5 wrestlers that were pushed by WWE but ultimately failed

In recent times it has left many WWE fans bewildered when stars like Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura have not been pushed by the WWE. Many have even attributed the fall in the ratings for WWE to the way some of the stars are not even pushed or given a chance.

But like everything, there is the other side of the coin as well. There have been stars that WWE has tried to push to only find out that they were just not cut out for the big league. Throughout the history of WWE, there have been that were given that push but couldn't capitalize. Today let's look at a few of the recent ones.

#1 Big Cass

Let's start with one of the biggest disappointments of recent times. Big Cass was supposed to have everything. He was a big behemoth of a guy. Cass was close to 7ft, athletic, and he had a decent presence in the ring.

At the beginning of his career, he was paired with Enzo Amore and the pair were able to get over with the crowd as a tag team, but it always seemed that Big Cass had a lot of potential beyond that team as well.

So when finally he was turned heel and he beat up both Enzo Amore and the Big Show, it seemed like the perfect platform for him to go on to bigger things. But it was just at that time that he injured himself and was out of action for a while.

When he came back he was put into a feud with Daniel Bryan. During the feud, Big Cass' tendency to go off the script and a reportedly bad attitude backstage started coming forward. In a segment Big Cass really went off script, WWE management lost patience with him and fired him.

Recent pictures of Big Cass really don't inspire much confidence about how Big Cass will fare in the future and it does seem he lacked the mental discipline to make it big in the WWE.

#2 Test

Many things were expected from Test. He was a big, muscular guy right out of Vince McMahon's book of what you need to have to succeed in WWE. When you looked at him, you could tell he ticked all the boxes.

Initially he was given the inevitable push while getting engaged to Stephanie McMahon. One thing that became evident as soon as Test was getting pushed up the pecking order was that he lacked the champion's charisma.

He had a physique on him, and that's about it. The in-ring skills were lacking as well, as he was too rough around the edges.

He was put in a tag team, first with Albert and then with Scott Steiner, but whenever that evolved into a singles run he failed miserably. Sadly, a few years ago, Test was found dead due to a drug overdose and concussions, but by that time he had already been out of contact with WWE.

#3 Ryback

It did seem like Ryback didn't have those last few inches to be the next big thing

Ryback was built up as the second coming of Goldberg by WWE (the "bald beast" look also helped apparently). His mannerisms and in-ring dominance pointed to mimicking Goldberg. At one time he even had an undefeated streak in wrestling matches (again, a slight resemblance to Goldberg).

Ryback's part of the play was to come to the ring, decimate the opponent and then leave without saying much. He had a nice catchphrase of "feed me more" as well, which caught on with the audience.

Ryback generated good momentum and faced CM Punk for the title after maintaining an unbeaten run for a while.

Ryback ultimately lost the match, and it was at this point that WWE pulled the plug on his main event push. Perhaps they felt he seemed to lack the charisma and the presence in the ring, which at that point, members of the new faction The Shield were able to display. After a while, Ryback parted ways with WWE.

#4 Alberto Del Rio

One of the best wrestlers in the ring but it was Del Rio's antics outside the ring that caught up to him

Alberto Del Rio is probably one wrestler that WWE regrets hiring because of everything that went on with him outside the ring. One of the great performers in the ring, Del Rio was deservedly pushed by the WWE, but slowly and steadily his actions outside the ring started taking center stage.

Reports came out of Alberto Del Rio's alcohol addiction and his erratic behavior in the backstage area. After that, reports came out of his abusive behavior directed towards his girlfriend Paige (the current GM of SmackDown). All these things slowly led to the killing of Del Rio's push and departure from the WWE.

It does look like WWE have seen the last of him but when it is WWE you can never be sure about what they do next.

#5 Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal did the whole 9 yards to come back into WWE but he just fell short in the ring

Jinder Mahal was almost thrown into oblivion after his first stint with WWE, but to his credit Jinder slowly but steadily clawed his way back with one of the most impressive physical transformations in recent times.

Jinder possessed (and still does) one of the most ripped physiques in WWE, which caught everyone's attention and he started looking the part. With WWE expanding into the Indian market, the management saw an opportunity of having an Indian champion while touring India.

With that in mind, Jinder was pushed as a heel and he ended up winning the title against Randy Orton. Jinder's reign lasted 170 days but during that time Jinder just looked out of place and was not accepted at all by the viewers.

He just didn't have the in-ring prowess or the persona and never looked the part. The stint was so underwhelming that even before the Indian event, Jinder lost the title to AJ Styles, and WWE went to India without him as the champion. Ever since then Jinder has again fallen in the pecking order and is back to his jobbing duties of old.

Edited by Gabby Duran