10 Awful WWE Gimmicks That Only Lasted One Night

5. Doc Kabuki

When Steve Williams was shockingly knocked out by Bart Gunn in the Brawl for All tournament, any chance of a potential headline programme with WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin (as had been the working plan) went out the window. 

His hard man reputation in tatters and his hamstring hanging on by a thread, Dr Death had no choice but to take a few months away as WWE considered their next steps. 

Williams re-emerged on the February 22, 1999, episode of Raw, interfering in the end of Gunn’s Hardcore Title match with former New Midnight Express teammate Hardcore Holly. 

Wearing a Kabuki mask and doing some terrible karate thrusts, Williams threw Bart off the stage and through a table, costing him the match. 

A variation of the gimmick (such as it was) had actually been pitched to Doc prior to his WWE debut. The idea was that Williams, having made his name and reputation wrestling in Japan for the past decade, had turned his back on his All-American roots. 

In any event, Kabuki Steve Williams lasted exactly one segment and was never spoken of again.