10 MORE Wrestling Matches That Became Inadvertently Infamous

4. The Greatest Royal Rumble Match (WWE Greatest Royal Rumble)

Braun Strowman Greatest Royal Rumble
WWE.com

The painfully problematic Greatest Royal Rumble attempted in itself to be a supersized version of a regular main event in order to distract the viewing audience from the inherent issues embodied by the show's mere existence. With 50 participants and showcase spots for Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan and select others, it nearly worked too. Instead, the chaotic contest came to perfectly convey the corruption at play.

Unknown (and before now, un-googleable) sumo wrestler Hiroki Sumi was flown in to get thrown out by Mark Henry simply because minted show organisers had requested long-dead former WWE Champion Yokozuna. On a card in which the lengthy parade of underperforming singles clashes had already pandered to inordinately wealthy hosts, Titus O'Neil earned his own wage for the year by affording Michael Cole a glimpse of the "greatest moment ever" when he fell flat on his face in a moment destined for for viral velocity the second his innocent grin hit the deck.

Strowman's green belt didn't preserve the land as sacred ground any more than the grand presentation at the end (featuring Vince McMahon himself putting his best foot forward) - the divisive battle royal will forever (and not all that fondly) be remembered.

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