10 Clean Wins Over Top WWE Stars That Were Totally Wasted
9. Vladimir Kozlov Def. The Undertaker (SmackDown - 27 Feb 2009)
One of WWE's many failed monster heel projects, Vladimir Kozlov was pushed way over his head in 2008. A big, imposing Russian with a killer Rammstein-esque entrance theme, his in-ring deficiencies became all too apparent as soon as he started working longer matches. He eventually worked his way into WWE Title contendership, and while he didn't win the belt, Kozlov went unpinned until Elimination Chamber 2009, when he was eliminated by The Undertaker.
Big Vlad's push continued, and he scored the biggest win of his career two days after the pay-per-view, pinning 'Taker on SmackDown. A potentially huge moment, but did WWE follow up on it? Of course they didn't.
Kozlov lost to Shawn Michaels the following week on Raw, then let Undertaker get his win back on 13 March. That spelled the end for his monster push, as Vladimir was sent to ECW in the 2009 WWE draft, and never returned to his old level of prominence, settling into a goofy comedy role prior to his eventual release.
His lack of in-ring finesse meant Kozlov's push would probably have failed anyway, but regardless, a win over 'Taker is supposed to be a big deal. Not in this case.