Cesaro and the Top 10 Most Underutilized WWE Superstars Right Now
If it wasn't already evident, 2015 has been the year during which the future has officially arrived in WWE. Leading the charge is Seth Rollins as WWE World Heavyweight champion, and behind him are many a man who have also solidified their spots among the elite in the main event scene.
With Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns headlining pay-per-views and Kevin Owens making an extraordinary impact, the future of WWE is undoubtedly bright. Management has done a commendable job of ushering in a new era of change in recent years with everyone they now have at the helm.
But for every Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, there are several Superstars who aren't being utilized to their full potential at the moment. While WWE has one of the best wrestling rosters in the world, the average viewer would never know how talented a certain star is, because stars often don't get the television time they deserve.
Granted, WWE can't push every exceptional performer at one time, but the booking of these individuals could be considered criminal. Whether it's them being relegated to primarily working WWE Superstars, or they're not as high up the card as they should be, their abilities are too remarkable to be overlooked.
As Superstars with promise, these 10 talents rank in as the most misused competitors in the company today.
10. Jack Swagger
1 of 10
Upon his arrival in WWE in late 2008, Jack Swagger was primed to be the next big thing. Billed as "The Wrestling Prodigy," he quickly ascended the ranks on ECW by capturing the brand's top championship and embarking on an undefeated streak in singles competition.
Once he was moved over to Raw in mid-2009, he lost his way for a while before rebounding in a big way by winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 26 and the World Heavyweight Championship days later. Even as world champion, however, WWE has failed to utilize Swagger properly by not giving him the treatment of a top-tier star.
It's not that Swagger didn't deserve a run with the title—rather, it came prematurely. It did more to harm him than it did to help him in the long-run, as it was another three years before he'd re-enter the world title picture.
Although his time in the main event scene was once again short-lived, he suffered a major career resurgence in the summer of 2014 by turning babyface for the first time in his career. Within weeks, he became one of the most popular acts on the roster and was embroiled in a hot program with the undefeated Rusev.
Once the angle ran its course, Swagger was back to being a regular on WWE Superstars and hasn't been prominently featured on programming since. Despite being over with the audience and a great in-ring talent, his talent continues to be squandered by WWE.
9. Bo Dallas
2 of 10
For a time down in developmental, no one believed in Bo Dallas' abilities more than management. As a fan favorite, he was met with jeers from the audience, but in spite of that, officials put the NXT Championship on him in the summer of 2013.
As his reign progressed, he further developed his character and flourished as a heel, honing his skills both in the ring and on the mic. When his championship reign ultimately came to an end in early 2014, it became clear that he was ready to take the next step to the main roster.
Following weeks of vignettes, Dallas' arrival on Raw was met with anticipation from fans who were exposed to his enjoyable line of work on NXT. In stacking up multiple wins, the multigenerational star proclaimed himself "5 and Bo," which quickly got over with the audience.
Out of nowhere, his streak came to an end at the hands of R-Truth in July 2014, and he's been floundering in the undercard ever since. WWE briefly brought him back to prominence during a short-lived feud with Neville several weeks ago, but once that was over, his TV time was curtailed drastically.
He may not be the greatest in-ring worker, but Dallas can be an entertaining act with some support from WWE Creative. It had the perfect opportunity last month to put him with his brother Bray Wyatt and have him serve as one of his "followers," but that unfortunately never came to be.
8. Emma
3 of 10
The entire Divas division is in a subpar state right now with the women not receiving any chances to showcase their skills or develop their characters. But of all the ladies on the main roster, no one is having her talent wasted more than Emma.
It was evident from her NXT debut in early 2013 that Emma was something special, impressing the audience with her exceptional in-ring skills. Granted, the dancing gimmick she later created for herself was goofy, but somehow, it won over the crowd at Full Sail University.
Similar to Paige, she was ready for the main roster call-up by late 2013, and come January, she was officially a part of the Raw roster when she made her premiere as a fan in the crowd. Needless to say, it was a lackluster way of introducing her to the Raw viewers, and pairing her off with Santino Marella from the get-go was also an atrocious idea.
No disrespect to Santino, but once someone is put in a tag team or an on-air relationship with him, it's virtually seen as the kiss of death for one's career. Emma was never able to recover from the "comedy" she was put through, and as a result, her shtick never got over with the fans.
WWE is in need of great workers to lead their Divas division, and why WWE has instead marginalized Emma is beyond anyone's comprehension. At the very least, she's been able to rejuvenate her character in NXT as of late, so one can only hope that her success there translates to the main roster.
7. Adam Rose
4 of 10
Among these elite individuals, Adam Rose may seem out of place on this list, but if you've seen ESPN's E:60 special on NXT, this shouldn't come as any surprise.
Ray Leppan has had many characters over the course of his career in WWE, but the one that seemed to stick was Adam Rose. After portraying Leo Kruger for many years and never getting the call-up, it wasn't until he started partying and shaved his signature beard that he was given the green light to move up to Raw.
The biggest mistake WWE made with him, however, was not keeping him down in developmental longer to further flesh out his character. He had all of two appearances on NXT before he was main-roster bound, and by the time he debuted on Raw, he didn't get over as officials had hoped.
There wasn't anything more to the character than the entrance, and because of that, Rose was dead in the water. He wouldn't be included on this list if it was just for that, but his amazing involvement in the E:60 special and all the positive press he got from it should have meant WWE was finally going to repackage him, and they have yet to do so.
Instead, they paired him off with Rosa Mendes and stripped him of everything that made him special. In addition to being a decent worker, he has a lot more to offer that WWE refuses to recognize.
6. Dolph Ziggler
5 of 10
It's difficult to label Dolph Ziggler as "underutilized" when he's a regular on Raw each week, but considering what he's capable of, it is mind-boggling he isn't higher up on the card at the moment.
Ziggler has been with WWE for over a decade, and despite always having been a main-event-level performer, he has been relegated to the midcard for a majority of his career. He's an excellent wrestler, a talented talker, the audience adores him and he has a marketable look, so what's holding him back from reaching the next level?
Other than being a victim of backstage "heat" at various points over the years, there is no excuse as to why he shouldn't be involved in the main event scene right now. He's flirted with world championships in the past, but he has yet to have the long reign with the gold that he's earned.
A perfect example of how inconsistent WWE is with the booking of Ziggler came last fall when he was the sole survivor in the main event of Survivor Series, effectively ending The Authority (for a time, anyway). Less than two months later, he was back to being lost in the shuffle in the midcard and pointlessly chasing the Intercontinental Championship.
In recent months, he's contested some stellar matches with Sheamus and Kevin Owens, but the only plan they have for him currently is that he'll be paired with Lana for the foreseeable future. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture is clouded these days, but you can't tell me Seth Rollins vs. Ziggler for the belt wouldn't be a viable pay-per-view main event.
5. Luke Harper
6 of 10
If you know Luke Harper solely from his WWE work, you're missing out on the full range of his incredible abilities. He's showcased his skills here and there since his WWE debut in 2013, but when looking at his line of work on the independent scene, it's unreal what he can get done in the ring, especially for someone of his size.
He was perfect in the role of one of Bray Wyatt's followers from 2012 to 2014, but once the stable (prematurely) split up, it was seen as the golden opportunity to make a singles star out of Harper. He was off to a strong start when he aligned with The Authority, captured the Intercontinental Championship and participated in the main event of Survivor Series.
Sadly, it was all downhill from there for him.
In losing every single match he had as champion, he wasn't perceived as a threat by fans, and it was back to the undercard when he dropped the strap one month after winning it. He floundered for the first half of 2015 before finally reuniting with Erick Rowan in the tag team ranks just recently.
It's great to see that Harper is doing something worthwhile again and isn't being utilized as an enhancement talent any longer, but WWE could be doing so much more with him. Sure, he isn't world championship material, but he's too unique of a character to be cast aside.
4. Cesaro
7 of 10
Being underutilized has been a common theme throughout Cesaro's career in WWE, as he has yet to live up to his full potential as a singles star. That's not to say he never will, but WWE needs to stop delaying the inevitable and push him at the main event level where he belongs.
For years, there were rumors of Cesaro being labeled as "boring" by backstage officials, which was holding him back from attaining more success on his own. This was all but confirmed when Vince McMahon himself admitted on Steve Austin's critically-acclaimed podcast in December that he didn't think Cesaro had the "it" factor and stated it might have to do with his Swiss background.
Needless to say, it was one of the more ignorant comments we've heard from the chairman in recent memory. Cesaro proved earlier in the year that he became the star he'd always been destined to be when he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but because of botched booking, his momentum slowly fizzled out.
He was wasted in midcard purgatory before forming a tag team with Tyson Kidd late last year, and almost instantly, the two had chemistry together and made for a highly compelling and entertaining team. Unfortunately, an injury suffered by Kidd just recently put the pairing on the shelf for the time being, leaving Cesaro to fend for himself.
Although it's disappointing that the duo of Kidd and Cesaro will be on hold for a while, there is no more opportune time than now to start pushing him as a top babyface on the roster. He's already over with the crowd; it's simply a matter of WWE willing to capitalize on his popularity.
3. Stardust/Cody Rhodes
8 of 10
Cody Rhodes is no different than a number of the Superstars featured on this list: He's been on the brink of breaking through to the main event level, but before he could solidify his spot as a top-tier talent, he has had the rug pulled from underneath him.
Although he has six WWE Tag Team Championship reigns to his credit, the only successful run he had on his own came in late 2011 and early 2012 as Intercontinental champion. He was a strong candidate to win the Money in the Bank ladder match that year, and in coming up short of capturing the briefcase, he was restricted to the midcard instead of working his way up the card.
Just because he hasn't done well on his own shouldn't be a reflection on his talent, however; he proved in the summer of 2013 that he could get over as a singles act, but the pairing with his brother Goldust (albeit awesome) prevented from taking the next step to superstardom.
To make matters worse, he was saddled with the silly Stardust persona in 2014 that he has yet to ditch. There's no denying that he's dedicated to the role, and he should be commended for that, but let's face it: Cody is so much better than some comedy character who won't get him where he needs to go.
At 29 years old, there's still time to make a star out of him, but the longer WWE waits, the less time he'll have at the top. He'll likely be taking time off for the next few weeks following the passing of his father, but upon his return, he should return to being Cody Rhodes and be given a run with the United States Championship in honor of The American Dream.
2. King Barrett
9 of 10
If you were to look up the term "start-and-stop push" in the wrestling dictionary, you'd see a picture of Wade Barrett next to the definition. Never at any point in his five-year stint with WWE has he been booked consistently as a credible competitor, which is a shame given the talent he possesses.
With Barrett at the helm, The Nexus was red hot in the summer of 2010, but due to an unnecessary loss at that year's SummerSlam event, they were never the same. Since then, that's essentially been the story of his career: WWE giving him a deserved push only for Creative to drop the ball on it.
While he's been out with injuries from time to time, nothing was stopping Creative from having him pick up right where he left off. Case in point: He was way over with the audience as Bad News Barrett, and once he returned to the ring in early 2015, Creative failed to capitalize off that momentum by keeping him heel.
You would think that in a year when he reigned as Intercontinental champion for three months and became the 2015 King of the Ring, he'd be doing well for himself right now. Well, you would be wrong, as he's one of the weakest roster members at the moment with next to no one taking him seriously.
R-Truth is a fine comedy character, but there's no excuse as to why he should be beating Barrett on three different occasions in the year 2015. The British brawler has all the tools to be a future world champion, but WWE continues to waste his massive potential by turning him into a giant joke.
1. Damien Sandow
10 of 10
At a time when the WWE product was as dreadful as it was, Damien Mizdow was one of the best parts about the program in late 2014. And the funny thing is that it was never meant to be more than just a one-night-only deal, but much like everything else he's encountered in his career, he made the most of the character, and it got over big time with the WWE Universe.
As The Miz's stunt double, Sandow would mimic the mannerisms of Miz at ringside to laughs from the live crowd. It seemed as if he was topping himself every week by trying something new, and as a result, he became the most entertaining act on the roster.
It was clear in the fall that the logical long-term plan would be to have Miz turn on Sandow because of his growing popularity. The seeds were planted in early 2015, and tension was teased between the two going into WrestleMania 31, but the payoff of Sandow tossing Miz from the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal only to get eliminated by Big Show couldn't have been weaker.
The follow-up to the feud didn't do either of them any favors, as Miz ended the feud victorious before taking time off to film a movie. WWE had its chance to make Sandow into a star by having him be himself, but shortly after ditching the stunt-double shtick, he started imitating Randy Savage, and he's been off Raw since then.
Sandow is another individual who doesn't need a gimmick to get over, and despite how many times he's proven his worth to management, it continues to overlook his ability to turn anything he's involved in into gold. Whether he's become a lost cause is debatable, but what can't be argued is that he is easily the most underutilized talent in the company today.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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