Greatest mistakes in WWE history
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That and hiring indy manlets.
>>1154930
Wrestlemania 32
>>1154930
John Cena
Us
>The costume isn't enough, Owen. You need a real showpiece entrance too.
>>1155076
ouch
Benoit
>>1154930
WHAT
>>1155076
>Eddie. If you want to get over, you're going to have to get big. Take these steroids.
Burying Smackdown under Heyman until he walked, Instead of rising to the fucking challenge.
>>1154930
>>1154930
>lex luger
>wrestlemania 9
>not turning john cena heel 3 years ago when cm punk and daniel bryan were the future
>triple h ruining raw by burying goldberg, scott steiner and booker t
>3 hour raws
>making the brand split useless buy having stars appear on both shows, should have kept them separate and had a rivalry
>xfl
>wbf
>screwing bret
>not pushing cm punk and bryan
>"divas"
>no blood/blading rule
>pushing roman reigns
>hornswaggle burying the entire cruisweight division, actually hornswaggle as a whole
>burying the next potential face of the company mr kennedy
>stopping superstars from writing their own promos, nothing is believable exept the aurthority promos (kayfabe wise)
>burying the nexus
>rock vs john cena electric boogaloo, yea one night only, ok sure
>the miz push
>unmasking kane
>ruining ECW buy not letting paul heman run the show
>black lesnar
>big show flip flopping the bad guy and good guy
thats everything i can think of in the whole of WWE/WWF history that really hurt the company.
Letting Steph take over instead of Shane
>>1158863
Back to islam
>>1158863
oh i forgot
>burying chris masters, the master lock was amazing
>burying sandow
>piggie james
>vince mc mahon winning the ECW and WWE titles
>exploiting eddies death
>jbl and micheal cole as commentators, this hurts more then you realize
>WCW/ECW invasion story line, IT COULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING, EVEN IF THEY LOST!!!
>not listening to the crowd and now muting them, why even see the show live, honestly, why pay for it? you get a better view from TV and the WWE hates teh crowd so, what ever
>>1158941
nah, mahhamed hassan had to go away, but he could have been the greatest heel of all time, fucking london had to get bombed
>>1158863
>screwing bret
>a mistake
>>1155753
THIS. 100% FUCKING THIS.
The best product they've ever produced to date in terms of storytelling, match cohesion, entertainment value and variety, and instead of running with it under Commander Heyman they tried as hard as fuck to derail it, just to make Raw's Reign of Terror look less god awful.
Why do smarks hate PG so much? There is nothing wrong with no cursing/ not as much blood. The problem today is a lot bigger than the fact that it is PG and not TV-MA. If everything were ran the same just that it was TV-MA it would still be a terrible product
3 hours for Raw. Its the same thing that killed WCW. Oversaturation.
>>1160404
I kind of agree
>>1160404
If PG JUST meant that there was kiddie "swearing" and a lack of blood, it wouldn't be so bad. It would still kind of harm the credibility factor because, really, these are grown ass adults, and in-universe they are intensely, physically competing with one another, sometimes against people we're supposed to believe they outright hate. Normal people would swear and bleed under these circumstances.
They COULD have a perfectly acceptable product with a PG rating, but a soft PG-13 is really better.
A practical problem with PG WWE is that a bunch of hand wringing and pearl clutching about what Concerned Mothers or special interest whiners who don't watch the fucking product to begin with think. Which is why most heel characters are utter shit. They aren't allowed to "trigger" anyone, even though that's the whole point of being a goddamn heel, and they can't even wrestle nasty anymore.
Taking away Seth's curbstomp over some hyper-paranoid fear of lawsuits is a perfect picture of a large part of what's wrong with this company.
>>1161090
This
>>1160404
Limitations on content for one thing. Gone are any stories with sexual overtones, dark or adult humour, innuendo etc. While obviously it puts a stop on some of the god awful shit storylines of the past, there's less possibilities to build character, and advance stories toward something more serious. Guys like The Wyatts, Ambrose, Enzo and Cass, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens I could see really exploit a more mature show to the fullest. Would Mick Foley and Austin have become as successful as they did in a PG era?
There's also the off putting "family friendly" appearance and presentation. The previous eras, as stupid as it may sound, maybe hit mainstream thanks to a level of "coolness" about the company. The arenas were packed with late teens and adults, and it wasnt seen as embarrassing to watch unlike today. You could watch a show with your friends and it as no doubt meme-worthy as this will sound, it was unmissable edgy tv, similar to when South Park debuted. Now you can imagine parents happily letting their 5 year olds watch, while Granny sits in the corner knitting a SuperCena beanie. Being constantly shilled about Cancer charities and children's foundations, as well meaning as they do, just adds to the "all inclusive family friendly" nature of it.
Bit of a rant I know, but when you watch something that once was spontaneous and sometimes funny, and slowly it becomes watered down and more and more focused towards children, it bores.
>>1154951
>Wrestlemania 32
They've done far worse. It wasn't that bad. Not the best, but it was good.
>>1155141
>Benoit
Not the WWE's fault.
>>1155247
>CM Punk
You're fucking retarded.
>>1157096
>Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar
It was a terrible match. Stank up the place.
>>1159520
>Invasion angle
Could have been done better if they had Sting, Goldberg, etc. But with what they had to work with, why not try it? WWE vs. WCW was a cool concept.
>>1161726
>Austin turning heel
I thought it was entertaining. Brought out a different side to Austin and evolved him as a performer. It was brilliant.
Biggest mistake WWE ever made was screwing Bret Hart, and never making things right with him. Even when he returned, they never apologized.
>>1154930
>more easy revenue
>mistake
come on smarks.
>>1154945
This. Now the fat smarks are raging out when the indy manlets don't win every match
>>1162701
Yeah, because people watching the show really give a fuck about how much money they make rather than the quality of the product, keep up
2009 was cancer incarnate
>endless Cena/Orton fued
>Batista quit
>Umaga fired then died
>CM Punk antics starting to heat up
>backstage bullshit being particularly overzealous
>>1162728
>Cena having a Soft-Spoken-Gentle-Good-Guy-Smile for a HIAC poster
God I fucking hate him on an irrational level.
>>1162762
>Bret decided to go to WCW for more money.
Wrong. Bret resigned with Vince, then Vince asked him to leave and go to WCW. That was Vince's desire. Bret didn't want to leave, so Vince promised he could leave WWE anyway he wanted.
>Ass cancer
What a tasteless thing to say. But I except nothing less from a shitposter like you. You have no class.
I think Shawn Michaels is a great wrestler. But he's a rotten human being. And if all his fans are like you, then so is his fanbase,
>>1162695
>Benoit wasn't the WWEs fault
Yeah, those years of steroid abuse and extensive, basically fatal brain deterioration were completely coincidental.
>>1162901
To be fair his wife was pretty crazy too.
>>1155076
>Migraines? Come on, Benoit, your diving headbutt is one of the most over finishers in the WWE! Isn't that worth the occasional headache?
>>1160404
It's not so much that everything isn't TV-MA. It's moreso that there's a lower ceiling for creativity to hit in the PG era. I think >>1161090 is right and a PG-13 might be the better target to shoot for.
It's just frustrating when you sell a Wrestlemania match between Brock Lesnar (the unstoppable beast) and Dean Ambrose (the masochistic loser) as a no-holds barred street fight only to have steel chairs thrown about the ring and the barbed wire baseball bat that's been hyped for weeks not even used.
>>1162901
He wasn't the only one to endure that trauma.
Hardcore Holly spoke truth and said he had a lot of drinking problems and refused to get help.
indy darlings shitting up the wwe.
Literally all younhear now is why isn't x getting a push when he was a maineventer in the indy's
>>1162967
Of course, most of the other guys known for working the Dynamite Kid inspired styles got just about as fucked up (including ol DK himself).
>>1162695
>>1155692
>>1162930
>>1154951
WM's 9 & 27 exist
>>1163003
They should.
Tired of seeing indy smarks getting upset over a show that isn't targeted towards them
>>1163167
And 4.
That thing was all-around terrible.
there are many, many mistakes made in booking
but the two most egregious are Triple H over Booker T and everything that WWE creative did to DDP. Seriously the man was a star for the competition and an absolute joke after the buy-out. At least they let Regal keep some dignity. If DDP weren't a bigger man he would have dropped them long ago but he loves the business.
>>1158863
>not pushing cm punk and bryan
Bryan initially yes, but Punk got to reign as champ for over a year - admittedly he still played second to Cena, I'll give you that
>burying the next potential face of the company mr kennedy
Wow, no.
>the Miz push
Miz was a based heel and worked hard to get his one reign with the title, but he was booked like shit once he got it.
>>1160404
I don't mind the no blading rule but I fucking hate when someone gets busted open and they halt the match to patch him up.
You could tell at Takeover that Joe was visibly pissed off about it.
Rey Mysterio as champ. God what a horrible idea and clearly only because of his relation to a much superior wrestler.
>>1158863
>anybody but you roman
>daniel bryan
Lol he had a great career, same with cuck man phil, except cuck man was just an asshole of a person.
>>1163174
Was slightly redeemed by Savage winning the belt but still ruined somewhat by having Hogan drag all the attention to himself again.
>>1162901
>Yeah, those years of steroid abuse and extensive, basically fatal brain deterioration were completely coincidental.
Still not Vince's fault. He never told anyone to take steroids, and the chair shots were being done by almost every pro wrestler in the world.
>>1163176
>Triple H over Booker T
One of the worst match finishes ever, made Booker look incredibly weak. Being pedigreed and then being pinned 30 seconds after looked so so bad.
>>1163173
Fucking WHOOSH.
>>1155076
>>1163233
What?
>>1163278
All three of those guys were big names prior to their WWF runs. Hogan was an AWA guy alternating with AJPW tours, Piper had just finished up with JCP (although he was always more loyal to the Portland promoter than anything) and Macho started his WWF stint after working against Lawler down in Memphis.
That's largely how the WWF operated their upper card until the 90s when they ran out of territories to raid - grab names, given em a run and then either let them go elsewhere till they were fresh again or stick a belt on them.
Letting go of Punk.
>>1161629
>There's also the off putting "family friendly" appearance and presentation.
This. It sounds edgy, but making everything so safe took away bit of WWE's character. Now it's a childrens show. They can't just simulate real fighting as WWE becomes an inferior show to real martial arts this way. The presentation and choreography has to be over the top to make an impact. And that's where they automatically fail with this PG13 crap.
>>1162695
>CM Punk
I knew I'd trigger at least one CM Punk mark dick rider with that picture
I always consider the Invasion storyline as the biggest flub by WWE creative ever.
I mean holy shit, this was practically gift wrapped to WWF with a fucking bow on top. Everyone wanted to see this, and in fact the Invasion PPV still holds the record for the most PPV buys for a non Wrestlemania show. Despite all this though they STILL managed to fuck the potential beyond all hope.
>>1163629
Meltz said Austin vs Goldberg on the invasion ppv would smash every ppv record ever
Instead we got heel Austin joining WCW.......
>>1163629
WE CAN'T HAVE THOSE WCW INVADERS ON THE LEVEL OF OUR STARS
BURY THEM TO SHOW WHO WON THE WAR DAMMIT
>>1163629
People mention stuff like "OH BUT IF THEY HAD GOLDBERG AND NASH ETC."
but this angle was always doomed to be shit, no way Vince was booking WCW wrestlers as anything but absolute cowards.
>>1163677
Well that's the thing. Vince's ego ruined what would have been his biggest payday ever, but I guess it wasn't about the money. Vince would rather stick it to his former competition and remind them how he won.
>>1163677
Yeah Vince ruined it as usual, still squashing wcw stars 14 years after they went out of business (Sting). This angle was still exciting at the time when it started because of the huge potential but when it became the alliance because they didn't have enough wcw names it went to shit. Booker T and Buff Bagwell weren't big enough to make it work.
This guy on the whole. Name one guy that put him over that he was superior to. Bret hart is really right on this one, Haitch is a fine worker and an OK personality but he's got nothing special. He should be a perpetual bad guy used to put over better more charismatic talent. he should not be the 50 bazillion time WWE Champ because he's a good boy.
Plus he runs the business the same lame fuck way that got him ahead. Running the business like a business is a good idea on paper but you're forgetting that this is not a legit business, it's a violent carny freak show. Roman Reigns is what you get when you fast track your highest scoring young prospect in the executive training program in a violent carny freak show.
>>1163278
18+
>>1163003
That was what made WWE popular.
>>1164046
It takes a special kind of stupid to take bait after it's already been exposed.
>>1163736
No one actually expected for Vince to push WCW talent, right?
He basically told them to do what he said and they'd be paid without issue; and if they didn't, they'd be squashed mercilessly.
Unless you were Perry Saturn and told Vince stories of fucking a chick with Moppy. He seemed to like that.
>>1164109
He should have done what was best for business and not just squash everyone from his former opponent brand
>>1164961
>He should have done what was best for business
He did, at the time: he bought WCW, thus making WWF top dog.
In the long run, however, that was not a wise move; though, WCW would've collapsed, anyway.
Guest host era
>>1163629
Thanks to their egos they lost tons of fans i.e. the WCW crowd who never came back. What could have been the wet dream of evety fan, shit that literally wrote itself, became the biggest piece auf auto-fellating crap ever.
>>1164053
You take this shit to serious.
CM Punk is WWE's greatest mistake.
>>1165045
w-why did they have hhh bury him instead of elevating him? ;_; he could have been their new stone cold. don't they want that?
The fans.
>>1165057
>he could have been their new stone cold.
Please, stop trying to troll.
>>1165067
I-I'm not
>he doesn't want to witness Punk's Austin to Haitch's Vince
>>1165064
Definitely the fans.
>>1154930
Not going through with the Vince/Stephanie incest storyline. Why didn't they do it? It would have been nice.
>>1161726
I came here to post this. Outside the initial "whoa!" shock reaction, it makes zero sense in every single contextual way. Maybe I guess someone found the idea of him kissing Vince's ass harder than anyone else entertaining, but still, from every perspective it makes zero sense for him to do so.
>>1166025
that Kurt and Austin trying to one up each other in their ass kissing
>>1166029
Exactly what I was thinking of when I said some parts maybe entertaining when not thinking about SCSA's overall story arc.
The Kane/Lita storyline gave me cancer.
Also giving birth to a hand.
Seth's cash-in at wrestlemania was the biggest mistake of 2015, they should have never let that weasel hold the belt.
Had Brock or Roman had won it would have built potential for further good matches featuring powerhouses; I mean shit, if Roman wanted to get over as a face he should have cruised as WHC for the rest of the year. Imagine having RAWs where he successfully defends the title as opposed to Seth running into the crowd to escape every night.
Seth as champion was the death knell. He was a garbage heel and everything built around him was ultimately fruitless thanks to the injury. Brock should have either stayed champion or put Roman over.
>>1163173
>>1166598
(You)
>>1166598
Your bait aside, your picture makes me remember their handling of Rusev for the last year has been a 12 month long mistake. He's 300 lbs, stronk, moves REALLY well for such a large man, great charisma as a intense heel, BURY HIM TO CHINA DAMNIT
Fucking idiots. I can't wait until the Estonian Extremist debuts in the Temple.
>>1166598
>Had Brock or Roman had won it would have built potential for further good matches featuring powerhouses
Yeah Imagine all those great title defenses Brock would have put on between Mania and Battleground
>>1159433
stop saying this you brainless fucking autists.. just get to the point dumbass
>>1166598
> good matches featuring powerhouses
> Roman Reigns & Le Memeplex City
>>1154945
This. NXT is literally ass. They can all fuck off besides Bayley and Samoa Joe who shouldn't even be there. Fucking smarky fucks.
>>1167340
you mean figuratively, you figurative ass
>>1167340
>Jason Jordan
>Chad Gable
>"Indy"
Kek.
>>1167340
> being this mad about people liking something you're too pleb to enjoy
>>1167521
t. smark
>they somehow land nakamura
>smarks chant his name during the WM main event
>wwe creative will fuck this up somehow
a-a-at least the women's division is healthy
F
;_;
>>1158863
Lashley was great though.
>>1154930
Scripting out everyone's promos and overwriting everything
I get that some of the guys would probably fuck up when left with their own material (look at Ryback), but guys like Ambrose, Wyatt and Owens could probably carry themselves and it would make everything seem less "written"
Also JBL being a main announcer, he fucking sucks at being a heel commentator. His jokes aren't funny, he doesn't know the names of any moves, and he rarely lists any reason to get behind the heel guy. I understand the desire for a heel commentator but he should have some stated reason to get behind most people other than HE'S A STAR MAGGLE
>>1158863
>stopping superstars from writing their own promos
THis more than anyting. The awful overwriting is what has killed RAW.
>>1163291
A lot of people liked Don Owen. Buddy Rose was a good example. Underused and disrespected especially by Vince with that Blow Away ad. Rose was the best heel Portland had. His feud with Piper was magic.
>>1167571
>thinks he isn't a smark
>The New Day
(i'm black, and even I think they acting way too gay )
>One-day champions
( Why do they keep doing this? Zack FINALLY earn that title, and they just screw him out of it!)
>PG
(why watch if you're not a kid?)
>the Dugleys
(no Dugleys/Hardy rivalry? no real hardcore matches? what's the point?)
> the divas
( matches are just boring as hell.)
>THREE HOURS OF RAW
(and only an hour of actual wrestling)
Lucha Underground and RoH are WAYYYYY better then WWE. Hell, LU have more action in their hour then WWE have in three. Even the women on LU actully wrestle the guys, and they better at fighting then the Divas.
Two words: Women wrestling
>>1162967
benoit didnt drink
>>1154930
no blood
>>1165067
Reminder that Austin is a huge Punk mark.
Punk would had been a great Austin.
>>1163003
Piper and savage are legends. Hogan is a joke though
>changing Nakamura's music (even though they've bought the fucking rights of his old ones)
Subconscious> this shitty violin music
>>1168384
Literally fucking who?
Anyone else think the New Day are shit?
They are shit at promos and try too hard
Also wrestling fans already get bullied enough for it being "fake & gay" New Day make it worse by going out there every week twerking and gyrating. I bet at the HoF all the old timers were thinking "who the fuck are these faggots?"
Also its racist as fuck
>>1168407
Well at least they tried, and they're popular with kids and SJWs too, so they would stay (as a team) for a while
New Day confirmed worst gimmick of all time.
>>1168384
>(even though they've bought the fucking rights of his old ones)
are you genuinely retarded or what? Why would they buy the old rights and make a new theme?
>>1164994
Oh. Fuck.
>>1168407
yup never got the love for them, far too over the top
>>1160404
Because in PG, heels apparently are not allowed to have any credibility. With the exception of Brock, every heel in recent memory was booked like a total geek. They can barely tie their own shoes let alone win a match. They're not allowed to actually be heels because god forbid you might upset soccer moms or SJW's.
Problem with that is, if you have no credible heels, how are you supposed to cement a top face? Behind every great hero is a great villain to propel them to said heroic status. Why do you think Roman isn't over? Because he's been beating a bunch of losers, none of his feuds have been worth anything.
>>1168407
I tried to warn people back when /wwe/ was on /sp/ and got met with a bunch of "LOLOL DONT BE SO SOUR XD" posts by underage nu-WWE fan memers
It's funny how reddit and 420chan complained about how all black wrestlers have a shucking and jiving gimmick but cream their pants over New Day when that's literally all they do
>>1163201
>Still not Vince's fault. He never told anyone to take steroids,
>He never told anyone to take steroids
HA
I bet you think he also never told anyone to take a chairshot to the head or do a diving headbutt off a ladder.
>>1164981
No, stupid, immediately squashing all the WCW wrestlers neutered the angle AND fan interest much faster than GOOD booking would have.
He didn't even have to really put the WCW guys over, he probably shouldn't have, but he should have at least let them look strong right off the bat to build them up as a threat, in order to draw out the angle a little bit, get the fans more hyped, AND make the WWE guys look better when they largely go over on the blow off.
>>1168407
New Day, right after their heel turn, were great and anyone who says differently is a fucking idiot.
So, naturally, Vince beat it into the ground to the point that no one can stand them anymore. It doesn't help that they took three good workers, and for the longest time had them focusing less on wrestling and more on being retarded on live TV. ALSO not helping is the fact that they ran out of teams to feud against six months ago because Vince is a fucking idiot.
>>1162695
>Invasion angle
>Could have been done better if they had Sting, Goldberg, etc. But with what they had to work with, why not try it? WWE vs. WCW was a cool concept.
sooo having the NWO, booker T the champion at the time, DDP, RVD, the dudleys, rhyno, raven, lance storm and test isn't enough? they had a whole company based around these guys, it was the booking that failed hard.
also austin turning heel was amazing, he was over used at the time and nobody saw it coming
>>1162998
CM punk and the summer of punk was a failure, he was booked so badly, he had the championship for a while sure, but it was booked so badly.
>>1163179
thats what Mr kenedy was going to be, he was the most over guy in the company but was pushed down at every chance he got, he wasen't aloud to do front flips because jeff hardy was doing them, he had to stop using the green bay plunge because somebody else wanted it, so he was forced to use the reverse STO aka worst finisher of all time. also he was going to mr mr mack daddy mans son, his first child mind you and was going to be the legal heir to the WWE, but the golden shovel triple H said he would leave the company if mr kennedy was going to be pushed, go watch his debut on TNA he cuts the best promo on WWE
>>1168407
I don't mind them, but I think they get way too much mic time.
>>1159520
that composite image tricks my mind every time.
>>1169811
OHHHHHHHHH ANONNNN
DON'T YOU DAREEE BE SOOOOOURRRR
>>1170571
nWo didn't come into the company until after the invasion angle
the final "WCW" team had two outside wrestlers - RVD and Booker T - and included Shane McMahon. The invasion was a joke.
>>1159121
thickie james was gorgeous and hot as fuck fella.
i hope youre referencing the shitty bullying storyline taking place and not her hiring
>>1162771
very irrational. he didn't have last say on which photo they would use on a poster. dude shows up for work, takes bumps, leaves, sleeps at hotel, does interviews or make a wish and then it's rinse/repeat.
>>1162972
Yeah, I mean if I was a manager and I had someone with a proven track record vs someone that hadn't, I would always pick the guy who had no track record because are you actually this retarded?
The non-snarky edgy answers:
Story lines:
1) McMahon using Road Warrior Hawk's addiction as a story line point ultimately leading to a relapse and potential early death from cardiac failure.
2) Mark Henry and Mae Young
3) Chuck and Billy
4) Christian Jake the Snake Roberts
5) Reducing Eddie Guerrero into "Latino Heat"--a racial gimmick
Business decisions
1) Rushing the WCW Invasion angle. Could have waited until the guaranteed money was done and have Hogan et al. appear instead of B grade WCW stars. With starpower like Flair, Sting, etc Vince would have been slightly less like to book them as weak-ass cowards like he did.
2) Giving WWE Network all the PPVs for a low monthly fee. I benefit from this so I hate to take them to task---but giving RR, WM, Summer Slam and (i guess) Survivor Series away is a dumb move and burned lots of Cable/Satellite companies from ever wanting to work with WWE again. I would have keep the Big Four (or maybe switch out Survivor Series with MitB as Survivor Series has not be relevant since the mid 90s) on PPV and given the other 8 PPVs to the network.
3)Not taking MMA seriously in the early days.
>>1165219
those thighs tho
>>1167340
>all wrestling must appeal to (You)
>>1171583
5) the latino heat gimmick was the highest point of eddie's career tho
3) the took mma pretty seriously back in the days,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWF_Brawl_for_All it was a shitfest tho
>>1171583
>3)Not taking MMA seriously in the early days.
They brought in Ken Shamrock (who had lion's den matches) and Dan Severn who was legit in MMA as well as NWA champion. Then did Brawl for All which failed because everybody got injured and they couldn't fix the outcome. I think Vince didn't want to buy UFC when Shane suggested it because he always wants to create everything, he doesn't like anything getting over that isn't his idea. He thought he could just get different people to be Razor Ramon and Diesel because they loved his characters and not the wrestlers.
>>1165045
>to serious.
You need so many Grammar Slams.
