WWE Missed Opportunities: The Career Downfall of Tensai

Following the WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view event, Lord Tensai made his first appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw. It was not the first appearance for the man portraying the character, Matthew Bloom.

In this edition of "Missed Opportunities," we will take a look back at Bloom's time in WWE as Tensai; however, the article won't touch on the tag team he formed with Brodus Clay, collectively known as Tons of Funk. Unfortunately, the character was already lost by that point.

So instead, let's focus on the time before that.

Tensai debuted on the April 2, 2012 edition of Raw. Though he came out dressed like a Japanese warrior, fans who had been watching WWE for years easily recognized him as the man formerly known as Prince Albert and A-Train.

It had been over seven years since he had been inside a WWE ring. In his first stint with the company, he was able to become WWE intercontinental champion.

However, it appeared he could easily find more success the second time around, especially after picking up pinfall victories over CM Punk and John Cena, two of the biggest stars on the roster.

In fact, the list of guys who have done that in the short time frame that Tensai accomplished it cannot be very long.

But it wouldn't be long before WWE started tweaking the character. It dropped the "Lord" from his name, deciding to go with just Tensai. It also decided against him coming out in the Japanese outfit.

This all seemed to take away from the character, and soon, the losses started piling up. Where had the big push he'd been given go? What made WWE decide to change its tune on Tensai so quickly.

Hardcore WWE fans pay attention. They don't forget certain details—even after six years.

Despite the complete makeover WWE decided to give the character, fans weren't buying it. They weren't buying all of the symbols that Tensai put on his face or the fact that WWE had him speak Japanese.

To them, he was still A-Train. He was still the guy whom they chanted "Shave your back" to all those years before. As a result, they simply didn't care.

However, it's not all on WWE. Tensai just didn't do enough to make the crowd care either.

Remember when Bray Wyatt made his debut and fans immediately chanted "Husky Harris?" That died down pretty quickly because of Wyatt's determination to get the character over and make the crowd believe in a completely new persona.

That never happened with Tensai, and that's a shame.

Around the same time of Tensai's debut, WWE introduced a new Superstar by the name of Ryback. Both men got off to strong starts, putting together impressive winning streaks.

What if WWE had kept both men undefeated and had them square off at WrestleMania 29? Sure, it wouldn't have been a technical classic, but two undefeated wrestlers going at it would have made it a very fun match to watch.

It would have been better than Ryback vs. Mark Henry, too, which is the match it did go with.

On top of being one of the most athletic big men WWE has ever had on its roster, Bloom also had a very successful stint in Japan under the name Giant Bernard.

With guys like Hideo Itami and Finn Balor eventually coming up to the main roster, having opposition like Tensai would have been excellent for either of them due to his familiarity with their style and his background in Japanese wrestling.

To this day, Tensai could still be a top-level heel used as a stepping stone for Superstars looking to reach the main event.

Many fans probably don't miss Tensai, but that doesn't mean WWE didn't miss a big opportunity with him.