The sports entertainment industry has undoubtedly created some larger than life stars over the years, but at the very same time, the business has seen even more flops, failures and overall disappointments. Although promotions such as WCW, TNA/Impact Wrestling, and ECW have had their fare share of disappointments, there is absolutely no denying the fact that WWE has taken the cake for the most disappointing wrestlers in the industry nearly every year. Vince McMahon may have created some big names in his time as WWE's front-man, bit without a doubt, Vinny Mac has introduced many wrestlers who ended up becoming the biggest flop or disappointment of that said year.

Whether it's due to the Superstar lacking the actual traits of a WWE Superstar, poor booking (quite often the main reason), Vince losing interest, locker room problems or a multitude of other scenarios, WWE has become known for their significant number of disappointments each year - WWE's failures typically outweigh those from any other promotion. Regardless, we will definitely still be including a few disappointments from other wrestling companies that outdid WWE for a certain year, but if there's one thing consistent with this list, it's WWE's name beside most wrestlers - there's no denying the fact that WWE sorts through many disappointments before they find a wrestler who remotely succeeds in the long run.

With that being said, let's take a closer look at the most disappointing wrestler in the industry every year since 1990!

29 1990: Bad News Brown (WWE)

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Bad News Brown definitely had some potential to become a breakout star in WWE under his badass no-nonsense persona, and like others have mentioned in the past, Brown was truly like the Stone Cold Steve Austin before Stone Cold ever came to be. There is no question that Bad News was a big signing for WWE, given his Olympic background, but like many other wrestlers before and after him, Vince McMahon piddled Brown's potential away with meaningless filler feuds that did little for Brown or his opponent - Hulk Hogan, Macho Man and Roddy Piper being Brown's main feuds.

Apparently, Vince had made a promise to Bad News Brown prior to signing with WWE that he would eventually become the first ever black champion, and when McMahon failed to live up to his promises, Brown decided to leave the company just two years after his debut. Brown was simply the most disappointing wrestler of 1990 due to the hype which was created upon his debut, yet he failed to make a big impact due to McMahon's negligence.

28 1991: The Dragon (WWE)

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Now you may be wondering, how on earth could Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat possibly be categorized as the most disappointing wrestler of 1991 considering he's one of the all-time greatest, but please do allow us to explain. Although Vince made good use of Steamboat in years prior, when 1991 came around and Steamboat resigned with WWE after spending some time in other companies including WCW, things were certainly not how they used to be whatsoever.

No longer branded as the veteran Ricky Steamboat, Vince decided to give Steamboat a completely new persona of The Dragon, and as such, WWE treated Steamboat as if he were a brand new wrestler on the roster with no past history in the business. As many had expected, this flopped big time despite the numerous hype vignettes, and Ricky's second run with WWE would only last for that calendar year of '91 before quitting out of pure frustration. Ricky Steamboat could've been so much more the second time around in WWE had Vinny Mac simply booked him as good old legendary Ricky Steamboat.

27 1992: Tito Santana (WWE)

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Tito Santana was always known for being an underrated Superstar in WWE, and though there were many years in the 80s when Tito could've been categorized as one of the most disappointing wrestlers of any specific year due to his lack of major accomplishments, 1992 marked the year in which Tito Santana unquestionably took the most disappointing wrestler in the industry award home. in late '91, Vince decided to repackage Tito Santana as El Matador, and this gimmick consisted of Tito rocking pink boots and a bullfighter's mentality - the recipe for disaster, right?

Like most other outlandish gimmicks, Tito's push under this new persona was extremely short-lived, and it wasn't long at all before El Matador was demoted into the typical "jobber to the stars" role. At the time, prior to Tito's demotion, there were talks of making Santana the WWE Champion to expand their product in South America, but they ended up changing their minds. The bottom line is 1992 started out hot for Santana, but it ended with him losing to all sorts of low ranking talent.

26 1993: The Shockmaster (WCW)

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Fred Ottman, aka Tugboat and Typhoon in WWE, may not have concluded his career in sports entertainment with any World Title reigns to his name, but without a shadow of a doubt, Ottman will forever be remembered by fans, perhaps not for the best reason, however. After Ottman decided to leave WWE in early 1993, his decision to sign with WCW was the moment Fred's name was cemented in wrestling history.

As most of us clearly remember, Fred's new persona in WCW as The Shockmaster was a flop on biblical proportions despite the fact he was hyped up to a great extent leading up to his infamous debut, and there's no denying The Shockmaster's unfortunate trip during his debut entrance sealed his fate in WCW as a colossal failure. WCW officials tried to salvage Shockmaster on multiple occasions, but in the end, their efforts were fruitless as the hilarious damage had already been done. Had The Shockmaster made his debut in grand fashion by looking like a truly formidable beast, who knows how far he could've gone in WCW? Regardless, he was a true disappointment none the less.

25 1994: Lex Luger (WWE)

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Although there was no shortage of jacked-up larger than life wrestlers in the 80s and 90s, for whatever reason, Vince McMahon had an extra bit of interest in Lex Luger. When Hulk Hogan's run in WWE was nearing its end in mid-1993, Vinny Mac looked to "The Narcissist" Lex Luger, an erstwhile heel, as his next big main event babyface Superstar. As such, Lex was repackaged into a persona which almost a carbon copy of Hulk Hogan.

However, one thing became apparent after a short while into Luger's push - Lex simply lacked the necessary traits of a top-tier star. Luger definitely looked the part, but in the other areas, he was lacking severely. He failed rather miserably as WWE's next big thing, and just over a year after his repackaging, Luger jump shipped to WCW considering it was evident Vinny Mac had given up on "The Total Package." (Quite an ironic nickname, given the fact Luger certainly wasn't the total package.) Lex was undoubtedly the biggest disappointment in 1994.

24 1995: King Mabel (WWE)

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Before the Attitude Era came into effect in WWE, there's absolutely no denying the hard fact that WWE was a wasteland of outlandish (and often times terrible) characters. King Mabel was definitely amongst those said outlandish personas, and without question, intuitive fans new right from the get-go of Mabel's push that it would be a huge flop. After winning the 1995 King Of The Ring Tournament thus garnering a new name King Mabel, Vince was all set to strap the infamous rocket push to the 400-plus pound behemoth.

While Mabel did show some potential given his monstrous size and agility, for whatever reason, midway into Mabel's push to the WWE Title scene, McMahon clearly lost faith or interest in him, and his push was nixed. According to some sources, one of the main reasons behind King Mabel's demise in WWE was because of his reckless style of performing in the ring. Whatever the case may be, King Mabel was the most disappointing wrestler in the industry for 1995 bar none, and his demise was quicker than his push to the top...

23 1996: Ahmed Johnson (WWE)

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Ahmed Johnson was everything WWE loved in a main event Superstar in the mid-late '90s, as he definitely did possess a larger than life appearance. However, Ahmed's incredible size and strength were massively outweighed by his lack of promo ability and overall greenness in the ring. Despite this, Vince continued on with Johnson's push in '96. Things started off somewhat well when Johnson captured the Intercontinental Championship, but unfortunately, injuries began to plague Ahmed's run for the remainder of the year.

There's no question Vince couldn't rely on Johnson to remain healthy, and any rumors that summarized WWE's intentions of booking Ahmed Johnson to become the World Champion in 1996 were just that; rumors that never came to be. Ahmed came into 1996 red-hot with boatloads of potential (mainly due to Vince's infatuation with him), but by the end of the year, Johnson was nothing more than a demoted afterthought. In recent times, Ezekiel Jackson had a very similar career upswing and downfall to Ahmed.

22 1997: Rocky Maivia (WWE)

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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson may have concluded his career in sports entertainment as one of the definite all-time greatest, but things certainly didn't start off that way for Rocky in WWE. Before getting repackaged as the charismatic and attitude-filled The Rock, the 1997 newcomer Rocky Maivia was a huge disappointment for most fans. Maivia was the typical, goofy, cheesy smiling babyface that was fairly average for the time period, and as many fans anticipated, he was one ofWWE's big projects for that year.

Despite being rejected by most due to his generic lame persona, Rocky Maivia was pushed heavily throughout 1997 into the Intercontinental Title picture, and had it not been for his injury shortly after winning the IC gold, who knows if Dwayne would've been booked to turn heel and start off his career on a clean slate. Rocky Maivia was absolutely detested by the WWE Universe throughout the entire calendar year of '97, and he oftentimes garnered derisive chants.

21 1998: The Ultimate Warrior (WCW)

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Although The Ultimate Warrior was never renowned for being a great in-ring wrestler, throughout the '80s and early '90s, his flamboyant and energetic persona was more than enough to keep the jacked to the gills Superstar in good stead with the WWE Universe. However, like every other Superstar that has come through the business, wrestlers do in fact have a certain shelf life before they become washed up or uninteresting to fans, and by the year 1998 rolled around, that was undoubtedly the case for The Ultimate Warrior.

World Championship Wrestling had certainly garnered the reputation of signing former WWE has-beens, and the signing of Warrior in '98 was proof of that. The magic that had surrounded The Ultimate Warrior's character had long since passed when he signed with WCW, and despite being heavily hyped up prior to his debut, Warrior's return fell flat not only because he was well past his prime or peak on the business, but also because his rekindled feud with Hulk Hogan just didn't work and was rejected by most fans.

20 1999: Kevin Nash (WCW)

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As we're sure many of you had anticipated, as we near the new millennium of 2000, this list is beginning to be dominated by WCW - World Championship Wrestling was beginning to deteriorate at an alarmingly quick pace with the new management as the year 2000 dawned closer, and likely a relief for good old Vince McMahon, WCW took the cake for the most disappointing wrestler of 1999, and it was none other than Kevin Nash.

Once Kevin Nash ended Goldberg's undefeated streak, things were going to go downhill fast when it came to "Big Daddy Cool". One of the most infamous moments in sports entertainment history, the Fingerpoke of Doom, cemented Nash's status as the most disappointing wrestler in the industry for 1999. Nash was constantly involved in the WCW World Title scene throughout the year, but all of his reigns fell flat, fans were uninterested, and the mystique of the nWo had long since passed.

19 2000: Jeff Jarrett (WCW)

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As the infamous line stated perfectly, Jeff Jarrett broke six thousand guitars and never drew a single dime. While Jeff Jarrett managed to amass four WCW World Heavyweight Title reigns in the year 2000, none of the reigns mattered whatsoever, and Jeff was no further ahead in the business when he lost his fourth and final WCW Championship. There's absolutely no denying the fact that WCW was unwatchable levels of bad in 2000, and this was highlighted with the insanely irresponsible push of a should-be mid-carder.

As the old saying goes, "the championship doesn't make the champion, the champion makes the championship," and in Jeff Jarrett's case, he helped make the WCW World Title which had previously been prestigious feel like a worthless piece of metal. There's no question that Jeff Jarrett was a paper champion, and his push was certainly one the factors as to why WCW went downhill rapidly as 2000 came to a close.

18 2001: Buff Bagwell (WWE)

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Buff Bagwell's nickname may allude to the supposed fact that he had "The Stuff", but when WCW went under and Bagwell's contract was picked up by WWE (albeit extremely briefly), Bagwell definitely didn't have it whatsoever. The one and only match Buff Bagwell participated in was against Booker T. for the WCW World Championship on an episode of Raw, and considering the fans made sure to voice their displeasure with just how bad the match truly was, Bagwell was sent packing the next week never to be seen in WWE again.

Apparently, one of the main reasons aside from his bad match that led to Bagwell's quick firing was due to Buff's negative attitude behind the scenes, and taking into account the fact that he had very little to offer WWE, that was a terrible choice on Bagwell's part if he had hopes of making it big in Vince McMahon's empire. Buff Bagwell's disappearance from WWE was certainly no big loss, and it was most likely the best decision Vinny Mac could've made.

17 2002: Scott Steiner (WWE)

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Although Scott Steiner had been a tag team wrestler in WWE during his first run, after departing WWE and embarking on a singles career in WCW, Scott certainly made a name for himself while working outside WWE. Considering Steiner was one of the bigger names that made the choice to sign with WWE after WCW's demise, many fans were hopeful that "The Freakzilla" would succeed in Vince McMahon's company, taking into account the fact Vinny has always had a soft spot for enormous bodybuilder types.

However, perhaps Scott Steiner was the exception to this steadfast rule, as it has since been noted that Steiner not only rubbed Triple H the wrong way, but he definitely didn't come off well to Vince either. Things only got worse when Big Poppa Pump proved to be a dud in any matches exceeding the five-minute mark, thus confirming he wasn't capable of becoming a permanent main eventer in WWE - a total disappointment.

16 2003: Goldberg (WWE)

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When your entire career is built upon never taking a loss, when you end up taking that loss, the mystique is gone. This couldn't have been any truer for one of WCW's most successful creations, Bill Goldberg, because without question, after taking a debilitating loss at the hands of Kevin Nash in 1999, Goldberg was never again the same. Both WCW and WWE tried their best to recapture the mystique that once surrounded the Goldberg name, but their efforts were fruitless.

However, WWE undoubtedly made some incredibly ill-planned decisions when it came to Goldberg's first run in the company, as Bill was no longer presented as the unbeatable no-nonsense force - to put things in perspective, Vince booked Goldberg to wear Goldust's wig in a backstage segment. Regardless, fans were already tired of Goldberg during his final years in WCW, and when he signed with WWE, things certainly didn't improve during his disappointing one-year run in the company.

15 2004: Brock Lesnar (WWE)

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Brock Lesnar was a perfect example of the old saying "never put all your eggs in one basket", because with the way things panned out for Brock in WWE, this was a hard lesson Vince McMahon had to learn - thankfully, Vinny Mac was able to bounce back and create other stars such as Batista and John Cena. Brock Lesnar certainly had the potential to be the long-term "Next Big Thing" in WWE, as he was enormous, strong beyond belief, talented in the ring, and just looked like an overall larger than life Superstar.

However, Brock simply wasn't in the right frame of mind to make wrestling his full-time gig back then, and this ended up hurting WWE fairly significantly when he left considering the amount of time that went into building Lesnar up. Brock may have started off 2004 with a bang, but his final feud with Goldberg cemented his name as the most disappointing wrestler in the industry for 2004 by far due to the fact fans picked up wind he was leaving, and his 'Mania XX match with Goldberg was terrible beyond belief.

14 2005: Muhammad Hassan (WWE)

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Looking back now, it's highly probable most fans will argue that Muhammad Hassan should've received the WWE Championship reign Jinder Mahal had in 2017 because Hassan was a nuclear-level heel with so much untapped potential. Right out of the gate following his debut, Hassan was heavily pushed by Vince, and it would've been very hard to disagree with McMahon's choice of doing so, given that he was a perfect top-tier heel.

Muhammad was built up throughout 2005 as a future World Champion (rightfully so), though things would take a turn for the worse as 2005 was nearing its close. Given the controversial nature of Hassan's gimmick in WWE, it was only a matter of time before the media and networks came charging at WWE with burning pitchforks for their angle with Hassan, and just as quickly as Muhammad was pushed, he was buried even quicker. Hassan would've eventually become a World Champion in WWE, had the company not taken the easy way out by punishing him for something that wasn't his fault.

13 2006: The Great Khali (WWE)

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The Great Khali is perhaps the biggest disappointment the wrestling industry has seen in the past 20 years, and fittingly, it was WWE who claimed that accomplishment.  Now there's no question Khali made a huge impact upon his debut by attacking and beating The Undertaker senseless, and for the first couple of weeks following his debut, fans were excited to see what The Great Khali would add to the WWE roster, considering he was not only extremely tall but very intimidating looking as well.

However, like many other failed giants, it wasn't long before fans realized Khali was a one trick pony, and his talent in the ring was discovered to be marginal at best. The Great Khali may have been pushed very hard all throughout 2006 with wins over the likes of The Undertaker, but the simple fact remains Khali was the biggest disappointment of the year due to his overall lack of talent. Had Khali been somewhat competent in the ring, there's no doubt in my mind he would've become a multi-time WWE Champion.

12 2007: Snitsky (WWE)

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For whatever bizarre reason, WWE was very adamant that Gene Snitsky would not end up like most other generic monsters who fizzle out into obscurity, and as such, the company tried and tried with the lumbering giant. When one gimmick failed, WWE strapped a new persona to big Gene in the hopes that it would catch fire with fans. From a fans standpoint, Snitsky was a slightly below average in-ring performer, and there really wasn't all that much appealing about Gene aside from the fact that he was big and tall - certainly, enough for Vince to give him a chance in WWE.

While every single Gene Snitsky persona was downright bad in its own special way, the yellow-toothed freak of nature gimmick which came to be in 2007 undoubtedly took the cake as the persona which sealed Snitsky's fate in WWE as a huge disappointment. Snitsky failed to live up to the hype which was created following the multiple vignettes, the psychotic madman gimmick failed to get over, and as many fans had expected, the following year Snitsky was sent packing from WWE (at his own request).

11 2008: Vladimir Kozlov (WWE)

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Vince has always had a love and fascination for foreign monster heels, so when the opportunity arose to sign "The Russian Mauler" Vladimir Kozlov, Vinny Mac wasted little time in acquiring the lumbering giant. Now, there's no denying the fact that Kozlov did have a very intimidating look and presence, and it cannot be argued that the WWE Universe was at least somewhat intrigued and hyped about the impact this monster was going to make.

However, despite having an impressive showing for the first few months or so following his debut, Kozlov was eventually typecast by fans as nothing more than a generic, untalented lumbering giant with no upside of potential whatsoever. Kozlov didn't have much charisma nor was he anything special in the ring, so Vince was inevitably forced to pull the plug on his push in mid-2009, which cemented him as the biggest flop or disappointment of that year in professional wrestling.

10 2009: Drew McIntyre (WWE)

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As we had pointed out in the introduction, sometimes the reasoning behind a wrestler becoming a huge disappointment in WWE stems from a lack of interest or terrible booking from Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and the supposed "Chosen One" Drew McIntyre is definitely an example of this notion being true for the year 2009. Although Drew is slowly but surely becoming a permanent main eventer in WWE 10 years later, during McIntyre's first run in the company, that couldn't have been any further from the truth.

Despite being dubbed a future World Champion by Vince McMahon himself, Drew McIntyre's push fizzled out fairly quickly after losing the Intercontinental Championship to Kofi Kingston, and it wasn't long before Drew was firmly positioned in a jobber-to-the-stars role within WWE. Who knows exactly why Drew McIntyre was dropped like a hot potato by Vince, but regardless, Drew was definitely the most disappointing wrestler in the industry of 2009, given the amount of hype he had going for himself.