10 Terrible Matches WWE Champions Don't Want You To See
WWE Title matches don't get much worse than The Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan.
Nobody's perfect.
Hulk Hogan was a wrestling's biggest kayfabe winner before losing much in his real life due to some hideous and toxic turns of phrase caught on camera. Asuka was 'The Empress Of Tomorrow' because she needed not think of today...until she couldn't repel the slide brought on by WWE's chaotic booking. Mr Perfect literally had it in his name but watched his unbeaten record fritter away at the shears of Brutus Beefcake, and his matches collapse in later life when the person could no longer match the persona.
Pro wrestling shouldn't be bound by this real life reality. In spite of these facts, it's a work of fiction. A company say somebody is absolutely flawless and it can be so - until the matches inconvenicne the narrative.
For every icon, legend and Champion, there's at least one skeleton in an otherwise well-maintained closet. The blessing and curse of the WWE Network (and the internet's reach in general) is that they're all now just waiting to be unearthed. Bret Hart is often ribbed inside and out of the industry for his love of his own back catalogue, but even the 'Excellence Of Execution' had one very high profile off night...
10. Bret Hart Vs Bob Backlund (WrestleMania XI)
Indeed, Bret Hart knew his worth and value a little too well, but even he thought his WrestleMania 11 match was a total stinker.
A substantial let-down, the 'I Quit' match between Hart and Bob Backlund was the final payoff to an enjoyable feud the two had carried over from late-1994, after Backlund viscously snapped and dethroned 'The Hitman' to transition the WWE Title to Diesel. In contrast to their choice Survivor Series title switch the prior November though, the stipulation destroyed the bout - particularly with guest referee Rowdy Roddy Piper gobbling up the heat by shoving a wired microphone their faces as often as he could to register a potential surrender.
Whilst that structurally damaged the contest, the finish also totally managed to fail in delivering the promised outcome. With Backlund trapped in his own devastating crossface chickenwing submission hold, Piper jammed the microphone in his face yet again. The confused wails of the pyshcotic former WWE Champion were deemed enough by the 'Hot Scot' too, adding to the clunky delivery of the stipulation.
Hart looked deeply disappointed even as he celebrated - he knew more than the limited laypersons in the audience how poor it had been.