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WWE loves to toss around the word "legend", so much so that the word has almost lost its meaning. When they've got guys like Rikishi and Koko B. Ware in their Hall of Fame and guys like The Boogeyman signed to a Legend's Contract, it would seem as if their definition of the word "legend" is a bit flawed.
So why is it, then, that so many already-acclaimed wrestlers had lacklustre-at-best careers in WWE?
Could it be because Vince McMahon would rather push a wrestler that he created, instead of one that was created elsewhere? Could it be that the roster is often too crowded to use everyone properly? Could it be because of an untimely injury? Well, it could be any of these factors and then some.
With that, here are 11 wrestlers who were signed with a lot of hype, but ended up flopping. Well, here are a couple of disclaimers before we begin - the first is that this isn't in any particular order. The second is that I will only be including wrestlers whose time with WWE is finished, so you won't be seeing Gallows & Anderson or the Cruiserweight Division on here because it's not too late for them. Also, feel free to share any other wrestlers you feel that WWE squandered in the comments below! Now, on with the list:
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#11 Sting
While he was in his mid-50's and well past his prime at the time of his signing, WWE fans were ecstatic to see Sting when he debuted at the 2014 Survivor Series. After all, the thought of Sting in WWE seemed to be merely a smark's pipe dream. Needless to say, it was surreal to see him standing in a WWE ring for the first time.
Upon his arrival, fans started thinking up dream matches for the Stinger. Though it was apparent that his first feud would be with Triple H, fans begged to press "fast forward" on the feud so that he could move on to wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31. I mean, it had been a WCW vs. WWE dream match for almost two decades, so how could they not capitalize on it?
Well, long story short - they didn't capitalize on it.
Instead, we got Sting vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 31. WWE kept hyping this as a "dream match for the ages," which it...was? Sort of? I guess? Maybe it was a dream match, but it wasn't THE dream match. And as if WWE couldn't disappoint us anymore with this match...Sting lost.
That's right - we waited decades for Sting to come to WWE, only to watch him stare at the lights for Triple H in his first match.
Sting went on to wrestle only two more matches for the company - a DQ victory over The Big Show on Monday Night RAW, and a loss to Seth Rollins at Night of Champions. So let me ask, how were young fans supposed to see Sting as a big deal if he had a 1-2 record with ZERO decisive victories?
Now, it's too late for us to get that dream match with The Undertaker, because Sting was forced to retire in 2015 due to a neck injury. What a letdown.
#10 Kharma
Granted, this "flop" was less of a booking faux-pas and more of a series of unfortunate events.
Kharma was signed to WWE in December 2010 to much hype. Prior to her signing, she had been tearing it up in TNA and on the independent scene as Amazing/Awesome Kong, and WWE fans yearned to see her break Divas in half.
And for a while, she did.
Debuting at Extreme Rules in May of 2011, Kharma made an instant impact by demolishing a departing Michelle McCool with the Implant Buster. For the next few weeks, she went on a tear, attacking former WWE Divas Champions on both RAW and SmackDown. This was, until the May 25th edition of RAW, when she interrupted a tag team match, only this time, it wasn't to attack anybody. Instead, the monstrous "Diva" fell to her knees and broke down crying. The next week, she announced that she was pregnant and needed to take a leave of absence.
Not an ideal start.
Kharma would end up wrestling only one match in WWE - the 2012 Royal Rumble match. Though she did manage to toss Hunico out, she was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler after just one minute. So Kharma, one of the most world-renowned women's wrestlers in the world, only wrestled for a literal minute in WWE before being released in July of 2012.
To make matters worse, she sadly revealed in March of 2012 that she had miscarried the previous December. This is likely the reason why she never made another appearance in WWE. She was in no place to continue wrestling.
Truly saddening.
#9 Harley Race
At the time of his signing in 1986, Harley Race was one of the most respected wrestlers in the world. A legit tough guy who I would certainly never want to mess with (even now), Race was destined for success in the then WWF.
Sadly, Race did very little of note during his run with the promotion.
Debuting at the age of 43 as the bleach-blond "Handsome" Harley Race in 1986, he quickly won the second-ever King of the Ring tournament and dubbed as "King" Harley Race. This was pretty significant, as the WWF rarely recognized wrestlers' accomplishments outside of the company. As the "King", however, Race didn't really do anything of note, other than coming to the ring in a crown and a cape.
Perhaps his most memorable match (if you can call it that) was his bout with The Junkyard Dog at WrestleMania III. Though he won the match, the King was made to look weak afterwards, as JYD attacked him with a steel chair and stole his cape. He would spend the rest of his time in forgettable feuds with Hulk Hogan and Jim Duggan before going down with a hernia in 1988 and leaving the company a year later following a loss to the new "King", Haku (another guy I would absolutely never mess with).
It's a damn shame that the WWF didn't fully capitalize on Race's potential.
#8 Raven
For a while, Raven was one of the most compelling and mysterious characters in professional wrestling. He had a unique look, his promos were brooding and articulate, and he had enjoyed success in just about every promotion he landed in.
So what did the WWF do when they signed him? Simple? Well, they changed pretty much everything about him.
Debuting at 2000's Unforgiven PPV, Raven helped bring a merciful end to the lacklustre Tazz/Jerry Lawler feud by planting Lawler with a DDT. From there, he entered the Hardcore division, winning the titular Hardcore Championship a record 27 times. Sure, this seems impressive, but bear in mind that the Hardcore Championship was basically just a glorified game of "Hot Potato".
His longest run with the title (which was also his first run with the title) was 31 days long. Additionally, he only held the title for a combined 84 days, meaning that his reigns lasted 3 days each, on average. Also, many of his title victories weren't even televised and lasted for less than one night. Sure, the "24/7 Rule" was entertaining and the hardcore matches were fun, but his record-breaking title count is a lot less impressive when you put it into context.
Anyway, while all of this was going on, Raven got very little promo time. This was one of their biggest mistakes, as Raven was lauded for his mic work. He also ditched his signature curled hair, leather jacket, t-shirt, and jorts combo in favour of dreadlocks, no shirt, and a kilt. When he finally started getting more promo time, it was on Sunday Night Heat, WWE's C-show. Insert cliché about a "tree falling in the forest" here. Finally, in January of 2003, Raven was released from his contract, having won very few matches prior to his exit.
I'm not saying that Raven definitely deserved to be a World Champion in WWE, especially with industry giants like Austin, Rock, and Undertaker running the show at the time. What I am saying, however, is that Raven could have been a solid mid-carder, at the very least. Instead, WWE barely used him.
#7 Último Dragón
By the time Último Dragón signed to WWE in 2003, he was a sixteen-year veteran of the business with multiple championships under his belt. Most of his success came in his native Japan, but he was also a rather decorated luchador in Mexico. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of hype surrounding Dragón's debut with the company.
And then, they did nothing with him.
Despite an impressive victory over Shannon Moore in his WWE debut and despite having an awesome/marketable look, Dragón was almost immediately put on the back-burner. The reason for this was that they expected Dragón to be a high-flyer like Rey Mysterio. When they found out he was more of a hybrid competitor, he was relegated to C-shows such as Velocity and Heat, until we finally got to see him go up against Mysterio on SmackDown. Dragón won, but only because of Tajiri's interference. The match was wholly forgettable, too short, and ended with shenanigans, which is a shame because they could've made this a major PPV match if they had built up Dragón more effectively.
Following his match with Rey Mysterio, Dragón had one more match on SmackDown before disappearing until WrestleMania XX, in which he competed in the Cruiserweight Open. Though he scored the first elimination of the match (eliminating Shannon Moore), he was forced to submit by Jamie Noble soon after. He'd wrestle a couple more times with the company before asking to be released in April of 2004. His request was granted, and he went home to Japan.
For his brief WWE run, Último Dragón earned Wrestling Observer Newsletter's award for "Most Underrated" in 2003. Given his less-than-impressive career there, it's pretty easy to see why.
#6 Tazz
Before Brock Lesnar owned Suplex City, there was Tazz, the "Human Suplex Machine".
He earned this moniker in ECW, where he regularly tossed opponents around like rag dolls. He also had an extremely-protected submission finisher, the Tazmission, which won him multiple championships in the promotion. Between his literal-and-figurative breakneck mat wrestling (see: Sabu) and his intense promos, Tazz seemed to be a legitimate badass.
And then he was signed to the WWF.
Granted, he did have a fairly impressive debut at the 2000 Royal Rumble when he became the first man to defeat Kurt Angle. However, his success was short-lived. While he was ECW Champion, he was booked to lose to then-WWF Champion Triple H, which was seen as a symbolic slap in the face from Vince McMahon to "lesser promotions".
He quickly moved down the card, turned heel, feuded with Jerry Lawler, and was quickly defeated by Stone Cold Steve Austin, who allegedly refused to put over a 'midget' like him (many wrestlers apparently shared this sentiment). He did end up winning the Tag Team Championship with Spike Dudley in 2002 but lost it to Billy & Chuck not long after. He would then be relegated to colour commentary for the remainder of his run.
To be fair, he did look kind of ridiculous standing across the ring from much bigger guys like Triple H. But still, for a guy who was practically built up like a precursor to Brock Lesnar, Tazz's WWE career was pretty laughable.
#5 Scott Steiner
One of the main reasons why the Invasion Angle of 2001 was such a failure was because of a lack of genuine main-event level talent from WCW. Among these notable omissions was "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, who had just freshly reinvented himself from generic technical mastermind to the larger-than-life Genetic Freak that we all know and love. When Steiner finally signed with WWE in 2002, fans were excited to see the "Big Bad Booty Daddy" whooping hi wrestlers and cutting entertaining promos on his opponents' wives once again.
And then he debuted... as a face.
Yes, at the 2002 Survivor Series, Freakzilla debuted by attacking Matt Hardy and Christopher Nowinski, both of whom were heels at the time. He then cut a scripted face promo. Why, in the name of God, would they make one of the most compelling heels in wrestling turn into a heroic babyface? Why would they ever hand a script to wrestling's most infamous loose-cannon at the time? It made no sense, but nevertheless, WWE went with it, thrusting him into the main event feud with Triple H over the World Heavyweight Championship.
Their two matches from 2003's Royal Rumble and No Way Out PPV's were, for lack of a better word, awful. The former of the two even went on to win the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Worst Worked Match of the Year" award. Steiner was well past his prime, gassing early into his matches and appearing to be carrying more mass than he could handle. Not only that, his foot hadn't completely healed from the nerve damage he had suffered near the end of WCW's life. He had what was called "drop foot", which is essentially paralysis of the foot. Triple H was also healing from a partially torn quadriceps muscle at the time, so pitting the two of them together was a recipe for disaster.
After the powers gave up on Steiner, his career went downhill fast. He would go on to have a debate on the Iraq War with Chris Nowinski, feud with Test over Stacy Keibler's managerial services (why?), turned heel on Keibler and left the company after a cup of coffee in the 2004 Royal Rumble.
We never got to see Steiner truly let loose in the WWE, even during his brief heel run. For that, he gets my sympy.
#4 Diamond Dallas Page
One of the only WCW main-eventers to be signed to the WWF during the Invasion angle, Diamond Dallas Page could have been a World Title contender. He was a genuinely likeable guy with a good look, so what could've possibly gone wrong?
Everything! Everything went wrong.
DDP debuted in 2001 as the stalker of Undertaker's real-life wife (at the time), Sara. This would've been fine had they booked DDP as a credible threat, but they didn't. Instead, they had Undertaker completely thrash Page at that year's King of the Ring PPV. Despite this, DDP continued stalking Taker's wife and Taker continued to make DDP look foolish week after week. At some time during this rigmarole, DDP won the WWF Tag Team Championships with former WCW tag partner Chris Kanyon, only to lose them ten days later to the Brothers of Destruction at SummerSlam 2001. Also, he got pinned by Undertaker's wife... who isn't even a wrestler.
Drink that in for a moment - a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion got pinned by a woman that had never wrestled before.
From there, DDP became an annoying, Tony Robbins-type motivational speaker character, ditched the gimmick and went back to being a fan favourite, won the European Championship (which he held for about a month and a half), and left the company in April of 2002, less than a year after his debut.
If they just let DDP be himself, perhaps he would've been more successful. Instead, he was saddled with terrible storylines and gimmicks (he won Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Worst Gimmick" award in 2001 for his "motivational speaker" shtick) and made to look like a joke against WWE-created main-event talent.
His WWE career wasn't a good thing - it was a bad thing.
#3 Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes earned a major name for himself in Jim Crockett Promotions and in World Championship Wrestling in the 70's and 80's. His World Championship feuds with Ric Flair and Harley Race were absolutely legendary, spawning several classic matches and promos from all three men. Not only was Rhodes a celebrated wrestler, but he was also known for his innovative booking. He was a valuable asset to any company he was a part of, both behind the scenes and within them. When he signed with the WWF in 1989, everyone expected his success to translate over.
But it didn't...
Instead, Dusty Rhodes showed up in yellow polka dots and danced around the ring, calling himself the "Common Man". Some say that this gimmick was meant to humble Rhodes for having previously competed so fervently with his new employer. His only arguably-memorable feud in the promotion was with Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri, whom he wrestled (alongside his manager, non-wrestler Sapphire) at WrestleMania VI.
Though he and Sapphire won the match, it was a short and forgettable match-up. After he was jobbed out to Ted DiBiase and betrayed by Sapphire at 1990's SummerSlam, he got rid of the polka dots and started dressing more like he did in the JCP days. Unfortunately, he still did nothing of note before leaving the promotion after the 1991 Royal Rumble, which saw him and a debuting Dustin Rhodes lose to DiBiase and Virgil.
Likely discriminated against for his size and reviled for working with rival promotions for so many years, Dusty Rhodes was not the star that he could've been for the WWF.
#2 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams
Three words - Brawl. For. All.
At the time of his signing in 1998, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams was one of the toughest men in the business. He had previously gone unpinned in North America for almost a full decade, he was involved in three matches that were rated 5-stars by Dave Meltzer, and he was one of Japan's most feared gaijins. Naturally, WWF's first thought was to book a shoot-fighting tournament in an effort to get Williams over as a contender to Stone Cold Steve Austin's WWE Title.
And then it all went wrong. In just two rounds.
After handily defeating former Quebecer Pierre Carl Oulett in the first round of the tournament (which they called the "Brawl For All"), Williams was set to face the lesser-known half of the Smoking Gunns, Bart, in Round II. Some have said that WWF officials were so confident in Williams winning the tournament that they paid him the $100,000 grand prize money prior to his fight with Gunn. Unfortunately for them, at some point during the fight, Williams suffered a torn hamstring and was unceremoniously knocked out by Gunn. The injury would sideline Williams for several months, and he was eventually released following a brief run with Jim Ross as his manager.
Without a doubt, the Brawl For All was one of the stupidest things that WWE ever did. The fans hated it, several wrestlers went down with injuries, and they ended up jobbing out the winner of the tournament to Butterbean (an actual boxer) at WrestleMania XV. On paper, maybe it sounded like a good idea, but in practice, it did far more harm than good. The tournament was especially disastrous for Williams, who apparently never forgave former friend Jim Ross for involving him in such a dumpster fire.
Personally, I would have loved to see Steve Williams vs. Steve Austin. Sadly, it never came to be.
#1 Vader
I won't lie - Vader is the reason why I wrote this list.
There was a lot of buzz surrounding Vader's WWF debut in 1996, as he was one of the most revered and respected pro-wrestlers in the world at the time. Having been a multiple-time World Champion in both WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Vader wowed audiences all over the world with his combination of size, power, and agility. Surely, he was being groomed for a World Championship run in the WWF as well.
At first, Vader was actually presented quite well, putting on a decent showing in the 1996 Royal Rumble and then attacking kayfabe-president of the WWF, Gorilla Monsoon, the next night on RAW. When he returned from his resulting "suspension", (which was actually a way to get him off TV so he could have shoulder surgery) he was placed in lackluster mid-card feuds with the likes of Yokozuna and Razor Ramon. Neither of these feuds were able to establish Vader as the machine he was for other promotions, as he won most of the matches in unclean or otherwise unimpressive fashions. But it seemed okay, because he was heading into that year's SummerSlam to compete for Shawn Michaels' WWF Championship.
And then he lost.
According to various sources, Michaels (who was a complete pain backstage at this time) was wary of putting over Vader because he was put off by his stiff style. He would spend the rest of his time as a glorified jobber to the stars. After losing a Mask vs. Mask match to Kane at Over the Edge 1998, he told Michael Cole in a post-match interview that "maybe 'Vader Time' is over", before calling himself a "big, fat piece of s**t". He left the company in October of that year, just over two-and-a-half years into his run.
I genuinely don't know how WWF managed to MESS this up so badly. By all accounts, Vader should have been WWF Champion. Instead, he won zero championships there. He should have been built like an unstoppable monster, much like guys like Brock Lesnar are booked today. Sadly, they had no idea what they had in Vader at the time, so he was built as "just another wrestler".
Absolutely heartbreaking
