WWE Gimmicks That FAILED The HARDEST Every Year (1985-2025)

18. Vladimir Kozlov (2008)

This might come as a bit of a shocker to some reading, but Vladimir Kozlov's earlier squashes on episodes of SmackDown didn't tank. In fact, if anything, live crowds were in-tune with WWE trying to push the big mauler as a threatening heel who'd eventually show off more in lengthier matches against bigger/more established stars.

Most know that Vlad's main event push stalled before it ever really got going, but the squashes were tidy and well-worked for the most part. Jimmy Wang Yang, Shannon Moore, Funaki and others did everything they could to make Koz look like a major player, and he himself gunned them down like he was playing a gauntlet match in WWE 2K26 with multiple finishers stored up.

Problems didn't surface until Kozlov was shoved into headline spots higher up the card. His performance vs. Triple H at Survivor Series 2008 bored everyone senseless (at least until Edge showed up as a replacement for Jeff Hardy), but Hunter has to take some of the blame for that too - that one wasn't all on Vladimir.

Overall, he was a bust though. That can't be denied even when defending his squash match style or no frills presentation. Running through lower-tier guys was really all Kozlov had to offer. He was never going to cut memorable promos or inspire fans to jump for joy when they saw him programmed with top tier workers like Trips, The Undertaker and more.

Things started brightly for the heel, but he was sinking fast by the end of the year. WWE started to give up on him after Survivors.