10 Worst First Days For WWE NXT Call-Ups

5. Dominik Dijakovic, Dio Madden, Shane Thorne, Mia Yim Et Al

Karrion Kross
WWE.com

"Et al", because these named few may not have been the only ones saddled with this impossible-to-rescue sh*te, nor even there at the beginning when things with Retribution were just heating up. The "things" being the petrol bombs they threw at some lighting equipment, not the events they were trying to infiltrate, or indeed the infiltrations themselves.

You can debate when exactly the former Dijakovic and co formally showed up as card-carrying members of the group on WWE television, but both cases were awful so both thankfully apply. It was the August 3rd 2020 edition of the show that played host to a ragtag gang of losers causing minimal chaos with the aforementioned attack on an outside generator and it was just over a month later on the September 21st edition that the now-contracted stars would compete for the first time and under their new gimmick names.

With monikers like T-Bar, Mace, Slapjack, Retaliation, and Reckoning, it's little wonder the company raced to add Mustafa Ali as a leader with a modicum of credibility before he was too was claimed by the vortex of misery that loomed near the gimmick any time it appeared on television. That's not to say they didn't need him - T-Bar, Mace and Slapjack lost to The Hurt Business in that all-important debut.

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