Vince McMahon was in charge of WWE for decades, and during his tenure, Mr. McMahon gave the pro wrestling world some of the biggest stars in history. From The Rock, John Cena, to The Undertaker, all these superstars enjoyed immense success under the leadership of Kennedy, as he made perfect decisions by giving all of them long runs in the Stamford-based promotion.
But this wasn’t the case with all in-ring performers that made their way to the talent pool of the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. There were a lot of talented guys who ended up departing the company due to various reasons. So, here’s a list of three former WWE stars who were fumbled by the former CEO.
3. Christian Cage
You must be wondering why a veteran like Christian Cage is on this list, as he had a memorable career in the WWE. But the reason why letting him go was a bad decision by Vince McMahon is his recent work in All Elite Wrestling. This veteran has been on top of his game in the Tony Khan-led promotion and is currently among the biggest heels in the company.
As Christian has been enjoying a great amount of success in AEW, even in this phase of his career, he could have achieved a lot more in the WWE. Due to this, it’s safe to say that Mr. McMahon fumbled the bag by giving Cage enough reasons to leave a name as big as the Stamford-based promotion and join the Jacksonville-based promotion.
2. FTR aka The Revival
FTR aka The Revival is a prime example of a team that had everything that WWE needed to give a push to the moon to a tag team, but things just didn’t work out. The team consisted of highly talented performers like Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood, and they even enjoyed a good amount of success on WWE NXT, but they weren’t really able to make an impact on the main roster.
These two started working as a team in the Stamford-based promotion in 2014 and competed in the company until 2020. During this time, they spent the majority of their time on the main roster, but their NXT run was probably more dominant. This shows that their booking on RAW and SmackDown wasn’t great, and that’s potentially the reason why they ended up parting ways with the company.
But their exit from their former workplace worked as a blessing in disguise for them as they joined AEW. Their run in All Elite Wrestling not only helped them establish their dominance, but it also gave them memorable reigns, not just in AEW but also beyond it. All in all, these achievements truly showcase that Vince McMahon fumbled the ball by letting The Revival leave the WWE.
1. Matt Cardona
Last but not least, the final name on this list is Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder due to his WWE tenure. This 39-year-old superstar was a part of the Stamford-based promotion for 15 long years, as he joined it in 2005 and left the organization in 2020. But, in between this long tenure, Cardona saw all sorts of ups and downs.
From being a fan-favorite star who had to be called up to live television tapings because of fans love to winning the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 32, Zack had a lot of memorable moments. But, despite having such highly incredible feats, Matt Cardona was never fully utilized in WWE, and he was eventually released in 2020 due to budget cuts.
Getting released was arguably the biggest thing for Matt, as he absolutely revolutionized his career after that. During this time, he worked with All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, and others, and all this helped Zack establish himself as a megastar. Looking at the current popularity of Matt Cardona, Vince McMahon absolutely fumbled the ball on this incredibly talented in-ring performer.