10 Cringeworthy Worked Shoots In Wrestling History

Wrestling is the only narrative medium in which a worked shoot can actually be effective as a straightforward storytelling device. Unlike film or theatre, unless your subject and themes are meta in nature, you're not gonna get away with your actors breaking character and acknowledging the presence of a fourth wall. If Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 featured an interlude where Starlord sat cross-legged and addressed his crew as "Dave" and "Zoe" while calling out James Gunn for his creative direction, everyone would just be confused.

However, just because a worked shoot can be done well, doesn't mean it's a guaranteed success. In the modern, post-kayfabe era, there's been a slew of times wherein wrestling companies have attempted to inject real life into their storylines, and it's come off badly. Sometimes it's because the audience doesn't know or care about what the wrestlers are "shooting" about, sometime's it's just presentation, and sometimes, the subject matter is outright unpleasant and uncomfortable.

Fair warning, I tried my hardest to find examples that didn't involve the Wizard of Worked Shoots himself, Vince Russo. However, as this list shows, that man is more addicted to the trope than anyone in wrestling.

During the Monday Night Wars, Jeff Jarrett was probably the greatest benefactor of WCW and the WWF sniping after each others' talent, laddering his way between both companies in an attempt to improve his standing. After a year-long stint in WCW, the former Double J returned to Stamford in 1997, and instead of the nifty midcard heel gimmick of a deluded country singer, Jarrett was repackaged as... well, a whiny b**ch, to be frank.

Mr. Jarrett's baby boy came out on the October 20th episode of RAW, interrupting the show and cutting a "shoot" promo, decrying WCW for holding him back. The problem, of course, was that WCW hardly held Jarrett back, giving him a run with the United States Championship and even putting him in the Four Horsemen. So to anyone who knew what went on in WCW, they could see Jarrett was full of cr*p, and anybody who only watched the WWF had no reason to care that another company held him back.

Jarrett proceeded to further bury himself when he called out other wrestlers in the WWF, specifically Stone Cold Steve Austin. Double J decried the Austin 3:16 catchphrase, calling it blasphemous. Austin apparently was so offended, he used his backstage power to stifle any main event push Jarrett would have received, and by late 1999, "The Chosen One" scampered back to WCW.