10 pro wrestlers who failed to live up to their hype

#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.