10 WWE superstars who were pushed too soon

Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley

Every now and then there comes along one superstar who is prematurely thrust into the spotlight as soon as he debuts. Sometimes this experiment works while sometimes this becomes quite evident that they were pushed way too early and they weren’t even ready.

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We all know that there are people backstage judging who is ready to get pushed, but this still doesn’t explain why certain wrestlers are pushed before they even get a chance to excel at all aspects of their skills.

This article highlights those 10 wrestlers who slipped through the cracks and got thrust into the main event scene before they were ready.


10. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger
Jack Swagger

WWE saw a lot of potential in Jack Swagger. He was an amateur wrestler and showcased some good amateur wrestling skills, but his character and mic work needed more effort.

Fans saw Swagger as a mid-carder who should never be in the main event scene, but as WWE always do, they tried to shove him down fans’ throat almost immediately after he won the Money in the Bank ladder match.

Of course, he cashed in the briefcase to become one of the worst heavyweight champions in history. His mic skills got even worse as days progressed where he would talk about his family. It’s almost like he had nothing better to talk about.

Maybe if WWE had given him some time to develop his skills, we could’ve seen a better version of Jack Swagger. Even being paired up with Zeb Colter couldn’t save him, and he was soon released from the company.

9. Rusev

Rusev
Rusev

When Rusev first arrived in WWE, he dominated over everyone. No one could stop this monster of a man. Even giants like Mark Henry and Big Show fell victim to ‘The Bulgarian Brute’. This went on for a year. His most notable win was against John Cena when he made Cena pass out to The Accolade.

However, Cena was also the first superstar to pin Rusev. After that one loss, Rusev’s momentum started crashing. He lost a couple of matches and was really going nowhere.

WWE built up this great gimmick, but now they didn’t know what to do with it. Even Lana seemed to be getting more attention than Rusev. Perhaps, if they had worked a little bit harder to make his character stronger, he could’ve become a threat to the World Heavyweight Championship.

They could’ve let him lose a couple of matches instead of allowing him to be unbeatable. All this led to a meteoric downfall for Rusev, though he seems to be headed in a good direction, getting his first WWE title opportunity.

8. Mr. Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy
Mr.
Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy was set to become the next megastar in WWE. He had some really great mic skills and at one point, he defeated 5 former world champions making him Smackdown’s fastest rising star.

But a lot of substance abuse scandals and backstage heat with Randy Orton quickly led to his dismissal from the company.

WWE could’ve just given him another chance since he showed great potential, but instead, they decided to discard him and move on.

7. Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio

Right from the beginning, Alberto Del Rio was shoved down fans’ throat. Instead of him slowly climbing up the ladder, he was immediately thrust into the main event scene and fans wanted no part of it.

He debuted in June of 2010 and won the Royal Rumble in January of 2011. A couple of months later he was contesting for the World Heavyweight Championship. His push happened way too soon that it felt underwhelming at times.

People just stopped caring about his character. Eventually, he won the World Championship, but fans still didn’t care. After multiple failed attempts to get Del Rio over with the crowd, WWE gave up on him.

Del Rio started gaining some reaction from the crowd when he was moved down to the mid-card which makes me wonder what would have happened if they had built up his character naturally.

6. Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt was one of the most interesting gimmicks in recent memory. The Wyatt Family would destroy anyone who came in their way. Wyatt even scored a victory over Daniel Bryan. This continued until he ran into a brick wall named John Cena.

Losing to John Cena made Wyatt look like mortal being which affected his character. After that, he became nothing more than a glorified jobber. He lost multiple PPV matches.

Then, suddenly he won the Elimination Chamber match out of nowhere to become the WWE Champion. WWE tried to surprise its fans by making Bray Wyatt the WWE Champion, but his reign was cut short. They didn’t even build him up to that moment making him an afterthought going into the championship match.

He held the title for less than a couple of months only to lose it to Randy Orton in a bizarre and awkward rivalry.

Perhaps, he would’ve been more believable as a champion had he won a couple of PPV and high profile matches leading up to the Elimination Chamber, but all his losses overshadowed his character.

5. Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley had the look and power to stand toe-to-toe with some of the best in the business. He had a marketable gimmick and was loved by wrestling fans. He quickly got over with the crowd since his debut.

However, at that time a lot of WWE talent were jumping ship and heading over to TNA. So, WWE tried to push anyone new who came their way irrespective of experience.

Bobby Lashley was quickly thrust into the spotlight at ECW where he became their ECW champion, but that is as good as it got for Lashley. His biggest moment came at Wrestlemania 23 where he beat Umaga in a decent match meaning Vince McMahon now had to shave his head.

Once he was drafted to Smackdown, he just struggled to compete with the likes of Undertaker and Batista, and his lack of experience and poor mic skills became quite evident.

Being pushed too soon led him to get injured putting him on the shelf for six months. Shortly thereafter, he departed the company.

His recent return to WWE shows that they have learnt from their past mistakes. WWE is spending time in building his character even though he is a veteran now. Only time will tell how this pans out for both parties.

4. Finn Balor

Finn Balor
Finn Balor

Finn Balor rose through the ranks of NXT quickly and became NXT champion. He held the belt for numerous months defending it in spectacular matches. So, that fateful day came when he would drop the belt to Samoa Joe and move up to the main roster.

The fans waited eagerly for it. As soon as he made his debut, he was put into a mini-tournament for the Universal Championship. He won the tournament by beating Roman Reigns in the final.

He then went onto beat Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship injuring himself in the process. The following night on RAW, he vacated the title due to his injury.

He returned many months later but failed to reach the same heights. Things weren’t the same as before. Perhaps had WWE not pushed too soon, he wouldn’t have gotten injured so quickly. They should’ve spent time building up his character on RAW before putting him in the main event.

Since his injury, WWE has been sceptical about Balor and he has remained a mid-carder for the most part of his main roster career. He hasn’t been involved in a lot of meaningful storylines and his star power has taken a dip.

Since Brock Lesnar is currently Universal Champion, I don’t see Balor becoming a Universal Champion any time soon. Maybe they could give him the United States Championship or Intercontinental Championship in the near future. He desperately needs to rejuvenate his career.

3. Sheamus

Sheamus
Sheamus

Looking at Sheamus now, you could say he is going to be around a long time to come, but looking back at the start of his WWE career, you would wonder “what was WWE thinking?”.

Sheamus was quickly put in the main event scene just a few months after his ECW debut. He shocked the world by beating John Cena in a tables match. This was a really surprising move as no one could see Sheamus as the guy who would carry the company as its top champion. In fact, he didn’t have any heat as a heel. He failed to get the fans to react to him like you would expect from a heel champion.

Moreover, he didn’t have any mic skills at that time. As a result, he was quickly demoted to the mid-card after losing the belt. He managed to redeem himself after that and win a couple of noteworthy championship along the way, but I can’t help to stop and wonder what would’ve happened had they waited for the pale Irishman to develop his skills before winning his first Championship. I guess we will never know.

2. The Great Khali

The Great Khali
The Great Khali

Khali was just one of those pushes that should’ve never happened. As soon as he burst onto the scene, he was treated as this huge giant who was unstoppable attacking everyone and everything in sight. He ran havoc for over a year and even became the first Indian born World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history.

His destruction continued until he ran into John Cena. As we all know, a couple of losses(back then) to John Cena and your career is all over. The same thing happened to Khali. He lost a few matches against John Cena and soon after became WWE’s biggest jobber. He popped up a couple of times out of nowhere only to be used as a stepping stone.

WWE could not build up his character again, and people stopped seeing Khali as a threat. Later, he was released by the company which is a huge blessing.

1. Ryback

Ryback
Ryback

Who can forget Ryback’s meteoric rise to the top? Since Ryback made his debut, he destroyed everyone. Sometimes he would beat two or three guys while chanting ‘Feed Me More’. This chant caught on and soon WWE fans worldwide started chanting along with ‘The Big Guy’.

Hence, WWE thought he was ready for a push. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Ryback challenged for the WWE Championship against CM Punk and he lost in controversial fashion.

Ever since that loss, his push has been in question. Not only was Ryback’s mic skills lacklustre, but his ring work was rusty as well. He certainly didn’t deserve the push he received so soon. While the fans loved him because he reminded them of Goldberg that wasn’t enough for him to get pushed. He just didn’t have what it takes to be a champion. He should’ve won either the Intercontinental or United States Championship before getting a shot at WWE’s most coveted title.

Even turning him heel didn’t do him any favours. WWE gave up on him and decided to move on.


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