10 Dumbest Wrestling Controversies That Went Too Far

When dumb sh*t gets incredibly toxic - starring Tony Khan, Randy Orton and Summer Rae?!

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Impact Wrestling/WWE

WWE sucks. It's not as good as AEW, which rules.

Can you feel your temperature rising?

The Undertaker sucks. He's a goofy old man who "casual" audiences always thought was silly, and he's better at making women cry than working matches without a year of prep.

Do you feel the urge to mutter sarcastic remarks and pace around your living room?

Something irredeemably stupid happens on literally every WWE broadcast. Every last one.

Are you swearing now? Mashing your fist into the keyboard?

There's one great tag team that spams superkicks in every match, and it isn't the Usos.

Are you...are you crying? Has the phone you're reading this on been thrown to the ground in a fit of temper?

Roman Reigns is overrated.

"That's it. F*ck you, smark sh*thead. Here it comes: under my mask of anonymity, suffer the threat of death! I want you to die! My life would be enhanced if you perished, leaving your family forever devastated, because you had the temerity to say that a certain pay-per-view match was only ***1/4, which literally means pretty damn good! Die! Die!"

If this is you - and it's several of you on social media, incredibly - you might want to become less protective of the billionaire-funded pop culture you like because it isn't your identity.

You might also be responsible for the following dumb controversies...

10. Summer Rae: Legend?

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WWE

Summer Rae is not, by any subjective nor objective metric, a professional wrestling legend.

She never drew money, she never cut a promo setting up a money match, and one could very easily argue that she has never worked a good or even competent match. That's not what she was contracted to do. She wasn't the next Manami Toyota; she played a glib villain who didn't know her place on Total Divas, and the people who watched her work this fictional portrayal reckon she did a commendable job.

The oxymoron is amusing, and that's it. WWE uses the word 'Legend' as an umbrella term with which to promote *anybody* who once wrestled for the promotion. It's not called "Actual Legends And Whichever Scrubs Decided To Answer The Phone Night". It's called "Legends Night". "Legends" is a better sell than "Alumni". It's a work.

Wrestling is a work.

The online wrestling fandom being the online wrestling fandom, however, took this banner marketing spiel and actually engaged in it earnestly. Variations of "lol you can't even do a hammerlock much less a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex you dumb bitch" polluted Summer's Twitter replies upon the announcement that she was set to return at the 2022 Royal Rumble, as if she thought herself a legend. She felt the need to get in front of the abuse and lashed out, in a well-earned "f*ck you" as loud as the one she directed towards Natalya at the event itself.

They can't all have been Natalya's burners. Too many of you are just the worst.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential 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 former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!