The Story Of The Blandest Monster In WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era
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There have been countless examples over the years of WWE trying their best to push new monster heels on the roster to try and capture the magic of the 1970s and 1980s when big monster heels were all the rage for the courageous babyfaces to overcome. Big failures such as Vladimir Kozlov, Mason Ryan, Kurrgan, and more stand out as some of the biggest flubs, but perhaps the most boring of them all has to be Mike Knox. Knox spent a whole five years signed to a WWE contract, and in that time he did absolutely nothing of note despite WWE attempting to push him at times.
Mike Knox Debuted In ECW As Kelly Kelly’s Boyfriend
Mike Knox signed with WWE in 2005 and was brought into the developmental system, but it wasn’t long until his impressive size and imposing nature saw him elevated to the main roster pretty quickly. He ended up on the ECW brand (though at a time when the brand was quickly losing all of its character and heart, becoming less ‘extreme’), and found some momentum early on. His debut was a little peculiar though.
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ECW diva Kelly Kelly had a recurring segment on the brand called Extreme Exposé, in which she would striptease for the audience. Knox began interrupting these segments, covering Kelly up and dragging her away. It was revealed that the pair were in a relationship and Knox was unhappy about her actions. Knox went on to pick up wins against the likes of The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, FBI, and more. He wasn’t pinned or submitted in singles action until a bland feud with CM Punk in which Kelly fell for Punk. It was hard to watch, and Knox was quickly losing his aura as a big monster heel. This feud would even see Knox attack Kelly in the ring.
Mike Knox Challenged For The World Heavyweight Championship
From there, Knox lost momentum quickly. He started losing more and more matches against those who shouldn’t have really defeated a monster heel such as himself - he was even the first man eliminated during a traditional Survivor Series elimination tag match in 2006. After a whole year of doing essentially nothing of note, Knox was provided with a fresh start after being drafted to Raw in 2008. WWE reintroduced him as a brand new monster, kicking things off similarly to how he was in ECW with a quick and dominant squash of D-Lo Brown.
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Knox targeted Rey Mysterio in what looked to potentially be a star-making program for the monster, but it failed to really go anywhere as Mysterio won the bout when they finally faced off. Knox was given a strong push though at the start of 2009, as he found himself in the World Heavyweight Championship scene somehow. He got a spot in the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out 2009. Once again, this was a chance to impress. It was Knox’s first proper PPV main event, though he didn’t display anything special and he was eliminated fairly quickly.
Knox was then drafted over to SmackDown but once again after a quick debut win, he began losing and was treated like nothing more than just any other undercard performer. He was only brought onto TV to put others over, though he wasn’t particularly good at this either due to a limited moveset and lack of character. At the start of 2010, Knox was finally let go from WWE, ending what was a complete waste of a run.
Mike Knox Was A Boring Monster Heel
A big issue with Knox was WWE’s lack of commitment to making him a star. He was provided with no mouthpiece and wasn’t good enough to fend for himself in that aspect, and at the time he had zero character to speak of apart from just being a big bad heel. If he had some sort of gimmick perhaps he would have been able to stand out, but the zero personality he showcased led to fans going dead any time he walked out.
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Aside from the start of his time in ECW, Knox wasn’t really showcased as a winner. WWE didn’t give him any sort of proper undefeated streak to gain momentum, so fans didn’t buy him as a threat to anyone despite commentators bigging up his dangerous side and dominant presence. All in all, he was just a boring monster heel that had no chance of success, with a big part of that being WWE’s doing. Knox would wrestle in TNA for a little while after leaving WWE, and after a slower schedule over the last decade, he is now wrestling more regularly in NWA.
