15 MORE Wrestlers WWE Debuted In The Worst Way Possible
8. Mike Kanellis
Sometimes a gimmick is so baffling that it defies belief. Mike Bennett had done pretty well for himself in TNA, holding the X-Division Championship, as well as being a former tag team champion in Ring Of Honor. It's not an honors list that made him signing to WWE feel like it was going to shake up the industry, but it's far more respectable than the gimmick he found himself saddled with when he reached wrestling's largest platform.
Making his debut alongside his wife Maria at Money In The Bank 2017, Mike Kanellis's massive pile of bonkers gimmick seemed to be that he was a married man in love. His entrance theme was modelled on a bombastic 80s power ballad, he was flanked by cascading hearts all over the screen behind him, and he posed holding hands with his partner. They both had headsets on instead of holding mics, while they promised to "educate everyone on the power of love" and twirled together like the first couple being sent home from Strictly.
Safe to say, nothing about this gimmick was ever going to work, and things completely fell apart as Mike had to go to rehab after four appearances on SmackDown before Maria Kanellis fell pregnant, writing her off of TV for months. The whole thing feels like a bad fever dream.