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On more than one occasion, the WWE live crowd and fans around the world express their love for particular superstars. More often than not, however, those in power backstage don't share the same affinity for said superstars.
Stars like Rusev, Bray Wyatt, Becky Lynch, and Cesaro may have had brief runs in the spotlight only to be shuffled down to the mid-card or even lower. It could be that Vince McMahon grew bored of a superstar, to that star doing something boneheaded (social media idiocy, DUI). Here's hoping the following wrestlers can arrive at and stay in the main event scene.
#1 Bray Wyatt
"The Eater of Worlds" is still a special talent, but he has been fed to stars like John Cena, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton. He's electric on the mic (when not prattling on about the abyss and so forth...) and is agile for a man his size. He lost to the Undertaker at WrestleMania, but WWE missed a huge opportunity to make him this generation's supernatural phenom. The creepy vibes were certainly at the forefront in the John Cena feud, especially when the creepy kids sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
Unfortunately for Wyatt, his usual haunting and unsettling nature was hard to take seriously after losing feuds with Cena, Orton, Reigns, Orton, the Shield, and Seth Rollins. He did share a brief run with both the WWE Championship and the Raw Tag Team titles. He lost the WWE title to Orton in one of the worst 'Mania matches in recent memory.
His Raw tag-team title reign ended with a loss to the B-Team. The Wyatt Family should have had a long run to help establish credibility closer to when they debuted on the main roster. He could have had a run with a mid-card title to warm him up for the main card. Whatever the case, it was a missed opportunity to create a huge new star.
#2 The Revival
The "Top Guys" consistently had great matches in NXT with the likes of DIY and American Alpha. Then the time finally came for Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder to join the main roster. The only problem was that Vince McMahon doesn't care for tag-team wrestling. Unless the team is the New Day or the Usos, that is.
Joining the main roster in 2017 on the Raw after Wrestlemania, The Revival defeated the New Day in consecutive matches. An injury to Dash Wilder, however, stalled that momentum. Over the summer of 2017, both wrestlers were healthy. Unfortunately, it was Dawson's turn to hit the shelf. Consider momentum stalled again.
Whether it was disdain for tag wrestling or just getting bored, the Revival were an afterthought until the beginning of 2018. WWE Raw 25 Years was upcoming, so Dash and Dawson started a program where they started to run down the tag teams of the past.
This was done to clearly set up a spot at Raw 25 Years where the duo would be embarrassed by the likes of HHH, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, X-Pac and the Balor Club. It was a blatant attempt for the fossils of yesteryear to look cool to the younger generation. Even the "too sweeting" was cringe-worthy.
The Revival should be having great matches on Raw and PPVs, not jobbing to the relics of 15 years ago.
#3 Asuka
Remember when Asuka was undefeated in NXT? The backstage folks on the main roster didn't care. They made a big deal about Raw "acquiring" Asuka, only to waste her potential.
Asuka did win the first ever women's Royal Rumble, but like fellow Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Nakamura, she failed to capture gold at Wrestlemania. In essence, both Rumble wins were pointless with neither winning a title.
The loss to Charlotte was forgivable. She's the female Roman Reigns and has the last name the brass like. What isn't forgivable is being jobbed to Carmella all of this past summer. Carmella, a former cheerleader who could barely throw a passable kick and was more annoying than threatening, defeated Asuka in back-to-back title defenses.
And not in decisive fashion either. Thanks to James Ellsworth, Carmella continued her pathetic reign. Some may have enjoyed her reign, but when wrestling ability isn't at the forefront of your title run, something's wrong.
Gone was the mystique of the "Empress of Tomorrow". She appeared to be as threatening as a wet paper bag. Any momentum she had was tossed aside for a pretty blonde whose best attribute was her screeching.
Nowadays, Asuka is playing glow dance with Naomi in a mini-feud with the IIconics and also defending her meaningless Mixed Match Challenge win with the Miz.
#4 Rusev
Rusev is definitely someone who has been hurt by bad timing.
As most happy couples do, Lana posted a happy engagement picture of herself and her future husband to social media. Unfortunately, when you're in a program against your future husband, those in the kayfabe business aren't going to look too kindly upon your post.
Leaving Lana for Summer Rae, Rusev was embroiled in a soap opera with Dolph Ziggler. While both superstars don't need daytime drama storylines to show how talented they are, creative can never resist a love-based storyline. After the photo, creative was angered and Rusev was pushed down the card. Lana was shamed to make The Rock's annual appearance funny. What a waste.
He's almost been the equivalent of Bray Wyatt, losing feud after feud to make others further up the card look better. He suffered the "wrath" of John Cena and Roman Reigns, just to name of a few.
Let's not even get into the League of Nations run.
Recently, he got himself over organically with the "Rusev Day" comments. Once again, those backstage ignored the crowd repeatedly. When you don't capitalize on one of the loudest chants nightly, that's on those in charge.
He did have a title match against A.J. Styles and a tag team match against The New Day, but of course, he failed in both. Now he's embroiled in a feud with former tag mate Aiden English. Vince and crew definitely need to hire a "crowd reaction specialist" rather than continue to push their wants down the fans' throat.
"Rusev Crush!!" used to mean something.
#5 Cesaro
Oh, Cesaro. If there ever was someone who was extremely talented but constantly underappreciated, it is certainly Cesaro.
Starting out as a Vince McMahon favorite, the "evil foreign heel", Cesaro had runs with the U.S. title and tag team titles early in his career.
When it became more and more evident that he was just too talented for those divisions, fans clamoured for Cesaro to become a main-event fixture. He received a shot here and there, but was ultimately relegated back to the tag division. He and Sheamus did have the honor of ending the New Day's record-breaking title reign, but it still wasn't enough.
Cesaro is clearly one of the most talented superstars who can match feats of strength with feats of athleticism. Whether lifting the Big Show for a swing or his airborne European uppercut, there are few things the Swiss Superman cannot do in the ring.
More often than not, once Vince McMahon has an opinion of you, it rarely changes. Hopefully, the tag run will be over soon and Cesaro will be moving on to bigger and better things in WWE.
