15 WWE Pushes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
7. Ludvig Borga (1993)
It's easy to imagine that several faces dropped when people backstage in the WWF realised that new heel butt-kicker Ludvig Borga had a Nazi tattoo on his leg. Jim Ross has described via his 'Grilling JR' podcast that few could believe what they were seeing, and most generally distanced themselves from Borga after that. The writing was on the wall for his push before that horrible discovery anyway.
Look, Ludvig was a Finnish environmentalist who detested the wasteful United States way of life. Seriously. This, for some reason, was supposed to make fans despise Ludvig and view him as an ideal enemy for 'American Hero' Lex Luger. As aforementioned, Luger was struggling to convince as a babyface too, so sprinkle a lukewarm heel who'd started to fluster people behind the scenes into the mix and it was a recipe for disaster.
Borga debuted in 1993 as an antagonist for Lex, but he'd never properly get going in the federation before being cut from the roster in January 1994. In total, his push had lasted since July the previous year, and it was hardly a thrill ride. Ludvig wasn't as capable as Vince McMahon would've wanted him to be in-ring, and he wasn't very well liked in the locker room either.
Plus, the ranting promos about environmental issues fell flat with the viewing audience who wanted a little more bang for their buck than some big European dude talking about sewage. Borga's boring character and questionable antics away from the ring combined to make this a major misfire from the company.
Check out Ludvig's 'Dark Side Of The Ring' episode for some truly harrowing tales.