10 pro wrestlers who failed to live up to their hype

The contract was signed, and weeks of vignettes were aired. Video packages with trendy music and an ominous voice-over telling the wrestling fans 'they're coming.' And the world of wrestling will never be the same.

Then, their big debut happens, and they start to falter. Sometimes despite the best efforts of creative teams and marketing divisions, a pro wrestler who looks like a guaranteed draw ends up only making a minor splash.

Here are ten WWE wrestlers who were supposed to be the next big thing, but never really made it to the main event.

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#1 Eugene (Nick Dinsmore)

Eugene was part of the WWE from 2004 to 2007

Pro wrestling has had its share of mentally challenged wrestlers. Usually, this takes the form of a 'crazy man' gimmick like the Missing Link or Roddy Piper, but sometimes a wrestler is portrayed as being somewhat slow intellectually. Ric Steiner's early career is a good example of this.

However, the promotions avoid actually categorizing their mentally challenged characters as having an actual real-world disability. Which makes the debut of longtime developmental talent Nick Dinsmore as the mentally retarded Eugene something of a head-scratcher.

Worse, WWE's head of programming at the time actually thought Eugene would lead to big rating increases and merchandise sold. While the fans mostly responded to Eugene in a positive fashion, they were also clearly made uncomfortable by the crux of his character.

Eugene started off with a high profile feud with Evolution, but then drifted down the card until he was considered by and large a comedy act. Eventually, he was released and WWE has never looked back.

Why he didn't become a bigger star: Eugene's gimmick made people uncomfortable, and he was undersized for a heavyweight but too large for cruiserweight matches.

#2 Kevin Thorn/Mordecai

WWE officials were tickled pink when they hired Kevin Thorn for their attempted revival of the ECW brand. He had the size, the look, and a lot of poise for someone so new to the business.

Kevin Matthew Fertig had one of the luckiest breaks into the business imaginable. He was working out in a gym when then WCW star Sid Vicious came in to work out. The two struck up a conversation, and then a friendship, and Vicious helped Thorn get his early bookings in the southern independent promotions.

From there he was scouted by Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was at the time WWE's developmental territory. Thorn was never a great wrestler, but he was big and mean looking, so he was pushed hard by OVW.

When he made his debut on ECW, it was using a 'vampire' gimmick, which fell largely flat with the wrestling audiences, even on the Sci-Fi channel. His valet Ariel actually got more attention than he did.

WWE would try again with Thorn, this time branding him as the 'anti-Undertaker' Mordecai. While the character attempted to stir up controversy (such as by ex-communicating an entire Smackdown audience and condemning them to 'hell.') he still failed to resonate with fans and was released.

Why he never became a bigger star: While he was as big as the Undertaker, Thorn lacked the Phenom's athletic prowess. His gimmicks were also very over the top, given the era in which he wrestled for WWE.

#3 Ryback

Ryan Allen Reaves managed to get his foot in the door of the business by participating in one of WWE's Tough Enough reality shows. He didn't win due to broken ribs and illness, but he did impress officials enough that he made it to the final ten contestants.

After healing, he was permitted to join WWE's developmental territory OVW. There he initially developed the Ryback gimmick, who was basically just a big muscle guy who ran roughshod over opponents.

When he came to FCW, which was the new developmental territory for WWE, he was given a cowboy gimmick and renamed Skip Sheffield. Skip was actually pretty over with the fans, who loved his good old boy "corn-fed meathead' character.

Then he and fellow NXT rookies -- when it was still a reality show and not a separate brand -- became the Nexus, having a brief but strong reign as an almost NWO type group. But they were buried by Super Cena and split up.

Sheffield would break his leg badly, and spend almost a year in recovery. When he returned, it was as Ryback. The Big Guy failed to catch on, despite a huge push and an IC title reign.

Why he never became a bigger star: Fans had already seen Ryback's shtick from Goldberg; in fact, the fans chanted Goldberg's name during Ryback's matches! Given his limited athletic ability and technical wrestling acumen, Ryback was basically just around for his chiselled physique.

#4 Gene Snitsky

Eugene Allen Snisky's massive frame and long limbs landed him a spot on his high school football team. From there he garnered an athletic scholarship to the University of Missouri and later would play for the Canadian football league.

When his football career ended, Snitsky was out of work. He was signed by a scout for Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was actually only called up to Raw for what was supposed to be a one night deal, knocking Lita off the apron for a controversial miscarriage angle.

WWE thought that the controversy was good, because it garnered so much attention, so they called Snitsky up to the main roster immediately. Snitsky would feud with Kane, Chris Benoit, and Shelton Benjamin before suffering a blood clot and taking time off.

When he returned, he had shaved his head and beard, and presented his somewhat grotesque visage as his new gimmick. However, Snitsky failed to catch on despite a heavy and continued push, and was eventually released.

Why he never became a bigger star: Snitsky is huge, but was stiff and awkward in the ring. While he had a great look he couldn't work matches very well, and he fell prey to more skilled big men like Undertaker.

#5 Lance Cade

Alternately known as Garrison Cade, Lance McKnaught has some surprising connections to major WWE superstars.

He was trained by Shawn Michaels at his wrestling academy in San Antonio in 1998. This was during the Monday Night Wars, and both WWE and WCW were more interested in signing established talent rather than taking a chance on new blood.

Cade and fellow graduate Daniel Bryan made their way to Japan since WWE and WCW weren't interested. They formed a tag team in Frontier Martial Arts wrestling, a sort of ECW type promotion that also boasted stars like Gladiator Mike Awesome.

He returned to the states and worked in WWE's developmental territories for a time, first HWA and then Ohio Valley Wrestling. He made his main roster debut in 2003, teaming with Mark Jindrak.

Despite feuds with such luminaries as DX and Chris Jericho, Cade failed to resonate with fans as either heel or face in spite of his bona fide impressive wrestling talent.

He left WWE in 2008 and wrestled for a time in Japan before retiring.

Why he never became a bigger star: Lance Cade is a talented wrestler, but he always seemed aloof and thus had difficulty getting fans emotionally invested in his character. His plodding style also became out of style as smaller, quicker athletes like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk took center stage.

#6 Glacier

In 1995, video game consoles such as the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were just hitting the market. Sales of Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were greatly bolstered because of a renewed interest in arcades spurred by the fighting game craze.

Though Street Fighter wound up being the more enduring franchise, in 1995 the fighting game series on everyone's lips was Mortal Kombat. Teens and young adults especially loved the gory fatalities and cold-blooded characters.

Eric Bischoff looked at this media environment and decided he would create a sort of sub-division within WCW featuring characters based off of the fighting game franchise. Meant to appeal primarily to the younger facets of the audience, Bischoff perhaps missed the point that what appealed so much about Mortal Kombat was the blood and adult themes.

Worse, instead of creating an original character, WCW decided on a blatant rip off of Mortal Kombat fighter Sub Zero. Glacier looked so much like the character it's a wonder they weren't sued!

Not even the children responded to Glacier, and the crowd gave the whole gimmick the cold shoulder. However, WCW had spent so much time on vignettes and hype for the character they didn't let it die for years. They even tried to bring it back several times, always with the same result; failure.

Glacier was meant to be the face of a new breed of sports entertainer, but just ended up melting away like his namesake.

Why he never became a bigger star: For one thing, Glacier is a dumb name. Glaciers are big, slow, and don't really do anything exciting most of the time. Also, the man playing Glacier, Ray Lloyd, may have been an excellent athlete but had little in the way of charisma or ability to garner empathy from the fans.

#7 Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig

Curt Hennig, unlike many of the men on this list, actually had quite an impressive career. However, he never held the world title in either WCW or WWE, which makes it seem like he could have done more.

Hennig cut his teeth in the AWA, the promotion that made his father Larry the Ax Hennig, a star attraction. Though he had a short run with WWE in the early 1980s, he would return to the AWA and truly make a mark.

He partnered with Scott Hall, who was a young lion at the time, and the pair were a celebrated champion tag team as babyfaces. When the team split up, Hennig would go on to rule as AWA world heavyweight champion for nearly a year.

Curt wound up back in the WWE again, which is where he debuted his Mr. Perfect gimmick for the first time. Hennig was seen in various vignettes before he actually made his wrestling debut, doing such feats as throwing himself a football pass and hitting a home run off Baseball HOF pitcher Wade Boggs.

Hennig would become Intercontinental champion, and would even challenge Hulk Hogan for the WWE world title, though he never beat the Hulkster. Hennig ended up in WCW as part of a nWo/four Horsemen angle, where he turned on Ric Flair and became a member of Hogan's group.

Hennig would end up as a member of the West Texas Rednecks, a stable whose sole reason for existing was facing off against Master P's no limit soldier faction. The Rednecks were intended to be the heels in the feud, but fan response turned them into babyfaces.

After WCW was bought by WWE, Hennig made a surprising return to McMahon's promotion, where his career would tragically end after his untimely death.

Hennig had a great career, but it seems like he should have held the big belt in either WCW or WWE, if not both.

Why he wasn't a bigger star: Hennig was a pure wrestler when over the top gimmicks were the rage. Later, when he joined WCW there were so many legendary talents in the promotion that he never really got the main spotlight.

#8 The Boogeyman

The former Tough Enough contestant survived the brutal first cut of that reality competition, but was dismissed because he lied about his age.

Tough Enough was meant for people under the age of thirty, but Boogeyman was actually forty years old. Despite being cut, he was sent to developmental territory OVW to hone his skills and develop his character.

Boogeyman had a great, visually stunning gimmick. Everything from smashing a clock over his head--as in he is a waking nightmare--to eating live worms and allowing the disgusting morass of their internal organs to wash over his impeccably chiselled chest, was a shock to the system.

However, sooner or later he actually had to wrestle, and he was less than impressive. He once busted JBL's lip so badly that he needed stitches, and would tear his own bicep during a clothesline spot.

Boogeyman never won any titles, but made enough of an impact that he was signed to a Legends contract.

Why he was never a bigger star: Boogeyman had a great gimmick, but his limited wrestling ability and the fact he got into the business very late probably hindered his career.

#9 The Renegade

Renegade is a classic example of why you don't try to fool wrestling fandom.

Back in the Pre-NWO WCW days, Hulk Hogan was feuding with the heel stable Dungeon of Doom. Yes, you read that correctly; it was actually called the Dungeon of Doom!

Hogan teased that he would have an 'ultimate surprise' for his opponents at a PPV match, and fans were treated to a silhouette of a muscular man with long hair and tassels on his arms.

Fans, of course, reacted with great enthusiasm, because it seemed a sure bet that the shadow they were seeing belonged to the Ultimate Warrior. Imagine their disappointment when instead of Warrior out came the Renegade, a cheap knockoff.

The man who played Renegade, Richard Wilson, was actually an incredible athlete who could perform a springboard elbow and moonsault despite being huge. However, fans felt forever cheated by Renegade, and despite a heavy push that included a clean pin of Television champion Arn Anderson, he failed to catch on.

Tragically, he would take his own life after being fired from WCW. One never knows what might have happened had WCW not tried to fool the fans into thinking he was someone else.

Why he was never a bigger star: Renegade's entire 'bait and switch' gimmick infuriated fans, who refused to get behind him even after he stopped dressing like Ultimate Warrior. It's a classic example of how a promotion can mishandle a good talent and lead them to ruin.

#10 Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley was considered a big acquisition for WWE when he debuted in 2004. A former amateur wrestling standout, he entered the military and continued to dominate in that sport.

So you have a massive man, with a chiselled physique, and bonafide wrestling credentials AND he's a former soldier? Could there be a more perfect recipe for a pro wrestler in WWE?

Apparently, yes, there could be, because despite an undefeated streak and reigns as US and IC champion, the WWE universe never really got behind Lashley. Not even a pre-presidential Donald Trump could get Lashley over. He ended up leaving for the world of MMA, where he met with success though never on the scale of fellow WWE alum Brock Lesnar.

Lashley had an on again-off again relationship with TNA/Impact for years, bouncing back and forth between wrestling and MMA. He did end up with the big belt in that promotion, but despite being a gifted athlete he was never the draw they hoped he would be.

Now Lashley is back in the WWE, and seems squarely mired in the mid-card, just like before.

Why he wasn't/isn't a bigger star: Lashley's real-life persona is a humble, soft-spoken family man. He has trouble broadcasting the image of a legit badass, even though he actually is one. Bobby Lashley can't seem to resonate with the fans, and it remains to be seen if WWE will find a way to get him over in the main event picture.

Who do you think never lived up to their wrestling potential? Please comment below and let us know, and thanks for reading!