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• Paul Heyman Revealed Curtis Axel As His Newest Client

• Curtis Axel Defeated Triple H In His First Match

• Curtis Axel Was Constantly Overshadowed By Other Superstars, Ending His Push

Over the course of WWE history, there have been several failed projects when it comes to pushing wrestlers. Whether it be superstars getting pushed due to their size, appearance, or heritage, there have been many instances where it just doesn’t work out. Back in 2013, this was the case for Curtis Axel. Fans will be mostly familiar with his work as a lower card talent, more notably in the Social Outcasts jobber faction and The Miztourage (who would later become The B-Team), but his time as a singles competitor initially looked very promising, with him being primed to be one of the next big things in wrestling.

Paul Heyman Revealed Curtis Axel As His Newest Client

Axel’s WWE career began back when he was competing in the game-show version of NXT, before joining The Nexus under the name of Michael McGillicutty. When The Nexus was disbanded, he found himself floating back down to developmental. In 2013, his career on WWE’s main roster was restarted. In the lead-up to the May 20 episode of Monday Night Raw, Paul Heyman had been teasing the arrival of a new client. This would be the first time since Heyman’s WWE return that he was set to manage someone not named Brock Lesnar or CM Punk.

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There was a lot of anticipation for this reveal, but when the titantron showed the name ‘Curtis Axel’, the audience was a little confused. When Axel made his entrance, it was clear why this was his new name – and it was a great way to pay tribute to his lineage. With his grandfather being Larry ‘The Axe’ Hennig, and his father being ‘Mr. Perfect’ Curt Hennig, this mashed those two names together to create his new identity. On paper, this was a perfect name, but for whatever reason, WWE didn’t play much into his father and grandfather’s relation to him.

Granted, this could have been due to WWE wanting to allow Axel to make a name for himself without backpacking on the success of others, but if that was the case, then having this ring name didn’t make much sense. Also, when looking at his questionable booking, WWE didn’t provide him with many tools or consistency to make that name for himself, if that was indeed why his third-generation status was barely discussed.

Curtis Axel Defeated Triple H In His First Match

Having a brand-new young name on the roster under the tutelage of Heyman seemed like a very promising direction, and it looked as though WWE was set on pushing him to the moon. In fact, on the night of his re-debut, he went one-on-one with Triple H, in a rare Raw match at the time for The Game. Axel shockingly picked up the victory, and that alone should have created a star there and then. However, this win came about due to WWE running a concussion storyline involving HHH following his Steel Cage Match against Brock Lesnar, with him collapsing, unable to compete any further.

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Making this all about HHH took all the spotlight away from what should have been a huge win for Axel. This trend of unconvincing wins continued, with two count-out victories over John Cena, and a win over Chris Jericho due to a distraction. This wasn’t a good start, but things took a turn when he was added to the Intercontinental Title match at Payback, in which he won the belt to a huge ovation. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there.

Curtis Axel Was Constantly Overshadowed By Other Superstars, Ending His Push

Whenever Axel and Heyman were onscreen, the promos were all about Brock Lesnar and CM Punk, making Axel look like a background character, especially when Heyman turned on Punk. Axel played a punching bag during this feud, even though he was IC Champion. The belt felt meaningless, with Axel barely having any extended rivalries with the title involved. His defenses weren’t overly impressive, defeating the likes of R-Truth and Kofi Kingston. There were some decent matches here and there, but he was rarely given enough time to overly impress.

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Eventually, Heyman enlisted the help of Ryback, further pushing Axel down the totem pole, before eventually being forgotten about altogether by Heyman. Axel would also lose his IC belt to Big E before 2013 closed, with he and Ryback eventually forming the Rybaxel tag team, which went absolutely nowhere. WWE had a chance to build up a new star, and whilst on paper a partnership with Heyman, a win over Triple H, an IC Title reign, and a feud with CM Punk all seemed great, he was never made to look like anyone’s equal, and was always booked poorly. Despite all these star-making ingredients, WWE creative proved themselves to be the world’s worst cooks.