Sometimes in the WWE, a wrestler is given every opportunity to succeed. Time and time again they could be given a big push, mess it up in some way, and still be given another opportunity at the big time. Take The Great Khali for example. Khali was given many opportunities in the main event as a heel against the likes of Batista and The Undertaker, but he was never really considered to be a big draw. Mason Ryan is another good example of a wrestler who was given a golden opportunity to succeed but never really made a name for himself. Ryan was called up from developmental to be the muscle for The New Nexus, led by CM Punk but, after the dissolution of the group, he never made it big.

On the other hand, there are some wrestlers who are held down by the WWE and, against all odds, they make it big. Daniel Bryan is the perfect example of a wrestler who was never meant to be as big as he is. Regardless of what they tell you on television, Daniel Bryan was never supposed to be anywhere near the main event at WrestleMania XXX, but he got himself so over, he made it. To a lesser extent, Zack Ryder did a similar thing by getting himself over with the fans despite being off of television.

The wrestlers on this list all fall into a third category. They were set up in some way that ensured that they would be flops. These are some of the biggest flops of all time.

20 Apollo Crews

On the independent scene, Uhaa Nation was a huge star. While he’s not the tallest guy in wrestling, he does have a pretty muscular build, and guys with a build like that aren’t usually the ones that can do a standing shooting star press. However, during his time in NXT, now going by Apollo Crews, he was never treated like anything near a big deal and a short feud against The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship is the closest thing that Apollo Crews ever came to being treated like a big deal. While there was a lot of hype around Apollo Crews when he entered the WWE, he has undoubtedly flopped on the main roster.

19 Paul Burchill

Sometimes, a wrestler is set up to flop because of his or her gimmick, and Paul Burchill is a perfect example of that. While he initially formed a fairly successful tag team with William Regal upon Burchill’s main roster debut, they quickly parted ways after failing to capture the tag team championships. In kayfabe, Burchill said that his family ancestry traced back to Blackbeard, and he wanted to use that as a part of his wrestling.

After dressing like a pirate with his on-screen sister Katie Lea Burchill, the pair were relegated to ECW and Paul Burchill spent most of his remaining days jobbing to the likes of The Hurricane.

18 Eric Young

While he was in TNA, Eric Young was one of the company’s biggest stars. While it may have been a blatant rip-off of the Daniel Bryan storyline, Eric Young was able to capture the TNA World Heavyweight Championship 2014 from Nick Aldis, going by the name Magnus at the time. When he came to NXT as a part of Sanity, he was initially treated like a threat with his Sanity stablemates, and they went on to have a few successful feuds in NXT.

However, once Sanity were called up to the main roster, they have failed to make any impact, barely even showing up on Smackdown television and, as the leader, this hurts Eric Young the most.

17 Diamond Dallas Page

Diamond Dallas Page was another star outside of the company before he joined the WWE, largely due to his popularity in WCW. Additionally, he was one of the biggest names in The Alliance during the Invasion storyline, as he accepted a buyout of his AOL Time Warner contract when WCW was purchased. However, the WWE took the Master of the Diamond Cutter, a fan favorite in the WCW, and revealed him as the stalker of Sara, wife of The Undertaker. DDP’s credibility as a star was majorly hurt, and he was squashed in his feud with The Undertaker at the King of the Ring PPV in 2001.

16 Cody Rhodes (Stardust)

Yes, that is Stardust, not Cody Rhodes. Stardust was silly gimmick, but, while he tag teamed with his brother Goldust, he was fairly over. However, once he turned heel, the writing was on the wall for his character. Rhodes, the man behind the Stardust gimmick, knew that it was going to flop hard, and he came out publicly after he left the WWE that he continuously pitched ideas for a gimmick change, even considering wrestling as Stardust on one brand and Cody Rhodes on another during the upcoming brand split. According to Rhodes, his pitches all fell on deaf ears, and the Stardust character flopped.

15 Bobby Roode

Bobby Roode seems to have experienced the same fate as many of his other NXT alumni, as his main roster run has been lackluster. The biggest reason as to why Bobby Roode is a flop is because of his gimmick. In NXT, where he was the NXT Champion, he was a smarmy, elitist heel who thought that he was better than everyone, which fit his “glorious” gimmick. However, due to the popularity of the “glorious” theme song and gimmick, he was made a babyface upon his main roster debut and, despite a forgettable run as United States Champion, Bobby Roode has been a non-factor on the main roster.

14 TJP

When the WWE announced the revival of their cruiserweight division, TJ Perkins was treated like a big deal during the cruiserweight classic. His charisma during the tournament was undeniable, and the WWE seemed to think so as well, as they gave him the win in the tournament and made him the new cruiserweight champion. However, once the cruiserweights became an official part of the main roster, Perkins, along with the entire division, was treated like an afterthought. He was rebranded as TJP and had a run as a sort of lackey under Neville, but he has never been seen as a threat in the cruiserweight division since then.

13 Curt Hawkins

Curt Hawkins’ most recent run in the WWE has been entertaining, but it is hard to argue that he hasn’t been a flop. There was a lot of hype around Hawkins return, as the WWE ran promos with Curt Hawkins giving “facts” about himself, reminiscent of the old Chuck Norris jokes. However, since his return, he has went on to have an astounding losing streak, as he has not won a match yet, on television or at house shows. While this losing streak is occasionally treated like a gimmick for Hawkins, he has mostly been a persona non grata on the main roster.

12 Último Dragón

Before coming to the WWE, Último Dragón was extremely successful. During his time on the independent circuit, he captured the NJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions. In the WCW, Último Dragón won both the cruiserweight championship and television championship to times each. However, in 2003, he signed with the WWE in an attempt to wrestle in front of larger audiences and at a WrestleMania. During his time in the WWE, he never won any championship and never received any notable matches. After competing at a WrestleMania, Último Dragón asked for his release from his contract. It was granted, and he never returned to the WWE.

11 Kevin Thorn

Like Paul Burchill before him, Kevin Fertig has been a victim of bad gimmicks. Perhaps his most derided gimmick, though, was as a vampire in ECW, going by the name Kevin Thorn. On an episode of Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Pritchard on the WWE Network, Pritchard said that this gimmick was used because of ECW’s placement on the SyFy network, along with other derided gimmicks on the SyFy network, like the zombie from the first episode of the revived extreme brand. Only 17 months after his debut, Kevin Thorn was sent back to the WWE developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, and he was released the next year.

10 Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Benjamin’s first run in the WWE was extremely successful. He won multiple tag team championships and singles championships, and his “gold standard” gimmick was unforgettable. However, during his most recent run in the WWE, Benjamin hasn’t done anything. With his initial return having to be pushed back by nearly a year due to an injury, Benjamin was a much-hyped wrestler and was excited to return to the company after spending a few years honing his skills in Japan. After the end of his partnership with Chad Gable, Benjamin was shelved due to another injury, and has only went on to have losing efforts on SmackDown Live.

9 Rick Bognar

Most people don’t know him as Rick Bognar, but everyone remembers him as “fake” Razor Ramon. Bognar was another victim of a bad gimmick. When Kevin Nash and Scott Hall defected to WCW, WWE tried to repackage two wrestlers as the duo, with Bognar as Razor Ramon and Glenn Jacobs as Diesel. However, fans never bought into the gimmicks.

While Glenn Jacobs would go on to much success in the company as Kane, Rick Bognar would leave the company after his one-year contract expired. Bognar went on the wrestle with NJPW for a few years after leaving the WWE, but retired shortly after due to neck injuries.

8 Shinsuke Nakamura

When Shinsuke Nakamura signed with the WWE, it was with fellow NJPW stars Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and AJ Styles. All four men were treated like big stars upon their debuts, but Shinsuke Nakamura was the only on who would compete in NXT before going to the main roster. Nakamura was a star in NXT, with his debut match against Sami Zayn being seen by many as one of the best matches in 2016.

However, when Nakamura debuted on the main roster, he had two back-to-back PPV loses to Jinder Mahal, and, after failing to beat AJ Styles on multiple occasions, Nakamura’s momentum was officially diminished by the WWE.

7 Austin Aries

After sustaining an orbital bone injury in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura while both men were on NXT, Austin Aries became a mainstay as a part of the commentary team for 205 Live and cruiserweight matches on Monday Night Raw. It is rare for a full-time wrestler to also be a full-time commentary member, but it all paid off when Neville called out Austin Aries and a match between the two was set for WrestleMania. Austin Aries seemed like he should have been the main to dethrone Neville. However, after three consecutive loses to Neville, Aries was upset with the company and asked for his release. It is clear that A Double was the biggest cruiserweight flop in the WWE.

6 Emma

Emma was perhaps the most underutilized woman on the WWE main roster. When one thinks of Emma, what gimmick immediately comes to mind? That’s right, Emmalina. The rebranding of Emma into Emmalina is perhaps the biggest flop in women’s wrestling in the WWE since the retirement of the Divas Championship. For weeks, vignettes ran promoting Emma’s new persona as “Emmalina” in what was supposed to be a throwback to characters like Sable and Sunny from the past. Not only was Emma apparently not pulling off the character, it was also a huge waste of one of the better female talents on the roster, and she departed from the WWE shortly after.

5 Mr. Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy is one of the rare exceptions on this list in that he was fairly successful in his run in the WWE at first. He captured the Money in the Bank briefcase and was also set to be the illegitimate son of Vince McMahon in the storyline about The Chairman’s disappearance. However, Mr. Kennedy went on the lose his briefcase to Edge and, after getting on the bad side of both Randy Orton and John Cena for a botched backdrop Kennedy performed on Orton, Mr. Kennedy was released from his contract. Even though management was initially high on him, fans were never able to see his full potential.

4 Braden Walker

When it was announced that Chris Harris signed a contract with the WWE, fans were instantly excited. As one half of America’s Most Wanted in TNA, capturing the TNA Tag Team Championships 6 times with partner James Storm. A few years after his split with Storm, Harris was signed to the WWE under the name “Braden Walker.” Walker was terrible in the WWE, as he had the horrible gimmick of telling a knock-knock joke that ended with him saying “I’m going to knock your brains out,” and he only wrestled a couple of televised matches before being released only eight months after being signed.

3 Kizarny

Kizarny is bound to be near the top of any list that talks about weird gimmicks, and he fits well on this list as well. Kizarny appeared in a series of taped vignettes for weeks, hyping his debut, speaking in weird carny talk. His debut was actually highly anticipated, as he spent multiple years in WWE developmental and was a former roommate of successful wrestlers Edge and Christian. Everything around Kizarny seemed like he was set for great things. However, Kizarny only had a handful of televised matches, being released only 3 months after making his televised debut.

2 The Ascension

Konnor and Viktor were considered at one point to be the most successful NXT Tag Team Champions in the history of NXT, and they are likely still in the top 5 for most fans. After capturing the tag team titles from Neville and Corey Graves, The Ascension had a successful title reign that lasted nearly a year. When they were called up to the main roster, there was a lot of hype, having just lost their tag team titles mere weeks before.

However, the commentary team quickly discredited The Ascension, saying that Konnor and Viktor were nothing compared to the teams that The Ascension were trying to emulate, and they quickly became an afterthought on the main roster.

1 Bayley

From one NXT call-up to another, many fans consider Bayley to be the most mishandled in NXT call-up in history. Her match with Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn famously tore the house down and is a big part of why the Women’s Revolution is so popular. The creative team have mishandled Bayley so many different times, though, from having her look weak against Alexa Bliss to having her turn on Sasha Banks only for them to be friends again a few weeks later. Now, Bayley sort of mingles around in the women’s mid-card, having never fully reached her potential on the main roster.