12 WWE Monsters That Failed

2. Mabel

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WWE.com

Another mid-1990s giant in the right place at the right time, Mabel was subject to the biggest heel push in the one-year title reign of babyface champion Diesel, gobbling up more time as a villainous challenger than Shawn Michaels, Psycho Sid or the British Bulldog in his ascent to the main event.

As 1995 King of the Ring victor in arguably the worst pay-per-view ever assembled by WWE, Mabel was a hugely destructive force, crushing Savio Vega in the final after giving the Undertaker his first televised pinfall loss in four years.

From there, the re-christened 'King Mabel' was unstoppable on television in the run-up to his SummerSlam main event against 'Big Daddy Cool', and was instrumental in the Davey Boy Smith heel turn that would set up the Champion's Autumn programme.

Truthfully, Mabel's rocket to the top wasn't out of place in the muddied waters of 1995 WWE, but it represented yet another deeply misguided creative decision from a Vince McMahon gradually unravelling in the wake of a resurgent WCW.

The industry had long tired of a Mabel-like figure in main events, and his de-push shortly after SummerSlam at least highlighted that lessons were being gradually learned.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett