5 wrestlers who are in the shadow of a more successful relative

There are a lot of famous wrestling families in WWE, but whilst many of the next generation of Superstars have stepped up their game and represented their family, there are a few who have been left in the shadow of their relatives.

The problem with coming from a famous wrestling family is that there will always be members of the WWE Universe who will compare wrestlers to each other, and some stars are unable to live up to the hype.

For the children of famous wrestling legends, it's hard for them to then step out of their relative's shadow, but it isn't impossible, as Charlotte has shown with her father Ric Flair. Not only that, sometimes WWE decides to hire siblings and there will always be one member of the family who stands out above the other.

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#5 Primo and Epico - Carlito

Primo and Epico with their cousin, Carlito

Carlito was a memorable member of the WWE locker room for a number of years and even managed to win the United States Championship on his debut back in 2004. He went on to become a popular character in the eyes of the WWE Universe before his departure back in 2010 after he failed WWE's Wellness tests.

Over the past few years, his cousin and brother, Primo and Epico, have been trying to live up to the hype that Carlito once created, with the WWE Universe constantly beginning speculation that Carlito will someday return and help the duo gain some kind of credibility.

The Colons have been used as jobbers on SmackDown ever since the WWE Draft last year, and it seems quite unlikely that the former Tag Team Champions will never be given the chance to be a top team again.

WWE seems to have repackaged this team so many times that the WWE Universe is unable to see them as a credible threat to the tag team division anymore.

#4 Bo Dallas - Bray Wyatt

Bo Dallas will never be pushed towards the WWE Championship

Bo Dallas is a former NXT Champion and was once thought of as the future of WWE, but the WWE Universe later found out that Bo was the brother of Wyatt Family leader Bray Wyatt and he has since only been seen as the brother of Bray.

Even though Bray himself hasn't had a great few months of his own since he dropped the WWE Championship to Randy Orton at WrestleMania, he is still able to be part of much bigger feuds than his brother, who has now been put in The Miztourage because WWE had no other plans for him.

Bo hasn't been part of many hard-hitting storylines on the main roster like his brother either, but it seems that no matter how badly creative manage Bray, he will never sink as low down the ranks as his brother.

The duo has never been given the chance to work together on WWE TV, so at least if WWE runs out of ideas for Bo in the future, he could move on to work with Bray if he's still struggling on WWE's mid-card.

#3 Matt Hardy - Jeff Hardy

Matt and Jeff Hardy have both had lengthy wrestling careers

Matt and Jeff Hardy became famous in the late 1990s as the fearless tag team, alongside Lita, known as Team Extreme. They later split up and went their separate ways, with Matt being mostly involved in the Cruiserweight Division and his brother Jeff becoming WWE Champion.

In WWE, Jeff Hardy was always much more popular than his brother thanks to his death-defying stunts which grabbed the attention of the WWE Universe, whilst Matt was always seen as the boring brother. But this changed when the duo moved to TNA.

Broken Matt Hardy took over the company and after a lengthy feud with Jeff, later known as Brother Nero, it was finally Matt who came out on top after all the years of living in his brother's shadow.

Now the brothers have made their return to WWE and are hoping to be able to one day bring the "broken" gimmick with them so that they can show the WWE Universe the characters that once took over the TNA locker room. Right now, it seems for the first time since their debut, Matt and Jeff are seen on par when it comes to the way they are viewed by their fanbase.

#2 Brie Bella - Nikki Bella

Brie will always be second fiddle to her sister Nikki

It was originally Brie Bella that made her WWE debut before her sister, who was found hiding under the ring and interfering in her matches. It seems that this was where all the problems started for Brie.

Brie may have the husband and the daughter in real life, but when it comes to her wrestling career, she has always been in the shadow of her sister Nikki.

Nikki won the Divas Championship for a second time back in 2015 and Brie was then forced to be her sister's valet throughout the reign, rather than allowed to fight her for the title. Nikki then became the longest reigning Divas Champion, thanks to Brie, but it was Nikki who gained all of the attention.

Nikki is also the sister who gets to be part of A-list events like being invited on Dancing with the Stars, because she is dating former WWE Champion, John Cena. So it seems that no matter what Brie does in her personal or professional life, Nikki will always have her beaten because she decided to start dating the face of WWE.

#1 Curtis Axel - Mr. Perfect

Axel Couldn't Even Flourish Under Paul Heyman's Guidance

Curtis Axel is the son of WWE Hall of Famer, "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig. Known in the wrestling world as one of the best wrestlers of all time, it was always going to be hard for Axel to step into the huge shoes that Hennig left in the wrestling business.

When given the chance, Axel can perform in the ring with the best of them, but when he's put in the same class as his father, it is hard to any mere mortal to measure up.

Axel got his first big break in WWE as part of The Nexus, before he debuted under the name Curtis Axel (from his father's name Curt and his grandfather's nickname Larry 'The Axe') and was managed by Paul Heyman for a number of months, who helped him lift the Intercontinental Championship, just like his father.

Sadly for Axel, this is the only real highlight in a WWE career that has now stretched to more than seven years and has seen him become nothing more than a wrestler who makes up the numbers in multi-man matches.

Axel's recent alliance with The Miz is the longest run he has had as part of a storyline on WWE TV for a while, and could go a long way to finally putting Axel back in a credible position on WWE TV.