The Wrestling 8 Ball: Top 8 Stars You Don’t Want Back in WWE

Rumors have been circulating for the past few weeks about several former WWE superstars possibly returning to the company. WWE have recently dismissed rumors around Kurt Angle making his highly anticipated comeback, but with American Alpha supposedly being called up to the main roster this July, fans are anxious of his arrival as their mentor and leader. Rey Mysterio has expressed desires to re-sign with the company, and it has been confirmed that WWE have recently made contact with three alumni members; Carlito, MVP and Stevie Richards. Even Bill Goldberg has made a deal with 2K to appear in the WWE 2K17, which has caused fans to speculate about him making an appearance on Raw in the future.

With the Brand Extension right around the corner, WWE are working hard to fill up the rosters for each show as much as possible. With so many different reports about several wrestlers being reached out to, you have to wonder who is going to make an appearance on Raw and Smackdown next.

Of course, there are always some superstars that people discuss making a return with a sense of dread as opposed to the excitement you get at the return of Kurt Angle. Not everybody left the company on the best of terms and some have made a habit of leaving a bad taste in the fans’ mouths. Here are 8 wrestlers that you really don’t want to see make a return to WWE.

Number Eight – Daivari:Back in 2004 Mick Foley was delivering a promo to the audience before being interrupted by the debut of two men; Muhammed Hassan and Khosrow Daivari. Despite Hassan being born in New York and Daivari in Minnesota, they were brought in the gimmick of two Arabian-Americans who were tired of being discriminated against following the 9/11 attacks. Of course, the WWE naturally decided to make them heels. Hassan and Daivari would trash talk America in every promo, as well as frequently speaking in Persian or “Arabic” to incite anger from the fans in attendance. They even had five masked men dressed up to look like a stereotypical terrorist appear to attack the Undertaker.

After the bombings in London occurred Hassan was quietly released from the company to avoid any media backlash. He subsequently retired from professional wrestling shortly thereafter. Daivari continued to work in company as a manager for Kurt Angle and The Great Khali before leaving the company a few years later.
Daivari persevered in the independent circuit and it wasn’t long before he was signed to TNA. What gimmick did TNA employ for Daivari? Sheik Abdul Bashir. He retained his anti-American gimmick and used it to draw heat from the audience.

This is 2016 and political correctness is at an all-time high. Considering the racial debates that are presently going on, both in respect of war with the fear of terrorism and in respect of immigration and those that are coming into America seeking shelter and safety, this kind of gimmick just isn’t going to fly. It shouldn’t have been acceptable back then and it certainly isn’t acceptable now. If Daivari were to make a return in this manner, the WWE would suffer a frenzy of indignation for continuing to enforce such a stereotype in what is meant to be a family friendly show.

Number Seven – Scott Steiner: Scott Steiner has overtime gained a reputation for being an incredibly controversial individual in the world of wrestling. If you haven’t the stories about Steiner, just go onto his Wikipedia page and look at the section entirely dedicated to controversies he has been involved with.

Having left TNA on terrible terms, Steiner worked through multiple failed lawsuits against the company over negligence, slander and lack of royalty payments. Steiner even allegedly got into an altercation with Hulk Hogan and his wife at an airport where he reportedly threatened to kill Hogan. Whilst he denies ever having made the threat, it was enough for him to be banned from the 2015 Hall of Fame ceremony.

Steiner’s two WWE runs had lacked a certain luster that he had whilst he was in WCW and even in TNA. Whether he was teaming with his brother, Rick, or teaming and feuding with Test, he never brought anything major to the table and failed to make a memorable impact during his short tenure. It would be better for the quality of the WWE product if Steiner was not brought back into the fold.

Number Six – Rob Van Dam: Unlike the two people on this list before him, RVD had a phenomenal first run with WWE, being one of the many individuals who came over during the Invasion and Alliance angles. Despite coming in as a heel, he was cheered magnanimously by the WWE audience, something which was picked up by the creative team. He won the Hardcore Championship from Jeff Hardy, and beat the majority of WWE’s stars in singles and team matches, from The Undertaker to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

His career only grew from then, throughout the years becoming a tag team champion, intercontinental champion and finally the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Not only that, he was made the man to spearhead the revival of ECW by at the same time becoming the ECW Champion.

Unfortunately, it was at this time that RVD was suspended for using marijuana and he was made to drop both titles to Edge and The Big Show. When he came back from his suspension he never regained the momentum that he had lost and eventually was released from the company.

Since then RVD has made a brief return to the company and feuded against more modern stars like Alberto Del Rio and Cesaro. In all of his matches, he appeared slower, less agile, and more like he was simply going through the motions. You only need to watch his matches in TNA as the X Division Champion, a division which prides itself on having the best high flyers in the business, to see that he can’t keep up with the younger wrestlers and he can’t do the flips or the exciting matches that he used to be able to put on.

If he were to make a second return to the company, it would only further tarnish his legacy as a pioneer of hardcore wrestling and of the highflying style.

Number Five – Stardust:I want to point out that the header for this pick is Stardust, not Cody Rhodes. Stardust is one of the absolute tragedies of WWE’s creative product this past decade. An absolutely incredible worker, he took anything that creative would give to him and make it get over with the fans. From being the narcissistic heel “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, his charisma and ability to embody his character continued to evolve even when he was made to wear a mask and paper bag the fans, so much so that he was given his former Legacy stablemate Ted DiBiase Jr. to try and let some of Rhodes’ charisma rub off on him.

He revitalized the Intercontinental Championship by bringing back a vintage design and establishing himself as a credible fighting champion. Still creative had nothing for him, and threw him together with Damien Sandow. They created the Rhodes Scholars and continued to get over without the help of the creative. Rhodes was so over with the WWE universe that he was able to get over just by growing a moustache.

But still WWE’s creative had no idea what to do with him, so they threw him together with his brother, Goldust. The two had a fun tag title run before dropping them to the New Age Outlaws. It was at this point that creative thrust upon Rhodes the worst thing they’d done to him yet, becoming a parody of his own brother, Stardust. As Stardust he still managed to get over as a heel. The duo recaptured the tag titles for a period of time before eventually breaking up and feuding.

After this feud ended, most expected Rhodes to drop the Stardust gimmick and move on to something better. However, it was not to be as Rhodes was left in total creative limbo, drifting from feud to feud and working by himself to get the gimmick over. He introduced a superhero feud through use of social media and brought Arrow’s Stephen Amell into the fold. He strived and persevered but still wasn’t given any development or the desired change of gimmick that he wanted.

Rhodes finally left the company after years of frustration and is now free to pursue wrestling under his own name and his own banner. Whilst he may be offered a chance to return to the company in the future, sans the Stardust gimmick, I sincerely hope he does not agree to any deals, lest he become a parody of his brother yet again; Goldust is currently in his sixth stint in WWE.

Number Four – Hornswoggle:I really can’t say enough about how badly I hope Hornswoggle stays as far away from WWE as possible. Every single angle that Hornswoggle entered into was effectively killed.

Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son storyline had the potential to give a younger superstar the chance to be thrust into the main event with McMahon right behind him. Instead they made Hornswoggle his son and turned the entire storyline into a joke. Hornswoggle managing Fit Finlay stopped being taking him seriously as a tough as nails Belfast brawler. Instead he became a comedic Irishman with a Leprechaun by his side. The return of D-Generation-X became a weekly comedy skit the moment Hornswoggle became associated with them. And of course there’s watching him dance and cheer alongside Tons of Funk and Los Matadores.

Hornswoggle had a knack for essentially turning anyone he was associated with into someone that simply could not be taken seriously. There was no way to further yourself in the company if you had to work with him.

What’s especially important right now is that WWE claim to be entering a new era. We’re no longer in the PG era where the priority was being family friendly and having fun. We’re now entering into the reality era, and whilst the company is likely to retain the PG rating, the focus of the show is moreso on pure wrestling.

Hornswoggle is a symbol of the PG era. Bringing him back now would only reinforce to us that we are still in the old era and that WWE as a whole is not to be taken seriously.

Number Three – Cameron:The women’s division is slowly picking up momentum to be rebuilt as something more than a bathroom break. The Four Horsewomen of NXT have become pioneers of change, with Sasha Banks standing out as someone the fans have rallied behind to lead the division following her incredible title reign as NXT Women’s Champion.

Women’s wrestling has become more and more focused on wrestling. Gone are the days of bikini contests and pillow fights. It’s not good enough just to have sex appeal anymore, the fans want women to be taken seriously and the only way to do that is to give them longer matches, better storylines and flat out better wrestling.
Because of this, a lot of the women that thrived in the company ten years ago probably would not succeed as a wrestler today. Women like Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler never had much in-ring ability and weren’t expected to win the Women’s Championship because they were there primarily there to be eye candy.

Surprisingly, there is still a place for these kind of women in wrestling. Just look at Maryse managing The Miz to his fifth Intercontinental Championship reign. The Miz was completely rejuvenated with his real life wife by his side. His gimmick became fresh, the two of them suited their gimmick, had great chemistry, and Maryse garnering heat by being a great heel has really rubbed off on Miz. She’s a great manager for him and is proof that women like Keibler and Wilson could still belong if called upon to make young wrestlers look good by managing them to a title win.

Cameron has none of these attributes. Too green in the ring, she doesn’t have the ability to carry a match longer than three or four minutes. She isn’t comfortable enough on the microphone to manage someone. She could only just keep up with Naomi when the two served as backup dancers for Brodus Clay. She quite simply doesn’t belong in this era of WWE.

Number Two – Hulk Hogan:The unstoppable force. The incredible, the immortal, the Hulkster. Please never come back. Hulk Hogan is all of 62-years-old. And anytime someone asks him in an interview if he has plans on coming back, he tells them he wants another run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I cannot make this plain enough. This must not happen.

If this were to happen, the entire WWE roster would look like total weaklings. Their best guy just got his ass handed to him by a 62-year-old man. This can never ever happen. Hell, he shouldn’t even be allowed to pick up a win against Heath Slater in the shape that he’s in.

Forget about the fact that his name has been dragged through the mud in recent years thanks to a racial slur and a sex tape with another man’s wife. Forget about the fact that every time he steps into the ring to do a promo he forgets his lines, sometimes even forgetting the name of the arena that he’s in.

Hogan is in serious danger of not only tarnishing his name by doing this, but tarnishing his entire professional wrestling legacy. The Hulkster was a household name because of what a great storyteller he was in the ring.

He wasn’t a great wrestler, he was charismatic and an incredible storyteller. His most iconic match ever, the one he won’t ever let you forget about, his match against Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, wasn’t a good match at all. From a pure wrestling standpoint, it was a terrible match. But it was an incredible story. A story about insurmountable odds beating beaten by a man with a lot of strength and a lot of heart. The same can be said about the majority of Hogan’s matches, whether it was against Randy Savage, Yokozuna, Roddy Piper or Sting, Hogan’s matches weren’t about technical prowess or pure wrestling. He used his charisma to connect with the audience and carry the story forward.

If Hogan keeps making comebacks in wrestling, whether it’s the Hulkamania Tour, a stint in TNA or a return to WWE, he continues to show people that he is just an old man that can’t let go of days gone by. Forget about making a return to WWE, were you to ask me, Hulk Hogan needs to announce his retirement and regain some lost dignity.

Number One – The Great Khali:When you think of all of the people that have worked for WWE in recent years, there is no one that embodies the antithesis of the modern day professional wrestler more than The Great Khali. You have your CM Punks and Daniel Bryans, well-spoken and charismatic young men, small and lean, agile, their technical ability and wrestling prowess is unrivalled. And then you have Khali. A literal giant. Big and lumbering, slow and unsteady. Not fully fluent in our language and mumbles when he does speak. Khali represents the extreme criticism of Vince McMahon’s ideal wrestler.

Over the years we have example after example of Vince McMahon’s love of big men over the little guys. He hired men like Hulk Hogan, Giant Gonzalez, Undertaker, Big Show, Kane. Vince loves having a big man on the roster to tower over everyone. Every so often you get the anomaly like Undertaker or Big Show who can wrestle and go to the top rope, who moves like he’s half the size he actually is. The Great Khali was not one of these people.

In this era the fans are demanding a product that rewards those with pure wrestling ability combined perfectly with the gift of gab. It’s the reason that the Roman Reigns experiment was so massively rejected by the WWE Universe, because as skilled as he was and how good a match he could put on, he couldn’t talk to save his life and fans just couldn’t rally behind someone that didn’t look comfortable and was being made to fit a WWE mould instead of talking organically. So when you have someone like The Great Khali, who can’t do either, what motivation is there to bring them back?

It’s not like the language barrier can be blamed. In NXT we have Shinsuke Nakamura who absolutely oozes charisma. He can speak a bit of English, but not fluently. Yet in spite of this, he interacts with the audience, rallies them behind him, and adds a character to his matches that speaks volumes about who he is, how comfortable he feels in the ring, and demands your attention. The Great Khali never once looked like he felt comfortable in the ring.

The Great Khali is a failed experiment that represents everything the WWE has moved on from. Sure, we still have superimposing monsters like Brock Lesnar appearing on the program, we have giants like Big Show and Kane still around, but the main event is Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, two small men who carry the match who sheer ability and engrossed characters. The horrific day Khali won the World Heavyweight Championship is something that, unless the company makes a huge mistake, will never happen again. The belt isn’t something used to try and make someone look credible in the ring anymore, it’s a reward for the hard work of the locker room leaders, the faces of the WWE that are talented enough to keep hold of it. The company has moved on from Khali. And may we pray to the wrestling gods that they never move backwards.

So what do you think? Did I miss someone out? Is there someone on this list that doesn’t deserve to be? Let us know in the comments.