10 Times WWE Failed To Create Main Event Players

3. Hardcore Holly (2004)

Bob Holly's sudden main event push seemed late even for 2004.

This was a guy who'd been on the company map for a decade and had always been portrayed as a plucky midcard act who was notoriously tough. Wiry and ballsy though Hardcore was, he wasn't realistically a match for a mega-star pet project like Brock Lesnar. Fans knew it, and (if they were being honest) so did WWE.

That wouldn't stop them from trying to convince everyone that the former Sparky Plugg was on Brock's level before the 2004 Royal Rumble. In fairness, the feud was based around Lesnar's vicious, neck-breaking Powerbomb in 2002, so it had some reality to it. Even so, Bob vs. Brock wasn't a winner on pay-per-view, and Holly's headline push wasn't sustainable.

When the Lesnar feud ended, Hardcore had nothing else to do at the top of the card, and he dwindled back down to where he'd been for years. It was a worthwhile experiment, but that was about it for Holly's main event run.