Solo Sikoa and 7 WWE Stars Off to Rough Start in 2024

Every new year provides all WWE Superstars a much-needed fresh start, and many members of the SmackDown and Raw rosters have taken full advantage of that.

Bayley has carved her path to WrestleMania 40 after losing more matches than she won in 2023, Nia Jax is building major momentum, and even The Miz—who was notorious for losing last year—has managed to hit his stride again.

Others haven't been as fortunate, though, and have failed to make a memorable impression in 2024.

Timing is of the essence at the moment with The Show of Shows fast approaching on April 6-7 and the rosters being more stacked with star power than any other period in WWE's recent history. It's easy for athletes to get lost in the shuffle, but it's especially frustrating for fans to see certain talent lose their way after ascending to greater heights in 2023.

It's still only February, so there's still plenty of time to rebound, but their lack of luck lately can't be considered an encouraging sign for their immediate futures.

These seven stars in particular haven't seen their 2024 get off to the strongest start.

As a prominent piece of the ongoing Bloodline storyline, Solo Sikoa's standing on SmackDown is nothing to scoff at.

He's easily among the best NXT call-ups WWE has had in many years, but that hasn't made his 2024 any less underwhelming given where he was on the card a few months ago.

Sikoa was heavily protected in his rookie year on the main roster, suffering losses only when it mattered most. Beating John Cena in clean fashion at November's Crown Jewel event was the biggest accomplishment of his career to date, but the follow-up has been non-existent.

In an astounding stat, he hasn't won a single match (televised or non-televised) in the three months since Crown Jewel. Most of those losses have come either in tag team matches where Jimmy Uso was pinned or by disqualification, but nevertheless, it's almost as if his destruction of Cena never happened.

His five-minute defeat to Randy Orton the Jan. 19 edition of SmackDown was enough to erase whatever mystique he had left.

A rebuilding of Sikoa is in order.

WWE's failure to capitalize off of something so organic with Chad Gable's rise to Intercontinental Championship contention has been one of its biggest creative blunders of 2024 up to this point.

The Olympian came closer than anyone to beating Gunther early on in the fall. They had a fun feud that culminated in an excellent match in which The Ring General claimed victory and subsequently became the longest-reigning champ in the title's storied history.

The Alpha Academy founder vowed to avenge that loss after Gunther took pleasure in dismantling him in front of his family at ringside that night. Oftentimes, babyfaces don't involve their family in promises of that nature unless they intend to fulfill them, but it has yet to happen.

Gunther has no obvious opponent for WrestleMania 40, but Gable would need to score several important wins in order to be looked at as a legitimate threat by then.

The 37-year-old has largely been left off Raw and didn't take part in the men's Royal Rumble match. His last loss came at the hands of Ivar at the end of January, and he hasn't scored a televised victory in months.

The marginalization of Gable has been disappointing to say the least.

Shotzi has been utilized primarily as a bench-warmer in the SmackDown women's division since arriving on the main roster in the summer of 2021.

She'll be afforded the occasional opportunity in a women's Rumble or Money in the Bank ladder match, but she'll typically serve as a stepping stone for the rest of the roster.

The green-haired daredevil received her biggest push to date in WWE when she entered a feud with Bayley last summer, even beating her one-on-one on the Sept. 1 episode of SmackDown.

She remained a regular on the blue brand through Survivor Series where she, Michin, Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch triumphed over Damage CTRL in a WarGames match. But WWE proceeded to do absolutely nothing of note with her after that.

Her far-and-few appearances on SmackDown this year have been limited to backstage segments, and her 15-minute run in the women's Rumble match was solid but unspectacular.

There have been zero signs of WWE having meaningful plans for Shotzi going forward, all but confirming she'll be missing WrestleMania this year as well.

Carlito initially returned to WWE to a thunderous reaction at Backlash 2023 in Puerto Rico before resurfacing as an official member of the LWO at Fastlane in October.

The veteran was well on his way to facing Santos Escobar at Survivor Series before an injury derailed his momentum.

Since returning to the ring at the onset of 2024, Carlito has racked up nothing but losses on SmackDown. Essentially, WWE's aggressive attempt to establish Legado del Fantasma as credible heels has hurt the former intercontinental and United States champion.

Carlito putting over the talent of tomorrow in WWE was likely what was expected of him when he returned last year. However, there must also come a time when he wins as well so it means more when he gets beaten.

That would prevent him from feeling like a nostalgia act, but he hasn't reached that level of losing quite yet. He's still a fan favorite and is more than capable in the ring, but his booking remains a point of contention.

Austin Theory entered 2023 as United States champion and ended it with a fraction of the fanfare due to subpar booking.

Pairing him with Grayson Waller has helped the two find their footing and they've developed terrific chemistry as partners, but Theory is far from the promising prospect he once was based on the tone he's set so far in 2024.

A-Town and Waller have been saddled in a storyline with Kevin Owens for months that has seen them lose every match they've had with him. Theory picked up a rare victory over Carmelo Hayes one night prior to the Royal Rumble but lost to Owens the next week.

SmackDown boasts a deep roster of talent at the moment, eliminating almost any chance of the 26-year-old getting a renewed push in the foreseeable future. He'll instead be relegated to midcard mediocrity and playing the punching bag for the babyfaces of the blue brand.

Theory would need a complete character overhaul before he can be taken seriously as a singles star again.

For the first half of 2023, Tegan Nox was seldom seen on the main roster despite returning to WWE at the end of 2022. She rarely wrestled and never had a chance to show what she could do.

It wasn't until Triple H assumed complete creative control of the company in the final few months of 2023 that Nox's presence on Raw increased considerably.

She took Becky Lynch to the limit for the NXT Women's Championship before forming an alliance with Natalya to chase Chelsea Green and Piper Niven for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

Once they were unsuccessful in their efforts to take the titles, Nox and Natalya embarked on a losing streak that has yet to end. Nattie has enough equity with the audience to a point where she can lose constantly and it won't make much of a difference, but the newcomer doesn't have that same luxury.

Fans will write the Welsh wrestler off completely until she can turn things around and give them a reason to rally behind her again. Nox's untapped potential will be wasted if WWE doesn't put her back on the right track.

Although his heel turn has led to a career resurgence, Shinsuke Nakamura is still stuck in the same spot he has found himself in for years.

He's too popular to be banished to the undercard, but the timing has never been right for him to reach the main event level permanently, at least in the eyes of WWE officials. He's lost his last two big feuds to Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes and has nothing on the horizon heading into WrestleMania 40.

Nakamura's character work has been second to none this year. That includes a new approach to his pre-taped promos. He'll talk a big game but routinely fall short against high-profile opponents.

Everything the audience has seen from him in the first weeks of 2024 is a preview of what the rest of the year will have in store for him as well.

The King of Strong Style deserves a sustained run on top but seems to be destined to always be on the brink of greatness and never anything more.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.