15 WWE Pushes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired

Wrestling survives or thrives on the perpetual desire to try new things on a 'you never know' basis. That's what the humble push is all about. Without pushing new wrestlers to the top and attempting to create new stars, business would simply stop. WWE has to be a constantly evolving hub of freshness. However, there's a clear difference between thoughtfully mapping out new pushes and throwing things at the wall to see what might stick.

If creative minds begin to operate under hope that even those that don't really stick will slide down slowly enough to buy them time, then they'll always be trapped in that mindset. Worse, promising pushes fans did want to see have been totally wrecked by some stupid booking decisions that undermined them or made it impossible to overlook flaws.

The taste in fan mouths was too strong to ignore, basically, so they didn't/couldn't.

You'll see some familiar faces in these pages. They range from some of the biggest names in industry history to those who only carved out a chapter in biz lore for themselves because everyone pitied their push after the fact. A few were even mocked and veered perilously close to being featured on popular legacy site WrestleCrap. That aggregates "the very worst of pro wrestling", if you didn't know. Says it all!

All of these pushes backfired on WWE to some degree. They should be neatly packed into a guidebook for newbies joining the writing team. Marking them as cautionary tales on how choosing the wrong wrestler at the wrong time, or how even one single misstep can cause disaster, would be wise.

Prepare to say "EEK!" a lot.

EEK! See? Right, that's enough of that.

Impressive physical specimen Nathan Jones was a Vince McMahon dream on paper. He had muscles on top of muscles, was close to 7ft tall, and he was completely fresh. That's where the upsides ended. Jones made his in-person debut on the 10 April 2003 SmackDown, beat Bill DeMott, and was quickly stuck in the role of protege to The Undertaker. It was a dream gig that'd quickly turn to a nightmare.

'Taker and Nath were feuding with Big Show and A-Train heading into WrestleMania XIX, but WWE realised how rough Jones was in-ring and pulled him from the match before it happened. They turned the affair into a handicap bout instead, which didn’t make much sense or make the heels look particularly threatening. At least they had the sense to let the raw newcomer run in to help his mentor on the night, eh?

That was the last fans would see of Nathan for a while. WWE sent him down to OVW after 'Mania for seasoning. Erm...shouldn't that have happened first? Apparently not. The company couldn’t deny Nathan’s look, but he was nowhere near ready for such a lofty spot. In fact, his attempted push created one of the most forgettable matches from ‘Taker’s streak. Yes, even more forgettable than 'The Deadman' beating King Kong Bundy in 1995.

WWE's rush job came back to bite them immediately. They tried to be bold, but that wasn't the best plan during such a crucial period of the year, or with a legendary name such as Undertaker. Back to Boggo Road, Mr. Jones. So to speak.