5 Huge WWE debuts that ended up disappointing

There's an old adage, that you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.

In the WWE, this is particularly true, with a Superstar often living or dying by the first glimpse the WWE Universe get of them.

The Shield certainly got off on the right foot on the main roster, appearing at Survivor Series 2012, in all black, and destroying everyone in their path.

But for as successful as The Shield was, there are stars like The Shockmaster, who is perhaps solely known for his disastrous debut, where he fell flat on his face in WCW.

Even in WWE, things have not always gone smoothly, and whilst some stars have debuted with all the hype, this has often fizzled out.

Here are 5 WWE Superstars who had huge debuts, but ended up disappointing.

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#5 Tazz

The ECW star had an epic debut at the 2000 Royal Rumble.

No-one could ever accuse Tazz of being flashy, but his debut at the 2000 Royal Rumble may go down as one of the best debuts in WWE history.

When Kurt Angle, who had debuted himself just a few months prior, issued an open challenge with his signature smug demeanour, there’s no chance that the Olympian expected the ECW Superstar to answer, emerging in Madison Square Garden, and choking out Angle in the middle of the ring.

Ending the Wrestling Machine’s undefeated streak, this was sadly a career peak for Tazz, who would quickly slide down the company’s totem pole.

Despite a strong initial showing, including winning the ECW Championship whilst working for the WWE, things would come crashing down when he lost to Triple H on SmackDown, and failed to capture the Intercontinental Championship.

After returning from an arm injury, the Human Suplex Machine was put into an awful feud with commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, which was a sign of things to come.

After failing to get over with the crowd, possibly the lowest part of Tazz’s career came at the 2001 Royal Rumble, just one year after his epic debut, where he was eliminated from the Rumble match in just 10 seconds, shorter than Al Snow, William Regal and even Drew Carey.

After failing to become relevant again, Tazz started transitioning to the commentary desk throughout the year, and by the end of 2002, was working full-time with Michael Cole on SmackDown, never reaching the highs he could have.

#4 The New World Order

Hall, Nash and Hogan returned to WWE in 2002.

To be fair, the New World Order’s debut in WCW is possibly the most shocking moment in wrestling history.

Appearing at the 1996 Bash at the Beach event, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall promised a third man to the group, with millions of fans left heartbroken when Hulk Hogan betrayed all of them to join the villainous group.

So when the trio arrived in the WWE in 2002, the three megastars received a huge nostalgic pop from the crowd, though things went wrong not long after.

Despite intending to be heels, the trio were constantly cheered by the crowd, who saw them as nostalgic heroes rather than anarchistic invaders.

The group in many fan’s eyes, ended at WrestleMania 18, where Scott Hall lost to Steve Austin, and Hogan lost to he Rock, despite receiving massive support from the Sky-Dome crowd.

With Nash getting injured not long after, and Hall being fired for disorderly conduct weeks later, it seemed the nWo were dead, again, though the company refused to believe it.

Adding members like Booker T, X-Pac, the Big Show and the returning Shawn Michaels, the company hoped to keep the group going, though everyone knew the ride was over, and the nWo disbanded in July 2002, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

#3 The Nexus

The Nexus started strong in 2010, but very little came of the group

Possibly the biggest missed opportunity in WWE, The Nexus are a shining example of what can happen when a certain Chaingang leader has too much power.

Debuting in the first season of the original NXT, the band of Superstars competed for a future WWE contract, in a series of matches, that whilst entertaining, couldn’t make up for the embarrassing reality show challenges each one faced.

After Wade Barrett was crowned the victor, the company rightly decided that the Englishman could do with some help, with the future King of the Ring being joined by his NXT cohorts when they invaded RAW in June 2010.

In one of the most shocking moment’s in RAW history, it looked like a bomb had exploded, as the team of rookies destroyed everything and everyone in their path, from John Cena to Justin Roberts.

With a pack-of-wolves mentality, it seemed nothing could stop the team, not even a dream team led by John Cena, of some of WWE’s biggest stars, who would face the Nexus at Summerslam.

At SummerSlam though, everything changed, as team WWE defeated The Nexus, with Cena eliminating the two final members of the heel group within seconds of each other.

Try as they did, The Nexus never recovered from this loss, as fans quickly realised that the new Superstars were no-match to Big Match John, despite Cena briefly being forced to work for them.

In interviews since, Cena has even admitted that it was his decision to change the finish to the match, as the original plan was for the rookies to assert their dominance by vanquishing the Superstars.

The 16-time World Champion has said since he deeply regrets changing the finish, and whilst it’s nice that he can admit when he’s wrong, it still doesn’t undo the damage that this did to the careers of The Nexus, and especially Wade Barrett.

#2 Paige

Paige retired due to injuries in 2018.

With her jet-black hair and emo look, Paige was always going to be seen differently than any other woman in WWE.

But on the night after WrestleMania 30, the then-NXT Women’s Champion proved just how different she was, when she interrupted then-Diva’s Champion AJ Lee, to congratulate her on retaining at the pay-per-view.

Incensed, the future Mrs CM Punk berated the NXT star, challenging her to a title match, which the 21-year-old won, becoming the youngest Divas Champion in history, and the only woman to hold the Divas Title and NXT Women’s Title at the same time.

Despite all this rapid success, things quickly turned sour for the Anti-Diva, who found herself like so many champions, losing practically all non-title matches.

And even in title matches, Paige didn’t fare better, with her first title defence against Brie Bella ending in a no-contest thanks to Kane, and the British star barely making it through another defence against Naomi.

By the time that AJ returned to RAW, the shine had clearly left Paige, who quickly lost the title back to the same woman she’d won it from.

For the rest of the year, the pair would go back and forth, with both having several reigns throughout the year, as fans grew tired of the constant flip-flopping.

This definitely hurt both women, and whilst AJ would quietly retire from wrestling in 2015, the British star was never treated the same from the WWE or the fans, ever again, never again holding any championships, before retiring due to injuries in 2018.

#1 Lord Tensai

Tensai returned to WWE in 2012.

During his first run with the WWE, Matt Bloom was little more than a sideshow, with his multiple piercings, bald head and massive clumps of body hair making him rather uncomfortable to watch.

Despite some success, including a reign as Intercontinental Champion, it wouldn’t be until Bloom joined New Japan as Giant Bernard that he would have real success.

Earning both the IWGP and THC Tag Team Championships in Japan, Bloom would establish himself as one of the biggest gaijin wrestlers, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise that the WWE once again took an interest in him.

Returning as Lord Tensai, the characters was hyped up with vignettes that showed the mysterious shrouded man, as only a few fans knew about Bloom’s success oversees.

Destroying Alex Riley in his debut, Tensai was heavily pushed, even defeating John Cena, a feat very few can claim to have done.

But not long after, things would come spiralling down, as older fans mockingly chanted “Albert” at him, as his push slowly disappeared.

Just months after his debut, Tensai lost his lordship, entrance attire and undefeated streak, quickly entering a comedy tag team with Brodus Clay.

Clearly unhappy with how quickly things have gone south for him, Bloom retired from wrestling in 2014, but hasn’t quit entirely.

Instead, Bloom now words as the head trainer of the WWE Performance Center, following the resignation of Bill DeMott, where Bloom trains the next generation of WWE Superstars, hoping they will do much better on the main roster, than he did.