WWE Gimmicks That FAILED The HARDEST Every Year (1985-2025)
5. Alexa Bliss & Lilly (2021)
Alexa Bliss had already turned on Bray Wyatt's 'Fiend' (the crispy version) by the time she introduced childhood doll Lilly into the mix on the 12 April 2021 Raw. This horror movie-esque sidekick was supposedly sentient and had been a source of much amusement/trouble for Bliss during her younger years. Now, Lilly was here to cause chaos for the entire WWE roster.
Walking badass Shayna Baszler fell victim to Lilly's supposed supernatural powers during select episodes of the flagship, including a cliffhanger angle during which it was implied that the doll might've ended Baszler. That wasn't the case, of course, and most of the hijinks involving the plush toy were met with apathy from an audience burned out on the cinematic silliness that had been rife since 2020.
Sometimes, WWE did it well. Sometimes, they didn't. Lilly fell into the latter camp, not least when "she" was flashing winks at the cameras as creepy laughter played. The fact that Shayna was so spooked by the thing didn't help her cause either. It was absurd to think that Baszler had gone from biting Becky Lynch to being terrified of a doll, but that's what happened.
'LillyMania' hogged a lot of time on Raw. Too much time. Alexa did her best with the material she was given, but this was honestly going nowhere. Speaking of which, nothing came of Charlotte Flair tearing Lilly to pieces at Extreme Rules either. Creative just pretended everything was fine, and Lilly bounced back.
Typical modern-day worker who no-sells everything. Ridiculous.