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WWE bookers cannot please all of the people all of the time and some of the decisions they make will please some but annoy others. Booking decisions can have a positive or a negative effect on superstars, at times a certain route the company have decided to go down may not have worked or it might have had to be scrapped.
What's more, the decision to push a Superstar has to be executed at the correct time and at the right moment. WWE has succeeded at this for many years, with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock and John Cena all becoming massive stars.
But sometimes wrestlers get lost in the shuffle and do not realize their true potential due to either the booking decisions or lack of faith from the powers that be. Other times a lack of consistent writing and a long-term vision can have a negative impact on the Superstars.
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At times a wrestler may not get over because they did not live up to expectations and in other circumstances, it may have been because they were never given a proper chance.
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Take Cody Rhodes as an example of a superstar that excelled in every role he was given in WWE. From his days as a rookie in Legacy to his Stardust character, Rhodes showed how versatile and adaptable he was, in addition to being a tremendous wrestler.
However, Rhodes did not get the rub he or many others were expecting and was reduced to being mid-card level, steady hand. This would ultimately lead to Rhodes leaving the company, whereupon his entrepreneurial spirit has led to him being successful in many different wrestling companies.
Here are five current superstars who are suffering from WWE's booking.
#1 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura has not enjoyed the most auspicious of starts to his career in WWE. Although he is clearly popular with wrestling crowds, specially during his time in NXT, his run in WWE has not lived up to expectations.
After winning the Royal Rumble in January, WWE have failed to capitalize on Nakamura's surge to the top of the WWE. One would have expected Shinsuke to go from strength to strength after he faced AJ Styles for the WWE championship at WrestleMania, but it hasn't worked out this way.
Styles won the match at 'Mania, which in itself was not terribly damaging to The King of Strongstyle, but his subsequent heel turn and follow up bouts with Styles have not worked out so well.
It seems as if Nakamura's heel turn has come at the wrong time. For all his momentum garnered from winning the Royal Rumble back in the winter, in addition to his popularity among the WWE Universe, it didn't appear as if the fans were ready to boo Shinsuke.
AJ going over in the match was not terribly destructive to his push, but the match was more disappointing than many expected and ended in Nakamura turning heel.
The subsequent matches between Shinsuke and AJ have not lived up to expectations, with their matches at The Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash both ending in a draw. The theme of Shinsuke hitting AJ with a low blow has also fallen flat.
It would have made more sense for Styles to turn heel and Nakamura to pick up the win at either WrestleMania, The Greatest Royal Rumble or Backlash. WWE needed to put The King of Strongstyle over in at least one of these matches and their failure to do so has contributed to Nakamura's failure to excel on the SmackDown brand.
#2 Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn has proven his place on the WWE roster, both as a likeable babyface and his most recent run as an entertaining heel. However, it now appears as if Zayn may have peaked as far as any potential push is concerned. The Canadian has most recently suffered a string of defeats, his most recent win coming on the March 6th edition of SmackDown when he won the fatal 5-way.
It seems difficult to see where Zayn can go from here. A potential face turn and feud with partner Kevin Owens has potential, but the reason he turned heel in the first place we to re-energize his character.
This doesn't seem to have worked and after losing a series of big matches, Zayn appears to have faded into relative obscurity. It appears his only place on the roster right now is to put over other talent and his upcoming match at Money In The Bank with appears to only serve the purpose of getting Bobby Lashley over.
Of course, WWE cannot push everyone, but after a dramatic heel turn at Hell in a Cell last year, the chance was there for Zayn to become an established heel. Instead of this he has played second fiddle to partner Kevin Owens and suffered too many losses.
#3 Bray Wyatt
No one has suffered more from poor booking then Bray Wyatt. The Eater of World's has been poorly booked consistently for a considerable amount of time ever since arriving at the WWE.
Wyatt pulls off his supernatural character perfectly and, unlike most superstars in today's product, protects his gimmick. Despite this, Wyatt has not enjoyed the sustained success many were expecting, his WWE championship win at Elimination Chamber in 2017 only lasted until WrestleMania when he lost to Randy Orton in 10 minutes.
Recently Wyatt has feuded with Matt Hardy, most notably facing off in an Ultimate Deletion match on March 19th edition of Raw. WWE failed to capitalize on this match or even give it the attention it deserved, rather Michael Cole poured scorn on the match before it even began, much to the annoyance of many WWE fans.
It certainly did not appear as if Hardy or Wyatt really had the total backing of many within the WWE hierarchy.
Since this Wyatt has mostly played understudy to partner Matt Hardy. It is clear that there is a lack of direction among creative for Wyatt or Hardy. The safest option right now appears to be for them to make the pair team up.
For Wyatt it is a far cry from winning the WWE championship at Elimination Chamber in 2017, his prospects do not look tremendous and this is reflected in him being teamed up with Hardy instead of going solo.
#4 Dolph Ziggler
After a short absence, Dolph Ziggler returned to WWE in January 2018 when he entered number 30 in the Royal Rumble match. Despite entering at number 30, Ziggler lasted just 2 minutes in the match and did not get close to the final stage of the match.
From a booking perspective, it is hard to rationalize bringing Ziggler back, having him enter the match at number 30 and then having him quickly eliminated. But this has been typical of how Ziggler has been treated during his time in WWE.
After the Rumble, there was no clear direction for Ziggler and he was reduced to competing in the pre-show of WrestleMania in the 30-man André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This is not to say that Ziggler deserves to be in the main event scene, but it has been clear ever since his return that WWE has not had a plan for Ziggler.
Since being drafted to Raw, Ziggler has formed an alliance with the returning Drew McIntyre. Similarly to Bray Wyatt, this seems like another example of WWE putting a guy in a tag team because there is no creative direction for him.
Ziggler could have excelled in his disgruntled heel persona, as he did during his solo run, but that amounted to nothing as it turned out. Dolph's in-ring work, in addition to his ability to pull off the role of a frustrated heel, could have been an excellent opportunity for the WWE to add a credible heel to their roster, something which they have been lacking as of late.
This is not to say that teaming him with McIntyre is a wholly bad thing, but overall the lack of consistent booking has affected The Showoff for the worse.
#5 Bobby Lashley
Impact Wrestling do not get a lot of credit in Sports Entertainment circles these days, but they certainly deserve props for their booking of Bobby Lashley. At Impact Lashley played the role of the cocky heel, who was dismissive of the audience and dominating in the ring. He was an uncompromising, believable strong man who deserved his runs as Impact World Heavyweight champion.
Contrast this to the way in which he has been booked in WWE. The segment on May 7th edition of Raw, which saw Lashley give a sit-down interview with Renee Young, was bizarre. In this interview Lashley talked about his family and upbringing, it was a nice segment but did little to help Lashley's cause. WWE appears to want to position him as a kid-friendly star, much like the role John Cena took up, but this role does not suit Lashley at all.
Coming off an excellent run on Impact, WWE would have had to majorly drop the ball for Lashley to lose his momentum and it appears they may well have dropped the ball here. Lashley's strengths lie in being the believable, cocky heel in the mould of a Brock Lesnar, rather than a kid-friendly John Cena-type. Lashley should never have been cast as being just 'happy to be here' but rather out to reek havoc on the entire WWE roster.
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