5 WWE veterans who helped in putting over talent

They were once world champions, but have lately turned into jobbers
They were once world champions, but have lately turned into jobbers

There are not many WWE superstars from the Attitude Era who are still around today. Albeit some do show up from time to time or on special episodes of RAW and other events.

Some of those superstars have enjoyed immense success where they not only captured the biggest prize in this industry, the WWE Championship, but also got to headline The Grandest Stage of them All, WrestleMania.

These superstars were great in their primes, however in the wrestling business when Father Time catches up with you, you've got to pass on the torch to the next generation of superstars. The veterans retire from pro-wrestling and most of these former world champions likely get inducted into the hall of fame.

In their respective primes, most of them had jobbers lose to them so that they themselves could look strong. Fast forward a few years later, and some of them assume the role of an enhancement talent i.e. become a jobber themselves.

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With age, performers come and go and each new Superstar brings something completely different to the table. Our beloved WWE Superstars have dedicated themselves and their lives toward improving the product and entertaining the WWE Universe.

Therefore, an old WWE veteran losing to young upcoming stars is simply the nature of the beast. They have nothing left to lose anymore and they likely don't have a lot of time left in the ring.

These WWE veterans were once great, but later in their careers they assumed the role of a stepping stone for younger performers.

Please bear in mind, that the term "jobber" isn't meant to be used in a disrespectful manner towards these great WWE Superstars. In fact, the professional wrestling business would perhaps cease to exist without performers who're willing to assume the role of a jobber/enhancement talent.

It's worth noting that pro-wrestling has, for long, served as a mirror to human civilization in real-life, and akin to the real world--inside the ring, when one Superstar wins the other naturally has to lose. The jobber is an important part of the pro-wrestling puzzle, and today we take a look at a few WWE veterans who assumed the essential role of putting over up-and-comers--


#5 Big Show

Big show may retire soon
Big show may retire soon

The World's Largest Athlete has been in the WWE for nearly two decades. He has won three world titles in WWE--ECW Championship, WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. He has headlined WrestleMania and is one of the greatest giants to step foot into the ring.

Big Show is approaching the age of 50 and doesn't show up often on RAW like he used to back in the day. He is a phenomenal athlete and is no doubt a future hall of famer--He debuted in WWE back in 1999 and may soon throw in the towel.

Last year, Big Show had notably fallen victim to current "Mr. Money in the Bank" Braun Strowman. He lost to Strowman clean on RAW, was easily thrown through a steel cage and suffered a suplex from Strowman which caused the ring to collapse.

An enhancement talent makes other performers look strong, and Big Show truly did make Strowman look like a bona fide star!

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#4 Jack Swagger

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Jack Swagger was pushed to the top very swiftly after his debut. He accomplished so much in a small amount of time after he joined the company.

He debuted in ECW on September 2008 where he began an undefeated streak that lasted until February 2009. In January of that year, he won the ECW Championship, less than four months after debuting.

He went on to lose the title and then won the Money In The Bank ladder match. Subsequently, on a SmackDown episode, he successfully cashed in the contract against Chris Jericho to become World Heavyweight Champion. After losing the WHC, Swagger began being accompanied by his own mascot, the Swagger Soaring Eagle.

From July-September 2012, Swagger went on an extended losing streak before taking time off. After his return in 2013, in the lead-up to WrestleMania XXX--he went on yet another losing streak, while Cesaro picked up multiple victories over him.

Swagger ended up competing on Main Event, briefly teamed up with Mark Henry and subsequently ended up parting ways with WWE.

#3 Mark Henry

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Mark Henry's career has been a roller coaster for the past 20 years. The World’s Strongest Man was not an actual main event performer until late in his career, and was named PWI’s Most Improved Wrestler in 2011.

The reason why Henry was made champion was mostly due to him being repackaged as a monster heel in the company, one who would induct his opponents into the what he called the “Hall of Pain”.

His character change cemented himself as a real threat in the main event scene, which led to him capturing the World Heavyweight Championship. The reason Henry lost his place on the card was because of the injuries he sustained, as his age and size caught up with him.

Since he lost his steam, Henry has regularly been putting over younger talents, most notably during his feud with Ryback for the Intercontinental Championship in 2015, where he lost three consecutive times. He also lost to Kevin Owens on Raw and suffered an attack from Roman Reigns before WrestleMania 31.

Henry was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame earlier this year, and does compete sporadically in WWE

#2 Triple H

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Triple H is one of the greatest superstars in WWE history. He is a 14 time world champion and has headlined multiple events including WrestleMania.

He is WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative; and the founder of NXT. He is one of the few superstars from the Attitude Era who are still with the company.

Triple H has been putting over young stars for long, and is paving the way for future WWE superstars. Triple H hasn't won a singles match for quite come time now.

This caused him to become a jobber for the up-and-coming younger wrestlers. His last WrestleMania victory was against Sting at WrestleMania 31.

He lost to Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30, Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32, Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 33 and Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 34. He also lost to John Cena at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in April.

This just shows you how far The Game is willing to go to help put over younger superstars.

#1 Kane

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When Kane made his WWE debut in 1997, fans were legitimately terrified of his monstrous presence. He was billed as the younger half-brother of The Undertaker, The Big Red Machine quickly jumped right into the main event scene.

However, as time went on, the character evolved and went through some rather significant changes.

After not capturing any major title for several years, he floated around in the mid-card and teamed up with Rob Van Dam for most of 2003. He then lost a title match against Triple H on RAW in 2003, and Kane was forced to unmask after the match in front of millions of people.

Since then, Kane has been used as a stepping stone either to put over younger talent or make other contemporaries look dominant--especially with his corporate gimmick which saw him lose most of his matches.

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Edited by Johny Payne
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