6 WWE Superstars in desperate need of Character Development

At present, WWE has one of the most talented rosters it has ever seen. It has some of the best in-ring workers, both male and female, that the wrestling world has ever known. It has two well-established brands named Raw and Smackdown to showcase the best in the wrestling industry and a hot developmental brand Nxt for the influx of new talent.

But, the pro wrestling has so much more to it than just the in-ring element. It is about the stories, the characters, the heroes and villains, that the fans can relate to and either cheer or boo.

Behind every wrestling match, there is a story that plays in the background and the success of the match hugely depends on the quality and execution of that story.

A good story is always made up of strong characters who can strike the right chord with the listeners/ viewers. Wrestling, therefore, needs strong characters to bring the stories to life.

One of the biggest problems being faced by many current WWE superstars is the lack of well-developed characters. There are WWE superstars who have got the wrestling skills and charisma to bring the crowd to its feet but lack the required depth in their on-screen characters and thus have to settle for much less than what they are truly capable of.

This lack of proper depth in the characters leads to stories which lack the proper intensity and become uninteresting to the viewers.

And most of the times, the wrestlers are not responsible for this problem. Rather, it is the writing team. Many a time, they fail to provide the wrestlers with proper content to support the process of character build up.

Let's go through a few names in WWE that are good between the ropes but can still do a lot well if their characters have sufficient depth.

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#1 Finn Balor

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Whenever a list, containing the WWE superstars who are getting much less than they deserve, is created, Finn Balor is a constant on it from the past few years.

He was the top guy at NJPW. He became the first ever WWE Universal champion on his first pay per view appearance, the first person to achieve this feat, but relinquished the title within 24 hours due to an injury.

And eight months later, when he returned, he was lost in the shuffle. He never came anywhere near the title that he never lost for almost two years. He kept wandering directionless having meaningless feuds which didn't lead him anywhere.

From just the in-ring perspective, the year 2018 was a good one for Finn. He gave some great in-ring performances against the likes of Seth Rollins and was in the Intercontinental Championship picture for the first few months of 2018. He lasted for about 58 minutes in the Royal Rumble match. But the second half of 2018 was largely uneventful. Though he kept performing well, he was repeatedly used to put over other superstars.

Talking from the character point of view, WWE has done a poor job in building his character. Finn Balor comes to the ring with a cheesy smile on his face and is made to lose big matches to elevate other superstars. His alter-ego, The Demon King, though protected by the WWE, is underutilized.

There is a possibility of creating numerous storylines revolving around Finn Balor and the demon king, only if WWE allows his character to built up properly. Finn Balor, therefore, tops our list.

Current Scenario

Finn Balor is currently in the world title picture as he has a match against Brock Lesnar for the Universal championship, a match that he is not expected to win considering the way these two superstars have been booked in the past two years.

What can change?

When talking about changes to the character of Finn Balor, the first thing that comes to the mind is to make him heel. Finn Balor already has a heelish element linked to his personality i.e. his alter-ego the Demon King. Therefore, it will not be difficult to portray him as a heel.

Even if WWE does not want to turn him heel, it can at least use the Demon King character a bit more frequently with a proper storyline rather than just as a showcase. It will surely work wonders for Finn Balor and even WWE.

#2 Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura has been a recent entry to our list owing to his fall from being one of the top babyfaces in SmackDown to a heel whom no one takes seriously and that too within in a span of months.

He was once considered the hottest Japanese import in WWE owing to his unique wrestling style and skill set and went on to challenge the WWE Champion at WrestleMania after winning in his first Royal Rumble match in the year 2018. At WrestleMania, he turned heel after losing the championship match to AJ Styles, a move which was initially received well by the WWE universe but later backfired due to WWE's inability to add depth to his character.

He was then reduced to just a guy who low blows his opponents to win and that's all he does. Though he later became the United States champion, it didn't benefit him as he rarely had meaningful opponents to challenge for his title.

His title defences were either removed from the pay per views or moved to the pre-show. WWE never seemed interested in adding dimensions to his character. Shinsuke Nakamura is another guy, whose character needs to be developed in order to tap into his true potential.

Current Scenario

Shinsuke Nakamura, after losing his US championship last month to Rusev, will face him at the Royal Rumble for the championship rematch. Given the popularity of Rusev and the fact that he just won the championship, he is not expected to lose. Therefore, Shinsuke Nakamura will most likely emerge as the loser out of this match.

What can change?

Shinsuke Nakamura seems much more comfortable being a heel and therefore does not need to become a babyface. The biggest problem he has faced from day one in WWE is the inability to convey his character to WWE Universe due to the language barrier. What he currently needs is a manager, just like Andrade Cien Almas who has Zelina Vega as manager, who can do the talking while he goes about his work in the ring.

#3 Dean Ambrose

Many would argue that Dean Ambrose' name should not appear on this list and that his character is well defined in WWE. But here we are talking about the 'Dean Ambrose' after turning heel. We have always known Dean Ambrose as the 'Lunatic Fringe' since he first appeared on the main roster as a member of the Shield. 'The heel' Dean Ambrose is still unknown. No one knows yet, what is he capable of or to what extents can he go to get what he wants. This was one of the reason due to which his feud with Seth Rollins proved to be lacklustre.

Therefore, 'the heel' Dean Ambrose still need a considerable amount of work before he can be taken seriously.

Current Scenario

Ambrose lost the Intercontinental championship in the last episode of RAW and will mostly have his rematch at the Royal Rumble.

What can change?

It has just been a few months since Dean Ambrose turned heel, but the character has already lost his charm due to lousy writing in his rivalry against Seth Rollins. His feud with Seth Rollins should end or at least be put on hold for the time being and he should move on to face other guys on the roster, the likes of Finn Balor, Bobby Lashley and Elias.

Another thing that WWE can do to improve this character is to provide him with better content as he is a good mic worker and has the ability to sell his words to the audience.

#4 Sonya Deville

Sonya Deville comes from MMA background and entered the WWE main roster more than a year ago as a part of a group called Absolution having Paige and Mandy Rose as her partners. Though the group was broken a few months later due to the retirement of Paige, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose continued to be partners.

While Sonya Deville was initially not one of the best in-ring performers, she has shown great improvement in her wrestling skills during her stint of one year on the main roster and now looks ready to be propelled to the main event scene. But she has been stuck in a team which performs regularly but wins rarely and is mostly involved in meaningless feuds. This has affected the individuality of her character, which needs a lot of work before she can be considered a main eventer.

Current Scenario

Sonya Deville is currently involved in two different angles in SmackDown. The first one is her partner Mandy Rose is trying to draw a rift between Jimmy Uso and Naomi and Deville is trying to stop her while the second one is her online feud with Carmella against whom she will likely have a match in the coming weeks. None of these storylines is likely to add anything meaningful to her character.

What can change?

Sonya Deville should break free from her current alliance with Mandy Rose and both should go their separate ways. Rather than just using her as fodder for the top women on SmackDown, WWE should build her as their credible opponent. WWE should start by giving her a rivalry against a well-established superstar and then let her develop the character in the process.

#5 Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt came to the main roster as the leader of a group called the Wyatt family having Luke Harper and Eric Rowan as its members. While the group initially looked formidable owing to the skills and strength of its members, it fell flat due to its strange, dark and at time confusing gimmick. The character of Bray Wyatt, while being a very good performer and a great mic worker, got lost in that gimmick.

Till now, Bray Wyatt has had all types of opponents ranging from WWE veterans like the Undertaker, Randy Orton and Matt Hardy to the newcomers like Dean Ambrose and Finn Balor, but he rarely emerges victorious out of a rivalry. His character has been reduced to the one that kept making tall claims and uttering strange words while challenging his opponents but fails to perform when it mattered.

His short stint as the WWE Champion turned out to be a failure and so was the story behind it. He later went on to become tag team champion alongside Matt Hardy but nothing fruitful came out to their reign as it added nothing to their characters. Bray Wyatt, as a character, has fallen into the ranks of WWE and is in urgent need of reinvention.

Current Scenario

He has not been seen on TV for quite some time now since his tag team partner Matt Hardy got injured but is expected to return soon to the WWE programming. Judging by his Twitter posts, he is expected to return with a new persona and not that 'Eater of the Worlds' stuff.

What can change?

First of all, he should start winning high profile matches. Making baseless claims always proves to be detrimental to a WWE superstar. The audience never develops an interest in a character, which it knows, will eventually lose. He needs to be involved in something meaningful to be taken seriously by the WWE Universe. On his return from injury, WWE should propel him to a mid-card championship scene and if possible make him the champion. His character will develop considerable depth with a long and eventful championship reign.

#6 Ruby Riott

The character of Ruby Riot suffers from a problem similar to that of Sonya Deville. Ruby Riot is the leader of a group called Riott squad with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan as the other members. She is a great performer who has been stuck in long meaningless feuds involving other groups which don't give her character a space to shine. She is mostly made to fight in tag team matches repeatedly with the same team which affects the individuality of her character. Ruby Riot is a main event calibre star and therefore needs to be developed as a singles performer.

Current Scenario

Riott Squad is currently feuding with Natalya, Bayley and Sasha Banks, a program which is leading to nowhere. In last week's 3 on 3 tag team match, Sasha Banks was replaced by Nikki Cross, and the Ruby Riot's side lost.

What can change?

Just like Sonya Deville, Ruby Riot needs to be featured in some serious feuds. Rather than working the same 3 on 3 filler tag team matches on a routine basis, WWE should make her work in some main events to develop her as a character and as a performer. She should also break free from her group and take the singles path.

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Well, these are just a few names and there are many more talented WWE superstars whose characters need work in order to strike the right chord with the viewers. It is well understood that not everyone can be a main eventer or a WWE champion and in such a large group of extremely talented superstars, only a few can be featured. But does it means that WWE should stop experimenting with the characters?