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It is hard for professional wrestlers to establish themselves as main event talent. Some work hard for years and earn their time in the spotlight while others are given the opportunity from the beginning. Regardless of their background or level of talent, not everybody succeeds in the main event scene. Being given a huge push by the company is often not enough. There are many examples of wrestlers being pushed to the moon by the powers that be, only to be rejected by the fans.
The history of wrestling is littered with names of people forecasted to be main event Superstars and for one reason or another never made it. Some were not given enough of a chance and some were given too many chances. Sometimes wrestlers were given the chance too early in their career and never recovered from being tossed to the wolves when they failed.
Here are 5 Superstars who didn't leave a mark in the main event picture.
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#5 Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett won the first season of (Gameshow) NXT. On June 7th, 2010 The Nexus invaded Monday Night Raw and laid waste to John Cena and CM Punk. Wade Barrett led the group and would go on to compete in a high profile feud with John Cena. As leader of the Nexus he main evented Summer Slam and Survivor Series in 2010. By early 2011 he was relegated to leading The Corre on SmackDown. Barrett went from white hot to bottom of the barrel within a handful of months.
For a long time, Barrett did nothing of notice, until he adopted the "Bad News" Barrett gimmick in 2013. The gimmick ended after a short while. Barrett won the 2015 King of the Ring and became "King Barrett". The WWE didn't seem to have much faith in Barrett as a main event talent and in 2016 he left the company to pursue a career in acting.
#4 Vladimir Kozlov
Unlike other wrestlers that WWE pushed, it is hard to see what they saw in Kozlov. Sure he was large, but he didn't have the best look or physique. He could barely cut a promo and would wrestle the worst match of the night almost every time. Despite all this Kozlov went on an undefeated streak and challenged for the WWE Championship on multiple occasions. He was even rumored to be The Undertaker's opponent for WrestleMania 25.
He was pinned for the first time by The Undertaker during the 2009 Elimination Chamber match. He lost his first singles match to Shawn Michaels. The match decided who would face Taker at WrestleMania 25.
Kozlov then got lost in the midcard and eventually became part of a comedy tag team with Santino Marella. He went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship with Santino. He was released from the WWE on August 5th, 2011.
#3 Jack Swagger
Five months after his debut, Jack Swagger became the ECW Champion. He held the title for 104 days before losing it to Christian. He won the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania 25. He cashed in his contract two days later and surprised Chris Jericho to win the Heavyweight Championship. The fans rejected him and he became a B-level champion. He lost the title a few months later in a fatal four way match.
Swagger dwindled in the midcard for the rest of his WWE career. On stage, he was Michael Cole's trainer for his match against Jerry "The King" Lawler at WrestleMania 27. He also tagged with Cesaro as "The Real Americans" but they never managed to win the Tag Team Championships.
Swagger was released from WWE on March 13th, 2017. He is currently competing as Jake Strong in Lucha Underground. Swagger is a perfect example of someone being pushed too early in their career and then doing nothing noteworthy for years.
#2 Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal is a decent lower-mid card performer. His charisma or wrestling skills are nothing special and fans never really cared for him. That's why fans were left scratching their heads when he won the WWE Championship. At Backlash 2017 Mahal beat Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship. This seemed to be a part of WWE's attempt to tap into the Indian market, despite Mahal being from Canada!
Mahal was champion for six months and WWE's business in India didn't pick up. Fans were left wondering why he was still champion. He would finally lose the title to AJ Styles on November 7th, 2017 on an episode of SmackDown Live.
Mahal won the United States Championship at WrestleMania 34 and lost it eight days later to Jeff Hardy. He has faded back into the midcard on RAW. He and the Singh Brothers doing a "Peace" gimmick.
#1 Alberto Del Rio
WWE were looking for a new Hispanic superstar and Alberto Del Rio was the perfect choice. He debuted in 2010 after a series of vignettes. He was very good in the ring and his charisma was outstanding.
WWE pushed Del Rio and had him win the 40 man Royal Rumble match 2011. He went on to lose his championship match to Edge at WrestleMania 27. Edge retired suddenly a week later and Del Rio was booked to face Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Championship. Del Rio lost that match too and was drafted to SmackDown.
He won the Money in the Bank match and cashed in to win the WWE Championship from CM Punk at Summer Slam. However, his reign was overshadowed by CM Punk and his "Pipe Bomb" attitude. Del Rio dropped the belt to Cena a month later and his reign was forgotten.
Del Rio would win the Heavyweight Title eventually but he was never seen as an A-level champion. He was fired from the WWE on August 7th, 2014 for a backstage incident. He returned to the company in 2015 but never reached main event level. He was released again on September 9th, 2016.
