5 WWE Superstars Who Should Walk out

The revelations of the last two weeks have been stunning to say the least. If you haven't listened to CM Punk's explosive appearance on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast yet, take the next two hours and find a place to focus. 

In the podcast linked above, you'll hear Punk discuss subjects related to how the WWE medical staff cared for his injuries and illnesses, his clashes over creative direction, both for his character and others, along with a litany of other grievances. 

To follow Punk's comments, WWE Network hosted its first ever live presentation of Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast after Raw on Monday night with special guest Vince McMahon. Like the podcast linked above, if you haven't watched the interview with Vince and have a subscription to the Network, make it a priority viewing item. If you don't have access, Bleacher Reports Ryan Dilbert put together a good analysis of the program. 

Beyond Punk, there are other stars that are getting the shaft within WWE and have for years. The following slides feature stars I think could go on, make very good money and have a great wrestling career outside of the WWE's vise grip. They are all remarkably talented individuals who haven't made it where they should due to the company's business model and stifling creative environment. 

I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

AJ Lee

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We'll start with CM Punk's wife, AJ Lee. By far the most over-performing, most beloved member of the Divas roster, AJ has been saddled with the responsibility of making women's wrestling look like something more than a tacky, catty E! network reality show for the last few years. 

Recall there was a time AJ was the most over performer in the entire company, not just the most over Diva. She was the focal point of Raw for several weeks during the Punk-Daniel Bryan feud that later began to include John Cena, of course, due to it being popular and the company's need to attach Cena to anything the crowd likes in order to keep him front and center. 

Financially, AJ should be set. Sure, she's married to Punk, but AJ has been a lock for a pay-per-view payday on a monthly basis due to the shallow Divas roster in addition to likely making a good amount from her merchandise sales. 

AJ also has incredible crossover appeal. She's a Comic Con/Wizard World dream. If G4 was still a thing, gamers would be glued to watching her talk about comics, video games and all things nerdy 24 hours a day.

Of course, AJ is also a wrestling fan, which brought her to this stage in the first place. She loves the business and is probably just as pained by its pathetic presentation as her husband. Together, Punk and AJ could make a lot of money doing appearances for companies overseas, wrestling conventions, etc.

I think AJ still wants to work. She's young and theoretically has her best years ahead of her. She'd be a draw in Mexico and Japan where they'd make her not only the front of their women's division but one of the main draws of the entire program. AJ is the most talented Diva WWE has had since Trish Stratus, and she's unfortunately been wasted while WWE promotes Total Divas. 

Cesaro

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So, Vince, tell me again how Cesaro doesn't have the "it" factor?

Was it when fans started showing up with Cesaro Section signs? Was it when the crowd lost its mind when he body slammed Big Show out of the ring to win the Battle Royal at WrestleMania this year? Was it how the crowd began counting along with each revolution of his big swing? 

Somehow Vince has managed to be willfully blind and deaf when it comes to Cesaro. He didn't appear to appreciate Austin's prodding during the Network interview regarding Cesaro and the role in which booking played in his fallback into midcard purgatory. 

Cesaro is one of the 10 best in-ring competitors in the world today. He's got the size, strength and clean record Vince likes and wants in his featured attractions. After hearing Vince say during a heavily promoted part of the Network he doesn't think Cesaro has what it takes right now to be anything more than he is, how can Cesaro himself keep going?

He's European and probably one of the most famous living professional wrestlers on the continent. He's worked the Indies and internationally before coming to the WWE. Cesaro could very easily go anywhere in the world and be one of the top draws in the company. He's clearly a master of his craft and passionate about his work. I struggle to see how Cesaro can't be irate over his boss openly stating he's not good enough in spite of clear demonstrations to the contrary. 

Tyson Kidd

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Anyone who has watched NXT for the last year knows Tyson Kidd has finally came into his own. His work as an insecure—yet overconfident—smarmy, self-entitled heel has been remarkable. We've never questioned his work between the ropes, but his character work has finally caught up. 

If this were the Attitude Era...wait. I don't to go down that path. It doesn't need to be crash, vulgar television to be interesting. 

If this company cared about booking the entire roster, developing characters, personalities, stories and interest up and down the card, then Tyson Kidd would be one of the best parts of the WWE undercard at the moment. 

His sleazy relationship with Nattie has accentuated his character, making him truly unlikable. I don't want Total Divas, but based on the commercials I see run it looks like his relationship with Nattie is one of the lead stories on the show each season. This is a place where there is legitimate crossover opportunity for WWE to write an interesting story for the flagship that corresponds with drama on the reality show. 

Instead, the Kidd-Nattie marriage conflict looks like an ongoing topic that is ever-present but never close to boiling over or breaking. Instead, we as fans are conditioned to say "yeah, he's a pain, but nothing will ever happen." 

Tyson is only 34 years old and could have a late-career renaissance if given the opportunity. Looking at the way Chavo Guerrero has performed with Lucha Underground, there is no reason Kidd couldn't do something comparable.

I can't help but wonder how much Kidd has been stifled due to the fact he signed with WWE so young. Having been with the company since 2006, you'd think he would've have progressed further by now and have some apparent future. 

He's roughly the same age as Hideo Itami and Finn Balor, who were arriving to NXT with much fanfare these last few months. Having seen Kidd in the ring with both of them, he's just as good between the ropes and has shown more personality than either. Unfortunately, the book has already been written on him in the eyes of WWE management, and he likely won't ever be more than a developmental gatekeeper. 

Kofi Kingston

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Remember that night Kofi Kingston, after dropping the Jamaican accent and gimmick, dumped a bucket of bright orange paint on Randy Orton's new customized race car, cut an awesome promo and then whipped the Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy with a brawl through the fans?

Yeah, it looked like a star-making performance for the international perpetual midcarder. Since then, Kofi has rotated through countless tag partners and a never-ended run of meaningless secondary title belt feuds. 

Kofi's career right now will be remembered only for his exciting Royal Rumble elimination escapes. He shows off his awesome athletic ability, pops the crowd for a minute or so and then gets eliminated shortly after anyway. 

There was so much potential here in Kofi. He is an African Jeff Hardy, capable of putting on fantastic matches with anyone, bumping like a maniac and connecting with a young audience that's clamoring to scoop up his new gear. 

But instead, he's just a smiling stereotype, content with clapping his hands, dancing and filling the six to eight minutes he's allowed on Raw and then delivering a 10-12 minute match on one of the other shows WWE clearly doesn't care about. 

At just 33 years old, Kofi could still have a solid decade left in the ring. But those years will likely be spent jobbing to the latest, less-talented guy the company has decided is worth a push. He'll probably win the tag titles at least one more time and maybe another IC or US championship. 

Before letting this one go, I want to note Kofi has held WWE gold 10 times. TEN TIMES! Eddie Guerrero held gold in the WWE 10 times. Without any blame falling on his dreadlocked head, Kofi's career is an example of how little championship reigns and feuds have mattered in the last decade. 

Cody Rhodes

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There must be something about the Rhodes family that still gets under Vince's skin. Maybe it's the fact no matter what garbage he saddles them with, they manage to get the crowd to love them that much more. 

He put Cody's father in polka dots and the crowd still cheered. Goldust went from a hot cowboy babyface in WCW to a sexually ambiguous painted freak and he's still doing the gimmick almost 20 years later with a huge response. 

Think back to the night after SummerSlam last year, the night that kicked off Daniel Bryan's roller coaster rise to the top and the main event of WrestleMania. That same night, Triple H fired Cody in order to flex his muscles and draw big heel heat.

At the time, we thought this was going to launch Cody as an anti-authority babyface to stand by Bryan and rise to the main event. Even Bleacher Report's own Ryan Dilbert said "Cody Rhodes' Firing Has Made Him an Even Bigger Star."

It made sense to expect this at the time. Cody had been held down a long time and was an undeserved casualty of Triple H's heel turn. His brother Goldust made his return to the company to fight Randy Orton in order to get his brother's job back. The two renegade Rhodes brothers were united and fought The Shield to win the tag titles and save their jobs in one of the best matches of the last few years. 

After burning red hot for months, WWE took the belts off them, made them face Ryback and Curtis Axel on a nightly basis for no reason, then made Cody into Stardust. And when Cody was awesome as Stardust and the crowd popped anyway, they turned them heel and de-emphasized their role on the show. 

Cody has been one of the most consistent workers and characters in WWE for as long as John Cena has been at the top, yet Cody has never risen above the midcard. He's proven his skills on the mic, in the ring, the ability to work face and heel and draw in viewers. 

Everything Vince says Cesaro is missing (which I repeat is nonsense), Cody has in spades. But that hasn't led to his push. Cody has time and again done what he thought was necessary to grab that brass ring and he's been bypassed.

If Triple H and Vince are wearing blinders that make them incapable of seeing a megastar talent like Cody because he didn't come through the NXT system (even though he was and always has been a WWE product), then they are wasting an opportunity to print money. 

Cody Rhodes isn't just the kind of talent the company needs to fill out a deep roster. He's the type of talent you can build a company around.