10 Most Tone-Deaf WWE Moments

1. Less Than Fabulous

Not The Moolah
WWE

He might be a billionaire, industry leader and the most successful promoter in the history of professional wrestling, but it was refreshing to see Vince McMahon still kowtowing to the director general of his business - the ever-important sponsor.

The preamble was all boringly typical. A pre-WrestleMania Raw dropped more bits of news about the 'Show Of Shows', including the addition of an all-female Battle Royal named in the honour of a performer McMahon believed embodied the Evolution he was mid-way through marketing. The outrage at his selection came as quite the shock.

He just wasn't expecting it. It was a negative, and he needed two positives. You know - one to cancel out the negative and the other, just to have a positive. Fabulous Moolah's darker past had come to light following her death, but WWE had long-ignored the reframed narrative. Advertisers weren't turning a blind eye to criticisms though - the company found itself under fire almost immediately, and made the rare back-peddle within weeks of the original announcement.

They'd already skipped Moolah in naming a summer tournament after Mae Young; this suggested that they were desperate to pay tribute somehow. In the end, it paid far more to just get rid.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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