10 Times WWE Broke Your Heart And Didn’t Even Care

Shawn Michaels has entered the building.

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WWE
When Triple H joined his friends Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall for a mid-ring cuddle in 1996 that inadvertently transformed the career of Stone Cold Steve Austin, he was blissfully ignorant to the punishment he'd face in the aftermath.

His main event buddies had been given the permission slip from Vince McMahon - a concession that included him despite his relatively low position as a heel on the pecking order. When the locker room nearly revolted in the aftermath, McMahon's forced punishment had to come down on the future 'Game'. He was instructed that day to "eat sh*t and learn to like the taste of it", a command McMahon has apparently dished out directly or via stooges over decades at the helm of his empire.

The Chairman clearly got too comfortable with the concept when he began extending it to his audience.

It was once imperative that the audience emotionally and financially invested in WWE's output, though this has changed to the point where within a few years the company will earn less from the customers than they do cash-heavy television networks vying for something - anything - that retains eyes on the night rather than on DVR the next day.

This is a new development though. As of right now, customer satisfaction is still king, despite McMahon's current indifference to the particular cause. Only Vince himself would dare attempt to get away with using the N-word on a pay-per-view in the modern era. Negging isn't half as big a crime.

10. A One-Legged Man In An Ass-kicking Contest

Asuka MITB
WWE

Bullies always win in WWE.

From Bobby Heenan dishing out killer barbs about The Big Boss Man's mother and never seeing the Intercontinental Title ripped from his 'Family', to LayCool taking back the Women's Championship from 'Piggy James', to Roman Reigns calling Samoa Joe a 'fatass' with the same intonation Alexa Bliss used when body-shaming Nia Jax. Before she too took back her Raw Women's Title from the 'Irresistible Force'.

It was Brock Lesnar's turn to be an unrelenting sh*thouse in 2003 after WWE introduced the 'right' one-legged wrestler to the roster first as a friend of Hulk Hogan and later enemy of Vince McMahon.

Despite having toughest performer on the roster Stephanie McMahon on his side, Gowen eventually took kicking after kicking as the company conspired to not harness what could have been the most remarkable sympathy. He became a figure of gallows humour, yet another case of The Chairman using his television product to see just how low he could go.

The answer for Gowen was to the bottom of a stairwell. Brock sent him hurtling down concrete steps in a wheelchair to show McMahon he was emotionally ready to batter Kurt Angle in their upcoming title match. Gowen never got a revenge pin over Brock, Vince or even jobber-to-the-stars Shannon Moore before he was given his hopping papers in 2004.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett