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WWE have had so many big names work for them over the years, that it is always likely to happen that a major name or names, get lost in the shuffle. It is something that has unfortunately plagued WWE for years.
A common reason as to why a Superstar gets lost in the shuffle is because WWE can often lose interest in pushing them, either for the time being or just all together.
Here I will look at 5 big WWE Superstars, who had moderately successful runs, but would have been bigger had WWE put a hold on their push.
I will not be including former World Champions such as Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Raven, and others, as even though they were big names, they never had a main event level push in WWE, to begin with.
#5 Vader
Big Van Vader is one of the greatest big men in wrestling history. Former three-time IWGP Champion and three-time WCW World Champion, Vader was a big name to sign with WWE, at a time when WWE were the ones who were losing big names to WCW.
So surely, when the complete opposite happened, it would have meant big things for the big Superstar in question rig? Well no.
Vader did get a little push for a while, which included some pay-per-view main events and WWE Championship matches, but it soon faded away.
The rumor that has been going on for several years now is, WWE decided to stop pushing him because then WWE Champion Shawn Michaels felt that he was too stiff in the ring.
This led to a diminished push that saw Vader eventually reduced to a jobber role, before leaving WWE in 1998 and returning to Japan.
#4 Diamond Dallas Page
Diamond Dallas Page was one of only two big names to sign with WWE, following the end of WCW in 2001.
DDP had such a poor run in WWE, that you would almost forget that he entered the company to somewhat of a main event push.
Although he was revealed to have been a stalker of The Undertaker's wife, which was essentially a career killer of an angle, DDP did still see the main event scene in WWE, for a little over a month at least.
As bad as the angle was, it was still a feud with The Undertaker, so it got a lot of attention on TV and matches between them.
During this time, DDP also challenged Booker T for the World Heavyweight Championship, and had big matches with the like of Chris Jericho and Kane, as well as competing in the main event of the WWE Invasion pay-per-view.
DDP suffered an injury at Summerslam 2001, which would keep him out of action until October.
When he returned, he returned to the mid-card. He retired shortly thereafter in 2002, but came out of retirement in 2004, for a short, but better run in TNA Wrestling.
#3 Booker T
Like Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T was the other one of the two big names to sign with WWE, following the closure of WCW.
Booker T's run with WWE as a wrestler was overall pretty good, but it could have been just that little bit better.
Booker held almost every Championship in WWE, including being a 2 time World Heavyweight Champion. But, in between reigns, he spent a long time on the upper mid-card.
It wasn't all bad, his tag team with Goldust was one of the best things about WWE in 2002, and he had some great matches with the like of Chris Benoit, but he should have had a bigger run in the main event scene.
His main event run in 2001 wound down pretty soon, after he lost the WCW Championship to The Rock, and his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin was aborted after just a few weeks. From then on for the next couple of years, he wouldn't see the main event.
It seemed like he was set for major things in 2003 as the planned winner of a World Championship match with Triple H at WrestleMania XIX, but the Game had other, ego plans for himself.
After a brief few months pursuing the WWE Championship in 2004, he returned to the United States Championship ranks.
He finally got the major push he deserved in 2006, when he won the King of The Ring tournament and World Heavyweight Championship, but fell a little down the ladder again in 2007, until his requested release from WWE.
#2 Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam hit WWE in 2001 to much fanfare. Initially debuting as a heel member of the Alliance, RVD was still so popular that he won the PWI Most Popular Superstar of The Year award for 2001, the only wrestler ever to do so while being a heel.
His popularity rewarded him with a main event push in October 2001. Although he lost his WWE Championship match, he remained the most popular Superstar in WWE, but his push eventually wound down.
By the beginning of 2002, he was just another Superstar lost in the shuffle. After competing in some of the best matches of 2002, Rob was given another shot at the main event scene, he briefly feuded with Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, but after falling to the Game at Unforgiven 2002, it seemed like WWE had once again lost interest in him as a main event player.
Yes, RVD's first 3 years with WWE were full of stops and false starts. After being out of action for all of 2005, RVD returned in 2006 to a prominent position, winning the Money in The Bank and WWE Championship from John Cena at ECW One Night Stand.
RVD lost his push just 3 weeks later, after he was arrested for having marijuana paraphernalia in his car. He returned to mostly a mid-card run until he left WWE in 2007.
Rob had a memorable main event run with TNA Wrestling from 2010 - 2013. He returned to WWE in 2013 and had a main event run, feuding with Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship, but went right down the card following his second return.
#1 Christian
I never understood why Christian never got the huge prominent spot in WWE that he deserved.
Christian was the highest that a Superstar could go on the upper mid-card, with several reigns as the Intercontinental Champion, among other titles.
He was a talented, dependable performer, who always entertained the audience. He deserved to be a top Superstar.
It looked like things were heading that way in 2005, when he faced World Champion Batista in the main event of RAW, and received so many cheers, that you would have thought he was the face, and Batista the heel.
He then feuded with John Cena and was apart of a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance 2005.
Just one week later, he main evented SmackDown, in a match to determine a new SmackDown Champion, and was even last eliminated.
Unfortunately, Christian would only go down from here, and after feeling underappreciated and burnt out, he left WWE and joined TNA Wrestling, where he became a 2 time NWA World Champion, and one of the biggest main event players in TNA history.
Christian returned to WWE in 2009, where he became the top star of the C show, WWE ECW.
Following the end of that brand, he wrestled the mid-card, yet again, before the retirement of best friend Edge, would open the door for him to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Christian was finally getting the push he deserved, for two days before he lost the title to company favorite Randy Orton.
Christian and Orton had an excellent feud, with some fantastic matches, and Christian even won the World Championship for a second time, albeit by disqualification and only held it for one month.
Christian wouldn't see the main event scene again until briefly in 2013 when he lost to Alberto Del Rio at Summerslam 2013. He retired shortly thereafter.
