Changed my mind, I just couldn't pass this one up.
Spoiler:
The Shockmaster
You want to know what 1993 WCW was like? This sums it up in 90 seconds. Shockmaster was supposed to be the monster face to challenge Vader for the World title, but things just didn't quite FALL into place:
Still one of the go-to references whenever people talk about hilariously bad wrestling moments.
There's a bit of a grey area here in that it seems like botches can sometimes elevate already-stupid ideas to a new level, but if most of the reason that a moment stood out as awful was because of an accident rather than a plan, that's a low-value choice.
I had Shockmaster in mind when I wrote this. I mean, the whole outfit still makes the Shockmaster thing incredibly stupid, but most of what's carrying it is the botch. I guess I figured the point was to focus on the most unbelievable examples of things being signed off on by one or more bookers. With that said, it's at least still a very stupid-looking idea for a character.
While these are some terrible angles, in my opinion the damage that was primarily done could be retconned by simply having guys move on and engage in new feuds, because this is wrestling and thats always been how wrestling works.
The only time in history this hasn't been true apparently started when Bradshaw had boasted backstage that "He could beat ANYONE in a bar fight". This got WWE creative genius Vince Russo's thoughts flowing and he came up with the most disastrous angle of all time.
Spoiler:
BRAWL FOR ALL
Or as I like to term it, the BRAWLOL FOR ALLOL
Per wikipedia
Quote:
"Each match consisted of three one-minute rounds. Whichever wrestler connected with the most punches per round scored 5 points. In addition, a clean takedown scored 5 points and a knockdown was worth 10. If a wrestler was knocked out (decided by an eight-count rather than a ten-count), the match ended. The matches were scored by ringside judges including Gorilla Monsoon."
So right off the bat a major problem with this is having a legit fighting segment wedged in to a fake fighting show. Not the best idea considering these were trained wrestlers not trained fighters. The original bracket was as follows.
Steve Blackman vs Marc Mero - A billed Karate master vs a former Golden Gloves Boxer. Marc Canterbury vs Bradshaw - 2 Big country boys who weren't doing anything. Brakkus vs Savio Vega - Bodybuilder vs Pro Wrestling veteran. Droz vs Road Warrior Hawk - Ex-NFLer vs Pro Wrestling Legend Bart Gunn vs Bob Holly - Tag team partners in a going nowhere team. Quebecker Pierre vs Dr Death - End of the line pro wrestler with one eye vs former 4 time NCAA wrestling champion with a very strong fighting reputation The Godfather vs Dan Severn - Big Guy vs Former MMA Champion 8-Ball vs Flash Funk - Wrestlers who hadn't been on TV in months.
So apparently, WWE creative considered the newly debuting Dr. Death an overwhelming favorite and was planning on using this contest as a way to get him over and catapult him to the Main Event scene to the point that they paid him the 100K prize BEFORE the tournament started(which I find hilarious considering theres a former MMA champion in the middle of the field but I digress).
So what happened? Well for one the fans absolutely hated it (and with good reason) as chants of "BORING" and "WE WANT WRESTLING" constantly rained down as these goons threw terrible looking punches at each other and basically exposed the business at a time where it wasn't a mainstream thing.
To make matters more hilarious, in the 2nd round, they finally had their first KO. The main problem with this was the newly debuting guy they deemed an overwhelming favorite was knocked out cold by the lesser regarded member of a throwaway tag team.
Nice form Steve.
So Bart Gunn shocks the world goes on to win the tournament. What makes this even funnier, is the fact that MASSIVE INJURIES WERE SUFFERED BY A MAJORITY OF THE COMPETITORS.
Steve Wiilliams suffered a torn hamstring which would eventually force him to retire, and was knocked out cold. The Godfather was injured, Steve Blackman and Road Warrior Hawk were unable to work in usual WWF capacities for a while after. Savio Vega aggravated an old arm injury and would never work for the WWF again. Brakkus sustained injuries to his knee and shoulder that led him to retire in 1999.
Now all of this COULD have still produced a cool new character in Bart Gunn, the guy who nobody saw coming and proved that he was the toughest guy in the locker room by dominating a shoot fighting tournament.
What it DID produce was this Wrestlemania match.
Bart Gunn was then released in the following months.
Bad Idea
Massive amounts of time wasted
Hated by the fans from the get go
Legit Injuries to multiple competitors
Exposing the business as fake amd maing the roster look like a bunch of scrubs
Ensuring an expensive new signee is DOA
Absolutely nothing of value that came from it