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Over the years, we have seen wrestlers start off from independent promotions and work their way up to try and make it to WWE.
While some of them started early and were able to get a contract with the company soon, namely Randy Orton, Tyler Bate, and Rhea Ripley, others have had to wait for a long time. Seasoned Superstars like AJ Styles, Sting, and Shinsuke Nakamura had to wait years before they signed with WWE.
On the other hand, several promising wrestlers didn't get the long rope and had rather short careers with WWE before they moved on.
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In this article, we will look at the 7 Superstars who had rather short careers with the company, and what they are doing today.
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#7 Gunner Scott
Gunner Scott made his initial appearance in WWE around 2001, after which he competed in a few matches in 2002-2003 under the ring name Vinnie Valentino and Slater Vain.
He later signed a contract with the company in 2004 and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under his actual name Brent Albright.
He had a good career in OVW where he became OVW's first Triple Crown Champion, and even won the OVW Southern Tag Team Champion with Chris Masters. He also had a lengthy feud with CM Punk in OVW.
Under the ring name Gunner Scott, he moved to SmackDown where he made a strong start. He got some big matches and even defeated Booker T soon after his debut.
At one point, Gunner was teamed up with Chris Benoit to take on Booker T and Finlay, and later, he teamed up with Matt Hardy to take on Finlay and William Regal.
However, the company decided to pull the plug on the Superstar prematurely and he was sent back to OVW after he lost a match against Mr. Kenney in June 2006. After the match, he was attacked by The Great Khali, who laid out the Superstar and stuffed him into a body bag.
Gunner's return to OVW went uneventful, and he was eventually released from his contract in October 2006.
Gunner then signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) and competed there for two years before moving on to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) for a few years. He decided to hang up his boots in 2011.
#6 Kharma (Awesome Kong)
Long before WWE could make their female stars into Superstars, Total Nonstop Action (TNA) was building a formidable women's division. Awesome Kong was one of the pillars of their division for some time. In late 2010, she decided to make a move to WWE under the ring name Kharma.
Fans were treated to vignettes for her arrival aired from April 2011 onwards, and she made her debut in May, attacking Michelle McCool after a match.
Kharma continued to attack McCool, but nothing much materialized for her as she never got a match against her. She soon revealed that she was pregnant and was took time away from the ring.
Kharma continued to make a few appearances after 2012, and featured in the men's Royal Rumble match that year. She was, however, released from the company in September 2013 as she was unable to make a full return to the ring in the allotted time. She became one of the few Superstars who only had in a single match in their career, that too the prestigious Royal Rumble match.
She returned to the independent circuit following her release, and once again signed with TNA in 2015. Kong made a surprise appearance at All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in May 2019, after which she became a constant for the promotion.
Apart from her work in the ring, Kong plays a prominent character on the Netflix series GLOW and has been filming for the fourth and final season of the show.
#5 Frankie Kazarian
Frankie Kazarian left Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2005 to sign with WWE in hopes of becoming a bigger star. He had won TNA's X-Division Championship a few times before he left the promotion to chase the bigger dream.
He was immediately assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and made his on-screen debut on Velocity in July 2005. Dubbed "The Future" Frankie Kazarian, he went on a two-month undefeated streak where he defeated men like Funaki, Nunzio, and Paul London.
Even though Kazarian had a good run, it seemed like WWE had no real plans for him. After realizing that there wasn't much for him to do, Kaz left the company after only seven months. He later revealed that he wasn't thrilled with the company's take on their Cruiserweight Division.
He returned to TNA soon after and continued to climb up the ladder on the promotion. After he partnered with Christopher Daniels, the two became unstoppable as a tag team. Both men moved to Ring of Honor (ROH) for some time and we can now see Kazarian perform on All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he became one of the first signings of the company.
#4 Droz
Droz was a promising WWE Superstar and unlike other Superstars on the list, his career was cut short due to a tragedy in the ring. He signed with the company in 1998 after he claimed to the WWE management that he had the natural ability to regurgitate on command.
Vince McMahon tried him out and decided to use this unique ‘ability’ of his as a gimmick.
He made his debut on RAW is War in May 1998 as an associate of the Legion of Doom. Croz then competed in the Brawl for All tournament in 1998, where he managed to reach the semifinals of the tournament before losing to Bradshaw.
Droz parted with the Legion of Doom and was repackaged. He had a gimmick where he was a part of series of skits called Droz’s World, where he would tell stories about his life as a WWE Superstar.
His career came to a bitter end in October 1999 after a botched powerbomb in a match with D’Lo Brown took away a lot more than just his wrestling career. Droz landed on his head during the move and fractured two vertebrae in his neck.
Even though he received a lot of medical care, the injury left him a quadriplegic with no movement below the neck. He has since regained some movement in his upper body but remains wheelchair-bound.
Droz has since written articles with his predictions for each WWE pay-per-view and continues to work as a columnist, writing articles for the company’s website and magazines.
#3 Nathan Jones
After a successful career as a strongman, Nathan Jones signed with WWE in late 2002. The Australian then began performing in dark matches for the company in late 2002 and impressed with his physique and strength. He made his on-screen debut on an episode of SmackDown in April 2003.
Jones’ character was refreshed and he was put into a storyline with The Undertaker. He worked as Taker’s helper and tried to even the odds during The Deadman’s feud with The Big Show and A-Train.
At WrestleMania XIX, Jones and Undertaker were scheduled to face Big Show and A-Train in a tag team match, but Jones was attacked backstage before the match. This left The Undertaker to fight on his own, however, Jones appeared during the end stages of the match to attack Big Show and give The Phenom a chance to pick up the victory by pinning A-Train.
Jones was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and did not appear on-screen for several months. Once he returned in late 2003, he was paired with Paul Heyman on-screen but lost big matches against Kurt Angle and Chris Beniot.
While it seemed like WWE would use Jones as a big character, he decided to quit the company in December 2003 due to the rigor of WWE's travel schedules while on tour in Perth, Australia.
He competed on a few promotions in Australia following his release, and even signed with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) in 2008, but could never compete for the promotion due to nerve damage.
We’ve seen Jones appear in a few movies including Troy, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and Mad Max: Fury Road, and it seems like the former Superstar is happy playing some mean roles on the big screen.
#2 Christopher Daniels
Christopher Daniels may be one of the biggest names in the world of wrestling today, but he didn’t have it as easy a couple of decades ago. Daniels signed a developmental contract with WWE in 1998 and hoped to make it big in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.
The Fallen Angel was instead used as an enhancement talent and lost thrice as many matches as he won with the company, making things a lot more difficult for himself.
The bad booking led to Daniels leaving the company and returning to the independent circuit. He made the right decision as he worked far better out of the company, and signed some top deals with Ring of Honor (ROH) followed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Rivalries against men like AJ Styles, The Young Bucks, and Samoa Joe made Daniels the man he is today and helped him develop into a major name.
Aged 50, Daniels is now signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is still performing some insane moves and is now one of the most revered wrestlers in the business today.
#1 Cain Velasquez
Last but not least, comes the man who was most recently released by the company in 2020.
After a successful MMA career with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that included a big match against Brock Lesnar in which he won the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Cain Velasquez joined the company in October 2019.
He went straight after Lesnar in WWE and the two faced off in a match at Crown Jewel in late October with the WWE Championship on the line.
While Velasquez had a lot of backing from the WWE Universe, he was defeated by Lesnar in under two minutes.
It was revealed that Velasquez had an injury before his signing with the company which he never revealed. This led him to lose his match and also didn't let him participate in the 2020 Royal Rumble.
When the company decided to cut down its list of Superstars in April due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Velasquez was released from his contract just over six months after his signing.
As of now, it is not yet known what direction the former Superstar will take following his release.
