10 Bizarre Wrestling Epics That Didn’t Live Up To The Hype

3. Triple H Vs Shawn Michaels (WWE Bad Blood 2004)

Minoru Suzuki Kazuchika Okada
WWE.com

An epic in their own minds as much as it was in the eyes of an audience pig sick of their moribund matches, the 40-minute Hell In A Cell main event of 2004's Bad Blood pay-per-view was didn't deserve the run-time or card placement it received.

Shawn Michaels and Triple H had already wrestled three times on pay-per-view in that year alone, having reignited hostilities that went out of date less than six months into 'HBK's return with an absolute stinker at 2002's Armageddon.

World Champion Chris Benoit had been wedged into their rivalry as a way to both anoint and cement him as Monday Night Raw's top dog, but the lords tooketh away as quickly as they gaveth when the best buds snatched his first singles topline spot within two months of his WrestleMania XX triumph.

Whilst 'The Crippler' struggled to carry Kane to anything beyond...well, Kane, 'The Game' and 'The Showstopper' couldn't uphold the size of their egos. The 47:26 they shared inside Hell In A Cell was more exhausting for viewers than it was the participants - all tacitly designed for Hunter to claim ownership of the steel structure from fellow company stalwart The Undertaker.

Contests like this ensured this would never be the case.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett