10 WWE Female Wrestlers Who Were Doomed From The Start

The negative impact of a poor debut or weak character can instantly doom a wrestler’s career. WWE has been hit or miss with how they choose to book their female performers throughout the years. Even with the significant changes for the better over the past five years, women still can be harmed by how they're presented.

The stories of female wrestlers trying to make an impact and getting doomed from the start feature names that never recovered or had to thrive elsewhere. Unfortunately, some very talented women wrestlers were doomed right from the start. The following female wrestlers instantly missed the mark when starting their runs with WWE.

10 Jillian Hall

WWE viewed Jillian Hall as a potential future star when seeing her in developmental. Hall joined the main roster with the silliest gimmick possible that essentially doomed her from ever getting over at a high level.

There was a giant growth on her face meant to provide comedic segments that just felt out of place. Hall was introduced as part of MNM’s team as a fixer. JBL eventually added her as his manager, but the growth was removed when The Boogeyman ate it. Hall clearly had no ideal path to success after this.

9 Lacey Evans

The NXT stint of Lacey Evans saw her elevated by working with more experienced wrestlers. Evans was viewed as a future star of WWE when called up to the main roster in early 2019. The debut saw her walking on the entrance ramp before heading back.

WWE tried to get Lacey heat by having her appear for weeks without ever getting physical or having a match. Evans eventually entered a program with Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, but the fans didn’t view her as a credible threat due to the poor debut.

8 Joy Giovanni

WWE wanted to find multiple future stars of the women’s division when starting the Diva Search. Joy Giovanni fell just short as one of the runner-up finalists in the first season that was won by Christy Hemme.

The fans seemed to enjoy Giovanni during the contest and WWE signed her to a smaller deal. Joy debuted on SmackDown as Big Show’s girlfriend, but it felt forced and out of place. The chemistry wasn’t there, and the angle played a role in her not succeeding.

7 Maxine

The original concept of NXT saw the women becoming part of the third season. Future stars AJ Lee, Naomi, and the winner Kaitlyn had strong runs after their stint in NXT. Maxine was right there with them as one of the standout talents from the show.

The heelwork of Maxine should have made her a bigger star, especially since Dusty Rhodes was a huge supporter of her in developmental. WWE put no effort into Maxine and just involved her in a random tag match. The lack of importance conditioned fans to not care about her, even though she thrived in Lucha Underground after her time in WWE.

6 Tori

WWE signed Tori to become one of the top faces of the women’s division during the Attitude Era. Sable was the hottest female star in the company during her Women’s Championship reign following the Playboy cover appearance.

Tori debuted as a diehard fan of Sable, jumping over the guardrails to have any interaction with her. Sable showed no respect towards Tori, which led to them getting involved in a program for WrestleMania XV. Tori didn’t come off well and any plans of being a major star were lost in the odd debut angle.

5 Kelly Kelly

The signing of Kelly Kelly saw WWE hiring her as a 19-year-old teenager just entering her adult years. Kelly had experience modeling and joined the company as part of the ECW brand. The initial gimmick was a bit odd as an exhibitionist dancer.

Mike Knox played the jealous boyfriend of Kelly with CM Punk eventually standing up to him. The start as a dancer hurt Kelly’s credibility when transitioning into the ring for a push as a wrestler. WWE could never find the ultimate success they wanted from Kelly.

4 Shaniqua

Linda Miles was one of the two winners from the second season of Tough Enough with Jackie Gayda as the other. The win saw Miles heading to developmental to experiment with various gimmicks before returning under the name of Shaniqua.

WWE turned Shaniqua into a managing, playing the role of a dominatrix character representing Doug and Danny Basham. The gimmick was too over-the-top to work in WWE at the time and all three flopped. Shaniqua was removed from the act as the Bashams tried to continue on their own.

3 Cherry

The gimmicks from WWE’s creative team in the latter half of the 2000s decade weren't always so hot. Cherry debuted as a manager appearing ringside with the tag team of Deuce and Domino. The trio dressed like they were greasers from the 1950s.

Cherry used roller skates to get to the ring and managed the duo to their first tag title win. Fans just didn’t care about any of them, and it grew worse for Cherry when Deuce and Domino replaced her with Maryse. Cherry never had a chance after the weak debut.

2 Cameron

The return of Tough Enough in 2011 saw Cameron as one of the few talents to receive a contract offer. Many fans already had it out for her after the memorable moment of Steve Austin not liking her response that Melina vs Alicia Fox was her favorite all-time match.

Cameron didn’t make her main roster debut until becoming part of Brodus Clay’s act. Naomi and Cameron were the Funkadactyls tag team who danced with Clay during his entrances. Both ladies had a rough start, but Naomi was the better talent to bounce back. Cameron could not overcome such a terrible debut by WWE.

1 Katie Lea Burchill

The talent of Katie Lea Burchill was never utilized effectively in WWE after a horrible introduction. WWE came up with an odd idea of Katie being the sister of Paul Burchill with implications of an incest storyline.

The sibling characters were physically expressing support for each other to start the run, but WWE went to the PG rating right after. Both wrestlers struggled with WWE’s idea for them no longer fitting within the guidelines. Katie was used as a secondary part of the women’s division for the rest of her run.

NEXT: 10 TNA Characters Who Were Doomed From The Start