10 Embarrassing NXT-Era Creative Failures You Totally Forgot About

6. The Legionnaires: French Stereotypes

Becky Lynch
WWE

Developmental nearly-men Sylvester Lefort and Marcus Louis' pro-French gimmick was decades out of date and ill-fitting on NXT's dynamic 2014 product, and a literal decade out of date in wrestling terms considering the flat failure of the La Resistance group on the main roster by 2004.

Fans simply won't hate people for being French any more, and this rare misstep for the time reflected that. Looking more like chiseled cyclists than wrestlers didn't help, nor did their condemnation to the biggest banter programme all year over extreme hair loss with Enzo and Big Cass.

The New Jersey/New York blowhards were supremely popular amongst the Full Sail loyalists, but their ability to get anything over didn't quite extend to anyone. A wretched series between the combos kicked off when Amore returned from injury to bail his big buddy out of a limp Lefort and Louis assault. The rivalry culminated in a TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way battle pitting Lefort's locks on the line against Amore's beard. Sylvester lost the battle but it was Marcus that lost the war - Lefort scarpered ultimately leaving Louis to endure the supposed shame of baldness.

It was shortcut booking to expedite their exits from television - the tag team division was expanding and improving too quickly for them to keep up, and they were soon on their bikes.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.