The WWE Superstars Most Damaged by Build to WrestleMania 38

Some WWE Superstars are getting major boosts to their careers on the Road to WrestleMania 38. Unfortunately, others aren't quite so lucky.

There simply isn't enough space or time for every wrestler to be treated like a big deal. Some have a storyline that revolves around them being a failure instead of building momentum toward a big win, while others have been booked poorly by WWE and are struggling more now than they were in recent months.

Even still, some talent has been given zero spotlight and left as a pure afterthought.

Let's look at the Superstars whose reputations are being damaged heading into The Show of Shows.

Commander Azeez

WWE has made it clear Omos is the real star giant on the roster and not Commander Azeez with the way both have been booked over the past year.

Omos won the Raw Tag Team Championship with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 37 and has been largely unstoppable since then. In his rare losses, it has always come down to shenanigans or someone else taking the pin.

Meanwhile, Azeez has done little more than stand next to Apollo Crews and fail to successfully help him out on numerous occasions. And when has had a chance to wrestle in recent weeks, it has been to service Omos' push.

This is a bad sign for Azeez. His position as the giant on the roster has been usurped, and it seems WWE has no more use for him. It will be surprising if he's in a good spot anytime soon, if he's even still around after this year's Show of Shows.

Drew McIntyre

Credit: WWE.com

Two years ago, Drew McIntyre was the savior who took out Brock Lesnar in the men's Royal Rumble match and then went on to dethrone The Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania 36.

The pandemic and consequent empty arenas took some of the wind out of his sails, but the Scot at least had nearly a year with the world title as the top star on WWE Raw.

Last year, he opened The Show of Shows with a failed attempt to regain the WWE title. That's a major step down, but it was at least something important. This year, he's stuck wrestling Happy Corbin in a midcard filler feud that mainly revolves around Madcap Moss telling jokes.

Even if McIntyre defeats Corbin, he'll still need to be doing something better to regain momentum after WrestleMania.

Sami Zayn

Credit: WWE.com

Sami Zayn is knocking it out of the park for WWE, but his character has lost a step or two in his storyline with Jackass star Johnny Knoxville.

The Great Liberator had just found his way back to the Intercontinental Championship, only to drop it almost immediately to Ricochet because he was distracted by a celebrity.

Knoxville has been getting one up on Zayn since the build toward the Royal Rumble. It's been a largely one-sided feud, with the WWE Superstar playing the victim.

Again, this is what the company wants. The goal here isn't to have Zayn walk out of WrestleMania looking credible as a fighter. Instead, it's to laugh at him for his misfortune and get media attention for the angle and Knoxville's involvement.

But Zayn is also going to need some rehabbing after this. If he doesn't get some decent victories, he'll be stuck playing the bumbling idiot for a long time.

Damian Priest

Credit: WWE.com

Last year was particularly kind to Damian Priest. He had one of the best win-loss records of anyone in WWE and was heavily protected in the few losses he took.

Along the way, he captured the United States title and was taking on all comers until he ran into Finn Balor, who swooped for the belt and sent The Archer of Infamy spiraling out of control.

In the blink of an eye, Priest went from a fighting champion who backed up his tough talk with hard hits to someone who makes excuses for his failures and whines about not getting support from the fans.

The mystique around him is fading as he becomes just another bruised ego who can't get the job done unless he attacks someone from behind.

WWE could have turned him heel and kept him strong, but it opted to take him down a peg. Now, Priest's stock is crashing.

Worse yet is that it seems he's not even poised to regain his title at WrestleMania, since both he and Balor have been listed as competitors in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal match for SmackDown. He's likely going to lose that too.

Seth Rollins

Whether this was the storyline all along or plans changed and WWE has been scrambling to figure out something for him to do, Seth Rollins is in one of the worst positions he's been in heading into WrestleMania in years.

He's previously walked in with the Money in the Bank briefcase and left with the world title in the main event, wrestled Triple H and used a Royal Rumble victory to beat Lesnar for the WWE Championship.

This time, The Visionary has been failing in all his attempts to secure a spot on the card.

Rollins is one of WWE's most decorated performers and a beloved Superstar. Even if he's not on the card, he will bounce back. But this story of him perpetually teasing that next week will be the big angle, only to keep disappointing, has gone past the point of frustration.

WWE is at a stage when unless there's a big enough endgame of a match with Cody Rhodes or The Undertaker, nothing else will be acceptable. Every other alternative will lead to Rollins catching the wrong type of heat by association.

It all depends on what happens on Monday's Raw. Either fans will be rewarded for their patience or this has all been a huge waste of time.

The Superstars Who Will Likely Sit Out This Event

Credit: WWE.com

Doudrop, Nikka A.S.H. and Alexa Bliss were just filler for Elimination Chamber and then tossed aside.

More than ever this year, Superstars being desperate to get on the WrestleMania card has been one of WWE's core storylines.

Imagine how it must feel for those on the sidelines who aren't injured but have been deemed not important enough for the company to find something for them to do at AT&T Stadium.

WWE can easily find a way to put someone on the card. Six women are fighting for the tag titles in three teams that didn't exist until a few weeks ago just to get Sasha Banks a spot. Doesn't that reflect poorly on Doudrop, who has only been used as someone Bianca Belair can pick up for a KOD?

The creative team couldn't find something for Nikki A.S.H. or Alexa Bliss to do? How is Aliyah supposed to seem like a big deal when WWE clearly doesn't consider her as important as even Pat McAfee? As talented as he is, T-Bar will have lost even more value because he's not on the card.

It's hard to come back from this.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.