10 WWE Prospects Who Caused Their Own Downfall

When a WWE-contracted performer who seems to have a glittering career in front of them is released, the question quickly turns to ‘why’ it happened.

On some occasions, the answer is staring the sports entertainer right back in the face when they look in the mirror. While lack of creative ideas, budget cuts and all manner of other excuses can often be given, the reason can occasionally be boiled down to ‘me’.

These are 10 promising WWE prospects who caused their own downfalls.

10. Joshua Bredl

It had its critics, sure, but WWE’s win-a-contract reality show Tough Enough did occasionally make for great television and helped get the likes of The Miz, John Morrison and Maven through the door.

Not everyone who made the final cut or even won the competition enjoyed success, however.

Just ask Joshua Bredl, the season six winner who was duly re-christened Bronson Matthews and shipped off to NXT.

After only a few months of being stationed in Orlando, Florida, Bredl – who at six-foot-seven, almost three-hundred pounds and with a big head of hair, seemed to check a lot of WWE’s boxes – raised the ire of the locker room with a single ill-conceived tweet.

While watching Raw, Bredl used the hashtag #SocialJobbers to describe the new Social Outcasts stable.

Though he later protested that he did so in ‘heel’ character, the likes of Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes did not take kindly to the perceived slight.

Bredl had to go to the so-called Wrestler’s Court and was temporarily kicked out of the NXT locker room over the incident. From that point on, his release, which came on November 5, 2017, was inevitable.

9. Enzo Amore & Big Cass

The collective fate of fast-talking catchphrase machines Enzo and Cass was sealed by their own lamentable actions.

After setting NXT on fire, the team were called up to the main roster and likewise got over with the wider WWE audience. After a little over a year on main, WWE creative made the questionable decision to break them up, with Cass turning heel on his partner.

Enzo would find some joy in the rebooted cruiserweight division, but was let go while in his second reign as Cruiserweight Champion after the company found out he was under investigation for sexual assault allegations he hadn’t told them about, although Enzo later claimed through his lawyer that he didn’t know about the investigation until it became public.

Prior to his release, it was said that Enzo had so much backstage heat that Roman Reigns allegedly refused to let him dress in the locker room with the rest of the boys.

As for Cass, he lasted another six months but was also canned after going against instructions during an in-ring segment on SmackDown, as well as being publicly intoxicated and demonstrating unprofessional behaviour during a European tour.

8. Teddy Hart

Teddy Hart was every bit as talented as he was self-destructive, a career-long narrative began in WWE.

After a standout performance in Dory Funk Jr’s training camp in 1998, Hart became the youngest person ever signed to a WWE developmental contract.

With natural athleticism and a unique charisma, hopes were high that Stu Hart’s grandson would help carry on the Hart family legacy moving forward. But Teddy’s contract was terminated after he was deemed a liability.

Supposedly always stoned, Teddy continually slept in and was late to practice, something Dory Jr. certainly wasn’t going to tolerate. There were also rumours of an incident at a hotel WWE used in Stamford, Connecticut contributing to Hart’s abrupt departure.

As he had talent, he was brought back, but his attitude hadn’t changed and he was deemed too immature to risk sending out on the road and once again fired.

After an inconsistent and often controversial handful of years working on the indies, Hart was invited back in 2007 to be part of a rebooted Hart Foundation with TJ Wilson, Harry Smith and Natalya Neidhart.

The third time was not the charm and his poor attitude led to him being let go once more.

7. Brad Maddox

Joshua Kluttz was in the WWE developmental system for two years – and was one of the final holders of the FCW Tag Team Titles – before being promoted to the main roster in August of 2012.

Not as a wrestler, though, but as a regular referee. That all changed about one month later when he was thrown right in the middle of a major storyline by costing Ryback his undefeated streak and helping CM Punk retain his WWE Title at Hell in a Cell.

From there, Brad Maddox became the Raw General Manager, a high-profile gig that gave him plenty of exposure. After that had run its course, Maddox played the waiting game, working house shows and dark matches while WWE figured out what to do with him.

One thing they didn’t want him to do, it turns out, was insult the crowd in Indianapolis after his non-televised bout prior to the November 24, 2015, SmackDown taping.

Calling punters ‘cocky pricks’ was a step too far for Vince McMahon, who let Maddox go immediately. He has since disappeared from the business entirely.

6. Mordecai

Kevin Fertig toiled in developmental for a few years as Seven, and was, at various points, set to be brought up as part of a monstrous tag team with feeder farm partner Tyson Tomko. Plans change, though, and Fertig instead was given a complete gimmick overhaul.

The new character was Mordecai, an all-white, religious zealot who was coming to rid the SmackDown brand of sin.

The Pale Rider came in with a lot of hype, getting the vignette treatment and a couple of wins on back-to-back pay-per-views, before he suddenly did a job to Rey Mysterio and was sent back to Ohio Valley Wrestling.

According to Fertig, he was being primed for programmes with The Undertaker and Eddie Guerrero when he got into a bar fight and those plans were hastily cancelled.

With a potential lawsuit lingering over his head as a result of the fight, Fertig was released. Though he was brought back a couple of years later as vampiric ECW New Breeder Kevin Thorn, he was never earmarked for any main event feuds or matches and had to instead lament what could have been.

5. Velveteen Dream

Despite being one of the favourites to win the competition, Patrick Clark was actually eliminated from the 2015 season of WWE Tough Enough early on, with the judges citing a perceived lack of humility on his part.

WWE snapped him up and sent him over to NXT regardless and Clark re-emerged in 2017 as Velveteen Dream, a character heavily inspired by the late music icon Prince.

With his eye-catching gimmick and look, overflowing charisma and penchant for producing in big matches, the former NXT North American Champion quickly became someone that fans and those within the industry predicted big things for.

The only thing stopping Patrick Clark from getting to the top was himself. As well as a habit of garnering heat backstage – with wrestlers and management – Dream’s house of cards began to tumble in April of 2020 when he was accused of sending explicit photos to underage fans on social media.

The allegations persisted in the months that followed, though Triple H claimed WWE investigated the allegations and “didn’t find anything.”

Still, Clark was released in May of 2021, with reports indicating that him consistently rubbing people the wrong way was a major factor in WWE’s decision.

4. Jaxson Ryker

We know it might be a bit of a stretch to call Jaxson Ryker a ‘promising prospect’, since the man formerly known as TNA’s gunner had been wrestling for about 15 years before WWE signed him in May of 2017.

But Vince McMahon was clearly a fan of the ex-US Marine, who made his main roster debut on SmackDown in April of 2020 (alongside Forgotten Sons stablemates Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake).

Portrayed as an American patriot on-screen, Ryker off-screen was unafraid to post his true feelings about the Black Lives Matter movement and then-President Donald Trump.

WWE stars like Ricochet and Kevin Owens were quick to criticise, while Cutler and Blake made the decision to publicly distance themselves from their teammate’s comments.

Ryker’s posts may have upset a large portion of the WWE locker room, but WWE felt like they couldn’t fire him for exercising his freedom of speech.

Nevertheless, the Forgotten Sons were quietly disbanded and Ryker re-emerged many months later, having been shifted to Raw.

He didn’t last too long, teaming and then feuding with Elias, then becoming a Main Event mainstay before being released amid reports his peers still hadn’t forgiven him.

3. Evan Bourne

High-flying independent standout Matt Sydal signed a WWE developmental deal in 2007 after impressing for Ring of Honor, Wrestling Society X and other groups.

Many presumed he’d have a low ceiling in the ‘E, given his smaller stature and indie style but, after gaining fans on ECW, the man now known as Evan Bourne made his way to Raw and became something of a cult favourite.

He eventually settled into the Air Boom tag team with Kofi Kingston, the popular duo winning the World Tag Team Titles.

Unfortunately, that reign was marred by Sydal getting a 30-day suspension for violating the company’s Wellness Policy, though WWE showed faith in him by keeping the belts on the team.

A little over a month after returning, however, he once again fell foul of the wellness policy, meaning Air Boom had to drop the titles before he sat out for 60 days.

Adding injury to insult, Bourne went and shattered his foot in a motorcycle crash while serving his second suspension.

WWE continued to pay him while he convalesced but decided to cut their losses and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours without bringing him back to television.

2. Nash Carter

After impressing for IMPACT, The Rascalz tag team were signed by WWE in December of 2020.

Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier became Nash Carter and Wes Lee, AKA MSK, and quickly set about establishing themselves as one of the top teams on the so-called third brand.

They won the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, before going on to bag the vacant NXT Tag Team Titles.

Their first reign lasted a not-inconsiderable 201 days and they were just days into their second reign as champs when Carter was released.

He was dismissed after his ex-wife (and fellow professional wrestler) Kimber Lee publicly accused him of sustained domestic abuse during the course of their relationship.

Shortly after, a picture of Carter sporting a moustache and giving a certain salute was shared online which looked an awful lot like the one performed by supporters of the leader of the Third Reich.

MSK would have probably have continued to receive a push, with a possible main roster call-up in their future, had the photo and allegations not surfaced.

As for Lee, he has continued to wrestle for NXT, primarily as a singles competitor, but the WWE-TNA working relationship has seen Wentz and Trey Miguel reform The Rascalz with Wes Lee across NXT and TNA IMPACT.

1. Lars Sullivan

Looking as he did like an absolute monster, it was no major surprise to see Lars Sullivan receive a monster push upon his promotion from NXT to the main roster.

An initial debut (and rumoured match with John Cena) didn’t materialise because Sullivan suffered an anxiety attack and walked out of his scheduled Raw debut, but he returned several months later and began wrecking people left, right and centre.

Shortly into his main roster run, however, it came to light that Lars had years earlier posted racist, homophobic, sexist and all manner of otherwise derogatory posts via various accounts on a bodybuilding forum – some of which were directed towards WWE employees.

He apologised, but was ordered to undergo sensitivity training and fined $100,000.

Still, McMahon wasn’t about to give up on ‘The Freak’, who was brought back to television after recovering from a major knee injury. However, persistent anxiety issues ultimately led to his release.