18. The Amazing Adventures Of Sin Cara, Part I
When Mistico, the biggest Mexican wrestling superstar of this generation, was signed to a WWE contract, the higher-ups were already counting their money. After all, the aging (and increasingly injured) Rey Mysterio was a huge draw amongst the Latino viewership, who, in turn, catapulted Smackdown's ratings during the brand extension era. Surely Mistico, who was already a household name in his native country, would have an even bigger impact. Unfortunately, saying that the newly-christened Sin Cara didn't take to WWE style is an understatement. The aerial wizard was gone and in his place was a clumsy flop who got injured so often that his action figure was sold with a toy splint. To make matters worse, Sin Cara's finisher was initially (and very, very briefly) the Spanish Fly a backflipping uranage (Rock Bottom) off of the top turnbuckle. If that sounds dangerous... well, you see where I'm going with this. Sin Cara's debut match in Raw was with Primo, a coordinated and capable wrestler, so one can only assume that the aura of Sin Cara affected him, causing him to take a tumble as the erstwhile lucha libre icon fell to the arena floor.
17. Ring Rust Dogs JBL
John "Bradshaw" Layfield's retirement in 2006 saw the former WWE Champion become a member of the Smackdown commentary team and one of the freshest, most interesting broadcasters WWE TV had seen in years. However, in late 2007, JBL decided to take one more stab at the squared circle. He interfered in a WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and a recently-returned Chris Jericho, costing Y2J his opportunity at the title. A brutal feud, one which saw JBL nearly strangle Jericho with a cord, ensued. The two clashed at the 2008 Royal Rumble in an encounter that saw Jericho disqualified for striking JBL with a chair, then follow up by choking the man in an act of retribution. Still, for all the vitriol manufactured by two of WWE's best talkers and actors, the match itself wasn't pretty. The above attempt at a bulldog stands out as a sign that perhaps Layfield hadn't fully shaken off the ring rust he had accumulated while sitting at the announcers' table. Still, he would go on to have some much better matches (including a parking lot brawl with John Cena at Great American Bash of that year) before hanging his boots up for good in 2009.