10 Wrestlers John Cena Couldn't Get Over
9. Lord Tensai
Having reinvented himself as Giant Bernard in New Japan Pro Wrestling – including mixing things up against the likes of Brock Lesnar, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Shinsuke Nakamura – the former Prince Albert and A-Train returned to WWE in 2012 as the nefarious Lord Tensai.
The gimmick itself may have been a tad too hokey for some, but the real-life Matt Bloom had already proven that he could be a great in-ring talent when used in the right way. As such, hope was high that Bloom’s WWE return would see him become a fully-fledged top tier player for the company. Which, at that point, obviously meant he’d be positioned opposite John Cena.
After barely two months back on the roster, Tensai’s career took a nosedive – beginning when Cena ended his winning streak. To be fair, both Cena and CM Punk did their best to make Tensai look like a million bucks, including the former Intercontinental Champion scoring pinfall victories over Cena and the Straight-Edge Superstar. But still, fans just didn’t care about Tensai and couldn’t see past the awful way in which Bloom was presented.
By December 2012, just six months after his debut, Tensai was losing matches to Santino Marella and being referred to as Fat Albert. From there, a future as Sweet T alongside Brodus Clay was waiting just around the corner.