While WWE has relied on developmental systems to build and train talent for years, not every star is completely homegrown. There are loads of wrestlers who got their start elsewhere, either wrestling for the indies or the competition, before signing with WWE. Just look at stars like AJ Styles, who had a well-established career in Impact Wrestling before making a huge splash when he signed to WWE in 2016.
But not every wrestler can have the success of AJ Styles in WWE. There are a number of occasions when WWE signed a wrestler who seemed like a slam dunk or felt like a major “get” only for it to not work out as planned. None of these wrestlers below are bad, but their WWE runs arguably were.
10 Sin Cara
It’s downright tragic that the name Sin Cara has become synonymous with “botching moves constantly,” as the man behind the mask had a tremendous reputation before WWE. As Mistico, he was a megastar in the Mexican promotion CMLL, and WWE signing him made sense as they’re always trying to break into the Latin market as well as build a successor to Rey Mysterio. However, despite the high-profile signing, Sin Cara failed to translate to a WWE context thanks to a difference in in-ring style.
9 Marcus Cor Von
A footnote in WWE history, Marcus Cor Von is best known to Impact Wrestling fans as Monty Brown (his real name), a former football player turned enthusiastic pro wrestler with loads of charisma and a fun signature maneuver in the Pounce. He was actually pretty over with fans until Impact decided to make him Jeff Jarrett’s lackey. In 2006, Brown signed to WWE and was pushed strongly on the ECW revival despite a questionable name change. However, family issues forced him to step away from wrestling before he could really make a splash in WWE.
8 Kharma
When Kharma signed to WWE in 2010, she already had a nine-year career under her belt, putting on awesome matches in Japan and showing the potential of what televised women’s wrestling could be in North America with Gail Kim in Impact Wrestling. Unfortunately, her time with WWE would not match the promise.
Presented as a monster heel terrorizing the (mostly) models-turned-wrestlers of WWE’s Divas division, the newly renamed Kharma seemed like something new for the company. But unfortunately, she only made a handful of appearances and wrestled one match before personal issues derailed her time with WWE.
7 Kaval
A fast, fierce striker and absurdly athletic to boot, Low Ki was one of the bright stars on the indie wrestling scene, so his signing to WWE in 2008 came with a lot of promise. However, he showed up a few years too early, so “Kaval” had to debut on the wrong version of NXT. Despite that, Kaval ended up winning Season 2, which felt especially good since his contemporary Daniel Bryan was the first guy eliminated in Season 1. However, his post-NXT run amounted to nothing, and Kaval left the company in 2010.
6 Steve Williams
A great wrestler who already had a well-established career of wrecking dudes in Japan, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams signed to WWE in 1998 and was slated for a big feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin. To make him seem credible, WWE put together a shoot fighting tournament called Brawl For All, which they expected Williams to win despite the fights being legitimate. So, of course, he got taken out by Bart Gunn in the tournament and also got injured in the process, ultimately getting released in 1999. He never did get that Steve Austin feud.
5 Hideo Itami
One of the first major signings of the black and gold era of NXT was KENTA, a decorated star of Pro Wrestling NOAH who influenced CM Punk and Bryan Danielson’s movesets and put on some incredible matches with the latter. His achievements and signing were touted on screen by NXT, but when he finally debuted, “Hideo Itami” was plagued by poorly timed injuries and otherwise felt like an afterthought when he was there to wrestle. His only major achievements in WWE included being a springboard for Finn Balor’s debut and establishing that the Full Sail University parking lot was the most dangerous place in the world.
4 Scott Steiner
A former tag team specialist with his brother Rick, Scott Steiner broke off into a singles career in the late 1990s, changing his look and reaching the main event title scene in WCW, becoming a World Champion in the process. He had worked for WWE before, but this Scott Steiner signing to WWE in 2002 held some promise.
Unfortunately, Steiner’s run with the company was infamously lackluster, mostly due to his feud with Triple H. Their bouts together were highly criticized, including their Royal Rumble 2003 effort, which has gone down as one of the worst matches in the show’s history.
3 Ultimo Dragon
Hot off the heels of WWE’s signing of Rey Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon joining the company in 2003 felt like a big score, as the former J-Crown Champion had an awesome style that fused lucha libre and Japanese styles, and was a veteran who trained a bunch of future stars in his Toryumon school. Unfortunately, he never gained any traction in WWE, proving undervalued and underused as he performed on minor shows like Velocity. Ultimately, his biggest accomplishment in WWE was famously tripping over his cape at WrestleMania XX.
2 Austin Aries
When Austin Aries signed to WWE in 2016, he was already a well-established star in Impact Wrestling, capturing the World Title as well as proving to be a great heel. While his NXT run was solid but brief, Aries’ size saw him relegated to the cruiserweight division, making appearances on 205 Live. He’d challenge Neville for the Cruiserweight Title, but would prove unsuccessful on multiple occasions. He was soon released from the company in 2017.
1 Ronda Rousey
Hailed as a trailblazer in women’s MMA, Ronda Rousey’s interest in pro wrestling meant that her signing to WWE was a huge moment that made mainstream headlines, and he was off to a great start with her well-received debut at WrestleMania 34. Her becoming Raw Women’s Champion was a foregone conclusion, but coincided with the heel turn that made Becky Lynch a sensation with fans while WWE struggled to make Rousey seem as cool as possible, going full Roman Reigns with overwritten promos and the like. Lynch would pin Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania 35, and the former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion disappeared from WWE, unlikely to be seen in the squared circle again.