When a Superstar is hired by WWE it can mean that man or woman has a job for life. Take a look at the likes of Kane, The Undertaker, Mark Henry, even Triple H. None of them likely expected to still be a part of the company more than 20 years after they were first hired but all of them are still involved with WWE in one way or another. If the cards fall kindly for you, you keep your nose clean and you make money for the company then why wouldn't Vince McMahon want to keep you around? Nothing is guaranteed in pro wrestling though and as much as WWE can be a career for life it can also be a revolving door.

There are countless examples of wrestlers not working out in WWE or even leaving and returning a number of times. That can be for a number of reasons of course such as Superstars proving that they have changed or those doing the hiring at WWE simply having short memories. There are unquestionably times though when McMahon and co will have regretted signing certain talents, whether they had worked for the company before or not. WWE are no angels though and there are likely equally as many former Superstars who regret ever stepping foot in WWE.

20 WWE Regrets: Rich Swann

Rich Swann started his WWE career as an NXT Superstar and then when the Cruiserweight Classic was announced he earned himself a spot in the prestigious tournament. Even though Swann didn't win the classic WWE clearly saw something in him as he not only became a member of the newly formed 205 Live but soon after that he won the Cruiserweight Championship.

In 2017 Swann looked as if he might be on his way to winning the title for a second time but some goings on in his personal life got in the way of that.

The former champ was involved in an incident with his wife. Swann was suspended from WWE pending the investigation and even though the charges against him were dropped the 205 Live star was released from his contract.

19 Wrestler Regrets: Hideo Itami

Triple H has seemingly made it his ultimate goal to acquire all of the best wrestlers in the world and make them NXT Superstars. It's clearly a great plan too as it has led to WWE's yellow and black brand becoming extremely successful. The likes of Finn Balor, Kevin Owens and Asuka have all been plucked from the independent circuit and gone on to be extremely successful WWE Superstars. Before any of them signed for NXT though The Game managed to coax Hideo Itami to his brand. Before arriving at Full Sail, Itami was known as Kenta and built up an extremely great reputation for himself in Japan. Things haven't worked out stateside for him though and between injuries and being added to the cruiserweight division Itami is likely second guessing his choice to join WWE.

18 WWE Regrets: Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio has enjoyed two runs as a WWE Superstar up until this point and both were extremely different. His first run with the company is probably still looked upon by WWE as being a success. In fact the work he did during that time is often underrated by fans. The Mexican wrestler played a big part in the WWE Championship picture at that time, putting on terrific matches with the likes of John Cena and CM Punk. That's probably why WWE had no issue signing him again a little while later, however that run was nowhere near as memorable. Less than a year after his return Del Rio was suspended under the company's wellness policy and he left the promotion before his suspension came to an end.

17 Wrestler Regrets: Bayley

When Bayley was in NXT she well and truly had the world at her feet. Despite her gimmick very much being one that was aimed at children she managed to win over the entire NXT Universe. Everyone loved her and it seemed an impossibility that her success wouldn't automatically transfer to the main roster. Well it didn't.

The creative team on Raw messed up Bayley's booking in a major way to the point where she got booed when she came to the ring to talk about a shoulder injury.

At the moment Raw's Resident Hugger likely wishes that she was back in NXT or at least plying her trade somewhere that the fans appreciate her talent. The former Raw Women's Champion is still in WWE though and hopefully she will be used in a better way soon.

16 WWE Regrets: David Flair

There are countless examples of professional wrestling being a family business. WWE has always been run by the McMahon family and likely always will be, Randy Orton is a third generation Superstar and The Rock also falls into that category. A young man by the name of David Flair once proved that having a famous wrestler's last name doesn't mean that you will automatically be just as good. Ric Flair's son David was signed by WCW during the late 1990s and it soon became clear that he did not possess the talents that made his father so successful. Despite his shortcomings in WCW WWE opted to take a punt on him after their rivals folded. Things did not improve despite entering Flair into their developmental system and he was released in 2002.

15 Wrestler Regrets: Curt Hawkins

Curt Hawkins is probably pretty peeved with his placement on the card in WWE right now. When he returned for his latest stint with he company in 2016 it looked as if Vince McMahon had big plans for him. They hyped Hawkins' return with a string of vignettes but the booking of him meant he couldn't live up to the hype.

Now Hawkins finds himself on the wrong end of one of the worst losing streaks in WWE history.

At the time of typing this he is closing in on 200 straight losses. What makes all of this even worse is that if you ask anyone who knows him Hawkins is a terrific in-ring performer and a great guy. Hopefully this epic losing streak has a mammoth pay off otherwise what was the point?

14 WWE Regrets: Kharma

While Kia Stevens is most famous for her time as Awesome Kong while in Impact Wrestling, for the short spell she spent in WWE she was known as Kharma. The company invested a lot of time and effort into Kharma but ultimately the timing was very wrong and it was really anybody's fault. Kharma made a few appearances on WWE television, not in matches but to attack other Superstars. Shortly after that she discovered she was pregnant so naturally took some time off. She returned in the following year as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble. That match would be the only one she ever competed in as a WWE Superstar as she was released later that year. If she were around now however she would be a great addition to the roster.

13 Wrestler Regrets: Kassius Ohno

When portraying Chris Hero it felt as if the man now known as Kassius Ohno could take over the wrestling world. In WWE however he his known as the latter and can't seem to get a foothold. Ohno's first spell as an NXT Superstar began in 2012 and for some reason those in charge didn't recognize his undeniable potential. In fact if you believe CM Punk he was pushing for Ohno to be the third and final member of The Shield instead of Roman Reigns. Had that happened WWE would be very different right now. Ohno is now at NXT for a second time and things still aren't going very well. At the time of typing this it feels like a second release will come before a main roster call up.

12 WWE Regrets: Nailz

As most of you avid pro wrestling fans will know during the early 1990s Vince McMahon become obsessed with his Superstars portraying vocational based characters. A garbageman, a taxman, a dentist. We're not sure whether Nailz falls into that category as technically prisoner is not a career choice, not for most anyway, but it definitely rang of the same sort of thing and the character's entire run was contained within 1992. While it was a pretty poor idea for a wrestling persona it's how Kevin Wacholz's, Nailz's real name, WWE career came to an end that would have had McMahon regretting signing him. The two of them apparently clashed in the boss's office and some claim that Wacholz knocked McMahon to the floor. He also testified against McMahon in the the famous substance trial.

11 Wrestler Regrets: Adam Rose

Even though the early 1990s is a time that's renowned for terrible gimmicks in WWE they're not reserved to that time period. There are still Superstars to this day who are clearly portraying personas that they would really rather not be. A recent example who is no longer with WWE is Adam Rose. Despite the fact that he is clearly a pretty talented in-ring performer Rose was forced into a party gimmick where he would hang around with a bunch of people in costumes, his Rosebuds.

Rose would basically dance to the ring each week simply to get beaten in short order.

He is likely having a lot more fun on the independent circuit following his release in 2016, although apparently he is using a modified version of his WWE gimmick.

10 WWE Regrets: Sin Cara

The story of Sin Cara in WWE is a fascinating and frankly pretty confusing one. The luchador was signed by the company in 2009 but the masked man you see on SmackDown Live now is not the one who originally played the role. That man was Luis Urive and when WWE signed him they signed the Sin Cara persona along with him. It was quite rightly viewed as a pretty big deal at the time but in the months that followed Urive would botch moves and cause injuries. That's when someone backstage had a bright idea. Let's keep the Sin Cara character but have somebody else under the mask. For a while there were two Sin Cara characters who feuded with one another and eventually one of them won out, the one you still see on TV to this day. Seems like a lot of effort for not a lot of pay off.

9 Wrestler Regrets: Kenny Omega

Pro wrestling fans currently live in a time where WWE is not the be all and end all of the business. It's probably the first time that this has been the case to this extent for around 20 years and it makes for an exciting time. There are a number of massive names away from Vince McMahon's juggernaut and the biggest of those names has to be Kenny Omega. The Cleaner is currently one of the top guys in New Japan and WWE would like nothing more than to have him under their command. Well at one point they actually did, but it was long before he was the performer that he is now. Omega wrestled in their developmental territories and he has said that he disliked it so much that it almost made him quit the business altogether. Thankfully he didn't of course but that doesn't bode well for him ever returning.

8 WWE Regrets: Great Khali

For years and years WWE was known as the land of the giants. Only Superstars who were almost quite literally larger than life would really have any chance of making it to the top of the pile. While that is not the case any longer of course there is still the odd occasion when you can just tell that Vince McMahon has been blinded by the sheer size of someone. That was almost certainly the case with The Great Khali. His size along with the fact that he was Indian so could help WWE break into that market must have had dollar signs appearing in front of the boss's eyes. Unfortunately Khali's in ring ability left a lot to be desired. His finisher was a chop, do we really need to say any more than that?

7 Wrestler Regrets: Cody Rhodes

It can be extremely frustrating for fans and the talent themselves in many cases when WWE and Vince McMahon don't realize when they have something special. Cody Rhodes has proved recently that they did indeed have something extremely special when he was a WWE Superstar. Unfortunately though the man formerly known as Stardust's potential was never realized in WWE. From the dashing Cody Rhodes gimmick to the aforementioned Stardust, the Bullet Club member was never really given the push that he felt he deserved. On the independent circuit however Rhodes has become one of the biggest names in professional wrestling today. He may return from whence he came one day and be treated in the way that he always should have been but for now he must be more than happy with his lot in life.

6 WWE Regrets: Enzo Amore

No one has caused more trouble backstage at WWE during the modern era than Enzo Amore. In the lead up to the former Cruiserweight Champion being released there were any number of rumours doing the rounds about run-ins he was having with fellow Superstars and times where it sounded like Amore didn't know where his real life and in ring personalities began and ended. The most famous of those rumours of course is when Roman Reigns apparently threw Muscles Marinara off of a WWE bus during a European tour. None of that was enough to lose Amore his job though, but hiding some pretty serious investigations from his employers obviously was. It turned out Amore had apparently been hiding charges and an investigation from them for months.

5 Wrestler Regrets: Austin Aries

In 2017 the cruiserweight division had to weather what was a pretty troubling storm. There was the aforementioned issues involving Rich Swann and Enzo Amore plus Neville went AWOL and at the time of typing this he is yet to return to action. There was also the unexpected departure of Austin Aries a few months prior to that. It's probably fair to say that A-Double's run in WWE didn't go the way he had envisioned it.

Aries debuted in NXT and shortly after that he was accidentally injured by Shinsuke Nakamura.

While injured he did some announcing for 205 Live and hence when he was ready to return he debuted as a cruiserweight. After a lengthy rivalry with Neville he left and now he's back on the independents he seems to be a lot happier.

4 WWE Regrets: Muhammad Hassan

While today's WWE product is a lot more PG and considerate of everyone watching around the world, there was a time not so long ago when Vince McMahon had less regard for who he offended. During that time one of the most controversial segments in WWE history took place. In July of 2005 The Undertaker was feuding with a character named Muhammad Hassan. On an episode of SmackDown, Hassan summoned five men in ski masks to come to the ring and they beat down Taker and used a piano wire on him. A few days later the London attacks took place yet WWE went ahead and aired SmackDown unedited in the US and Canada. Naturally they received a lot of backlash for that decision and after being squashed by Taker at The Great American Bash he never appeared on WWE television again.

3 Wrestler Regrets: CM Punk

Believe it or not it has been more than four years since CM Punk walked out on WWE. The Second City Saint had finally become sick and tired, quite literally if you believe Punk's version of things, of the company and professional wrestling and he has not returned since. Even though all that time has passed fans in arenas around the world still chant Punk's name and it must drive the clout at WWE pretty crazy. Before WWE soured his relationship with wrestling Punk loved the business. He had grown up watching wrestling and worked his way up through the independents, making a name for himself in Ring Of Honor. If he does ever return to the ring it may very well be for ROH.

2 WWE Regrets: Scott Steiner

Another man who earned a fresh contract with WWE because Vince McMahon knew all about him from a previous stint with the company was Scott Steiner. During the early 1990s he and his brother Rick competed in WWE as The Steiner Brothers before going on to WCW. In 2001 WCW went out of business of course and a little less than a year later Steiner returned to WWE after eight years away, this time as a singles star. Big Poppa Pump was shot straight to the top of the pile and feuded with Triple H for the World Championship. Unfortunately for Steiner and WWE his in ring ability was not what they remembered. That coupled with some things he was saying backstage meant his second run with the company was short lived.

1 Wrestler Regrets: Damien Sandow

A return to WWE not seeing raw talent when they have it in the palm of their hands now and swiftly on to Damien Sandow. Despite Sandow having the in ring ability, mic skills, and backing from the crowd to be a top guy for Vince McMahon the chairman just didn't see it. Sandow managed to make something of even the most ridiculous gimmicks and rallied the crowd behind him whenever he needed to. The pinnacle of his time with WWE came when he acted as The Miz's stunt double, Damien Mizdow. Sandow's performances were outstanding and it really felt as if WWE were building to something special. That didn't happen though and now Sandow doesn't wrestle at all, what a waste of a terrific talent.