10 Worst WWE Moments Of 2005
WWE said goodbye to cherished in-ring greats and any remaining creative good taste in 2005.
Behold 2005, otherwise known as the year Dominik Mysterio's legend was born.
At SummerSlam, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero worked a ridiculous 'Custody Of Dominik' ladder match. People scoffed at the time, and it was retrospectively bashed, but Dom Dom's rise to fame in modern times has softened views on this chaotic storyline. Thus, it has no place here amongst the worst '05 had to offer. It's nowhere near as crummy as some of the other stuff Vince McMahon slapped his own personal seal of approval on that year.
It's incredible to think that WWE went PG a mere 3 years after this in 2008. Why? Well, they were still peddling many of the 'shock TV' tropes first harnessed during the lucrative 'Attitude Era'. Unfortunately for McMahon and pals, his company was doing so in the face of diminishing returns. WWE was still big business in 2005, but they were also stumbling around in the dark creatively and frantically trying to create new stars.
John Cena, Batista and others offered hope on that front, but some of the other acts thrust in front of cameras proved ill-advised to say the least. Muhammad Hassan made headlines for all the wrong reasons, other racist gimmicks torched good taste on the undercard, and WWE awkwardly pushed lines like "bestiality sex" onto episodes of SmackDown.
Ye olde "new and improved" chestnut was wheeled into view for a tag-team that was anything but, the Royal Rumble finish proved to be a disaster, and pro wrestling lost one of its favourite sons towards the end of the year.
Here's 2005's worst laid bare.
10. Big Show Goes Sumo
The subheading for this entry was almost, 'Big Show's Supershow Butt', but cooler heads prevailed.
Seriously though, was there any call for a 'Sumo Match' pitting Show against Akebono at WrestleMania 21? Vince McMahon routinely enjoyed pushing pageantry and "attractions" over practically everything else, but surely even he knew that this would be a car crash once it got underway. That might be why the whole exercise lasted just a few short minutes before wrapping up with a Akebono win.
It probs took Show longer to get his mawashi on backstage than the match itself lasted. Visually, it was hardly a treat for anyone tuning in - they were greeted with the not-so-pleasing sight of Paul Wight's big pasty behind thrust right in front of the cameras. The fact this bout was sandwiched in between Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle and John Cena vs. JBL is fascinating in hindsight; it was understandable to buffer between those matches, maybe, but something better than the sumo guff was needed.
The unwanted sideshow proved to be an insult to anybody who'd put down their hard earned pay-per-view dollars. Obviously, a lot of other things on the 'Mania 21 card more than made up for this slap in the face, but Show vs. Akebono just shouldn't have been on there. WWE fans didn't give a toss about the latter, and Show doing his best Rikishi-meets-Yokozuna-meets-John Tenta impression was frankly awkward to watch.
3 years later, WWE got it right by putting Big Show in there with boxer Floyd Mayweather. That boxer vs. wrestler showdown was a vast improvement over 2005's effort. What a colossal waste of time, especially on the biggest show (ahem) of the entire year.