10 WWE Mega-Pushes Fans Hated BEFORE Roman Reigns & John Cena
8. Vladimir Kozlov
Vladimir Kozlov was just another monster that would try and fail to beat The Undertaker or Triple H or whomever else he was forced to face en route to not quite winning the WWE Championship. But had this trope ever been so f*cking dull?
In a post-WrestleMania push that actually stuck in 2008, Kozlov squashed the goobers, beat the undercarders and hung with the name guys long enough to sort-of-but-not-really worm his way into title contention by the Survivor Series. WWE had their cake and smashed it into pieces too with the promotion - seemingly mindful of how boring a Kozlov/Triple H singles match would be, the promoted a triple threat with the dynamic and hugely over Jeff Hardy as the sentimental favourite...then took him out of action with a reference to his tumultuous personal life in the process.
This was the ugliest element of an ugly scene, but it was closely followed by the near-14 minute singles match between a barely-mobile heel and a babyface with a reputation of having the blandest main events in company history.
Failing here was mercifully the beginning of his end as a serious contender. A loss to Shawn Michaels in 2009 for the right to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 was the closest he came to working a match that mattered, and thank goodness it wasn't that one specifically that his push hijacked.