17 Most Brutal Hazing Horror Stories In Wrestling

7. "Piggy James"

WWE's 2010 fat-shaming of Mickie James was an abhorrent act of personal hazing, regardless of the attempts to use the storyline to ostensibly promote body confidence and the babyface desire to overcome bullying.

Michelle McCool and Layla's campaign of abuse against James was an external smokescreen for the organisation's internal take that that she was supposedly overweight. A company that should have been finding ways to promote talent instead used the global platform to pettily address an issue.  A fortnight out from Mickie's (all-too-short) redemption at the 2010 Royal Rumble, the needlessly cruel 'Piggy James' arc reached its tasteless nadir in a grim SmackDown beatdown of the babyface by the LayCool and their out-of-nowhere new accomplice Beth Phoenix.

The uncomfortable air running underneath the scene - the heels smashed cake in Mickie's face and drenched her in fruit punch - was tough to sit through, but hard to conflate with real, effective pro wrestling heat. The heels were vile and James sold every aspect of it convincingly, but that's part of the problem when there's a shoot aspect to anything that then plays out on television. It certainly managed to capture the horrendous reality of a bullying within society and culture, but achieved it by reflecting exactly what was going on behind the scenes.