10 Most Shameless WWE Promotional Tactics

3. Exploiting The Death Of Reid Flair

Randy Orton Rey Mysterio
WWE.com

Horribly effective at causing needless hurt mostly just because it would have been so simple to avoid, the invoking of the recently deceased Reid Flair spoke to the cruelty of the company promoting the matches rather than the characters standing inside its right.

Ahead of a Survivor Series 2015 clash with friend-turned-rival Paige, Charlotte Flair discussed life as a world-famous wrestler's daughter, and the sister of her late brother following his suicide two years earlier. 'The Queen' said she would fight "as her family always had". Paige spat back "your little baby brother didn't have much fight in him did he?".

It was multifariously cruel. Neither gasping nor booing, the live audience didn't really know how to react. Nor, apparently did Ric Flair. Ordinarily, a company cheerleader, 'The Nature Boy' apparently wasn't given any prior warning that something so callous was set to be thrown out as if it were just another committee-scripted zinger.

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