5 Major WWE Stars Who Are Lost In The Shuffle

WWE has more star power than at any point in the company's storied history, and while that may be a good problem for WWE to have, the same can't be said of many of its stars.

Even though WWE just moved a number of major names in this month's draft-the first of its kind since 2016-and has an official brand split once again, a number of the company's most promising talents have been unable to break away from the pack in 2019. A few notable names, such as Chad Gable a.k.a. Shorty G, have found themselves being featured in a much more high-profile role as of late, but for every Gable out there, there is another marquee star who has been overlooked for much of the year as many former main eventers have lost their way.

That's an issue that WWE has always struggled with and will continue to be faced with as more and more stars join Raw and SmackDown, potentially further worsening its already packed roster. As more NXT stars figure to join the main roster in the future, the overcrowded red and blue brands will become even more jampacked, and many promising stars are facing the very real possibility of falling so far off the radar that they never recover.

Here are five major WWE stars who-due mostly to poor booking by the creative team-have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Aleister Black reportedly has a lot of supporters backstage in WWE and even has been working closely with Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman, which seemingly would guarantee him a push as one of the fastest rising stars in WWE.

Well, so much for that. Considering that Black is a former NXT Champion and one of the most talented in-ring performers in the world, his main roster run has been nothing short of disastrous. Remember this: Before Bray Wyatt's "The Fiend" came to be, it was Black who was drawing comparisons to The Undertaker as a captivating superstar with a mysterious gimmick and long-term main event potential. But a brief, ill-advised tag team run with Ricochet, a series of backstage vignettes and a short-lived feud with Cesaro are all that Black has accomplished on the main roster, which has failed to make the most out of his very unique talents.

How a superstar can go from being one of the most pushed, protected and popular acts in NXT to a complete afterthought on Raw and SmackDown is anyone's guess, but it's certainly not unheard of as similar fates have befallen stars like Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura at times. One could argue that Black has been one of WWE's most misused superstars in 2019 as WWE has failed to find him a compelling storyline or even a consistent role on TV.

There's hope that will change for Black following the WWE draft now that he's on a Raw brand where he has a big supporter in Heyman, but given how he's been used during his brief main roster stint (with virtually no memorable feuds or moments in nearly a year), perhaps that hope is misguided.

Much like Black, Andrade is another former NXT stud who is essentially just another guy on the main roster, which is unfortunate given that he's also one of the world's best in-ring performers and has an entertaining act alongside the underrated Zelina Vega.

In the past, Andrade has been linked to a potentially huge push as he's said to be a favorite of WWE officials, and a report from PWInsider (h/t Wrestling Inc) earlier this year even noted that FOX officials had requested that Andrade be on SmackDown in order to have a top Latino superstar to build its product around. The thought was that the extremely talented Andrade would be a focal point of the blue brand's product and a major draw among WWE's Latino viewing audience. Yet, while there have been signs of a big push for Andrade here and there-like when he was drafted early to Raw-WWE has been very indecisive when it comes to the way he's portrayed on TV and hasn't done much with him outside of a series of impressive matches with Rey Mysterio.

One week, it looks like Andrade is going to smash his way through the proverbial glass ceiling. The next, he isn't even on TV. The good news for Andrade is that he's still just 29 years old, so his time is undoubtedly on his side as he could be in the early stages of a push on Raw, which drafted him much higher than expected. The bad news, however, is that as more talent piles onto WWE's main roster, it becomes less likely that a star who's smaller in stature without elite level promo skills will be able to work his way up the card.

In an ideal world, Andrade would, at the very least, have a consistent presence in the midcard title picture, but in 2019, WWE has seemed content with letting him have amazing matches but not doing much else with him.

It was just six months ago when WWE touted Elias as the biggest acquisition in SmackDown history, and though that resulted in a brief push for Elias due to his temporary alliance with Shane McMahon, it ultimately led him nowhere-except to being a late round draft pick.

Indeed, when Elias was moved to SmackDown, there was widespread concern about how he'd fit on the blue brand-and rightfully so. Elias was tailor made for what has historically been a more entertainment-centric Monday Night Raw, as evidenced by his involvement in one of the most unforgettable segments in the history of the red brand. One of the best talkers and most entertaining characters in all of WWE, Elias has remained a cult favorite among fans during the vast majority of his run on the main roster, even becoming WWE's top merchandise seller for a brief period two years ago.

Two noticeable things have held Elias back, however: His in-ring skills and his lack of anything remotely resembling a real, extended feud. You'd be hard-pressed to remember any rivalry Elias has had because, well, he really hasn't. Maybe that's been done by design because he's an average in-ring performer, but the only way he's going to improve in that regard is by working with WWE's best wrestlers, which he really hasn't had the opportunity to on a consistent basis.

As a result, Elias-once one of the hottest acts in WWE-has cooled off considerably, and now that he's dealing with an injury, it's hard to envision him getting out of his recent role as a midcard performer with a great gimmick but absolutely no sense of direction, especially on a now star-studded SmackDown.

A much more natural heel, The Miz has exceed most expectations fans had of him as a babyface, a role he's performed surprisingly well in for much longer than anyone could have anticipated.

The Miz's descent as a fan favorite has nothing to do with his abilities to win fans over and everything to do with how he's been booked. It all started going downhill when he lost to Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 35 and then once again at Extreme Rules. Those questionable booking decisions were meant to get more heat on McMahon, which they did, but they also had the unfortunate side effect of portraying The Miz is a total loser. While The Miz's promos are still top notch and he's still reasonably over, next to no one is buying into him as a credible performer in that babyface role due to his losses to McMahon and his sudden disappearance from actual storylines.

The Miz's momentum is completely dead in the water, which makes you wonder if the only way he can even recover is by turning heel again. In terms of mainstream appeal, The Miz-whose reality show Miz and Mrs. performed quite well on USA Network -is one of WWE's biggest and most recognizable names, so you would think that WWE would make a concerted effort to feature him more and push him more strongly than it has. However, he's been one of many stars who was unfairly misused during the "Wild Card" rule era, which is now officially a thing of the past but is still having an effect on much of the roster.

Though The Miz's mic skills and star power should prevent him from falling any further down the card, it isn't clear if or when WWE will truly push him again as anything more than a faux talk show TV show.

It was only a few months ago that Samoa Joe was involved in a marquee storyline with Roman Reigns and seemed poised for a babyface turn that fans were begging to see.

But injury issues aside, Joe has spent much of 2019 getting lost in the shuffle and has since revealed that Vince McMahon never really wanted him in WWE, which might explain why he is the textbook example of someone who's been plagued by start-and-stop pushes. While Joe has the credibility and likability (he was once WWE's No. 2 merchandise seller) that should give him a consistent presence in WWE's main event picture, he often appears to be forgotten about in favor of other stars with similar positions on the card.

Joe is one of WWE's most believable and entertaining heels, but every time he's been on the cusp of achieving something great, like a Universal or WWE title win, WWE pulls back at the last moment and instead "feeds" him to whichever babyface, like AJ Styles or Kofi Kingston, is being pushed at the time. What that's done to Joe is transformed him from one of the best all-around performers in WWE into one of its most overlooked. Maybe Joe's age (he'll soon turn 41) is a factor in WWE's decision not to push him, but given the older stars WWE has pushed in the past, that certainly doesn't sound like a good reason to give up on him.

Whatever the reason is, though, even a healthy Joe just isn't a priority for WWE anymore. He's, if nothing else, WWE's most misused star.