WWE Gimmicks That FAILED The HARDEST Every Year (1985-2025)
31. ‘King’ Mabel (1995)
Vince McMahon knew he couldn't push juiced up monsters who'd fall foul of steroid scrutiny by 1995, but the then-boss was still very much obsessed by sheer physical size and larger than life "attractions". That's the only reason why error-prone tag-team star Mabel was plucked from Men On A Mission and given a main event push that year.
The only reason. Mabel didn't win King Of The Ring '95 or bag a WWF Title match vs. Diesel at SummerSlam on the strength of his promos, in-ring performances or connection with the crowds. He was a huge man who looked like he could do some damage. That damage was unfortunately real.
Mabel was reckless in the ring, so much so that Kevin Nash claims he had to fight for his SummerSlam foe's job after he'd literally kicked his legs out and squashed Diesel's injured back. Shattering The Undertaker's orbital bone later in the year didn't do Mabel any favours either. He was a walking pain train for real.
His push will also go down in WWE history as one of the worst ever. Fans didn't want it, Diesel didn't particularly fancy working with the big guy, and top stars like 'Taker and Shawn Michaels were shoved aside at KOTR so Savio Vega could work 3 main card matches (4 if you include the 'Free For All') and Mabel could stink up the ring for a combined 20 minutes.
'King' Mabel was agony to sit through, but the real torture came for guys like Nash and Undertaker who had to work with him on top.