11 Times Wrestlers Bet On Themselves (... And LOST!)
8. Matt Bloom Trades Japanese Superstardom For Lord Tensai
On the back of a pretty forgettable few years within the WWE system as everything from Prince Albert to A-Train, the big lad known as Matt Bloom decided to take on Japan after getting released in 2004.
The years that followed turned out to be the greatest of his entire career, smashing it under the name of Giant Bernard as part of the Bad Intentions team alongside Karl Anderson. The duo became IWGP Tag Team Champions in NJPW, and held onto those straps for a staggering 564 days - defending them ten times during this record-breaking run.
In other words, Giant Bernard was having a grand ol' time in Japan.
But that still didn't stop him jumping at the chance to return to Vince McMahon's company in 2012.
Unfortunately for Bloom, though, WWE completely fumbled what could have been an impactful comeback in no time at all.
After foolishly opting to have this silly-looking Lord Tensai make his return on the same night Brock bloody Lesnar did, a decent enough early push - one that saw him defeat John Cena and CM Punk - was dropped within a matter of months as the company lost interest in a goofy character that clearly wasn't getting over with the crowd.
A defeat to Cena kicked off a losing streak that saw him eventually getting dumped into the comedy section of the show before Bloom ultimately stepped away from TV to help mould the next generation down in NXT.