10 Times WWE Tried To Present Someone As A Credible Threat (And Failed Miserably)

The argument centred around WWE's complete failure to create any meaningful 'stars' in recent memory will continue to rage on until the day we actually see them follow through on one that isn't called Roman Reigns.

Yet, that doesn't mean they haven't tried a few times over the years. Often it has looked as though we were finally going to see a new credible personality or monster break through - to rival the Triple Hs and The Undertakers of yesteryear - only for WWE to slip up or fluff their lines with said potential mega-star, c*cking up their entire presentation from there on out.

How hard can it be to book a charismatic wrestler to obliterate the roster and hold the company's top belt for a bit, right?

Obviously, it's not always that simple and sometimes even a big win or title coronation can't save a pet project from that all too familiar feeling of becoming just another 'WWE Superstar' further down the line.

Be it an all encompassing monster, new poster boy or even a supernatural rival to 'The Deadman', this lot all looked like legitimate threats at one point or another only to be failed by a system which can only succeed in failing to build for the future.

When Vladimir Kozlov first wandered down the SmackDown ramp back in 2008 to the sound of deafening silence and no imagery on the Titantron, fans were definitely scratching their heads over what they were seeing.

Who was this guy? Where's his music? Is he wearing tighty-whities?

Make no bones about it, Kozlov was all business and he went undefeated in one-on-one competition for nearly a year - with his first pinfall loss coming to Shawn Michaels in a winner faces The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV match on Raw. His first SmackDown singles loss then came against 'The Deadman' a couple of weeks later.

Kozlov was rubbing shoulders with some of the titans of the industry, having been involved in world title matches and 'The Phenom' himself. So, how could his credibility suffer from here on out?

Well, he was soon drafted to a flailing ECW brand and when that show sunk he was coupled with Santino Marella - which was the beginning of the end for the former stoic force. Top hat 'comedy'/dance-offs followed and a once imposing figure was relegated to the rank of laughable side-kick.

If they'd just allowed Kozlov to take on a big name at WrestleMania XXV - maybe a Triple H or John Cena - and perhaps even win a world title, we could be talking about him in the same vein as Kane or Goldberg. Instead, the rug was pulled from under him after he'd been fed to HBK and 'Taker and it was all downhill from there.