WWE has been the biggest wrestling promotion since it began, and continues to lead the world of wrestling. This is possible because of the stacked roster WWE possesses. WWE has had a stacked roster since forever, and the scouts do a phenomenal job.
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To ensure that the product remains fresh, WWE keeps signing new talent regularly. The 2000s decade was perhaps the time when WWE had the most star-studded roster. We saw the debut of some great future stars, but we also saw some huge signing blunders.
10 2000: Eric Angle
Eric Angle is the older brother of wrestling legend Kurt Angle, and that's pretty much the only thing he's remembered for. He made his debut at Survivor Series 2000, as he helped Kurt Angle retain his WWE Championship against The Undertaker by switching places with him. He also appeared on the following Raw, where he was attacked by Undertaker.
WWE then signed him to a contract and sent him to OVW. However, he got injured and went through surgeries. He'd return on WWE television in 2003, to once again help Kurt Angle retain his WWE Title. WWE didn't see Eric of much use, and released him soon after.
9 2001: Buff Bagwell
Buff Bagwell spent 10 long years in WCW from 1991 to 2001. He was signed by WWE in 2001, after the purchase of WCW. He was one of the first AOL Time Warner contracted wrestlers who accepted the offered buy-out and signed with WWE.
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He had a pretty decent run in WCW, but his WWE tenure was extremely short-lived. He only had one televised match in WWE, where he faced Booker T for the WCW Championship on Raw. When Bagwell arrived at the Raw tapings a week later, he was surprisingly informed that he was fired. Bagwell later said that he never understood why he was fired so soon.
8 2002: Nathan Jones
Nathan Jones was brought into WWE with huge expectations. Signed in 2002, Jones made his televised WWE debut in 2003 on SmackDown. He was supposed to be Undertaker's partner in his tag team match against A-Train & Big Show at WrestleMania 19, but it was changed to a handicap match as he was attacked pre-match.
He appeared during the final moments of the match, and helped 'Taker secure the victory. He was then sent to OVW for some time. He returned in the fall of 2003, and was paired with Paul Heyman. But, nothing really worked for him, and Jones quit the company in December 2003, due to WWE's heavy travel schedules.
7 2003: Heidenreich
Heidenreich was given some opportunities, but he failed to make any impact during his time in WWE. He was brought into the company in 2003 debuting on the Raw brand. He debuted with a gimmick where he was controlled by "Little Johnny".
He was also managed by Paul Heyman in 2004, but it didn't translate to any success either. He was paired with Animal later in an attempt to revive The Legion of Doom, but it was just a waste of time. He was finally let go in January 2006.
6 2004: Daniel Puder
Daniel Puder's time in WWE is remembered for all the wrong reasons. He was the winner of the 2004 WWE Tough Enough competition, where the prize was a $1,000,000 contract. He had a pretty good chance to be something big in the business, but he screwed up his career himself. On an episode of SmackDown, Kurt Angle challenged the Tough Enough finalists to earn a chance to wrestle against him.
Puder took on Angle, and put him in a legitimate Kimura Lock that nearly injured the top star badly. Seeing this, the referee quickly counted to three against Puder even though Puder's shoulders weren't on the mat. After this incident, Puder was beaten up by the wrestlers in the 2005 Royal Rumble match. He was then released the same year.
5 2005: Luke Gallows
Luke Gallows eventually turned into a great tag team wrestler alongside Karl Anderson, but he was quite useless during his first run in WWE. WWE signed him in 2005, and put him in the Deep South Wrestling developmental territory. He debuted on the main roster as imposter Kane and feuded with Kane.
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He'd then be renamed "Festus", and he formed a tag team with Jesse. He was also part of CM Punk's faction "The Straight Edge Society". However, none of these gimmick changes yielded any positive results, and he was released in 2010.
4 2006: Rosa Mendes
Rosa Mendes surprisingly had a very long run in WWE. She was given many opportunities, but could never prove herself as a good worker. She participated in the 2006 WWE Diva Search, and reached the final eight, after which she got signed to WWE.
Her first run on the main roster was as Beth Phoenix's intern. She also served as a manager for Primo & Epico from 2011 to 2013. Mendes was a decent manager, but sucked as a wrestler. She barely had any memorable matches, and was released in 2017.
3 2007: Ezekiel Jackson
Ezekiel Jackson is another example of a big man with below average in-ring and mic skills. WWE loves his type, and thus signed him in 2007. After spending some time in FCW, he came to SmackDown as the bodyguard of The Brian Kendrick.
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He'd then go to ECW, where he became the last ECW Champion ever. After the end of ECW, Jackson was back on SmackDown as part of the faction, "The Corre". He later won the Intercontinental Title, but it was a failed reign. It was clear that Jackson wasn't a good talent, and was thus released in 2014.
2 2008: Mike Adamle
Mike Adamle is a former football player with a six-year-long career in the NFL. He became a sports broadcaster after his retirement, as he joined NBC Sports, where he spent time both as a studio host and sideline reporter. WWE thought it would be a good idea to bring a sports announcer in their broadcast team, and signed him in 2008.
As expected, his timer in the WWE was nothing short of a disaster. He worked as an interviewer, play-by-play announcer, and as Raw's General Manager. However, all of those runs were failures. On his debut, he referred to Jeff Hardy as "Jeff Harvey", and would continue to make mistakes. It wasn't a surprise that he was gone from the company within a year of joining.
1 2009: Mason Ryan
Mason Ryan is perhaps best known for looking like Batista, except that he didn't possess the talent Batista did. WWE signed Ryan to a five-year contract in 2009. He was in FCW until 2011, where he also won the FCW World Heavyweight Title.
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In 2011, he made his main roster debut as he joined the CM Punk led faction The New Nexus. However, he didn't have his own identity as part of the group. He also spent some time as a singles wrestler, but went back to NXT after not finding success. His NXT run was forgettable too, and he was eventually released in 2014.
