attacks. Daivari and Hassan were great at making people hate them. Still, their run as two of the top heels of WWE couldn't last long.
Following the 2005 London Underground bombings, WWE couldn't have Daivari and Hassan portray their Arab American characters anymore. As a result, the company had both men drop their gimmick.
While Hassan decided to leave WWE, Daivari sought a new direction on the main roster. That's when he was approached by Stephanie McMahon. She pitched him a character based on George W. Bush, the President of the United States. The proposed gimmick called for Daivari to carry the American flag and wear a matching outfit.
Daivari has said that the idea was good, but it was impractical. As a result, he told "The Billion Dollar Princess" that he wouldn't go along with the idea. While it took some time for him to come up with a new character, he eventually found one.
On the November 7, 2005, episode of WWE Raw, Daivari made his debut as a "Sheik". But the gimmick didn't click, and he left WWE in 2007.
#4 Neville was supposed to suffer a string of humiliating losses in WWE
In 2017, Neville took WWE by storm. Within a few months of his debut on 205 Live, he trashed countless stars. He cemented his position as the "King of Cruiserweights" on the show. But Enzo Amore arrived and challenged Neville for his throne.
No one thought that Amore would last longer than a minute in the ring with "The Man Gravity Forgot." But he surprisingly defeated Neville to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
This shocking loss was meant to serve as the first of multiple defeats, as Amore was meant to become the brand's new star. The plans backstage called for Amore to rise high up the card and, at the same time, for Neville to drop down through a series of humiliating losses.
Neville interpreted these potential losses against Amore as WWE's intention to bury him. As a result, he asked for his release from the company. But his contract was frozen, so he remained under contract for ten months before he was finally let go.
#3 WWE star Rusev was supposed to have erectile dysfunction
At one point in his career, Rusev was one of the most popular stars on the WWE roster. But the company failed to capitalize. WWE executives seemingly believed that "The Bulgarian Brute" was a mid-tier talent. So WWE kept giving him meaningless storylines.
In the "Rusev Day" storyline from 2017, the star's popularity reached new heights. But WWE officials allowed Rusev to remain stuck in the mid-card. Plus, in Rusev's last storyline in WWE, he was meant to portray a sex addict.
WWE struck out on its chance to turn Rusev into a big star. But his time in the company could have been worse. If he followed the original pitch the officials gave him, "The Bulgarian Brute" would have been seen as a joke. In the storyline, Rusev was originally supposed to be suffering from erectile dysfunction. The idea was intended to serve as the catalyst for Lana's relationship with Bobby Lashley.
While Lana still left Rusev for Lashley, the on-screen story wound up being quite tame compared to these wild plans.
#2 CM Punk was supposed to fight Triple H at WWE WrestleMania 30
Though CM Punk dedicated most of his wrestling career to WWE, he wasn't treated with the respect WWE showed toward its other top stars. He never got to compete in the main event of the company's biggest pay-per-view of the year, WWE WrestleMania.
During his last four years with WWE, Punk was one of the biggest stars in the company. He deserved to main event WrestleMania more than any other star on the roster. Sadly, he didn't get this opportunity. He was featured in some great matches at The Showcase of the Immortals. But he never truly got his time in the spotlight.
Punk didn't complain about this mistreatment. He simply did his job and hoped that he'd get the chance at some point. A few months before WrestleMania 30, Punk was informed that he was scheduled to fight Triple H at the pay-per-view. But he believed "The Game" wasn't the right opponent for him, and he wanted to compete in the main event.
The rest is history. Punk was unhappy, so he left WWE. He retired a few months later. Many fans still wish Punk's WWE career ended on a happier note.
#1 WWE stars Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were pitched a comedic gimmick
The Revival was one of the best teams in WWE back when they were working on NXT. Their mixture of an old-school style and modern wrestling impressed many fans. While they were expected to carry the same energy on the main roster, their time on WWE RAW and SmackDown was lackluster from the start.
The Revival was dissatisfied on the main roster, so they tried to leave WWE. But the company continued to string them along in order to make them stay. Still, in 2019, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder finally reached their breaking points.
The two stars made up their minds, and they planned to leave as soon as their contracts expired. Unfortunately, Vince McMahon wasn't receptive to that idea. As per the recently leaked image, "The Chairman" wanted to give Wilder and Dawson a clown gimmick. He hoped to see them wear multi-color outfits with bow ties around their necks and drumsticks in their hands.
As disastrous this gimmick seems, Wilder and Dawson actually agreed to gave it a try until their contracts with WWE expired. But McMahon pulled them off WWE programming and forced them to sit on the sidelines. Dawson and Wilder left the company and signed with AEW, and they've found much more success in their new home.
