10 Weakest WWE Return Pops Ever
5. Tensai
It's a good job that Matt Bloom has excelled as NXT's head trainer, because his last in-ring WWE run was a total bust. Having last competed as A-Train, Bloom had been gone from the company for eight years by the time he returned in 2012. He'd forged a considerable reputation as AJPW and NJPW's Giant Bernard during this time, becoming a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, and establishing himself as a steady presence on most major tours.
WWE took his Japanese experience and tried to turn it into a gimmick. Bloom was renamed Lord Tensai, and finally re-debuted on Raw after several weeks of vignettes that April. Unfortunately, Tensai's gimmick was dead on arrival, and it started with a flat match against Alex Riley.
Fans recognised the former Albert, but they didn't care. He'd never been anything more than a solid midcarder during his first run, and WWE had given them little reason to get invested in the Tensai character. Bloom was soon haunted by mocking "Albert" chants everywhere he went, and though his first few weeks brought notable victories over CM Punk and John Cena, his push was soon killed by a lengthy losing streak.