The 411 Wrestling Top 5: The Top 5 Worst Major Shows

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 320 – Top 5 Worst Major Shows

What were some of wrestling’s worst ever major shows?

Kevin Pantoja
5. Victory Road 2011 – I’m only including events that I’ve seen here and I wanted to spread the love (or disdain rather) to multiple promotions. There were some strong candidates here but in the end, I had to include TNA on the list. I debated between a few shows but ultimately chose this infamous event. This is the one where Jeff Hardy showed up for the main event drugged out of his mind and Sting beat him in about 90 seconds because of this. That would be enough but the rest of the card is rough. The Knockouts Tag Title is sloppy and has one of the worst looking finishes ever, full of botches. Mr. Anderson and RVD go to a double countout where the fans chanted “Restart the match”, which was dueled back with loud “No” responses. Hernandez and Matt Morgan had a first blood that ended in the most ridiculous fashion. The cameraman gets a close up of Hernandez blading and then he pouts food coloring on Morgan. The referee sees Hernandez’s blood first, then turns to see Morgan’s fake blood and declares Hernandez the victor. What? There is an entire episode of Botchamania dedicated to it if you want to check that out.

4. December to Dismember 2006 – With split branded Pay-Per-Views already lacking, whoever decided to give ECW their own in late 2006 ended them for good. The ECW brand was already failing because it was nothing like the ECW that people loved. While the brand would eventually become highly enjoyable, at this time, it barely even had a roster. It scored 90,000 buys, which is the lowest in history outside of the Network era. Part of that was because ECW sucked and part was because the WWE held a PPV exactly one week earlier. That’s asking a lot of people to spend a lot of money close together. Before Christmas. Anyway, onto the actual show, which blew. The tag opener was fine but involved nobody from the ECW brand. Then, the ECW matches were shit. Tommy Dreamer vs. Daivari? Balls Mahoney vs. Matt Striker? The FBI vs. Burke and Terkay? Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly vs. Kevin Thorn and Ariel? There are no words for this. The main event was the Extreme Elimination Chamber, which actually wasn’t awful. However, they took Sabu out of the match, someone who the crowd was hot for, and replaced him with Hardcore Holly. Paul Heyman wanted CM Punk to win this thing and eliminate the champion, Big Show, quickly, but instead, was the first one gone. To cap things, Bobby Lashley won the title and got this over the top celebration that the fans and viewers wanted no part of.

3. Uncensored 1996 – I only recently watched this event and my goodness, it falls off a cliff. The first two matches are decent to good. Everything after is god awful. Col. Robert Parker beats Madusa in an awful match, showing that Madusa should never have left the WWF. The Booty Man, who always sucked regardless of gimmick, but this was the worst, beat DDP in a terribly long “I Quit Wrestling” match. I should have quit watching. The Giant went over Loch Ness (remember him?) in short order before things got even uglier. Someone told Sting and Booker T that they had to wrestle the Road Warriors in a Chicago Street Fight, even though the show was in Mississippi, for 30 minutes and it made all four guys not give a damn. Everyone was so enthused and none of them seemed to care. It was lethargic. To end the show, we get the most ridiculous main event I’ve ever witnessed. Hulk Hogan and Macho Man enter the Doomsday Cage. It’s a big ass cage that the two men have to work through against EIGHT opponents. They reach different levels of the cage, make it to the ring and then back to the cage. None of it made sense. The two biggest opponents didn’t show up until late in the match, half the thing happened away from the cage, they use frying pans of all things in the finish and the WCW Champion, Ric Flair, eats a random pin at the end.

2. King of the Ring 1995 – When it comes to missed opportunities, this PPV takes the cake. While other Pay-Per-Views are flat out bad, this one is bad and features the most confusing booking of them all. So, the WWF in 1995 wasn’t doing too hot when it came to top level performers. That’s understandable. However, if we look at the top stars we’ll find Diesel (who was WWF Champion) and I can think of eight guys that could have been in the tournament. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, Jeff Jarrett (IC Champion), British Bulldog, Owen Hart. That’s 7 and you could throw in Sid or Bam Bam to make a good KOTR. Instead, Bret was wasted in a dumb feud with the awful Jerry Lawler, Razor may have been hurt but was a manager for Savio Vega and Jarrett managed his lesser sidekick, Roadie, in the tourney. Bulldog and Owen? They wrestled to a draw in the qualifiers and were left off the show. HBK wrestled to a first round draw with Kama of all people while the Undertaker jobbed to fucking Mabel. With at least enough talent to make a decent tournament, we had to sit through FOUR Savio Vega matches and a Mabel win. Plus, the main event tag match pitting Sid and Tatanka against Diesel and Bigelow was terrible and drawn out. It’s like they booked this show while drunk.

1. Souled Out 2000 – This is often overlooked on lists of worst Pay-Per-Views ever but I can’t fathom why. It is absolutely atrocious in every conceivable way. I reviewed it here. Read that when you’re done here. There are 12 matches and none are able to crack ** with a Saturn/Kidman match coming the close at *3/4. Four of the matches get DUD ratings and it’s just all bad. Dean Malenko loses the opener by exiting the ring. Seriously. They debut their version of the Hell in a Cell (Caged Heat) and waste it on Kidman vs. the Wall in a match that I gave 1/4*. Vampiro, David Flair and Crowbar try to one down each other in a putrid triple threat match. The worst thing of the night was seeing the terrible Jim Ross parody, Oklahoma, take on Madusa for the Cruiserweight Title in a match that saw Oklahoma retain and involved BBQ sauce. Seriously, there are no redeeming qualities about this show.

@JustinWatry
5. Anything TNA Impact Wrestling Related – Even if you consider TNA to be “major” in 2015, there is still the somewhat relevant days when they were watched by 1.5-2 million viewers per week. Heck, the Hulk Hogan debut segment drew over three million viewers (before they all left minutes later but still). The excuse of ‘pay-per-view is a dead business model anyways’ was what TNA fell back on, all the while not building matches, announcing things in advance, changing story lines, and throwing stuff together mere days before asking fans to pay $50 for a three hour event. Um yeah, under those terms, PPV is dead. For TNA. For WWE, boxing, UFC, and companies that actually put in an effort and cared, they seemed to do just fine getting people to PAY for the product. Moving to 2015, it is even more embarrassing for the supposed special Impacts. Fancy name every few weeks…but nothing new or different. Such a shame everything I ever said about TNA is coming true. Such a shame for the talented hard working guys and gals, such a shame.

4. ECW December To Dismember 2006 – No explanation needed.

3. Battleground 2013 – We all knew this was simply a set-up show for Heck on a Deck three weeks later. There were not many big matches made here or interesting story lines (even the Rhodes thing was meh in hindsight). However, you still expect a solid three hours of wrestling and some redeeming qualities. It is WWE after all. Even is stories leave a lot to be desired or flat out stink, there is normally a few positives. Well, WWE didn’t even bother trying at Battleground 2013. Didn’t even give an effort. All I ask is for you to put your best foot forward and give it your all. If it fails, it fails. At least you tried. No here though.

2. Recent Great American Bash PPVs – Hey, remember that myth about WWE not using WCW ideas? Yeah. You know, apparently Vince McMahon does like using other’s creations. Riiiight. Haha, go tell that to the nWo. Anyways, whether it was as a Smackdown exclusive or The Bash, it didn’t matter. The buy rates were low, buzz was non-existent, and it is no longer on the schedule. Could be wrong but wasn’t it even turned into a throwaway television special a few yeas ago? I know JBL won the WWE Championship in 2014 at the pay-per-view. I know John Cena and Bobby Lashley had a very under rated bout in 2007…and yep, that’s about it.

1. WrestleMania 2000 – Probably the worst WrestleMania event of all-time. Originally, I was going to say that first sentence and leave well enough alone. However, this event just stunk so bad that it riles me up every single time I have to discuss this garbage. Therefore, buckle up! If you (somehow!) enjoyed this WM event, feel free to just go to the comment section and thrash me, which is likely already happening.

A) Live crowd: Yuck. California crowds are hit or miss in terms of excitement. They usually sell out (note recent Summerslams) and bring the fans. No wonder WWE keeps going there. However, some shows are just filled with silence. In 2000, WM almost felt like a LA Lakers NBA game where celebrities show up to ‘be seen’ rather than show up to have fun.

B) All day pass: Maybe this is why I felt disappointed so much and still feel such disdain for this event? That ridiculous all day WrestleMania deal. Watching that thing on Sunday leading up to the actual PPV just wore me out. By the time WM2000 began, I had my ‘wrestling fix’ for the day.

C) One on one match: Kat vs. Terri was the only one on one match, and that was basically a battle royal style cat fight. In my mind, that means there was not a single one on one match. Seriously, that summed up the Attitude Era right there. Is it any coincidence some of the worst WrestleMania events took place during the precious Attitude Era? 1998? 1999? 2000? No thanks.

D) Pure filler: Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan taking on D’Lo Brown and Godfather? Oh boy. Giant hardcore brawl? Ugh. Test and Albert taking on Al Snow and Steve Blackman? Yawn! Triangle ladder match was very good. Terri vs. Kat? Whatever. Too Cool and Chyna taking on Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko? Yep, Chyna pinned Eddie. Think about that for a second. The IC and European fluff disappointed. Rikishi and Kane taking on Road Dogg and X-Pac? WHY?!?! That is your WM card folks! Bunch of tag matches, a ladder match, and more junk. Oh, but there is one big steaming pile left…

E) Main event: My, oh my. A face should always, always, always end WrestleMania on top. Always. Do not waste your time talking about predictability. Do not waste your time wishing for swerves. Do no waste your time telling me how great heels are and how much faces suck. Do not even bother. At WM, a face stands tall at the end with fireworks going off. Without even getting into the big McMahon family drama, Mick Foley coming out of retirement, and the actual WM main event changing multiple times during February and March, the in-ring match was the most disappointing aspect of them all. Bottom line, I have ranted enough on this dreadful, dreadful show.

MICHAEL WEYER
5. WCW NEW BLOOD RISING Judy Bagwell on a pole. A mud match that led to a miscarriage angle. Ernest Miller beating the Great Muta. Sting against the KISS Demon. A Canadian rules match with the Mountie as ref despite the fact Bret Hart was in the building in Canda. Two tag bouts with countless people interfering. Goldberg “shooting” and the announcers talking about, ruining the illusion of wrestling. We had a good Booker T/Jarrett main event but the rest just set new standards for horror and proving just how bad Vince Russo’s style was for WCW, helping to hasten its inevitable demise.

4. ECW DECEMBER TO DISMEMBER Only two shows were announced before the card aired which was never a good sign. But no one could have imagined just how horrific this program would be. The fans hated it, it was no true ECW vibe at all, the Hardyz vs MNM okay but marred by interference, a terrible mixed tag bout and ECW originals losing constantly to WWE guys. Of course, we all know the main event with Sabu replaced by Hardcore Holly in the Elimination chamber, RVD and Punk the most over guys so of course both were eliminated and Bobby Lashley (the least ECW guy imaginable) winning the title. Paul Heyman was reportedly in tears afterward and even WWE today doesn’t hold back calling this an epic disaster that buried the heart of ECW for good.

3. GREAT AMERICAN BASH 1991 This show was marred as Ric Flair was fired from WCW just days before, leaving the World title vacant. It started off bad with a scaffold match won by grabbing a flag, the PPV debut of Steve Austin but a baffling choice to start a show. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (as Oz) both looked terrible in their bouts and Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson put on a terrible match for two guys who had been teammates for so long. Johnny B. Badd faced Brian Pillman as the Yellow Dog and El Gigante and One Man Gang were horrible and Sting vs Nikita Kolloff was good but not enough to salvage this. The big cage match had Luger finally winning the title over Barry Windham and turning heel in the process but the main event was a terrible bout of Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously against Rick Steiner and Missy Hyatt. All of this before a crowd chanting “WE WANT FLAIR” constantly and booing just about everything. Not the worst of WCW shows but still quite horrific all the same.

2. WRESTLEMANIA IX Make no mistake, still the worst Mania ever with the Vegas outdoor setting making it look much smaller and a horrid card all around. Two Doinks showing up against Crush, Mr. Perfect and Lex Luger in a bad match, Shawn Michaels defending the IC belt to Tatanka, Giant Gonzalez versus Undertaker. Hulk Hogan and Beefcake losing in their much ballyhooed match against Money Inc. Camels and Roman togas all around while Bob Backlund loses in three minutes. And of course the infamous main event as Bret Hart loses the WWF title to Yokozuna only for Hogan to come out and beat Yoko for the belt in ten seconds. A horrible card that took the shine off Mania and a poor time for WWF itself, hardly the show’s brightest moment.

1. UNCENSORED ‘95 WCW would give us terrible shows over the years but this one still ranks among the absolute worst ever. An attempt to replicate the ECW style that was growing in popularity, it failed utterly with gems such as Dustin Rhodes and the Blacktop Bully fighting on a truck with blood edited out; Jim Duggan vs Meng in a bad bout; Arn Anderson vs Johnny B. Badd in wrestler vs boxer; an ugly Texas Tornado bout of Nasty Boys vs Harlem Heat; and the grand main event of Vader vs Hogan in a strap match that Hogan wins by dragging Ric Flair around to hit the corners and then a pinfall and then we had the Renegade and Randy Savage and by this point, the fans were going insane in the bad way. Still one of the worst shows WCW ever presented, which says a hell of a lot and horrible to watch today or at any point.

GREG DEMARCO
5. WCW Uncensored 1995 – Ah yes, Dustin Rhodes battling The Blacktop Bully on the back of a flatbed truck in a match that got pretty much everyone involved fired, except the fans (who decided to quit instead). This one deserves special mention because of utter crap like Boxing vs Wrestling, Hulk Hogan winning a strap match by dragging the wrong opponent to all four corners, and of course the debut of The Renegade, or as fans at the time called him—“Not The Ultimate Warrior!”

4. WWF In Your House: Great White North – Many remember that Diesel lost his WWF Championship to Bret Hart at the 1995 Survivor Series, and it’s often blamed on him being a terrible draw. Hart and Shawn Michaels weren’t great draws themselves, yet they both got multiple title runs. Many wrestling pundits believe Kevin Nash’s main event performance against the British Bulldog, which was a steaming pile of Matilda’s crap, caused Vince McMahon to move the belt back to Hart. The aforementioned Hitman wasn’t even on this card (unless you count the dark match against the dentist version of Kane), but Yokozuna versus Mabel was. Yes…YOKOZUNA VERSUS MABEL!

3. WCW Halloween Havoc 2000 – I’ve often stated that a wrestling (and UFC) PPV is measured by the main attractions, usually the main event. Well this show featured Goldberg versus Kronik in the main event.

Let that sink in for a moment…

THIS was your main event:

I rest my case.

2. WWF WrestleMania XI – Boy, Diesel sure had a great run at the top of the WWF didn’t he? Here he “headlined” WrestleMania against Shawn Michaels (and the wrong guy won), but it didn’t even go on last. Nope, that “honor” went to Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Tyler. Now I am not knocking Bam Bam here, he’d make a great WrestleMania main eventer given the right circumstance… But this circumstance was the fact that he was going to job to Lawrence Tyler. I’d love to see the condition of Tyler’s hotel room when he checked out the following morning. We can’t forget that Bret Hart did battle Bob Backlund in an “I Quit” match, except for the fact that Bret would hope that we did forget it! Bret himself wants to forget what he usually refers to as the worst match of his career.

1. WWE/ECW December To Dismember – 2006 is often remembered as the “Year ECW Finally Died.” Although is lived beyond that year, this event was truly the final nail in the coffin. Bobby Lashley won the ECW World Championship (yes, that Bobby Lashley) in the ultimate FU to Paul Heyman’s brilliant run as booker in the original ECW. He outlasted such hardcore icons as Test, CM Punk, The Big Show and Hardcore Holly—at least one guy had “Hardcore” in his name! The presence of Rob Van Dam couldn’t save that main event. This also clocks in as one of the shortest WWE pay-per-view events of all time, ending nearly an hour early. Yeah…

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

List your Top Five for this week’s topic in the comment section using the following format:

5. CHOICE: Explanation
4. CHOICE: Explanation
3. CHOICE: Explanation
2. CHOICE: Explanation
1. CHOICE: Explanation