10 Most Tone-Deaf WWE Moments
4. G.L.A.A.D All Over
In 2018, it's unlikely that the company would ever book a gay wedding let alone pay one off as they did in 2002, though Crown Jewel's pig-headedness implied that the group could still be narrow-minded enough to present characters as effeminate and inferior heels should they happen to be attracted to other men.
Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo were lost singles souls when their union quickly became laden with innuendo. Gunn had been a New Age Outlaw in the Attitude Era, but saw others stealing his spot as his sorts rapidly fell out of favour in changing times. Palumbo didn't have the stroke or status to quibble the direction of their close-knit relationship just as he didn't when the storyline progressed to the point where the ambiguously gay pair prepared to confirm it in the first ever all-male SmackDown wedding.
WWE earned positive press from numerous activist groups and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation even got in on the action by sending the happy couple a gravy boat as a wedding present. The company had no intention of making it to the meal.
Chuck and Billy revealed the whole thing just to be a "publicity stunt" as they stood nervously at the altar. It was a reductive conclusion to an angle almost saved by the genuine acknowledgment of love that followed months of pantomime camp. Actually just scripting them as happily married partners would have offered such greater reward.