10 Surprise WWE Returns That Immediately Transformed Title Matches

8. Blue Pants

Sasha Banks Alexa Blis Bayley
WWE.com

Sending a Brooklyn crowd into hysterics as Big Cass' DIY vocals played out over the Barclays Center PA system, Leva 'Blue Pants' Bates could and should have made much more of her time in NXT.

Trained by The Dudley Boyz and nearly a decade into her career as a wrestler, Bates was little more than a token opponent for the debuting Carmella in October 2014, but gained an enormous cult following and even a t-shirt as fans gravitated towards the bizarre simplicity of the Blue Pants persona.

On the losing end of matches against the bulk of the women's roster, she was all but gone from the developmental brand by the summer of 2015 having gained heat with colleagues and management alike for an apparent attitude problem, but was able to etch her place in NXT history by joining The Vaudevillains as an unannounced third for their last tag team title shot against Blake and Murphy.

The champions had utilised Alexa Bliss' interference to remain a step ahead of the chasing pack on NXT, but Blue Pants' presence alongside Simon Gotch and Aiden English evened the sides enough for the vintage duo scoop their first and only tag straps.

Contributor
Contributor

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