15 Wrestlers WWE Debuted In The WORST Way Possible
First impressions matter, but nobody told WWE or these wrestlers any of that!
Imagine the groans that took place when some of these wrestlers found out WWE's plans.
Phrases like, 'Aw not this way' and, 'Please come up with something else' would've been screamed internally. There's no real metric that guarantees success before a worker debuts on screen, but...come on. Some of the schemes laid bare here should've been shot down immediately during creative meetings before they ever reached the cameras. At times, it was like WWE wanted people to fail.
They surely didn't, of course, because that'd be ridiculous. There's money to be made, and it'd be insanity for any wrestling company to deliberately sabotage their own business dealings. Cool, but management types and writers alike would be scrambling for excuses if they were pinned down and asked about any of these crummy debuts now. They were hardly helping the WWE roster succeed.
Being fair, some entries pin full blame on the wrestlers themselves. Sometimes, everything is in place and the creative is watertight. Then, a would be WWE star craps the bed and realises it far too late. Most fan anger is directed towards promotional bigwigs though, and perhaps rightly so. They needed to be warned (and probably were in some cases) that these intros would fall flatter than a 'Flair Flop'.
A fair few of them could even qualify as some of the absolute worst things WWE has done in the 21st century. Depending on the timing, obviously.
Knock knock. Who's there? Some of the most unfortunate pro wrestlers to ever fall foul of Vince McMahon's whims. Oh, and some ex-ECW guy who didn't stand a chance when cracking "jokes" just like that.
15. Mordecai Huffs And Puffs
Debut: Suspected Undertaker foe and new monster Mordecai appeared in numerous vignettes before finally debuting in-ring at Judgment Day 2004. Seeking the right opponent to bounce around for the newcomer, WWE handpicked respected tag star Scotty 2 Hotty, and hopes were high that Mordecai would go from strength to strength after scoring a decisive win on pay-per-view.
Why It Was Bad: The debut outright sucked.
Mordecai's match vs. Scotty only lasted around three minutes, but it was punctuated by too much selling from the so-called monster heel. In interviews since, Kevin Fertig (the dude behind the character) has explained that he was caught between trying to work 'Taker's original, slow-moving 'zombie' style and wrestling at a quicker pace. In the end, he just didn't look all that special, his bouts sure didn't stand out from anything else on the card, and thus Mordecai was judged on one match.
Huffing and puffing against somebody like Scotty wasn't a great sign. Judgment Day happened in May, then Mordecai was put back in developmental by July. He got off to a rough start with his first match, and things didn't improve from there. Both Michael Cole and Tazz tried their best to put him over someone fans should care about at JD, but it was an uphill battle for the announcers and one they were never winning.
WWE didn't do Mordecai any favours by putting his first match on pay-per-view or by formatting it so that Hotty got some licks in. If anything, the ex-Too Cool star should've been mincemeat within seconds so Mordecai's Razor's Edge style finish looked killer. Being so middle of the road in vignettes and getting stuck between styles mid-match was a death knell for the gimmick.