Things WWE did that we didn't like but turned out for the best

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The title says it all!
This is my groundbreaking idea for a thread.
We, as human beings (and wrestling fans), like to complain a lot. And I mean, a lot. There's even a general complaints thread!

However, this thread is the one to prove us wrong. Think of things, segments, matches etc. that the WWE did and we didn't like at first but finally it turned out for the better.

My opinion: The main events of Wrestlemania 29.
We saw 2 rematches on this card, Lesnar vs HHH II and Cena vs Rock II.
I remember what everybody wanted to see, including myself. Most of us wanted Rock vs Brock, Cena vs Taker, Punk vs Taker for the title, Rock vs Punk vs Cena, Brock vs Taker and HHH vs Punk.
Now, 1,5 years later, think why these options suck.
The main problem is the following: Cena never beats The Rock, and never becomes champ. If you don't get it, then you should. Cena HAD to beat The Rock. I'm not going to explain why, just think. If you still don't get it, think Summerslam 2013 and WM30.
Bryan defeated the John Cena that defeated The Rock at Mania. What happened at that Wrestlemania, created the chain-reaction that led to WM30.

P.S.: Punk deserved to main event, but you don't trust a guy who tried to kill you once, because he might do it again (see 2014)

So, what things you didn't like, but turned out for the better?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The best example I can remember of this was Shawn's first title reign and how it was clear to most at the time he wasn't ready for it... many felt Davey Boy Smith should have taken the title from Shawn rather than those silly "double pins" and allowed Shawn to chase/feud with Vader and Davey.

Shawn of course kept the belt and dropped to Sid instead, which got a LOT of people mad at the time... he then regained it and didn't drop the belt before Final 4 - instead "losing his smile".

On paper we got robbed of some great moments/title reigns... be it Davey or Vader or both, they deserved a chance with the belt and we were robbed of the rematch between Bret and Shawn at Mania 13. But look at how it turned out... because that rematch didn't happen we instead got that epic between Bret and Stone Cold, which changed the WWE forever. Davey and Vader NOT getting that chance meant people were ready for the change when Austin got his chance...that also led to Rock being able to move up so quickly as well.. 2 extra true main eventers in Davey and Vader may not have allowed that... but at the time it was a joke...

 

[WarroBODFan]

The one that comes most recently to memory was Daniel Bryan not entering the Royal Rumble. I won't say Batista winning the rumble was for the best, anyone in his position would've got booed though. I know Batista had the whole "part-time" thing unfairly hanging over him which made him an easy target, but lets face it, anyone not named Daniel Bryan would've been booed if they won it. The only exceptions would have likely been CM Punk or Ziggler.

It was frustrating how long they dragged on the Daniel Bryan getting screwed over thing, but I believe it made his WM30 moment that bit more special. Whether the plan was to put Daniel Bryan in the WM30 main event from the beginning or not is another debate (what we've heard and read suggest that was not the original plan), but WWE did take notice and gave the fans what they wanted. I don't think anyone can criticise the 'E for that, no matter how many mistakes they've made in the past, or continue to make.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Some good examples have already been given, so I think I'm gonna go with one that's more recent and probably more obvious. John Cena winning the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at MITB 2014 is the one I'm going with.

Like a lot of people, I'm burned out on John Cena as WWE Champion, I have been for a long time to be perfectly honest. However, given that Bryan's neck problems were potentially career threatening and the title had to be vacated, having Cena win the vacant strap and drop it to Brock Lesnar in such a decisive fashion was the right move. If Bryan hadn't had to take time off, reports suggested that he'd have been offered up to Lesnar in the same way Cena ultimately was. Cena's someone that's so firmly implanted that you could consider his legacy part of the WWE's very foundation. He could've gotten in ZERO offense against Lesnar and it still wouldn't have hurt him. In the process, Lesnar handed Cena his most devastating and decisive loss. Couple that with the fact that he ended the streak at WrestleMania XXX, cleaning Big Show's clock in a pre-match brawl at the Royal Rumble before decisively beating him 2 minutes after the match officially started, and "breaking" Mark Henry's arm & physically decimating him, it'd be impossible to make Lesnar look more formidable than he has over the last 9 months.

Had Bryan been in Cena's shoes, there would've been outrage throughout the WWE Universe. Whether you're a more average fan or a hardcore member of the IWC, most fans would've been flat out pisses and disappointed to see Bryan fed to Lesnar only for someone else that'd not be as embraced by the fans as Bryan to step up and ultimately slay the beast.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Vengeance 2001

What they did right…
Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship

What I thought, at the time, they did wrong…
Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the WCW Championship
Chris Jericho defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin for the Undisputed WWE / WCW World Championship

First, let me point out, like most of the fans at the time, I was a Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rock fan. At the event, I even bought both the Smoking Skull and Brahma Bull foam Championship Title Belts. I wanted to see, for the umpteenth time, Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock, but this time, for the Undisputed WWE / WCW World Championship. What I got instead was the last heartbreaking moment, storyline-wise, in the history of my fandom. I couldn’t figure it out. I was so mad. How could this whiny, can’t win the big one, cry baby defeat not one, but both of my favorites…for the top 2 richest prizes in this industry…in one night!? I even thought that Kurt Angle would have been a better choice. I told my brother and my friends that I will never watch this $#!+ again. Then my brother said, “Dude, when the Champion loses his Belt, he’ll get a rematch…they both will.”

Royal Rumble comes, Chris Jericho defeats The Rock.
No Way Out comes, Chris Jericho defeats Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After the WWE debut of the New World Order, and my own idea of Chris Jericho joining the N.W.O. I, myself, started to turn. That’s when I became a Jericho-holic. Then Chris Jericho loses the Undisputed WWE / WCW World Championship to Triple H. I just can’t win. HAHA!!

They got it right at Vengeance 2001, I just didn’t realize it at the time. I eventually bought all of the WWE PPV DVDs from Invasion 2001 to WrestleMania X8 and I even got my copy of Vengeance 2001 signed by the first Undisputed WWE / WCW World Champion.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

For me it was Triple H beating The Rock for the IC title at SummerSlam 98. Part of this is the fan in me as at that time I was still young enough that results of a match affected me and Rock was my favorite wrestler. But I was also old enough to know about storylines and scripts in pro wrestling and even that side of me couldn't understand why Triple H got the win as I viewed Rock as the bigger star at that time.

Now looking back I understand why that match happened the way it did. WWE realized that Rock was starting to get positive reactions so this match was the beginning of his face turn, which lead to him being pushed up the card and set up the great turn at Survivor Series when he won the world title. Without the match playing out as it did at SummerSlam, Rock might not have won the title at Survivor Series. And without that we don't get his great back and fourth with Mankind and the beginning of his main event feud with Stone Cold.

 

[wwefan4life]

This may sound weird to most but I was upset when they took the WWE Championship off of Miz a few years ago. To me at the time it did not make since for him to retain against Cena at Wrestlemania only to drop it to him a month later. I though he should have kept the belt until Summerslam at the time.

Luckily it worked out because the classic Cena/Punk Money in the Bank match would not have happened if Miz was still champ. So in that since, they got lucky they let Punk take the ball and run with it.

 

[Mudlup50]

This may sound weird to most but I was upset when they took the WWE Championship off of Miz a few years ago. To me at the time it did not make since for him to retain against Cena at Wrestlemania only to drop it to him a month later. I though he should have kept the belt until Summerslam at the time.

Luckily it worked out because the classic Cena/Punk Money in the Bank match would not have happened if Miz was still champ. So in that since, they got lucky they let Punk take the ball and run with it.

I'm with you, the Miz's title reigns was horrible...as I've said before I am a Mizfit and it just sucked. He worked so hard for like 2 years keeping Raw interesting for me, his reward is? Matches against announcers? His greatest rival while champ was Morrison. People don't even count Miz beating Cena at Mania, yet they ignore the middle of a lot of other matches. That will be the best moment of his career and it got completely overshadowed by the Rock...which to be fair sort of happened to Punk too.

But in the end Punk got his chance with the belt and had an amazing run with the belt. So guess I won't complain.


To OP, if this is going to be a good IC title run for Ziggler then him winning the belt off Miz will be one of these moments.

Del Rio being shoved down our throats is one of those moments, as a bad guy your job is to get me to hate you. ADR didn't do that at all for the longest time, he was just there. Sooner or later though, I grew to respect the guy behind the character. Part of that is the fact he was on the screen so much, sometimes good wrestlers get hidden in the undercard and you never know what they have.

 

[Raptor93]

This is a minor note but most of the big ones that come to mind have already been said.

The second Uso/Wyatt match 2 out of 3 falls. We had so many goddamn matches between these two teams I thought there could be 0 value in seeing these two go again. But as we all saw it was a amazing tag team match probably one the bets in years It really kept me on the edge of my seat (or bed as it were)

 

[WBL]

Survivor Series 1998.

Too Much beat the Hardy Boyz. Gangrel defeated Steve Blackman. Tiger Ali Singh had a match.

Then the tournament that felt like it went on forever, and in the end, a seemingly nonsensical swerve when we found out that The Rock was working with the Corporation all along. It pissed me off initially, but in the end, the Rock became far more entertaining in his role and a legend was born.

 

[Wolf Pac]

The Montreal Screwjob. It was the biggest crime in wrestling, but it gave birth to the Mr. McMahon character and gave Stone Cold Steve Austin a great nemesis to feud with during the Monday Night Wars. Even if the incident didn't happen, McMahon would have been heel anyway, he was on the verge of turning after he gave up commentating, but the Screwjob brought a ton of legitimate heat down on Vince and it's what helped him become the great heel that he went on to be.

I was about to bring up Daniel Bryan's exclusion from this year's Royal Rumble match, but I see I was beat to it. You could go with many more examples though, involving Daniel Bryan. His NXT run, his 2010 firing, the 18 second squash to Sheamus at Wrestlemania 28, which also benefited AJ and brought out her crazy chick, anti-diva persona after Bryan blamed her for the loss and dumped her. Orton cashing-in Money in the Bank after his WWE Title victory over Cena at Summerslam, Bryan joining the Wyatt Family. Audiences responded to all of those things with an intense loyalty for their fallen hero and in the end, it all payed off for the Daniel Bryan fans all around the world.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

This will probably sound insane now, but back in the Summer of 1997 I was not digging the Undertaker and Kane storyline. Bret and Taker were my favorites at the time and the way Paul Bearer was portraying the Undertaker as this cold, heartless villain that killed his parents and left his brother to die, it just made the Undertaker sound like a horrible person, and I didn't like it one bit. Obviously I was dead wrong as it turned out to be one of the most iconic feuds in WWE history, but I didn't like it at first.

I also was absolutely angry, and I mean angry when Stone Cold screwed Bret at the 97 Rumble. Like I said, at this point Bret and Taker were my favorites, and I was still very much a mark at this point, and was fully behind Bret (though like with everyone else I started to turn on Bret over the next month or so leading to Wrestlemania). I absolutely hated it, and I was actually throwing things and yelling at the TV while my family was around watching. I don't think I've ever been as mad at something I saw on wrestling as I was that night. Of course now, I love it and it was a masterful, heel thing to do, and it was just one of the many important chapters of the Bret Hart/Stone Cold saga, but as a Bret Hart mark at the time, I absolutely hated it.


Those were two incidents in my days as a mark. So if I was gonna say something that I thought was bad, but turned out good during the last 15 years or so when you could say I'm a smark, I'd probably go with Daniel Bryan losing to Sheamus at Wrestlemania 28. I actually attended Wrestlemania 28 (one of the greatest weekends of my life), and everyone there was pissed as the crowd all weekend was already starting the Yes chants and getting behind Bryan. I knew he was gonna lose the match, as I'm sure most people did, but no one thought it was gonna be in a 20 second burial, which is what upset so many people about it. But it really did turn out for the best. That was the night that the fans really got behind Daniel Bryan, even though it was starting to already happen.

 

[thebarber]

Survivor Series 1997.
What they did to Bret Hart at the time was disgraceful, but in time it proved, along with the signing of Mike Tyson to be the single greatest thing Vince and WWE could have done to regain the upper hand from WCW in the Monday night Wars and created the launching pad for the evil Mr McMahon character to be born. If Bret went over or retained in Montreal and just handed the belt over the next night like the original plan was, I dont see how Vince could possibly have become the villain in the fans eyes the way he did.