#3 Ryback
Another former Tough Enough participant who failed to win his respective season yet still earned a WWE contract is the outspoken Ryback.
Competing in the “Million Dollar Tough Enough” in 2004, Ryback was the last to be eliminated and missed out on winning the series to Daniel Puder, however he did enough to impress WWE officials and was signed to a developmental contract soon after. Six years later, he would find himself competing in a similar themed show as a rookie on the first season of NXT under the name Skip Sheffield. Despite again not winning this series, he debuted as part of The Nexus in their memorable ‘invasion’ angle in 2010.
The ‘Skip Sheffield’ gimmick never really got over and he was later re-packaged as Ryback.
Ryback has been a mainstay on the WWE roster since his 2012 debut and appeared to be destined to be a main event star after headlining a number of PPVs with CM Punk soon after his re-debut. However since then he has steadily declined to become a mid-card talent and after his recent ‘contract dispute’ with WWE, it appears as though his current run may not last much longer.
