10 Most Hated Wrestling Matches Involving Beloved Wrestlers

Nothing feels more ‘90s than a TNA pay-per-view from 2008. Though WWE have become better at booking feuds between outside athletes and wrestling superstars, MMA fighter Frank Trigg’s TNA run was more Butterbean than Tyson Fury.

In bizarro booking, the company took their most gifted wrestler, AJ Styles, and booked him into a Mixed Martial Arts match, hampering his wrestling talent. They also booked the guy known for MMA fighting to cut a lengthy (by pay-per-view standards) promo. Trigg’s time on the mic was spent repeating his own name, indulging in toothless “Canada - bad, it’s sports teams - bad” banter, and granting North Carolina native Styles with honorary Canadian citizenship.

Audiences were spared the three five-minute rounds that the MMA match stipulation threatened. Trigg spiced up his attack by pawing at AJ, like a cross between a kitten and a hefty ‘70s pub comedian obnoxiously mimicking his gay nephew, and spanking his opponent. “Bulls**t” chants followed the bell for the second round. The match was soon ruled a no-contest after AJ accidently hit a groin shot. Styles left with a black eye, but no lasting damage to his reputation as ‘The Phenomenal One’.