10 Wrestlers That Bombed Twice

5. Michael McGillicutty/Curtis Axel

Ultimate Warrior WWF 1996 WCW 1998
WWE

*Sigh* If only Joe Hennig could've been, well, Joe Hennig...

We'll never know if the son of Mr. Perfect, and the grandson of Larry the Axe, could've become a serious player in the industry, but he'd have had a hell of a better chance of doing so if he wasn't lumbered with the ludicrous Michael McGillicutty moniker when he turned up in the original gameshow iteration of NXT in 2010.

As is so often the case with WWE talent, that name was so jarring, so ridiculous, so unnatural, and it didn't help when the poor lad stumbled through his infamous "genesis of McGillicutty" promo.

Sure, his initial main roster run as part of the Nexus saw him become a WWE Tag Team Champion, but the third generation star was back in NXT barely a year later. Still operating under the gameshow model at that time, McGillicutty would remain in NXT as it underwent its transition as the rebranded FCW.

After two years away from the main roster, the Minnesota native returned to Raw under the guise of Curtis Axel and under the stewardship of Paul Heyman. While the new name likewise wasn't all that great, it did at least lean more into the real-life Joe Hennig's family roots - and it also soon led to him becoming Intercontinental Champion.

Despite holding that once-prestigious prize for five months, Axel became an afterthought of WWE programming, and it didn't take long for the Axe Man to start doing daft sh*t like AxelMania, the Social Outcasts, and later the Miztourage and the B-Team.

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