10 Times WWE Was Categorically Worse Than It Is Right Now
The Bad Old Days
And now for something completely different. Or sadly, not.
The gimmick that brought his career back from the brink was squashed through the WWE filter like Vince McMahon's dirty laundry overfilling a lawyer's tumble dryer, but at least his 'Woken' reinvention hasn't yet become as laboured as that analogy or the rest of the main roster.
Bobby Roode isn't 'Glorious' anymore, just in case the silence greeting his once-iconic entrance wasn't deafening enough. Finn Bálor held the Universal Championship for one day - roughly the same amount of time he managed to stay over after what appeared to be a career-saving victory over AJ Styles last October. Bayley would still be a 'Hugger' if there were anybody still left that wanted to reciprocate, but the audiences have been doing their best Sasha Banks impressions thanks to her catastrophic scripting.
Not to parrot a million other similar dissenters, but WWE is currently stone dead. No more. Ceased to be. Expired and gone to meet its maker. Bereft of life. Pushing up the daisies. Off the twig. Kicked the bucket. Shuffled off this mortal coil. Run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible. This is an ex-pro wrestling company.
McMahon's one ring circus certainly isn't flying. But astonishingly, it has been worse...
10. Triple H's World Heavyweight Title Reigns: 2002 - 2005
There may be a point at which the Triple H reign of terror becomes enveloped in nostalgia for fans of a certain age, but the run was so utterly rancid that surely even those that somehow got into watching wrestling via 'The Game's grisly gateway wouldn't particularly wish to revisit it.
Away from all the rage around his gross political manoeuvring or flagrant abuse of the power he was gradually amassing backstage, Hunter's matches are just really f*cking boring. He was attempting to ape both Ric Flair and Harley Race and finding only the most boring and ponderous aspects of their acts to rob from.
Rob Van Dam, Kane, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner and - most notably - Randy Orton were dropped in dull duds that left them for dead. When he did give a bit back, it was to Shawn Michaels, the one performer (and his best f*cking mate) that didn't need it.
After losing to Chris Benoit without ever really allowing him to be Raw's actual headliner, he finally abdicated the throne for Batista in 2005. Some had the gaul to suggest that his dominance was necessary just to get Big Dave over despite 'The Animal's incredible poise and charisma - Triple H had no choice to bow to his Evolution apprentice's undeniable aura.