Waste of a retirement, peaked on debut – 4 superstars who never got their due in WWE
Performing in WWE has always been a dream for most professional wrestlers. However, simply making it to the company has never guaranteed that a star will reach their full potential.
Over the decades, numerous incredibly gifted athletes have closed the book on their careers not having accomplished what they deserved. Many of them even had fans on their side, who were vocal about the company leaving money on the table by not properly utilizing said stars’ talents.
While the list of WWE Superstars who never got their due is pretty lengthy, let’s take a look at four prospects who should’ve been treated as way bigger deals than they were presented as.
#4. Baron Corbin
After a 12-year stint with WWE, Baron Corbin finally entered free agency in November 2024. To say there were a lot of missed opportunities during his run in the Sports Entertainment giant would be an understatement.
Between 2017 and 2019, The Lone Wolf-turned-constable became Mr. Money in the Bank, retired Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 35 & emerged as the King of the Ring. However, after securing each of those accolades, he would have his momentum stifled by the creative team.
In fact, Kurt Angle recently expressed his disappointment over Corbin not having an industry-shaking run after he had the privilege of retiring him at the Grandest Stage of Them All. The Olympic Gold Medalist stated that he felt as if he put over the conveyor of The End of Days for nothing.
#3. Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin
It’s a common saying that competition breeds excellence. That perfectly applies to Shelton Benjamin, who was part of the same developmental class as generational megastars such as John Cena, Randy Orton & Brock Lesnar.
One could argue that Benjamin was the best in-ring performer out of his OVW colleagues. Despite that, he never achieved the heights that his peers did. Yes, he became a multi-time Tag Team and Intercontinental Champion. But his technical mastery over the art of wrestling should have guaranteed him a main-event spot.
There’s no denying that The Gold Standard lacked in the promo department in his early days as a solo performer. But it isn’t out of WWE’s playbook to put years of work into transforming their hand-picked stars into household names.
So, there were a lot of ways the company could’ve worked around Shelton’s mic limitations while building him up as a cornerstone of the Ruthless Aggression era.
#2. Gail Kim
In hindsight, there are a plethora of things WWE should’ve done differently; among those, the questionable booking of Gail Kim ranks pretty high.
The Empress of the Knockouts won the Women’s Championship in her TV debut in June 2003. If the Stamford-based promotion had played its cards right, Kim could’ve been the one to kickstart the ‘Women’s Revolution’ in wrestling 12 years earlier.
Unfortunately, her surprising title win became her peak in the company. What followed her impactful debut were two lackluster runs. It wasn’t until witnessing her stellar TNA/IMPACT Wrestling stints that fans realized how criminally underutilized she was in WWE.
#1. Luke Harper
The late Luke Harper (Brodie Lee) did a phenomenal job as a one-dimensional, greasy, menacing giant through most of his WWE run. As a result, many fans never got to see his charismatic side.
It was well-established backstage that he was a very intelligent gentleman. Furthermore, his iconic AEW stint proved that he was not only well-spoken but could seamlessly switch between playing an intimidating cult leader and showcasing his comedy chops. Somehow, WWE never got the itch to explore these dynamic traits of his personality.
Had the company allowed The Wyatt Family alum to showcase his charismatic side, he might have had a more memorable solo run. If not in the main event scene, he could have easily thrived as a consistent upper mid-card mainstay with multiple singles title reigns and classic feuds on his resume.
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