10 Dumbest Wrestling Controversies That Went Too Far

4. Renewed Competition Gets Ugly

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WWE

Things got spicy when the AEW Vs. WWE war first started to unfold.

It was wild west sh*t, man; mocking the way WWE wrestlers stand in front of a TV and aiming a few gags in the direction of John Laurinaitis is positively quaint in comparison.

AEW booked a charity show; WWE counter-programmed with an EVOLVE show to prevent all of about 16 people from potentially donating to a worthy cause. "Yes, shame about the victims of gun violence, but check out Babatunde Vs. Joe Gacy in a 4:24 DQ on the critically-acclaimed WWE Network!"

That isn't even a joke. That match was actually booked live on the WWE Network to encourage WWE loyalists. not to watch a charity event.

It was all and still is petty, dumb nonsense - choose your billionaire fighter! - and it was taken too far on Twitter after wind-up merchant CM Punk claimed he was going to shoot on every promotion (nobody is safe!) in his guise as a WWE Backstage analyst.

Tony Khan said that Punk's words reminded him of a plane full of wrestlers in Saudi Arabia; Randy Orton accused Khan's father Shahid of corruption and hypocrisy. In response to that, Khan reminded Orton that he dropped an N-Bomb on a Twitch stream.

A dangerous game of slander couldn't even make Backstage interesting in the end.

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 current 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!