10 WWE Gimmicks Changes That Failed Dismally

10. Albert/A-Train To Tensai

Matt Bloom Matt Bloom debuted in the WWF in the midst of the Attitude era as Prince Albert, with the gimmick of being Droz€™s personal tattooist. Named after the genital piercing and representing a somewhat alternative lifestyle, his risqué environment also encompassed him being part of a tag team called T&A with Test, managed by Trish Stratus in her first role within the company. He later allied with Paul Heyman and was renamed A-Train, where he feuded with The Undetaker, wrestling him at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam in 2003 and flirted with the idea of being a headliner. Injuries set him back and he left the company before embarking on a highly successful seven year run in Japan under the name of Giant Bernard. Here he amassed an impressive collection of tag titles in both All Japan and New Japan. Along with his partner Karl Anderson, they became the longest reigning IWGP (New Japan) Tag Team Champions of all time. In 2012, upon the expiry of his New Japan contract, Bloom decided to return home to the WWE. The WWE decided to play upon his Japanese success (which most WWE fans were probably unaware of) by repackaging him as Lord Tensai, a Japanese Samurai warrior type figure. However, Matt Bloom stands 6€™7€, has a freakishly enormous head and is instantly recognisable. He€™s also not Japanese. Despite being given a monster push, with wins over CM Punk and John Cena, fans did not take to him. His early matches were overshadowed with chants of €œAlbert€ from fans who easily remembered him from his WWE run 10 years ago. WWE creative soon gave up on the idea of creating a new monster heel. Santino Marella even acknowledged the crowd chants by calling him €œFat Albert€. Lord Tensai went to being just plain Tensai, and later Sweet T, being put in a super-heavyweight comedy dancing tag team with Brodus Clay called Tons of Funk. As 2013 became 2014, Tons of Funk disbanded and Bloom hasn€™t wrestled on TV since. He can currently be seen as an occasional TV commentator on NXT, the WWE€™s developmental programme. The Tensai gimmick was flawed from day one and never materialised in the way that the WWE had hoped.
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Dean Ayass is a well known name to British wrestling fans. A commentator, manager, booker and ring announcer who has been involved in the business since 1993, Dean's insight into the business is second to none.