10 Next Big Things In Wrestling That Totally Flopped

You knew it was only a matter of time before big Vlad showed up.

He was supposed to be WWE's next top heel after debuting in 2008. The McMahons had Vladimir Kozlov batter everybody they could book, then programmed him opposite star names such as Triple H and The Undertaker in hopes he'd rise to the challenge. Spoiler alert: Kozlov didn't.

Being honest, he was a lower-midcarder dressed up as a main eventer and blatantly wasn't ready or skilled enough to make it work. The dude looked way more comfortable alongside Santino Marella in a comedic babyface tag-team than he ever did beating 'Taker on TV or crushing everyone unconvincingly.

WWE definitely figured Koz would catch fire and become their version of movie monsters like Ivan Drago or Jaws from James Bond though. He was meant to be an unstoppable fighting machine, but Vlad's matches were boring and fans wanted to see other acts on the roster instead.

Namely, literally anyone else.