Wrestlers who win championships early into their runs will have a hit or miss aftermath. The story typically goes one of two ways with wrestlers either becoming major stars right away or falling off. There is a different level of pressure associated with the talent having to prove themselves worthy before having a proper introduction.
Unfortunately, there have been quite a few wrestlers to struggle and become an afterthought after having such a strong push to start things off. The stories range from poor booking to wrestlers just not being ready for the role. Find out which names suffered the most as the wrestlers to win titles quickly before being forgotten shortly after.
10 Gail Kim
The debut of Gail Kim in WWE was the peak of her entire time in the company. Kim won the Women’s Championship on her first night in a battle royal that was originally meant to elevate her instantly.
Unfortunately, there was no real plan behind the concept other than creating a memorable moment. WWE gave up on the title run after a few weeks and stopped pushing Kim shortly after. The legendary TNA run of Gail proved that WWE missed the boat by phasing her out so quickly.
9 David Flair
WCW made a huge mistake trying to push David Flair into a top spot from the start of his career. Ric Flair’s son did not have the natural talent as his father did, but WCW still thought it would work out pushing him during a time with a loaded roster.
The first title win for David came a few months into his debut when winning the United States Championship. Fans showed zero interest in David having such a role and he became one of the biggest flops in WCW history. David would move into a forgotten lower card role with the occasional push always failing.
8 Kalisto
WWE always searched for the right wrestler to replace Rey Mysterio as the top luchador during his time away, but it still has not happened. Kalisto was one of the wrestlers to get a real push with lackluster results.
The start of Kalisto’s run came as the Lucha Dragons tag team until Sin Cara suffered an injury. WWE pushed Kalisto harder on his own with the new star winning the United States Championship. The reign featured some fun matches, but things didn’t work out for him in the long run. WWE stopped the push and moved him lower down the card with things never picking back up.
7 Sonny Siaki
TNA was hit or miss on their choices to build the company around in the first year of weekly PPVs. Names like AJ Styles, Abyss and James Storm became long-term fixtures, but there were many misfires like Sonny Siaki.
The hope for Siaki was that his good look and athletic ability would get him over as a future star. Siaki won the X-Division Championship relatively early, but he didn’t connect with the audience. TNA ended the run and didn’t push him for the rest of his stint.
6 Jerry Lynn
Many fans forget that Jerry Lynn even spent time in WWE since it went by so quickly. WWE signed Lynn right after ECW went out of business and had him win the Light Heavyweight Championship in his debut match.
The problem was that most of Lynn’s appearances came on the secondary Sunday Night Heat show. WWE treated the Light Heavyweight Championship as a joke leading to Lynn losing any momentum he had from ECW within weeks. The time in WWE ended after just a few months since the company didn’t have much confidence in him.
5 Marc Mero
Marc Mero received the second guaranteed contract in WWE history due to Vince McMahon viewing him as a potential top star coming over from WCW. The start of Mero’s WWE run saw him wasting no time getting pushed by winning the Intercontinental Championship.
Fans never took to Mero as a face the way WWE anticipated leading to a failed run. Triple H ended up winning his feud over Mero who started to trend downhill. Sable surpassed Mero as the more popular part of their act and WWE made him a secondary part of the show.
4 Taylor Wilde
TNA introduced Taylor Wilde as a plant in the crowd pretending to be a wrestler. Awesome Kong was offering a $25,000 challenge to anyone in the audience who could defeat her with a list of dominant victories building it up.
Wilde was chosen to eventually end the angle by not only defeating Kong but by winning the Knockouts Championship. The start of Taylor’s run was promising, but things ended up fizzling out. Wilde opted to leave the company due to her role in the company and pay not providing the life she wanted.
3 The Renegade
WCW delivered one of the most blatant rip-offs of another company when having Richard Wilson play a character known as The Renegade. Hulk Hogan implied that the Ultimate Warrior was coming to WCW to help him feud with Ric Flair and Vader.
It actually ended up being a cheap imitation called The Renegade. WCW placed the TV Championship on Renegade right away with fans showing no care for the character. The run ended poorly after losing the title and slowly being transitioned off television.
2 The Kat
WWE put little effort into building a credible women’s division during most of the Attitude Era. Most of the matches involving the women would involve them ripping each other’s clothes off or having other eye candy-related concepts.
The Kat benefited from this after getting signed with no wrestling experience as the wife of Jerry Lawler. WWE made Kat the face of the women’s division by having her win the Women’s Championship. The title reign eventually ended with her moving down the pecking until an unexpected release.
1 Ahmed Johnson
The rise of Ahmed Johnson saw him pushed faster than at that point in WWE during the New Generation Era. Vince McMahon loved the look and intensity of Johnson enough to start elevating him in a top spot.
Johnson won the Intercontinental Championship quickly and became associated with WWE Champion Shawn Michaels. Injuries, poor mic skills and weak in-ring skills would all cause the decline of his push as Ahmed faded away faster than expected.