Triple H’s 2025 WWE Misfires: Every Star He Fumbled, Ranked

WWE can make a star or quietly push them to the background, and 2025 has been a case study in how fast momentum gets stalled when the machine decides to zig. Talent matters, sure. But so do the people mapping the shows. A lot of fans have long argued that Triple H and company prop up the wrong names while letting actual crowd favorites cool off. This year, a handful of big-time players got kneecapped by iffy creative, odd timing, or both.

Six WWE stars who got shortchanged in 2025

1. 6. Bayley

   Bayley turned babyface at the end of 2024 and had real buzz going into the new year. Then the Royal Rumble rolled around and, instead of riding that wave, the win went to Charlotte Flair. From there, WWE paired Bayley with Lyra Valkyria and gave them the no. 1 contender slot for the women's tag titles, setting up Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez at WrestleMania 41.

   And then the swerve: Bayley got written out with a storyline injury so Becky Lynch could make her return and take the WrestleMania spot. Fans were not exactly thrilled, and Bayley later said she had been looking forward to that match. She's since been slotted back in alongside Valkyria, but let's be honest — 2025 could have been a whole lot brighter if the company had actually cashed in on her momentum instead of detouring.

2. 5. R-Truth

   R-Truth popping up in John Cena's retirement tour was a genuinely fun wrinkle, especially with the history there. At 53, he was ambushing Cena during matches — even during the Backlash 2025 bout with Randy Orton — and it worked. Then the creative energy just fizzled.

   Truth returned at Money in the Bank under his real name, Ron Killings, in the main event, which seemed like a launchpad. Instead of doubling down on the Cena dynamic in a fresh way, he got shuffled into other feuds — including one with Aleister Black — that didn't land with the wider audience. He's an all-timer at getting over, and they still managed to underuse him.

3. 4. Randy Orton

   Randy's schedule was always going to be spotty after his spinal fusion surgery in early 2024, and you could feel the uncertainty in how he was booked this year. He got a few marquee matchups — including the Backlash clash with Cena — but with thin or forgettable story support, they just didn't stick.

   Given his limited availability, you'd think the company would build tighter, can't-miss stories around each appearance. Instead, it's been a lot of moments that happened without meaning much, which is not how you treat what's left of a Hall of Fame run.

4. 3. Braun Strowman

   Strowman was a top-of-the-card wrecking ball in the late 2010s, trading shots with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar and snagging the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. Losing it to Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules 2020 started the slide. By 2021 he was out, reportedly because of his salary. He came back in 2022, but the booking wobbled: a solid program with Omos across 2022–2023, then other swings — like a feud with former WBC champ Tyson Fury — that didn't really land.

   Two serious injuries in 2023 and 2024 kept him off TV for long stretches, which didn't help. He did have a lively feud with Jacob Fatu in 2025, but it wasn't enough to change his trajectory. WWE released him in May 2025, apparently deciding he wasn't moving the needle the way they needed.

5. 2. Drew McIntyre

   WWE trusted Drew with the big belt twice in 2020 and 2021, and the crowd was with him both times. Since losing it the second time in February 2021, though, his high-end opportunities have thinned out. He did win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL in 2024, but 2025 has been choppy.

   Feuds have started and then abruptly ended — see the August dust-up with Randy Orton — and even the matches that should have felt major didn't have the story heft to matter. Case in point: his WWE Championship loss to Cody Rhodes on the November 1 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. On paper, huge. In execution, light on context. It's baffling how undercooked Drew's year has been.

6. 1. LA Knight

   LA Knight has proven he can talk, work, and get a crowd chanting on command. WWE gave him a United States title run this year, which is nice, but let's not pretend that's his ceiling. Instead, he's been used like a dressed-up enhancement guy — fed to elevate company favorites like Bron Breakker and Jey Uso, usually taking the loss after delivering the heat.

   They've put him in big, fun matches — just not ones he's meant to win. If they actually want a needle-mover, maybe stop treating him like one rung below the real players.

The larger pattern here isn't new. WWE has a long track record of dimming rising stars by sticking them in dull stories or cutting their TV time — fans still point to names like Diamond Dallas Page and Shelton Benjamin when they talk about careers that never got a fair shake. The critiques clearly haven't changed the approach. And 2025 made that very clear.