Over the years, there have been many wrestlers that were shaped to be superstars, and had the talent to be one, but found their talent wasted. There are many ways that the talent of these were wasted. It could be from the timing of the character given to the wrestler, or the amount of time they gave the wrestler to reach their full potential.
All of the names on this list are well-known, but a few of them are known for their careers after working for the WWE. It is saddening to know what these superstars could've been had they been given the proper guidance and gimmicks to work with. One huge reason these superstars don't thrive in the WWE is creative differences. Some of the differences hit very close to home.
We may be seeing some wrestlers today being wasted and wondering why they have stuck around as long as they have. For example, Heath Slater has been with the company for longer than anyone would've thought, but seems to have never reached his full potential. We get that they need someone known for filler content on the shows, but it seems that is all they use him for, other than the company's YouTube game show, WWE Game Night.
The superstars in this list have had an impact with the fans of the WWE, regardless of how long they were with the company. This list may cause you to look at the current roster of the WWE differently to see slight similarities between the two.
25 Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes is a second-generation superstar who had great potential. The second son of the late legend, Dusty, Rhodes was in fine shape to be a top-tier superstar in the WWE. Aligning himself with the likes of great second and third-generation superstars such as Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase Jr., it was as if we were watching a new wave of talent coming in that had grown up around the business and carried the legacies their families had with pride.
However, it wasn't long until the faction "Legacy" had split and the members had gone their separate ways. Rhodes was fighting to find a gimmick that fit him and sky-rocket his solo career. He had a great run playing the character of "Stardust," but it had worn out its welcome and was put on the lower card of the shows before anyone thought it would. After the passing of his father, Rhodes had asked to go back to using his original name and not hide behind Stardust anymore. The WWE was not too fond of that and Rhodes asked for his release from the company in May of 2016.
The WWE may regret letting him go as he now is in the most Elite club in the wrestling world and has taken his career to heights that it appeared they would've never allowed.
After a short stint in TNA, Rhodes is currently enjoying being in the forefront of Ring of Honor and New Japan as the leader of the Bullet Club. To see how far his career has grown in the two years he has been away from the company really makes you think about how much the WWE held him back.
24 Gail Kim
Encouraged to send her tapes to the WWE by Molly Holly, Gail Kim was signed by the company in 2002. She had spent eight months in developmental, working house shows and dark matches before being called up to the main roster. After winning the Women's Championship in her debut match on June 30, 2003, it was evident that Kim could stand up to the front-runners of the women's division at the time.
While she only held the title for one month, she began to leave an impression on the fans. Kim had a good run teaming with Holly against Trish Stratus and various partners until their feud came to a peak at Unforgiven 2003, with Kim and Holly facing Stratus and Lita in a losing effort. One year, a collarbone injury, and a handful of championship opportunities later, Kim was released due to cost cuts, which came to a surprise to the rising star.
Kim is currently retired from in-ring competition.
Before retiring, she had a great run with TNA (now Impact Wrestling), including becoming the first ever female champion in the company's history and being the first woman inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. She has been a producer for the company since retirement.
The WWE missed the mark with the talent that Kim possessed back in 2004 when they let her go. She was one of, if not the reason that WWE's top competitor gained a women's division.
23 Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett arrived in the WWE with big impact, appearing on the first season of NXT when it was a competition. He led the rookies from that season make their mark on the main roster, attacking the biggest names in the WWE. As the leader and voice of the group, known as the Nexus, Barrett became a superstar in his own right. Following the demise of the group, and the group he had formed afterward, The Corre, he had climbed the ranks of the roster.
There were a few attempts at the World Heavyweight Championship, which he had never captured, but he didn't leave the WWE without some solo accolades to his name. He won the Intercontinental Championship five times, and won the 2015 King of the Ring tournament. Leaving the WWE as King Barrett, it was shocking to hear his release as it didn't seem he reached his full potential.
Following his release, Barrett went on to use his birth name, Stu Bennett, and traveled back to his homeland of England. He currently works for Defiant Wrestling, and until recently, was the on-screen general manager. Still employed by the company, it will be interesting to see what role he plays next. After 10 years in the WWE, the 37-year-old Brit could easily make an in-ring comeback in Defiant, and hopefully he does.
22 John Morrison
He made an impact on the WWE universe, but John Morrison was still a talent the company wasted. He burst on the scene of the WWE as a member of MNM with Joey Mercury and his then-girlfriend Melina, using the ring name "Johnny Nitro." He would keep the ring name until his gimmick would get an upgrade and would continue wrestling under the name we know him best for when he debuted on ECW in 2007. He had great runs as a tag team wrestler, winning tag team championships a total of five times, twice with the Miz and three times with Mercury. A three-time Intercontinental champion, Morrison would only ever hold a world title on ECW, despite being booked for many attempts for the World or WWE championships.
Currently, Morrison, born John Hennigan, wrestles for Impact Wrestling as Johnny Impact after a great run as Johnny Mundo in Lucha Underground, becoming the second-ever Triple Crown Champion there.
He still makes appearances on the independent scene while under contact with Impact, as Hennigan like to have control over where he wrestles and when.
Though the WWE universe may like to see him return, there isn't much that he could add to the roster right now. If they didn't give him the pushes to match his potential back then, they wouldn't do it now.
21 Ted DiBiase Jr.
Modeled as a spitting image of his father "The Million Dollar Man," Ted DiBiase Jr. was a wrestler with massive amounts of potential. DiBiase quickly fell into the faction Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, after holding the tag team titles twice with Rhodes. The faction quickly had tension rise between them before Randy Orton needed to focus on himself without depending on other to help him, only to have them cost him opportunities. This led to a triple-threat match at WrestleMania XXVI between the members of Legacy. DiBiase took the end of his time with the faction to debut the gimmick that we all were waiting for, the arrogant, self-centered millionaire, much like his father had donned during his rise to the top. After a year with that gimmick, the third-generation superstar had spent his last two years in the WWE as a fan favorite, entering small feuds with various superstars until his release in 2013.
Leaving the wrestling business behind after only a handful of appearance in the months following his release, DiBiase is currently the vice president of business development for One Life, an insurance agency company that is modeled after Christian values. He also has his own YouTube show that blogs his life after leaving the wrestling world.
20 Matt Morgan
The WWE barely gave Matt Morgan a chance. Debuting on Smackdown as a member of Brock Lesnar's stable that Paul Heyman had created in October of 2003. Brought in to help Lesnar win matches, as well as participate in the traditional Survivor Series match against Kurt Angle's team at the 2003 November annual pay-per-view. Nathan Jones was brought in to be Morgan's tag team partner, but had left soon after the Survivor Series match, leaving Morgan without a gimmick to hold onto aside from teaming with Lesnar until the 2005 Royal Rumble. Morgan took some time off to work on a new gimmick, which he debuted in late April 2005, appearing as a stuttering man who was very sensitive to people mocking his impairment, quickly aligning himself with Carlito and becoming his bodyguard. The gimmick would last less than three months as Morgan was released on July 5th, 2005.
He had many promising stints in TNA, gaining him the Impact World Tag Team Championships on two separate occasions. After spending a decade in and out of the company, Morgan completely left the wrestling business for politics. Running for public office in 2017, he defeated his opponent to become the City Commissioner of Longwood, Florida, a position he still holds today.
19 MVP
Montel Vontavious Porter, better known as MVP, could have had a much better career in the WWE if the company had allowed him to grow and reach his full potential. Debuting with the WWE in the summer of 2004, it didn't take long for him to find himself in story-line with big names in the company. MVP had a feud with Kane, which ended with an inferno match. He held the United States championship twice, first gaining it after a string of matches with Chris Benoit. That first reign was the third longest in the title's history until Dean Ambrose broke it in 2014. He would capture the title once again, but those two reigns, along with the tag team championship run with Matt Hardy were the highlights of his WWE tenure.
Currently wrestling on the independent circuit, MVP has enjoyed stints in New Japan and TNA.
He never reached his full potential in the WWE, but has been rendered as one of the most underrated wrestlers of his time. He did make an appearance at the 25th anniversary of Raw in January, but it doesn't seem that the WWE has any intentions of bringing him back. They wouldn't know where to place him with the wildly big characters that are currently on the roster.
18 Albert
Albert, who went by many names throughout his time in the WWE, was never the biggest name in the company. Debuting as Prince Albert in 1999, the man born Matt Bloom, always had a hint of humor in the gimmick names he held during his first run with the company. From being in a stable entitled "T & A" with the late Andrew Martin, better known as Test, and their manager, who gave life to the stable name, Trish Stratus, to having a gimmick loosely based on his hairy torso, giving the fans the chance to chant things such as "Shave your back!" Bloom was released during his time rehabbing a torn rotator cuff injury in November of 2004. He would re-debut in the WWE after spending some time in Japan, this time with a gimmick as Lord Tensai. After a small winning streak, the gimmick was reduced to a comedy act and Bloom was wrestling in lingerie and aligning himself with Brodus Clay, dancing his way to the ring every week as "Tons of Funk." That was the last we saw of Bloom as a wrestler on WWE television.
Bloom is one of the head trainers at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
He began working as a trainer following the disbanding of his partnership with Brodus Clay on WWE television. He has been a mentor to all new talent that has come into the WWE since 2014, and along with the likes of Norman Smiley, Scotty 2 Hotty and Shawn Michaels, makes sure that the upcoming WWE superstars get the best training they could've ever dreamed off. If only the WWE had put the faith they have in Bloom now when he was still a wrestler, maybe it wouldn't have seemed like such a shock when he was named a trainer.
17 Elijah Burke
Elijah Burke had a short stint in the WWE, but made an impact that has the fans wishing he would return, especially since he didn't really get the chances in the company that he received in other companies and his full potential was never reached.
Burke debuted in the WWE on Smackdown, but quickly moved to ECW where he was in the biggest matches of his tenure with the company. He would wrestle the likes of CM Punk and Chris Benoit. Burke would find himself in matches that could lead to potential title matches, but would never actually compete in a title match. Burke's "black pope" gimmick would debut in the WWE, but was only seen in dark matches before his eventual release from the company.
Departing from Global Force Wrestling in August 2017, Burke is now solely focusing on the charity he founded and is the president of entitled Love Alive.
The charity help the homeless, disadvantage communities and displaced families mainly in the Jacksonville, Florida area. Through the charity, Burke leads the mission of leading a helping hand and providing many essential human rights to the underprivileged, low-income and impoverished on a local level. Their core activity is Love Drives, where they provide hot meals and cold beverages and distribute care kits.
16 Jesse/Slam Master J
The son of Hall of Famer, the Fabulous Freebird Terry Gordy, Ray Gordy had five years in the WWE, including his time in developmental. Gordy went by the ring name Jesse when he debuted on Smackdown in July of 2007. The gimmick the WWE had for Gordy and his partner at the time Festus, better known now at Luke Gallows, was nothing short of comic relief. Sadly, the WWE kept up with the gimmick for two years until a draft had split up the pair and Gordy had changed his gimmick to Slam Master J. Again, used as a comic relief, Gordy was seen using thug-wannabe mannerisms and gestures much like he had previously done in the independent promotions he worked in prior to the WWE. In November of 2010, Gordy was released as put of a slew of talent that was let go from the company. Though it may have seemed the WWE tried to push Gordy, they didn't really give him a chance with the gimmicks he used.
After being released from the WWE, Gordy retired from the wrestling business.
He currently works as a police officer in Atlanta, Georgia. He was last seen on WWE television inducting his father when the Fabulous Freebirds were inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame's class of 2016, and he accepted the award on his late father's behalf.
15 Justin Gabriel
Justin Gabriel is best known for being a member of both the Nexus and then the Corre throughout his time in WWE. He did captivate audiences with his high-risk moves and his fast-paced style of wrestling. Teaming for the majority of his tenure in the company with Heath Slater, Gabriel captured the tag team championships three times. He didn't really make any more waves in the company after that time. He was last seen on WWE television as a low-tier jobber before being put in the bunny suit on several occasions as a member of Adam Rose's Exotic Express. He had written promos for a wolf-daredevil gimmick that went unapproved by Triple H shortly before he was released by the company in 2015.
Gabriel has continued to wrestle since his release from the WWE. He is booked on the independent scene as well as being signed to Lucha Underground.
The hype that fans had for Gabriel had allowed him to keep up the momentum for his wrestling career, now using the name PJ Black.
The WWE missed out on a talent that easily could've been an intercontinental champion. They kept Gabriel in the background, never allowing him to propel to his highest potential, which was to the chagrin of many members of the WWE universe. If they can still find work for Slater, why did they give up on the talent that seeps out of Gabriel?
14 Funaki
Today, we see Japanese wrestlers at the forefront of the WWE with Asuka and Nakamura. In the Attitude Era, however, it was far different. Funaki debuted in the WWE in 1998 and over the course of his 12 year in-ring career with the WWE, his actual wrestling ability was overshadowed by the comedic factor of his gimmicks, aside from the one he debuted with alongside Taka Minchinoku. If he had started his WWE career in 2010, around the time he was released, we may have seen a little more faith behind the star power that Funaki could've brought to the WWE.
While he may be currently working for the WWE as a Japanese commentator, Funaki did spend time working on the independent circuit for four years after being released from the WWE. In addition to appearing at every WWE pay-per-view as a commentator, he has also appeared backstage sporadically as an interpreter for Japanese superstars on NXT. In 2012, Funaki opened up his own training facility, Funaki Dojo, in San Antonio, Texas.
The WWE may have brought him back, in a much smaller capacity, but it always get a pop when Funaki appears on WWE television. With his experience and his pride in his heritage, he must be proud to be backstage seeing the influx of Japanese wrestlers and the levels they have reached in the company; something he was never able to experience.
13 Raven
This one is a little tricky. It's not that the WWE is entirely to blame on wasting the talent of Raven, but more of the fact that no one really knew how to handle him or book him. Scott Levy, as Raven was born, is a man who like to walk to the beat of his own drum. That's not saying that the WWE didn't give him a chance, they allowed him to with the Hardcore Championship a total of 27 times. With the way he represented himself and the gimmick he did not want to change, he was more or less stuck in a rut that the WWE wouldn't allow him to branch out of. He was never truly given a chance to explore what height his career could reach.
Following the three years that Raven was in the WWE, he went on to work for TNA for the next five years and finally reached the pinnacle of his career that WWE would never allow him to. He become and NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 2005. Now semi-retired, Levy hosts a weekly podcast, called The Raven Effect, where he features guests, talks on current events and discussions on pro wrestling events.
12 Evan Bourne
Evan Bourne, much like Justin Garbiel, was an exciting wrestler to watch. The WWE gave him a glimmer of a chance, but it was taken away from him far too early in his career to not say that WWE wasted his talent. He debuted on WWE's ECW brand in 2007, and quickly made a name for himself, earning him a Slammy award for "Best Finishing Maneuver" in 2008. He held the tag team titles with Kofi Kingston once in his career, but his reign was short-lived. Due to his second suspension on January 17, 2012, and an injury that occurred during that time, Bourne, real name Matt Korklan, was off of WWE television for almost 14 months. Returning for one match against Sami Zayn on NXT on March 23, 2013, Korklan was held off WWE television for over a year before being released on June 12, 2014.
Using the ring name Matt Sydal, Korklan is under contract with Impact Wrestling, currently holding Impact X Division Champion.
He has also held the Impact Grand Championship since signing with the company on April 27, 2017. Since being released by the WWE, Korklan has brought his talent to promotions all across the globe, including New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he held the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships with newly debut NXT superstar Ricochet twice.
If the WWE could've looked past Korklan's mistakes and gave him the chance to thrive in NXT, he would be headlining the cruiserweight division on 205 Live today.
11 Mr. Kennedy
His release from the WWE is surrounded with controversy, and was shocking to most fans. It seemed as though Kennedy was being primed to move up the ranks from being a one-time United States Champion, to achieve that illusive "brass ring" and capturing one of the top-tier championships. It was something that fans were waiting for. We had seen him in feud with the Undertaker and watch him compete in a string of pay-per-view matches against the Deadman. Sadly, his career would not reach that peak in the WWE as he would be released from the company on May 29,2009, after being tossed back and forth between Raw and Smackdown over the course of the last year of his tenure there.
Now working as a color commentator for Top Rank, a Las Vegas, Nevada-based boxing company, Kennedy, born Ken Anderson, did reach that brass ring after being released from the WWE.
During his five years working for TNA, he captured the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice, showing the WWE what they had missed out on. Anderson, along with Molly Holly, Shawn Daivari, Ariya Daivari and Arik Cannon, opened a wrestling school in Minneapolis, Minnesota in late 2016.
Backstage politics may have ruined his career in the WWE, but at least he found the top of the mountain and reached the potential we knew he had somewhere else.
10 Kaval
Kaval, better known as Low Ki or Senshi, was in the WWE for a short amount of time, for those who can remember. Born Brandon Silvestry, Kaval was the winner of the second season of NXT in the summer of 2010. His tenure with the company did not last long, as he was quickly moved to Smackdown after being named the victor of NXT, but would rarely come out on the winning side of matches. This included the intercontinental championship match against then-champion Dolph Ziggler, which he earned by being named the winner of NXT. His time on Smackdown and ultimately the WWE ended on December 23, 2010, with only three and a half months on the main roster.
While he is currently circling the independent circuit, it was clear that the WWE had wasted the talent that Silvestry has. Shortly after his release from the company, he had returned to two companies that brought him great success in the past, New Japan and TNA. In fact, he has proven that he is far better than the WWE allowed him to be in every promotion he has worked in since leaving the company. The biggest company in the world clearly missed the mark on this one.
9 Eugene
Nick Dinsmore, better known as Eugene, was nothing more than comic relief for the majority of his time in the WWE. It's a little disheartening to look back at it now, seeing as how the gimmick was a mockery of someone with mental disabilities. It may have been over with the fans, and gained Dinsmore the opportunity to hold the tag titles with William Regal, who was his on-screen mentor, in somewhat of a "social worker" capacity. As a former 10-time OVW Heavyweight Champion, it seemed belittling to use him in this capacity, never letting him show his true potential as a wrestler.
Currently running his own wrestling shows, Dinsmore stays near his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
He had made appearances in the WWE since being released in 2007, but neither of the times he had been brought back amounted to anything, the last time being in 2013. He was hired to be a trainer for NXT on September 20, 2013, but was released just over a year later, on October 2, 2014.
We've seen them do it before, and the WWE easily could've re-packaged Dinsmore with a new gimmick and allowed the WWE universe to witness the true amount of wrestling skills he possesses.
8 Yoshi Tatsu
Probably the only wrestler on this list who was on all three brands of the WWE at the time, ECW, Smackdown and Raw, as well as being a pro on a season of NXT, Yoshi Tatsu could've been a much bigger star if he were given the proper chance by the company. The biggest highlights in his time in the WWE was his feud with Tyson Kidd during the fifth season of NXT. No championships were involved, but it was comical. Sadly, being comical in backstage segments was the best that it got for Tatsu, as he got released in the summer of 2014.
Currently a free agent in the wrestling world, Tatsu, born Naofumi Yamamoto, mostly works for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Shortly after his release, Yamamoto would return to the company the WWE scouted him from, New Japan. He would spent three years there before become a freelancer, winning the NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team Championship with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin. The trio would go on to feud with the Bullet Club.
It became common place for the WWE to use foreign wrestlers in the most comedic ways possible. Thankfully, with the rise of Asuka and Nakamura, the wrestling ability is what shines through more than how funny they can look on North American television.
7 Rico
Rico wasn't really known for his wrestling ability while he was signed to the WWE. He was mainly remembered for being the stylist for Billy and Chuck, and then later 3-minute warning (known later as Rosey and Umaga). He would have a brief stint as a wrestler, with a bright gimmick, much in the style of Adrian Street. He had Miss Jackie as a manager and Charlie Haas reluctantly partnered with him, winning them the tag titles. Rico did briefly hold the Cruiserweight championship as well. To see a man who was a champion on American Gladiators in the early 1990s be horribly misused in the WWE was quite sad.
Currently, the news surrounding Rico is about his ailing health.
There is a GoFundMe page to help him with his medical bills. He had spent his life after the WWE helping children in the Special Olympics after being ordained as a minister. He used his ministry to counsel kids at various charities. The health issues he is currently battling include heart problems and the result of a series of concussions. Though he was misused in the WWE, it seems that Rico used his life after wrestling to the absolute fullest.
6 Scott Steiner
Judging by how he is generally perceived by fan of pro wrestling, Scott Steiner was horribly misused in during his second tenure in the WWE. As he is more over as a heel, the WWE debuting him as a face was the wrong move. He may have had brought his fan base from his time in WCW over with him, it was as if the WWE wanted a fresh "new" Steiner. Instead, it was more of a washed-down version of what Steiner once was and could've been. His two years with the company saw him compete in what Wrestling Observer Newsletter called the "Worst Worked Match of the Year" in 2003 with Triple H at that year's Royal Rumble event. He was released in the summer of 2004 while rehabbing an injury.
Currently on his third tenure with Impact Wrestling, Steiner is showing that being a heel is where he is at his best since breaking away from teaming with his brother, Rick. He has been a leader of many heel factions with the company throughout his tenures with the company.
Far better as a heel, the WWE wasted Steiner's talent, leaving Impact to bank on him and bring their company massive amounts of money.