12 WWE Monsters That Failed

8. Mantaur

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WWE.com

An unfortunate punchline of the WWF's cartoony 'New Generation' era, Mantaur was a short-statured tank of a wrestler with an unassailable gimmick destined for rapid failure.

His original television debut in early 1995 birthed the stupidest iteration of the character, as the half-man half-beast persona was taken so literally that he'd emerge wearing what appeared to be the front end of a pantomime bull on his head, and a shimmering velour singlet.

Instructed to make a deep-throated 'moo' noise and imitate a bull in the run up to his charging clothesline finish, the literal interpretation of the idea was ham-fisted and completely inconceivable.

The look was tweaked slightly for Mantaur's next major appearance, but an underwhelming performance in the 1995 Royal Rumble signposted the eventual demise of the character.

Even when paired with the on-form mouthpiece Jim Cornette, Mantaur couldn't gain a true foothold with such a debilitating persona, and was reduced to a role as a jobber-to-the-stars before his summer release.

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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