In WWE, wrestlers are well aware of how delicate their standing can be. While some are of course safe due to main events or merchandise pushers, others aren’t as sure. All it takes is one injury putting you on the shelf for a while and your heat is cooled and your push ended. Other times, it can be your attitude rubbing folks the wrong way. And, sadly, there’s the blunt fact that many in creative just can’t think of good ideas. It’s led to anger from fans, many of whom insist that they can book far better (which is a whole other argument) and not treating these workers well. However, there can be reasons for someone taken off TV beyond the obvious. Some may be stupid but others unavoidable and explained well.

There’s also the blunt fact there are people who should be off TV. Whether due to their attitudes and behavior or their standing with fans, being on TV constantly just makes things worse, not better. WWE is interesting in how they will push those fans dislike but ignore very deserving people a lot of the time. In some cases, a few of these folks have returned with an explanation for their absence but others not as lucky while a few folks in the company don’t deserve TV time at all. Here’s why 10 stars in WWE were recently off TV for a while and 5 who should be taking a long absence from the screen to show how the company can be better served in TV time.

15 TAKEN OFF: Tye Dillinger

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His first WWE appearance was “Stan,” a backstage worker Shawn Michaels superkicked to make a point. But training and a change in look led Tye Dillinger to being an NXT standout. “The Perfect 10” was great on the mic and skilled in the ring to take off with fans. WWE seemed to grasp that as they answered fan prayers by having Dillinger come out at #10 in the 2017 Royal Rumble. But that was pretty much the last big moment for him as his time since has been very limited. The 2018 Rumble seemed to have him repeat that only to reveal he was beaten up backstage by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

The reason why Dillinger has been kept off has to be stupid: He’s too popular for WWE's liking.

Reportedly, WWE doesn’t like how fans chant “10” constantly during his matches despite how that’s his character. It’s just another sign of WWE not seeming to get what makes a guy work and Tye is suffering for it.

14 TAKEN OFF: Neville

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This is a bit confusing as there are arguments over whether or not Neville is still employed by WWE. Neville was a great star for NXT, holding the tag titles several times and wowing fans with his amazing high-flying. That earned him the nickname “The Man that Gravity Forgot” and seemed primed for a major push. But he faltered with some bad stuff and soon sinking. When WWE began 205 Live, Neville found a better place, winning the Cruiserweight title twice and many feeling he should be the face of the division. But then Enzo Amore was put in there and won the belt with Neville coming up short in rematches.

In October, Neville was reported to have walked out on the company, unhappy with his creative direction.

Technically, he is still under contract and it now sounds like WWE is reaching out to him. The fact they had to fire Amore over his assault accusations is undoubtedly playing a part as WWE needs to put a good face on 205 Live. Thus, it’s possible Neville returns with a much more prominent spot than before.

13 SHOULD BE: Paige

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Life just isn’t fair sometimes. Paige had been the first ever NXT Women's Champion and an early champion of the “Women’s Revolution” in WWE, holding the Divas title and some great stuff. But issues abounded from injury to failing a wellness test as well as her infamous relationship with Alberto Del Rio. In late 2017, Paige finally made her long-awaited return, leading Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in Absolution. The plans were clear for them to run roughshod over the other ladies en route to Paige regaining the Women’s title.

But in December, Paige suffered a severe neck injury at a house show. While she insists a comeback is possible, the word is that it could possibly end her career.

She's still on TV by being in the corner of her Absolution partners but the heat is off them without her as the focus.

The fact is that Paige should be going off just to give her time to heal. It may not be fair given how long she waited for a chance to come back but having her around when she can’t actually wrestle doesn’t make much sense in the long term.

12 TAKEN OFF: Jeff Hardy

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A master of coming back from tough stuff, Jeff Hardy and brother Matt provided one of the most memorable WWE moments of 2017. Their shocking return to win the tag belts at WrestleMania was fantastic and pushed the entire division.

The reunited Team Extreme were doing great with rumors of Jeff getting another singles run as he seemed to have finally conquered his infamous demons.

But, sadly, things took a turn when Jeff suffered a shoulder injury in September that pushed him off TV and altered slews of plans for them in the tag division. He’s still on the shelf but there's a silver lining as his absence pushed WWE to finally let Matt do his “Broken” gimmick and his feud with Bray Wyatt. When Jeff does return, expect a “Brother Nero” return to join Matt and remind folks of how fun the Hardys are.

11 TAKEN OFF: The Revival

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Just tossed together, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder took off majorly in NXT. The Revival were a throwback to classic old-school Southern tag teams with their great ring work, fantastic promos and terrific heels. They took off as NXT champions and their arrival on RAW came to a massive pop. However, just two weeks after their debut, Wilder suffered a broken jaw, putting him on the shelf for weeks and thus hurting their momentum. When they returned, they were pretty much out of the mix (as The Bar had risen up as a great team) and showed signs of promise going after the Hardyz.

However, Dawson tore his bicep to put him on the shelf and thus the team once more out of sight. Their recent return was on RAW’s 25th Anniversary where they were beaten down by the aged DX/Kliq reunion. It seems WWE has cooled to them due to injuries and thus faded them into the background, a sad fate for what looked like a great team.

10 SHOULD BE: Kane

It still amazes it’s been 20 years since Kane made his big debut. Glenn Jacobs has been fantastic as the Big Red Machine, handling feuds with just about every major star in the company and slews of major matches. However, it’s obvious fans are more than a little tired of him. The fans barely care about his character at this stage and he’s clearly showing his age despite how Jacobs intends to push him more.

He was the odd guy out on the Brock-Braun matchup, seen more as a distraction for the big feud and not helping much.

There’s also how Jacobs is running for office in his hometown and thus wrestling is not really a priority for him.

Granted, the man has always been loyal and Vince likes to reward that, as shown by the constant pushes. However, as wrestling is starting to fade in the background for Jacobs, getting him off TV makes sense when it’s not even his full-time job anymore.

9 TAKEN OFF: TJP

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Bouncing around the indies for years, TJP had a stint in TNA as Manik, a rather complex storyline feuding with Austin Aries for the X Division title and the masked Puma. Joining WWE, Perkins was soon pushed on 205 Live and winning the newly revived Cruiserweight title. He lost it to Brian Kendrick but kept up his good work in various programs, including a revival of his feud with Aries. Perkins would later be pushed to become TJP and turning heel to provide a spark.

He was absent starting in October of 2017 with rumors of creative just not having enough time for him.

However, it’s come out that Perkins wanted some time off to properly rehab his long-nagging knee injury. He made a recent return to 205 Live and boosting up to show how he seems to be doing better and should be getting more of a push again to make up for lost time.

8 TAKEN OFF: Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley

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It’s well known WWE has run hot and cold on Zack Ryder. The guy got over massively with fans thanks to his “Long Island Z” act and doing a fine job. But just as he was taking off as US Champion, WWE cut him down, seemingly annoyed at how Ryder got over on his own terms despite Vince insisting that was a good thing. Since then, he’s had ups and downs, a one-day reign as IC champion and eventually teaming with Mojo Rawley as the Hype Bros. They had some success before a breakup and soon both fading from TV. That’s despite how Mojo is a favorite of Triple H’s, who wants to give him a push. The fact was both men were off TV as creative just didn’t have anything to do for each and reports are neither happy about that.

Mojo did show up at the Rumble pre-show to challenge Bobby Roode but the crowd was rather underwhelmed. Meanwhile, Ryder got in trouble with Randy Orton calling him out on a party video at Disney World, snapping that “we work while you’re getting drunk,” showing some backstage may not be as supportive of Ryder and another reason he’s not getting much TV time.

7 SHOULD BE: RANDY ORTON

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The WWE really can't seem to make up their mind on what to do with Orton. One minute he's pushed to the moon and given another shot in the main event scene and the next minute, he's stuck in mid-card feuds and seems to be coasting on his reputation.

Orton's still capable of putting on great matches with the right opponent, but his on-screen character has really been bland.

The only meaningful feud he's been in the last couple of years was with Bray Wyatt and that feud turned sour once Orton inexplicably won another WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33, only to drop the title to Jinder Mahal a couple of months later. WWE has to seriously ask themselves if Orton is worth keeping around in the long term, because as he nears 40, you wonder what he has left to offer them.

6 TAKEN OFF: Curt Hawkins

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Hawkins’ first run in WWE was when he and Zack Ryder were Edge’s flunkies and a bit as tag team champions. He had a shot in the early NXT but left for the indies. He made his return in 2016 but hasn’t really done anything of note and basically been a glorified jobber. Indeed, Hawkins has made history for one of the longest losing streaks ever, going on about 150 straight matches. WWE is even celebrating it on their website and thus in that regard, it makes sense Hawkins is off TV.

However, some are saying WWE is missing out on something as the idea of Hawkins trying to break his streak on TV would make for some interesting watching. So while it makes sense they won’t want to have Hawkins on TV with his constant losing, WWE might be missing out on something to spark up broadcasts, even if it is at Hawkins’ expense.

5 TAKEN OFF: R-Truth

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You have to give credit to Ron Killings for lasting so long in this business with what should have been a lame rapper gimmick. His first WWE run was forgettable but he improved in TNA, even NWA champion. He’s kept it up in WWE, a couple of tag title runs and a famous bit where he showed off as a complete lunatic. Despite a stale act and limited work in the ring, R-Truth keeps being around, usually for a jobber status but the occasional push in the tag ranks or if they need to fill more time. Thus, his absence from TV in late 2017 wasn’t a huge shock as most were used to Truth being used for live events more.

As it happened, the real reason is because Truth needed shoulder surgery and even posted videos and photos of himself at the hospital.

It’s rumored it may push him to retire but it's more likely after rehab, he goes back to the house show circuit and it's unlikely he pops back up on TV soon.

4 SHOULD BE: Jinder Mahal

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Jinder should not be taken off TV because of how the fans hate him. He shouldn’t be taken off because his run as champion was a disaster for ratings and PPV buys. He shouldn’t even be taken off for his attitude. He should be taken off for going way too far in a promo and crossing a serious line. For his September match against Shinsuke Nakamura, Mahal was the typical heel champ running his opponent down in promos and acting the jerk. But then he called him “Mr. Miyagi” while the Singh Brothers did goofy “kung fu” style moves. Yes, it was scripted but the heat was on Mahal massively as fans chanted “too far” at it. That’s just one of the various issues of Mahal’s character which leads to a fun heel but a horrible guy on camera. The fact is that fans did not buy into him going from jobber to champion overnight and his entire run was terrible business. WWE would be better off giving Mahal a long break to let things cool down rather than try and put him right back in the main event scene.

3 TAKEN OFF: Becky Lynch

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One of the Four Horsewoman of NXT, Becky Lynch has been a great star for the women’s division. She started off with a lame “Irish dancer” gimmick but really took off with her look of orange hair and steampunk clothes. Integrating her offbeat humor into promos helps and her great ring work paid off by becoming the first SmackDown women’s champion. Since then, she’s had feuds with Alexa Bliss and others but complaints she’s been lost in the mix. Thus, there were worries when in November, she was beaten down by the Riott Squad and then vanishing off TV with concerns WWE might be letting her go.

Thankfully, her return at the Royal Rumble proves she’s still with WWE and she's continued to wrestle since.

As it happens, her absence was because Lynch was heading to London to film “The Marine 6” (yes, they are making yet another one) and the beat-down to explain an “injury.” So a better excuse and nice to have the Lass-kicker back.

2 TAKEN OFF: The Iconic Duo

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Peyton Royce and Billie Kay have been a major highlight of the NXT women’s division. Former schoolmates, the two hot Australians have clicked as an arrogant and bratty pair who took off with fans in their promos. The duo have been doing great to the point many thought a main roster call up was only a matter of time as they’re one of the best female acts in the promotion. However, in December, the pair seemed to vanish without warning. That’s a surprise given how hot they are and surely enough in NXT to give them more of a push as Peyton had been challenging for the title.

It’s come out the reason is because Kay has been undergoing breast augmentation surgery and needed time off. It’s unsure if Royce is following although some have noted recent photos of her boasting a new look. Some are annoyed as the two ladies were already hot but may feel it’s time to alter the look to get a roster call-up and are expected back to continue their iconic work.

1 SHOULD BE: Roman Reigns

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The old saying is “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Maybe that’s just the thing WWE needs for Roman Reigns. It’s been pointed out by so many but it bears repeating that Roman has potential to be a main eventer. The problem is WWE is trying to make him work as a classic babyface beating the odds and that just doesn’t fit him. He’s meant to be more of a monster guy, not the underdog and his promos just don’t rise to the level of others. Witness the reaction at Elimination Chamber, the crowd clearly behind Braun far more and it’s amazing Vince McMahon just can’t grasp the fans will never accept Roman as the face of the company.

It’s likely he beats Brock for the title but fans won’t want to see it. Thus, an absence might be just the thing for him.

Give him time away, let the fan heat cool down and maybe a return will be a bigger deal. Maybe even finally turn him heel with Roman snapping his time away made him realize it’s time to look out for number one and not care about the fans. Regardless, many WWE fans will agree that trying to push Roman as the mega-face so much is what’s hurting the company and thus dropping him off TV is a good idea.