Over the years, WWE has often booked monster heels to pick up as much heat as possible, which can add a great story element when done correctly. The company is normally good at creating these types of characters that have been able to help get over their opponents as major babyfaces.
While the focus is on making these characters people to be hated and feel intimidating, that doesn't always translate on television. Many of these monster gimmicks don't pan out, which can be down to how they're booked, the storylines they're in, or the work that they put in.
10 Brodus Clay
Monster heels being placed into the role of a bodyguard is a common spot in professional wrestling, which is something that worked wonders for someone like Kevin Nash. However, when WWE attempted that spot with Brodus Clay it didn't work, as he never felt like an intimidating threat.
He worked alongside Alberto Del Rio, but rather than being made to look like a complete monster, he was often the man that took the bumps, and was made to look weak against people, which is why he had to be repackaged as a wrestler for his dancing gimmick.
9 Lord Tensai
When WWE tries to repackage wrestlers there is always a risk that things won't end up working in the same way, and that was the case way with Lord Tensai. He is someone who was well-known to the audience as Albert, so putting him in such a drastically different gimmick was something that people weren't sure about.
Audiences never bought into the character, and all of the bells and whistles that came along with it, which is why he wasn't pushed hard for very long in the company. He quickly fell down the card, and he then ended up becoming a babyface that was over the top.
8 Big Daddy V
Big Daddy V brought an intimidating presence when he went to the ring, which ticked the first box of being a monster heel, but the problem for him was that he rarely picked up any victories. Despite his size, he wasn't a talent that got booked at the top of the card, and that stopped him from feeling like a threat.
Audiences didn't see him as an intimidating star as he rarely cut promos, his matches were basic, and he wasn't pushed into the title scene. Despite his size, Big Daddy V ended up just feeling like an average member of the roster, as someone fans didn't care about too much.
7 Kharma
Every wrestling fan knows how great Awesome Kong is as a professional wrestler, and she certainly is an intimidating presence overall. However, her brief WWE run as Kharma didn't bring her to the same level, which was largely down to circumstances in her personal life which means she wasn't around.
When she did appear, Kharma was out to try and dominate everyone in sight, but because she wasn't around for long it was hard for fans to truly buy into her and feel like she was an intimidating character.
6 Karrion Kross
During his time on the black and gold brand, Karrion Kross was someone that worked when it came to intimidating people, but his main roster presentation was such a disaster that it killed all of that hard work on his debut. The fact he was brought as the champion is something that gave people hope, yet he was then beaten on his debut.
That instantly gave fans no reason to take him seriously, as they felt he was someone who wouldn't get the job done inside the ring. Then when all of his goofy ring gear and helmet was added to his character, he just became someone nobody cared about.
5 Isaac Yankem
Sure, people are legitimately afraid of going to the dentist, but that isn't because of the person they will see, it is due to the procedure itself. Therefore, creating a scary dentist who had bad teeth weren't enough to legitimately put the fear into wrestling fans, as nobody bought into it.
Yankem was physically a sight to behold but once all of that had been stripped away he didn't end up feeling scary, simply because the gimmick itself wasn't good enough. But as the Kane character would prove, Glenn Jacobs himself knew how to intimidate, and do it well.
4 Mordecai
Sometimes supernatural characters click, and they instantly put fear into people like The Undertaker or The Fiend, and other times it ends up working like Mordecai. This was a gimmick that didn't connect at all, and while the company tried to make him seem intimidating, his booking never matched it.
He didn't pick up dominant wins against top names, and while he was given all the bells and whistles to try and appear like a top star, Mordecai didn't come across as an intimidating presence to the fans.
3 T-Bar
In NXT, Dominik Dijakovic was an intimidating presence, as he was a hard-hitting wrestler that would back up everything that he did inside the ring. Fans would react to him accordingly, and when he was brought to the main roster that is something that all went away because of the ridiculous nature of his gimmick.
The name T-Bar instantly made him less intimidating, not to mention the fact that Retribution rarely picked up any victories or were made to feel like a serious presence. Then when his ridiculous mask and face paint was added, all hope for what he could have been ended up disappearing.
2 Heidenreich
WWE tried something different with Heidenreich having him not only be a physical presence, but also be someone who would work the mind games by trying to get into the heads of others. Unfortunately, the way WWE went around trying to do this was something that backfired on them.
He is best remembered for the segment with Michael Cole in the toilets backstage, and as soon as WWE did that his time as an intimidating star was taken away, and he no longer got seen in the same way by fans.
1 Giant Gonzalez
Giant Gonzalez certainly brought the size and strength factor to everything that he did during his stint in WWE, but for some reason, the company threw him in a ridiculous body suit and that made him look absolutely ridiculous. That is something that instantly stopped him from feeling like an intimidating presence.
He instantly just looked goofy, particularly with the hair that was attached to certain parts, while the rest was sprayed on muscles. Rather than showing his legitimately impressive physique, WWE's decision ended up backfiring when it came to making him someone to fear.