10 WWE Main Eventers Fans Rejected
4. Mabel
Shawn Michaels’ face turn left WWE short of top heels in 1995, leaving Vince McMahon with the challenge of building a credible new villain to play antagonist to his plethora of good guys. He decided that Mabel of Men On A Mission was to be that guy, and the giant bruiser was crowned 1995 King Of The Ring that June, defeating Savio Vega in the finals.
Mabel’s push was a complete disaster. It was impossible to take his thuggish new persona seriously after his role in one of WWE’s corniest tag teams, and his slow, lumbering style made him painful to watch whenever he stepped into the ring. Thus, Mabel didn’t get over with the crowd, and his WWE Championship bout at SummerSlam ‘95 is widely regarded as one of the era’s worst main events.
WWE fortunately realised that Mabel was failing, and yanked him from the title picture shortly afterwards. Nobody was reacting to his push, and amidst allegations of clumsiness after injuring several of his colleagues, WWE had no choice but to demote him. Mabel’s elevation was ill advised from the start, and while the audience totally rejected him, at least they didn’t have to suffer him for long.