5 Current WWE Superstars who were initially rejected
For some current WWE Superstars, the road to being signed by Vince McMahon's company was a long one. While there are stars who are able to join the company at a young age, there are others who are forced to work for several years to garner the attention of the right people.
This means that there are some wrestlers on the company's current roster who were rejected by WWE in the early years of their career, only to be hired after they were able to get some experience behind them.
The following list looks at just five current WWE Superstars who were originally rejected by the company much earlier in their career.
#5. Current WWE Superstar Keith Lee
Keith Lee was a well-known name in the business when he was finally signed to WWE back in 2018. Ten years prior, the former NXT Champion attempted to turn the heads of WWE officials but wasn't able to make the cut.
Lee debuted in the business back in 2005 and after just three years he was handed a tryout by WWE, but this didn't result in him being signed with the company. Lee then went on to work for Ring of Honor, Evolve and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla before finally being hired by WWE a decade later.
Lee was handed a small role on an episode of Monday Night RAW back in 2009 where he played a security guard, but his next appearance for the company didn't come until WrestleMania Axxess in 2018.
Lee went on to fail their tryouts before finally being handed the chance to work with the company in 2018. The star told TalkSport that after three rejections he was ready to give up wrestling, but it was Dusty Rhodes who saved his career.
"That began because my first tryout with WWE was in 2008, three years after I started. I had an entire week of just a single tryout, just me. I got turned down that time and Dusty Rhodes told me that I was trash on the mic, basically. 2011, I had another tryout. This time only three days. Bit better on the mic, but not quite there."
Lee went away and got the experience he needed, before turning the head of NXT officials. It was then officially announced in May 2018 that he had signed with WWE and after a brief stint on NXT he was promoted to Monday Night RAW.