10 Hyped WWE Debuts That Were Total Misdirections

6. Outback Jack

emma lina
WWE.com

In keeping with American pop culture's Antipodean love affair following the enormous success of the 'Crocodile Dundee' films, Outback Jack was introduced across weeks of overly long and incredibly dated vignettes from late-1986 onwards.

Jack was seen shaving with a knife in the Australian Outback, feeding the crocodiles in his local lake, having drinking contests with cows in pubs, and struggling to work out automatic doors in Sydney's buzzing metropolis.

Set to 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport' by then-Aussie hero Rolf Harris, the videos fulfilled every cliche, and presented a genteel but physically imposing figure who was set to make waves in WWE.

However, Jack's in-ring limitations were highlighted almost immediately, and the Hogan-level star the organisation had promised began a rapid descent to the bottom of the card.

Unleashing his useless 'Boomerang' clothesline (one to the front, one from behind) as a finisher in his debut against WWE's perennial safety net Steve Lombardi, Jack looked completely exposed at the highest level, and within six months of the ballyhooed debut, he was laying down himself, performing jobber duties for fellow nonentities such as Killer Khan.

With little improvement forthcoming, Jack was gone from WWE and on the plane home less than a year later.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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