"The Swiss Superman" Cesaro's WWE journey in 2021 was like a rollercoaster ride with a huge drop. This year, Cesaro rose through the ranks, becoming a pay-per-view main-eventer, before falling back down into obscurity and once again not doing much of anything. After Seth Rollins defeated Cesaro at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, the Swisman became just another talented wrestler wasting away on the roster.Sadly, Cesaro isn't alone on the list of talented Superstars who find themselves lost in the shuffle of WWE. These wrestlers know how to put on entertaining matches, yet it looks like WWE's creative team doesn't have anything meaningful for them.
9 Drew Gulak
The 205 Live standout Drew Gulak appeared to be on the rise in 2020 as part of the blue brand. Gulak's rivalry and partnership with Daniel Bryan showed that he was more than worthy of sharing the ring with the best in the business. Drew is a former Cruiserweight Champion and he became a credible contender for the Intercontinental Title during the first half of 2020.
However, since then, Gulak has become a background fixture in the 24/7 Division. Yes, he did become a multi-time 24/7 Champion, but that title is for lower-card comedy wrestlers. Nowadays, he can be seen chasing after current 24/7 Champion Reggie. Gulak isn't as prominently featured in the division as wrestlers like R-Truth or Akira Tozawa, which demonstrates his poor standing on WWE's main roster.
8 Cesaro
In 2021, Cesaro finally achieved his big singles victory at WrestleMania, decisively defeating Seth Rollins. After this impressive win, The Swiss Cyborg's next target became Roman Reigns. Cesaro defeated Rollins once more on the road to WrestleMania Backlash, but he was unable to defeat Reigns at the pay-per-view. Reigns defeated Cesaro clean with the Guillotine Choke. At the next PPV, Rollins would defeat Cesaro clean with a roll-up. Cesaro would then lose a MITB qualifying match to Rollins in July.
After being pushed out of a prominent spot by both Rollins and Reigns, Cesaro fell back down the card, no longer being used as a central part of any relevant storyline. After a DQ victory over Rollins, Cesaro was brutally attacked after the match by Seth. Rather than retaliate, the Swissman disappeared, returning over a month later to lose to Finn Balor in the first round of the 2021 King of the Ring tournament.
7 Alpha Academy
Alpha Academy hasn't won a two-on-two match since March 2021. Otis and Chad Gable are talented performers, yet they've become lost in the shuffle in the tag team division. Gable was recently snubbed from the King of the Ring tournament, which reflects his position on the roster. Otis is convincing as a hard-hitting monster, but he got more of a reaction as a charismatic goofball in 2020.
The duo was recently drafted to Monday Night Raw. Hopefully, this new environment will be better suited for Alpha Academy. But as of this writing, they're still lost in the shuffle among the other tag teams.
6 John Morrison
After The Miz betrayed him once again, John Morrison can be found backstage on Raw where he meditates and searches for his wandering chi. While The Miz is busy appearing on shows like Dancing with the Stars and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Morrison finds himself drifting aimlessly on Monday nights.
Morrison is an incredibly gifted in-ring talent and, unfortunately, WWE's creative team doesn't have anything more for him than a meditation gimmick that doesn't get much airtime. Johnny Drip Drip has proven himself both as a tag team wrestler and as a singles competitor. But in 2021, he's become merely a background fixture on Monday nights.
5 Elias
Plenty in the WWE Universe would love to walk with Elias, but he's been nowhere to be seen since the summer. After losing to Jaxson Ryker in a Symphony of Destruction match, Elias would only be seen in vignettes where he talked about the death of his old character. His last vignette signified that he was ready to become champion. After a few weeks, the video packages would cease and he remained undrafted in the 2021 WWE Draft.
Elias is a wrestler who consistently got reactions from the crowd, sometimes at the level of a main event star. However, he was treated as a lower mid-carder upon his disappearance from television. Elias is a four-time WWE 24/7 Champion, but that belt is used more as a comedic prop than a serious wrestling title. Not only is he lost in the shuffle, but Elias is nowhere to be seen on WWE TV.
4 Ricochet
When wrestling fans think about Super ShowDown 2020, they often think about the squash match between The Fiend and Goldberg. However, Brock Lesnar would demolish Ricochet in roughly half the time it took Goldberg to defeat Bray Wyatt. Since losing to Lesnar, Richochet finds himself in the lower mid-card, often reduced to a jobber. He's even been unsuccessful at becoming a 24/7 Champion.
"The One and Only" Ricochet is a very talented wrestler who's able to wow fans with his high-flying moves. When he faced Lesnar for the WWE Title in 2020, he was a rising star ready to take his career to the next level. Nowadays, Ricochet would seem completely out of place going for any brand's top title. During the 2021 WWE Draft, Richochet was sent to SmackDown where he has a chance to redeem himself.
3 Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy is a legend whose star power has greatly diminished as a singles competitor. In 2009, he was a main event competitor, winning world championships and headlining SummerSlam. By 2021, he's bounced around on the mid-card, competing for the 24/7 Title and U.S. Championship, being unsuccessful in each attempt to win gold. On his way out of Raw, he was treated as enhancement talented to Austin Theory.
Hardy's career might find new life as a member of the SmackDown roster. But at the moment, Hardy finds himself in Midcard Hell. Jeff is a phenomenal in-ring performer, even at this stage in his career, and it's a shame that he isn't being utilized better.
2 Sami Zayn
In recent weeks, Sami Zayn has made his presence felt on SmackDown, but he's mostly been used to put over stars like Finn Balor and Drew McIntyre. Zayn does a good job as a mid-card heel and is talented in the ring and on the mic, but it isn't clear where he fits on the roster besides putting over stars who are higher in the pecking order.
When it comes to advancing his in-ring career, Zayn appears to be lost in the shuffle on the WWE roster. With Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura being preoccupied with Happy Corbin and the Universal Champion being a heel, the direction is unclear for The Underdog from the Underground.
1 Mustafa Ali
Mustafa Ali did wrestle at Crown Jewel, but there's a good chance it wouldn't have happened if he wasn't feuding with the hometown hero, Mansoor. Before that, Ali and Mansoor were one of the lower-ranked teams of Raw's tag team division. Now on SmackDown and with back-to-back losses to Mansoor, Ali finds himself as a lower-card wrestler without any momentum.
In 2019, Mustafa was a rising star on the blue brand who didn't seem out of place wrestling for the WWE Title. In 2021, he's just another wrestler on the roster, lost in the crowd among a sea of talented Superstars. Much like Drew Gulak, Ali's strengths as an in-ring competitor were highlighted during his program with Daniel Bryan. And just like Gulak, Ali has fallen into obscurity since then.