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Lets talk about who we should be talking about

The WWE talent roster has always been less of a pool and more of a revolving door. Quality talent stays in rotation for a while, but it’s a rare feat for a sports entertainer to stick around for the long haul. When they do, they inevitably end up in the WWE Hall of Fame.

But for every Superstar/Diva in the Hall, there are a hundred others who came and went. Their debuts were hyped with slick promos and noisy fanfare, promising viewers that they would forever change the business. But after a few matches, they seemingly disappear, never to be seen again.

Most times, the blame for this lies in the talent themselves. Maybe they weren’t ready for the exhausting grind of the business. Maybe they knew how to wrestle, but not how to entertain (or vice versa). Or maybe they weren’t able to match the talent they had to compete with in the ring.

But sometimes it’s not the talent’s fault. Instead, the blame falls on the company, either because they pushed a silly/stupid character that audiences never embraced—two words: The Boogeyman—or because they never quite figured out how to properly capitalize on the talent’s strengths.

This means skilled men and women made a spin through that revolving door only to disappear forever because, for all intents and purposes, WWE couldn’t figure what to do with them.

Here are five current-roster Superstars who are, in my opinion, top-notch talent, but are currently being underutilized by the company.

Bo Dallas
Real Name: Taylor Rotunda

Bo’s self-motivational shtick first popped up in April 2014, and he quickly showed great potential. He became a fan-favorite heel, riling up the audience with his “All you have to do is Bo-lieve!” catchphrase, and displayed a good skill set in the ring. Six months after his debut, Bo was pulled after sustaining a foot injury, but even then you could see the wheels coming off the bus. Bo had been shuffled from opponent to opponent, and never really found his niche because of it. He took four months off to heal, but when he returned it was a lot of the same shtick that was already growing old half a year earlier. As a third generation performer—his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, father Mike Rotunda, and uncles Barry and Kendall Windham were all professional wrestlers—odds are the company will stick with him for awhile, but hopefully they figure out a new angle before audiences stop caring.

Xavier Woods
Real Name: Austin Watson 

The New Day’s Woods is quite arguably their best all-around wrestler—and hands-down the best person on the mic—but he’s probably also the least well known. It’s true that Woods is the rookie of the trio—making his main roster debut in November 2013—but I think he plays second fiddle to his tag-team partners because he doesn’t display the size of Big E or the acrobatics of Kofi Kingston. Because of this, he’s “the third man” in The New Day, which is disappointing. The New Day admittedly, and remarkably, has a fun thing going on right now, but Woods could easily break off from the group and stand on his own as a solo performer. Hopefully the company possesses that same level of faith in him.

Damien Sandow
Real Name: Aaron Haddad 

Oh, Damien... my sweet, sweet Damien. Okay, full disclosure: I like my wrestling goofy. I’m talking like “Mae Young gives birth to a hand” goofy, or “Hulk Hogan becomes Mr. America by simply wearing a mask” goofy. Because of this, I fucking love Damien Sandow. He’s good in the ring—not the best, but a solid performer—and is responsible for some of the best dialogue in wrestling. That said, the company hasn’t figured out how to capitalize on Sandow’s own personal brand. Literally. His last two gimmicks have been to imitate other wrestlers: one living (The Miz), one dead (“Macho Man” Randy Savage). And while the Damien Mizdow run was fun at first, it became repetitive and less funny with each installment. The Macho Mandow shtick makes no sense and isn’t funny at all. It’s time to pull Sandow out from the shadows of other wrestlers and let him do what he does best: BE DAMIEN SANDOW.

Bray Wyatt
Real Name: Windham Rotunda

Another member of the Rotunda family—Bray is Bo’s real-life brother—that debuted with solid talent and a great shtick. The Wyatt Family gimmick, which had a “Duck Dynasty as hosted by the Manson Family” vibe to it, was a breath of fresh air when it debuted. The family—consisting of Bray, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan—consisted of three silent swamp fellas who wore dirty clothes and donned long disgusting beards. They’d appear in the ring out of nowhere, sing creepy nursery rhymes and quote scripture, and then kick the ever-living fuck out of opponents. To be read: THEY WERE GREAT! But the gimmick never evolved, the “family” split up into three individual wrestlers, and Bray’s beefs wandered, inexplicably, from John Cena to the Undertaker to Roman Reigns. The Undertaker feud made the most sense, but after a whole lot of hype, the Dead Man defeated Wyatt at WrestleMania 31, which was followed by... pretty much nothing.

Bad News Barrett
Real Name: Stu Bennett

Two months ago, Barrett beat newcomer Neville to become the twentieth winner of the King of the Ring tournament, thus becoming King Barrett. Since then, Barrett’s last three PPV matches have been nothing short of disappointing. At Payback, he deliberately got himself counted out of a rematch against Neville. At Elimination Chamber, he was eliminated from Intercontinental Championship contention by R-Truth. And he lost again to Truth at the Money in the Bank preshow. The fucking preshow!!! Why is the King of the Ring winner competing in what is ostensibly a dark match two months after winning the title? Push Barrett, folks. Please. For the love of all that’s holy.

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