Booking decisions that robbed the fans of something they wanted

[LBGetBack]

In watching WrestleMania 4.....NOT having a Randy Savage-Ricky Steamboat rematch from the year before.

This would've been a guaranteed classic, and could've made Savage's first title win night even more memorable, if he had avenged his loss from the previous year.

And it's not like they had anything great lined up instead. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine was not all that big of a deal in 1988. He was serviceable, but his best years were behind him, nobody really cared about him by then, and everyone knew Savage would beat him.

Steamboat was a better wrestler, bigger star, and had major history with Savage from the prior year.

I understand he was being "de-pushed" because Vince was mad that he asked for time off shortly after winning the IC title....but him advancing to round 2 wouldn't have made much difference.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Screw Job Finish at Starrcade 97 - This was the perfect time to have the NWO (finally) lose and Sting was set up for success, the slow count, outside interference, and perception that Hogan won clean and was robbed was a huge disappointing ending to the most anticipated match of the year in all of Pro Wrestling

 

[BringThePain834]

While I personally enjoyed the surprise and always have wanted to see somebody end it, Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker's streak robbed a want from about 95% of wrestling fans, seeing The Undertaker retire still undefeated at WrestleMania

 

[Aquaman6686]

Like mentioned, the end of The Streak. I was fine with The Streak theoretically being ended, but NOT by Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar was the wrong person at the wrong time. If it had been Edge in 2008 or CM Punk in 2013, I would have been more ok with it. Lesnar ending it just ruined wrestling for me. I've never been able to be invested in wrestling since the end of The Streak, to the same level I was before.

A few more examples:

Not booking Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 8.

A lot of fans (myself not included) wanted to see Booker T become World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 19, and to this day I still hear people say that the loss to Triple H somehow "ruined" Booker's career. I wanted Triple H to retain, and I think it worked out best for the long run.

Even though both title match situations at WrestleMania 20 wound up being amazing, I think a lot of people were disappointed that Chris Benoit moved to RAW after winning the Royal Rumble. They had teased Brock Lesnar vs. Chris Benoit for the WWE Championship for months and months, and we never got it at WrestleMania. I was tremendously disappointed to see Benoit leave SmackDown.

Having Roman Reigns win the 2015 Royal Rumble. Fans wanted Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, or Dean Ambrose to win the Rumble and headline WrestleMania (I was fine with Bryan or Ziggler, but not Ambrose). But all three of them were jobbed out and booked to look like jokes in the Rumble. By the time it came down to the final four, fans were cheering for Rusev, Kane, and even Big Show over Roman Reigns, because NOBODY wanted to see him win. We got Roman Reigns winning to the single most negative crowd reaction in WWE history, even surpassing Batista's from the year before, and an absolute garbage WrestleMania main event.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Screw Job Finish at Starrcade 97 - This was the perfect time to have the NWO (finally) lose and Sting was set up for success, the slow count, outside interference, and perception that Hogan won clean and was robbed was a huge disappointing ending to the most anticipated match of the year in all of Pro Wrestling

This is a great answer. Sting vs. Hogan at Starrcade 97 was as close to a flawless build-up a you can possibly get. This was the absolute peak of WCW, and was the culmination of the NWO angle. The ending was so simple, Sting beats Hogan and reclaims the WCW Title. Sometimes the obvious move is the right move, you give the people what they want. This was a classic example of Bischoff out thinking himself.

The other obvious choice would be the entire Invasion angle. The decision to pull the trigger on this angle, knowing full well the limitations of the WCW roster they were bringing in, was probably the worst booking decision ever made by the WWE. As the Invasion continued, the bad decisions were compounded and the result was a terribly executed story that in no way lived up to the expectations of fans. The ramifications of this disaster rocked the WWE for years, and you could argue that it's effects are still felt today. The WWE tanked hard in terms of ratings after the end of the Monday Night Wars, and the Invasion angle ran the company further into the ground. It's a ratings hole they have never recovered from. If handled properly, the acquistion of WCW could have benefitted the WWE greatly and helped them sustain their success.

Triple H vs. Booker T at Mania 19 also comes to mind. Based on the way this match was built, Booker T had to go over. Triple H basically said that Booker T couldn't be World Champion because he was black, then he went over. It was ridiculous then, it's ridiculous now, and it's especially bad because you know that Triple H thoguht that even if he won he could "make" Booker T in that match. Because Triple H thinks he's Ric Flair. The problem is that Triple H was not, and is not, Ric Flair, and beating Booker T was fucking dumb. I wouldn't have had a problem with it if the build wasn't so lopsided, with Triple H shitting on everything that Booker T had accomplished and utilizing very very thinly veiled racism to draw heat. Having a heel cut a promo like that is fine, but you've got to see that heel get his comeuppance and see the babyface vindicated. That did not happen.

A more recent example of a booking decision that robbed the fans of what they wanted would be the 2014 Royal Rumble. Every single fan in that arena wanted Daniel Bryan to come out at number 30 and win that match. It didn't happen and the crowd shat all over everything. This finish did end up being another blessing in disguise however, as it brought legitimacy to the idea that the WWE did not want to see Daniel Bryan on top. Eventually, he would break through and would be added to the main event at WrestleMania 30, ultimately leading to one of the most satisfying payoffs in WWE history if only because the fans dragged the WWE to that point and basically forced it to happen.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

I'm going to go slightly off-tangent and say the entire booking of Vader through his WWE run - he debuted at Royal Rumble 1996 and was pushed heavily in that match as a monster, before getting eliminated by Shawn Michaels (one of the smallest guys in the match...); the next night he destroyed Gorilla Monsoon to set up a 'suspension' storyline so he could heal an injury. This basically stopped any momentum he had from the Rumble as he was off-screen for two months.

When he came back, he was part of a 6-man tag at an awful Wrestlemania, then into a feud with a barely mobile Yokozuna, losing to Jake the Snake (at this point a mere shadow of his former self) at King of the Ring and then the bizarre booking of his Summerslam match against Michaels, which he never really recovered from, before finally losing a no. 1 contenders match to Sid, of all people. He barely flickered as relevant again.

The thing is, there were, in that era, realistically only a smattering of WCW stars that the staunchly pro-WWE crowd would know of. Vader was one of them. The fans were genuinely excited - listen to the pop he got (despite being a heel) at the Royal Rumble. He *should* have been 1996's version of Brock Lesnar, a monster who was unstoppable by virtue of being brutal and aggressive but also because he was genuinely that damn good in the ring. One of the few (like Lesnar) who genuinely made it look like everything he did actually hurt.

Had they made him a monster heel, I'd have been fine with some of his booking decisions. Put him in a 6-man at Wrestlemania, as no one man could stop him alone; have him get dq'd at King of the Ring for excessive use of force - but with a proper payoff, not a confusing Summerslam loss. But given his injury, I wouldn't have had him debut at the Rumble, let him convalesce before appearing.

Vader could have been a huge villain in WWE. Who knows, he may have ended up the same. But his booking never have him a chance, depriving fans of seeing a run that genuinely excited and interested the WWE Universe

 

[OYDK]

The revealing of Hornswoggle as Vince's illegitimate son. A story that was built up for weeks and weeks which many thought would end up being the next big storyline in wrestling, basically ended up as a joke. People wanted to see a legitimate ending to that story and it was pretty obvious WWE changed plans at the last second for one reason or another. So disappointing to me personally.

Sting not going over HHH at Mania. Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet. It really wouldn't have made a difference had Sting been the one to go over that night as HHH hasn't done anything since Mania. Plus the build and the pageantry all practically begged for a Sting win. I know I wasn't the only one scratching my head after HHH pinned him and left feeling robbed of a great moment.

HHH going over Booker at Mania 19 for much the same reasons as above. Made no sense to have HHH go over after that particular build and it damaged Booker's career to the point where it took 5 more years for him to win the World title. Dumb booking.

Fingerpoke of Doom. Goldberg loses by way of taser(...) to give Nash the WCW Championship. On the day of the rematch, Goldberg is arrested for stalking Miss Elizabeth(...) leading to Hogan return and insertion into title match against Nash. Crowd is hyped. Cue Fingerpoke of Doom collectively destroying Goldberg, Nash, and WCW in the process. The biggest thing WCW had going for them at this time was Goldberg and his undefeated streak. To take that away and than have the payoff to Nash's win be to just give the title back to Hogan (who people were beyond sick of at this point) and reform the NWO (which people were tired of) was beyond moronic. This angle got what we call real "X-Pac" heat as it led a ton of people to switch over to Raw for good.

 

[Hem]

Most recently the biggest booking bust would be the HHH Vs. Sting match. It was made up to be a rivalry between the two men individually but ended up as a WWE Vs. WCW angle..something that should not happen in 2015.

The Nexus losing to John Cena is also one from recent memory. The Nexus was on the verge of becoming something great. So the WWE figured it was time to bury them. Wade Barrett could have been made into a huge star due to the Nexus while guys like Slater, Otunga etc could still have have decent roles. Daniel Bryan was the only good thing to come out of that whole story. Even Bryan got main event fame years later.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Most recently the biggest booking bust would be the HHH Vs. Sting match. It was made up to be a rivalry between the two men individually but ended up as a WWE Vs. WCW angle..something that should not happen in 2015.

The Nexus losing to John Cena is also one from recent memory. The Nexus was on the verge of becoming something great. So the WWE figured it was time to bury them. Wade Barrett could have been made into a huge star due to the Nexus while guys like Slater, Otunga etc could still have have decent roles. Daniel Bryan was the only good thing to come out of that whole story. Even Bryan got main event fame years later.

Wade Barrett would have been a huge star if not for The Nexus. That storyline sabotaged Barrett for years. He was a no-name rookie shoved into main event storylines he was nowhere NEAR ready for, and headlined PPV after PPV for months on end, and it made fans hate him in the worst possible way - the "I don't want this guy on my TV" way. It took him years to recover from Nexus.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Who can forget the HHH/KURT ANGLE/SMH love triangle in 2000? Pure gold that had an awful ending to the story.

Not to mention the Rikishi being the driver who ran SCSA over - that was a bullshit storyline, and the first I recall during the Attitude Era that involved a top star and it was dogshit.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Roman Reigns winning the 2015 Royal Rumble

It robbed us of having Daniel Bryan in the main event of WM31.

It also proved that Vince only cares about a wrestler's look and couldn't care less about popularity, hard work, charisma, and in-ring skills.

 

[ComeOnVince]

The triple threat that never was.

Stone Cold v. The Rock v. HHH

Of course, booking had nothing to do with why the match didn't happen originally because of Stone Cold's injury keeping him from the match, but it never happened after he returned and should have.

 

[therockiswwf]

Roman Reigns winning the 2015 Royal Rumble

It robbed us of having Daniel Bryan in the main event of WM31.

It also proved that Vince only cares about a wrestler's look and couldn't care less about popularity, hard work, charisma, and in-ring skills.

Or maybe he was worried about Bryan's neck and wasn't sure if Bryan was going to be okay long term. Maybe they wanted to test the waters a little bit first before putting him in such a big position. They should have not put Bryan in the Rumble in the first place. They should have just waited a month and then said he was clear. I assume that would have lessened the backlash.

To Vince's credit, he did try someone new. Sure it wasn't the best decision at the time, but at least it was new.

My choice would be turning Austin heel at Wrestlemania 17. As Austin himself has stated before, people were not ready to boo him. Rock was going away to film a movie which left Undertaker as their biggest face. The number 2 face was probably Kane and then a huge drop off after that. The roster was not in a place to handle losing such a big face and especially not one people still wanted to cheer.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Summerslam 93: Luger needed to leave with the title. After that long build he needed to win, he looked like a complete asshole celebrating the way he did by winning and not winning the title. He never really recovered from that.

Royal Rumble 2015: Man, was this bad. The crowd was pissed. I was in attendence that night and I never saw anything like it. As soon as Bryan was eliminated you could feel the vibe in the building and just knew Reigns was gonna get booed out of the building. At one point the crowd was chanting "We Want Refunds". Reigns still hasn't recovered from this, going with Bryan here could have completely avoided the reigns hate, IMO.

 

[Just Do It]

Roman Reigns winning the 2015 Royal Rumble

It robbed us of having Daniel Bryan in the main event of WM31.

It also proved that Vince only cares about a wrestler's look and couldn't care less about popularity, hard work, charisma, and in-ring skills.

Or, you know, Vince knew Daniel Bryan had serious injury issues and didn't want to once again invest in a guy who would very realistically be off again soon, which proved to be the case. But you know, whatever works best for you...

 

[@smarkmouth]

Ending the Stardust/Goldust program as abruptly as they did was disappointing to me. It seems the plug was pulled due to the disinterested crowd at Fastlane, ignoring that the crowd was dead the entire event, save for Reigns vs Bryan. A rematch at WrestleMania was all but confirmed, and they were both extra bodies in separate multi man matches.

Part of me wants to hope we'll get this match, but I'm not putting any money on that one.

 

[BringThePain834]

Like mentioned, the end of The Streak. I was fine with The Streak theoretically being ended

There was a time a few years ago when I wanted to see Paul Bearer, Mankind, and Kane get together one last time and end The Streak. Taker would then get chokeslammed through the mat, and then having the hole stream smoke out, the lights go dark all that kind of shit, and then when the lights came back on Mankind and Kane were also gone with Paul Bearer looking around like WTF?
Then the following night on Raw have Paul Bearer officiate a funeral for Undertaker & Kane & Mankind that played out a lot like Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair's farewell speeches. Only with none of them present in the ring crying and hugging everyone and making some kind of sappy good-bye speech. Just the rest of the locker room ringside and in the ring saying their good-byes to Mankind and the Brothers of Destruction

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

From more recent ones Wrestlemania 29 and not getting triple threat with Punk vs Rock vs Cena. Cena hadnt beaten Punk lots of times before he had beaten him on RAW before Mania to cement his place and hadnt beaten The Rock in "Once in a Lifetime" match. At Wrestlemania he could get double redemption and get both of them instead of just rematch with Rock. I mean, Cena is always about overcoming to odds so could be great story in how he managed to get both of his "nemesis" from previous year in one night.

Also from same year prior before Mania perhaps Bryan vs Rock. At RAW 1000 Rock gave Bryan wedding present with "Rock Bottom". Before that Bryan promised that someway somehow he would manage to get title till Rumble and get to that match with Rock. Would be at least good promo in that with video package from RAW 1000 and how he managed. Ofcourse that would meant heel Bryan at times when he was with Kane and started to get heavy over as "Hell No" but could work out. Always found his work as heel as underated.

Also Wrestlemania 25 with Orton not getting win over HHH but getting it month later after getting Batista and Shane McMahon involved in it. Orton was legitimate lunatic with all punting people out and even kissing Stephanie McMahon after he RKOed her. But to be fair to Vince, it was last match of the night and we know how he wants faces on top when its the end of Mania.

 

[Dyscord]

Roman Reigns winning the 2015 Royal Rumble

It robbed us of having Daniel Bryan in the main event of WM31.

It also proved that Vince only cares about a wrestler's look and couldn't care less about popularity, hard work, charisma, and in-ring skills.

As others have mentioned, he was actually more concerned with Bryan's potential injuries...which ended up the right call.

Still, I think more people would have been fine with Reigns if Bryan DIDN'T come back in time for the Rumble.

Anyway, most of my picks have already been mentioned. Hogan and Flair comes to mind. From Flair's first run. They REALLY had a chance to do something there. Do a long build with it, make the fans super hungry for it. Could have lasted at least a year...maybe two. Culminating at WM 10. Talk about gold.

 

[Pérez84]

HBK going over Bulldog in his home country. Yes, that served a major purpose, but the live crowd was pissed as fuck.

 

[Jimmy Carter]

Wrestlemania 2000. Overstuffed as the main event was, not having Rock come out champion disappointed many. This also happened during a period of frequent title switches, so HHH could have still won the thing back at Judgement Day. Another misstep in the main event.

 

[Aquaman6686]

As others have mentioned, he was actually more concerned with Bryan's potential injuries...which ended up the right call.

Still, I think more people would have been fine with Reigns if Bryan DIDN'T come back in time for the Rumble.

I disagree. Being there live, fans were JUST as pissed about Dolph Ziggler being eliminated, especially after they saved him for #30. With Bryan already eliminated, the crowd was white-hot for Ziggler to win it and headline his first WrestleMania. His elimination was even more vehemently booed than Bryan's. Dean Ambrose wasn't too far behind Ziggler and Bryan. Once it came down to Reigns, Big Show, Kane, and Rusev, the crowd wanted ANYONE to win but Reigns. When Triple H and Stephanie came out, fans in the front row near me were begging Triple H to throw Roman out and declare himself the winner. Roman Reigns is THAT hated.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Wrestlemania 2000. Overstuffed as the main event was, not having Rock come out champion disappointed many. This also happened during a period of frequent title switches, so HHH could have still won the thing back at Judgement Day. Another misstep in the main event.

I have to strongly disagree with that one. Yeah, a lot of fans were pissed so you're on point for the OP, but having Triple H retain was 100% the right call to make. No heel had EVER left WrestleMania as the WWE Champion. It had to happen at some point, and Triple H was the right guy to do it.

 

[MWRedskins]

this is an easy choice for me....but first things first. i feel that if Daniel Bryan did NOT return at the Royal Rumble in 2015 that the fans wouldn't have been so mad at Reigns winning the rumble, so that was WWE's mistake. the fans want to see Bryan win a Rumble, so if WWE doesnt want Bryan winning a rumble, dont put him in one.

now for my choice, i'm going with the Fingerpoke of Doom as my clear choice with Triple H retaining the title at WM2000 as a distant 2nd and Bryan not winning the 2014 or 2015 Rumble as it's close 3rd.

the reason for the Fingerpoke being the number one is because the fans wanted to see 1st the BIG re-match of Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash....when that match got canceled due to Goldberg being in "jail" for stalking, the fans in WCW then wanted to see Kevin Nash vs. Hollywood Hogan...the two leaders of their respective NWO factions....however, all WCW fans got was the LAST thing they wanted....the Wolfpack NWO to turn heel with Hogan winning the title via a finger poke. So basically, the reason this is my top choice is the booking decision angered fans not once, but twice. they first wanted to see Nash vs. Goldberg, then they took Nash vs. Hogan as a backup, but then got a story they hated and that incident also hurt WCW's chances of winning their Monday Night War.

 

[Lowdown]

A lot of fans (myself not included) wanted to see Booker T become World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 19, and to this day I still hear people say that the loss to Triple H somehow "ruined" Booker's career. I wanted Triple H to retain, and I think it worked out best for the long run.

I have to disagree. Look, Trips may have been the better choice, but the build was setup for Booker to win it at WM19. Supposedly the reason it was changed to Trips winning was because he needed to be the champ when he eventually fought Goldberg. Yet, they didn't faceoff until August. Book could've had his WM moment, held the belt for a month or so, then drop it back to Trips at Backlash. Just look at how the match ended. It was rushed. WWE how it with this one.