15 WWE Pushes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
10. Vader (1996)
What’s that? (Big Van) Vader was an excellent addition to the WWF roster in 1996 and had several big main event matches over the coming years? It’s true, he did, but Vince McMahon’s impatience scuffed the big man’s credibility overnight. Vader told the boss he was injured and thus wanted to wait until healthy to debut, but McMahon stuck him in the Royal Rumble anyway and had him work 11 minutes before being eliminated by Shawn Michaels.
The next night, Vader attacked Gorilla Monsoon and was kayfabe suspended. He’d return soon thereafter and launch into a going-nowhere program with Yokozuna. It was an inauspicious, messy start to life in the promotion, to say the least. Rushing Vader into things whilst injured was a stupid move, but Vince was desperate for stars and likely figured the Rumble needed some more star power.
Being totally honest, it didn't really. Shawn's second consecutive win carried things, and there was plenty of star quality elsewhere like Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Owen Hart and others. Vader was a welcome addition overall, sure, but it wasn't smart to risk injuring him further, and the Michaels spot was arguably avoidable so he retained some killer edge.
Now, within 11 minutes of ring time, WWF fans had been conditioned to view Vader as somebody who was dangerous but could definitely be beaten by smaller, nimble workers like HBK. That'd come back to haunt McMahon when he put Shawn vs. Vader in the main event slot at SummerSlam later in the year.
Patience is everything.