5 Most Underused WWE Superstars

It’s no secret that in the sports entertainment business some make it and some don’t. Sometimes, however, great wrestlers get overlooked and forgotten and it’s painful to witness their prolonged burial. Here’s a list of 5 WWE superstars that go into the “criminally misused” category.

  1. The Ascension

Konnor and Viktor were NXT’s most dominant team. Even nowadays, despite the disgraceful treatment they got on the main roster, every time the Ascension goes back to NXT to wrestle, they get a huge pop. The crowd resonates with every stomp they lay on their helpless opponent in the corner. The main roster, however, seems to have no place for them.

The Ascension’s gimmick was dark, gothic, almost fantasy-like. Originally, they were meant to look inhuman, reminiscent of ghouls or vampires that tear apart anyone who stands in their way. I expected their hair-raising gimmick to transcend to the main roster with them but I was wrong.

In a moment of “brilliance”, the WWE Creative decided to debut Konnor and Viktor as a couple of delusional goons, who think they are better than all of the legendary teams and who get beaten for it every single time. Instead of dominance, the Ascension was given ridicule. The story got old quickly and the Ascension was forgotten.

It’s painful to see the comparison of the proud legends of NXT they used to be and the jobbing jokes they are now. The WWE’s done Konnor and Viktor great injustice and needs to fix it. It’s not too late. The Ascension have been so irrelevant on the main roster that a reboot could give them a clean start.

  1. Neville

Here’s another brilliant NXT graduate, who barely makes it to the midcard on the main roster. Adrian Neville ruled NXT. His speed and agility are unmatched. There’s no fight he has been in that hasn’t been a spectacle. The Red Arrow is a thing of beauty.

Neville’s main roster debut was promising. He got a pop, the majority of the crowd recognized him and the Red Arrow caught the attention of those who didn’t. However, the WWE Creative stroke again. They thought that the smartest thing to do was to book Neville as a novelty act. He’d be the flying elf, who only lands his one finisher and ends a 2-minute match with good photo opportunity. That’s no way to treat a former NXT champion.

As magnificent as the Red Arrow is, it’s far from being the only thing Neville has to offer. The disgraceful way his move set was cut down when he came on the main roster frustrates me. Anyone who’s watched NXT knows what Neville is capable of. Making the ridicule of his looks central to his character was stupid from the WWE. We don’t need to hear Jerry Lawler joke about Neville’s ears every time he’s in the ring.

Maybe Neville’s average mic skills hurt his chances on the main roster. However, he’s not worse than Roman Reigns and Roman is the central piece of the WWE at the moment, regardless of what people may or may not want. Therefore, I think it’s quite justified to ask for more. The latest wrong move of the Creative was to make Neville Kalisto’s first opponent for the US title. This match doesn’t seem to be aimed at starting a feud and it should have. It should have been saved for later and it should have turned into a beautiful feud. Unfortuantely, we only got a one-off fight between opponents who could steal the show every single night.

  1. Tyler Breeze

Tyler Breeze is the newest NXT star to get called up to the main roster and to get buried before the fans could even realize he wasn’t in developmental any more. The wound is still too fresh. It was only in the end of October that Prince Pretty hit the main roster. At the end of January, he’s lost his valet and he’s already been completely erased from all storylines.

Tyler has one of the most recognizable wrestling styles I’ve seen. You can dress him in a morph suit and throw him in the ring with 15 other guys, I’ll still know it’s him. That’s how good he is. However, I always feared the Gorgeous One’s future on the main roster. The mainstream WWE product just isn’t ready for the King of Cuteville. The gimmick is too out there for RAW and SmackDown. Unfortunately, there he falls in the joke/jobber category.

Breeze’s debut feud against Ziggler was weak. They had no real reason to fight and the booking was pretty much 50/50, killing any suspense that could have been. The wrestling was great, both guy know exactly how to play their characters but the booking killed the rivalry. The crowd lost interest quickly and the wrestles took the fall for it, although it was the writers, who took their chances away.

Now Ziggler’s barely on TV and Breeze’s not there at all. Dolph had been around long enough to get over it sooner rather than alter but Tyler’s still new and he might not recover. He’s now in the same position that the Ascension are in and it is unforgivable.

  1. Dolph Ziggler

Dolph isn’t doing that well either. The Show-Off has had plenty of ups and downs in his career and the beginning of 2016 is, unfortunately, marking a “down” moment.

Ziggler has no feud and shifts as a free agent between pointless tag team matches or as the third wheel in other people’s rivalries. Granted, when he joins a team, it usually is the winning team, and still, Ziggler’s far from being where he should be. He deserves a major title run. He could even handle the Big One. And even if that’s a bit too idealistic, seeing Dolph at the top of the midcard, always close to midcard gold, is the minimum we expect. Sadly, it feels like he’s far below that these days.

The Show-Off has the rare ability to not only look good in the ring, but also to make his opponents looks great.  His mic skills are top. Some of his backstage promos would make you feel they were a shoot. Emotion just spills out of him. The fans love him. The only thing in Dolph’s way is the WWE Creative’s reluctance to trust him. The man deserves a major push, not weekly cameos!

  1. The Miz

Yes, the A-lister. As much as you might hate the Miz, he’s great exactly because the fans hate him. I still remember his “Haters Wanted” T-Shirt. It was at a time when the Miz main evented WrestleMania.  Now is a time when he only shows up to get punched in the face on his own miserable show – Miz TV.

The Miz is not an outstanding wrestler but his is a good one. What makes him, as he would phrase it, “awesome” is his personality. The Miz can make anything entertaining. He’s smart in a funny way. His 2016 Royal Rumble performance reminded me what was so amazing about him. He came out, all fired-up to take on Brock and then he proceeded to trash-talk the Beast, while walking past the ring and to the announce table where he did commentary till he saw fit to enter. Again, as much as it made me laugh, it was a clever move. Hypothetically, this could have won him the Rumble. Miz could have been champion. To be honest, seeing the predictable rivalry, lined up for us till Wrestlemania and beyond, I feel as if the Miz wouldn’t have been such a bad idea, after all.

Realistically, the Miz’ chances of getting a run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship any time soon are zero to none. Yet, a midcard title reign could be a possibility. If I were the WWE Creative, I’d start building Miz up and in a couple of months’ time I’d insert him into a title feud. I would make sure he looked credible first. It’s about time the joke got dangerous. I would actually watch Ziggler vs. the Miz again, if the Miz was allowed to appear as a threat, rather than a laughing stock.

A jobber will never create an entertaining feud, so it’s about time the WWE Creative stopped spawning jobbers, instead of building up the wide range of characters they have at their disposal.

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised