9 Early 2000s WWE Failures The Company Had Huge Plans For

8. A-Train

There was something very unsettling about WWE's insistence on pushing the former Albert in 2002/03. As a member of T&A or even as the 'Hip Hop Hippo' he was tolerable, if not exactly fun to watch. But as an upper midcarder feuding with the likes of The Undertaker and Chris Benoit? Please. It's as if WWE learned nothing from his failed Intercontinental Championship run in 2001. They turned him heel, gave him some not very flattering black trunks and had him go out and destroy stars with real potential, such as Edge and Rey Mysterio. Indeed, A-Train got the nod over Matt Hardy when it came to the 'who injures Rey and feuds with Edge' decision in late 2002 (thanks Johnny Ace for that one). Unsurprisingly, the Edge/A-Train programme was one of the most forgettable of Edge's career. Incredibly, the blame internally was being placed on Edge for not being able to carry the Train to great matches. And so WWE persisted, with A-Train getting WrestleMania and SummerSlam matches with The Phenom while being booked like a major threat. Look at any episode of Smackdown from 2003 and you will no doubt see A-Train mixing it up with the top stars on the blue brand. Why? It's hard to say, but somebody in power clearly liked him. The Train came off the tracks in early 2004 with the hairy-backed monster failing to make it onto the WrestleMania XX card. He was traded to Raw and only made one appearance before he was sidelined with a torn rotator cuff. He was released in November 2004. The experiment had failed.