11. Nicky, a.k.a. Dolph Ziggler

11. Nicky, a .k.a. Dolph Ziggler

One of the main points of criticism against the modern WWE is how much it refuses or fails to make legitimate superstars (and not just branded “Superstars,” as it insists on calling its wrestlers) out of its younger talent, instead focusing on past performers and having them look good at the expense of newer faces. Case in point: the dead-on-arrival team known as The Spirit Squad. The basic idea was for them to be an athletic yet sinister team that, in Vince McMahon’s eyes, would be hated because they were male cheerleaders in the testosterone-laden world of professional wrestling. (It was the same logic that said fans would despise someone who didn’t drink or was a vegan.) Eventually, Shawn Michaels and Triple H reunited under the D-Generation X banner—a cornerstone of the WWE’s late ’90s Attitude era that had been disbanded for six years at this point—and turned the Squad into their personal whipping boys. The Spirit Squad’s run ended with DX putting them in a box and shipping them off to Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE’s developmental league at the time, a particularly embarrassing fate for performers who’d already made it to the main television roster. By 2008, every member of the team was released from their contracts except for one, Nicky, who re-debuted in September of that year as Dolph Ziggler, a still-active and popular wrestler who’d go on to hold nearly every championship the company has to offer. But before he became Dolph Ziggler, he had a short stint as the caddy for another terrible gimmick: Kerwin White. [LaToya Ferguson]