5 WWE Superstars who suffered because of high expectations

Every superstar that has signed with WWE knew the pressure that comes with the job. As a WWE Superstar, you're at the highest level of the sports entertainment/pro wrestling industry, with the biggest opportunity for superstardom.

However, there have been many superstars who could have reached a higher level but suffered from the high expectations set for them. It could have been expectations from WWE management, the fans, or even a mix of both.

Luckily, there have been a few exceptions who eventually came around, but most of the WWE Superstars on this list have been negatively impacted by high expectations:

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#5. Bray Wyatt - Set up to fail in WWE from day 1?

'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt can't be labeled as underrated, but he is arguably the biggest missed opportunity for WWE this past decade. Coming from a wrestling background, he had the tools to become one of the biggest stars of his generation.

While the Husky Harris experiment was forgettable, the Bray Wyatt character isn't. The Eater Of Worlds character seemed to be an instant hit with WWE fans and appeared to be on course for a big push in the future.

He made a splash back onto the WWE roster in 2013 along with the late great Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Due to the surreal/supernatural nature of his character, he had an instant cloud hanging over his head. He was compared to The Undertaker, even though their character wasn't the same at all.

The Phenom was a supernatural-like character, while Bray Wyatt represented more of a cult figure. Wyatt isn't the most proficient in-ring technician, but as we've seen throughout the course of WWE history, that doesn't always matter.

WWE and wrestling fans, in general, are always more enamored by a strong character over a strong in-ring worker. More than anything, Bray Wyatt had what most of the WWE roster lacked and still lacks - an old-school, throwback kind of character.

All he truly needed was good and consistent backing, but WWE never gave that to him. His loss to John Cena at WrestleMania 30 would go on to define his career for the next seven years - he always lost the biggest matches.

There are too many such examples. He lost to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 33 when it should have been his star-making performance, he should have defeated Goldberg in 2020, but he didn't. This has made some fans label him a "jobber to the stars".

Even his career redemption as The Fiend lost momentum quickly and by 2021, fans began to find him stale again. In Bray Wyatt's case, two major factors made him suffer the most - first and foremost, it was WWE's inconsistent booking.

Secondly, it was the high expectations kept for him from the beginning. Comparing him to The Undertaker did no favors and the expectations set for him led to a negative outcome.

#4. Jinder Mahal - Part of WWE's Indian experiment in 2017

Jinder Mahal did his best as the WWE Champion

When 2017 started, Jinder Mahal would never have imagined that it would turn into the best year of his WWE career. He returned to the company after two-and-a-half years in 2016 and seemed to slot back into his enhancement talent role.

Behind the scenes, WWE was planning a big expansion into the Indian market that year. Mahal was the runner-up of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and would get drafted to SmackDown.

There, Jinder Mahal was told that he was penciled in for a feud against WWE Champion Randy Orton. He admitted that he didn't believe it at first, but within a week, he went from enhancement talent to a WWE title contender.

In his first opportunity at Backlash 2017, Mahal defeated Orton in one of the biggest shocks of the decade to become the WWE Champion. The Indian-Canadian superstar would hold the title for nearly half a year as WWE tried to expand into the Indian market.

Jinder Mahal did exactly as he was told - something that made former WWE writer Vince Russo praise him. On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, he had nothing but praise for The Modern Day Maharaja:

"When they put the belt on him. Bro I dont care what anybody says. He did everything they told him to do. I watched that title run...from a writing perspective...this guy did nothing wrong. Now if they feel he's injury prone...they can't depend on him...whatever...that's a seperate issue! While he was champion he did nothing wrong! I thought he did a good job, I thought he was a believable champion, I thought he cut a fine promo, I thought he had heat! So what was going on behind the scenes I don't know," said Vince Russo.

Unfortunately for Jinder Mahal, he suffered from the high expectations that WWE had of him. Some fans began to understand that his run wasn't underwhelming because he lacked talent - WWE simply expected too much from him too soon.

Rather than building him up over the course of a year or two, the company decided to fast-track Mahal to the top. It backfired and Jinder Mahal hasn't gotten a push that big since.

#3. The Ultimate Warrior - The biggest pushed overshadowed by WWE's biggest star?

Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior were the top stars in WWE in the early 1990s

The Ultimate Warrior was supposed to be the successor to WWE icon Hulk Hogan. By the time the 1980s was ending, Hogan had been at the top of the promotion for nearly six years.

Looking back, it doesn't sound like such a long time. But it shouldn't be forgotten that Hulk Hogan's first WWE Championship reign lasted for four straight years (1,474 days).

Six years at the top is a long time and Vince McMahon knew that a change was needed. Given how The Ultimate Warrior quickly rose as the No. 2 man in WWE, he was the obvious pick as Hulk Hogan's successor.

The iconic face-off between Hogan and Warrior happened in the 1990 Royal Rumble when the former was the WWE Champion and the latter was the Intercontinental Champion.

On-screen WWE President Jack Tunney announced that it would be a Champion vs. Champion main event at WrestleMania 6 - dubbed as "The Ultimate Challenge". Both titles were on the line and The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan clean in front of a roaring 67,678 fans in Toronto.

While it was meant to be Warrior's big coronation in WWE, the reality was that he simply didn't draw as well as Hulk Hogan did at house shows/live events.

He would get fired from WWE two years later after the steroid investigation hit the company. He was fired along with Davey Boy Smith (The British Bulldog) and he would only return briefly four years later.

While high expectations were obviously not the sole reason for The Ultimate Warrior's downfall in the promotion, he certainly suffered because of it.

#2. The Great Khali - High expectations from WWE because of his size?

Did WWE make the wrong move by putting the World Heavyweight title on The Great Khali?

The Great Khali's WWE career lasted around eight years. While that's a relatively long tenure by WWE standards, his big push only came between 2006-2008. When Khali debuted in the company, he instantly took out The Undertaker.

The Indian giant was billed at 7'1" and was legitimately the biggest superstar on the roster at the time. Given his size, it was no surprise that Vince McMahon wanted to push him. Even back then, WWE looked to expand to the Indian market. But the reality was that WWE's revenue in India came from their broadcasting deal and not merchandise sales and live tours.

The biggest problem that The Great Khali had was that he simply couldn't move very well. He wasn't athletic or technical, but that didn't seem to matter as he squashed The Undertaker with ease upon his debut.

A year after Khali's SmackDown debut, he moved to RAW and was instantly in the mix with WWE Champion John Cena. While he wasn't successful, he maintained a top-tier status during that run. His run on the Red brand lasted for a short while before he moved back to SmackDown as the No. 1 draft pick.

In July 2007, The Great Khali won a battle royal to claim his sole World Championship in WWE. To date, many have questioned and criticized the company's decision to put the World title on a wrestler who was described as "green".

Ultimately, his run cooled off and he transitioned into a comedic role. But WWE seemed to have had very high expectations from The Great Khali at first.

#1. Roman Reigns - Eventually excelled in WWE despite suffering at first

Roman Reigns is now undeniably WWE's best superstar

We mentioned at first that Bray Wyatt may have been set up to fail in WWE from day one. The opposite was the case for Roman Reigns. When The Shield broke up in 2014, Vince McMahon knew that he wanted Reigns to become the face of WWE and take John Cena's throne.

With Cena's transition to part-time status a year away in 2014, McMahon seemed to have a plan in mind. Have Brock Lesnar end The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak and become the most hated man in the company. Make him go on a monster run with the WWE World Heavyweight title while building Roman Reigns as a top babyface on the side.

While Lesnar's credibility and star power increased in 2014-15, Reigns would win the Royal Rumble and was expected to get his dream coronation at WrestleMania 31 - officially becoming the next John Cena.

That was the plan in WWE's mind. In execution, it went completely haywire. Fans in 2015 were different from fans of the past. They were more aware and in the loop of WWE's backstage plans, and they soon caught wind of the fact that Roman Reigns was WWE's golden boy.

At the time, he was a solid in-ring worker but not exceptional. His promo skills and character work left a lot to be desired, and fans began to rebel right from the 2015 Royal Rumble when they booed Roman Reigns (and The Rock) out of the building.

For the next three-and-a-half years, Reigns would have to endure fans resenting him week after week despite him trying his best efforts. Even back then in the peak of the anti-Roman Reigns movement, some recognized that it wasn't his fault at all.

He had the talent, but WWE's refusal to turn him heel meant that fans would only continue to boo him. From 2015 to 2017, we often heard fans and analysts saying that Roman Reigns was being "shoved down our throats" and it was true.

The simple solution would have been to turn him heel, but Vince McMahon insisted on getting him over as a babyface. Four straight WrestleMania main events later, the experiment continued to fail. But WWE invested too much time and effort to give up.

Roman Reigns suffered from WWE's expectations of him getting over as a babyface. It was never going to happen and everybody could see why. Thankfully, WWE finally pulled the trigger on Reigns' heel turn in 2020 and he has been on the best run of his career since.

Fans finally understand and appreciate the greatness of Roman Reigns, who is finally excelling after years of setbacks.