Great moments that could have been better/were ruined

[HeenanGorilla]

I was responding to another post when this idea came to mind. Two examples for me were the quick bell in the Hart/Perfect SummerSlam 91 IC match and Heenan asking if Hogan was the third man.

These are just two examples of historic moments that could have had just that much more of an impact on the viewer. I remember Bret Hart mentioning Davey Boy not catching his eye at the end of their SummerSlam 92 classic. How that took away from it a little. That was a classic match and my two examples were HUGE historically. But that little something can just ruin/lessen the viewing.

What are some moments that you guys thought may have been ruined? Perhaps by announcers or other on-air talent. We'll give spoiler sites like this a pass on this one...

 

[MTL722]

I'll give 3 recent examples of this. The return of Christian in 2009, Jericho earlier this year, and Lesnar the night after Wrestlemania

Todd Grisham sold Christians return like Doink the Clowns music hit. "Its...........Its Christian". Notice the lack of an exclamation point. Had it been JR in Grishams seat it probably would have been a little bigger.

Lesnars return this year got spoiled because of the internet. Everybody knew Lesnar was going to come back that night to the point that the crowd was chanting his name before his music even hit

Finally, Y2J's return got ruined by Sheamus winning the Royal Rumble. Completely killed the whole "end of the world as we know it" thing

 

[vampirek]

Well two small ones pop straight to mind. Christians and Hurricane's return on WW/ECW were completely ruined by the announce team sucking hard. Then again it can be said about Brock's return too. (Just seen a response below mentioning two of these three and completely agree with the Doink comment)

Jericho's first return, The Second Coming was an anti-climax by showing him before his entrance and therefore the needless point of the code being resolved. To join his second return being an anticlimax too.

 

[akathelaw]

There's a lot that comes to mind on this topic. I honestly think of Zack Ryder's US Championship run first off. I can't begin to wonder how WWE totally f#cked up a sure thing with Ryder, but the crowd was HOT for him and WWE completely WASTED the momentum Ryder had. I will never understand Ryder's burial, and I have NO IDEA why he hasn't just left to have the career he built over in TNA.

I thought John Morrison teaming with Trish at WM could have been a much bigger deal. Morrison is silly, he was given so many chances to break out in WWE but blew them. This is the worst offense, it could have got JoMo the momentum he needed to get in the main event.

"Miss Wrestlemania" is easily one of the biggest wastes WWE has ever been a part of. Santino should still be embarrassed, and to think he's held 2 championships since then!

 

[K-Mac]

Christian's first reign as WHC. 2 days as champion? Talk about a slap in the face.

 

[JaylisJayP]

I'll give 3 recent examples of this. The return of Christian in 2009, Jericho earlier this year, and Lesnar the night after Wrestlemania

Todd Grisham sold Christians return like Doink the Clowns music hit. "Its...........Its Christian". Notice the lack of an exclamation point. Had it been JR in Grishams seat it probably would have been a little bigger.

Lesnars return this year got spoiled because of the internet. Everybody knew Lesnar was going to come back that night to the point that the crowd was chanting his name before his music even hit

Finally, Y2J's return got ruined by Sheamus winning the Royal Rumble. Completely killed the whole "end of the world as we know it" thing

Jericho's entire run was a complete dud imo. Having the guy lose everything was totally ******ed. Punk didn't even need to be put over at that point, and not having Jericho win anything killed the entire feud for me. It doesn't help someone get over if they're going against someone who always loses. Most fans want the drama, not to see Ziggler put on a good PPV match with Jericho (it's true). Jericho looked weak his entire run and I couldn't care less if he ever comes back if that's how he's going to be used going forward.

 

[xavyer]

I said this before, but i remember Sean O' Haire when he was giving promos about not telling you something you don't already know, those were awesome, the way he got into your head and stuff, it looked like he was definitly on his way for big things, but they blew it completly when they made him Piper's stooge and feuded him against Mr. America and Zack Gowan, that right there killed his momentum, and after that i never saw the guy again.......

 

[Wolf Pac]

The screwy pinfall in the Hogan/Sting match at Starrcade 97. I read about a recent shoot interview with Nick Patrick where he said that he had two factions breathing down his neck, one side telling him to make him a fast count and the other telling him to make a slow count, and he didn't want to piss anybody off cause every week different people would be in charge, so he met each sides demands halfway and made a normal count. They built that storyline for one year, it was Sting's big comeback and WCW's ultimate victory, the entire angle was just nuts, and in one single moment they ruined it because of the egos backstage and because they had no real control of who was running things in the company. It should've ended at Starrcade but due to that controversy, they ended up stripping Sting off the belt and booking a rematch between Sting and Hogan at Superbrawl to make up for it.

Some other ones that come to mind...

Bret Hart vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan on WCW Nitro only to end up with Bret "injuring" himself, Sting replacing him for the rest of the match, then Bret coming back out and turning heel on Sting in typical WCW fashion.

Edge cashing in his MiTB briefcase at New Years Revolution and winning the WWE Title only to lose the belt back to Cena 2 or 3 weeks later at Royal Rumble.

Cena winning the Royal Rumble 2008 only to cash in at No Way Out and then lose by DQ because of Randy slapping the referee.

The WWE/Alliance feud being overshadowed by the McMahon drama.

The nWo in 2002.

 

[TheMachoKing86]

One thing that sticks in my mind is Bret Harts debut in WCW. After the Montreal Screwjob he had a lot of momentum and WCW should have used that to some degree.But they completely misused him for his entire time there up until his career ending injury.

 

[OutsiderDX]

I think a few are missing the point of the thread. Its not about big direction problems, its the lil things that take away.

One of my big ones, is when Edge turned in his Money in the Bank at NYR against Cena. Vince's announcement of that was horrible. He took away all the drama.

It would have been more epic, if Edge's music just hit. We didn't need the 3 minutes long explaination from Vince.

WrestleMania 10- After Owen beat Bret, he had this big glob of snot on his nose. That always bothered me.

 

[Brewski]

Heenan asking if Hogan was the third man.

This was never as big of a deal to me as others make it out to be. I think his exact words were "Who is he with?" with Tony responding with "What?". And that was it. He didn't really spoil anything and I was legitimately surprised at the time still. Brain was an excellent commentator and I hate to think that this is his defining moment.

I think what could have been great is if Bryan actually wrestled the match at Wrestlemania. The yes chants were INCREDIBLE. It's one of those things that only really makes sense looking back and you can't blame WWE but that match could have been incredible with that crowd alone. All the emotion went the wrong way though.

Whoever said starrcade 97 is totally right. What a clusterfuck. What a garbage garbage garbage angle that turned into.

 

[HBsam31]

The screwy pinfall in the Hogan/Sting match at Starrcade 97. I read about a recent shoot interview with Nick Patrick where he said that he had two factions breathing down his neck, one side telling him to make him a fast count and the other telling him to make a slow count, and he didn't want to piss anybody off cause every week different people would be in charge, so he met each sides demands halfway and made a normal count. They built that storyline for one year, it was Sting's big comeback and WCW's ultimate victory, the entire angle was just nuts, and in one single moment they ruined it because of the egos backstage and because they had no real control of who was running things in the company. It should've ended at Starrcade but due to that controversy, they ended up stripping Sting off the belt and booking a rematch between Sting and Hogan at Superbrawl to make up for it.

This one right here. For me this was one of the biggest letdowns for me ever as a fan. This storyline was built for a year to perfection. Again one of the better planned storylines that I have ever seen, and to me it was ruined by the screwy finish. If anyone was ever going to win a match clean, it should have been Sting in this match. It should have been the end, but the egos had to get involved and we had that bunk finish. I didn't realize until I saw this post that this still annoys me to this day. What a waste of a perfectly told year long story.

 

[jrush1978]

Its been mentioned and people are on both sides of it but Hogan being revealed as the 3rd nWo member. Not only Heenan's "yea but who is he with?" comment but how Dusty followed it up acting so offended that Heenan asked that to me at least it was obvious Bobby had said something Dusty was trying to cover up.

Also Booker T's first WCW Championship. He wrestled Jarrett out of nowhere the week before the PPV on TV (not sure off hand whether it was Nitro or Thunder) and I just thought with the crowd being hot for the surprise, how wrestlers like Booker had been held down it would have been perfect. Obviously Jarrett kept the title, a few days later we had the Hogan-Jarrett-Russo incident and then Booker took the title later that night so it only delayed it by a few days. I just think it could have been more special had he won it in the initial surprise try and spared us the Jarrett laying down fiasco.

 

[pharrison0scorpion]

One of the most recent ones comes to mind and that is Ric Flair's return to WWE. The sound clip of him saying 'Woooo' before the ad break was awful. I understand why they did it, to get more views for the second hour and get more people to tune back in after the ad break, but that was still absolutely bollocks for a great return.

Not necessarily a great moment, but Alberto Del Rio winning his Money in the Bank briefcase in 2011 where he had the botch where he fell off the ladder and cut himself on his chest before having to set the ladder up again to climb back up and get the briefcase kind of ruined that.

Another Money in the Bank moment, John Cena winning his this year with the handle snapping off while he was hitting Big Show so he won a little sooner than planned which was kind of funny, but kind of ruined the 'momentous' thing it was supposed to be.

 

[ilapierre]

The NWO storyline from October 1998 on was not carried out properly. Had it been done right, there could have been many more great WCW moments in 1999. The NWO was on its last legs and needed to be ended properly. The last Nitro of 1998 was a great way to finally end the NWO but a week later the NWO was all back together as one after the FPOD. The thing is Hogan hadn't been kicked out of the group yet and was returning the following week so the whole thing couldn't just end with Ric Flair finally beating Eric Bischoff. WCW was originally NWA and that had existed since 1950. The NWA origins date back to the early 20th century. So you had 100 years of wrestling tradition being threatened by the NWO. The NWO needed a proper, well executed ending because the one we got sucked. The NWO could have been drawn out another 365 days till the end of the century. Hogan could have been kicked out and there could have been a match like the 98 Flair/Bischoff match. The match could have been one where either WCW or NWO would be ended forever with the participants of the losing side also being forced to retire from the organization forever. It turned out Hitman was finished a week later, Hall a month later. And we could have all done without Kevin Nash on his own. Starcade 99 could have been set for December 31 to end around midnight just before the dawn of a new century. Hogan, Sting and Goldberg vs Hitman, Hall and Nash. Could have been one of the biggest moments in wrestling history. Four Horsemen could have been involved to take down all the NWO stooges, Flair leg locking Bischoff and Savage could have returned to save the day for WCW. The NWO should have ended with a red and yellow Hogan joining forces with Sting. For me, it's the end of the NWO angle that ruined things for me and obviously for WCW. It could have been carried out so much better.

 

[Chadmw]

For me the biggest let down was Vince being revealed as the Higher Power.
The whole time during the reveal I was saying to myself "don't let it be Vince, Don't let it be Vince", then of course it was Vince, in one of the most predicatable endings to a very good storyline. It was just such a letdown for me.

 

[Brewski]

Another Money in the Bank moment, John Cena winning his this year with the handle snapping off while he was hitting Big Show so he won a little sooner than planned which was kind of funny, but kind of ruined the 'momentous' thing it was supposed to be.

I had assumed this was planned from the beginning but then again he did have what seemed like a look of general amazement when the case came off. I think this was actually better if he beat Show over the head until he fell off and then just unhooked it.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

I've always said I felt Mankind should have gone over Taker at their Hell in a Cell match. I always felt had he gone over Taker that match would be remembered as his epic comeback and not just for the 2 big spots.

 

[Bookerkingston]

I thought of a real recent example, maybe not a 'great moment" yet, but the TLC match The Shield VS Ryback and Hell No. It was the upset of the year, in my opinion, but it's not so much that my team lost that made me mad. It's the fact that it seemed like the Shield barely sold or seemed incredibly superhuman. Ryback, Kane, or Bryan would take turns being out for several minutes, but no matter what happened to the Shield, their members just kept popping back up left and right and somehow constantly managed to have 2 or all 3 members attacking 1 person at once. One guy could get clotheslined and shellshocked or choke slammed through a chair and then pop up fighting like 15 seconds later. The whole match was great plus the Brooklyn crowd made it more exciting. But some rookies appeared superhuman compared to guys like Kane and Ryback?

 

[Merkin353]

Two come to mind. One being the who done it angle with Austin being written off tv. Rikishi, really? I know some cared but I would assume the majority thought it should have been Triple H... The 2nd would be Ryback being thrown into the main event with Punk... This one is personal because I liked Ryback (almost loved) until he was skyrocketed to the top. I don't want him beating Punk ever now & I almost could care less for him. Maybe its because Once you put Punk & Ryback in the ring together (esp on the mic) you realize the real talent. Ryback is nothing, his facial expressions are lame, his mic skills sound like he just ran a 20 mile race & is always out of breath, his in ring ablity is fine just not for me so it just ruined his momentum for at least one fan...

 

[Bookerkingston]

Oh yeah at WM 26 when Shawn set Taker up on the announce table and did the backflip off the rope and landed on Taker's legs. It was still an amazing move, but I think it was way off and he meant to land on Taker's upper body. Then when Taker got up, he went with it and sold it by limping.

Or at the first or second TLC match, I'm trying to remember which one but it was when Bubba Ray was setting up the ladder in the ring. Then he paused and looked over at the tables outside the ring for a couple seconds and then moved the ladder over a bit to a better position. Like he was expecting to be pushed off the ladder and through the tables and he had to aim it right.

 

[Jacjac]

One thing that sticks in my mind is Bret Harts debut in WCW. After the Montreal Screwjob he had a lot of momentum and WCW should have used that to some degree.But they completely misused him for his entire time there up until his career ending injury.

Very true but at that point WCW had all but abandoned storylines and placed all of their eggs in the NWO basket. Bret's introduction was too soon and underdone.

 

[Brewski]

It's the fact that it seemed like the Shield barely sold or seemed incredibly superhuman. Ryback, Kane, or Bryan would take turns being out for several minutes, but no matter what happened to the Shield, their members just kept popping back up left and right and somehow constantly managed to have 2 or all 3 members attacking 1 person at once. One guy could get clotheslined and shellshocked or choke slammed through a chair and then pop up fighting like 15 seconds later. The whole match was great plus the Brooklyn crowd made it more exciting. But some rookies appeared superhuman compared to guys like Kane and Ryback?

I think the point of that was to put emphasis on the teamwork of the shield. It makes more sense to me for three rookies to beat three more experienced and larger guys via superior strategy if they came in and just dominated all three at once. The whole teamwork aspect addd to their characters.

Or at the first or second TLC match, I'm trying to remember which one but it was when Bubba Ray was setting up the ladder in the ring. Then he paused and looked over at the tables outside the ring for a couple seconds and then moved the ladder over a bit to a better position. Like he was expecting to be pushed off the ladder and through the tables and he had to aim it right.

Yeah that could have been set up better the first time but im glad he decided to adjust then instead of trying to just wing it mid air and risk a serious injury.

Very true but at that point WCW had all but abandoned storylines and placed all of their eggs in the NWO basket. Bret's introduction was too soon and underdone.

Bret's WCW run was so sad. He deserved much better

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

A moment that COULD have been great but was ruined.. because it NEVER happened.. would be Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII. How in the HELL did that not happen!? I've heard the rumors of Vince not being happy about the first encounters they had during some house shows, but that's not good enough reason. Wrestling, at least from the promotional side, is about building the biggest match possible. Putting butts in seats, and eye balls to screens. A good example would be a match that took place 10 years later, Hulk Hogan vs The Rock at WrestleMania X8. I was 10 years old when that match took place. Though I was young, I was fully aware of Hogan's legacy and meaning to the world of wrestling. At the time it felt like the biggest match ever, and for awhile it was my favorite match. Watching it back a few years later, I didn't hate the match.. but it also wasn't as 'amazing' as I once thought. Hell, The Rock vs John Cena from the past year is a good example. I don't take this business too seriously, I still allow myself to get caught up in the hype of wrestling. Did the match itself live up to all the hype? Not really. But I don't regret the money I spent to watch it.

THE POINT IS!

Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII for the WWF Championship would have been the biggest main event in WWF and most likely all of wrestling history at the time. Flair brought the WCW World Title with him to WWF and was using the whole "Real World Champion" gimmick. And I feel like Hogan was stripped of the title in December '91, just to put it on Flair a month later. In retrospect.. keep the belt on Hogan, Flair still wins the Royal Rumble, and the main event of WrestleMania VIII is Hulk Hogan vs Ric FLair to determine the undisputed WWF World Heavyweight Champion.

Instead Flair drops the belt in the MIDDLE OF THE CARD to "Macho Man", and Hogan vs Sid mains.. and ends in DISQUALIFICATION. Imagine the SHIT FIT that would happen today if the main event of WrestleMania ended in a DQ I'm not as angry about this as some of my ranting may imply.. it's just something I've always wondered about.

 

[DarkLordFett]

For me the biggest let down was Vince being revealed as the Higher Power.
The whole time during the reveal I was saying to myself "don't let it be Vince, Don't let it be Vince", then of course it was Vince, in one of the most predicatable endings to a very good storyline. It was just such a letdown for me.

Oh man, that was one of the worst moments. I remember being so eager to finally find out who 'Taker was being "controlled" by and the BAM. Slap in the face. I felt the same, really let down. I always felt that there could have been such a better storyline to that. It should have been that one person you never expected. Or better yet, pull back the hood and reveal a black mask. I think that was something that was better left in the dark, so to speak.