10 Times WWE Were Shamelessly Exploitative
This is not exploitation, no, this is just a 'tribute'.
The whole wrestling world united in paying tribute to the great 'Mean' Gene Okerlund following the legendary interviewer's passing in early January. Few stars of the business were as intimately associated with Okerlund than arguably its biggest of all time, Hulk Hogan. So it was only natural that The Hulkster led the eulogies.
What was less natural was WWE laying out the red carpet and diverting ten minutes of their flagship programming for him to do so. Appropriate - and deeply affecting - though Hogan's Monday Night Raw encomium towards his close personal friend was, it was difficult to ignore the reality that, once more, as they had with Crown Jewel, WWE had leveraged a real-life situation to sneak Hogan back onto their screens.
In Jeddah, the company hoped those chastising Hogan's comeback would be drowned out by the general tone of disgust. On this occasion, they knew laying into their exploitative practices would be erroneously confused and conflated as criticism towards Hogan's genuine sentiments about the beloved Okerlund.
In other words, they knew they would get away with it. Somehow, they always do.
10. Eddie Gilbert's Broken Neck
Eddie Gilbert was nothing more than a jobber during his early-'80s spell with WWF, but just as he was breaking into the mid-card, his career received an unusual, unexpected boost via the most bizarre of circumstances.
Gilbert was travelling home from a house show in Allentown, PA, when he was involved in a near-fatal car crash. The wreck wracked him with serious injuries. 'Hot Stuff' grew out his distinctive beard to conceal scars from reconstructive surgery, whilst he was left plagued by back and shoulder issues which for years encouraged his ultimately fatal painkiller addiction.
Worst of all, he broke his neck in the accident. But it wasn't all bad news - at least in the eyes of Gilbert's employers. When he had fully recuperated, he returned to WWF screens as Bob Backlund's new protégé ahead of a renewed push - with the neck injury fully publicised.
This being wrestling, it wasn't long before The Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie under a white hood), feared for his use of neckbreakers, cracked Gilbert's vertebrae afresh to the absolute horror of concerned fans. Backlund broke down in tears as his charge was hauled away in an ambulance.
Oddly, the whole scenario resulted in a programme for Backlund himself, not Gilbert, who shortly after left the company. At least his broken bones were worth something.