Top 10 Underrated WWE Wrestlers
Dial up the cheers, because this lot need more love. Welcome to Watchmojo.com and today we'll be counting down our picks for the top 10 underrated WWE wrestlers.
For this list we'll be looking at the active WWE Roster and highlighting the most underutilized talents. We wont be looking at NXT today since we're hoping the future is bright for the best of them!
#10: Drew Gulak
Cruiserweights? Underrated? Who’d have thunk it. While the same can be said for the majority of the 205 roster, Drew Gulak’s indie escapades were proper ace -
Meaning he, and the other cruiserweights deserve more respect from the fans and management alike.
Yep, his technical style and serious attitude made him a strong presence in companies like Evolve. And a lot of that actually translates well into his goofier WWE persona, surprisingly.
And trust us, we could write an excellent powerpoint on why he should be cruiserweight champion.
#9: Apollo Crews
If you can’t already tell, Apollo is better than he’s letting on.
It’s like they’ve attached weights to his ankles to prevent him from showing his best. The guy absolutely killed it in his pre-wwe years, especially in Japan’s Dragon Gate. But instead of letting him entertain the fans to the best of his ability, he’s lumped in with Titus who, trust us, will have to keep milking the GRR Slip botch until its reaaaally unfunny.
#8: Jason Jordan
Woah woah woah, put the pitchforks down and be reasonable. Yeah, Jason Jordan may be the single most hated wrestler on the main roster (except for a certain large canine), but this is an absolute testament to his ability as a performer. The fact that a guy this early in his career is getting this much heat for his work is nothing short of an anomaly, and you would definitely be lying if you said his wrestling ability wasn’t incredibly promising.
#7: Rusev
Hate to jump on the bandwagon, but this one’s been obvious for years. When Rusev first debuted, it was quite obvious he was going places. He had an undefeated streak, the US championship, and even took on Cena at Wrestlemania. Then…things changed. It’s probably down to the whole engagement announcement with Lana, but ever since, it seems Rusev hit his glass ceiling. Even now with the rise of rusev-day-mania, the powers that be just don’t seem to give us what we want…and what he deserves.
#6: Hideo Itami
We won’t be surprised if Itami jumps ship any time soon. The way this man has been used has been criminal. There was a time in history when NOAH’s jr. Heavyweight, Kenta, was on top of the world. He had incredible matches with the likes of Kenta Kobashi and Brian Danielson, so when it came time to his signing, we admittedly had high hopes. But nothing at all has come from his run in WWE. Not. A. thing.
Special shoutout to his tag team partner, Akira Tozawa, who is equally under-used, but at least he got to touch some championship gold…even if it didn’t last very long.
#5: Becky Lynch
You can make the argument for a few of the ladies on the main roster, but our pick for most underrated is the lass kicker. Despite being the inaugural Smackdown women’s champion, Becky hasn’t seen much success since. She has always been treated as the weakest of the women’s revolution trio and spends most of her time now putting over the other far less talented women on smackdown – looking at you Carmella. But here’s the thing, Lynch is fantastic. Arguably in the top 3 best women wrestlers on the roster. Not just that, but she’s so easy to like. Yeah her promos can be a little cringey at times, but is she really the one to blame?
#4: Sami Zayn
Despite being looped in some high-profile feuds, Sami Zayn doesn’t really have much to brag about. In fact, he hasn’t won a single belt since his incredibly short NXT championship win. It’s quite obvious at this point that if you give the guy something to work with, he can turn it into gold and its pretty hard to recall a bad match he’s had…that being said most of them have been against Owens. Either way, when is Zayn going to be portrayed as Owen’s equal? It’s hard to see them as eternal rivals or the best of friends when their accolades are so lopsided.
#3: Chad Gable
A guy this new should not be this good. He’s got the look, he’s an olympic athlete, his wrestling ability is better than just solid, he’s good on the mic – Chad is bursting with potential. Instead, WWE’s seemed pretty unwilling to do anything major with our boy so far, choosing to lump him in with tag teams to pass the time. But this guy could be the guy. And his new solo run on raw has us crossing our fingers. So do it. Push Chaddy Daddy.
#2: Karl Anderson
The machine-gun is good. Really damned good. Anyone familiar with his work in New Japan has seen what this guy is capable of, and if you’re not in that category, check out his title match against Okada. It’s sad to say, but there was so much more potential for Karl before he transitioned into the tag team division. That’s not to say that he and Luke Gallows haven’t had good matches together in the past, but its quite clear that if Karl were to spread his wings and fly solo, more people would understand why he’s today’s number 2.
#1: Cesaro
You know it. We know it. Everybody knows it. Cesaro is the biggest wasted talent in the WWE right now. It’s upsetting to consider that the last singles title run the swiss cyborg had was waaaay back when he held the US title, and back then it wasn’t held with a lick of the prestige it is now. It’d be an easier pill to swallow if we weren’t goaded into believing he was going to make it after winning the andre the giant battle royale or beating Randy Orton clean…but his current position is inexcusable.
We’ll admit, it would be heartbreaking to break up the bar, since they are an excellent tag team, but Cesaro is easily one of the best pure talents on the roster today.