Dolph Ziggler and 7 Stars That Should Leave WWE in 2019
WWE didn't have too many departures in 2019. In years past, the company was notorious for letting go of competitors in bulk every couple of months, and usually it was the wrestlers on the lower end of the card who weren't safe from being released.
The company has since taken a different approach by hoarding talent to keep them from other companies. Regardless of whether officials are doing anything of note with them or not, WWE would rather hold on to the underutilized athletes than allow them to thrive elsewhere.
There is also something to be said for the Superstars who are content staying right where they are. Cody Rhodes, on the other hand, was frustrated with being overlooked for so long and decided to take his talents to Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and elsewhere.
He has since become quite the success story outside of WWE, winning gold in both promotions as well as capturing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Looking at the current SmackDown Live and Raw rosters, there is a handful of stars who would be better off giving WWE their notice this year. With NJPW more exciting than ever, Ring of Honor entering a rebuilding phase and the inception of All Elite Wrestling, there are plenty of options for those looking to leave.
These are the seven acts who should realize their worth and walk out on WWE in 2019, in the process proving to the company what they were missing out on all along. Tag teams are grouped together.
Dolph Ziggler
1 of 7
The question of whether Dolph Ziggler would actually leave WWE has been asked by fans for years now, and every time he seems to come close to calling it quits, he sticks around until his contract expires again.
That's because he has been a victim of start-and-stop pushes for several years. The Showoff should be a significantly bigger star than he is. Despite having one of his better years in recent memory in 2018, he still seems to be treading water and comes across like a stepping stone for up-and-coming talent.
Ziggler wrapped up his rivalry with Drew McIntyre on the final Raw of 2018 when he lost their Steel Cage match. Aside from challenging Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship (which we've seen countless times over the years), there isn't much left for him to do in WWE.
All Elite Wrestling would probably be the perfect place for him if he leaves WWE this year, assuming he would want to carry on in the wrestling business. After all, he has his stand-up comedy career to fall back on, and surely there are other endeavors he'd be interested in exploring as well.
Ziggler can continue to rest on his laurels in 2019 if he so wishes, or he can take a chance on himself by parting ways with the company he has called home for the past decade-and-a-half.
Zack Ryder
2 of 7
Zack Ryder recently tweeted that until the New Year's Eve edition of Raw, he hadn't wrestled a match on the flagship show all year. Considering he was a regular on the red brand from 2011 to 2012 and made occasional appearances on the program in the years that followed, that's a pretty sad statistic.
The rise and fall of Ryder in WWE is well-documented, but it hasn't been all bad for him since WWE originally pulled the plug on his push at the onset of 2012. He won the Intercontinental Championship in shocking fashion at WrestleMania 32 and had some success with Mojo Rawley in the tag team ranks, but his move to Raw in the 2018 Superstar Shake-up was for the worse.
Between The B-Team, Curt Hawkins and R-Truth, WWE has enough undercard fodder and comic relief, so there isn't any reason for him to stick around, especially considering he will likely never be pushed at a prominent level again.
He is much better in the ring than most give him credit for, largely because he hasn't been given many opportunities to have a competitive match. WWE has been content with writing him off as an enhancement talent and not utilizing him in any meaningful way, but that needs to change in 2019.
Ryder will celebrate a dozen years on the main roster this year, yet he hasn't won a televised match in one-on-one action since July 2016. That should be enough evidence that he isn't appreciated in WWE, and perhaps a run on the independent scene would reignite some of the spark he had a few years ago.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
3 of 7
Before signing with WWE in 2016, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson built up quite the reputation for themselves in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as one of the best tag teams in the world, winning the promotion's tag team titles on three different occasions.
They arrived on Raw with plenty of fanfare immediately after WrestleMania 32, teasing a rekindling of their alliance with AJ Styles from the get-go. That led to an ample amount of television time for them and a lot of love from WWE Creative.
Unfortunately, it all downhill for the duo from that point forward.
After failing to capture the Raw Tag Team Championship on several occasions that year and forcing fans to suffer through their terrible feud with The New Day, they finally won the gold at Royal Rumble 2017. By then, though, it was too late, and their reign was largely forgettable.
It's been nearly two years since they dropped the straps, and they have done next to nothing on Raw and SmackDown Live in that time. They last vied for the titles in June 2018 and have largely been left off WWE TV until recently.
It seems WWE is willing to give them another chance as championship contenders based on their win on the Christmas edition of SmackDown, but that isn't likely to change their fortunes.
It's safe to say they're damaged goods after the years of bad booking they've endured and would be of more value back in Japan or All Elite Wrestling.
Apollo Crews
4 of 7
Unlike Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder, Apollo Crews hasn't been in the WWE system for long, yet he falls in the same category as those aforementioned Superstars in that it doesn't look like he's going to be getting his just due any time soon.
Crews appeared to have a bright future ahead of him when he signed with NXT in the summer of 2015 and was positioned as a star on the rise. He was then called up to the main roster much earlier than he should have been and was instantly lost in the shuffle.
His in-ring abilities are second to none, though no one knows that because of how infrequently they are showcased on Raw. WWE took a step in the right direction by breaking him away from Titus Worldwide upon his return after an extended absence in October, but aside from a win over Jinder Mahal in November, he hasn't done much to leave a lasting impression on viewers.
To his credit, Crews came out on top in the "Fresh Start" Battle Royal that took place on the final Raw of 2018 to earn himself an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship. Of course, he failed to beat Dean Ambrose for the title, but it was crucial that he looked good in defeat.
Sadly, a Superstar can fall short of victory only so many times before fans begin to not care, and the WWE Universe hasn't cared about Crews in a long while. At 31, he's young enough to still make an impact in another promotion, and if WWE was going to get behind him as a singles star, it would have done so already.
It hasn't, meaning Crews should start looking into other options in 2019.
Bray Wyatt
5 of 7
A lot of the Superstars featured on this list could have been game-changers with better booking, but Bray Wyatt just might be the most egregious example of them all. He was vastly different than everyone else in WWE at the time he debuted in the summer of 2013, and at the beginning, he was handled fairly well.
It wasn't until he ran into the roadblock that was John Cena at WrestleMania 30 that he started to see his stock slowly drop. Feud after feud, Wyatt lost whenever it mattered most, and after a while he was just another guy on the roster with little (if any) mystique.
He spent his entire 2018 in a rivalry and a tag team with "Woken" Matt Hardy, with the duo winning the Raw Tag Team Championships at one point. Shortly after dropping the tag titles, Wyatt disappeared from WWE TV altogether and hasn't been seen since.
What's worse is that most fans haven't realized he has been away from Raw, meaning he isn't bound to make the biggest impact upon his eventual return. He's already lost to almost every main event player on both Raw and SmackDown Live, so creatively, there isn't much left for him in WWE.
The only downside to Wyatt leaving the company and competing elsewhere is that he likely wouldn't be able to do the same gimmick in other promotions. Then again, WWE has virtually killed it dead, so him switching things up whenever (and wherever) we see him next would be for the best.
Shelton Benjamin
6 of 7
When WWE originally brought back the brand split in the summer of 2016, Shelton Benjamin was one of the Superstars fans wanted to see return to the company and help fill out the SmackDown Live and Raw rosters. An injury delayed his comeback for around a year, but once he eventually resurfaced, he was immediately slotted into a tag team with Chad Gable.
The two had chemistry and were a nice addition to an already loaded tag team division on the blue brand, but it was a complete waste of Benjamin's talents. At 43 years old, he's no spring chicken, but he has a lot more to offer than being a part of an enhancement team with someone who also deserved to be showcased on their own.
Benjamin earned a reputation early in his career for being one of the most exciting athletes to watch on the roster. He was a human highlight reel in every Ladder match he took part in and also elevated the Intercontinental Championship in the mid-2000s.
Fans were looking forward to having him back so he could mix it up with the likes of AJ Styles and Seth Rollins, but so far, he has been an afterthought on Tuesday nights. He has shown glimpses of greatness in the few opportunities he's had to shine, but most people wouldn't even know he was still employed due to how infrequently he appears.
Since the 2018 Superstar Shake-up last April, Benjamin has wrestled only a handful of televised matches, meaning the company clearly doesn't view him as a top priority. He honed his craft in Japan and in Ring of Honor shortly after leaving WWE in 2010, so either one of those promotions would likely be a better fit for him at this stage of his career.
Shinsuke Nakamura
7 of 7
Shinsuke Nakamura made wrestling headlines when WWE signed him to compete on NXT, and rightfully so. He was a household name in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so although it was a risk for him to make the move to WWE, it ended up paying off (or at least it did early on).
The King of Strong Style quickly got over with the NXT audience and became a two-time NXT champion during his stint, but there was always the question of how he'd be utilized on the main roster. He received a strong push from the start and remained undefeated for a few months, but sure enough, it didn't last.
After failing to defeat Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship on two occasions, Nakamura lost any appeal and charm he had left from his NXT days. His surprise Royal Rumble win and WrestleMania 34 match with AJ Styles gave fans the impression that 2018 would be his year, but his string of losses on pay-per-views from that point made it apparent that was far from the case.
Prior to the Christmas edition of SmackDown Live, Nakamura was the United States champion, yet he didn't have a single memorable rivalry in the five months he held the title for. He's entering the year without a true sense of purpose, and with his status on SmackDown in doubt, it's possible he's considering a return to Japan in 2019.
After all, NJPW would welcome him with open arms. If how WWE has handled him recently is anything to go by, it might be in his best interest to leave before more damage is done to his credibility.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
.jpg?w=600 "WWE Raw Results & Grades 🔠")
