15 WWE Returns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired

Matt Bloom was known amongst wrestling fans for three things by 2012. One, playing walking penis gimmick (?!) Prince Albert during the 'Attitude Era'. Two, having a hairy body. Three, going off to Japan after leaving WWE in 2004 and becoming a much, much, much better worker. He deserves credit for that last one, so it's no wonder the promotion wanted to bring him back years later for another whirl.

Could they have picked a worse time to debut his new Lord Tensai gimmick than the night after WrestleMania though?! Tensai re-debuted in the E under his new name on the 2 April 2012 Raw. He beat Alex Riley in a quick squash that was designed to ready him for top star John Cena, but the rowdy post-'Mania crowd weren't interested in any of that. No, they were far too busy living it large and trolling Bloom with chants of, "Albert! Albert! Albert!".

The new character was doomed to fail after that.

Things might not have been so bad had the guy been returning as his old A-Train persona, or even under the Giant Bernard name he'd used out in New Japan. Hell, calling him Albert and cutting their losses would've been smarter than introducing an elaborate gimmick that was too over the top to be taken seriously by revellers in Florida for 'Mania XXVIII.

They'd just watched Cena and The Rock go "Once In A Lifetime" (which remains WrestleMania's biggest lie!) 24 hours earlier. Now, those same folks couldn't resist wrecking Matt's return to WWE. It was too good an opportunity to turn down, new Tensai gimmick or not.