10 Times Wrestlers Abused Their Power On TV

8. D-Generation X Mock The European Title

The European Title was something those lamewad Harts cared about, so Triple H and Shawn Michaels made a mockery out of it.

The DX lads held significant influence over Vince McMahon in 1997. Triple H even convinced him to screw Bret Hart in Montreal. Shawn Michaels meanwhile had terrorised the locker room in a crusade of self-loathing self-preservation that Vince enabled. At the earliest onset of WWE's pushing of the "creative envelope so to speak," Shawn and Trips "entertained the fans in a more extemporaneous fashion" by parodying wrestling to transition the European Title from one man to the other.

They stalled, stretched on the ropes, sought out Chyna for counsel, and then Michaels laid down as HHH ran the ropes exaggeratedly and stumbled before the "match-winning" splash. It really wasn't that offensive - virtually every title was about to reach a level of inflation, anyway - and it established a new, much-needed storytelling tone.

But given how that switch was meant to play out - around the waist of a redeemed Davey Boy Smith - renders it more despicable than some earnest kayfabe pearl-clutching. It told something far more important than a dead old code to f*ck off.

They were even worse in 2006...