10 Wrestlers WWE Pushed At The EXACT Wrong Time
5. Lord Tensai
WWE, in 2012, had the terrible idea of booking the returns of Brock Lesnar and Lord Tensai on the same night.
Realistically, Tensai was never getting over. He was presented as an exaggerated version of the real man and what he had accomplished. Albert had in fact ventured across the pacific and made a name for himself as a throwback bruiser foreign menace. He was a monster who drew not inconsiderable critical acclaim, but with the benefit of hindsight, he didn't become great in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
WWE took this all too far.
He wasn't depicted as Albert but better, but rather a sub-New Generation cliché decked out in "traditional"/hackneyed Japanese garb. Fans instantly rejected the character well before Brock Lesnar overshadowed him entirely as the biggest threat to John Cena on the entire roster - which was less than ideal, since John Laurinaitis, evil authority figure, foreshadowed that he was set for a WWE Championship match with CM Punk. That was abandoned when Tensai drew silence for his methodical, tedious squash matches.
Tensai looked shaken by the "Albert" chants on the post-WrestleMania XXVIII Raw; Lesnar looked like a predator zoned in on his prey.
It was the Amazon Vs. Wish meme well before it was a thing.