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Not everyone can be ‘the man’ in WWE, and while the brand split certainly opened the door for new superstars to get world title reigns, it doesn’t mean that everyone deserves to hold the belt. So whether it be the WWE Championship or the Universal Championship, we want to list a few mid-card names who we feel probably won’t get the chance to carry the torch for WWE.
Now before we get into it, let’s make one thing clear: these five guys are exceptionally talented. In fact, you could argue that they’re better performers than some World Champions of years gone by, but for one reason or another, we just can’t envisage them ever making it to the mountaintop.
They’ll still likely continue to be solid mid-carders for many years to come, but that’s about it. So with that being said, here are five WWE mid-carders who we believe probably won’t become World Champion.
#1 Elias
When Elias first burst onto the scene down in NXT, his act didn’t quite connect with the Full Sail crowd in the same way that many others have before him. Whether that’s because of his singing or monotone voice remains to be seen, but nonetheless, it’s something that’s worth pointing out.
Since coming up to the main roster, however, Elias has been able to make a much better impression than anyone could’ve hoped. He’s slightly over with the crowd and is more than capable of putting on a solid match, but unfortunately, that still doesn’t mean that he’s able to carry the ball as the Universal Champion on Monday Night Raw. That’s not harsh, either; it’s just the truth.
#2 Tye Dillinger
Tye Dillinger has been grinding away for years now, and while it took a long time for him to get to this point, his hard work and dedication deserves to be recognised by fans all over the world. The king of the ‘ten’ chant continues to get crowds around the country excited, despite the fact that he probably won’t go any further than where he is right now.
His act has cooled off dramatically ever since debuting on the SmackDown Live after WrestleMania, and while that may not necessarily be his fault, the blue brand is stacked with guys who can hold the WWE title.
Right now, he isn’t on their level in terms of his all-around ability, and while he may be over to an extent, you have to question how much of that is because of the word ‘ten’.
#3 Harper
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Harper, also known as Luke Harper because this time last year it genuinely did seem like he had a chance at battling for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33. That didn’t come to fruition, and since then, his downward trajectory has been nothing short of depressing for the WWE Universe.
He’s one of the most effective big guys on the roster, and unfortunately, that’s sealed his fate in a lot of ways. You see, WWE clearly has an image in their mind of him being a monster in the tag team division, despite the fact that he’s proven he can have a successful run as a singles star.
He may deserve it, but the WWE brass doesn’t seem to agree with us on this one.
#4 Cesaro
We’re going to sound like a broken record here, but Cesaro has been an underrated member of the roster for an awfully long time now. The man himself has admitted that he was hoping to have won the world title by this point in his career, but unfortunately, the power of the hardcore fans can only take you so far – with Daniel Bryan being the obvious exception.
While Cesaro is a world-class performer we just can’t see him going beyond the mid-card level at this stage, and if he does wind up in another pay per view main event, he certainly won’t be walking out as champion. He’ll still probably wind up in the Hall of Fame one day, but we all know that he wants more than that.
#5 Kofi Kingston
We don’t care what anyone else says, Kofi Kingston has all of the tools necessary (he's had 14 title reigns in the WWE!) to be the face of either Raw or SmackDown Live. That may not be a universally popular opinion but it’s true, with Kingston being able to showcase his abilities as both a babyface and a heel during his multi-year run with The New Day.
Kingston is always known for being someone that the company can rely on, and because the days of giving out world titles as a thank you finished around 2011, he probably won’t be going any further than the IC or US belt.
That’s hard to hear for some fans, but trust us, we’d love nothing more than to be proven wrong.
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