10 Things You Didn't Know About Tatanka

2. WWE Spent A Lot Of Money On Return Vignettes

Although they don't do it so much these days, one of WWE's preferred methods of hyping a debuting or returning character was to film vignettes that got across that character followed by a message such as 'Coming Soon'.

It's simple but effective stuff, and has worked wonders for the likes of Mr. Perfect, Carlito Caribbean Cool and the Wyatt Family. Tatanka returned to the company in 2005 for what was supposed to be a one-time-only appearance, but WWE were so impressed with him that he was asked to come back on a full-time basis.

He made a surprise appearance at the 2006 Royal Rumble and then again a month later at No Way Out as Matt Hardy's tag team partner in his match with MNM but disappeared shortly thereafter. Soon a series of vignettes hyping his return would begin to air on WWE television.

Vignettes that supposedly cost thousands upon thousands of dollars to produce. According to former WWE creative team member Court Bauer on a 2013 episode of MLW Radio, Vince agreed to bankroll the vignettes that saw Tatanka 'reborn' and adopted by the Lakota tribe at considerable expense. It looked as though WWE were seriously interested in pushing him.

He came back on the May 23 edition of SmackDown (defeating Simon Dean) and didn't do a whole lot thereafter besides turn heel and feud with Matt Hardy before going on a losing streak. He spent most of his time wrestling undercard matches on weekend show Velocity before requesting and receiving his release in January 2007.