10 Biggest Wrestling Controversies Of 2016

5. The Ending Of SummerSlam 2016

Lesnar Orton II
WWE.com

The controversy surrounding Brock Lesnar's concussion-inducing SummerSlam onslaught was such that it entrained Chris Jericho in its wake. Incensed, he confronted Lesnar when he returned to the Gorilla Position, only to be hilariously reprimanded by Vince McMahon for being a "mark".

That insult wasn't really applicable. Jericho had not been worked into believing what he'd seen was real - he had expressed his disgust that Lesnar was permitted to use real violence at Randy Orton's expense. It wasn't entirely new to wrestling - Shawn Michaels used a similar MMA-influenced TKO finish to defeat Jericho himself at Unforgiven 2008 - but Lesnar's elbows were so brutal that it gathered a storm, nonetheless.

Jericho had a valid point. That Unforgiven match was similarly unsettling, but significantly more exciting. And, he wasn't laid out for three weeks afterwards. His feud with Michaels reached even loftier heights after the fact. Orton, meanwhile, lost any momentum the Lesnar match might have afforded him. There was no battling post-match promo. He was shelved for a month.

WWE is a company built on paradox. They've banned the blade, because it appears too violent - and yet, real violence is somehow okay.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!