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Most Misused Stars in WWE Today

Posted: Aug 22nd 2012 By: mikeiles

Even with the addition of the extra hour to Raw, there are still many WWE mid-card wrestlers and Divas being woefully overlooked by the company.

These guys and girls may have tons of talent and potential, but the company doesn't seem interested in pushing them and/or using them correctly, choosing instead to fill up Raw with endless recaps, Touts, Twitter plugs and giving more air-time to the already overexposed main eventers.

No wonder so many of the under-card performers in the company are reported to be disgruntled and ready to speak out. WWE hasn't come remotely close to using its lower-card correctly in quite some time.

With this in mind, here are the five most obvious examples of misused wrestlers in WWE.

Come on, Vince! Get these folks off of the C shows and onto the main card!

Jack Swagger

It's hard to believe that current jobber-to-the-stars Jack Swagger was once World Heavyweight Champion.

His fall is even more baffling when you consider that Swagger has, on paper, everything the company could possibly want in a wrestler: He's big, athletic and has a fair amount of personality and heel charisma.

So why doesn't WWE do more with him instead of turning him into a comedy jobber? It's mind-boggling.

While Swagger may never be a main event star again, he can, if booked correctly, be a respectable mid-card act. Let's hope the company, realizing they are wasting his considerable potential, decides to use him better in the future. Because his career is almost at the point of no return.

Beth Phoenix

Poor Beth Phoenix is so overlooked by WWE, she was even left out of last night's Divas Battle Royale on Raw to determine Divas Champion Layla El's next challenger.

To make matters worse, WWE management don't seem to have plans for the star, nor has she done anything relevant on television in ages. Mostly she's been stuck in dark matches and on the little-watched Superstars.

Considering her immense talent (she truly is someone you could build a division around), this is truly unfortunate. Not just for her, but for women's wrestling in WWE, in general.

Christian

After losing the prestigious IC Championship, clean, to The Miz on Raw's 1,000th episode, Christian's status has fallen greatly in WWE, with the Canadian wrestler only making scant (usually jobbing) appearances on TV.

It doesn't appear that the star is in the doghouse with management, just that the company may have ran out of ideas for him.

Considering his vast wealth of experience, his current (non) role is a waste. The ultra-talented veteran could surely be placed in a high-profile program with some young up-and-comer, like Cody Rhodes or a returning Wade Barrett, helping improve their in-ring skills, as well as giving SmackDown's struggling mid-card a feud worth talking about.

Layla El

Oh, sure. Layla El is the current Divas Champion, but it remains to be see what good that has done her.

Indeed, the one-time Miami Heat dancer makes only sporadic appearances on TV these days. Sadly, she and her title reign have generally been forgotten about, with most of the focus being shifted onto AJ and Eve as they wrangle for control of the shows. (It seems women in WWE are less concerned with winning championship gold and more about becoming GM or assistant GM.)

Considering that Layla is easily the best model-turned-wrestler the company has had since Trish Stratus, and she has churned out decent matches whenever she is given the time, it's truly a shame her current title run is taking such a backseat.

Cody Rhodes

Safe to say, WWE creatives aren't entirely sure what they are doing with Cody Rhodes' current character these days.

You see, Rhodes is currently obsessed with, well, removing Sin Cara's mask. No, not winning the World Heavyweight Championship, not getting a match at the next pay-per-view, but taking off someone's mask to prove to the world how ugly they are. That's his new goal.

OK, who on the writing team came up with this atrocious idea?