10 Worst WWE Moments From Part-Time Superstars
The career assassins.
Sunday's WrestleMania 33 mega-show is another all too literal Showcase Of The Immortals.
47 year old non-wrestler Shane McMahon is set to square off against the best wrestler in the company, AJ Styles. 50 year old Goldberg is defending what is billed as the company's joint most prestigious championship. 52 year old The Undertaker is set to undergo hip replacement surgery, like he's your nan, as soon as he leaves Orlando. The mere mortals, the men we will be suddenly expected to receive as stars about a week from now, have again had to settle for the midcard.
It's not a new development - major names have been parachuted in for temporary excursions since the mid-2000s - but it might be waning. Shane McMahon and Goldberg surely represent the nadir of a trend that has stymied the progress of countless new talents.
Who's left? Batista is making bank in Hollywood. The Rock's own massive Hollywood success prohibits another lengthy singles match at 'Mania. Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin are happily retired. Short of turning Goldberg heel (which he's sort of already doing all by himself), there are few options left.
Thank Christ for that, on this evidence. The part-time stars exist to create excitement in the short-term - but all too often their self-serving behaviour has adverse effects on the long-term.
10. Triple H Buries The Entire Locker Room
The Undertaker had no clear opponent ahead of WrestleMania XXVII - probably because WWE had done such a p*ss-poor job of elevating anybody near his level in the interim. He had to work as a babyface; the respect garnered through his streak-within-the-Streak of classic matches was too powerful.
That left few options. The Miz was occupied in the WWE Championship picture. CM Punk was a few years (and a near-exit) away from earning the trust of the office. Sheamus entered the decade with a considerable aura, but Triple H had dented it (irreversibly, as it turned out). He was out.
Enter Triple H!
The first encounter between 'Taker and Trips was pitched perfectly, in fairness. When Triple H interrupted the Undertaker upon his February 21, 2011 return, he spoke no words. He didn't have to. The silent throat slit/crotch chop exchange was the work of two old masters...
...which Triple H undid entirely the next week when he revealed that he was compelled to challenge The Undertaker because "nobody else in the back" was deemed suitable. You could justify the mass grave Trips buried the entire roster into, given that he was months away from seizing developmental from John Laurinaitis. It could have been defended as a power play.
Only, it couldn't. It was indefensible.