Sometimes the WWE pushes a superstar to the moon, but conversely also buries some wrestlers who worked hard to make it to the company. The number of failures in WWE is definitely more than those who've achieved success. Everyone knows that Vince McMahon has a fetish for brawny wrestlers but surprisingly, even some wrestlers who have similar attributes to Vince’s fantasies fail to make their mark in the WWE and slowly find their way out of the company. We’ve seen over the years so many wrestlers from other promotions come into the company like hot cakes only to have the taste taken out of them, as they’re mostly left to go back to the independent promotions where they made a name for themselves.

Recently, we saw WWE fire some of their personnel, with Damien Sandow and Wade Barrett being the most prominent names out of the bunch. Sandow proved time and time again to be an entertainer like no other, while Barrett showed signs of being a top star, but WWE dropped the ball with these two and it wound up labeling their careers as a failures in the WWE. Many stars, like these two, have been treated like this by the company, where you not only need wrestling talent, but other "attributes" as well in order to stay relevant in the long run and many wrestlers don’t have that potential. After being released by the company, these wrestlers mostly have to go back to performing for under-paying promotions and some, who have some educational background, even decide to take a different route in their careers. Some of them use their popularity to get into the real estate business, others become teachers, while some even try out their acting skills in Hollywood, but mostly the wrestlers who leave the WWE remain confined to the squared circle. Here we take a look at some of these wrestlers who failed in the WWE, and what they’re doing now.

40 20. Colt Cabana (then)

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

Perhaps best known as the friend of CM Punk, Colt Cabana was a hot property on the independent circuit and Ring of Honor before he rose the WWE ranks through their developmental program at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and was introduced as Scotty Goldman on the main roster. He mostly jobbed to prominent stars and featured in battle royals, with his only shining light being the show he got on WWE.com called Good as Goldman. However, he was fired less than a year after his main roster debut and quickly returned to the independent scene.

39 20. Colt Cabana (now)

via rollingstone.com
via rollingstone.com

As mentioned, after departing from the WWE, Cabana went back to the indy circuit. He also started his own wrestling podcast called The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana. This podcast achieved new heights in 2014 through his controversial interview with CM Punk, who himself had departed WWE, and who had some nasty things to say about the company. Today, Cabana’s podcast has 75,000 downloads per episode with some prominent wrestlers being featured on it, while Cabana is continuing to enjoy a successful outing on the independent circuit as well.

38 19. Marc Mero (then)

via wrestlingdelorean.tumblr.com
via wrestlingdelorean.tumblr.com

Marc Mero had quite a prominent beginning to his WWE career as he received the "Wildman" gimmick and won the Intercontinental Championship soon after debuting for the company. He then lost it to Triple H in a storyline involving his manager and real-life wife, Sable, and it was all down hill from there. Mero would get injured and return after several months with a heel persona, but he was put into angles with Sable herself (including a match), before working with Jacqueline as his manager. He would job to Duane Gill (better known as Gillberg) before being released in 1999.

37 19. Marc Mero (now)

via knownpeople.net
via knownpeople.net

Marc Mero has had an incredible change of careers, as he transitioned from being a professional wrestler to being a motivational speaker who "brings faith" to those in need of it. He has also started his own non-profit organization called Champion of Choices and is hired by many schools and public bodies to influence their citizens and "lead people to Christ". He attributed intense drug abuse for him changing as a person, and wants to lead people into more positive lives.

36 18. The Wolves (then)

 via zerepwrestling.wordpress.com
via zerepwrestling.wordpress.com

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards are one of the most exciting, hard-hitting tag teams in the wrestling world right now and years after making a name for themselves in ROH, they decided to try out for WWE NXT in 2013. Their try-out lasted a week and featured a non-tile match against The Ascension, who were the NXT Tag Team Champions at the time, but they we’re rejected after it. Richards would go on to state how he never wanted to go there and they headed to TNA to have much success.

35 18. The Wolves (now)

via cagesideseats.com
via cagesideseats.com

After being turned down by the WWE and joining TNA, the Wolves went on to have five TNA World Tag Team Championship reigns and they are currently two of the hottest prospects in TNA. However, they are looking to get off of this sinking ship and they’ve announced that they aren’t taking indy bookings after June 1st. Could this mean that they’re finally getting snapped up by the WWE, as they’ve impressed Triple H since their weak try-out? We'll have to wait and watch.

34 17. Matt Morgan (then)

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

"The Blueprint" Matt Morgan was first introduced in WWE on their reality show Tough Enough, but he had to leave because of an injury. He would rise through the OVW developmental program and get a main roster debut on SmackDown before joining Team Lesnar for a 2003 Survivor Series Elimination match against Team Angle. He would play with the "big boys" for some time but then got a new gimmick which would ruin his WWE career. He’d be fired soon after before going on to have a prominent, long career in TNA.

33 17. Matt Morgan (now)

Morgan had two TNA World Tag Team Championship reigns and wrestled for the company from 2007 to 2013. After calling it quits with TNA and wrestling in general, Morgan announced that he had joined on as a regional manager for a "big time medical device" company which would usher in a new chapter in his life, while he and his wife gave birth to a son, Jackson Morgan. He has often expressed his continued love of wrestling and hasn't rule out returning for some events. In fact, he briefly returned to TNA in 2015 for one match so that his son could watch him wrestle, but he is mostly happy being a family man right now.

32 16. Kenny Omega (then)

via wikipedia.org
via wikipedia.org

Though not exactly a part of the WWE, Kenny Omega was snatched up by the company to work for their developmental program, Deep South Wrestling, in 2005. He agreed to work on a full-time basis and his time in Deep South Wrestling was mostly filled with tag team skirmishes while he never really got an opportunity to shine as a singles competitor. He’s often expressed his dismay at his time at DSW and has criticized then promoter Bill DeMott and trainer Bob Holly.

31 16. Kenny Omega (now)

via wrestlingnews.co
via wrestlingnews.co

Right now Omega is a man on top of the world as he is the leader of The Bullet Club, one of the most infamous and menacing factions in the wrestling world. He has stated that he turned down offers made by the WWE to sign him, as his charismatic behavior has given The Bullet Club a new look after the departure of former leader, AJ Styles. Omega, along with the Young Bucks, are ruling the independent scene in Japan right now, making them extremely valuable men to any promotion.

30 15. Rick Steiner (then)

via whatistheexcel.com
via whatistheexcel.com

Renowned for being part of one of the most technically gifted tag teams of all time, along with crazy brother Scott, Rick Steiner was maybe the better wrestler among the brothers as they dominated the wrestling tag team division for a long time. They were not treated that well by the WWE, where they spent only two years in the early 90s, but they won the tag team titles twice in those years. They left feeling that Vince McMahon wasn’t following up on promises made to the team, before going on to have stints in WCW, ECW and even TNA.

29 15. Rick Steiner (now)

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

In 2004, Rick tried his hand in the real estate business and fully committed himself to the business after leaving TNA in 2008, although he made a couple of wrestling appearances alongside his brother in 2013. He is currently employed with Rick Steiner and Associates at Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage. He is also a board member of the Cherokee County School District where he was elected in 2006.

28 14. Buff Bagwell (then)

 via examiner.com
via examiner.com

A prominent mid-carder for the WCW, Buff Bagwell made quite a name for himself during his stint at the company as he won the WCW tag titles five times in his career. He would be one of the first WCW wrestlers to join the WWE after it had taken over WCW and had a body likely to impress Vince McMahon. He would work a dark match against Booker T on July 1, 2001 for the WCW title, but the match would be disrupted by attacks from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. He would then be fired on July 9, 2001 for having a negative attitude and also allegedly faking an injury in his last match.

27 14. Buff Bagwell (now)

via cowboys4angels.com
via cowboys4angels.com

After his departure from WWE, Bagwell made several appearances in TNA and on the independent scene before his wrestling career faded into the darkness. After that, Bagwell began using his well-toned body for a completely different purpose and profession. He is now a certified male escort, working for a company named Cowboys4Angels. He himself confessed to being one in an interview in 2014, and he is also a happily married man who’s enjoying life outside of the wrestling business.

26 13. Lance Storm (then)

via bleacherreport.com
via bleacherreport.com

A good friend of Chris Jericho, Lance Storm rose through the independent ranks alongside Y2J and would follow him into stints at ECW, WCW and then finally to the grandest stage of them all - WWE. He would be given the "anti-American" gimmick during his WWE run, where he was an attraction in the tag team division while Jericho went to greater heights in his singles run. Storm would get an Intercontinental Championship run, but would retire from in-ring action shortly thereafter, opting to have a backstage position in the WWE till leaving the company in 2005 to return to the indy circuit.

25 13. Lance Storm (now)

via viralnetworks.com
via viralnetworks.com

After returning in 2009 for a small stint with ROH, he would then move onto smaller promotions, working lesser dates and focusing on writing his own book called Storm Warning which would be published as an e-book in 2011. Storm would also open his own wrestling school named "Storm Wrestling Academy" in Calgary, Canada. Storm is currently a writer of a weekly column for a wrestling/MMA publication, Fighting Spirit Magazine, and has made appearances on podcasts and on a TV show called World of Hurt in 2011.

24 12. Shawn Stasiak (then)

via viralnetworks.com
via viralnetworks.com

The son of Stan "The Man" Stasiak, who was a prominent WWE champion in the 70s, Shawn Stasiak didn’t really get his father’s fortunes as he debuted as Meat, a "boy-toy" for the Pretty Mean Sisters. He would soon get downgraded to a jobber, before being fired in 1999 for recording a heated conversation without permission. After a stint at WCW, he’d return to the company in 2001 as part of “The Alliance’’ before being "fired". He would then portray the gimmick of a comically insane wrestler from "Planet Stasiak" before being granted his release in 2002.

23 12. Shawn Stasiak (now)

via drshawnstipich.com
via drshawnstipich.com

After a disastrous wrestling career, Stasiak would become a full-time chiropractor and would receive a certificate in manipulation under anesthesia from the Academy of Physical and Manual Medicine in New York. He currently works for the Advanced Comprehensive Team based out of Texas. Besides his career as a chiropractor, Stasiak also works as a motivational speaker to give speeches in public schools. Stasiak has expressed a desire to return to the squared circle as a 2015 video showed him training and talking about his dream to make him and his father the first father and son pair to ever win the WWE Championship.

22 11. Gangrel (then)

via onlineworldofwrestling.com
via onlineworldofwrestling.com

Gangrel was undoubtedly one of the most disturbing/scariest wrestlers of all time in the WWE, being the head of the infamous The Brood faction, who covered all of their enemies in blood baths, alongside Edge and Christian. Gangrels’ highest point was with The Brood, as he became a mid-carder after its break-up and would be fired because of weight problems. He would come back years later for some matches, but would be fired for keeping his shirt unbuttoned. Yeah, that happened.

21 11. Gangrel (now)

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

After his wrestling career went down the drain, Gangrel would make a very odd career decision as he decided to direct vampire pornographic films. Gangrel is still wrestling in a promotion called North American Wrestling with the gimmick of a "Vampire Warrior". He signed on to direct 12 films for the New Porn Order, with his debut being named Miami Rump Shakerz 2. Gangrel has made a couple of brief WWE appearances over the last two years: first appearing at Rikishi's 2015 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and then recently showing up on an episode of the Edge & Christian Show on the WWE Network.