The Ruthless Aggression Era ushered in many future stars that shaped WWE’s transition out of the Attitude Era while still growing the company stronger on a global level. Stars like John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Edge and Rey Mysterio hit home runs to become top names with guys like Steve Austin and The Rock retiring. However, there were a few names with potential that just never had the best opportunity.
WWE has been criticized for years for not always putting the best effort into using their talent at full potential. Many great wrestlers just wallowed away in obscurity until getting released or leaving for greener pastures. Find out just what caused the talents to not have the run expected in WWE. The following superstars saw WWE drop the ball with them during the Ruthless Aggression Era.
10 Carlito
WWE did a good job with Carlito during his first year or two before wasting his potential. The overall skill set of Carlito made him a top prospect due to his incredible in-ring skills and natural charisma on the microphone.
Carlito reportedly received backstage heat due to big names like Ric Flair and Triple H viewing him as lazy and unmotivated. The company never gave him the big program to get a taste for the main event picture before giving up on him.
9 Sean O'Haire
WCW tried to make Sean O'Haire a big star towards the final year after he trained at the Power Plant. The company was sold to WWE before O’Haire could truly break out on his own as he was part of the Natural Born Thrillers faction.
WWE saw the potential in O’Haire and even teased pushing him with a unique gimmick. O’Haire manipulated others with a deeper character, but things just didn’t work out for him. WWE positioned him in the lower card before ending the tenure.
8 Billy Kidman
WWE found main event success with former WCW cruiserweights like Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. One of the names to have a tough transition to WWE after coming over from WCW was Billy Kidman.
The WCW matches of Kidman often stole the show and impressed the audience. WWE didn’t view him as the same caliber of a worker. Kidman struggled to get much television time and found more success working backstage as a producer.
7 Lance Storm
The technical wrestling skills of Lance Storm made him one of the best pure wrestlers in the world during the early 2000s. Storm showcased great potential in ECW and WCW moving up the card in both promotions.
WWE viewed Storm as a good hand often done to put over others. Top wrestlers liked working with Storm, but WWE didn’t think he had the charisma necessary to get pushed harder. Fans missed out on the best work of Storm in WWE.
6 Tajiri
Tajiri was arguably the most successful Japanese wrestler in WWE until recent years. The all-around work of Tajiri was impressive with the outstanding in-ring matches and generally entertaining character skills with Tajiri or William Regal.
WWE always gave Tajiri a solid push, but they stopped just short of moving him any further. Given the success of Asuka or Shinsuke Nakamura today, Tajiri could have accomplished a lot more in WWE even without speaking perfect English.
5 MVP
MVP is doing well as a manager for Bobby Lashley today, but his best work in WWE came towards the end of the Ruthless Aggression Era. WWE booked MVP well at the start playing an exaggerated version of an arrogant free agent based on athletes in other sports.
MVP showcased great skills and was one of the top United States Champions in WWE history. Unfortunately, the push never elevated him any higher. WWE didn’t let MVP have a chance in the main event despite hitting home run after home run in the mid-card.
4 Muhammad Hassan
Few wrestlers in WWE history received the heel heat of Muhammad Hassan during his short run in 2005. WWE tried make Hassan a top villain utilizing the real-life elements of a post 9/11 world in controversial fashion.
One segment went too far depicting a terrorist attack on The Undertaker the same day as a legitimate tragedy. Networks demanded WWE stop using the character and it ended Hassan’s WWE character. Hassan was on pace to win the World Championship, but WWE didn’t care enough to repackage him.
3 Ultimo Dragon
The success of Rey Mysterio in WWE showed that masked wrestlers could thrive if they could connect to the audience without their facial expressions. WWE signed Ultimo Dragon shortly after to hopefully get another success story in 2003-2004.
Dragon struggled to adapt to the WWE style, and it doomed him right away. WWE relegated Dragon to the secondary show Velocity. The immensely talented star missed out on having a strong run in WWE as they gave up on him too quickly.
2 Gail Kim
Gail Kim ended up having a legendary career in Impact Wrestling, but WWE dropped the ball with her twice. The first run came in the Ruthless Aggression Era when the company was trying to build a stronger women’s division.
WWE pushed Gail early by having her win the Women’s Championship run, but they bailed on the push after a few weeks. Kim was treated like a secondary character for the rest of her run. The horrible use of Gail sees her still refusing to do any work with the company today.
1 Paul London
CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens all became massive stars for WWE after getting signed based on their Ring of Honor run. Unfortunately, it took WWE a while before they viewed independent wrestling stars as worthy of having a top spot.
Paul London missed out on this despite having the same back story and huge upside. WWE didn’t view London as anything more than a tag team wrestler or cruiserweight. London could have been a bigger star if WWE put any effort into pushing him as a bigger star whatsoever.