12 Awesome Wrestling Gimmicks WWE Didn’t Know How To Handle
4. Vader
Vader's muddled WWE tenure was the second part of a disappointing decline for one of the most threatening heels of the early-1990s.
Brutalising the likes of Sting, Ric Flair and Cactus Jack as he blitzed WCW with his hard-hitting strikes and remarkable aerial assaults, Big Van Vader was a rare case of a performer looking legitimately as scary to be in the ring with as his promos promised.
Asserting physical will over each opponent, Vader's wrath was impenetrable until he was forced to succumb to Hulk Hogan's hackneyed offence during 'The Hulkster's saccharin 1995 babyface dominance in the organisation.
Moving North in January 1996, Vader became another mystifying case of a talented big man who couldn't gain sufficient traction in the traditional 'Land of the Giants'.
Established as a threat well enough in his first six months, SummerSlam defeat to Michaels was a mammoth step backwards, and a defeat against Sycho Sid two months later effectively neutered him as a main event threat save for a bloody war in February 1997's 'Final Four' match at that month's In Your House pay-per-view.
Credibility-sapping losses to talent up and down the roster over the subsequent eighteen months well and truly crushed his aura.