10 Most Controversial Wrestling Shows Of All Time
5. WrestleMania VII
Even as whirling allegations of steroid abuse rife throughout the company saw public interest in WWE fade, Vince McMahon remained as stubborn as ever, booking the 100,000-seater Los Angeles Coliseum for WrestleMania VII. He was convinced he could fill it, and resorted to first wrestling principles to do so: gross exploitation with a dash of blatant xenophobia.
A rematch between The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan seemed a certainty, but the office had soured on Warrior's run as champ, so instead shifted the belt to American hero Sgt. Slaughter. Except there was a slight tweak in Slaughter's character: he'd turned his back on his country, and was now sympathising with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. What a rotter.
Logically then, a certain real American by the name of Hulk Hogan would sweep into LA and give Slaughter his dishonourable discharge. The plan was all well and good, except for the fact it had been designed to shamefully capitalise on the ongoing Gulf War. The media quickly saw the programme for the crass publicity stunt it was, largely deriding WWE for attempting to cash in within the context of actual soldiers fighting - and dying- in the desert.
Supposed 'security concerns' forced WWE to move the show to the nearby and notably much smaller Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. That only a fifth of the 100,000 tickets had sold by that point was purely a coincidence.