4 WWE and AEW Stars Who Aren't Living Up to the Hype

In the world of professional wrestling, hype surrounds the biggest and best. From world champions to company favorites in high-profile situations, they are the names who are pushed heavily.

When that happens, though, some stars are also destined to fail to live up to that hype.

Some fail of their own doing, while others suffer through the fault of the creative teams behind them failing to put them in the right position to succeed.

Such is the case here in 2025, where some of the most recognizable stars are struggling to meet the hype that preceded them.

John Cena

Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images

John Cena is considered by many to be the greatest of all time, a label he earned over two decades of stardom at the top of professional wrestling and through some incredible in-ring performances against Superstars of all backgrounds.

He is also in the midst of a retirement tour, not to mention his first heel turn in 22 years, and rewrote the history books by winning his 17th world championship from Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

Despite the ample amount of attention paid to him, he has not necessarily delivered during this one, last run, though it is not entirely his fault.

WWE Creative did not have enough planned out in advance of Cena's heel turn, which has made it feel all too often like the storyline is being made up as it goes. That the longtime babyface's performance in his role feels forced rather than natural has not helped, nor has his diminished in-ring skills at age 48.

While the lacking creative is not his fault, nor is his body's inability to keep up after two-plus decades of big bumps in high-profile matches, toning down his heel persona so that it does not closely resemble a scenery-chewing actor fresh out of Hollywood is. Had he done that from day one, perhaps the heel run would have been more believable than it otherwise has.

MJF

All Elite Wrestling

MJF is a generational talent with a world title reign to his name and matches against the biggest stars in AEW history on his resume. He is a phenomenal talker and among the best in-ring performers in the industry, so imagine the disappointment here in 2025 when he is in the state that he is, thanks to little fault of his own.

While Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, and Jon Moxley are headlining shows in pursuit of championships and in highly emotional feuds, MJF is a sidekick for the Hurt Syndicate.

A world title-worthy competitor, who has accomplished as much, if not more, than any other star in the company, feels like he has been wasted going back even further than his current story with MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin.

All of the hype surrounding him, dating back years, appears for naught to fans just checking out his work for the first time. Here is a guy capable of hanging with every one of the aforementioned headliners but he is stuck in the midcard, his championship stature neutered for the time being amid an unwavering commitment to The Death Riders.

More on them in a moment.

Charlotte Flair

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Like MJF, Charlotte Flair is a standard bearer in WWE, one of the greatest wrestlers of her era and a future Hall of Famer. She is every bit as good as she says she is and deserving of the "Queen" moniker she has given herself.

Since returning from injury, though, her usage has left plenty to be desired.

From an ill-fated babyface run upon her comeback, to a WrestleMania loss to Tiffany Stratton that was never followed up on, to a directionless month or two before finally kicking off a program with Alexa Bliss, Flair has been unevenly booked to her detriment.

It appears to be turning a corner with the intriguing Bliss program but for someone who is highly touted by the company, and has earned every bit of it, she has not lived up to the hype surrounding her and her return to the company at the Royal Rumble, thanks in large part to the creative team's unpreparedness for it.

The Death Riders

All Elite Wrestling

Jon Moxley and The Death Riders were supposed to be the next great faction in AEW, a group of renegade heels that threatened the very future of the company as they sough to reshape it in Moxley's vision.

Except, everything surrounding them has been lackluster at best.

Moxley delivers whimsical, nonsensical promos featuring questionable verbiage from movies, TV, and books he has consumed. The main events are interference-heavy drivel. Worst of all, the faction even managed to turn the most ardent supporters and defenders of the company off, leaving them begging for a new world champion and an end to the invasion storyline.

Not because the group's heel work was so extraordinary, but because they would rather watch anything but the faction's repetitive antics.

While AEW has righted the ship and is on a hot streak creatively as All In approaches, there is still an overwhelming sense that Moxley must drop the AEW world title, which he has held for the better part of a year. to Hangman Page.

If only because the alternative, a faction that has failed to live up to the hype and exposure dominating even a month longer, is unbearable.