10 Disturbing WWE SmackDown Moments You Totally Don't Remember
5. Forcefed
Two weeks out from Mickie James' ultimate redemption at the 2010 Royal Rumble, the divisive 'Piggy James' storyline pitting her against wicked heels Michelle McCool and Layla reached its tasteless nadir in a deeply upsetting beatdown of the babyface by the mean girls and their accomplice Beth Phoenix.
The company's real life fat-shaming of James had been abhorrent, with the storyline calling for 'LayCool' to conduct a campaign of abuse against Mickie as avatars for the organisation's ludicrous belief that she was somehow overweight.
In wrestling terms, it stacked up sufficiently for the heels to eventually get their comeuppance, but the vile undercurrent of the reality behind the angle made the whole thing rather tough to swallow. Almost as tough as the cake McCool rammed into James' face at the climax of this humiliating scene. Beaten down by the trio after Phoenix inexplicably sided with the vile villains, Mickie was left drenched in fruit punch and her own tears after having the desert and various other treats thrust upon her.
The segment masterfully captured the potential horrors of bullying, but troublingly did so from an organisation with a rich history of doing it for real. James' 20 second win didn't go far enough to assuage the obvious concerns.