Arn Anderson explains why The Vaudevillains did not work in WWE

WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson thinks The Vaudevillains should have received more television time after their main-roster debut.

Aiden English and Simon Gotch held the NXT Tag Team Championship for 81 days in 2015. The following year, they debuted on WWE’s main roster after WrestleMania 32 and quickly became involved in a storyline with The New Day.

Anderson worked as a WWE producer from 2001 to 2019. Speaking on his ARN podcast, Anderson explained why WWE fans struggled to understand The Vaudevillains’ old-timey strongman characters.

“I’m gonna give you my honest [opinion] from my recollection,” Anderson said. “I don’t think they had enough TV time to do enough character stuff for people to understand what they were trying to do. That’s my recollection. Are we trying to help them and asking who that guy was, who they were, and who they saw those characters as being, and try to help them? But we only got a couple of minutes. It’s difficult. It’s something that abstract, so that’s what I think happened.”

"AND WE ARE...MANLYYYYYYYYY!" #SmackDown #Vaudevillains @WWEDramaKing @GotchStyleWWE pic.twitter.com/J5vsOD30UA

— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2016

Despite their NXT success, The Vaudevillains only stayed together for one year on WWE’s main roster. Simon Gotch received his release in April 2017, meaning Aiden English became a singles competitor. English, who later formed another tag team with Rusev, left WWE in April 2020.

The Vaudevillains’ one-year run on WWE’s main roster

The Vaudevillains faced Enzo Amore and Big Cass at WWE Payback 2016.

Aiden English and Simon Gotch debuted with a victory over The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) on the April 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown.

Their first WWE pay-per-view match took place at WWE Payback 2016 against Enzo Amore and Big Cass. The match ended in a no-contest after Amore suffered a concussion.

"Soon the sun WILL SET on this New Day ... and The Night belongs to The #Vaudevillains!" - @GotchStyleWWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/BK4BD3fzhH

— WWE (@WWE) May 13, 2016

The Vaudevillains failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from The New Day at WWE Extreme Rules 2016 and WWE Money in the Bank 2016. They also unsuccessfully challenged for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil match at WWE Elimination Chamber 2017.

Please credit ARN and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.