11 Legendarily BAD Wrestling Runs (With One ICONIC Moment)
7. Vladimir Kozlov’s Tea Party
WWE used to pretend (up until fairly recently) that the UK was stuck in Victorian times. That's why Jerry Lawler would make all sorts of outdated references on commentary, and it's why they'd talk about "birds", "a cup of tea" and more like that's all anyone in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales could think about.
Broadly, they were lumping everyone else in with old timey Englishness.
On the 8 November 2010 episode of Raw, the ever-charming Santino Marella achieved the seemingly impossible: He'd been teaming with main event bust Vladimir Kozlov for a while, but nobody expected the duo to actually get over with crowds. Enter Marella, his expert comedy timing, and Kozlov keeping things simple with some of the best mannerisms of his time in WWE.
Both dressed up as stereotypical English gents (bowler hats and all), and they tried to make peace with Sheamus by inviting him to a tea party. It was all incredibly daft, but it was some laugh and marked the only time Koz showed any personality at all.
All he really said was: “Sheamus hates you because you beat him”, then: “Yes you did, you beat Sheamus. It was biggest upset in double-double-E history”, but his deadpan delivery was spot on for the segment. Vlad even got a chant for the first time ever, which had Michael Cole scratching his head in disbelief.
Kozlov tanked as a headliner even when jousting with Triple H and beating The Undertaker on TV, but he was super-over for around 10 minutes or so in the UK.