Top 5 WWE Superstars that were sent back to developmental
While many young wrestlers dream of getting promoted from developmental to the WWE main roster, others had to go back to the lower ranks after tasting glory.
WWE has had several developmental territories over the years. WWE Superstars have to undergo months of training to earn a spot on the main roster. Names like John Cena, Batista and Roman Reigns spent months preparing themselves in promotions like OVW and FCW before they got a chance to perform on the main shows.
However, WWE has prematurely promoted some superstars to the main roster on a few occasions. WWE management ultimately had to send them back to developmental to improve their skills later on.
Further training is not the sole reason WWE has had to send superstars back to developmental. Sometimes WWE management has implemented demotion as a punishment method. Former World Champion The Big Show was one of its most famous victims.
Here are five WWE Superstars that were sent back to developmental.
#5. Former WWE Superstar Matt Morgan
Matt Morgan signed a WWE contract following his participation in season two of Tough Enough. He joined Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's developmental brand at the time, to learn the ropes before debuting on SmackDown a year later, in October 2003.
WWE was undergoing many changes back then. Young talents such as John Cena, Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar were turning into superstars, and WWE management believed Morgan could follow in their footsteps. He received a push on SmackDown, but a shoulder injury put a quick end to it.
Following his recovery, WWE sent Morgan back to OVW. His return to the developmental brand saw him go straight to the top and win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.
A year following his demotion, Morgan returned to SmackDown with a new stuttering gimmick. Morgan revealed the idea came from Vince McMahon. However, it did not work. Morgan later spoke about his failed persona in an interview with The Post and Courier:
"I hated it. I didn't tell those guys to call me up prematurely (...) I did say in that office, and not talking back or anything, but you know, Vince sold this to me as he's always wanted to put this stuttering character on one of these bigger, super impressive looking guys."
Having noticed the failure of Morgan's stuttering gimmick, WWE released him in July 2005.
Following his unsuccessful WWE run, Morgan joined TNA, where he became a two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion.