10 Worst WWE Moments Of 2008
WWE nuked ECW, screwed CM Punk and tried to kill off Vince McMahon AGAIN in 2008.
"I'm sorry, I love you". Those immortal words from Shawn Michaels towards Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV closed the book on an iconic 'Nature Boy' career, or so everybody thought. Flair ignoring WWE's grand scale retirement treatment and returning to the ring technically happened in 2009 though, and it occurred outside company walls, so any deep dive on '08 is free to bask in the glory of his emotional send off.
Other top moments from the year include CM Punk cashing in Money In The Bank to become new World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena's phenomenal Royal Rumble return, some outstanding work between The Undertaker and Edge, and a year-best feud pitting Chris Jericho against HBK. All of that was great, but...what about the other end of the scale?
WWE went PG midway through 2008. Blood, swearing, scantily clad Diva behaviour and pretty much anything that had defined 'Attitude' or 'Ruthless Aggression' was out. It took a while for the promotion to settle into a new style though - nobody knew just how far they could push the envelope, and that'd quickly sanitise the product come 2009/2010-ish. Mercifully, '08 was spared the worst of it, but there were still some horrors lurking for fans when readjusting to Raw becoming more like 'medium rare' every week.
PR stunts overshadowed another bold attempt to write Vince McMahon off TV, they picked literally the worst person ever for ECW, a lifeless main event push stalled, women were handed a brand new belt then ignored, and poor Punk became a babyface afterthought on Monday nights. 'We're sorry, we hate you' came the cry from writers towards Punk by September. Probably.
Here's the worst from a year when everything changed.
10. The HOF Run Of Braden Walker
TNA fans would've called Chris Harris one of the most dynamic tag wrestlers on the planet by the end of 2007. His America's Most Wanted unit with James Storm was one of the company's finest, so there was a mini-buzz rippling when Harris inked a WWE deal in January. Would he bring tag excellence to the E, or would he find his footing as a breakout singles star?
Neither. Harris didn't work his first dark match in his new home until March, then he wouldn't show up on TV until 8 July's ECW. The re-dubbed Braden Walker (a name that had money written all over it...) debuted opposite Armando Estrada in a short backstage segment, and it was infamously bad. Walker's gimmick? He told basic 'knock knock' jokes, or one of them at least.
When he said "knock knock" and Armando asked, "Who's there?', Braden replied: "Braden Walker, and I'm gonna knock your brains out". OK then. Not really a punchline, but maybe the one time 'Wildcat' was going literal with the punch part of that word. A catchy tagline wouldn't have mattered anyway, because Walker looked like the most boring singlet and boots wrestler going.
He beat Armando on ECW, then won an even more pointless bout vs. James Curtis on the 5 August edition. Initially, announcers called Braden a key figure in the ongoing ECW recruitment drive, but he was released a mere 2 days after the match with Curtis. So much for that then, eh?
WWE's writers blatantly didn't put more than 20 seconds of thought into Braden's debut or presentation. He was more 1995 Superstars jobber than must-see new name. What a 'Best Of' DVD boxset he had though. Literally 15 minutes of fun.