10 WWE Stars Screwed By Poor Booking

The success of any WWE Superstar will always depend on how the company chooses to use them, and in many cases, it prevents someone who could be a big star from getting to the top.

This is not a new phenomenon. In fact, the strength of someone's booking being a determining factor in their success has been part of the business since it left the carnivals and became its own thing.

For many years, Vince McMahon was the person who held every WWE star's career in the palm of their hand. While it's now a different setup, there are always going to be a small number of people at the top who make those decisions.

Let's take a look at some of the WWE stars who could be bigger but have been kept down by bad booking.

Otis and Akira Tozawa

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At one point in his career, Akira Tozawa was considered one of the best light-heavyweights working in Japan. These days, he is little more than a comedy act in WWE.

Otis once won Money in the Bank and seemed destined to be a fan favorite in the main event scene, but those days are long gone.

Now, both men are saddled with being in a tag team that is rarely used for more than generating a few laughs from the crowd.

Both are great athletes in completely different ways. Otis, in particular, has shown more athleticism than fans might realize at first glance, but WWE's current booking isn't capitalizing on it.

Now that Maxxine Dupri has left them to join The Vision, they feel more lost than ever. It would be great if they got a run with the tag titles to see how they fare, but the odds of that seem slim.

Angel and Berto

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Angel and Berto pop up frequently at house shows, and they do make appearances in AAA from time to time, but their presence on the main roster has been minimal for a long time.

Their group with Santos Escobar never went anywhere once Escobar disappeared from television, and the team has struggled for momentum ever since.

This is sad to see since both are fantastic in-ring performers. You could put them with any other tag team, give them 15 minutes to do what they want, and they will steal the show.

The real-life cousins could be such a valuable asset in the Raw, SmackDown or NXT tag team divisions, but WWE only seems to book them when it needs to put another team over.

Ivy Nile and The Creed Brothers

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After Chad Gable turned heel, he recruited Ivy Nile, Julius and Brutus Creed to serve as his new faction members. It seemed like a good opportunity for all of them, but it ended up being the worst possible thing that could happen.

Now that Gable is back to being a babyface, he is flying solo, and there has been little sign of Nile or The Creeds outside of Main Event since then.

If you are asking yourself, "They still make Main Event?" The answer is yes, but what happens on that show never has any bearing on any other program or feud. You would be forgiven for thinking WWE canceled the show long ago due to the lack of promotion it gets.

The former NXT standouts all bring something to the table, but for some unknown reason, management seems uninterested or incapable of using them to their fullest potential.

They are still young, and there is hope they could turn things around, but it's up to management to book opportunities for them to succeed.

Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano

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Do we even need to go into detail about how Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano are being misused? Because at this point, it seems like everyone probably knows.

The fact that WWE has both of these highly talented wrestlers restricted to backstage segments that show Gargano being comatose and LeRae being frustrated by it is a travesty.

Gargano is one of those guys you can put in the ring with anyone and he will get a great match out of them, and the same can be said about LeRae.

Tommaso Ciampa's exit meant the end of DIY, but WWE could be doing so much with both of them and it just isn't. Had the storyline led to something interesting within the first couple of months, that would be different, but this has been going on since January.

Have them chase midcard titles, or feud with another couple like Trick Williams and Lash Legend. Anything would be better than what they have been saddled with recently.

Jordynne Grace

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Jordynne Grace made history by being the first person to wear a TNA Impact title on WWE TV when she made her first appearance in the 2024 women's Royal Rumble match.

She was a big part of the early days of the WWE-TNA alliance that is still going on, and her move to WWE was seen as a big deal at the time.

These days, you could be forgiven for forgetting she even works there anymore because WWE hasn't booked her in a TV match outside of Main Event since April.

This feels like a case of WWE calling someone up without a clear roadmap for the future. She had some early success, but she barely pops up now.

Grace is a unique talent in many ways and can be valuable if WWE ever figures out how to book a woman who is a powerhouse whose name isn't Jade Cargill.