10 Most Absurdly Mismatched Gimmicks In WWE
5. Emma Was Not A Valet
Four Horsewomen be damned: it was Tenille ‘Emma’ Dashwood’s storming matches with Paige in mid-2013 that persuaded the company to improve the profile of women’s wrestling on NXT.
A cheerfully goofy presence with a competitive streak, NXT Emma was a badass submission expert with a sunny disposition, and had the crowd eating out of her hand. However, when WWE creative - an oxymoron on a par with ‘Microsoft Works’ or ‘military intelligence’ - brought her up to the main roster in January 2014, they stripped out everything but the goofball aspect to the character and paired her with midcard comedy act Santino Marella, effectively as his valet.
Naturally, given nothing to work with, the WWE Universe gave nothing back. An underwhelming year later, Emma was back in NXT. For a while, she was regaining momentum as a bitter heel, but injuries would keep setting her back.
Finally, with the Women’s Revolution in ascendance, Emma was due a comeback… but was repackaged as Emmalina, an Instagram model. The gimmick was delayed by months, and finally abandoned as a terrible idea.
She was gone from the company soon after, having been utterly wasted - through no real fault of her own.