20 WWE Wrestlers Who Were Brought Up from Developmental Before They Were Ready

The WWE has made a bad habit out of calling up developmental workers who really shouldn't be on the main roster.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via SEScoops.com), Triple H is looking to change that by adjusting his philosophy for promoting wrestlers from Florida Championship Wrestling, and that might be his best decision yet.

There have just been far too many workers who show up on Raw, SmackDown, ECW or even NXT without any sort of character or any sense of direction, and it pretty much dooms their WWE careers.

We're here today to take a look at those FCW workers who had no business being on national TV every week, but were brought up anyway.

Here are 20 wrestlers who were brought up from Florida Championship Wrestling long before they were actually ready.

20. Gavin Spears

Gavin Spears had a "blink and you'll miss it" WWE career.

He was called up to ECW as part of Teddy Long's "New Superstar Initiative" in August 2008, competed in only two matches, was sent back to FCW for three months and then came back to ECW for one more match in December before being released in January 2009.

I'd be lying if I said I remembered Spears all that well, but from what I've read about him, he seems to be a pretty talented wrestler.

Perhaps he was just a victim of being called up without any concrete plans for him once he did actually make it to the main roster.

19. Darren Young

In February 2010, Darren Young debuted on the inaugural season of NXT under his "South Beach Party Boy" gimmick that he used in FCW.

Unfortunately for Young, it was pretty clear from the get-go that he was one of the weakest links on the show and that his gimmick probably wouldn't get over with the WWE audience.

He has had a notable WWE career because he was part of the rebel Nexus faction, but there's a reason why he was written out of the group on the episode of Raw after SummerSlam in 2010.

Young looked to be pretty green in the ring and not overly charismatic, which can probably describe why he was kicked out of Nexus and sent back to NXT for its Redemption season.

I will give Young credit for improving drastically since his original call-up, but I'm not sure he'll ever be able to recover from his early struggles.

18. Ryan Braddock

Ryan Braddock is another guy who I hardly remember, but his entire WWE career seems to have been marred by disappointments.

He signed a developmental deal with the company in 2005, but he didn't debut on the main roster until August 2008 when he was demolished by The Big Show on SmackDown.

Braddock then had only a handful of matches against the likes of Ricky Ortiz, Jesse and Festus before being sent back to FCW in September, only a month or so after his debut.

He was then released from his contract in March 2009.

So, basically, Braddock was Gavin Spears 2.0. 

17. Manu

Manu debuted at Unforgiven in 2008, and he was immediately place in a high-profile angle in which he was looking to join Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in Randy Orton's Legacy faction.

Unfortunately for Manu, he didn't seem to have the look, the charisma or the in-ring skills to be a part of the group.

He was only on TV for four to five months before the creative decision was made to keep him out of Legacy and then release him from his WWE contract in February 2009.

I mean, just looking at the guy, you could tell that he didn't belong in Legacy. But, according to Randy Orton, his poor attitude was the biggest factor in his departure from both Legacy and the WWE.

16. Titus O'Neil

Let me put Titus O'Neil's WWE career into perspective for you.

This guy didn't debut on FCW TV until January 2010, yet six months later on June 8, 2010, he debuted as a contestant on the second season of NXT and WWE officials somehow expected him to be ready.

Well, he definitely wasn't.

O'Neil was, as they say in the wrestling business, as green as goose poop, and he was the first person eliminated on NXT. He would go back down to FCW and return to WWE TV on NXT: Redemption, where it was pretty clear that he was much better than he was during his first WWE run.

I'm not sure why anyone thought it was a good idea to bring a guy with such little experience to TV, but at least O'Neil seems to have rebounded somewhat from his debacle of a debut.

15. DJ Gabriel

In November 2008, DJ Gabriel debuted on ECW along with Alicia Fox, and the two got stuck with a ridiculous dancing gimmick.

Yeah, even though he had some early success, Gabriel was pretty much doomed from the start.

He defeated a bunch of jobbers upon his debut and went into a feud with Paul and Katie Lea Burchill and didn't suffer his first TV loss until February 2009. However, in April of that same year, Fox was drafted to SmackDown, leaving Gabriel on his own.

That landed Gabriel back in FCW, where he tried out a couple of different gimmicks that never really worked before being released in January 2010.

Hmmm. I wonder why that fantastic dancing gimmick didn't get over. 

14. Bam Neely

Bam Neely made his WWE debut on ECW in April 2008, serving as a bodyguard for Chavo Guerrero and the "La Familia" faction.

He would go on to work a limited amount of matches (mostly tag team matches), and then became completely lost in the shuffle once "La Familia" disbanded.

By November 4, Neely had competed in his last WWE match and was released by the company in January 2009.

Neely was basically just another big man in a long line of WWE big men who really can't separate themselves from the pack. It didn't really help him that there were obviously no plans for him once his days as Guerrero's bodyguard were done. 

13. Mason Ryan

Mason Ryan made his WWE debut on January 17, 2011 when he was revealed as the newest member of CM Punk's new Nexus faction.

But it instantly became clear that Ryan was incredibly limited with what he could do in the ring, and on March 14, he was written off TV after a punt to the head by Randy Orton. 

He returned roughly a month later and, along with Punk, got a shot at The Big Show and Kane's WWE Tag Team Championships, but—and this is pure speculation on my part—I think WWE officials realized it would have been a disaster to put a title on Ryan.

Ryan could hardly wrestle and sell any moves, and by June, he was out of action after suffering an injury. He returned in late August and got a solid push as a baby face out of the gate, but now, he hardly ever appears on TV anymore.

That's fine by me, though.

Ryan is nothing more than big body in a company that's already full of them.

12. Jacob Novak

Jacob Novak is yet another guy whose career I've largely forgotten.

We first saw him on WWE TV as a contestant on Season Four of NXT, but only five weeks after debuting, he was the first contestant eliminated on the show.

For some reason, however, Novak was brought back to NXT: Redemption, where he was once again the first wrestler eliminated from the competition.

Less than a month after that, Novak was then let go from his WWE contract.

Alright, can we just all agree that Novak was the worst performer on the worst show in the history of the WWE?

11. Ricky Ortiz

Atlas—who would become "Ricky" a week later—Ortiz debuted on ECW in July 2008, going on a five-match winning streak that garnered him a lot of attention.

Once Ortiz lost his first match, however, and it was all downhill from there.

Ortiz's streak was over, and essentially, so was his WWE career. When he lost to Jack Swagger on December 2, 2008, he did little to nothing before moving to SmackDown in the WWE Draft in April 2009.

There, he did even less.

Ortiz debuted on the brand as a heel on May 15 in a losing effort to Jeff Hardy, was squashed by The Great Khali on the August 7 episode of SmackDown and then was released from his WWE contract the next day.

The only two things I really recall about this guy are that he did something with a towel and was a former Arena Football League player.

10. Jamie Keyes

Jamie Keyes made her WWE debut on June 8, 2010 as a ring announcer, and she was fine (although not great) in that role.

However, shortly thereafter she would join the cast of Season Three of NXT, going undefeated but somehow managing to still be the first woman eliminated from the show.

Why? Because she was godawful, I assume.

Only a month after getting her first victory on NXT, Keyes was released from her WWE contract on October 14.

Though Keyes had an athletic background that just didn't translate to the ring, and she was a big flop on NXT.

9. Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal is nowhere near ready to be on the main roster.

He debuted in April 2011 and immediately got a nice push, squashing jobbers and seemingly being built up to be a future star. But his alignment with The Great Khali didn't last very long, and the resulting feud between the two was something that virtually no one wanted to see.

Since those two have gone their separate ways, Mahal has basically turned into a jobber himself, losing quick matches to Santino Marella, Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus and Ted DiBiase.

Any momentum that Mahal had upon his debut is completely gone, and his limitations in the ring are painfully evident.

Judging by the way Mahal has been booked as of late, it won't be long before he's back down in FCW. 

8. Aksana

Aksana was a part of that disastrous Season Three of NXT, which was one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch as a WWE fan.

Most of the matches on that show were utter disasters, and despite the show having only two talented wrestlers (AJ and Naomi), Aksana still managed to be one of the worst competitors on the show.

She wasn't totally horrible, but trust me, there's a reason why she was more involved in storylines—such as the wedding with Goldust or his feud with Ted DiBiase—than she was in intense feuds with her fellow NXT competitors.

Quite simply, Aksana is not very good in the ring, and now, she's relegated to dropping sexual innuendos with Teddy Long in pointless backstage segments on SmackDown.

I guess she's OK in that role, but—please, oh please—keep her out of the ring.

7. Lucky Cannon

It doesn't get much more boring than Lucky Cannon.

The guy with one of the dumbest ring names in WWE history debuted in June 2010 on Season Two of NXT and quickly established himself as one of the least exciting and least entertaining wrestlers that show has ever seen.

Cannon was eliminated from NXT less than three months after debuting, which I think was the WWE's way of saying, "Hey, we're sorry for making you watch this guy."

But, then for some reason unbeknownst to me, Cannon was brought back on NXT: Redemption in March 2011. Thankfully, though, he was eliminated from the competition only a few months later and then released from his WWE contract on August 8.

Lucky Cannon: The man who has the name of a dog and makes vanilla ice cream seem exciting.

6. David Otunga

David Otunga is currently relegated to wearing a bow tie, sipping a cup of coffee and being John Laurinaitis' wingman.

I have no complaints, though, because that just means he's staying out of the ring.

A former NXT Season One contestant and Nexus member, Otunga may be big and jacked up, but that's about all he brings to the table.

Some people say Otunga has mic skills and charisma, but I really don't see either of those from him. He's just another bland superstar who makes professional wrestling look like rocket science.

How he was named PWI's "Rookie of the Year" in 2010 or the No. 97 wrestler in the world in 2011 is absolutely beyond me.

5. Eric Escobar

I would like to apologize in advance for even reminding you guys about Eric Escobar.

This guy made his WWE debut on SmackDown in September 2009, was given a gift by being aligned with heat magnet Vickie Guerrero, split with Guererro, turned baby face, wrestled his last WWE match on December 18 and then was released a month later.

Yeah, that essentially sums up Escobar's entire lackluster career.

Maybe the fact that Escobar was signed to a WWE developmental deal in September 2005 but not brought up until September 2009 should have been a pretty solid indication that he was never going to be anything special.

4. Eli Cottonwood

I know I said earlier that Jacob Novak was the worst performer in NXT history, but can I change my mind?

Because I think that honor might actually belong to Eli Cottonwood. Yes, Eli Cottonwood, the guy who was apparently named after the inventor of the cotton gin.

Cottonwood debuted on the second season of NXT, cut one of the worst promos ever about mustaches and was eliminated from the competition later that night.

I really don't think I even have to tell you all how bad Cottonwood was. You can just watch that promo, and it'll basically sum up his WWE run. 

3. Jackson Andrews

On December 6, 2010, Jackson Andrews debuted as the bodyguard for Tyson Kidd.

He appeared to be about the same size at The Great Khali, only with a bodybuilder-type physique that was absolutely scary to look at.

Too bad Andrews was nothing more than another giant dude.

Just three weeks after making his debut, Andrews was the victim of a World's Strongest Man by Mark Henry and found himself being sent back down to FCW.

He was released by the WWE in May 2011, I assume because WWE officials realized that wrestling is about more than just being seven feet tall.

2. Michael Tarver

For all the good that came out of NXT Season One (mainly Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan), there was just as much bad.

David Otunga wasn't very good, neither was Darren Young and then Michael Tarver somehow managed to outdo both of those guys.

Though Tarver was solid on the mic, there was virtually nothing else about the guy that was even halfway decent.

His gimmick was that he could "knock you out in 1.7 seconds," but his punches looked like they came from a third grader. Meanwhile, his selling and the rest of his moves were just as bad.

I remember a while back reading that Tarver was at a TNA show. Someone please tell me that they didn't sign him.

1. Kaitlyn

It doesn't get any worse than Kaitlyn.

Though she actually won Season Three of NXT, Kaitlyn was by far the worst female wrestler on the show and arguably the worst pure wrestler in the show's history.

Kaitlyn isn't bad to look at—depending on if you like thick girls—but that's about all she brought to the table.

Don't believe me? Watch this, which is what I honestly think is the most terrible match in WWE history.