{"id":153663,"date":"2026-02-23T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=153663"},"modified":"2026-02-23T02:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T07:58:08","slug":"why-are-some-wwe-stars-getting-lost-in-the-shuffle-and-how-can-it-be-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/02\/23\/why-are-some-wwe-stars-getting-lost-in-the-shuffle-and-how-can-it-be-fixed\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Some WWE Stars Getting Lost in the Shuffle \u2014 and How Can It Be Fixed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, WWE is on the Road to WrestleMania, and there are so many stars that are lost in the shuffle. It can be quite difficult at times to book stars constantly, as plans change at any time. Sometimes, it&#8217;s out of WWE&#8217;s control, while there are moments where they don&#8217;t have any ideas for unbooked talent. Understandably, WWE can&#8217;t book everyone at the same level, but some have the potential to be in compelling storylines. Here are some stars in WWE who are lost in the shuffle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>LA Knight<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"LA Knight recruits The Usos to challenge The Vision: Raw highlights, Feb. 16, 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HhUQ-g-EVj0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over and over again, LA Knight comes up short at main event level matches. Whether these bouts involve championships or not, Knight can&#8217;t seem to pick up a major victory. WWE fans have been vocal both in the past and in the present about how much they want to see Knight on top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, Knight is part of the Men&#8217;s Elimination Chamber Match. The winner will receive a shot against Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania. WWE can get Knight out of the booking shuffle by pulling a swerve for him. Having Knight get the win would be a huge boost for everyone. Knight would finally achieve his lifelong dream of main-eventing WrestleMania. It could also be the moment where Knight wins the big one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it would be a great way for WWE to utilize Knight properly, it&#8217;s likely not going to happen that way. For starters, McIntyre is already in a storyline of his own where he is making a statement on everyone trying to take his title. Instead, Knight will be stuck in either a storyline with The Vision or something grander.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If WWE is not planning on giving Knight his main-event moment at WrestleMania, they can still give him a win against a credible opponent. Since Knight has been targeting The Vision, Paul Heyman can call Brock Lesnar in for a favor by trying to stop Knight.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143564\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143564\" style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-240x300.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of WWE star LA Knight.\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-143564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/LA_Knight_RR25-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-143564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: By Diego Serrano &#8211; WWE Royal Rumble 2025, CC BY 2.0,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, Lesnar already has a motive since Knight helped eliminate Lesnar in the Men&#8217;s Royal Rumble Match. This potential feud can set up a match between the two at WrestleMania, where Knight conquers &#8220;The Beast&#8221;. If Knight were to beat Lesnar, then WWE needs to pivot on building momentum for Knight, so it&#8217;s believable when he wins the World title.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><b>Penta<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Penta becomes No. 1 Contender thanks to \u201cOriginal\u201d El Grande Americano: Raw highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qGnvmEHdEyc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, Penta has been dealing with booking hurdles and a minor shoulder injury. Luckily for him, he got back right on time for WrestleMania season. Although Penta is getting TV time, there haven&#8217;t been any current storylines set for the luchadore. There are two different stories WWE can place Penta in if they play their cards right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first idea is Penta having a mini feud with Gunther. Recently, Gunther has been in a small program with one of Penta&#8217;s partners, Dragon Lee. When Gunther is done with Lee, Penta can step up to him and pull a possible classic on RAW.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second story, which is the best one, is inserting Penta in the tag team division. RAW&#8217;s tag team division has been minimal for quite some time. Putting Penta in the mix would be a great way for WWE to showcase the teams on RAW. WWE can get creative in deciding Penta&#8217;s potential partner. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idea would be to trade Dragon Lee to SmackDown in exchange for Penta&#8217;s brother, Rey Fenix. WWE can reunite the brothers and have them likely challenge The Usos for the World Tag Team titles at WrestleMania.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><b>Rusev<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Joaquin Wilde vs. Rusev: WWE Main Event, Jan. 29, 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/virQEl_ivL8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ever since Rusev made his return to WWE, it&#8217;s been unclear what his intentions are. Throughout his return in 2025, he had a lengthy feud with Sheamus before pursuing the Intercontinental Championship. Rusev&#8217;s status on RAW is somewhere in the mid-card scene. Last Monday, RAW General Manager, Adam Pearce, was offering one of WWE&#8217;s recent NXT call-ups, Oba Fem, to the red brand. Rusev encountered Femi as they had a brief staredown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This hints that Femi could join RAW as he already been in a few matches on SmackDown. Femi joining RAW would be a great way to get Rusev back in the fold by igniting a rivalry between these two powerhouse stars. It can move Rusev to greater heights by giving him a match with Femi at WrestleMania. This plan is a win-win situation as it would be Femi&#8217;s WrestleMania debut, while Rusev will have a compelling program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><b>Matt Cardona<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Toxic! Matt Cardona confronts Kit Wilson: SmackDown highlights, Jan. 23, 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/niVjWS2OPxc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Formerly as Zack Ryder in WWE, Matt Cardona has made it known that he plans to make an impact. He is back in the company that was instrumental to his wrestling career. Being a former Tag Team, United States, and Intercontinental Champion, Cardona has one specific goal. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That goal Cardona has is to become the Undisputed WWE Champion. Unfortunately for Cardona, he&#8217;s been dealing with a bad hand as he&#8217;s suffered attacks from The MFT, led by Solo Sikoa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sikoa made it clear that he wants all the gold in The MFT, which may lead to him pursuing the U.S Title, which is what Cardona once held. If many names are inserting themselves in Carmelo Hayes&#8217; U.S Championship Open Challenge, then Cardona might be one of those names added to the list as well. In the meantime, WWE can start getting Cardona out of the shuffle by giving him wins in singles matches. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cardona should get a win over Kit Wilson once again as a way to finish their feud and build momentum towards feuding with The MFT and chasing the United States Title. Hopefully, for Cardona, he sees his name on a prospect multi-man match for the U.S Title at WrestleMania.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What other WWE stars do you see lost in the shuffle, and how can WWE fix those talents&#8217; directions? Leave your comments below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><b>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"600\" layout=\"fixed\" data-multi-size=\"300x250,300x600\" data-multi-size-validation=\"false\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-2\" data-enable-refresh=\"30\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{ &quot;vendors&quot;: { &quot;t13&quot;: { &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;4f799893-5665-4629-b0fc-8b97d3569fd6&quot;, &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot; }, &quot;aps&quot;: { &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;, &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;, &quot;PARAMS&quot;: { &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot; } }, &quot;criteo&quot;: { &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;, &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;, &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-2&quot; }, &quot;medianet&quot;: { &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot; } } }\"><\/amp-ad><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Header photo \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Zack_Ryder_(28713985847).jpg#\/media\/File:Zack_Ryder_(28713985847).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WikiMedia Creative Commons<\/a> \u2013 Stay tuned to the <\/span><u><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a><\/u><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/span><\/em><amp-fx-flying-carpet height=\"600px\"><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"600\" layout=\"fixed\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-FlyingCarpet\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{ &quot;vendors&quot;: { &quot;t13&quot;: { &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;f502adbd-5c9b-4d6f-9ec5-b0cdc0f4827c&quot;, &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot; }, &quot;aps&quot;: { &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;, &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;, &quot;PARAMS&quot;: { &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot; } }, &quot;criteo&quot;: { &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;, &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;, &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-FlyingCarpet&quot; }, &quot;medianet&quot;: { &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot; } } }\"><\/amp-ad><\/amp-fx-flying-carpet><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"280\" layout=\"fixed\" data-multi-size=\"300x250\" data-multi-size-validation=\"false\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-1\" data-enable-refresh=\"30\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{ &quot;vendors&quot;: { &quot;t13&quot;: { &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;d9161051-a91e-4a3c-b6ab-d253bdb38cd9&quot;, &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot; }, &quot;aps&quot;: { &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;, &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;, &quot;PARAMS&quot;: { &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot; } }, &quot;criteo&quot;: { &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;, &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;, &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-1&quot; }, &quot;medianet&quot;: { &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot; } } }\"><\/amp-ad><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"280\" layout=\"fixed\" data-multi-size=\"300x250\" data-multi-size-validation=\"false\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-1\" data-enable-refresh=\"30\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{ &quot;vendors&quot;: { &quot;t13&quot;: { &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;d9161051-a91e-4a3c-b6ab-d253bdb38cd9&quot;, &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot; }, &quot;aps&quot;: { &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;, &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;, &quot;PARAMS&quot;: { &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot; } }, &quot;criteo&quot;: { &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;, &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;, &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-1&quot; }, &quot;medianet&quot;: { &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot; } } }\"><\/amp-ad><\/p>\n<p><em>You can check out WWE programming on<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Netflix<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>(Raw, WWE archives, WWE Unreal, and other specials),<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Network<\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The CW<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>(NXT),<span>\u00a0<\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wwe\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>(WWE PLEs),<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tubi<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A&amp;E<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>(Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Currently, WWE is on the Road to WrestleMania, and there are so many stars that are lost in the shuffle. It can be quite difficult at times to book stars constantly, as plans change at any time. Sometimes, it&#8217;s out of WWE&#8217;s control, while there are moments where they don&#8217;t have any ideas for unbooked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5615,"featured_media":153682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,4,3],"tags":[7482,6346,9123,202],"class_list":["post-153663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-la-knight","tag-matt-cardona","tag-penta","tag-rusev"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153663"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153683,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153663\/revisions\/153683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}