10 MORE Wrestling Matches That Became Inadvertently Infamous

8. Team Lakers Vs Team Nuggets (WWE Raw, 25 May 2009)

Jeff Hardy Sting
WWE

Already rooted in infamy thanks to the predictable pettiness achieved by Vince McMahon thanks to the enforced 2009 Monday Night Raw venue-switch, a main event featuring a ten-man tag team match between heels in Denver Nuggets jerseys against babyfaces sporting LA Lakers gear saw Mr Kennedy permanently dunked on by all-stars John Cena and Randy Orton.

His posterisation was partially of his own doing - Kennedy was sloppy in his execution of a suplex on a then-porcelain Orton, but the dislike towards him had grown enough that high profile complaints ultimately fed into his low profile exit.

The Nuggets required their home arena for Game Four of the NBA play-offs that year - something they weren't expected to even be competing in. McMahon tried to force the game elsewhere, but lost that battle and had to scramble to find a replacement venue for the flagship show at short notice. Raw's Staples Center switch caused little fus, but it didn't stop Vince from airing his grievances about the whole situation with a typical lack of tact and diplomacy.

Taking an angelic babyface role, McMahon pandered to his live audience for Nuggets' owner Stan Kroenke's apparent misgivings, suggesting that 'When you push the WWE Universe, they push back!' In Kennedy's case, he was pushed completely out.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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