10 Most Fake Wrestling Props Ever

3. NXT Gives Away Its Own Desperation

Chris Jericho CM Punk
WWE

The old NXT think tank would have you believe that they were not in fact concerned with what was happening on the other channel, which is pure horse-sh*t, since they were on their channel in the first place to counter-programme the other channel.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded into something that wasn't going away, both sides got a bit desperate as interest in uncanny wrestling fell across the board deep into 2020. AEW, having binned off BR Live as a money-loser of a platform before the first case was recorded, pressed ahead with plans to promote the annual Fyter Fest special, which was shifted to TNT as a two-week event.

As luck would have it, NXT also had plans all along to present a two-week special of their own: the Great American Bash, the show name WWE didn't remove from mothballs just to be sh*thouses. It was also headlined by a massive title unification match between Keith Lee and Adam Cole, which William Regal thought was a marvellous idea. He also thought it was a marvellous idea for Lee to relinquish the North American Title weeks later.

They can't both be good ideas, Bill. Or at least they can if you're making it up as you go along in a state of reactive panic.

This reactive panic was illustrated by WWE's piss-poor set design, which did very little to convince people that the show was in the works for a while.

With little time to create a new set befitting a TV special, these knackers made a trip to the Stamford warehouse, grabbed the 2004 Bash flag, and sewed the NXT logo onto it, thinking nobody would notice.

 
Posted On: 
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!