As evidenced by this list, the early 2000s was a pretty raunchy time in WWE. Trishs canine impression, HHHs spot of a simulated necrophilia and Dawn Marie causing Torrie Wilsons father Al to an early grave via the power of her sexual skills are just a few examples of the kinky side of WWEs not-too-distant past. While all of those angles were problematic, inept or just plain stupid, none were as desperate as the HLA that made an appearance on Raw in 2002. HLA, short for hot lesbian action, represented a creative low that turned off a substantial portion of WWE fans and caused the organisation problems with network TNN in the US and TSN in Canada. Over on Smackdown, tag team Billy and Chuck were creating a lot of publicity due to their announced gay wedding (and what a debacle that was). Raw GM Eric Bischoff, who was locked in a feud with Smackdown GM Stephanie McMahon over who had the better brand, promised fans some hot lesbian action because anything that Smackdown could do Raw could do better, apparently. Bringing the lesbians (actually female professional wrestlers from the UPW promotion looking for a break into the big time) down to the ring, Bischoff encouraged the women to go at it. Although much of the live and television audience was turned off by this segment, Bischoff was only just bored by it and ordered budget henchmen Three Minute Warning to put an end to the HLA. All of this led to a Billy and Chuck vs Three Minute Warning match at Unforgiven with the stipulation that if Stephanies team won then Bischoff would have to kiss her ass whereas is Bischoff won Stephanie would have to perform some HLA of her own. To cut a long and not very entertaining story short, Bischoff ended up taking a stinkface from Rikishi in drag. Was the payoff really worth annoying the bosses of the network and alienating a sizeable portion of the audience? Probably not, but Im sure the boys in the back found it hilarious.
