10 Times WWE Totally Fooled The IWC

"IWC" is becoming an increasingly vague term.

Short for "internet wrestling community," it was originally designed to pinpoint a small minority of dirtsheet-reading, message board-lurking "smart" fans, and quickly became a pejorative, much like its equally outdated cousin - "smark."

Now, every wrestling fan is a potential member of the IWC. Supposed insider knowledge is all over social media and other platforms, and it has never been easier to keep abreast of major backstage scoops. Regardless, the term is still used to categorise people who fall under the original definition, though the group's number continues to swell.

The internet will always be home to wrestling's loudest critics, and the individuals lumped under this heading are wise to every trick in WWE's playbook. Working them is incredibly difficult, such is their supposed understanding of the business' inner workings, but it's still possible, even in an era where what used to be insider info has become common knowledge.

It requires meticulous planning and great secrecy to pull off, but no wrestling fan is immune to getting outfoxed every now and then, even by WWE - a company not exactly known for their subtle storytelling.

Brodus Clay's WWE re-debut was nothing more than an epic troll job by the company, and it foxed even their most hardcore fans.

Initially pushed as a generic, midcard brute, Clay took part in NXT's fourth season as a reality show in 2010, but was written out so that he could film a movie the following year. WWE eventually started screening a series of vignettes advertising his return, and all signs pointed towards a dominant monster run (he was being pushed as "the fall of humanity," after all).

Brodus returned to television in January 2012, but his character was the total opposite of what the vignettes had promised. Instead of getting a huge, imposing ruffian, fans were treated to 'The Funkasaurus' - a big, smiley dinosaur beamed down from the Planet Funk, accompanied by his dancers, The Funkadactyls.

It was a massive swerve, and absolutely nobody saw it coming, though you have to wonder what the point was. Clay's re-emergence summoned nothing but complete and utter confusion from the WWE faithful, and he never advanced beyond the midcard, even in his new role. He was eventually released from his contract in June 2014.