12 Awesome Wrestling Gimmicks WWE Didn’t Know How To Handle
7. Raven
'Who the f**k hired Johnny Polo?!' was apparently the exclamation from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, upon hearing the news that one of the industry's most potent performers was now part of his organisation during his 2000 return.
Having first departed the company in late-1994, the grunge-inspired re-invention guided Levy to phenomenal success in both ECW and WCW, and during a year in which both those companies were somehow still in business, the 'Raven' character still had name value and broad appeal.
Sadly, without the exceptional storytelling he was furnished with from Paul Heyman, or the promo time afforded to him in WCW, Raven was destined to fail in WWE.
Initially appearing as the token ECW friend of Tazz upon debuting, Raven was parlayed into hardcore division, where he'd drag the match quality up tenfold and even give the league a match of the year candidate thanks to an absorbing clash with Rhyno at April 2001's Backlash pay-per-view.
Despite this, higher ups wouldn't budge on their disinterest in the gimmick, and he'd be lost in the shuffle during the year's bungled Invasion angle. Working his own storylines on diminished C-Show Sunday Night Heat for the remainder of his tenure, he left the company in 2003 following a mutually agreed release.