10 Most Shameless WWE Promotional Tactics

9. The Jeff Hardy Hotel Story

Randy Orton Rey Mysterio
WWE.com

Jeff Hardy's 2008 was one of WWE never knowing quite when to just go full Bob Holly on him and Hardy himself occasionally giving them reason to second guess the big moment. He could have won the bey-ult and beat everybody as early as January, but just weeks after a Royal Rumble loss to Randy Orton, he was missing WrestleMania thanks to a Wellness Policy suspension.

The summer months found him mixing in with Triple H, but that brought all the political hurdles that come with that, including winning the matches that didn't matter only to fall short in the ones that did.

Plenty knew that drill-uh, but all the messes were cleaned up in time for a triple threat match featuring 'The Game' and Vladimir Kozlov at Survivor Series. Kozlov was ostensibly even there to save Hunter from taking the fall.

Or not - Hardy's aforementioned issues were mined for a bait and switch that brought Edge back from injury at the expense of bringing real life addictions back into the b*llocks kayfabe universe. Cynics argue that the most shameless aspect of this was running Triple H/Vladimir Kozlov singles match in plain sight, but the Hardy thing runs it pretty close.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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