10 NXT Stars That Failed On The Main Roster (And Why)
8. The Vaudevillains
A throwback to the strongmen of vaudeville and the carny wrestlers of the 1920s, the Vaudevillains were never less than entertaining.
Moustache-twirling, melodramatic pantomime villains (even when they were babyfaces), Aiden English and Simon Gotch were sufficiently over that they captured the NXT Tag Team Championship from Blake & Murphy in August 2015, leading to their eventual debut on SmackDown the following April.
When the Vaudevillains were named number one contenders for the New Day’s WWE Tag Team Championship, it seemed as though the office was behind them. However, it transpired that they were just the latest in a line of placeholder challengers for the champions.
The brand split should have worked in their favour - remaining on SmackDown meant they’d be able to compete for the new Tag Team Championship. Had they been treated seriously by the booking team (an essential storytelling position with oddball character types to prevent them becoming typecast as comedy losers), their idiosyncratic gimmick could easily have caught on with casual fans. But, by that point, the WWE’s notoriously fickle attention had moved on.
Less than a year after their main roster debut, Gotch - who rumour has it had heat backstage - was released. The fact that this effectively split the Vaudevillains for good didn’t seem to matter.