Horrible Angles In Wrestling Histroy. Episode 1

[Atrue1onewo1f]

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I watch a lot of wrestling on a regular basis... So for our first episode I would like to discuss The "West-Texas Rednecks" Vs. No Limit. Oh I dunno know where to start but I will do my best. I don't know the order of events but I will share what I know....

1. June 7, 1999: Master P showed up on Monday Nitro, I guess It was Silkk the Shocker's birthday, Curt Henning Came out with a gift for Mr. Shocker (I say Mr. cause I know better) It was a custom cowboy hat. Master P took the hat and threw it on the ground and stomped it.

2. June 13, 1999 At the 1999 Great American Bash, As the show started No Limit was getting out of their limo and were approached by Mr. Henning. He said Master P was the greatest rapper in the world ... (Holy Dishonesty Batman!) So Master P autographed a cd and gave it to him and then Mr. Henning broke the cd and said "Rap is Crap"

3. Later that night during the "West Texas Rednecks (Duncom Jr, & Henning) " Vs. FIlthy Animals (K-Dawg & Rey Jr.) Master P Blind sighted Henning during the match.

4. I believe the feud culminated on July 11, 1999 during their elimination match between No limit and The rednecks.

Now then, The reason this is declared as a "Horrible Angle" because....

1. No limit were behaving as heels though they were booked as faces.

2. The heels were being recieved as faces though they were booked as heels.

3. No Limit was Not "Over"

4. Even the Bookers did not want Master P on TV (How's that for a freestyle yo?)

5. (Courtesey of Wikipedia) "even with backup the Soldiers still outnumbered Hennig's group by nearly 2-1 further making them look like heels"

So there is mine.... What is your "Horrible Angle" ?

 

[Tyrant25]

The obvious answer here is Triple H's necrophilia angle, which was in fact a horrible storyline overall. But, in my opinion, one of the worst angles in history was Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio for the custody of Mysterio's son, Dominic. The rivalry was very personal, yes, and the Ladder Match really honed in on the near-perfect chemistry between Guerrero and Mysterio.. but it wasn't realistic at all. Tell me, why is the custody of someone's son, of a HUMAN BEING at that, being decided by a Ladder Match? That doesn't even sound somewhat legal. All in all, I liked the match, but the storyline itself was just a little odd.

I would also like to make mention of TNA's infamous "Claire Lynch" storyline, which completely topped off the reason why I don't watch TNA. Lynch, to start, was a horrible actress. Her tears didn't even look close to genuine. AJ Styles was not at his best, either; the only person who made this storyline watchable was Christopher Daniels. The entire feud just came off as something you'd watch on an episode of Jerry Springer. I hated it.

 

[Claude Speed]

- Eddie Guerrero's death being used to get Rey Mysterio more over

- Rey Mysterio winning the WHC

- The buildup to the HHH/Jericho match at WM 18; the feud was all about HHH, Stephanie and some stupid little dog

- The Aces & Eights; didn't like it from the start

- The buildup to the HHH/Booker T match at WM 19; I have more of a problem with the ending of this feud than anything

- The Zack Ryder and Eve storyline

- HHH beating CM Punk at NOC '11; Punk had a lot of momentum and HHH just killed it; this feud should never have happened to begin with

- Christian winning the WHC, losing it 2 days later and then losing the million rematches he got against Randy Orton

 

[thebowtiekiller]

does anyone remember the one promoting a hell in the cell match where it was implied that an ex referee shoots himself because he reffed one before and it disturbed him so badly? that was a bad one not cause i found it offensive or anything i just thought it was really tacky even by wrestling standards lol

another stupid one was snitsky causing lita to lose her and kanes unborn baby then going in the ring and drop kicking a dummy baby into the crowd as bad as this angle was theres no denying it was bloody funny at times.
for my final one donald trump vs rosie o donnel this was hated by everyone in the arena except vince of course and if i had to guess i would say this was entirely his own idea just for his personal enjoyment although he probally regretted it a bit when a rather large tna chant broke out in the crowd.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

But, in my opinion, one of the worst angles in history was Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio for the custody of Mysterio's son, Dominic. The rivalry was very personal, yes, and the Ladder Match really honed in on the near-perfect chemistry between Guerrero and Mysterio.. but it wasn't realistic at all. Tell me, why is the custody of someone's son, of a HUMAN BEING at that, being decided by a Ladder Match? That doesn't even sound somewhat legal. All in all, I liked the match, but the storyline itself was just a little odd.

It's the same as the WWE Board of Directors syndrome, that they would have angles that the board would decide based on who wins a match. I mean realistically that must be one idiotic board the WWE has if they can decide the future of a company, it's employees, and profits based on who wins a match.

As for the Dominic angle, I agree 100% with you. And I should also mention that the angle was about Eddie being Dominic's illegitimate biological father. Problem here is Dominic looks nothing like Eddie Guerrero but greatly resembles Rey Mysterio. I think that's what made this angle so embarrassing is that the WWE thought it could get away with the hereditary resemblance of Mysterio and Dominic.

 

[Agent_of_Anarchy]

I have to agree with the West Texas Rednecks vs No Limt Soldiers post, but it did give us the music video for their country and western pisstake Rap is Crap". I'm not a fan of either rap or country music, but that song was hilarious.

When I think of horrible angles, I think of WCW. Blood Runs Cold to be exact. It's hard to believe that it lasted for over a year. If anyone hasn't seen any of the promos for this then go and do so. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to just blatantly rip off Mortal Kombat which crazy characters like Glacier, Mortis and Wrath. Then Ernest Miller got involved somehow and things really got ugly. Remember, this pre "I'm the Greatest", James Brown dancin Cat, this is Ernest Miller wearing leopard print ropes.
While the angle itself was terrible, there was some really good talent involved and thus some of the Mortis and Wrath matches are actually not that bad, especially with the sinister minister at ringside. But anything with Glacier (which was almost everything) and Miller are simply horrendous.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Oh dear. There were so many. Sooooooo many. The keyword is "horrible," though, and to me that excludes angles that were so bad they were hillarious again. For example when the Ultimate Warrior feuded with the Undertaker and had Jake Robert's "train" him by burying him alive and shit. Some of the dumbest bull ever shown on TV, but I laugh every time I see it.

Horrible to me means no entertainment value. It means they were bad in a way that insults the viewer's intelligence and makes one feel uncomfortable. In German we have the word "fremdschämen" which basically means feeling embarrassed for someone else. You know, like when you feel you need to take a long shower (or blow your brains out) after watching pretty much any reality TV show.

There was, of course, the Katie Vick angle. No explanations necessary here. It's all been said already many times.

Then there is any time when a wrestler apparently tries to legitimately murder the other guy (while on national TV, of course) and instead of calling the police the guy wants a wrestling match. Same goes for when the manager is kidnapped and stuff. Hall and Nash attempting vehicular manslaughter on the Steiner Brothers comes to mind. (The Steiners didn't even win the match...)

How about the Big Bossman killing Al Snow's dog Pepper and then serving Snow a "pepper steak?"

Remember when Perry Saturn was in love with a mop and someone (Raven?) kidnapped it and threw it in a wood chipper?

A lot of the "Attitude"-stuff. Wee wee chopping Yakuzzas. Mark Henry's date having a penis. Mae Young giving birth to a hand. What were they thinking??

(BTW I did not have a problem with Randy Orton saying Eddie was in hell or using Eddie's death to push Rey Mysterio. The hell thing with Orton and Taker was in bad taste for sure, and I'd rather they hadn't done it, but I don't consider it offensive and if Vickie Guerrero was OK with it, whatever. It's just a wrestling show. Whether Rey Mysterio deserved the push is a different question, but I just don't think that Eddie would have had a problem with it. In fact he may have not wanted it any other way. So no, Eddiesploitation doesn't make my list.)

Arguably worst of all are marriage angles. Triple H and Steph being the big exception here. When that one started out (on TV, before it became a real thing) it was awesome. Edge and Vickie did a decent job of milking it, too. Other than that it's just crap after crap. Macho Man's wedding was so vomit inducing I felt like dying (the snake in the ceremony saved some, but the event itself was unbearable). Billy and Chuck. UGH!! Kane and Lita - so stupid on so many levels.
What takes the cake, though, is Dawn Marie marrying Torrie Wilson's father? It gave me headaches from all the eye-rolling I was doing.

It feels kind of wrong that I can't find a way to include Giant Gonzalez in this discussion. This guy was the personification of HORRIBLE. But was he ever involved in an angle? He came out one night and attacked the Undertaker for no reason. That was the angle. Barely worth mentioning. I just feel Gonzalez should be mentioned when it comes to a discussion of horrible, that's all...

 

[justtxyank]

I have to agree with the West Texas Rednecks vs No Limt Soldiers post, but it did give us the music video for their country and western pisstake Rap is Crap". I'm not a fan of either rap or country music, but that song was hilarious.

When I think of horrible angles, I think of WCW. Blood Runs Cold to be exact. It's hard to believe that it lasted for over a year. If anyone hasn't seen any of the promos for this then go and do so. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to just blatantly rip off Mortal Kombat which crazy characters like Glacier, Mortis and Wrath. Then Ernest Miller got involved somehow and things really got ugly. Remember, this pre "I'm the Greatest", James Brown dancin Cat, this is Ernest Miller wearing leopard print ropes.
While the angle itself was terrible, there was some really good talent involved and thus some of the Mortis and Wrath matches are actually not that bad, especially with the sinister minister at ringside. But anything with Glacier (which was almost everything) and Miller are simply horrendous.

Two angles that were comically bad, agreed.

West Texas Rednecks was a horrible idea that if you were a fan of WCW you ended up rooting for. Talented workers Curt Hennig, Barry Windham and Bobby Duncum, Jr. being reduced to hick cowboys. Henning and Windham ended up being a good team to be honest and I rooted for the group as a whole. The No Limit Soldiers was such a bust. WCW completely misread their audience and thought that turning Konnan and Rey into gangbanger types was going to be awesome!

Really dumb angle.

As for blood runs cold, the main reason that angle failed was because it was WCW instead of WWF. WCW was not a company where those types of gimmicks got over. If they wanted to do a martial arts style feud they could have done it without the over the top gimmicks they threw in. WCW just wasn't a company where the idea that a man was a ninja who trained in Japan so he started acting like sub zero was going to work.

That said, Ernest Miller is awesome and he was awesome from the start. That feud could have really worked if done differently, with realistic characters and no Glacier at all.

 

[dWs]

For the "No Limit Soldiers" thing, WCW was banking on some mainstream appeal from Master P and his buddies. There was actually a "No Limit Soldiers" faction in the NFL in the 1997 and 1998 seasons-- all the running backs from the Denver Broncos gave themselves that name and were apparently big fans of Master P. Master P even cut a custom song for them: "Denver Broncos Soldiers". The team won the Super Bowl in 97 and 98, so they were kind of a big deal in the sports world.

Problem was, the NFL stuff wasn't that popular and even the most hardcore Bronco fans didn't give a darn about what the running backs listened to in the locker room. Master P's custom song never caught on.

However, one thing that DID catch on was that, in 1997, the Broncos running backs began saluting (like a "Solider") after every touchdown they scored. That was insanely popular and is still done by Bronco players, today. Although most fans have no idea that it came from the Master P connection.

So you could see how WCW might think Master P was a hot commodity in early 1999 (when they began dealing with him). WCW No Limit Soldier, "Swoll" was billed as a former Denver Bronco to strengthen the NFL connection. He was actually former back-up defensive lineman Randy Thornton, who had played for the team in the late 80's.

But like I said, it flopped for WCW and Master P. Might have seemed like a good idea, at one time, but it was poorly planned, written and acted upon.

 

[jameswhitfield1974]

Tatanka losing his undefeated streak to Ludwig Borga, anything with the Bushwhackers was senseless and of course Giant Gonzalez was HORRIBLE!!!
But the worst angle was when the Ultimate Warrior fought anyone, he was soooo unbelievable in every single promo he yelled and acted like a freaking psycho.
Dont believe me watch the promo with him for 2k14 HORRIBLE!!!!

 

[Irishock]

I'll go with Molly's virgin angle with Christopher Nowinski. It was dropped early when the WWE realized it was fucking stupid to make fun of a 24 year old for being a virgin. Oh, god. I remember Nowinski saying something like, "I'm going to take her to the Vale-DICK-tory". No joke. I know it was pre-PC WWE, but WTF were the writers thinking? especially with all the shit angles- including Katie Vick - that happened the same year?

 

[michaelrr1]

David Arquette winning the WCW championship. How can a guy not signed with the company win?

 

[enviousdominous]

I'd also like to note on the angle you mentioned, Master P is one of the absolute worst rappers in history. You could hardly call the garbage he produced "poetry". Watch the music video for "Make'em Say UGH", skip to 2:55, why did they try to sell a fat ass ****** bitch as a basketball player? Are you honestly going to pass the ball to an overweight sow who's short enough to legally be considered a midget?

Had to get that out of my system. Yeah, Master P was one of the blonde women that wrecked WCW in my opinion.

Worst wresting angle in the history of pro-wrestling? I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this one yet, it's more of a series associated with one colossal failure.

Vince bought WCW, and believed through ignorance that his acquisition of WCW was more due to his "superior" programming and less due to the jack-offs who were more concerned with promoting their own ego rather than promoting a viable pro-wrestling card.

I realize that there are too many fucking stupid angles to name during the time that Vince went bat shit insane with his over-over-inflated ego after he acquired WCW.

The angle I'm sniping out during this abysmal era was one where the WWF at the time was bent on burying Steve Austin. Now I know that the term "bury" is over-used and most of the time it's a ridiculous exaggeration for lack of a more reasonable description.

Steve Austin was made to stand, wrists and ankles bound, in front of a kiddie pool on a bridge over a river. Kurt Angle was upset that Steve had thrown Kurt's gold medals in that river on an earlier episode of RAW. So Steve Austin cries saying something to the effect of "Please Mr. Angle, I'm sorry. I'm a loser". Kurt pushes Steve into the kiddie pool, and Steve freaks out before realizing that he's not drowning after all. He'd have to be pretty stupid to assume that the fall from the bridge to the water below would only take a split second, but whatever.

So you have an angle meant to grant Vince some petty revenge at the expense of the reputation of one of the greatest characters the WWF/E has ever had. You see, Vince McMahon is a vindictive sack of dog shit who indulges in his hatred of others. Even though years of being stomped against ring posts by Steve Austin has granted Vince bigger paydays, Vince doesn't see anybody except for himself as the reason for his success. Fast forward to a time when he honestly thought that he couldn't possibly fail, and he can finally force Steve Austin into situations where he behaves like a bald Brooklyn Brawler.

Another thing that really irritates me about this fucking stupid angle, was that it was based on a stolen angle. Not too surprising considering it was something the WWE put on tv, but everytime it happens it urks me slightly.

See, there once was a man named Dick Slater who inspired many of today's more notable pro-wrestling characters. In 1985 he wrestled for Mid-South, with the valet Dark Journey, and held their TV Title. He obtained their North American Title as well, and decided that the TV Title was worthless. Dick and Dark went to a bridge over the Arkansas River, Dark watched as Dick threw the Mid-South TV Title into the river.

Fast forward to 1997 and Steve Austin is having a fued with The Rock. In a fit of severe tourettes, Steve Austin mumble-shouts something fucking stupid and whips the Intercontinental Title into a river. The crowd goes wild because those were the people that would eventually elect Bush.

Fast forward past everything that happened in 2001, because part of the abhorrent shit that the WWF pinched off during that time was of Steve Austin throwing Kurt Angle's medals into a river.

So yeah, burying one of the most lucrative characters in pro-wrestling history and doing so with an angle that was stolen from Dick Slater. WCW would have been too easy to pick on for this thread, but Rick Flair getting "bailed out" of an insane asylum by Arn Anderson will always be on my mind.

 

[enviousdominous]

It feels kind of wrong that I can't find a way to include Giant Gonzalez in this discussion. This guy was the personification of HORRIBLE. But was he ever involved in an angle? He came out one night and attacked the Undertaker for no reason. That was the angle. Barely worth mentioning. I just feel Gonzalez should be mentioned when it comes to a discussion of horrible, that's all...

When he was in WCW as El Gigante, there was some mix-up when he was booked to be in the Chamber of Horrors match. Details are sketchy, but apparently a bunch of midgets were hired to play munchkins as part of the entrance for Oz. Dusty apparently thought that it would make more sense for them to accompany Gigante because they're short and he's tall. With no explanation, El Gigante charges to the ring accompanied by a bunch of midgets in wrestling tights.

I honestly don't know of any other angles involving El Gigante save for the one you mentioned. I think I'm better off staying that way.

 

[harrythem]

I find it hard to get past Rick Steiner being scared by Chuckie the evil doll on WCW...with Chuckie cutting a promo via big screen....it beats out Robocop and the fake bars, the Chamber of Horror match but it was close...

 

[dWs]

I babbled so much about Master P in WCW, that I forgot to pick my personal "worst":

Sgt. Slaughter as the Iraqi sympathizer, 1990-1991. Completely unbelievable and required the audience to really suspend their disbelief. More than usual.

Even crazier, "WWF Superstars of Wrestling" was often shown on Saturday morning local channels (not the big networks). Channels which, at the time, were re-running the GI Joe cartoons. The second season not only featured Slaughter as a character, but all episodes in the library were re-packaged with Slaughter as a live-action host.

Not to mention that you would sometimes still see GI Joe commercials with Slaughter air DURING "Superstars"! Wait, this guy just told me he likes Saddam Hussein...but here he is five minutes later, telling me to buy GI Joe toys and fight that evil terrorist organization Cobra.

Some other angles I hated:
-Bad News Brown vs. Jake Roberts
-Sam Houston vs. Danny Davis (yes, it was an official angle in late 1987)
-Dino Bravo vs. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

 

[The Brain]

Sgt. Slaughter as the Iraqi sympathizer, 1990-1991. Completely unbelievable and required the audience to really suspend their disbelief. More than usual.

Even crazier, "WWF Superstars of Wrestling" was often shown on Saturday morning local channels (not the big networks). Channels which, at the time, were re-running the GI Joe cartoons. The second season not only featured Slaughter as a character, but all episodes in the library were re-packaged with Slaughter as a live-action host.

Not to mention that you would sometimes still see GI Joe commercials with Slaughter air DURING "Superstars"! Wait, this guy just told me he likes Saddam Hussein...but here he is five minutes later, telling me to buy GI Joe toys and fight that evil terrorist organization Cobra.

The GI Joe cartoons ran from 1983-1986. The angle with Slaughter was in 1990/1991. It wasn't WWF's fault that certain markets happened to rerun a five year old cartoon on the same network that carried Superstars. Actually I think that would have been a little bonus to the angle. It was a reminder of who Slaughter was which made his betrayl hurt even more. A lot of younger fans at the time didn't know much about Slaughter so instead of just some guy coming into the WWF as an Iraqi sympathizer they got a little lesson about the kind of American patriot Slaughter used to be.

 

[dWs]

The GI Joe cartoons ran from 1983-1986. The angle with Slaughter was in 1990/1991. It wasn't WWF's fault that certain markets happened to rerun a five year old cartoon on the same network that carried Superstars.

GI Joe cartoons actually picked back up in 1989 and ran until 1992. Yes, this included new episodes with Slaughter.

Some more details. The (Marvel/Sunbow) GI Joe cartoon first aired in the fall of 1983 (as 5 episodes), but Slaughter's GI Joe cartoons hit the air in fall of 1986. These ran in regular first-run syndication until well into fall 1988.

At that time (fall 1988), the GI Joe cartoons were freshened up and re-packaged with Slaughter as a live host. Same old cartoons, but new live-action intros with Slaughter running down the plot for you. These ran for another year or so. Longer in some markets; which was the case in my area.

In the fall of 1989, the DIC company aired their own new version of GI Joe cartoons...with Slaughter as a key cartoon character in the 5-part "Operation: Dragonfire". He was the leader of "Slaughter's Marauders", a sub-set of sorts that hit the toy shelves at that time and was promoted in the cartoon.

DIC began their own full-season run of GI Joe episodes in the fall of 1990. Slaughter was phased out from both the toys and cartoons at this time, but he would still occasionally pop-up in new episodes (while Slaughter was in full-bloom as an "Iraqi" in the WWF). DIC continued on with GI Joe cartoons, producing two full seasons until roughly 1992. These episodes actually found a home on USA Network in mid-1991 (same channel that aired WWF's Prime Time and All-American).

It also hurt the angle that everybody but Gorilla Monsoon feigned ignorance of Slaughter's past. Gorilla would often say on Prime Time something like: "Slaughter used to wrestle here in the WWF, years ago, but he was a very kind and gentle human being. You can bet that piece-of-garbage Adnan had something to do with his change of behavior".

Slaughter's 1990 character debuted in the WWF around June 1990 as something of a US war-hawk, claiming America had gone weak by accepting Nikolai Volkoff. "My name...is Slaughter. DRILL Sergeant Slaughter". He was almost like a version of R. Lee Ermey's famous "Full Metal Jacket" character. It was a switcheroo of the Slaughter/Vokoff 1984 feud that never ended.

Jump forward 2 months (August 1990), when the Kuwait-Iraq angle is in world news and suddenly Slaughter begins backing Iraq. Huh? There needed to be some explanation. The closest thing they had was in the SummerSlam special on Prime Time, where Slaughter gave a long-winded interview about how he now liked "that great general, Saddam Hussein".

A guy trumpeting the US's decision to interject in the Iraq/Kuwait conflict as a HEEL would not have worked, at that time. Thus, the awkward transition to Slaughter as an "Iraqi".