10 WWE superstars who had disappointing WrestleMania debuts
WrestleMania is supposed to be the pinnacle of sports entertainment, the zenith of professional wrestling, and the most important show for all of WWE’s superstars. Everyone wants to be a part of WrestleMania and have a positive impact on the show.
But not everyone gets to do this. For every wrestler that manages to have a successful WrestleMania debut, there are just as many that fail to make a positive impact when they first appear on the WrestleMania card.
These are the wrestlers whose attempts to make a name for themselves on the grandest stage of them all blew up in their faces. Instead of debuting at WrestleMania on a positive note, things went poorly for them. And in some cases, their WrestleMania debuts were so bad that they couldn’t shake off the impact those debuts had on their careers.
10. Goldust
Goldust has long been one of WWE’s more controversial characters. The androgynous, creepy-looking Goldust seemed to have a crazed obsession with Hollywood and appeared to be more interesting in creeping out his opponents than being a skilled grappler.
This ‘character-driven’ booking reached its peak at WrestleMania XII when Goldust wrestled/fought “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in a bizarre ‘match’ called a Hollywood Backlot Brawl. It featured unrealistic strikes, a car chase, and a lot of gimmicky nonsense that didn’t really set the world on fire.
That match ended up being a sample of things to come for Goldust, as his WWE career would be filled with unusual booking and ridiculous and over-the-top gimmicks.